- Sweet william bears long-lasting, fringed blooms.sweet william image by Michel Essiambre from Fotolia.com
Liven up the garden by planting long blooming plants. Grown in a wide range of shapes and sizes, they provide a brilliant display with their stunning flowers and ornamental foliage. To create a long-lasting display within the landscape, incorporate blocks of color with long blooming perennial flowers and plants. With their ability to bloom for many months and year-after-year, the garden is constantly in bloom and evolving. - Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) is a short-lived perennial or biennial flower that begins blooming in May to last until the first frost, creating a long-lasting blooming season. Some treat sweet william as an annual and grow them in spring. Sweet william grows 1 to 2 feet tall and up to 1 foot wide and bears fragrant, double-flowered blooms. Bloom colors on sweet william are vast and include bright shades of pink, red, white and bicolored varieties that have more than one color combined. Often sweet william has a contrasting center or "eye" that is surrounded by the fringed, bearded petals. The lance-shaped, medium green leaves on sweet william grow up to 4 inches long. Sweet william grows best in full sun and deep, organically-rich soil. In hot summer climates, sweet william appreciates a dappling of shade. Grow sweet william in USDA plant hardiness zones 3 to 9.
- Tickseed (Coreopsis 'Creme Brulee') is a long blooming perennial plant that is commonly called tickseed because the seeds are said to resemble ticks. Tickseed has a dense, bushy and clumping habit and grows up to 1 ½ feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide. It bears 1-inch wide, butter-yellow blooms that are daisy-like with toothed rays. The rays on tickseed surround the dark yellow centers that bloom in profusion from June until October. The lace-like leaves on tickseed are deep green in color. Tickseed grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. Hardy, it is tolerant of humidity and heat, as well as some drought. Grow tickseed in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 to 9.
- Pincushion (Scabiosa 'Butterfly Blue') is long blooming perennial flower with a compact, clump-forming habit. It grows up to 1 ½ feet tall and wide and flowers from late April until the first frost. In mild winter climates, pincushion flowers almost the entire year, creating a non-stop show of color and texture. Pincushion flowers feature a frilly and flat outer ring and lavender to blue petals. Each 2-inch wide flower has a domed, center cushion and protruding stamens that are said to resemble a pincushion, hence its common name. The finely-cut foliage on pincushion flowers is gray to green in color. Pincushion grows best in full sun although tolerates part shade in hot summer climates. Grow pincushion in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 to 9.
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