Planting a Perennial Flowerbed: Using Creativity
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These perennial flowers have proven to do very well in Kansas. This is a design that you can create by following the extension publication that shows which flowers to plant and where to plant them. The landscape that we’re planting today is larger than the example in the publication, so we’re expanding on the ideas and using some of our creativity to make it work for our situation.
I have lots of good help today from the Riley County Extension Master Gardeners who are helping to enhance the county shop landscape. This perennial flowerbed has seventeen different varieties of flowers. This will give us something in bloom from the early season until late fall.
One of the varieties is Perovskia or Russian Sage, which has blue-gray foliage during the growing season. We have some early spring peonies that will bloom a nice, red color. We also have some Coreopsis. We have yellow Coreopsis and we also have one that has a pink or reddish tone, too. We also have Echinacea Magnus, which is listed on the Prairie Bloom list. For fall color, we have some Wood’s Blue Asters that are also on the Prairie Bloom list. As the name implies, it’s a blue flower.
The flowerbed also includes the chrysanthemum called Ginger Anthem. You can use any color that you’d like to use. This design prefers a red color, but copper or mauve colors will work well. Another common perennial that is grown for the foliage is Lamb’s Ear. It’s a kid friendly plant with fuzzy leaves that are blue-gray. It’s nice and soft and fun to touch, which makes it a good choice for a children’s garden.
This feature story prepared with Gregg Eyestone, Kansas State University Research and Extension Horticulture Agent, Riley County. For more information, visit your local county extension office or visit our website at KansasGreenYards.org.
