Some flowers bloom twice as nice
Q. I have been told I can get a second bloom from some of my plants. Which ones are they, and how do I do this to create a longer blooming season?
A. It is a continual search for flowering garden plants that provide beautiful blooms, are long-lasting, and surprise and delight us with a second bloom. High on this list would be plants that bloom first in the spring and then reappear in late summer or early fall.
Most of these plants are perennials, growing from bulbs or rhizomes (irises), or tubers (day lilies). Most benefit from deadheading, where pruning (removing) the first bloom of flowers allows the plant's energy to be redirected toward the second growth of new flowers later in the year. Plants in this category are called "cycle rebloomers" and they offer a burst of color and freshness in the late summer or early fall.
Examples of these double bloomers are Immortality irises, a hardy pure white variety dependably grown in Chicago's USDA Zone 5 climate. Another group of cycle rebloomers are the elegant long-stemmed yellow day lilies, Stella d'Oro and Happy Returns, both members of the Hemerocallis group.
Two species of seed-based plants are among the twice-bloomers: dianthus ("pinks"), which initially bloom in the spring and then again in the fall, and Monarda ("bee balm"), flowering first in late spring and then reblooming in late summer if its spent blossoms are removed. In contrast to these cultivars, the spring-blooming native wildflower fringed bleeding heart (dicentra eximia) can be a late summer/early fall rebloomer requiring no special attention.
Some perennials are considered "repeaters" where their bloom season, whether spring, summer or fall, can be extended by several weeks with deadheading. These include garden phlox, shasta daisies and pincushion flowers. Bachelor buttons or cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) will bloom profusely with deadheading. A tall spike of a plant, Veronica, also called speedwell, will bloom more vigorously and longer once deadheaded.
Two shrub varieties are cycle rebloomers. One, a Zone 6 deciduous shrub, Hydrangea macrophylla of the "Let's Dance Moonlight" series, reblooms reliably in our Zone 5 if their site provides protection from harsh winter conditions. Another is Syringa "Penda" Bloomerang, a dwarf lilac, first blooms in April-May but can rebloom as late as August.
New varieties of flowering plants are continually being developed so do check out your local garden center, favorite online site or big box store to see if there are any new surprises in reblooming plants.
- Arlene Swartzman
• Provided by Master Gardeners through the Master Gardener Answer Desk, Friendship Park Conservatory, Des Plaines, and University of Illinois Extension, North Cook Branch Office, Arlington Heights. Call (847) 298-3502 on Wednesdays or email northcookmg@gmail.com. Visit web.extension.illinois.edu/mg.