13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
mad_gallica - thanks for that soil info which would explain my utter failure to grow lavender where I am. Sounds like the fact that my soil is lovely, well-drained acid sandy loam is probably a dead giveaway why I've had zero luck growing it here except in containers. It always helps to accept what you can change and what you can't.
I'm going to disagree with the above.......it is ALL about drainage and winter moisture conditions with only a slight impact from soil pH :-) First, most plants tolerate a pretty wide range of pH and lavender fits into this tolerance range as well, although not as wide a range as many other plants (6.5-7.5 is preferred). The PNW is one of the largest commercial lavender growing areas in the US and we have naturally acidic soils. Lavender thrives here, despite having rather wet winters. The key is to ensure good drainage - I can't imagine lavender dealing with clay soils at all regardless of pH. The only time hardiness is at issue here is if fast drainage is compromised, like in clay soils. (and excessive fertility and too frequent irrigation, but that's another issue).
As to transplanting now, in zone 5 I'd opt to wait until spring if possible. Lavender is marginally hardy inground in your zone and planting this late in the season does not provide sufficient time for the plant to become established before cold weather sets in and increases the chances for cold damage/death over winter.
When my folks were alive, they lived in Michigan's U.P. and I visited them from Chicago. They had five acres of woods, and I decided to dig up some ferns to use in my shade garden back home. Boy, did THAT turn out to be a backbreaking project! Those babies did NOT want to leave Michigan!
I didn't get as many as I had hoped for, but a few years after they were planted in Chicago, under some juniper trees, they were MAGNIFICENT. One of the things I hated most about leaving my Chicago garden was leaving the ferns from Mom and Dad's woods in Michigan. But Kansas is really the last place they'd want to be. (I'm not too crazy about it either!)
When I'm picking plants for a bed, I usually try and find the ones that are variegated or have leaves other than run-of-the-mill green.
Variegated varieties: Solomon's seal, Jacob's ladder (touch of class), obedient plant, heliopsis (Lorraine sunshine), brunnera (variegata), lysmachia (alexander), toad lily, phlox (nora leigh)
Silver leaves: lamium (I find it to be somewhat invasive), brunnera, pulmonaria, lychnis (gardners world), bleeding heart (burning heart)
Dark leaves: cimicifuga, lysmachia (purpurea), eupatorium (chocolate), ligularia, lobelia (queen Victoria), penstemon, euphorbia (bonfire)
Chartreuse leaves: bleeding heart (gold heart), spiderwort, (sweet kate) columbine (leprechaun's gold), agastache (golden jubilee), lamium
Hostas and heucheras are pretty snazzy too, and epimediums change color in the fall
Also, check into native plants - they're beautiful and butterfly magnets!
With ornamental grasses you can have tons of color at this time of year...and motion & sound as well! I adore them... and there are some for shade, humid areas and more! (Asters look fabulous with them.) Grasses can be red (Japanese blood grass) gold, brown, green, chartreuse.....variegated (such as Morning Light). Tall, medium or short. Heucheras offer various colors as well and Allium Ozawa blooms at this time of year as does Verbena bonariensis. I agree that foliage is autumn's good friend as far as color is concerned! And Amsonia hubrectii (mentioned above) is truly to die for....
This post was edited by gardenbug on Wed, Oct 16, 13 at 22:01
I don't know about GB specifically, but C montana doesn't like to be too wet. I've learned that when I buy perennials in pots to remove most of the soil they came with so I can have some say over the soil they are in when I put them in the ground. Maybe you know this too, but it's just something that comes to mind when someone says that a plant that is hardy in their zone doesn't come back, or doesn't grow. The peat just kind of collapses and collects water all winter to the detriment of a lot of plants. Also, if it isn't deadheaded it could sort of die back, or rest anyway, in the heat of summer, and then will grow back a new rosette in the fall if you don't get impatient with it and replace it. Anyway, heat and wet might be more of an issue than cold for this plant. This isn't a plant that will look good in August, at least not here.
LOL. Nothing wrong with jumping and clicking your heels - it's just your own version of the happy dance!
Glad to hear you haven't had problems with aster yellows. I have to admit I've never had this (knocking on wood as I type) but I've heard others describe it and it's good you've avoided it this year.
:)
Dee
Hi
How about cotoneaster? Many of them grow close to the ground. Scarlet leader is good, but can spread as a ground cover. Cranberry cotoneaster is also nice. What do you others think?
Hey Ken, thanks for the info about digging holes to invite existing roots!
Silver Brocade goes all over the place; you would have to prune it quite often if you are interested in a more sculptured look. I think the Silver Mound is a bit tidier but as some else mentioned, when it gets older, it tends to splay out and look messy. There are some really nice annual Dusty Millers that would look good in your design. I wonder if starting from seed would make it affordable to get so many plants?
hi donna
thanks for your reply. Dusty Miller is really what i wanted to begin with. unfortunately Dusty Miller seems to not be a very common plant here in the Netherlands and the only thing I can find is seeds which so happen to be sold out. I have not place to start so many plants to grow them. I already considered that. As of recently we have decided against the artemisia at this time and are considering heuchera instead. It seems like every day I learn something new about the plants I am considering that causes me to change my mind and consider something else and then the following day it happens all over again. This gaden planning stuff is hard!
Bachelor's Button seeds are so cheap, and once you plant them, they will reseed copiously. I would be hesitant if it's the perennial cornflower...not a lot of flowering for so much foliage and very tough to get rid of once it's entrenched in your garden.
Very nice large, bushy Mum, Woody. I've cut mine back the same way and it works out for me too. They just bloom a couple of weeks later than I would like. Some of mine are just opening now. I may try to cut them back for the last time next year in mid June.
Uvularia sessilifolia grows wild in the woods around here, and a seed or two came along as a hitchhiker with a swap plant some years back and is now popping up in a woodland garden in the back yard. Pretty little thing.
U. grandiflora is a plant I covet and want to have it some day!
go figure...
learn something new everyday ....
just dont like peaking out this early in the morning.. lol ...
when moving something like this.. the bigger clump of soil you take.. the higher the odds that plant never knows ...
ken
Some of those 'flies' may be hover flies. Many species are voracious predators of pests in their season. Not everything which looks like a fly is the sort which spreads diseases and frequents unpleasant substances.
Here is a link that might be useful: Hover flies
The hybrid asters commonly found in garden centres are usually the dwarf cultivars such as Wood's Light Blue, Wood's Pink, Sapphire, Prof. Kippenburg, etc. They can get leaf diseases during rainy summers, but are otherwise reliable fall bloomers, if the rabbits don't eat them first. Most of them are hybrids of several species asters, including the New York aster.
Thank you. I'll give them a try!