I like them too but eventually eliminated them from the garden because they seeded around like mad!

Self sowing isn't an issue for me probably because I'm kind of fanatic with the hoe. In fact, I think I do that to a fault. I wish I had more seedlings of just about everything, but then I would have to exercise some self restraint and that probably won't be happening anytime soon.

Kevin

In my climate the individual plants are short lived, like aquilegias, but self-seed with abandon, like aquilegias. The self-seeding is difficult to control . I think the ants spread the seed around, because it somehow ended up in my greenhouse in large quantities(like Dicentra spectabilis), in the middle of my wife's vegetables.

I replaced it with Polemonium Stairway to heaven, which is reliably perennial here(fifth year),this one stays put.

This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Tue, Jun 18, 13 at 19:40

I've had the same experience as wieslaw with regards to it being short lived. Almost seems as if all the energy went to blooming and seeding profusely and nothing was left over to keep the plant alive. It is a good filler, but I don't consider it reliable- more of a filler plant that can pop up where it may.
CMK

absolutely - blink and it is over. In my experience, there are better sterile polemoniums which certainly will flower all summer and will not seed around like maniacs - Lambrooke Mauve for one.

You do realize there is a technique called deadheading? I've found it to be rather good at birth control.

Kevin

well yes, Kevin....but with some plants, within the clusters of flowers, some are actually going into seed while others are still blooming - totally impossible to tease out the minuscule green blown flowers while others, tight up against them, are still doing their floriferous thing....and worse, polemoniums, like primula, pulsatilla, hellebores and some geraniums, set seeds which will germinate immediately even though soft and green. Once dry, they will go into dormancy but even dead-heading regularly will fail to catch every wayward seed from sprouting.

I do have to say that yours look particularly colourful, attractive and garden-worthy. Mine look much rattier.

Kevin, I'm actually the world champion in birth control by deadheading. (It's I who preach it for others). But in the case of Polemonium and Tradescantia you would have to spy on what individual flowers are doing, which is far beyond what I want to spend my time on.