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Flowers for wet bed in spring, dry in summer

10 years ago

I have a flower bed that is very wet in spring until the frost goes out. When the frost goes out the bed dries out it and is a dry bed due to the overhang on the house denying it moisture. If it needs water that can be provided.

I want to plant something that blooms consistently for a long time. I have seen a bed at a business containing flowers with long narrow leaves and yellow flowers and this bed seems to bloom most of the summer. Something similar to this is what I want. My wife says those flowers are lilies. I am ignorant about flowers, my specialty is vegetables.

This bed and 2 others were supposed to be my wife's flower beds but because some garter snakes hide out in there she won't go near them, so now I will be taking over for their care.

One bed is very dry and I will plant tulips there. The other bed is wet in spring and I want yucca in there. I need suggestions for the bed that is wet for a week or two in spring and dry thereafter.

Thanks for any and all suggestions in advance.

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Comments (2)

gardenper
10 years ago
I thought you meant "all spring" that it is wet or that it is wet consistently for a long time. But if it is only 1-2 weeks, then I would also suggest to find a way to not have it be so wet for those 2 weeks.

That would help not to have any potential issues with plants that are there. To me, it would be like the short dip of temperature that could kill a plant, even if the rest of the year, there were decent temperatures. So two weeks of wet or standing wetness in that area could kill some plant.

Although you are willing to water it, some drought-tolerant or low-nutrition plants would do well there also, since you say the ground is dry, so there may not be much nutrient there.

In that case, maybe purslane or moss rose would be possible there. There are several varieties but both bloom consistently until frost.

As for the lily, I can't think of a lily that matches that description, but maybe someone else well. For lilies, though, I would be concerned about the 2 weeks of wetness, combined with possibly a winter of probably a lot of rains and snow also, if that is what is causing the area to be wet.
blueswimmer68
9 years ago
Hello-

This is a late response but I wanted to share what has succeeded in my bed with similar seasonal wet issues.

I have a bed in an area at the back of my yard with poor drainage in clay. It stays very wet for a few days after a strong rain (we jokingly say we have "waterfront property" when it happens because the water pools on the surface for a day or two). We can't afford drainage tile installation at this point and the area is away from the house so we are working around it. When it dries out it isn't super dry, just normal.

When it's wet, especially in spring, it will rot anything that hates wet feet. Things doing well are bearded irises (only bloom in spring but the foliage is interesting in the summer), daylilies, and hardy hibiscus.

Perhaps the yellow "lilies" you saw are actually Stella D'Oro daylilies (hemerocallis, not true lilies)? They do fine in my wet/dry area and bloom steadily.

Not sure of your zone but hardy hibiscus does very well here in the DC area and the 8-10 inch flowers make a gorgeous display in the summer. I have Lord Baltimore, Kopper King, Peppermint Flare and Peppermint Schnapps. I love them!

My true lilies are all in other parts of the yard because the bulbs would rot in the wet springs.

Hope this helps!
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