Official TEG Poll: Which is your favorite Summer Flower to plant?

[thistlebloom]

I have an embarrassing story...
Nearly 4 decades ago I was a
Girl Friday/stablehand/gardener for our landlady. the house we rented was a short distance away, but on the same 10 acres.
One day she asked me to clean up on the west side of her house, where there was a mobile home she rented to another young couple. I started in with enthusiasm because that spot had been unsightly for awhile and didn't go with the tidiness of the rest of the property. The tenants were apparently not gardeners and had weeds sprouting all over their little front yard.
They were away for the day, and I cleaned up really well. I thought they'd be pleased and imagined how they would probably thank me, and maybe start taking better care of it themselves. Shortly after I finished they got home and I heard some commotion and raised voices. I was summoned by the chick renter and got a good tongue thrashing for being so stupid for tearing out all her wildflowers.

Seems the malva was her pride and joy. It wasn't blooming yet and looked like common mallow to me, and boy there had been a lot of it!
Never have been able to develop a liking for that particular bloom ever since.

 

[Zeedman]

Thistle, the first year after I seeded Zebrina, I caught DW in the act of pulling out some of the seedlings. Ironically, there are already two other wild mallows established on the site... the seedlings are very similar, we had to educate ourselves on the difference. The process of replacing the "bad mallows" with "good mallows" continues.

Malvas are supposedly all edible. Those that sprout in late summer generally have very lush foliage, so I may do a taste-test this year. It would be really great if in addition to being a pollen source & trap crop, it could provide some food... a win-win-win.

Oh, and Zebrina has another useful trait, although it is sort of a yin-yang quality - a strong, super-deep tap root. The good side is that it will poke holes through the hard pan... the bad side is that after the plants reach a certain size, they are VERY difficult to pull out. When I gardened in San Jose, I had to eradicate some wild mallow "trees", with stems 2-3" wide, and roots to the earth's core; I suspect that Zebrina would would be a similarly large plant in climates where it could survive over winter.

 

[Zeedman]

@so lucky , what about Lavatera?
...
Steve

Hmmm... thanks for the recommendation, Steve. Maybe I'll try that here as well, I love having islands of color mixed in with the otherwise drab vegetable plantings.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Crape Myrtle is my favorite because the bloom constantly here & are 'once a year maintenance' tree/shrub. Second place is a tie between the Angel Trumpet & Bougainvillea.

​

 

[aftermidnight]

A little bit green with envy here.

Annette

 

[Nyboy]

no, i only keep the worm farm for pets. i don't want any outdoor animals if i can help it (too many issues with predators/wild animals around here) plus Mom isn't into animals at all. she is ok with the worms.

Predators are only a problem if you free range. 4 hens are not hard to take care of. If you only let them free range while your out side, predators willnt be a issue. Plus you will get eggs

 

[MyBlackThumb]

I love the look of canna lillies, in the garden or on the deck. They make me feel like I’m somewhere tropical. But I am looking forward to getting some new favourites!!

 

[aftermidnight]

i have lots of favorites but in these times i love my perennial asters, not only are my favorite colors they help the honey bees top up with winter around the corner. there are varieties that bloom right through the summer and into the fall until a killing frost.
Annette

 

[Rammy]

Anything that lives.

 

[flowerbug]

i have lots of favorites but in these times i love my perennial asters, not only are my favorite colors they help the honey bees top up with winter around the corner. there are varieties that bloom right through the summer and into the fall until a killing frost.
Annette

we have some of the wild white and purple asters blooming here now. we've tried growing garden varieties and plantings but certain bugs really got after them and kept taking them out so we don't try any more.

we have a good population of other late summer and fall flowers that keep coming along: right now the mums and some zinnias that didn't get taken out by the frosts are still going, the cosmos will go until the frost takes them down to the ground. we also have some irises that will rebloom this time if given a long enough season. and miracle of miracles we also have some roses that have survived and are blooming now. plus plenty of clovers, thymes, mints, chives, buckwheat, peas, yarrows...