13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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.
Kevin, interesting for me too;
my use of Boltonia (false aster) has probably been rather similar to yours. I used to plant the species Boltonia asteroides, but haven't for years.
In my case, I came to find that it wasn't showy enough.
I've also used B. asteroids var. latisquama 'Snowbank', which I've also forgotten.
But I still have B. asteroids var. latisquama 'Jim Crockett', which I don't see listed with the Royal Horticultural Society (good standard for names).
I've seen 'Jim Crockett' described as "semi-dwarf Boltonia". It is short and more compact than other Boltonia species/cultivars and it does bloom a long time. I've had it for at least five years in two places in our own mixed perennial garden and have now allowed those plants to get a bit shaded by taller summer perennials. Still I feel they're worth me rescuing (moving) them in 2014.
I was rather proud for maintaining the rare Illinois and Mississippi River Boltonia decurrens (claspingleaf doll's daisy, one name) in our garden; tall and pinkish flower.
Still after about five years it kicked the bucket, so I didn't turn out to be the great conservationist after all!
Seriously though, I would say that 'Jim Crockett' is a useful perennial.
'underneath the loquat tree'
Sigh....loquats have only recently come to my attention since I had always dismissed them as impossibly tender. However, I am now salivating at the prospect of trying one in a more sheltered area after sowing a couple in the greenhouse. I have read that named cultivars are preferable than wild seedlings (like many fruits) but since they are being grown for those large leaves and lush appearance, I have no concerns about the fruits (unlikely, in any case). I have one sitting outside which has been untroubled by the chill (but as we haven't really had a sharp winter yet, this remains to be seen).
Attempting to grow seeds for 3 completely different areas is doing my head in somewhat - the greenhouse is stuffed but all attempts at rational planning has vanished while I have simply given in to a kind of seasonal madness which invariably strikes during the dull dark months - a guilty attempt to actually sow all those seeds I have collected, hoarded, stolen even, during the short days of autumn as insurance for a bright spring and summer. Obviously, if every smidgeon of space is already used up by trays and containers, there is going to be a reckoning when all these seedlings need pricking out and potting on.....but I am denying reality in a haze of horticultural craziness.
I am mystified by your geranium problems, Daisy. True, Rozanne vanishes down to an absolute minuscule crown....but then roars into life (quite late in May), growing to a ridiculous size in weeks. Penstemons......have you thought about some of the species rather than the large flowered types? Have a gander at Plantworld seeds - I think Ray keeps a good selection....and avoid the miffy Husker's red. Also, I find the fat leaved ones to be a bit rubbish for me (although shouldn't be so much of a problem for you) but they are not really resistant to drought. If you are keen on that trumpet shaped flower, have a go at incarvillea - there is a lovely easy annual (incarvillea sinensis) as well as a rather interesting woody version (I.olgae - taller than I.arguta but with better proportioned flowers).
Campanula, I wish I could send you some of the loquat's fruit, when they ripen in May. They are delicious.
When I was first viewing this little house, back in 2008, the tree was full of fruit. I managed to hack my way through the brambles and tree saplings to sample some. Oooh! the juice just ran down my chin.
Why oh why didn't I think of Plant World Seeds? When I lived in Cornwall, they were only in the next county and I used to go there sometimes and wander around the "world".
I have just had a quick look at their web site.Do you realise
that they have 42 varieties of penstemons alone?
Good grief. What a wonderful dilemma, choosing from them.
At the moment, I have the same problem as you have, only not on the same scale. Seed trays everywhere. My husband is complaining that he can hardly get into the shed anymore...and this is before they are pricked out.
Mind you, if they all germinate, I won't know where to put them. My tiny garden is already full.
I used to grow Incarvillea delavayi in the U.K. I didn't know about any other incarvilleas. Thanks for telling me about them. I will have to do a bit of research.
Daisy
campanula, have you seen this variegated variety of Deutzia called "Creme Fraiche"?
Here is a link that might be useful: New Deutzia
New to me Rouge. I admit to being fairly ambivalent about variagation and have very few examples apart from the obvious hollies and a rather good dogwood (elegantissima). The inherent weakness of variagated leaves always pulls me up short (since I am a fitful and negligent gardener). Course, I have been a sun gardener for a decade now so I expect to be changing my habits now I am faced with shady woodland (where I can definitely see a role for all those bread and butter shrubs such as euonymous, which, in my constrained space, I have sniffed at in the past).
We do get PW and even Terra Nova plants here in the UK but having been wedded to seed for ages (as well as being both broke and cheap) I rarely venture forth into catalogue listings.
I did, however, save seeds from a fabulous variagated angelica archangelica I saw growing down a track last year......
What a great idea for a thread.
This lot is an open woodland with partial shade because of the large canopy trees. There is hardly any full sun. Like others, I dream about more sun. A large sunny back yard with full sun where I can put a big veggie garden, cutting garden, a daylily garden, lots of butterfly plants, and sun loving perennials.
I'd love a pond with a small waterfall and some shallows for the birds to bathe, preferably close to a window so that the soothing sounds of moving water can be enjoyed and it's easy to watch the critters. I also want some real wetlands.
Having just gotten back from visiting my Mom in Florida, I would love to be able to grow the tropical plants year round that grow in her yard. But would also miss my Northeast US natives.
To name a few!! So many fantasies, so little time...
ilovemyroses, now there is a great fantasy! lol I love it.
I can't find one thing in your description that I couldn't adopt for myself. :-) I say if you're going to fantasize, go big. NO mosquitoes, an old Williamsburg landscape complete with sheep. lol
terrene, same here, lots of sun and room for a huge vegetable garden and lots of fruit on trees and shrubs. And wouldn't it be great to have oranges, mangos, avocados and other tropical fruit too.
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.