WASHINGTON GARDENER Three Tough Summer Garden Plants for Our Region
in a bright tropical color and leave it up for the rest of the summer. There is the straight green species as well as sever- al variegated forms available at local garden centers. The most popular of the variegated cultivars is ‘Color Guard’. Yucca is easy to grow from rhizome divisions. Just dig up a sec - tion, cut it into 3-inch sections, and plant them. I also find it fair - ly easy to divide the clumps and replant them in new locations. Yucca prefer full sun and well-draining soil. They need no fertilizing or extra watering, and they are rabbit- and deer-resistant. They are a great choice for along street edg- es as they are also salt spray- and pollution-resistant. Kathy Jentz is editor/publisher of Washington Gardener mag- azine, a gardening publication published specifically for the lo - cal metro area—zones 6-7—Washington, DC, and its sub- urbs. Jentz is also the host of the popular GardenDC Podcast. The magazine is written entirely by local area gardeners who have real-world knowledge and practical advice with the same problems you experience in your own gardens. It’s now published monthly online and includes timely information such as a local garden events calendar and gardening to-do list for that month. A year’s subscription, six issues, is $20.00. To subscribe: send a check/money order for $20.00 payable to “Washington Gardener” magazine to: Washington Gardener, 826 Phil- adelphia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910; or to pay via Paypal/credit card click on the “subscribe” link at www.WashingtonGardener.com.
BY KATHY JENTZ
Here are three tough-as-nails plants to add to your summer gar - den. All three of these provide support for pollinators, while be - ing gorgeous garden plants. These three can take some harsh con- ditions that other plants will wither in, so if you have a tough spot in your landscape, consider adding one or more of them to it. Cup Plant The Cup Plant ( Silphium perfoliatum ) is a perenni - al plant native to the southeastern United States and up into eastern Canada. It has a wide USDA Zone range of 3 to 9. It blooms in mid- to late summer and is a pollinator powerhouse. Dr. Paula Shrewsbury, an entomologist in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland has stated that Cup Plant is the best native pollinator plant for the state of Maryland. The small, sunflower-likeflowers areheldon tall, sturdy stems. Along the stems are pairs of leaves that form the “cups” that give this plant its common name. After a rain, you may see it retaining water in them. It needs full sun and is very low maintenance. It is an ideal plant for rain gardens as it is not picky about soil types. However, this is a plant that needs its space, so put it where it can spread out a bit. Cup Plant also puts out deep roots making it hard to move it, so pick its spot in your garden carefully. It can re-seed around a bit and the young offshoots can be removed and planted or shared. If you want to collect seeds, do so in September and Oc - tober and then store the seeds in the refrigerator for a cold, moist stratification period of three months to simulate winter. Euphorbia Euphorbia ( Euphorbia spp. ), also known as spurge, is an easy-care perennial plant that deserves a place in your gar- den. Aside from being low-maintenance, it is deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and long-blooming. It is hardy to zones 4-10. Euphorbia prefers full to part sun and well-draining soils. Some plants are short-lived and need to be dug and divided every few years. Euphorbia is also easy to propagate by taking stem cuttings, strip- ping off the lower leaves, and rooting them in a soilless potting mix. The common garden spurge is in the same family (Euphorbiaceae) as poinsettia, croton, castor oil plant, and several kinds of succulents. One thing you will notice that many have in common is they exude a white milky sap when a stem is broken. Be careful when pruning them as this sap can be a skin irritant and harmful if you get it in your eyes. Like their poinsettia cousin, the spurge’s so-called flowers are actually modified leaves called bracts. These stay on for a long time and lend great color appeal to these decorative plants. Spurge are available in colors ranging from bright chartreuse to deep burgundy. Popular varieties in- clude ‘Ascot Rainbow’, ‘Glacier Blue’, and ‘Polychroma’. Yucca Yucca ( Yucca filamentosa ) is a tough plant that is native to the central and eastern United States. It is hardy to USDA zones 5 through 10, and is commonly known as Adam’s Nee - dle, Needle Palm, or simple Yucca. Though it looks like a hot desert plant, it has no problem withstanding ice and snow. In early summer, this broadleaf evergreen shrub puts up a tall flower spike that is striking and also a pollinator magnet. For fun, after the blossoms drop, I like to spray paint the remaining spike
Euphorbia
Yucca
Cup Plant
52—PATHWAYS—Summer 21
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