13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
LOL...we never know, do we?? Thanks for all the feedback you've provided to me, Campanula. Tremendous help!!
Was just getting eager because I have something else I want to plant in that spot (errr....somewhere around that spot, since my marker is gone) and wanted to do it now!!
Thanks again,
Bonnie
Name that plant forum has ID'd it as common name: Desert Willow. I believe that's what it is. I googled it, and it has lovely pink flowers with long pods. There are 2 such trees across the road, so it probably grew from a seed.
Suzi
They're hardy here in Z6 and come back reliably year after year altho' not always robust following a truly arctic winter. They can form into shrub-like clumps if not pruned back hard early in the growing season. Definitely prefer full sun but I have them growing in partial sun on both the western and northern areas of my gardens where they get some hours of shade each day.
Really easy to grow from seed via winter sowing BTW.
Stems get pretty woody so pruning isn't just the weed-whacker sort--needs lopping or pruning shears. If you want more specific growing info, check out the growing details at White Flower Farms' website or a good perennial guide.
Anything flowering here in October is welcome regardless of bloom color. Have you considered toad lily/Tricyrtis for color/form contrast?
BBL, I am about 1 1/2 hrs south of your folks, about 10 miles north of Concord. I have lots of hydrangeas because as long as I plant hardy varieties, they are easy to grow here: long blooming, not bothered by pests, polite with neighbors (except Annabelle who likes to sucker), and generally happy as long as I don't give them too much hot and dry conditions.
OK, I grow wallflowers with spring bulbs, especially tulips (which I plant deeply and leave in my sandy soil from one year to the next so they are fairly reliable at returning. In the UK, they are in bloom around May, so I also partner mine with early hardy geraniums (I really like primrose wallflowers with the common cranesbill, Geranium pratensis and G.sylvaticum). I have a few clumps of them growing with common primroses too. The other plants I mentioned are not wallflowers but are flowering in mid spring with similar 4-petalled flowers and will make good companions. I could easily imagine growing them with little clumps of violas, forget-me-nots, short campanulas, and, my favourite, overwintered love-in-the-mist.
Yes, they do have a tendency to flop about a bit - you can cut them back hard after the first flowering - it looks quite improbable because the stems are silvery and bare.....but leafage will follow, along with a later flush of flowers (some autumns).
If they do well for you, you could try growing single colours from seeds sown in May. The little plants will grow over the summer, ready to be planted in autumn, where they will overwinter and burst into fragrant growth the following spring. A lovely clove scent, warm and very welcoming.
You could plant your packs about 8 inches apart - they will spread out but not much - they continue to grow from a woody base clump, branching higher up the stem - I never bother to stake mine as they rarely get taller than 16inches or so and even if they flop, the flowers will still stretch upright to the light.
Wallflowers have always been a traditional cottage garden favourite and, as such, they will look well with scrambling, rambling aubretias, arabis, nemophila, limnanthes and annual flax - not a tidy or formal plant.
Thanks so much for the info Campanula !! That's just what I needed to know.
I have not yet been able to get them planted (health issues) so now I have another question. Some of the leaves on just some of the plants are getting dark.
At first I thought they were just turning a deeper shade, like burgandy, but I think they it's leaning towards black. Does that mean they got too cold? We haven't had any extremely cold nites since I got them.
I can take pic if necessary but didn't want to bother if not.
And still hoping for any pics of these in someone's garden !!
Yikes. Now I'm hearing 80 degrees today or tomorrow. From one extreme to the other! I don't like the cold, but 80 degrees in early April just ain't right either!
Eh, I'm stuck inside all week anyway. Guess it doesn't really matter as I'll be looking at whatever happens through a narrow little window.
Dee
Well....I dunno where my post went but I sent it before campanula had replied...???
Anyway, had said to Gry...when I saw it, it looked sooo familiar to me but couldn't figure out why. Now I know it's because I already have the G. Lindheimeri Indian Feather 'Pink Fountain'. But it didn't do well last year (neglect) so had forgotten what it looked like. And when I bought it in fall of '09, it was nearly dead and on clearance so I've only seen it healthy for 2 seasons.
But I didn't remember the foliage being that tall and lanky looking. Mine tends to mound more and then the flower 'stalk's get real tall.
Then I said to casey & growlove that I could also see why they both responded the way they did. When I found pics of foliage on the Husker Red on Dave's Garden, the leaves looked much fatter. EXCEPT for one pic, which looked identical to my pic (except plant was a bit more mature).
So I ended by saying I was still confused.....lol.
But now there's campanula's suggestion of the 'Siskyou Pink' so that's making me lean towards Guara now.
However, when I googled so I could compare the 'Siskyou Pink' to my 'Pink Fountain' to see the difference, I could not find any good pics of 'Pink Fountain' (the one I own now) but did find 'Siskyou Pink'.
However, many of those look identical to my 'Pink Fountain',which has pink blooms -- yet other pics have a much more vivid fuschia bloom. So THAT has confused me, too... since I cannot seem to find pics of MINE (the one already have) to do a comparison.
What I'm trying to say is, I know what mine looks like but can't find any decent pics of it - AND - I CAN find pics of the other one, but many of the pics look like mine.
And why does this matter and what does it have to do with ID'ing the original plant?
Well, nothing really...LOL. I guess I just want to figure out if what I have is really what I have (I still have the tag but we all know about how they can't always be trusted) so...if the mystery plant DOES turn out to be the 'Sysyou Pink', then I'll know it will look different than mine.
Does that makes sense...???
Nope, not a care in the world, Ken :-) If these were coleus or impatiens, I might have a second thought but these are all cold tolerant plants, two of which act like or are considered perennials in mild climates.
There is another world out there that is not the tundra of zone 5 and where it is well and truly spring :-)) We've been planting early annuals here since the middle of last month and all manner of perennials are in full bloom. In my area, NOW is the time to plant.
My permanent ones are fine, Campanula. But some of the potted ones are very stubby, although they do have flower buds coming. Just bog standard greigii and some Darwin-types. Today the sun came out!!!!!!! Things seemed to have grown in just a few hours.
That said the daffs have lasted about 7 weeks in a suspended bloom time.
I know, I still have snowdrops blooming!
Living in hope for the tulips (thanks for the heads-up, Flora) - along with roses, they are my major single genus obsession. Finding Peter Nyssen bulbs back in 2005 (buying bulbs by the 100...and cheaply too) removed 'moderation' from my vocabulary, overnight.
I'm happy to report that High Country Gardens is back in business and shipping beautiful, drought tolerant plants and perennials. You can read about the transition by visiting the blog on our home page (entry posted March 1).
Here is a link that might be useful: High Country Gardens website
Glad they are back in business!!