2024 Energy Park Gardens

New Plants at Energy Park

Gardens are ever-changing and the We Energies Energy Park gardens are no different. We had to move a few plants that were not performing as well as we wanted or had outgrown their space. As sad as it is to remove plants, it presents an opportunity to showcase some of the newer varieties now available.

We focused on smaller shrubs like Cobalt-N-Gold™ Hypericum, Tiny Quick Fire® Hydrangea, and Summerific® All Eyes on Me Hardy Hibiscus that won’t obstruct sight lines.  We added summer-blooming upright Red Pillar™ Rose-of-Sharon and Fiber Optics® Buttonbush along the fence; both with great pollinator appeal. In addition, you’ll find two new repeat-blooming Bigleaf Hydrangeas. Pop Star® is compact at 18” tall and long blooming, and Eclipse® has dark purple leaves on 3 to 5’ tall plants.

With the help of volunteers we dug, divided and moved some existing perennials to fill voids and added several new ones to the garden. I also brought along some of my planters filled with new or perhaps new to you varieties you might want to try next year.

Shrubs

Perennials

Annuals

Containers

Container A

• Coffee Cups Elephant Ears
  • Sun tolerant
  • 3-5' tall
• Totally Tempted™ Cupheas
  • 12-18" tall & wide
  • No deadheading
  • Heat tolerant
  • Pollinator and hummingbird favorites
    • Totally Tempted™ Frosted Violets™
      • Flowers are violet-purple with blush pink rim
    • Totally Tempted™ Vivid Violet™
      • Flowers are violet-purple with rich violet edges
• Easy Wave® White Spreading Petunia
  • 6-12" tall x 30-39" wide

Container B

• Totally Tempted Richly Red™ Cuphea
  • Flowers are red with deep purple center
• Pockmark Peach Hot Pepper
  • Purple leaves and black peppers that ripen to peach in color
  • Cross with Ghost pepper, so very hot
• Easy Wave® Red Velour Spreading Petunia
  • 6-12" tall x 30-39" wide

Container C

• Art & Sol™ Thunderbird Mangave
  • 8-12" tall x 10-12" wide
  • Rosette of purple leaves with red spots
  • Cross between Manfreda and Agave
  • Move indoors for winter
  • Zones 9-11
• GoldDust® Mercardonia
  • Blooms all summer
  • 2-5" tall x 12-15" wide
  • Full sun
  • No deadheading
  • Also makes a great annual groundcover
• Golden Moneywort
  • Aggressive, so great in a container
  • Ground hugging
  • Chartreuse foliage, yellow flowers

Container D

• Persian Shield
  • 18-36" tall x 18-24" wide
• Fireworks Variegated Fountain Grass
  • 24-30" tall x 18-24" wide
  • Variegated foliage with pink flowers
• Supertunia Mini Vista® Plum Veined
  • No deadheading
  • Trails to 24"
  • Fuchsia pink flowers with plum veins
• Imperial Star Artichoke
  • Annual in colder regions, perennial in Zone 7 and warmer
  • Nearly spineless
  • Produces 3-4" chokes the first year

Container E

• Pot-a-Peño Pepper
  • 12-15" tall
  • 3-4" jalapeño peppers
  • 45-50 days for green fruit
  • 60-65 days for red fruit
  • 2021 All-America Selections Winner

Container F

• Delizz® Strawberry
  • Vigorous plants you can grow from seed (120 days to harvest) or transplant (60 days) and pick several crops the first year
  • Day neutral, so produces all summer long
  • Sweet and fragrant fruit
  • 2016 All-America Selections Winner
  • Zone 3

In the Elevated Garden

• Cardinal Climber
  • Finely dissected foliage
  • Red flowers that attract hummingbirds
  • 3-6' tall vine climbing on trellis
• Bandolera™ Lantana
  • Heat and drought tolerant
  • Pollinator friendly
  • 18-24" tall & wide
    • Bandolera™ Guava Imp.
      • Flowers in shades of orange and yellow
    • Bandolera™ Red
      • Mostly red flowers
• Florida Blue Lisianthus
  • Blue-green leaves with blue flowers
  • Compact 8-10" plants
• Bat-Faced Cuphea
  • 12-18" tall & wide
  • Flowers resemble a bat's face with 2 upward facing petals and purple calyx
  • Free flowering
  • Hummingbirds, butterflies and pollinator favorite
• Amethyst Basil
  • 16-20" tall
  • Genovese basil with thick, down curved purple leaves
• Italian Flat Parsley
  • 12" tall & wide
  • Favorite of chefs and swallowtail butterflies
• Violetta Lunga Eggplant
  • Early bearing
  • Almost seedless
  • 6-8" club-shaped fruit

For the Kids of All Ages

• Sensitive Plant
  • Pea family
  • Responds to touch
    • Rapid water release from cells at the base of the leaflets
      • Thought to be a defense mechanism against browsing herbivores
    • Leaves droop in response to low light nyctinastic movement
• Peanuts
  • Related to peas and beans (legume)
  • The yellow flowers form above ground, once pollinated and fertilized will push through the soil where the peanuts form underground
  • Annual that needs long, warm summer to mature (120-150 days)
  • Many garden centers are selling transplants for shorter growing seasons

---

Attracting Hummingbirds

Create an inviting habitat for hummingbirds in your landscape. Start by planting flowers you both can enjoy. Be sure to include some hummingbird favorites with red and purple tubular-shaped flowers. The Energy Park hummingbird garden features salvia, zinnia, spider cleome, lavender, cuphea, and milkweed. See more about these plants below.

Add one or more feeders to help attract and support hummingbirds throughout the summer and as they migrate north in the spring and south in the fall. Fill the feeders with a 1-part sugar to 4-part water solution. Use hummingbird feeders with some red on them and do not add red food coloring to the nectar mix as it can be toxic to the birds. Replace the mixture and clean the feeders every few days to keep them clean and safe for the hummingbirds. Provide space between the feeders or place them on different sides of your house if you find a hummingbird trying to dominate the feeders. And make sure there is cover within 10 to 15 feet of the feeders, so they have a nearby safe retreat from predators.

Put feeders up a few weeks before the hummingbirds are expected to arrive and leave them up for at least 2 weeks after you see the last hummingbird in fall. Some of those migrating south through your area may be delayed due to illness or injury and will benefit from this extra food since many of our fall flowers will be past their peak.

Skip the pesticides and tolerate a bit of insect damage. The hummingbirds and most songbirds eat insects and many feed them to their young, helping to manage insect pests in the garden.

Add a birdbath and keep it clean and filled with fresh water. Hummingbirds like to play in water mists and spray so including a mister or fountain in your birdbath will be appreciated.

Be patient as it can take time for hummingbirds to find your yard. The wait will be worth it once they arrive and continue to return to your yard each year.

 

All plants below thrive in full sun.

---

Garden Challenges

Each growing season presents challenges. Some are new and others are a battle every year. Diseases, insect pests, and weeds can make growing and enjoying our gardens more difficult.

Managing weeds is important. These unwanted plants compete with our garden plants for water and nutrients. In addition, some become hosts for insects and diseases, increasing the risk of these attacking our desirable plants.

Removing weeds when young is much easier and prevents them from setting seed which can result in hundreds or even thousands of new weeds in next year’s garden. But all the rain may have prevented you from getting into your garden in a timely manner. Once the weeds flower, if you can’t remove them, cut off the flowering stem to help reduce or prevent seed formation.

After the weeds are out of the garden, spread a layer of mulch over the soil surface. This prevents many weed seeds from sprouting, and those that do sprout will be much easier to pull.

Diseases occur when the disease organism (fungus, bacteria, or virus) is present, the weather conditions are ideal for the disease, and you have a susceptible plant. Removing one of these factors prevents the disease from occurring. We can’t control the weather, but we can reduce the amount of disease organisms present with proper garden sanitation. In addition, we can avoid growing plants that are highly susceptible to common diseases and plant disease-resistant varieties whenever possible.

Insect populations are also impacted by weather. Some are more prevalent in hot dry weather while wet weather can promote diseases that kill certain insects. In addition, there are many predatory and parasitic insects along with songbirds that help manage problem insects. Working with nature can mean better results with little or no intervention.

---

Thanks to We Energies, all the companies that donate plants, volunteers who help make We Energies Energy Park a Beautiful Oasis at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds.

• Ansay & Associates 
• Billy Goat Mulch 
• Corona Tools 
• Crawford Tree & Landscape Services, Inc
• Createscape Landscaping Service, Inc. 
• Diggers Hotline
• Ebert’s Greenhouse Village 
• First Editions® Shrubs & Trees 
• Groth’s Country Gardens 
• Intrinsic Perennial Gardens
• Landworks
• Milorganite
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
• MJS Landscaping
• My Team:
  • Dawn Stark
  • Diana Paul
  • Julie Brothen
  • Kathleen McLaughlin
• Eric Morgan
• Peaces of Love 
• Plantskydd® Animal Repellent
• Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs 
• Reinders
• Stone Oak Landscapes
• Summit® Mosquito Dunks®
• Summit® Year-Round® Spray Oil
• Suntory SOIREE® KAWAII Vinca
• Terra-Firma Landscape
• Walters Gardens, Inc. & Proven Winners®
• Wild Valley Farms Wool Pellets
• William J Wandsnider & Associates
• WI Dept. of Natural Resources Terrestrial Invasive Species
• Nate Zilles
• Steve Zimmer

 

Related