13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
How about the gorgeously tiny but detailed acaena buchananii? My previous experience with acaenas had been the prickly New Zealand microphylla...which has lovely foliage but annoying (to my mind) reddish burrs.......whereas the buchananii has survived total seasonal neglect in a shallow pot with odd jovibarbas and comes through the winter magnificently. The glaucous foliage veers towards turquoise while keeping a filigree delicacy I have rarely encountered in a foliage plant.
How about the gorgeously tiny but detailed acaena buchananii? My previous experience with acaenas had been the prickly New Zealand microphylla...which has lovely foliage but annoying (to my mind) reddish burrs.......whereas the buchananii has survived total seasonal neglect in a shallow pot with odd jovibarbas and comes through the winter magnificently. The glaucous foliage veers towards turquoise while keeping a filigree delicacy I have rarely encountered in a foliage plant.
Even better (with paler flowers) acaena magellanica.....I love these alpine evergreens.
Thanks for the responses! I will sow some now and if they are too small by the time my current container plants die out, I will purchase some. The pansies I purchased last fall bloomed through winter and spring so sown plants should have plenty of time if they decide to grow.
I think it's best to use the 'baggy method' .Moisten a coffee filter & place seeds & all in the baggy, seed side up. They take about 8-10 days at about 70 degrees , with exposure to indirect sunlight near a window. Once rootlet is about 1/4 inch long, transplant using a toothpick into seed trays & avoid allowing the fragile seedlings to become too dry, don't yet expose to direct mid-day sun while tiny & avoid exposure to high temperatures. Use dilute fertilizer, to help speed up growth. I have read that seeds older than 9 months, generally won't germinate, or if so, quite poorly. I've bought from 2bseeds.com , with great results & they offer one of my favorites, the old fashioned ruffled & penciled, ''Super Chalon' variety.
According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, P. 'Laura' grows 3-4 ft. tall. See link below for more detailed plant/growing information. My tall phlox all took 3-4 years to get established. Most were planted in 2011; they were splendid this year.
Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox paniculata 'Laura'
Perhaps there's some confusion between 'Laura' and 'Little Laura', latter is said to be 18 to 24 inches tall.
Have used both for a good few years. They are very hardy and long-lived here.
The other thing is that factors related to location in the garden may affect garden phlox height attained in any one year (soil fertility, sun, etc.).
Taking time to reach their potential height and (later) requiring division are both potential factors.
I am loving this thread! Such pretty photos!
And I am ever so envious of those of you who have so many of those that I'd like to acquire. But I can't find them anywhere for sale. Forest Farm doesn't have any I want, Digging Dog is out of two that I do want, Bluestone has become ridiculously expensive and only has one listed I want anyway......
Hopefully there will be more sources next spring
Bobbie, love the combinations in your beds and look at those tomatoes, looks like you had a good year. We had tomatoes and cucs coming out our ears this year, considering the year we've had weatherwise, leaves me scratching my head on how come they did so well when other things didn't LOL.
tak2w, great pics, looks like you have quite a few beauties in your garden.
Annette
Thanks, Annette. We also have had a great year for tomatoes and cucumbers and beans. Too many at this point!
Thanks, tak2w, looked up the Chaste Tree. Very pretty tree but not hardy here. Probably a red luna hibisicus as they are very commonly sold.
well rouge, it looks like my style of planting is what you might want for your aralia to stay small, because mine has survived but def NOT become big. I have it in open shade (no direct sun) and growing up through a ground cover of yellow and green euonymus. yours is robust for sure. i alrdy grow quite a few yellow leaved woodies, but we will be picking up many more this month from Broken Arrow. The aralia sun king reminds me a little of the yellow leaved philadelphus, though the mock orange has smaller leaves.
UPDATE:
This is the same plant from last year. It has splayed out completely from the center with almost all stems horizontal. I was thinking of replacing it with something more upright like "Ashai" Sunflower but with such unique blooms and the plant in a very wild area of the garden, we have decided to let things lie ;).
Nope, not I. I don't go through phases like that, because I am already enjoying a riot of colors like those from spring through fall. :-)
I have red, yellow, blue, orange, fuschia and everything in between from late January-early February on. Some gardeners might say gaudy, but nobody who passes by has said to me that my garden is ugly yet.
It's been years since I had mums in my garden. I plant thickly and let them duke it out for space. Those that could not survive, I don't replace. And since mums could not fight its way, I went for asters instead.
I still have Rudbeckia hirta, R. triloba, R. Glodsturm, Geranium 'Rozanne', Phlox paniculata, Hydrangea 'Annabelle, Hydrangea quercifolia, Hydrangea paniculata, Morning Glory 'President Tylor', Clematis 'Bette Corning', Echinacea purpurea, Lychnis calcedonica, Clematis 'Huldine', Lilium speciosum, Pelargonium, Feverfew, Roses and Hosta plantaginea in bloom.
Ornamental grass is beginning to bloom and Sedum 'Autumn Joy''s color is deepening. Most of the hosta big and small are still looking grand.
I still have asters, sweet autumn clematis, fall corcus and Colchicum to look forward to. They will contrast nicely with autumn leaves.