Yesterday I was speaking with another Master Gardener who posed an interesting question. She has recently moved here from the North and asked me what flowers are the workhorses here in the South - aside from the Daylily, which is obvious.
I recall from a seminar of Tara Dillard that she calls the workhorses of the shade - or the holy trinity perennials - as follows: Fern, Hosta, Hellebore. And the holy trinity of shrubs for the shade - Azalea, Camellia and Hydrangea. But what about sun gardening?
So I have put some thought into this and here is what I have come up with:
1. Sedum, specifically Autumn Joy. Good texture, drought tolerant, fall color, low maintenance
2. Black-eyed Susan, Purple Coneflower, Shasta Daisy, Gallardia - these have long bloom periods, make good cut flowers, divide well for further proliferation, attracts bees and butterflies
3. Lambs Ear - great color and texture
4. Zebra Grass (or any grass for that matter) - Saw zebra grass in a vase of cut flowers the other day - mostly grass with a few Gallardia - and it was beautiful
5. Balloon Flower - These flower for a long time. Just have to remember to cut them back to get another flush of blooms
6. Ajuga - really a ground cover, but great for color and weed control, survives drought, offered in a variety of shades and sizes now
7. Canna - Personally, I am not a big fan of these. I have a few; I might like them more if I had the ones with pretty foliage. I threw some rhizomes out a few months ago, into the burn pile. They are blooming now. Nothing can kill this beast.
8. Agastache - drought tolerant, long blooming, pretty purple-blue
I thought about the following but decided aganst them:
1. Yarrow, Monarda, Solidago - Too invasive
2. Bearded Irises - Too short a bloom period, labor intensive since you can't mulch them
3. Perennial Hibiscus - Not very drought tolerant
4. Hardy Geranium - I kill this plant every chance I get, although others do well with it
Give me some feedback...Agree? Disagree? Any more to add to the list?
