VERY Hardy Perennial Flowers

A lot of you know this already...but in March it will be 1 year since my son's father died in a car accident. His dad lived in Arizona where we had lived for many years. We moved to Idaho about 9 months before his father died. My son is 10. He likes to talk to his Dad a lot but in talking to him I think he would like to have a place on our property where he could "go" to sit and talk to him. My husband is going to make a memorial type thing with his name on it and such and I was going to place it in a box and plant some flowers that will come back every spring in there and place it a little ways away from the house so Caleb can "get away" and go talk to his Dad.

I know JACK about flowers and even less about flowers that will come back each spring in my climate. Can anyone make some suggestions? I'd like there to be some low ones (alyssym?), mid-height ones and tall ones (black eyed susan?) to make the box really full.

TIA
Jennie

The house I rented in Chicago for 2 years had daffodils in early spring, daylilies mid summer, coneflowers late summer and sedum in early fall. Don't know who planted them, but I sure enjoyed having them. Looking at the catalogues, coneflowers come in the most amazing colors now. These would be for a full sun garden. I also added a few low growing annuals to fill in during the summer as I was only there for 1 full summer.

Kay

I meant to mention that this will be in full sun...I don't really have much shade on the property.

Are daffodils a bulb flower? Would I have to dig the bulbs up and replant every year?

Daffodils only have to be dug every few years as they multiply and fill up the space making the flowers smaller and not as prolific. Check out the "water saver garden" from Michigan Bulb. On sale right now for $16.20. Fourteen plants ( 8 varieties) hardy to zone 3.

Thank you...I appreciate the help.

Looking thru "Johnny's Selected Seeds" catalog, I found some interesting perrenials you can grow from seed by starting them indoors.

Forget Me Nots Zones 4 - 8. Grows 6 inches tall. A personal favorite of mine. Sweet little blue flowers.

Alyssum is not in the Johnnys catalog, and I always start from transplants, but mine come back here on the coast.

Delphinum Zones 3 - 7. Grows 30 - 36 inches tall. Stately tall blooms, lots of colors, blues pinks and whites, need support

Monarda - Bee Balm Zones 4 - 9, about 30 inches tall. Attracts bees and hummingbirds. Gorgeous red

Hollyhocks are Biennial Zones 3 - 10, 4 - 6 ft. Always amazing to me.

You can always fill in with annuals.

Your husband is an absolute dear to create a memorial for Caleb's Dad. He sounds like a good perrenial to me.

Thanks furbalsmom... Yeah Forget Me Not’s are a good idea... thanks for the research. Joe (my hubby) and Josh (Caleb's Dad) got along really well. We were all relatively good friends considering the situation. We went to all of Caleb's school functions and sporting events etc together and then usually went out for dinner and a drink afterwards. Joe is happy to make it. He is a dear.

Chopper...I kinda wanted to plant seeds WITH Caleb for this...so he could watch them grow, watch them live. Otherwise the blanket idea WOULD be perfect. I thought if we planted it together then I would send him out to water it alone each time and then he would get used to going out there to it. I have this mental image (we know those never really pan out but...) of me being in the garden working alone and him having me close enough for support but far enough away for privacy and being able to really do the talking he needs to do for healing. I know he is having a really hard time since he came back from visiting AZ over his Christmas break. His attitude is very combative and I think each time he goes to AZ and his Dad isn't there he has one more reminder that he is REALLY gone.

Anyway....I hope to be able to tie some parable to the planting of the seeds and them growing and living to his dad's memory and helping him to focus on things other than being angry. I just haven't found the right words, or parable to tie to the seeds. I grew up a very angry teen and young adult and I just want to do all I can to prevent that for him.

Thanks for all the help guys!!!
Jennie

Because of all of it...the part that makes tears sting my eyes and the part that makes me smile.

Awww...La Fee, don't cry. I didn't post to make people feel sad..I REALLY wanted feedback on good hardy flowers.

You guys here are like my garden fairy family (another of my fruity mental visions)...thanks for caring and listening and helping me pick the right flowers.

Jen

heh. I get misty eyed at insurance commercials.

(it's all of it...how hard it is on your son, and how loving of you and your husband to do this for him....*snif* --- don't worry, it's not just the sad part.)

Jen, you and Joe are wonderful parents to think of doing this for Caleb.

The Victorians had a "language of flowers" called floriography. Each plant had special meanings when given to another or planted. Not all the lists read the same, but rosemary is always for remembrance on every list I found, and marigold is always for grief. Here are some of the other flowers I compiled from a variety of lists that might be appropriate.

Jonquils - sympathy
Pink carnations -I will never forget you
Red poppies - Consolation and eternal sleep
Sweetpea - goodbye (warning, this is the poisonous flowering kind, not the edible garden pea.)
Blue salvia - I think of you
Thyme - strength, courage, restful sleep
Yellow zinnia - daily remembrance
Lavender - devotion
Purple hyacinth - sorrow
Blue hyacinth - constancy
Cyclamen - resignation and goodbye
Iris - sending a message
Marigold - grief
Snowdrop - hope or consolation
Pansy - forget me not, or think of me
White periwinkle - happy memories
Stocks - bonds of affection
Weeping willow - mourning

Jonquils, snowdrops, and hyacinths are all spring-flowering bulbs which will come up year after year and are usually winter-hardy. Iris are corms (like rhizomes) which bloom soon after these and come up year after year.

Poppies reseed themselves each year. Hardy cyclamen is perennial, but doesn't like bright sunlight - neither do snowdrops...you can google and find the growing conditions for most of these if you decide to go this route.

Most rosemarys are hardy to Zone 8, but there are some hardy to zone 5 or 6

Territorial has plants only
ARP surviving to zone 5 with protection
Barbeque hardy to zone 6

Johnny's has one variety available as seeds
Rosemarinus officinalis, (no variety listed) hardiness Zones 6-10

Bulbs are wonderful because they return every year and are pretty low-maintenance, and you only have to divide every 3-5 years (and it may be less frequent further north). I would also recommend crocus. They're beautiful little flowers and they're the first thing to come up in the spring. I have lots of bulbs planted around our farm and they're a wonderful splash of color that requires very little attention. Monarda (also known as bee balm) is a tall, lovely flower that bees adore, and it actually comes in more than just red. I've grown red, white and pink.

I hope the memorial helps your son to process his loss *hug*