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Perennial selection
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Posted by
miclino 5/6 MI (
My Page) on
Sun, Apr 1, 12 at 0:38
| I need a perennial to fill a space between primadonna white echinaceas ~1.5 ft tall and some double knockout roses. The space is only about 1.5 ft wide. Since all of this sits behind a boxwood hedge, I essentially need a columnar perennial which flowers mainly on the top and has long season of interest. Site is full sun and on the dryish side. Plant cannot be too tall as there are knockout roses behind.
I tried several things including sedum purple emperor, did well but too leggy. Will try other sedums there. Thought of penstemon but don't like spiky flowers. Racking my brains here but can't think of anything. Whatever ends up there must be well behaved and not have a wide base and not be over 3-3.5 ft tall. Will ornamental grasses fit the bill? if so which one? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Perennial selection
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| So you want something that doesn't distract from the roses? Day Lilies for example are fairly well behave and don't have a wide base. Paul |
RE: Perennial selection
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| Phlox, one of the mildew resistant ones. If deadheaded, phlox does bloom for quite a while. Depending on the color of your roses, agastaches have a long bloom time if deadheaded. I love blue Fortune and Cotton Candy, but Cotton Candy does bot get very tall. How much space is available? |
RE: Perennial selection again
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| Should have read your post more carefully for height requirements, sorry. |
RE: Perennial selection
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RE: Perennial selection
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| Wieslaw, excellent suggestion!!! |
RE: Perennial selection
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| Agastache cotton candy is a great plant. I already tried it in that spot and it was too short. Kalimeris incisa is not a bad idea but I have never seen the plant in person, not sure blue flowers go with the white echinacea. I would consider foliage plants as well. I don't think any perennial would block out the roses completely. Our subdivision is swarming with daylilies, would like to avoid them if possible....I would think that most phlox and agastache would outgrow a spot only 1.5 feet wide? |
RE: Perennial selection
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| Stokesia laevis/Stokes Aster 'Omega Skyrocket' is tall with mid to late season ruffled blue flowers. Mine has taken up the same small amount of real estate the past 5 years. You can check it out on Bluestone Perennials' website for more information. |
RE: Perennial selection
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| Perhaps one of the shorter clematis? I did a search for ones 1 meter or less on Clematis on the Web and got quite a list. Some are short climbers and some would do well in a multi-ring support to hold them up, but none are self-supporting. You could even weave it through your rose bush s roses and clematis tend to do well together. I have a lavender thalictrum (Meadow Rue) that blooms for about 6 weeks in August and September. It's about 6 feet tall when flowering, but the flower stalks are quite airy and wouldn't block anything. The leaves at the base are only about a foot high. I grow mine at the front, middle, and back of the border and it looks great everywhere. Be sure to deadhead, though. Thalitcturms come in white and yellow also and have a footprint that would stay within your limits. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis on the Web search page
RE: Perennial selection
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| How about iris. While it may not be long blooming, there are those that have variegated leaves that would give you color all season long. 
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RE: Perennial selection
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| What about a butterfly weed, they are fairly long blooming in the summer with orange flower or get the swamp milkweed version with fuchsia color flowers. They also don't seemed to spread every far and grows to about 3 feet long. other possibilities may be some sort of saliva, but I don't have too much experience wit those. |
RE: Perennial selection
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| I know you specified a blooming perennial but have you considered possibly mixing in a grass? I think grasses go really well with both Knockouts as well as echinaceas, and a smaller species with attractive plumes like Pennisetum Piglet or Hameln may break up all the flowers in the smaller space and add different visual interest. Just a thought. |
RE: Perennial selection
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Thanks for all the ideas!
Have already tried salvia and it just got lost behind the boxwoods. The stokes aster definitely looks like something to consider but I hope to avoid blue flowers. I think the color just gets lost in that particular location. I have variegated iris in another location and have already lost some of them. Seem a little finicky? Same with butterfly weed as well. I did mention that grasses are an option, I have used purple fountain grass (annual here) in other locations. The problem is that pennisetum hameln and the like are more rounded clumps and I need something more upright. Any grasses that fit that bill? But can't get too tall though. Perhaps I should just try purple fountain grass as an annual or just plant sedum autumn joy...... Do purple fountain grass plumes last through winter? |
RE: Perennial selection
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| That sounds like a great spot for a lily (not daylily). They come in shorter varieties now and they won't take up much space. |
RE: Perennial selection
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| I agree with Athenainwi I think Lillium would be great, Lots of colors avaliable. Even a Calla Lilly, just bring it inside in the winter. |
Tall ornamental grass
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| Calamagrostis/feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster' grows to 5 ft. tall but is upright and has a very small footprint. Mine is 5 years old and is just about 12 inches in diameter at the base. It's a very elegant grass, low/no maintenance. My plant is growing in full sun and gets no supplemental water. I've linked a photo below. Pennisetum alopecuroides/dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln' is gorgeous but it has an arching, mounded habit that doesn't match your stated requirements. I do leave the plumes/seed heads on my grasses through the winter as food for the birds. Each spring I cut down the prior year's growth. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Google image Calamagrostis Karl Foerster
RE: Perennial selection
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| funny you should mention lilies. Thats what I have there now. And thats my fall back option if I don't settle on something else. Great pic of Karl Foerster grass! I might just get one for another spot as 5 ft is too tall for that particular one. |
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