13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Nah, I don't have to have blueberries, I just saw yet another article singing their praises. I don't want too much fuss and bother, and whatever I plant has to be ornamental most of the year, since that bed is right in front of the picture window. I'm sure I can come up with some other part-shade shrubs that are low in height, no biggie. I saw some gorgeous blue-needled evergreens that actually would look terrific, I'm going to revisit that idea this weekend (hoping they will be marked down even further...)
My blueberries are in a raised bed and produced a decent fruit crop the past couple of years. I haven't been very diligent about soil pH (just got around to adding a slow-release acid fertilizer product a few months ago) but the plants are still doing well.
Nice....
You're getting a lot more of a response from your SO than I ever get.... She seems to think all my gardening questions are rhetorical, or just the ignore it and maybe it will go away kind of statement.
I know I'm in trouble with chrysanthemums... Keep checking out online sources and looking up more info. I hope this passes once fall is over.
I think, if I do buy online, I'll just trust the supplier has sent the correct amount. The last thing I need is letting 1000 lady bugs loose in the house... Especially after the later conversation where I was asked "how can you guarantee the ladybugs don't just fly away?" My response was that I had read to do it at night, water the area previously and "you can put them in the fridge for a short time to cool them down. It slows them down and....". "YOU ARE NOT PUTTING LADY BUGS IN THE FRIDGE!!!!"
.... fine, be that way ;-)
I'm going to yank up by the roots a good number of Rudbeckia and Echinaecias instead of digging. Hope that will work. Then in the spring, I will thin as they come up. Those two are taking over one of my gardens. I don't even remember half of what I had planted in that one. I used to have a nice patch of Lupin which have disappeared and Veronica --- I will have plenty of space in the spring for my jugs full of winter-sown seedlings.
I don't bother with much of anything very short or that spreads, like ground covers, stuff that needs staking, and plain green lumps and bumps of foliage that make flowers for a very short time. More into shrubs, nectar plants, and having a lot of blank area after frost for adding tons of leaves/compost, where annuals/edibles go again in spring.
I agree on wildflowers when possible for large areas. I have a very large deer resistant garden and am in the process of downsizing because it's gotten to be too much after eight years.
I've ordered from Swallowtail Gardens every year. Yes, they are dependable and safe and I'm pretty sure my shasta seeds came from them. I am currently cutting back for my fall clean up and had to cut off the tall, straight stems of Alaska. Here in my zone, the base foliage is evergreen.
For wildflower seeds, take a look at Gardens North.
@gardenweed - you forgot the last thing about perennials - the fourth year they are taking over your neighbor's yard :)
Mine don't. I'm on good terms with my neighbors--the guy next door mows my VERY LARGE lawn every summer--so I'm really careful about what I plant. My garden beds were designed on paper long before I stuck a spade in the dirt or set a plant in a hole. One day when I told my neighbor I wanted to plant a slope that is actually on HIS side of the property line He told me, "Mark where you want holes. I'll dig 'em." He did & I planted.
I garden for bees, butterflies & hummingbirds so I'm not overly concerned with curb appeal. I do concern myself with those perennials that provide nectar sources as well as color and interesting flower form.
My garden beds get only whatever rain/water Ma Nature doles out, be it a dry (2010) or wet (2013) season. I'm guessing most of the plants will either survive whatever growing conditions that occur or not. Those that do are appreciated. Those that didn't are soon forgotten. So far regrets (plants that didn't come back) are running behind those that did.
A word of caution--plants with taproots are much more likely to give over than others. Some shade garden plants resent being transplanted.
Best of luck to you!
Have you considered hellebore/Lenten rose? They're slow-growing and don't get very large although I wouldn't describe them as a ground cover. Another slow grower is Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie.' Hellebore is hardy to Z9; Daphne is hardy to Z8 so both should grow well where you are so long as your soil is to their liking. These are growing in sandy loam in my garden. In my experience Daphne does best when grown on a slope for better drainage.
Both of these are currently growing in my garden and after several years I've observed that neither is bothered by any indigenous pests and are care/maintenance-free.
Pachysandra terminalis might be a good choice for low/slow-growing groundcover.
I just added 18 Circus coral bells into my garden. I tucked them under roses and in open spaces. The bright lime green color seemed to brighten up the garden and the repeat seemed to add to the design. I know you will get many excellent suggestions. Lesley
Excellent 'thyme'!
You know me well echinaceamaniac. I have been singing the praises of this persicaria for a couple of years.
Here are two plants from last season.
Martha, it can not take dry shade in anyway. And it has been my experience that it does best with a few hours of morning sun. With much more sun it would need much more moisture.
Here is one of my 5 that I had to put in significant shade (ran out of other places). The light you see here is probably the most it gets all day.
(It is my opinion that "Painters Palette" would thrive better than "Golden Arrows" in deep shade.)
This post was edited by rouge21 on Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 20:02
UPDATED Picture:
Now almost October and this same young GA (pictured on August 18th above) still looks wonderful. It has been in bloom for over 6 weeks! It will take a frost to bring it down.
This post was edited by rouge21 on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 16:53
I love that plant, nice choice!
I'd say it's a front/mid-front of the border plant. The foliage is about a foot tall and it's nice looking - or at least it's not offensive in any way. Spacing is maybe 16" or so. A foot seems too close, so something in the 16-18 inch range feels about right. Mine have filled in around the original plants with seedlings so I can't say what the spacing originally was.
Full sun up to about half day shade is what they get here. The long stems are fantastic. They are a mainstay in bouquets and they go with just about any color.
I hope they prove to be good plants for you. I just love mine and have them in several places - they seem happy everywhere!
I have serious rabbit issues, so I use (successfully and with minimal trouble) the I MUST GARDEN rabbit repellent. It is plant-based and the smell is fine. I spritz my flowers when they emerge and the repellent lasts at least a month and I reapply. Given the cost of plants and missed seasons of enjoyment if blooms are eaten, I find this repellent to be preferable to anything else I've tried. It doesn't wash off in heavy rain. I buy it locally since it's made here in Chapel Hill, but you can order it online.
Hope this helps,
Cameron
Indoor/outdoor cats are the real answers to squirrels, rabbits, mice and other little munchers. We live in the country so we currently have 7 cats (all neutered) that come in regularly for lap time and to check out the basement for mice. They don't sleep indoors at night except in really brutal winter weather.
We no longer have any problems with little varmints damaging plants. Even the moles seem happy to stay out of the gardens. Our two labs take care of those that do.
Rouge, I was looking in vain for a post I made about these amazing flowers. I have several in my garden, and didn't know what they were, so pulled most of them out, thinking that they were weeds. They looked a bit like dandilions and every morning I'd see a pale yellow half-dead flower on them, so I just thought, what use are these?
Then my neighbor came over and asked specifically if I had seen any evening primroses in that particular bed. She explained that the flowers popped open just as the sun was going down, and stayed open all night.
Turns out that she had remembered many years earlier before I lived there, that that particular bed was full of them, and the one she had, and all the others that she had given to members of her family, had all come from my garden.
They still come up, here and there, and they are completely fascinating to watch. It takes about 5 seconds for them to open, so you have to kind of sit there staring at the bud around sunset!
(Neighbor did order some from a nursery and was very disappointed that they sent her the wrong type of Oenothera, even though she had specified the triloba).
There are some youtube videos of them opening. Endlessly pleasing and kids love them. I usually move one from the garden each year and put it in a pot on the patio so I can watch them!
OK, I had to see this for myself, so I checked out Youtube and found 3 videos. This is probably the most in-focus one, but it's called a 'Moonflower' - yet another reason I hate the endless, common names.
Kevin
Here is a link that might be useful: Video
Thank you for posting your pictures. I just picked up one of these a couple weeks ago and am still deciding where to plant it. Think I have a good spot now =)
You are very welcome Eleven. I so enjoy seeing other GW member's favorite perennials. I bet half of our garden plants are from on-line recommendations.