Yarrow, Globemallow, and Blanketflower for the Awful Native Dirt
Okay. We've spent a lot of time talking about soil and pH and not drowning your penstemons. Now let's actually talk plants, because I know that's what a lot of you have been waiting for.
These three are my starting lineup. If you're new to this and overwhelmed by plant lists, just start here. Yarrow, globemallow, blanketflower. They all want the same thing, which is the lousy dirt you already have and to be left alone once they're established.
Yarrow (Achillea)
This is Grandma's yarrow, remember. Feathery gray-green foliage, flat clusters of tiny flowers on top, usually white or that soft yellow if you get the straight species. There are fancier colored hybrids at the nursery now too, pinks and reds, and those are fine, but I'll admit I'm partial to the plain kind because it's the kind that survived on total neglect in my grandmother's yard and then my cousin's yard and now mine.
What it wants: full sun, lousy soil, and water while it's getting established and then basically nothing. It spreads by rhizomes, so give it room or plan on dividing it every couple years. Mine by the mailbox has never once been watered on purpose since I planted it, and it looks better than plants I fuss over constantly.
Globemallow (Sphaeralcea)
This one's the orange-flowered plant you've probably seen up the canyon or along the freeway and thought was just a weed. It kind of is, in the best way. Apricot-orange cup-shaped flowers, gray-green fuzzy leaves, blooms a long stretch of the summer if you don't baby it.
Globemallow is the plant I texted my sister about at 6 in the morning because I was so happy it made it through its first winter. She does not garden. She did not care. I sent the photo anyway because honestly some plants deserve a little celebration.
What it wants: sun, good drainage, and to be left alone. Do not amend the hole. Do not give it rich soil. It gets leggy and floppy in good soil and it gets short and tough and floriferous in bad soil, which is the opposite of what you'd expect and part of why I love it.
Blanketflower (Gaillardia)
Red and yellow daisy-shaped flowers, blooms forever, technically a short-lived perennial that reseeds itself so it acts more permanent than it is. This is the plant that taught me my lesson about amending soil.
I lost a whole planting of blanketflower my first winter because I'd dug the holes and dumped in good stuff from Macey's, the nice bagged soil, thinking I was helping. They rotted. Turns out blanketflower wants the awful native dirt, straight up, no help from me. Humbling, like I said before. I planted the replacements in unamended clay and they've reseeded themselves into three other spots in the yard since, uninvited, which is honestly the best kind of low maintenance.
Planting steps for all three
- Pick full sun. These three do not want shade, not even part shade if you can help it.
- Dig the hole, no compost, no amendment. Just break up the native soil a little so roots aren't hitting a wall.
- Water in well at planting. Then water regularly the first season, tapering off as fall comes.
- Second year on, water only during real dry stretches. Less is more. I'll say it again because it's the thing people can't stand to do: back off the water once it's established. Overwatering kills more of these plants than drought ever does.
- Mulch around them, a couple inches, keeps roots cooler and holds a little moisture without smothering them.
The August gap
Here's the thing about all three of these plants, and it's actually why I started keeping a bloom time list on my phone in the first place. I got tired of my yard looking amazing in June and then just sitting there dead-boring by August, which is exactly when everybody's outside wanting the yard to look good.
Yarrow blooms early summer and can rebloom if you deadhead it. Globemallow will go most of the summer if it's happy. Blanketflower is your best bet for actually carrying you into August and even September, it just keeps going. So if you only have room for one "fills the August gap" plant, make it blanketflower. That's not an accident that I put it last on this list.
One real caution: globemallow and yarrow both spread more than beginners expect, by seed or by root. Not dangerous, just aggressive. Give them room or be ready to pull some out later. Nobody warned me and I fought yarrow out of a walkway for a season.
Before next time
Look at your yard plan from a couple lessons back and figure out where you've got a hole in your bloom times, probably July or August. Pencil in one of these three there and bring it to class.