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Gardening Tips: Summer flowering shrubs

I do love the wonderful fragrance of the mockorange. It gets its common name from the fact that the flowers smell like orange blossoms.
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Susan Richards

I have had a chance to finally spend some time in my own garden. The heavy rain a few days ago knocked down the flowers on my Red Prince Weigela and Golden Mockorange.

They are early summer bloomers that add quite a bit of pizzazz to my side garden. I do love the wonderful fragrance of the mockorange. It gets its common name from the fact that the flowers smell like orange blossoms.

I have a fragrant shrub rose called Theresa Bugnet blooming in my front garden. It perfumes the air as I sit out on the deck. I also have a Minuet lilac right in front of the deck that smells wonderful when in bloom.

I am quiet partial to fragrant flowers and will only plant a rose that has a strong scent. I know some of the hybrid varieties have stunning flowers, but so many have had the fragrance bred out of them.

I also stick to the hardy shrub roses because they don't need winter protection. The winter conditions in my front gardens are quite severe.

My Diablo Ninebark just finished flowering and is now developing seed heads. The seeds will turn quite red, adding another season of interest for this shrub.

I'm now looking to see if I have the space somewhere to plant the new compact hybrid, Tiny Wine. Both have dark burgundy foliage that adds a nice contrast to the garden.

Summer flowering varieties of Spirea are blooming now. They are a very hardy group of shrubs that can add both leaf colour and flowers to the garden.

Spireas come in a wide variety of sizes and have leaf colour ranging from green to gold. Some have white flowers, some pink and Shirobana has both white and pink flowers on the same plant. Magic Carpet and Goldmound are two compact varieties.

All Spirea can be pruned after flowering to tidy them up. This will often encourage plants to produce a second, lighter crop of flowers.

When someone asks for a shrub that blooms all summer, the only solution is Potentilla. This group of compact flowering shrubs starts to bloom in late June and continues right through to fall. Several types have bright to light yellow flowers.

Other varieties have soft pink, orange or white flowers. They all require lots of sun and well drained soil.

Hydrangeas are large family of shrubs that are summer blooming. The Annabelle types are the first to flower. The original Annabelle has large globe shaped white flowers that eventually change to green and fade to brown.

There are several newer additions to this group: Incrediball has huge white flowers and Invincible Spirit II has pink blooms.

All Summer Beauty, Twist 'n Shout, Tiny Tuff Stuff and Endless Summer Hydrangeas all have flowers that can either be pink or blue depending on the soil pH. If you acidify the soil, blue flowers are produced.

I know a lot of gardeners are frustrated because it's often hard to get these types to bloom. They are not as hardy as Annabelle and need a long hot summer to produce flowers.

After many discussions with several growers, the key to getting them to bloom seems to be to grow them lean and mean. Don't fertilze or water them too much. A bit of stress seems to trigger bud formation.

Pee Gee Hydrangeas bloom later and their flowers last longer, right into fall. Most types have blooms that change from white to pink and then fade to brown. Limelight starts off lime green before flowers change to white, then pink.

Vanilla Strawberry, Zinfin Doll and Pinky Winky all have a very bright pink stage to the flower colour change.

Two varieties, Little Lamb and Little Lime, are more compact and perfect for smaller gardens. Other types, such as Phantom, have been bred for their huge flower heads!

Some hydrangeas have very tight flower clusters and others are loose and open. You can choose the style that appeals to you most or plant several different ones if you have the space.


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