13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
My foxgloves seem to grow best in morning sun. They self-seed there, but not in full sun or full shade. Mine have grown from seedlings of the common pink/white type given me by a neighbor many years ago. I mulch fairly heavily, but they seem to find spots I've missed or where the mulch has broken down.
Mine are in pretty heavy sun -- probably 4 hours or so midday. The flower color is a little washed out from this, but the plant looks great. The Michigan Spring sun is probably soft enough that you can err a bit on the side of sun. Not sure lack of sun would kill them though -- more likely it would diminish their flowering performance.
Coreposis rosea is a pink threadleaf coreopsis so it looks sort of like a pink version of 'Moonbeam' or 'Zagreb'. There are a few selections I've run across, including 'Heaven's Gate' and 'Sweet Dreams.' It's supposed to be fine zones 5-9 and isn't super dry tolerant, but is fine with well-drained average soil.
It's probably too much water, if you have had rains like we have lately. Mine spot up the same way because of too much water. They still bloom fine, though. I wouldn't pull the leaves off, unless you think it's something else, something that spreads. Without a pic, though, I would chalk it up to too much water.
Hi all! I'm not sure if anyone here remembers me :-) I used to garden in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia but have now moved to the great city of Melbourne and, with a new house, will be starting my gardening adventures from scratch! An exciting prospect but also a LOT of work. Here's a quick shot of my new garden:
('scuse the washing on the line) so as you can see, lots of space and lots of potential. Well! I hope you are all well, I'll be back soon!!
Water is what these plants NEED. You can't see it in the picture but there's an extension pipe, attached to a nearby downspout, running under the path to deliver lots of water directly to the base of the near astilboides. The neighbour next door directs one of their downspouts at the other one. I have a couple of other astilboides elsewhere in the backyard that are pathetic puny things because they're not getting enough water. I need to move them somewhere more suitable.
These two were planted in 2007. The clumps have got bigger - produce more leaves - but they haven't really spread. Water is the limiting factor I think. They might spread a bit more at the edge of a pond perhaps but otherwise they will stay close to where it's wet. I doubt they'd ever be a serious spreading problem in normal garden conditions. They'd be a good plant to plant near any downspouts from the eaves. These ones get morning shade and some afternoon sun.
Actually Bumblebeez, the cat love of my life was a large male who was compelled to go outdoors, even if I had wished to keep him indoors. He prowled his territory for many years, it was his instinct, and he kept the gardens and house free of rodent pests for many years. No doubt he went through his 9 lives, and then died at the age of 19 on the kitchen floor with me by laying down at his side and stroking him. He was very much a beloved cat.
Although he did like to stalk the neighbor's bird feeders, I fortunately I have never lived near anyone who would intentionally trap or kill one of my cats.
Echinaceamaniac, as a property owner if you offer bird feeders, houses, or baths to the birds, you have a responsibility to make them safe from the predators, not just cats. Hawks, raccoons, dogs, squirrels, snakes, chipmunks, non-native birds such as House Sparrows, as well as cats will all prey upon birds, their nests and fledglings. Ironically, collisions with windows that are sited near bird feeders may kill more birds than cats.
I have been feeding the birds for 8 years and have 5 bird baths. Although my cat catches an occasional bird, there are still tons of birds in my yard, nesting, feeding, and enjoying the bird baths, and they can co-exist.
I don't have any problems now. I removed two cats. The birds are all happy now. I even have a white dove that comes here now. Raccoons don't come out much in the day here. They are kind of nocturnal animals. The birds aren't at the feeders at night. I have never seen a raccoon after birds here. It's always cats. I think people know I mean business now.
I planted "Polkadot Princess" last year. They weren't as tall as Excelsiors, but did put up bloom stalks throughout the summer. All bloom stalks after the initial bloom were much, much shorter.
Most plants made it though the winter, and it looks like each plant now has several new crowns around the base of last year's rosette (which is now dead). At the moment, it looks like they won't be blooming with the rest of the digitalis in the garden, but I'll have to wait until the digitalis are in bloom to be sure of "who's who."
I want to see what they do this year before I form an opinion. My guess is that they'll have a place in my garden, but it won't be the same place that the tall spires of the Excelsiors will. OTOH, I haven't found a spot in my garden where I can consistently grow the Excelsiors, so the vigor of the sterile foxgloves might count for a lot.
I actually just ordered one from Bluestone. I ordered Monarch's Velvet, which is a dark red. I have heard that the yellow can be invasive, but opinions seem to be all over the place on that. I have toyed with getting a lot of those, but thought I would try this one first to see how it does for me. Didn't think of using it as an underplant, though.
Well, you'll never guess what I found on my visit to my local nursery today. Corydalis Blue Heron! Looked high and low on the internet and everyone was sold out and my local place has it! It wasn't there 4 days ago! Astronomically priced at $20, but they did have 25% off perennials today. Hardly makes it worth that, even, though. Wasn't even a big one, but I dragged it home anyway. So, now I'll put the Canary Feathers in the shade bed that I will be working on soon. It will look better there anyway. We'll see how the Blue Heron does.
Also, got an awesome deal on a Ninebark Coppertina today! Same place, it was in a 1 gal pot, but it's HUGE and already blooming for $15!!! Almost made up for the outrageous corydalis--almost.
At the start of the week they were forecasting a Saturday a.m. (5/25) low of 47 - cooler than it's been for the past couple weeks, but no big deal. Then the forecast low started dropping - 45...42...38. I dragged about a third of my potted plants back in, then decided the heck with it, even though the last forecast Friday night called for "patchy frost". I could have scrambled around putting frost cloth over all the tender vegetation and hauling all the potted plants in, but it was every plant for itself last night.
So this morning's low bottomed out near 40.
I still have a bunch of plants to bring back out, but nowhere near as bad as if I'd gone into full panic mode.
boday, zone 4 might be tricky for having coreopsis return consistently but give "Cosmic Eye" a try. If you can plant it closer to your home's foundation, giving it extra mulch in the fall may help it return next spring. For sure let us know how it goes it you do decide on CE.
This post was edited by rouge21 on Sat, May 25, 13 at 11:10
We have cardinal flower growing wild on the floodplain of the river behind our house where it gets sun all day except for the very earliest and latest part of the day when the trees further up the bank provide a bit of shade, so they have a long day of sun. However, I have seen plants growing and blooming along a stream in full all-day shade. I was so surprised at the flash of bright red I had to go investigate, but since it was right across from my house at the time, I do know that it was full shade, so it might be worth trying in your spot, with the realization that they might not be happy.
I have lobelia cardinalis (the red one) that seeded itself in the stream down the hill from my house. It's in the middle of the stream and on the edge of the stream, and it's in full shade all day.
Across the road where the stream continues in half day sun, it's growing at the edge of the stream, about 10 plants. I think the common factor is the stream! Shade or sun, they like it wet.
Lacy I will trade you deers. My deer have not met a plant that they were not interested. They even eat Daffodils. That is usually a plant that no animal has much interest.
A hungry deer will eat what is available.... desirable or not.
Thank you kimka. I will try and have tried everything. Right now I am using Vicks vapor rub on strips of fabric around the plants and the yard that seems to be working.
Our mild winters have produced a over run of critters. The country is thinking of opening up to bow and arrow hunting to cut the herds down.
Last year was our first selling it at the nursery, so it is good to get feedback here on it.
One thing to keep in mind...it does take awhile for the product to start working (THINK it may be a month) so you will certainly need to use something until it takes effect. Also...one customer came in and said it didn't work- likely because he used it so close to the plant going into dormancy that it didn't have time to get into the system of the plant.
It also doesn't protect against deer rubbing antlers on it either ;-)
The thing is, it is REALLY $$. We retail a bottle of 50 tabs for around $20. Not bad until you consider you almost always need multiple tablets per shrub.
CMK
It looks like indigo blue larkspur?
The fifth is definitely a Veronica, perhaps one of the V. austriaca forms.