Shade lovers: Non-stop begonia, lobelia, and impatiens
As you’ve probably noticed by now, my raised beds are built of cement blocks with the holes oriented up and down and filled with topsoil. Very few plants actually survive our 50 below winters, so I buy annuals each summer, mostly in 6-packs, and plant them in the holes of the cement blocks.
Annuals bordering the lavenders and other herbs
Some are truly annuals, growing from seed, flowering, seeding and dying in a single season, regardless of climate. Some are in truth biennials or perennials in more clement climates, but are grown as annuals in Alaska.
Lantana. This is actually a perennial shrub, but I treat it as an annual.
In general the flowers I choose will keep blooming throughout the summer if they are deadheaded—the flowers cut off after they bloom but before they can form seeds. This keeps the plant thinking it has to keep on blooming to produce seed. (I must admit that this is something I frequently forget to do.)
Calibrachoa, Pansy and Petunia edging the squash bed.
A few plants are sterile hybrids, and these never need to be deadheaded—they just exist in a constant state of frustration.
Pansies. I love the colors these are available in today, and the way the colors change as the flowers age..
Pansies are very popular in Alaska, and they will self-seed.
Portulaca (moss rose.) They like more sun than we’ve had this year, but they do like our long days.
A sunshine favorite is portulaca, or moss rose. The last week or two have not been kind to these.
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Beautiful! What made you choose the cement blocks for raised beds? Quite convenient. I recall visiting Florida one year, and being envious of the Lantana growing wild there. 🙂
Durability, mainly. They work quite well.
Lovely! And interesting botanical tidbits too…
I try to keep the garden going, even when I have trouble walking.
Your flowers are so beautiful! I live in a very warm and dry state, so we have no issues with perennials. But because it is so hot petunias and snapdragons tend to wilt in the heat of the summer. I have some roses, and they do great in this weather as long as they get some shade and enough water. My fuschia is hanging from the roof, so it does nicely during summer. I’m a beginning gardener and I lost a few plants to snails, caterpillars, and overwatering. I didn’t lose anything to the spider mites but they infested lots of plants before I figured out why my plants were dying. I had a hip preservation surgery so my husband had to take care of the garden for several weeks. Let’s just say he didn’t give them the love and attention I did XD But he watered them and kept them from dying.
We have relatively cool summers (at least around midnight) and loooong hours of relatively low sunlight. (The sun never gets as much as 50° above the horizon.)