13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Some Butterfly Bushes smell and waft better than others. I would never buy one without sniffing it first.
I have at least half a dozen different varieties and there doesn't seem to be a constant.
On the other hand, these are the easiest plants in the world to root so anyone can have as many as they want.
I LOVE my pink Clethra!
There are so called reblooming Lilacs. Daughter has one that had a few blooms on it last week. She says that after a normal flush of bloom, it will sporadically put out a few here and there over the rest of the growing season.
Linlily, that Leptodermis Oblonga may not live up to Bluestone's hype. I have two of them. It is an ok shrub, probably would make a decent shrub for hedge even, but A blooming machine they are not. Late to break dormancy, they aren't fully leafed out till late May. Moderate bloom follows mid June. The rest of the growing season there are very sparse showings of tiny clusters of the lavender flowers here and there. At present each shrub, clipped in April to try to maintain a 3' x 3' bush, has maybe a 1/2 dozen of these clusters of 3 or 4 small (individual 'lilac' sized) flowers. You have to really hunt to find them.
This post was edited by gazania on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 10:11
terratoma - "Is any of this making sense?" Sure it is; we're gardeners too. Odds are some of us have asked the same question.
For height/habit + leaf contrast, toad lily grows tall (3+ ft. in my zone) but is taller than it is wide--it grows mostly upright which I've found makes it ideal to grow between my hostas. It blooms late as well which was another advantage in both my shade as well as part-sun beds.
Astilbe has fern-like foliage that is an attractive contrast to the bold foliage of hostas.
Alchemilla mollis/Lady's mantle has attractive, velvety-textured foliage that's rounded--raindrops tend to accumulate along the edges of the leaves.
Aquilegia/columbine - delicate, scallop-edged foliage with dainty, early-season blooms that normally come along before the hostas have fully emerged.
Chelone/turtlehead - bold, late-season blooms that actually look like a turtle's head + attract pollinators.
Polemonium/Jacob's ladder - delicate & pretty blue flowers in Spring + fern-like foliage
Persicaria virginiana/Virginia knotweed - heart-shaped variegated foliage right through until frost, with each leaf sporting mottled green & white with a contrasting burgundy chevron. Very unique.
Hi all.
Sorry for the absence ... have been putting in a butterfly and hummingbird garden the last several days. But I've also managed to pick up some plants for this 'afternoon sun only' area, thanks to your many recommendations. They include 'Peach Flambe' heuchera, colubine, astilbe and gaura. Not sure whether I'll have quite the amount of sun for the gaura to survive but it's certainly worth the chance. Along with the astilbe, it will provide me with some 'see through' plants I am after. I'd really love to use Brazilian verbena (the epitome of 'see throughs') because I've read they are butterfly 'magnets' but,again, they may need more sun.
Deb, that 'Dazzle Berry' is still eluding me ... can't find it anywhere around here. Ditto for the 'Red Salsa' Echinacea ... nowhere to be found. And I love that true red cone!!
Again, thanks to everyone for your patience, helpful suggestions and, most of all, willingness to share
Speaking of daylilies...One that I got by mistake a few years ago is a big favorite for it's height, long and heavy bloom and just plain good looks. It has been around a long time. That would be Kwanzaa.
I would like to add ornamental grasses to this list of plants that bring joy. This is Pennisetum orientale 'Karley Rose'. Late to break dormancy, but quick to start sending up those rosey plumes. Adding new plums constantly till frost. Many types of grasses out there, I think that Karley Rose is one of the best to add inetrest to a mixed bed or as a stand alone.
If you don't want them reseeding, and don't need the seeds for trading or planting elsewhere, I'd trim them back as far as the nice leaves. Then they won't droop so much. If the seeds are ripe, I'd throw the trimmings into a small paper bag and let the seeds dry. Then you can trade for other seeds you might like to have, or share them with friends or neighbors.
Martha
Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflora) does much better (IMO) if it's whacked back to a third of its height early in the growing season so it doesn't grow so tall it flops over. According to my notes I cut most of my plants back in mid-June. All are blooming with gusto at the moment & growing fully upright. There are plenty of seedpods but I haven't decided whether or not to harvest seeds this year since I'm not committed to growing more of them via winter sowing. I may harvest seeds only from the double white & double blue varieties.
Be aware the term bellflower is generally used in describing campanula rather than platycodon. Larry Hodgson's 'Perennials for Every Purpose' describes them as "kissing cousins" but in my garden campanula blooms much earlier in the season than platycodon/balloon flower.
You can certainly deadhead them if you have no interest in the seedpods or harvesting seed. I generally just leave them for the critters who might benefit from the seeds. Whatever you decide, it's your garden so do what pleases you.
boday, you are kind of butting in front of me ;) as I had posted earlier this week looking for a compact long blooming phlox that is very much red.
So far it is "Red Flame" but I am having difficulty sourcing it
:(.
Here is a link that might be useful: compact RED phlox?
Why not use copper tape on things in pots/containers. You can see videos on youtube. If the tape is not that wide then you should double up as the bigger ones can be determined.
Some people go as far using a battery to create a mini electric fence on containers to try them.
No you aren't alone! Slugs and snails take over the yards here especially in spring( here being Portland, OR). I stopped bothering with the "natural" solutions bc it was like trying to take out an army with a slingshot. I use sluggo (iron sulfate) it's the only thing that works that I can stay on top of. Luckily we had a super dry spring and summer so for the first time in years the slugs didnt eat all of my pole bean seedlings :) but even with that, my hostas have a few small holes as I haven't been on top of it. I only have a light green thumb though!
Can't say it's a sure thing but as far as I know the botanical name for hardy hibiscus is Hibiscus moscheutos. I grew them from seed via winter sowing and am just now seeing them bloom spectacularly after 3 years of waiting and not really expecting them to perform. They're covered with buds and I have hopes they put on quite a show.
RyseRyse_2004 - I'm terribly sad & sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time with the JBs. Sadly, I'm guessing this might be the only year I can enjoy my own blooms before the JBs infest & destroy my own plants.
My hibiscus is amazing right now. A very strong minded and somewhat bossy older friend of mine called me one Saturday morning years ago and said "Chris, come over right away! and
drive your station wagon! When I got there she had about half of a huge clump of flowers, right side of clump dusty rose,left side pale pink dug out of the ground. I thought it was a bush. We wrestled it into the back end of my wagon and I had to drive home with the hatchback up. I had no idea where I would plant it
It took me years to realize it hadn't died over the winter when it waited until Memorial Day to show itself! After several years I realized it wasn't a shrub but individual plants growing together.
For several years I rose at dawn with my Dawn dishwash filled quart yogurt container to plunk the JBs in plop plop.
Now climate change or something means we have lots fewer of them to deal with. I've had a dozen or so seedlings over time. They get toddled over to the May garden club sale or saved for the fall sale. This year so far there have only been pale pink flowers. They're located in the corner of a fairly narrow L shaped sunny bed which surrounds our parking spaces.
My friend is no longer with us in body but every mid-summer I share a bit of her generous, managerial spirit and I can almost hear her say, "I know this plant is what your garden needs."
the mallow... i bought one here in adrian mi ... 10 years ago... let it go to seed once.. and have been fighting dormant seeds for the next decade ....
i would be very leery of spreading it around too much ... your choice of course ..;
in MI .. many pansy type plants are sold with mums in fall .. and they winter over with some regularity ... depending on the severity of the MI winter ... but many of them are biennial at best .....
if it were me.. i would just move that pot.. where you might want the pansy/viola.. and let it self sow.. right now ...
the plant is sowing now.. so why do we think OH >>> I WILL SAVE THEM UNTIL SPRING... think about that ...
the trick is recognizing them when the sprout.. and that is the beauty of that pot.. it will be sitting there.. surrounded by seedlings.. and you will say.. hey ... i remember now.. lol ...
finally.. personally.. i would not leave that pot outdoors.. in MI ... for fear that winter would crack it.. if it was left before.. you may have gotten lucky ... i would empty it.. and insure that it was bone dry .. and then store it in the polebarn ....
ken
That's hysterical. I have had that set aside waiting to be returned to the vendor because it was not the color i was seeking, but now, as we speak, it is going into the 'find a holding over/growing on place to plant this' queue. (See, you never know how or who might benefit from a post you make!) thx, ech.
Yep, looks like my 'Summer Sun', including the semi double flowers and the height One of my favorites.
This post was edited by boday on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 12:11