KY Garden Flowers - Tagetes to Tulipa

*Tagetes*	*Thalictrum*	*Tiarella*	*Torenia*	*Tropaeolum*
*Teucrium*	*Thymus*	*Tithonia*	*Trillium*	*Tulipa*

Tagetes - Marigold

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
yellow, orange, bronze, white	6"- 36"	summer	spider mites, thrips, leafhoppers, slugs	edging, border, cut flower	seeds

Performance - Marigolds are a common and reliable annual flower for Kentucky gardens. These easy to grow plants tolerate our summer weather conditions and offer bright yellow and orange colors to the garden. Marigolds should be planted in full sun, in moist, well drained soils. Hot summers will decrease the quality and vigor, but removing spent flowers encourages flowering and a better appearance.

Comments - This annual is best if started by seed in a greenhouse or sown directly in place. The common marigolds are derived from a number of hybrids over the years.

Tagetes erecta - African Marigolds are larger and derived from T. erecta. 'Climax' series, 'Crackerjack' series, 'Crush' series, 'Discovery' series, 'Excel' series, 'Gold Coin' series, 'Inca' series, 'Jubilee' series, 'Lady' series, 'Perfection' series, 'Vanilla', 'Voyager' series.

Tagetes patula - French Marigolds are smaller and derived from T. patula. 'Aurora' series, 'Bonanza' series, 'Boy' series, 'Disco' series, 'Hero' series, 'Janie' series, 'Queen Sophia', 'Safari' series.

Tagetes tenuifolia - Signet Marigolds are derived from T. tenuifolia. 'Gem' series, 'Starfire' series.

Triploid Marigolds are derived from T. erecta and T. patula. 'Nugget' series, 'Solar' series, 'Zenith' series.


French marigold ‘Safari’ at Bodger Seeds in California	Large flowered American marigold ‘Atlantis’

Teucrium chamaedrys - Germander

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
purple	8"-12"	summer	few	edging, ground cover, small hedges	cuttings, seed

Performance - Germander grows best in full sun and a well drained soil and is a reliable perennial in Kentucky gardens. Cut back after flowering to promote a tight plant. These plants tolerate shearing or pruning into a hedge form. The foliage is evergreen.

Comments - Grown more for the glossy foliage than for the flowers. Some powdery mildew, downy mildew, and leaf spots can be a problem if the plants are stressed.

Thalictrum aquilegifolium - Columbine Meadow Rue

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
mauve	24"- 36"	early summer	few	border, wildflower garden, naturalized area	division, seed

Performance - Meadow Rue is a woodland plant that is a reliable perennial for Kentucky gardens. It should be planted in partial to full shade locations. However, it can be planted in full sun if the soil is moist.

Comments - The light, airy foliage is excellent in combination with other perennials to soften an area.

Thymus - Thyme

Thymus praecox - Wooly Thyme

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
rose	less than 1"	early summer	fungal diseases, and root rot	rock gardens	cuttngs

Performance - Woolly Thyme is a reliable perennial in Kentucky gardens and grows well in full sun with well drained soils. If the soils are not poorly drained diseases such as root rot can become a problem. This low growing perennial can spread up to 18".
Comments - Woolly Thyme is different from common thyme in that the leaves are soft and woolly. This particular species is not ideal for use in culinary dishes because of its pubescent leaves.

Thymus serphyllum - Mother of Thyme, Creeping Thyme

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
purple	3" - 6"	late spring	few	rock garden, herb garden, stone walls	seed, division

Performance - Creeping thyme is a reliable perennial in Kentucky gardens and grows well in full sun with loose, well drained soil.
Comments - It can be used as an herb, but it does not have as potent of flavor or fragrance as Common Thyme.

Thymus vulgaris - Garden Thyme, Common Thyme

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
lilac, pink	12"	summer	few	herb garden	seed, cuttings, division

Performance - Common Thyme performs best in full sun with a loose, well drained soil. It will need to be replaced about every 3 years. It becomes woody in habit, making its uses as an herb less favorable as well as its overall appearance.
Comments - This Thyme is most widely used in culinary dishes for all types of vegetable and meats. Massive gatherings of bees will occur when it is in full bloom. To prevent so many bees from migrating to your thyme, remove flowers before they open.

Tiarella cordifolia - Foam Flower, Allegheny Foam Flower, False Mitrewort

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
white	6" - 9"	spring	few	borders, rock gardens, woodland	clump division, seed

Performance - Tiarella is an outstanding perennial for Kentucky gardens and a Kentucky native plant. It grows best in partial to full shade in a cool, moist site, in soils high in organic matter.

Comments - If planted in masses it provides an excellent ground cover in shaded sites or along rocks.

Varieties - 'Brandywine', 'Dark Eye', 'Freckles'

Tithonia rotundifolia - Mexican Sunflower

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
orange, orange-red	24"- 60"	summer	leaf spots, powdery mildew	borders, background	seed

Performance - Mexican sunflower is a reliable annual flower for Kentucky landscapes. It should be planted in full sun in well drained garden soils.

Comments - A plant well adapted to Kentucky's hot and dry summer climate but not commonly available in garden stores because the plants get large before they flower.

Varieties - 'Goldfinger', 'Sundance', 'Torch'

‘Summer Wave Amethyst’

Torenia fournieri - Torenia, Wishbone Flower, Bluewings

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
purple, blue, lavender, pink, white	10"- 20"	summer	few	borders, bedding, containers, woodland	seed, cuttings

Performance - Torenia is an excellent annual for Kentucky gardens. The seed propagated torenias grow best in partial to full shade in a cool, moist site, high in organic soil and will tolerate full sun if well watered. The cutting propagated 'Summer Wave' grows well in full sun.

Comments – The seed propagated torenia tend to self-sow.

Varieties - 'Summer Wave', ‘Summer Wave Amethyst’, 'Clown' series, 'Duchess' series, 'Panda' series.

Trillium grandiflorum - White Wake-Robin, Snow Trillium

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
white	18"- 24"	early spring	few	mass planting, woodland	seed, bulblet

Performance - Trillium is a reliable perennial in Kentucky gardens and is native to the state. It grows best in woodland areas that are shaded, moist and high in organic matter. It will not tolerate growing underneath evergreens.

Comments - Massed plantings of Trillium along with other woodland plants such as ferns, bloodroot, ginger and wild geranium provide a spectacular bloom in the spring. It is best to purchase Trillium from nurseries due to over collection in the wild.

Tropaeolum majus - Nasturtium, Indian Cress

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
orange, yellow, red, white	8"- 15"	summer	aphids	cut flower, vines, herb, containers	seed

Performance - Nasturtium is a good annual for Kentucky gardens, but will regularly self seed. It grows best in full sun and will grow well in poor soils. It may stop flowering during prolonged heat.


‘Banana Split’	‘Whirlybird’

Comments - Aphids are attracted to Nasturtium. Nasturtium plants in a vegetable garden serve as an excellent decoy to aphids, allowing your vegetables to be free of aphids. The flowers are wonderful in salads to add a spicy flavor. Everything but the root is edible and is also used in pickling.

Varieties - 'Alaska' mix, 'Jewel' mix, 'Whirlybird' mix.

Tulipa - Tulip

Flower Color	Height	Season	Pests	Uses	Propagation
white, pink, yellow, orange, red, lavender, purple	6"- 30"	spring	few	borders, beds, edging	bulb offsets

Performance - Tulips are a common, spring flowering annual flower, sometimes perennial, in Kentucky landscapes and gardens. Tulips should be planted in full sun garden locations, but they can be planted in location that will receive mostly full sun in the spring, such as near deciduous trees, etc. Good, well drained garden soils are important for tulips. Be sure to choose a location that will be irrigated during dry spring weather, so the plants will last more than a single year.

Comments - Tulips will always flower the first year after planting, unless rodents get to the bulbs. They usually flower a second year, but most plants begin to deteriorate at three years and beyond. Some gardeners do have perennial tulips in their landscape, but it is not clear why a few remain perennials while most are short lived perennials. Plants should be fertilized just as the shoots emerge in the spring, for best performance.

Varieties – The hundreds of cultivars are organized into the following groups: Botanicals, Single Early, Single Late, Double Early, Double Late, Triumph, Darwin Hybrids, Lily Flowered, and Parrot.


Darwin ‘Jewel of Spring’	Double Early ‘Carlton’	Parrot ‘Flaming Parrot’	Single Late ‘Attila’

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