Late Spring Blooms

The first spring at my new place is rushing into June. There’ve been some garden misses—and this year was light on early flowers—but the end of May shows signs of life with late spring blooms, offering hope that the lawn will shrink and pollinators will once again find their way to this little spot on the earth.

Here’s a look at what's blooming now.

Ninebark

(Physocarpus opulifolius)

Ninebark is a tough shrub in the Rose family that can grow to about 10 feet high in a wide range of sun and soil conditions. I purchased one from Cincinnati Nature Center, left it in the pot, and neglected it for several years. Last fall I moved it to an extra-large 2-foot-wide container, and now it’s covered in blooms. Small bees are visiting the flowers, and the leaves are a potential food source for several species of moth caterpillars. The faded flowers are turning red against a backdrop of bright light-green leaves.

It’s best to get the straight species of Ninebark. If you get a cultivar, make sure the leaf color hasn’t been altered from green to purple or red—the pigments can change the chemical makeup of the leaves, making them less palatable to insects that depend on it as a host plant. For more information, check out this Xerces Society article for cultivar guidelines.

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) in a container — Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) flowers going to seed with red color — Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Blue False Indigo

(Baptisia australis)

This 4-foot-tall shrubby perennial has beautiful purplish-blue blooms, interesting seedpods, and nice-looking leaves for the rest of the growing season. It takes a while for the roots to develop, but once established it’s hard to move, so I started from scratch with a new plant this year. Blue False Indigo is a pollinator nectar plant and host plant for several butterfly species.

Early Figwort

(Scrophularia lanceolata)

I discovered Early Figwort on Prairie Moon Nursery’s website. It’s a perennial pollinator plant for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds and tolerates a wide variety of growing conditions. The nectar-rich flowers are small and remind me of the native Spring Coralroot orchid (Corallorhiza wisteriana)—but on a much taller plant. Early Figwort blooms May–July, and the related Late Figwort (Scrophularia marilandica) from July–October. UPDATE: Early Figwort kept blooming through August. Although I really like this plant, it attracted bald-faced hornets 24/7, so I removed it from the garden. The only time I could get near it to trim it down was when it was pouring rain. It's probably best planted on larger properties for naturalizing, not small gardens.

Hairy Beardtongue

(Penstemon hirsutus)

Hairy Beardtongue is 2-foot-tall perennial with light-purple flowers that bloom a little earlier than other beardtongue species. The stalks shot up this spring from reddish basal leaves that persisted through the winter. It’s another one on this list that’s adaptable to many sun and soil conditions—and another nectar source for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. According to Prairie Nursery, it’s also a host plant for the caterpillars of several Checkerspot butterfly species.

Lyreleaf Sage

(Salvia lyrata)

Lyreleaf Sage is another adaptable bee, butterfly, and hummingbird perennial. It grows about 2 feet high with light blue-lavender blooms and purple-veined semi-evergreen basal leaves. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center recommends it as a groundcover that can be mowed after the seeds disperse.

Foamflower

(Tiarella cordifolia)

Foamflower is a short pollinator perennial with bright-green leaves and white starry blooms in spikes. It thrives in light shade and well-drained woodland soil. I divided and transplanted some to the new garden, and last fall the leaves turned bronze and remained all winter.

Blue-Eyed Grass

(Sisyrinchium angustifolium)

This short perennial in the Iris family has grass-like leaves and delicate blue flowers with a yellow center. Blue-Eyed Grass likes some sun and well-drained soil with consistent moisture—but rich soil and mulch can cause the crown to rot. I’ve never successfully grown it in the ground, so this year it’s in a well-watered container with some sand added to see how it fares.

late spring blooms