Colorful language

Spring is here. Whether you are recovering from a brutally cold winter, or anxiously awaiting just a bit more rain to ease the drought, the longer days and changing angle of the sun brighten spirits and get those golfers longing to get out on the course.

A colorful splash of flowers around the clubhouse, tee boxes and other strategic sites can make a course more memorable and provide an outlet for your creativity and imagination. Although turfgrass is the star of any golf course, flower beds make a terrific supporting cast and can sometimes even steal the show.

Whether you enjoy the flower show or find it a necessary evil, learning about the annuals, perennials and even flowering shrubs and groundcovers that do well in your area will make your job easier and more satisfying. Fortunately, there are resources all around you to help you make a strong floral statement.

So let’s take a trip around the country and learn about some of the options available. Keep in mind that annuals and perennials can be relatively universal. Pansies, petunias and alyssum are planted nationwide with good results. But some do much better in specific microclimates that others.
 

Pacific Northwest

Although we may think of the Pacific Northwest as cool, cloudy and rainy, there are also areas that are dry and sunny. Horticultural Services in Lake Tapp, Wash., serves both. Its "florafinder" division sells a wide variety of starter plants, including flower beds.

"This year, I'm really excited about the SunPatiens line," says Deb Bronken, customer service representative with florafinder. "In this region, it loves full sun and will bloom from late spring through first frost. Best of all, it's impervious to downy mildew."

"SunPatiens are a perfect choice for golf courses," says Alecia Troy, senior marketing manager at Sakata Seeds America Inc., developer of the hybrid. "They are very versatile and fairly low maintenance."

There are three different series of SunPatiens: Compact, Spreading and Vigorous. "The spreading series gives you huge plants; you get lots of coverage from one plant," Bronken says.

When the heat hits, Bronken suggests portulaca. "It's fairly drought tolerant and puts on a nice show," she says. "Verbena is also good for dry sun areas. Like all annuals, it will need some supplemental irrigation, but it can take the heat."
 

West and Southwest

Whether you are in the foggy coastline of California or the blazing sun of Phoenix, there are plants that will work for you. Although the extreme desert locations of Palm Springs and Arizona generally shine during the fall, winter and spring, there are selections that can withstand the summer heat. And annuals and perennials that survive in desert climes thrive in milder temperatures throughout the West.

"Snapdragons are my favorite," says Paul Noe, horticulturist with Star Nursery in Las Vegas. "Snapdragons are a great plant. They can be planted in fall or spring. There are only two periods when they don't do well – the coldest part of winter and the hottest part of summer. On the coast or in milder climates, they do well all year long. The flowers last a long time, and what's cool is that they reseed and reproduce themselves. If the freeze or extreme heat gets them, they come right back."

"Make sure they don’t have rust," cautions Drew Malby, owner of Valley Color. Malby sells to several golf courses in Southern Nevada, as well as a few in Northern Nevada and Arizona. "Sometimes a good dose of nitrogen will get rid of existing rust."

With the heat of summer approaching, both Malby and Noe recommend New Look celosia for its toughness and resiliency. "I like to see it used with blue salvia to act as a taller background plant for a color bed," Malby says. "Both have very little fungus or rust problems and the rabbits won't eat them."

Noe is also enthusiastic about lantanas. "Lantanas love the heat; they will take temperatures to 110 degrees. They provide almost continuous color from spring to the first frost," Noe says.
 

Midwest

When it comes to golf course color, Gary Tamko has been handling the job at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis., for more than 30 years. The famous "Flower Hole" has been photographed and admired throughout the world.

"We plant about 35,000 plants each year," Tamko says. "I used to do it all myself, but now I work with Heidi A. Heath Farms." Although the greenhouse grower now provides most of the designs and plants, Tamko knows which will do the best for him.

"Geraniums have beautiful color, but they need quite a bit of maintenance," Tamko says. "We've found that petunias are better. The old varieties would get leggy, but there are newer varieties that do really well.

"Marigolds are bright and colorful and give you great masses of color, but we find that they get tired before the end of the season," Tamko adds. "Last year we planted celosia. They worked pretty well."

Tamko's biggest surprise, however, is the humble begonia. "Everyone says they are a shade plant, but we put them in full sun and they do just fine,” he says. “They are low-maintenance annuals and don't require a lot of deadheading."
 

Northeast

Kellye Stanley is a self-confessed plant lover. "My biggest problem is narrowing down to a half-dozen 'must-have' choices," she says. Stanley works in outside sales at Cavicchio Greenhouses in Sudbury, Mass. The wholesale-only grower supplies plants to retail nurseries, landscapers and golf courses throughout the Northeast.

"It is important to remember on a golf course to plant for high impact from a distance in areas along fairways, tree lines, etc." Stanley says. "Bold color in masses is the simplest way to attain this effect."

Stanley also points out that foliage plants, tropical accents and grasses can all be added to flower beds for more interest.

Coleus is a popular foliage plant. Although it has been available for years, there has been a wealth of breeding and now there are countless varieties that come in a wide range of colors. "The foliage adds some really rich shades of color," Stanley says. "Although they are known as a shade plant, there are now cultivars that tolerate sun as well."

For sunny spots, Stanley suggests the following combination: "Try canna in multiples at the rear of the bed, interplanted with cleome. Use SunPatiens for a mass color fill, along with angelonia at an intermediate height for transition. Then use lantana at the front of the bed."

"Cannas make an excellent border backdrop," Stanley says. "They are great for a tropical look and tolerate the heat. They also tolerate wet areas."
 

Southeast

Ending our tour, Costa Farms, based in Miami, ships to retail nurseries throughout the nation and even internationally. "My favorite annual for every region is blue angelonia," says Justin Hancock, consumer marketing and digital specialist at Costa Farms. "It's a relative newcomer; it's only been available for about 15 years. It's so good in heat and humidity and will tolerate drought, deer and rabbits. There's also some nice whites, pinks and a couple of fun bicolors. It has a tall spiky shape that is fantastic for contrast against many mounding annuals. It's so easy to grow."

Hancock still has enthusiasm for an old favorite, the petunia, although it now offers a huge range of possibilities. "Take, for example, the Supertunia Vista Bubblegum,” he says. “A lot of people will tell you it's the standard for landscape plants. It's a beast. A total workhorse."

Supertunias are a product of plant cooperative Proven Winners, where one plant of the Vista Bubblegum series was described at two feet tall, three feet wide and five feet long. The large plants are perfect for tight budgets.

"Now a sister of petunias, and a pretty new plant, is the Petchoa," Hancock says. "It has the best characteristics of the petunia and the calibrachoa." Calibrachoa, sometimes called "million bells" has been described as a "tiny petunia on steroids." Petchoas are another product from Sakata Seeds.

"You get the petunia-shaped flower, but it is much more robust than the typical calibrachoa. It shows great landscape performance and one of the nice characteristics is that it holds up to cooler temperatures. That means you can plant it earlier in the spring and it will perform later in the fall," Hancock says.

Helen M. Stone is a West Coast writer and editor specializing in professional turf and landscapes, as well as a frequent GCI contributor.