I find a lot of gardens on the coast have a heavy emphasis on early spring blooms. You’ve got your heathers, bulbs, cherry trees and early rhododendrons. The list goes on and on.
If you find your garden is in a lull after early spring, check out one of my all-time favourites, geum Totally Tangerine.
This gap plant gets you well through May and June and even re-blooms after some attention later in the season.
There are tons of varieties of geum, which are also referred to as avens, and are a perennial plant that comes from the rose family.
They have an attractive basal rosette of leaves and have wiry stalks on which the flowers are produced.
For those of you familiar with the Chelsea Garden Show in England, Totally Tangerine was first introduced there and has been used in show gardens every season since.
Rose Hardy of Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants launched Totally Tangerine its first year in Chelsea.
“It’s so reliable, floriferous and completely show-stopping. Once you get a plant that is reliably in flower for Chelsea people keep using it,” she says.
Warm tangerine flowers explode over the foliage and bloom for a relatively long time.
Totally Tangerine is sterile (doesn’t produce seed), which allows it to be heavy blooming over an extended period of time.
Butterflies are drawn to this plant.
It looks amazing in front of burgundy leaved plants like cotinus and sambucus. I also like it with blue tones, like helictotrichan.
After the first flush of flowers start to fade, you can cut the plant back and it will re-bloom for another few weeks of interest.
When you cut it back, take off the whole flower stem. When cut back regularly, I have seen this bloom until September.
This perennial is great in the middle or close to the back of your bed. It reaches 30 inches in height and likes full sun, or full morning sun and some afternoon shade. It also appreciates well-draining soil and regular irrigation.
Hardy in zones 4,5,6 and 7, it is perfect for Squamish conditions. It is deer resistant for those of you who suffer from visitors and it spreads about 18 inches at the base. Add a little colour to your mid-season garden.
