June brings amazing new blooming flowers to Petworth
/One of Drew’s favorites is Phlox, like this one on Varnum Street NW
If you’ve found yourself walking around our beautiful neighborhood admiring the flowers and wondering what you’re looking at, we’re here to help. Welcome to "Petworth Blooming,” a popular series featuring some of the most common plants and flowers seen around Petworth. Follow and support Steve at PetworthBlooms.org and see more photos at @petworthblooms on Instagram.
One of the most common shrubs planted in front of Petworth porches is the Hydrangea. These bushes are well known for having flowers that change color based on the acidity of the soil they grow in. More acidic yields blue flowers while a more neutral pH results in pink flowers.
Blue hydrangeas on Taylor Street NW
Pink and blue hydrangea on Grant Circle
There are also some species of hydrangea that have white or cream flowers. Oak-Leaf Hydrangea is a common one seen around the neighborhood. Its large clusters of flowers can each grow over a foot long! They are significantly more fragrant than a normal hydrangea, and better at attracting bees and other pollinators.
Oak-leaf hydrangea on Taylor Street NW
Oak-leaf hydrangea at “Becky’s Garden,” the 4th & Shepherd Streets triangle park
Hybrid Asiatic Lilies have large showy flowers that come in a wide variety of colors. Some feature flowers with recurved petals that point down instead of up. These plants can be planted as bulbs in the fall for an easy addition of early summer color.
Asiatic lilies on 4th Street NW
Daylilies get their name because each flower typically only lasts one day, and the flowers look like those of a lily. However, recent genetic analysis has revealed that daylilies are actually not part of the lily family, but rather belong in the group that includes asparagus! They are very easy to grow and come in many colors.
Orange daylilies at the 7th & Taylor Streets triangle park
The Balloon Flower gets its name from the way the flower buds open. The ends of the petals remain fused together as the bud grows creating a puffed up “balloon.” Only when the flower is fully developed do the petals separate, exposing the reproductive parts of the flower. These flowers are usually blue, but pink and white are also available.
Balloon flowers on Upshur Street NW
A better look at the balloon like buds in various stages of “inflating”
Blazing Star (or Liatris) sends up tall spikes of purple flowers. Unlike most spikes of flowers that open starting from the bottom and moving up, liatris opens the flowers on the top of the spike first. This is a great native pollinator plant and a member of the aster family. They can be purchased cheaply as bulbs in the spring.
Blazing star on 7th Street with lavender in the background
These blazing stars have just barely started blooming at Kansas and Georgia. Also featuring Blanket flower (red), Butterfly weed (orange) and Black-eyed Susans (yellow)
Geraniums are a very large and diverse plant family, with several species native to our area, but most gardeners think of the large showy flowers of more tropical species which are now classified as Pelargonium. These plants are from southern Africa and are very heat and drought tolerant. There are a number of varieties available, mostly in the white to red color spectrum.
Geraniums on Illinois Avenue NW
Unlike its creeping cousin, Garden Phlox stands tall and upright. A classic garden flower, there are lots of varieties and colors to choose from. They require fairly consistent soil moisture and good air movement to avoid mildew problems.
A pinkish garden phlox on Varnum Street NW
A very common flower in meadows and old fields throughout the middle and Eastern US, Common Milkweed is an essential food source for Monarch caterpillars. It creates ball shaped clusters of fragrant flowers in summer, and large seed pods full of fluffy fibers later in the year.
Common milkweed on Upshur Street
So what's blooming next in Petworth? We’ll talk about that next month!
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