13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
miracx - I doubt that you'd have much of a problem with a C. kousa. With that zone you must be either near near one of the Great Lakes - or in BC. In which case the kousa should easily survive the winter - mine and my next-door-neighbour's have never had any problems, even from the past two brutal winters. C. mas is an interesting dogwood that is quite different in that its flowers are small and forsythia-yellow in quite early spring. The neighbour behind us has one just behind the fence at the back of our property. It's the first dogwood to bloom.
miracx, Cornus mas, also called cornelian dogwood, is a very large shrub that has very early yellow flowers (earlier than forsythia) and edible red fruit. Some kinds have been selected for fruit and some for the blossoms. It can be pruned to tree form, but I've only ever seen them grown in shrub form.
We got to at least -22 and perhaps colder last winter, and my 10 year old Cornus kousa lost all its buds above the snow line. It is slowly leafing out again, but I don't think that I know what branches have survived until next year. I hope that we don't have another winter that cold.
This is how much mine has grown in 5 years.
Aggressive? No, not for me. Hopeful? Yep. It's getting a bit more sun now, so I'm sure it will do a little better. Seems the key to me is keeping it in more shade and less sun, oh, and clay soil. That seems to tame the beast a bit, as well. Mine is in amended clay.
Here in Minnesota it is easy to control. Grows best in moist part shade especially next to Ajuga, hostas. and lamium in a rock garden. Works great in pots too. I like the original plain green Creeping Jenny too for all the same reasons. The variegated Jenny Walkabout is an annual here but looks fabulous in pots and window boxes.
This blanket of clematises on the north alley fences always makes me smile in July :-) It's a mix of Huldine, Jackmani Superba, and Betty Corning. Originally there was just the Jackmani, then I added Huldine, and later Betty. It's a battleground - but pretty!
closer view:
Since this area is on the north side, in the alley betwen our house and the neighbours (the brick wall in the background in the picture above,) there is a fair bit of shade. But the east end is sunny until just after mid day. Moving 10-12' to the left (west) of the clematis area it becomes a shade plant area where the astilboides thrives - its tall flowers reach up into the sun:
Hmmm... the photo is not appearing - will try to add it in another reply.
Your selection of plants will fill in quite nicely. The viiburnum will grow much bigger, 5ft plus. In width, so may be too large for the space.
My one suggestion that you may not appreciate is to consider some of those very plants that you've admonished your neighbors for having; they provide greenery and structure over the winter and you need something like that to soften the hard edges of your home and stairs. If you can find a native equivalent perhaps?!
katob, you might be right! I've always dig, plop, and plant (after gently loosening the root-balls a bit). All my neighbors' new and old lavenders are thriving but I couldn't keep one alive.
I'd talked to the nursery staff and master gardeners in my city, but no one could give me a better answer, other than "amend your soil".
Thank you, I like the chair idea.. :)
Just wanted to report both my Santa Barbara daisy and Russian Sage have bounced back from diligent watering. We had a really warm Spring, but they're happy now. Thank you all for your advice.
jacqueline, I'm getting a Perle d'Or start in the fall from a trade. Really excited about it. :)
I've never actually seen the eggs. I only have a few lilies and I tend to keep a close eye on them from May onwards. I often nab mating adults so maybe they don't get a chance to lay eggs. I find they'll go for L regale rather than L henryi. I don't grow any asiatic types. There are some good pictures of eggs, larvae and adults at this link. https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=553
As peren.all implies, Tricyrtis is a very useful perennial here since it blooms at a time of the growing season when the number of perennial bloomers is reduced.
I just gave up on killing the beetles and grubs, Debbie. My friend David made the point that if you have lilies here you want then in a restricted location, so just as Floral says, you can keep a close eye on them. His small, but impressive stand, is located right in front of the bench on which he sits to have a nice cool beer after a day of gardening. That way he has a good view of any lily beetles and can spring into action.
We live in northern Minnesota. The soil I have was as weedless as I could ever imagine. The only thing I have to pull, is stupid Boxelder seedlings..don't get me started ha ha. As I stated, I have not had one other pigweed in the whole garden and it's a big garden. So, it SO strange, just where the monarda was is where it grew. I got it from my aunt, 2 years ago. The first year was pretty slow, last year a boom crop of some being over 4 feet tall. This year? All pigweed. Now, I gotta figure out what to do with the soil in that area so the pigweed doesn't grow back and there are little roots everywhere. I was told round up doesn't kill pigweed
Pic in this discussion:
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3227279/plant-id?n=2
I take pictures with my iPhone in portrait mode. No problems with sideways pictures for me now! I do my posting on my iPad. The pictures transfer through wi-fi from my phone to iPad. Touch the photo button on the bottom of the post and, voila, my photos are all there to pick from
Sherry
Yes it is powdery mildew and yes it will spread to other plants prone to it such as Monarda and Phlox paniculata etc. I have added link to an in depth discussion we had a while ago. Here is the link Powdery mildew. Read this and we will be happy to discuss further if you still have questions.
It also doesn't have the old "toothy" (?) petal edges of the 'David' flowers.
I'm not familiar with 'Shorty White'.
The two compact white garden phlox that have been readily available around here, in recent years, are 'White Flame' (registered/introduced 2005) and 'Pina Colada' (2007).
The fact that both 'Pina Colada' and 'Swizzle' are Verschoor phlox (White Flame is a Bartels) could suggest it may be 'Pina Colada'.
Am currently finding 'Pina Colada' a bit more vigorous than 'White Flame'. Can't put my finger on it yet, but think I prefer the vivid, matt (?) whiteness of 'Pina Colada'.
Today: our first smaller white garden phlox (a 'Pina Colada') began to flower.
My HJ usually start blooming end of August/early September.
UPDATE (2015):
Given that AHJ is one of my fave Fall perennials I am not sure why have had had only one for so long. Well I fixed that problem today by 200% i.e. bought 2 more!