Flowers and Wildflowers in the Yard

I am really excited about some of the flowers that we have planted in our yard.

This clematis was planted next to our front gate and trellis. We've started to train the plant to climb up the gate, and hopefully it will have grown up and over the trellis by the end of the summer. I bought this variety because it is named Rubens, and I figured every art historian should have a plant named after the 17th century Flemish master.

• Rubens (Clematis montana 'Rubens'): Features 2-3" clear pink flowers with golden stamens bloom freely in the spring. Bronze tinted new leaves mature deep green. Blooms in May and June. Prefers sun to shade with roots in cool shade. Likes cool, moist, well-drained soil. Grows 20-30' tall. Moderate growth rate. Remove damaged or yellowing branches. Frequent, light doses of fertilizer are better than heavy doses. Apply fertilizer around the "drip line" of the plant (the drip line is under outermost branch tips and contains feeder roots). Use clematis pruning method A.

On the south side of the house we planted a Bowles Mauve Wallflower (with purple blooms in front) and a Misaka (Beautiful Blossom) Itoh Peony (in background). The peony already has large buds, so I hope that it will open into gorgeous blossoms in the next few weeks. We got the mauve wallflower for only a dollar at a nursery sale, so my frugal side will be very pleased if it flourishes in our yard!

• Bowles Mauve Wallflower: Large clusters of mauve flowers which have a long blooming season. Blooms from winter to summer. Needs full sun. Grows at a fast rate; will grow about 12" high and 12-15" wide. Remove spent flowers. 
• Misaka (Beautiful Blossom) Itoh Peony: Large flowers (up to eight inches across) appear orange when first opening, then fade to a beautiful peachy-yellow. Large contrasting dark-red central flares are extremely prominent. Needs full sun exposure. Reaches 20 to 30" tall and wide. Needs regular watering - weekly, or more often in extreme heat. Follow regular watering schedule during the first growth season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Prune foliage in the fall. Performs best in slightly acidic soil.

Several weeks ago I scattered a few packets full of wildflower seeds along the southern side of our house (just further east of the peony plant, on the other side of the drain pipe). A lot of seedlings have popped up, so I'm hopeful that my idea of a wildflower garden will pan out. Although I don't have any blooms yet (and some might not even appear this season), I thought I'd include some images of the flowers (do you can see what I'm hoping for).

Poppy Iceland Mixed Colors

Needs partial sun. Germination in 7-14 days. Takes 180-300 days to bloom. Thin when plants are a few inches tall.

Oriental Orange Scarlet Poppy

Needs full sun. Takes 12 days to germinate. 365+ days to bloom

Black-Eyed Susan

(Wouldn't it be awesome if my whole flower bed looked like this?)

Needs full sun. 60-90 days to bloom. Grows 2-3' high

Sunny Meadow Mixture

Needs full sun. Takes 7-21 days to germinate. Takes 42-56 days to bloom. Contents: White Yarrow, Poor Man's Weather Glass, Calendula's Pacific Beauty Mix, Cornflower, Dwarf Mix, Primrose Clarkia Confetti Mix, Lance-leaved Coreopsis, Plains Coreopsis, Rocket Larkspur, California Poppy, Blanketflower, Indian Blanket, Spurred Snapdragon Mix, Sweet Alyssum, Arroyo Lupine, Virginia Stock, Four O'Clock Mix, Evening Primrose, Showy Evening Primrose, Shirley Poppy Mix, Catchfly.

Nature's Rainbow Mixture

Needs full sun. Takes 7-21 days to germinate. Takes 42-56 days to bloom. Contents: Prairie Aster, Bachelor Button, Farewell-to-spring/godetia, Mountain Garland, Lance Leaved Coreopsis, Plains Coreopsis, Cosmos, Purple Coneflower, California Poppy, Blanketflower, Indian Blanket, Globa Gilia, Spurred Snapdragon, Blue Flax, Perennial Lupine,  Arroyo Lupine, Missouri Primrose, Corn Poppy, California Blue Bell, Annual Phlox, Gloriosa Daisy, Scarlet Sage, Catchfly, Nodding Catchfly.

It will be fun to see what grows and flourishes in our yard this summer! We are planning on planting some more flowers (and perhaps a tree or two?) this season. I'm planning on posting more updates here.