13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Well I have never much gotten into Pansies, but I was out yesterday and passed a public planting with the prettiest pastel pansies - pale yellow, pink, and lavender. I am used to the much stronger colors in Pansies? But I'm a sucker for pastels - and decided on the spot that I MUST check the local nursery for some of these pastel pansies.

Do Pansies reseed? I know that Johnny Jump ups will spread around.

I also love 'Etain' and while it is sold as a perennial here that has not been my experience. But hope has me trying again this spring.

I knew he would ask....

The tree on the right is a Ginkgo, one of a pair I found languishing in the back lot of a local nursery a couple of years ago on discount. They are flanking the walkway as shown in the attached picture. The two bare spots on the lawn are pink peonies.

The gravel is the parking area beside the roadway, and the roadway is in sorry shape because they have been replacing the sewers across the street. Next year the road gets repaved.

As for the light, the pole is set in concrete and nice and straight, but maybe 6' to the very tip of the spire. My plan is to raise it so the light is about 8' off, build a special mount, and replace it with the two pictured in the next post once I refinish them. They match the lights already on the house, but are a bit fancier, which I think will fit the house better. Eh?

Thanks!

vince

The lights

Hosta 'Gold Edger' 'Heavenly Tiara' 'Grand Tiara' 'Lemon Lime' the list of hostas that are all yellow or yellow variegated is pretty long....

Geranium 'Ann Folkard'

Dicentra 'Spring Gold' or 'Gold Heart'

Golden creeping Jenny though this can be aggressive

Scotch Moss
Sagina subulata 'Aurea'

Centaurea 'Gold Bullion' perennial bachelor's buttons

Bergenia 'Lunar Glow'

Brunnera 'Diane's Gold'

Corydalis 'Berry Exciting'

A word on Ann Folkard: I also live in zone 5a/6, tried AF twice (at least 4 plants in different gardening seasons) and she did not survive. Although word is she's hardy here, she didn't get the message and just peters out in two seasons.

It's really lovely with Dryopteris 'Brilliance' and Heuchera 'Obsidian'. Brings out the orange in the fern.
It's also very pretty with blue hosta.

Thanks, everyone. If you happen to have pictures that would be helpful as well.
Your ideas for blues reminded me I have three colbalt blue pots of different sizes. I fell asleep thinking about them filled with "Sweet Tea" . Maybe edged with black Mondo Grass.
What could I use for height?
One reason for my failure of imagination is that it is still "mid-early" spring here in E. MA and there really isn't anything flowering but bulbs.and emerging foliage. Placed on the still mostly bare ground the foliage is blinding.
I have about 8 h."Caramel" which also came through the winter beautifully. But there's enough browns and softer tints that they are easier on the eye.
Idabean.

Been there done that. And wouldn't do it again with the exception of very expensive plants, plants that are quite difficult to find, or plants that have sentimental value.

I have one (one!) plant left from all the plants I moved from my other house years ago. The conditions at my other house were different that the conditions here - exposures, type of soil. Plus, I realized that by taking stuff with me I was limiting my creativity - I think it's better to start with a clean slate and design a garden with anything I want to instead of being limited by guilt because I already have it.

So, for me it just isn't worth the labor and aggravation, although I would take a few items that had sentimental value or hard to find or very expensive, as I mentioned above. Common plants aren't that expensive and are readily available in my area.

campy!!!!

many of my friends.. from my hosta club.. VOLUNTEERED to either dig.. or plant .. and even some..with trailers.. to move.. my plants ...

i paid them.. get this.. in plants ....

think about how you can get help ....

ken

Watering once per week would generally be sufficient for an established perennial - but for a new transplant I would water more frequently than that, perhaps every 2-3 days if it doesn't rain, depending on the size. The smaller they are, the more frequently they need water. I water seedlings daily if it doesn't rain.

I also remove the coir planters, but I'm not sure if they hinder root growth or not.

Thanks for the help. I'll dig up and remove the coco fiber pot tomorrow. I've been watering twice a week, at a half inch each time.

You might try scarlet Kale or red lettuce, or garnet amaranth (that one might be too tall).

There is also purple emperor sedum.

There are also some nice red or black Euphorbia's- but I can't keep them alive in my 5b garden over winter- so I can't really recommend those.

Actea/Cimicifuga 'Brunette' or 'Hillside Black Beauty' or any of the other dark maroon foliaged varieties.

There are some small dark foliaged rhodies, but I think most top out around 2 feet or just taller.

Both will do fine in part shade.

I agree completely with mistascott and have a funny story to share.

A few years ago after my DH retired, he decided that he wanted a more open garden look with lots of mulch between individual plants so they would "show better" and because liked the look of dark earth between plants. I thought he was nuts but because he said he'd weed while I was at work I gave in to his whim. We removed and gave away many of the spreading, filler plants in our long 60 ft garden. And he did do all of the weeding --- ALL OF THE TIME --- for two seasons.

Well, you can guess the rest. He had aches and pains all of the time. He complained about the "weed farm" in our neighbor's yard. And although our town offered free mulch, he got tired of filling up our truck and spreading this free mulch in the garden. Plus, he began to realize how much our neighbor's weeds loved our nicely mulched areas. Last fall he conceded defeat. We did some winter sowing.

Molie

crikey ..

you have an expert who uses it..

WHY DIDNT YOU HAVE HIM APPLY IT ...

what???? .. dissin' dad.. in favor of us ...

i found. long ago.. just to have dad around. i let him do anything he wanted in my garden ... and we learned a lot of things... and i didnt bother checking if it was OK with the neighbors...

call him up.. and ASK HIM ... and then ask him if he will do it .. he's reaching out ot you .. use him .. relish the time.. its precious.. and gone before you know it ... [worse than kids.. lol]

ken

No advice to offer, but enjoying the heck out of the typo! Cheer up!

Ditto!

Thank you all so very much. It has been a while since I visited here, but the weather has finally reminded me that I am behind the eight ball. I went to Costco yesterday and came back with Aubrieta. There are three nice size pots in their holder. What do you recommend I do with these? I will be researching as well, but value your first hand experienced opinions.

i would recommend that you start a new post.. with the name of the plant in the title ... many peeps do not return to the same old post .. over and over..

AND ... the title will be searchable for the next person who wants to know about this specific plant ...

good luck

come back more frequently ... lol

ken

ps: if you cold add a big city name where it says 6 next to your name.. it might matter with some plants ....

Power, you sound like me! Lol

In general, no. I am running a garden here, not a plant hospital. :)

However, I will admit that I have picked up a few forlorn plantlets from the bargain rack at the local big box store, but only (formerly) expensive plants that have only cosmetic issues.

To further elaborate on Purpleinopp's elaboration, a lot of the more common garden plants that often require a lot of water are actually native to eastern North America. Things like Phlox paniculata, which is the first thing in my garden to wilt. So usually when people are talking about the drought tolerance of 'natives', they are really talking about the drought tolerance of natives from considerably further west than I've ever lived, and a drastically different ecosystem. To the point that it is fairly common around here for these plants to be poorly adapted to our wetter years.

Excellent!