By David P. Davis
Newsroom@DominionPost.com
Every year at the West Virginia Botanic Gardens, 1061 Tyrone Road, gardens are expanded, flower beds are refreshed and new plantings are established.
Our new pollinator garden beds have added thousands of blooms to the WVBG. These wildflower beds reside below the Yagle Garden and have been worked and seeded with flower mixtures that include both annuals and perennials. The mixes strive to offer blooms throughout the growing season to support all manner of butterflies, bees and birds.
Now blooming in the pollinator beds are a number of wildflowers that are members of the daisy family, Asteraceae. We start with black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta. Our black-eyed Susans took a year to settle in, but are now in full display with hundreds of blooms opening up. They stand 2-3 feet tall with hairy leaves, and blooms that are 3-4 inches wide.
The composite flowers are notable for their deep brown eyes and petals that can be yellow, orange-brown, or include gradients from burnt orange to yellow. Black-eyed Susan is considered a short-lived perennial, but once well established, it will reseed the flower bed and come back year after year.
Another daisy now blooming in the pollinator bed is the Mexican hat, Ratibida columnifera. The sombrero-shaped flower head includes a tall cone and drooping petals that range from dark red to yellow.
The last flower coming into bloom in the pollinator bed this week is the blanket flower, Gaillardia aristata. Another member of the daisy family, this flower gets its name from patterns reminiscent of native American blanket art. These composite flowers have red eyes with petals that radiate from red to yellow.
Echinacea coneflower is another notable North American prairie wildflower coming into bloom this week. In the Yagle Garden, we have select plantings of several special varieties. This includes the Echinacea “Hot Papaya,” a double hybrid variety of the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Hot papaya blooms have stacked papaya-orange petals with a red-green cone. Its blooms are long-lasting and will change color and shape as they age in the garden.
Another coneflower cultivar now blooming is a new addition to the Yagle Garden, the raspberry truffle coneflower (Echinacea purpurea “Raspberry Truffle”). This coneflower has a deep raspberry red eye with lovely orange petals, a true beauty. A large patch of these coneflowers was planted last year in a sea of Sporobolus grass to create a dramatic effect.
Come see this and more on your next walk in the garden!
