13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
In similar conditions: have been having a purple moment with the ubiquitous verbena bonariensis, common toadflax, L.purpurea and verbascums. On the misty blue spectrum, caryopteris has been rewarding (and yep, I too have done the gaura and sage combo with one of the brighter eryngoes. I also had a bit of a silvery passion, with convolvulous cneorum, artemisias, anthemis, dianthus, buddleja lindleyana.....with a plummy contrast - heucheras, berberis, ajuga, rosa glauca,
I would probably not have baptisia and perovskia together without some buffer companion - some of the grasses have been pretty good - festucas, a couple of stipas, calamagrostis.....
Yes, my green peppers scorched too, but not my jalapeno peppers surprisingly enough.
Thanks for the suggestions campanula. I do have buddleja lindleyana next to Spirea x bumalda 'Froebelli' in a different part of my yard. Its a nice combination.
Yes, the more I thought about it, the more I am steering away from the baptisia-perovskia combination for the reason you mentioned among others, but I still like baptisia in a different part of my yard...where I will never move it. lol
I planted 100s of tulip bulbs in late Nov and early Dec in my Michigan garden. I could easily dig in the soil. However, I didn't plant 8" deep. Now I am worried. However, I could not resist the sales and bought a lot of bulbs. I hope they come up.
Here in Zone 8b /9a I planted the ones that were cooled for 15 weeks last week in Dec. Then, another batch Jan 15 (which were only pre-chilled for 12 weeks) Haven't been as healthy this year so dug huge beds and put them in together in 4 beds so far. Also planted 8 inches deep because I didn't know we were going to have such cold weather and was afraid the sun would make them come up too fast (they are in full sun, because the city came and clipped the trees robbing me of the partial shade!)
We are having the coldest weather our city has seen in decades (Southeast Coast). We haven't had that much rain though. I feel they need a drink of water, since they are on a; hill and water doesn't stand or sink in so well.
Will watering the bulbs hurt them when we are having these cold night time temps (25 to 40 degrees) ? Last year I watered carefully and everything went beautifully but I got them in 2 weeks earlier, and we didn't have such cold temps. Should I go ahead and water them? I'm really afraid of watering when it's so cold.
The wood strawberry and the alpine strawbs are the same species - Fragaria vesca.....but, as stated, the seed variety is a stable variety which is less stoloniferous than 'weedy' types. These will not hybridise with garden strawbs (fragaria x ananassa) nor the other possibility, F.virginiana.....but may well hybridise with each other, losing the non-running character (although my experience has been that ALL fragaria are very inclined to run about. Years ago, I remember sowing some European variety (hautbois strawberry) which was a different species, but cannot recall what.....
I'll (somewhat ashamedly) admit....I have a little map. I started them out on graph paper just to help me to do some light preplanning - just to help put the sizes of the beds and plants into perspective - and just kept it as a reference so should I forget where or what something is I'd have something to look back on. But that's only good if kept up to date which I can safely say that it hasn't been. I'm not one for surprises but I can handle a few when it comes to where a cranesbill or phlox might pop up.
David883 refers to the effect of seeding and running on trying to maintain cultivar identification using maps.
I do my best to avoid seeders and runners in mixed perennial beds, for that and a more obvious reason. When seeding and running do occur, it's usually the seeders which are the bigger (identification) problem.
Occasionally, however, a seeder seems so distinctive and so attractive that I do keep the seedlings; e.g. the Japanese primulas ('Miller's Crimson'), June 11, 2013, below.
There's a couple of great blue lobelia seedlings (to weed out), in the picture, as well.
I'm a HUGE fan of the Rubbermaid storage containers. I keep one outside all summer with all the small stuff I need on a daily basis. 99% of the time, that small stuff is all I really need to do what I need to do. I keep it in an inconspicuous place in my back yard, so it's never more than a few feet of where I'm at. If I'm working in the front yard, it's easy to cart over there.
Kevin
You have a great eye for color and texture Daisy! Your Nigella and roses are lovely companions for your Miscanthus.
Is the foliage of ML sharp? It looks similar to one we sold at the nursery called 'Little Kitten'- thin and razor sharp blades. I don't know how I managed it, but each and every time I moved/picked up one the darn things would give me cuts! LOL.
Beautiful pictures! Look forward to seeing more of your garden sometime too ;-)
CMK
No, the foliage isn't at all sharp thank goodness.
Which is just as well, as it it planted next to a path.
I have another miscanthus, which is just as good looking.
It is Miscanthus sinensis var condensatus Cosmopolitan.
That one doesn't have sharp leaves either.
Here it is with Argyranthemum Jamaica Primrose.
Daisy
I'm in Northern California zone 9 (8 this winter) and have several East Freisland. I cut it down to the ground at least three times a year- as soon as it starts to look ragged. The new bloom flush is fairly rapid. Black and Blue is a thug here, but I love it so I dig out big chunks of it every winter..
Kathy in Napa
I don't have many salvias. Mainly because I have such a tiny garden. There just isn't room!
Salvia involucrata Bethellii grows in summer shade.
I cut it back to ground level in late winter. It grows fast to about 8 feet and flowers from late summer all the way through to late winter again.
I also have Salvia guaranitica Black and Blue.
This is a carpenter bee on the flowers. I call him The Bumbler. All the other bees, butterflies, hover flies and other nectar seeking insects, daintily fly in, land gracefully, and sip the nectar. Not this one. He blunders around amongst the flowers, lands as gracefully as a probationary co-pilot and his weight pulls the flower right over, where he hangs on upside down whilst he takes the nectar.
He is very comical to watch, but what I want to know is...how does he know that the colour of the salvia flowers go with his beautiful iridescent wings so well?
I also have Salvia scabra, which I cannot find a close up photo of, but it is a small plant, about 2 feet tall, with soft lavender blue flowers for most of the year.
And Salvia argentea which I love for those big, fat, woolly leaves.
I also have a salvia I bought from a local market stall. No name, but it looks like a microphylla type.
Here it is with a pink argyranthemum.
The only salvia I have that I would call a dud, is Salvia farinacea Victoria, simply because it behaves as an annual here.
Daisy
-daisyincrete, wonderful pictures! Now you have me stewing in a pot of zone envy with your Rehmannia & that Nepeta, lol!
Ps. do you have room for a potted Iochroma? Mine hasn't been troubled by the fact that it has been rootbound in a container for the 2nd year now (which is good because I'm not overly troubled by it either, lol!).
CMK
Thanks CMK.
That's a good idea, growing an iochroma in a pot.
Although my space for pots is also becoming tight.
My husband moans continually about the lack of space around the shed when he wants to work there.
Knowing how clumsy he is, I only keep tough, potted plants there, like Pelargoniums.
Daisy
Yes, GP1, DH is a friendly, sociable, charming guy - definitely 'a keeper' :-) I couldn't garden without him. With respect to the garden, I'm most often 'mangement' and he's most often 'labour' but 'labour' contributes creative input too. He's a very good amateur photographer and, since he retired, he's really got 'into' bird photography (has some honkin' big lenses that allow him to get some pretty amazing pictures!) He usually doesn't say much about what he likes in the garden - I figure out what he likes by looking at what he's taking pictures of! He has been making approving comments about the things that attract birds and wanting more of those.
That sweater had an interesting offshoot that taught me a lesson or two on color. I used leftover balls of the colors to make another sweater, combining the colors in a different way and using a darker more 'heathered' olive green for the base color rather than the clear olive I used for the ribbed bits of the first one. The smaller patches of color mingling with the base color made the colors look far less clear - it's hard to believe at times that there are indeed the same colors!
In the garden I do like shading colors through a range or related colors but, because of this knitted example, I aim for larger blocks of color than I might otherwise do. Lessons applicable to the garden can happen in a variety of media...
Geez I wish GW had a spell-checker! (edited to correct some typos....)
This post was edited by woodyoak on Thu, Jan 16, 14 at 21:27
I get you, same here with homes pricy or not. Ours is exactly as if we had divided the atlantic ocean up into a lot of separate lakes. A fire ripping across a flat grassland goes along at a quick clip just burning the top of the grass close to the ground and thats a good thing for it because its the natural "spring mow" to cull out trees and brush. When you add in cedars, homes, and then later the trees brought in, it turns into an exploding very hot inferno shooting up into the sky and the wind can carry embers for miles in any direction. We seem to be fighting an uphill battle against the prairie here and adding to the problem because its going to do its thing no matter what.
Just had to get on and edit. The news just broke in. There is a low, very long snake of grassland fire heading straight for a "tank with something in it" that is situated right in front of a lot of homes on the edge of the city.
This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Thu, Jan 16, 14 at 15:52
I have been thinking that lilies might become my next obsession and started with some last season. I will wait to see if there are any that the varmints didn't devour before I get more involved.
I did the daylily thing (yes, I know they aren't true lilies) for about a decade - collecting, hybridizing and selling on the internet. I have come to really dislike the fact that they don't 'self clean'. When you have hundreds of varieties, your garden can look pretty messy from day to day. So - I kept those I really loved and mowed the rest down. (and mowed and mowed for two years!)
Then, collecting peonies was fun. Still is. No problems with them at all.
So, sell me on lilies.
Sorry I failed to bump this down, Ken. Too busy after the session.
RyseRyse, I too was originally a huge daylily fan (hey, that could be a joke). I still have all of mine, but seldom buy more. I got into true lilies because my garden was really stuffed, and lilies have such a small footprint. I can always shoehorn another lily in. I really like the vertical element. I hear people complain about the (mostly) bare stems, but heck, I have other stuff growing lower down to camouflage that. They are just so majestic, and each flower lasts a long time. If you are into scent, there are many with a wonderful perfume.
They are divided into a number of classes. Simply (and leaving stuff out), Asiatics, Orientals, Species (both early and late bloomers) and Trumpets. Blooming times vary between the divisions. There are also crosses between divisions.
The easiest to start with are Asiatics. Orientals (which have the richest perfume) are harder to grow unless you have perfect drainage. In clay soil of the Chicago area, those donâÂÂt flourish. I grow a lot of Orienpets, which are a cross between Orientals and Trumpets. Unlike either of their parent divisions, orienpets are not fussy. Tall, huge flowers, very dramatic.
I seldom move plants around either, Campanula. But I have moved ferns, including Athyrium filix-femina, in so far as I've obtained them from various sources and put them in my garden. Not ever had a problem, even with the old dried out ones which I rescued after they were dumped on the allotments.
no matter what i say .. or suggest ...
i am ALWAYS SURE... that anything i do.. will lead to death .. lol
no matter how many times i have done it before....
but then i usually fall back to the thought.. that if i ever saw it for sale... in a nursery pot.. then someone had to pot it up and plant it somewhere ... otherwise.. who would sell it ... and why would they be in the business ...
ken