13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Martha, those look like the biennial FMN. I have some that did not bloom either because they were reseeds from last year. They will bloom like mad next spring!

Docmom, those look just like the usual biennial Forget-Me-Nots to me, not a special variety. They seem quite small plants and I'm pretty confident they'll bloom next spring.

The tag says sun to part shade, tolerates hot and dry conditions. I donâÂÂt really have a hot and dry place to put it

==>>> you are mis-reading the tag ...

'tolerates' in much different than REQUIRES ...

if i read that tag.. i would default to any full sun ...

a little shade if that was my spot ..

regular water..

but if the only spot left was soggy.. this plant will TOLERATE IT ..

make sense???

ken

These are not "easy plants" if your soil and water are alkaline. Just saying.

campanula, I would have taken pictures but mine were done blooming.

Shell Leaf Penstemon is the native around here. Very pretty, and very durable in a dry place, but not long lived. Easy to save seeds or collect more along the bike path.

Also, as a male in his mid-30s I have to say it is unlikely you will catch me in that get up :)

Would an electronic insect killer or mosquito trap work? I was given a sample of Off plant based insect repellent that seems to work pretty well. I don't like using anything so I always have bites but when the mosquitoes get real bad then I break out the repellent.

Ken, that is another way of looking at it

==>> yes.. i always try to play devils advocate ...

BTW... check out the link .. if you are thinking about moving the hosta ...

i dont know the guy who wrote it up.. but he sometimes has flashes of brilliance.. lol

but do note.. he did NOT divide it ..

really.. there are 3500 named hosta.. if you cant find one to fit a given space .... well .. then you ought to be sentenced to years of hard labor of continually bonsai'ing your hosta.. because that is basically what you are doing.. by repeatedly digging them up .. root pruning ... and stunting their growth

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I'm so glad you posted that link, Ken. I've read it several times over the years (whenever I think I want to move a big hosta).
Is there where I read about throwing the hosta onto the driveway to help it when transplanting....or did I hear it somewhere else.?
I don't need to do that..Without even trying, I will step on it, drop it, and rip its leaves. Shucks, I don't even have throw it or move it 6 inches. That's just its fate if I step in the hosta bed.
idabean

As far as I'm aware there are no vegetatively propagated delphiniums in US (corect me if I'm wrong), so it can only be a seedling plant of some seed strain, and there have been plenty of them in recent years. If you were from UK, you could choose among tens of varieties that fit the description.

You can check some seed catalogues like Jelitto or others, they list tens of seed strains in all possible colours and color combinations(see Moonlight Blues).
A warning: contrary to what they write, do not expect selfsupporting plants from any of those Millenium series. It MAY happen, but it is not a rule.

This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 7:54

Hi Blan,

I did a little bit of google research ('delphinium blue with black bee') and found that there is a blue Delphinium with a black bee in the Excalibur Mix.

Also, Bluestone Perennials has a Delphinium cultorum 'Dark Blue Dark Bee'

I noticed a few postings for Delphinium 'Black Knight' that also appears to fit the bill.

Best of luck,
Steve

I have several in conditions ranging from sun to part-shade. Soil is definitely clay but with a few years of compost and mulch to lighten it somewhat. Great plant but it will seed about...the seedlings are very easily identifiable and quite cute and transplant easily. I tend not to like the flowers in some locations and in any location when they are looking ratty I cut them back to expose the inevitable flush of tidy growth underneath, which quickly fills out and looks attractive for the rest of the season.

I, too, have them in sun, shade, part shade, etc. They thrive everywhere. In really dry summers the plants in full sun will get ratty, but cutting them back makes them grow back nicely.
I'm actually starting to consider them invasive...they have self-seeded all over the place. I've given lots away, and pulled others up and basically just plunked them in bare spots.

Continuing with marquest's theme of using plants with colored foliage to bridge all of the awkward bloom gaps- tancenetum Ilsa Gold, weigelia My Monet, sedums Purple Emperor, Picolette & Autumn Charm.

I have a siberian iris, I forgot about it. It didn't flower this year-then again, neither did all but one dutch iris. I got them all last season, so I guess I'll wait another year to see what colors they are, lol.

Also in the non-blooming catagory is my only Huechera. This is year #2 for it and it didn't bloom last year either. I got it as a humminbird plant, and instead I have a foliage plant! (it's Melting Fire I believe). I would have a bed of them instead of one of the hosta beds I have, but they aren't as popular and hence more $$ (I got a bunch of hosta free via divisions and people wanting to get rid of them).

My baptisita is done, and the lupine is still flowering but I can't put them in the main bed due to wind :(

I have two honeysuckle-Major Wheeler and Goldflame, but I haven't space for climbers in the main bed. Which also excludes clematis (I have a purple that's blooming, no idea of the variety, it was a freebie).

Are there non-flopping no ant attracting peonies?? I love the look when they aren't on the ground. They would need to go back in the bed a little so staking would be a pain (trying not to step on anything else). I have garden junk, but not in this bed, so the seatless chair idea won't work :(

I forgot to mention this is a mostly sunny bed, and it's a cottage style with no space between plants, so floppers don't work too well (I do have some spiderwort in another bed that was here and it keeps flopping all over the phlox next to it).

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I've been thinking about rose campion...I passed on it because of the silvery foliage (I can't stand lambs ear or dusty miller) but maybe it's time to give it another look.

Rouge, lots of good info above. Mine are in a shadier site with some afternoon sun. I have them at the edge of a shade border set on their own a bit. Since they're on the edge, once they die back the edge just becomes a little wider. They're also more visible at the edge of the border. These little plants would be great up on a wall somehow where they are closer to eye level. Even as dainty as they are, if they're sited well in the border they will be noticeable. I bought a double white one this year and I'm curious to see how that performs. It is sited in a little bit more sun.

They started blooming in late April and 'Shoaf Double' has one bloom left on it. You get a solid 4 weeks of nice bloom. Mine usually do not die out until August timeframe (if I'm remembering correctly). Didn't make an exact mental note on when they die back.

Expensive little buggers, but I think worth it. I tend to spend big bucks on shade plants that really appeal to me and these were right up my alley.

lots of good info above.

Definitely. Thank you so much for all your help ispahan.

You get a solid 4 weeks of nice bloom.

That's a nice long bloom duration for a plant that will go dormant.

Expensive little buggers, but I think worth it. I tend to spend big bucks on shade plants

Good reasoning.

And it is quite pricey ( $24 for a plant from the source I have in mind).

UPDATE:

I was able to see a couple of "Anemonellas" at the nursery which were actually in the ground and they were so small (even though they were a few years old). Definitely a plant that must be admired very close up.

This post was edited by rouge21 on Mon, Jun 24, 13 at 13:50

Walker's low is a blooming machine! I find mine has seeded, though, so it can't be sterile. Not enough to be obnoxious: just enough to make me happy. I now have several. I try to put a low cage around it (made from the top portion of an old tomato cage) before it starts blooming to prevent the flop.

Give it lots of space, though.

Walkers Low does not like a lot of water. I have it down at the end of my driveway bed, usually a good spot for it, slightly raised bed, fairly dry. However, when we get a rainy season, there's running water and splashing water and it will nip it back or kill it back. I just trimmed about a third of the plant back the other day.

It does spread some, but it hasn't been horrible.

well yes, Kevin....but with some plants, within the clusters of flowers, some are actually going into seed while others are still blooming - totally impossible to tease out the minuscule green blown flowers while others, tight up against them, are still doing their floriferous thing....and worse, polemoniums, like primula, pulsatilla, hellebores and some geraniums, set seeds which will germinate immediately even though soft and green. Once dry, they will go into dormancy but even dead-heading regularly will fail to catch every wayward seed from sprouting.

I do have to say that yours look particularly colourful, attractive and garden-worthy. Mine look much rattier.

Kevin, I'm actually the world champion in birth control by deadheading. (It's I who preach it for others). But in the case of Polemonium and Tradescantia you would have to spy on what individual flowers are doing, which is far beyond what I want to spend my time on.

Here it is listed as Potentilla thurberi Monarch's Velvet. I had the straight species P. thurberi. It was actually the best standing-up potentilla of them all. The problem with this plant was that the flowers are just too small and too few at a time to be effective for that dark colour.(one of those plant you have to look for to notice)

Thanks so much! Now I know how to site it. If it sprawls or scrambles that explains the width stated by the Missouri Botanic Garden. Of course the picture on the tag shows it covered with flowers, as did most of the shots I found online. I love red, so plants that are red (or wine, or similar) tend to land on my cart even if I know nothing about them.

It was only a quart, and not expensive. IâÂÂm glad I didnâÂÂt pay more. Cinquefoil is probably just the common name: both were on the tag.