Everyone should enjoy plenty of flowers for the Fourth of July. Cut some and bring them indoors. If the weather is good, you and any guests can wander around the yard, sipping iced tea or something stronger, and admiring the flowers of the day.

An Independence Day garden should have flowers that are red, white and blue to show a patriotic theme, but are welcoming – accepting and loving flowers of any color.

RED

The most visible red flower in what we still call our vegetable garden is associated with a different holiday, Veterans Day, although it doesn’t bloom then. I refer to the red Flanders Field poppy, of course, and it is gorgeous. We never planted it. In the 1990s, my wife, Nancy, purchased double poppy seeds from the American Horticulture Society. Lush and striking, the blossoms resembled peonies. The double poppy seeds are annuals that self-seed, but over the years we noticed an ever larger percentage of the flowers were the single red poppy. We tried cutting off the seed heads of the single poppies and letting only doubles drop their seeds in the garden. To no avail. The doubles disappeared.

Enjoy poppies in the garden, because in a vase, they last only a few hours before dropping their petals. You can cut them a day early, before the blossoms fully open, but it isn’t worth the effort. And don’t worry: Although poppies produce opium, these poppies are not the most potent variety, and all poppies are legal to grow for ornamental purposes.

Roses and geraniums are among the most popular red flowers in bloom now. Also, you may have late-blooming red peonies in your garden or small red dianthus blooms. Personally, we’ve never had luck with the red varieties, while their relative, carnations, die each winter here in our experience. Although also red, dahlias and gladiolus aren’t usually in bloom in time for July 4.

WHITE

Aruncus is my favorite white flower that’s in bloom over the holiday.  It comes in two forms: a dwarf at about a foot tall, and a 6-foot version. The full-size version is native to the Eastern United States. I like it because the blossoms, which begin in June and continue all summer long, are tall and wide and remind me of fireworks. Other white flowers in bloom now in our garden include feverfew, which looks like small daisies; actual daisies; white Canterbury bells; and astilbe.

BLUE

Of the three, blue blossoms are toughest to find, especially this year. Baptisia comes in blue, but it might be on its way out when the Fourth arrives, as will most of the blue Siberian irises.

Many people are familiar with blue hydrangeas, especially the popular ‘Endless Summer’ hydranga. But ‘Endless Summer’ is having a bad year. In our own garden as well as others I’ve observed in the neighborhood, some bushes died, others sent out a few leaves, and I haven’t seen any buds yet. Few people will have blue hydrangeas in time for this year’s holiday.

Fortunately, we have a gorgeous deep-blue clematis climbing on a fence near the vegetable garden. The striking flowers bloom for a long time, though the stems are too short for cutting. Blue salvia may still be in bloom, as will blue Canterbury bells. And though the shade of blue is lighter than that in the U.S. flag, penstemon has blue blossoms. Other points in its favor: The flowers last a long time and the plant is easy to grow.

It’s not red, white or blue (the blossoms are pink), but another plant we always enjoy on July 4 is our Independence rhododendron, so named because it blooms about six weeks later than most other rhododendrons, ergo now. Usually, the bush blooms nicely. Not this year. Its buds must have been hit during our weird winter. Happily, our kalmias, or mountain laurel, are making up for it.

The Fourth of July plants that really make the holiday for me, though, are strawberries and fresh peas. You bet I will enjoy those on Tuesday.

Tom Atwell is a freelance writer gardening in Cape Elizabeth. He can be contacted at: tomatwell@me.com.

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