Add some yellows to your landscape
I love yellows because they’re warm and if you haven’t already, you should consider adding some to your garden. Below are some of my favourites.
Heliopsis
Sunflowers are very popular so it’s no surprise that this False Sunflower shows up in people’s gardens. The green and white leaves are interesting and the yellow flowers are warm as usual.
Heliopsis is sold as ‘deer-resistant’ but don’t believe everything you hear. According to Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott there is no such thing as deer-resistant. When the deer are hungry they will eat anything.
False sunfower
Coreopsis verticillata
This is another ‘deer-resistant’ plant but by now you know that you can’t believe everything you hear. Coreopsis has nice yellow flowers but don’t forget about the foliage. You can plant Coreopsis with Horsetail because the foliage is similar. This is how you can hide an unwanted weed in a sea of yellow flowers.
Coreopsis verticillata
Ligularia
You will see two species in our landscapes. Ligularia dentata has regular flowers and big leaves; L. stenocephala has a phallic flower spike. I wish these plants showed up more in our landscapes.
Ligularia dentata
Ligularia stenocephala
Rudbeckia fulgida
I left the most popular plant for last. Chances are you’ve seen Rudbeckias because they’re very popular. They’re also at their best in late summer. In early September some are starting to fade which, sadly, signals the end of summer. I wish they would bloom into December.
Incredibly, just this past week, I ran into a prominent strata council member who is sick of the Rudbeckia. This was a first for me. Sure, he loves them in late summer but what about the rest of the year?
This is a nice first-world problem. Most perennials operate this way. They pop and wow us before fading. Then we cut them back and wait for next season.
I find Rudbeckias very happy flowers, especially when they’re mass-planted.
If you don’t have any yellows in your garden, try planting some of the species mentioned above.