Texas Flax.....or linum in general

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Posted by campanula UK Cambridge (My Page) on

Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 15:35

In the UK, linum tend to be either blue or white perennials, little yellow rockery flax or the annual red flax. I came across Linum rigidum and L.hudsoniodes, l.viscosum and L.pubersomething and instantly was transported to the unknown world of flax. Who grows any of these? I know, they are mainly just wildflowers (but our UK wildflowers are very sparse because of glaciation)....and one person's weeds (wildlings) are another's treasured garden flowers.

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RE: Texas Flax.....or linum in general

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Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 18:54

Even grown from seed via winter sowing, perennial flax behaved like an annual for me and never came back in year two. I grew Linum perenne lewisi (after Merriweather Lewis of the Lewis & Clark expedition) which is native to the U.S. It bloomed the first year and that was the last I saw of it.

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Posted by campanula UK Cambridge (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 19:09

Yeah, I only got a couple of years out of L.perenne and L.flavum (but what a great show they put on). I don't mind doing a few seeds every year for something so delightful.

Linum perenne lewisi

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Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on
Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 19:21

I don't mind doing a few seeds every year for something so delightful.

Neither do I but I definitely resent that empty spot in my flowerbeds that needs filling. It's been my primary garden goal as I've gotten older to plant it, enjoy it, neglect it & forget it. I've got my beds looking the way I envisioned them for the most part and now just want to admire them and show them off to anyone foolish enough to do likewise.

RE: Texas Flax.....or linum in general

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Posted by campanula UK Cambridge (My Page) on
Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 5:08

mmmm, I can definately see the virtue in having a complete garden, gardenweed....but do you never get a bit bored. I know I am a bit shallow here but honestly, I have the attention span of a mosquito - I could never spend a huge amount of money on a rare and beautiful paeony (which will live forever) because I am mean enough to be unable to ditch it....but would also get a bit fed up after a few years. I dunno, I like to grow them, look at them for a bit, then try something else.....but of course, I have been gardening on a postage stamp and after a decade, the allotment is full up too. I am guessing that I will feel quite the opposite once I have a lot more space.....although I am still not going to spend big bucks on any one plant.

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Posted by laceyvail 6A, WV (My Page) on
Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 6:09

L. perenne reseeds year after year for me. I have to pull the seedlings sometimes if there are too many.

RE: Texas Flax.....or linum in general

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Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on
Sun, Jun 9, 13 at 8:52

Campanula - So far I haven't had the luxury of becoming bored. Zoning regulations in the town where I live require no less than an acre of property per dwelling. While I don't necessarily pine for a 'postage stamp,' the swath I'm required to maintain is already roughly six times the amount of space I can even dream of singlehandedly caring for and planting. Fortunately I have the help of migrant workers from Guatemala who gladly share the labor and willingly perform the most back-breaking tasks.

Additionally, I can't say any two years running have been repeat performances in my garden thanks to extreme weather events--the October Snowstorm (2011)*, Storm Sandy (2012) & various hurricanes & tornadoes. My sun/shade patterns were altered due to extreme weather which impacted how things grew in the beds I so carefully designed & planted.

* when I was without power/phone/running water for a total of 11 days straight & had to keep my woodstove down in the cellar fired up 24 hrs. a day

Trust me when I say boredom has not been a factor.

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