13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Usually when the green thumb comment is thrown out there its followed by "I have a brown thumb". In my experience, it starts out with the green thumb comment and ends up with the brown thumb comment. I've talked to people who tried gardening "I bought a few plants one summer and they died and...."
If these died or did badly the assumption is "I just have a brown thumb" and they throw in the towel. You can usually tell in 5 minutes if the person is actually interested in gardening. Usually not.
Its the same thing with drawing. You need lots of practice and hard work perseverance to learn to do this --- and desire. Its a matter of time & effort in both cases. Same thing in playing a piano, a person needs to learn scales and years of practice.
The assumption some people make seems to be that some lucky people, by way of cosmic justice vs cosmic injustice, just plunk stuff in the ground and somehow it just easily grows for them while for other people, this is not the case.
If the finished results or the glamor are the only thing a person wants, they will usually be disappointed and often they give up. On the other hand, if its the occupation itself and the work they enjoy, the final results are just the finished byproduct of that effort and they will usually achieve success. This is true in any endeavor. Talent is not a magic thing, its just enhances certain people in the process and results, its still about hard work and time. There is no easy.
"The people who claim others have a green thumb and they don't are simply trying to justify-away the fact they really don't want to invest the time and energy which is necessary to grow plants.
That's pretty much it. There's no mysterious innate ability involved. When you enjoy gardening, learn what works (and what doesn't) and spend the time needed to get good results, your thumb magically turns green.
Was just rereading the posts and I second the Rugosa Rose suggestion. I have 3 - Blanc Double de Coubert, Hansa, and Crimson King, the last one was purchased in a small box at Aldi, of all places. They are tough as nails, do not like to be over fertilized, can be sheared back or left to do their own thing. They are very fragrant - I can smell Hansa from all over the yard when she is in full bloom. I have one near the main road and it is not bothered by the road salt - another plus. I'm looking up the Purple Pavement mentioned above now.
Linda
This is a fantastic resource! Thank you to all the contributors.
I have a rugosa rose (not sure which one) and it is made of steel. It even withstood the Japanese beetles.
I LOVE dwarf fothergilla but don't have any at this house (yet!)
Shrub-like herbaceous plants that have done well by me are peonies and hydrangeas... just planted a few Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' and am hopeful they will do well.
Perhaps OS does better in very dry climates like ours? We never had a problem with it not coming back! I would guess from the masses of OS roots that we dug up when we took it out, that it likes having dry feet. So it may be more controlled for Lin if you have wetter conditions. BTW the flowers are simply gorgeous. Nurseries sell this by the hundreds here every spring.
The CP is completely neglected but it has grown along the walk and in the crack between steps and a patio. I'm encouraging it to edge a bed but we will have to put in a border to stop it invading.
I had a clump in a flower bed where it was starting to expand too vigorously so I ripped it out and stuck it into the ground under the sycamore. That was about 6 weeks ago. It's settled down nicely and started to flower. The tree base is circled by driveway and a walk so it can't go far.
Cheryl
I would not give up on locating more mature Clematis. Bluestone will definitely not give you the size Clematis you need. I've ordered from them. I have considered buying more mature Clematis, and found that one local nursery does stock them. So keep looking. Ask about this on the Clematis forum and someone might have a mail order source too.
I would agree that if you have not grown Clematis before and you have this situation where the vines are going to be planted below a deck, I would definitely try to start off with well established vines.
One consideration for your cut out size is how will your vines get enough water? You really don't want to set yourself up to have to water constantly. If the cut outs are too small and the spacing on your boards are too narrow to provide enough rainfall year round to get enough water to the ground.
If the cut outs are large enough to collect enough water on their own, maybe 26" X 26", I kind of like the bottomless plexi glass sleeve idea filled even with the deck with good soil tilled into the original soil so the roots can penetrate and spread out. That way no leaves build up in the cut outs.
That would also solve the other problem I see with the small cutout idea if the ground is 10 inches below the deck and the cut outs have no lips. If something falls and rolls off the edge into the hole, how will you fish something out of the hole?
You have to think about how the trellis in each cutout will be held in place so that winter snowstorms or summer thunderstorms don't blow them over. It will take strong fastening. They also need to be made out of no maintenance materials. You could use these strong trellises to hold containers of annual vines like morning glories (I grow morning glories and moonflowers on my deck every summer in containers) to fill in in until the clematis vines get larger. Since the winter cold will kill the annual vines and they are in containers not the ground, they shouldn't interfere.
I picked up a 'Magnum' this afternoon. A this point, the leaves on the one I bought are not unusually large - there were some with larger leaves there but I figured it might be best to get a smaller plant and let it settle in. I like the color at this stage but it's clearly going to get the silver cast to the leaves as the summer progresses so the color will wash out.... I think I'll plant it in the driveway border to see how it performs before deciding if that will be its final position. It'll be easy to keep it watered there when it needs it. I would think that the large leaves might mean it'll need more water than normal ones.
Hi Corey,
I thought I'd chime in since I got my first crossandra 'marmalade' last year and I absolutely love it. It was sold to me as an annual, but I brought it inside for the winter and it bloomed nonstop with just me watering it and no special attention. Now it's back out on my porch steps. Just be careful when you transition from inside to outside as it can get sunburned easily if you give it too much sun too fast. I find it does like a bit of shade in the afternoon, but I've also put it in full sun and it did fine there too.
I think you're going to find crossandra a beautiful and easy plant! Sara
P.S. I'd venture to guess that this would not survive the winter in the ground in very many places in the United States except the extreme south, but you'll need to figure out your zone to find out for sure if it would survive where you live.
This post was edited by sara82lee on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 17:19
Well Texas Ranger, I don't think my bookkeeping technique is really a product of my personality. I am by nature a very messy and spontaneous personality. That trait has resulted in some big gardening mistakes in the past, like digging up and discarding the roots of much valued perennials. So I am forced to adopt a more structured recording style. I'm still spontaneous but I have a bit more discipline in keeping up with what is where. And records of color and height aid my less than perfect memory. For me, just a matter of necessity. :)
I used to know the names of all my plants but I'm forgetting them! I learned the Latin when I began gardening, now I feel I need to know them! I don't lose sleep over it, though.
I also want to know for the sake of others who ask about particular plants. Uh....uh...it's on the tip of my tongue!
I'm heavily considering retiring so this is just one of the goals on my many lists...wherever they all are! LOL!
Thanks for the interesting conversations!
All of my Buddleias made it through the winter but they definitely were set back.
They all came back from the base.
I have an established âÂÂAdonis Blueâ that is doing the best, but itâÂÂs short and sparse. Just forming flower buds. I think I should have pinched it back when it was smaller. I will start deadheading soon and that should help.
I planted small pots of âÂÂPink Delightâ and âÂÂBlack Knightâ in the fall. PD is doing better than BK. BK is the one I almost lost. And now it is not only small, but it is the only Buddleia in the yard that has severe insect damage. Oddly no other plants around it have been bothered. The PD is about 3 ft away.
I have a âÂÂPeacockâ that is still in too little sun but itâÂÂs hanging in there.
I have a similar question about butterfly bushes so I hope it's okay that I ask it here! I have a bicolor butterfly bush that I planted in May and I just love it. Has bloomed once for me and has grown quite well already. I really don't want to lose this so I'm already worrying about winter.
I am wondering what kind of winter protection you guys in zone 5 and colder give yours? It's very heavily mulched and in a very large corner garden that is protected by the house. Any one have any suggestions for how I can protect this BB so it survives our awful winters?
Michaela