13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
@Rouge: by October Rebecca made it to the top of the lattice and Candid reached the top piece of the arbor.
Actually, looking again at this photo again, I can see the tiny Wisteria we planted on the right --- kind of on a tripod of sticks. By late fall it had crossed over a few feet onto the top piece. So hopefully the Clematis and Wisteria will meet this year.
I second the coleus suggestion. They come in hundreds of varieties with fabulous colors that are even more beautiful than some flowers. And they last all season with no dead heading. Can be grown in containers or the ground. And I'm finding them very easy to over winter as simple cuttings in water. Good luck.
Martha
I have a New Bradford pear and don't have any trouble growing anything under it. Maples are a different story, but can be a success story. Have posted many times about planting under maples - and no, removing the tree was NOT the solution... Board search should yield lots of posts re: planting under trees. :0)
Hi Folks: Just jumped in to many forums to break up the winter boring days. Storm here today. I have not tried winter sowing, but was wondering how successful is this technique as to the fact that do the plants started from seeds bloom true to the plants they were collected from. I was told before that in order to have a success in getting more plants that will bloom true you really need to take plant divisions form the original plant. Does anyone know which plants will come back true from seed?
Some will, some will be close but most won't. But it sure is lots of fun and just think, you could get something much better than the mother plant! Well, you could! So it sure can't hurt to try this method. Or, you could buy hybrid seeds and start them with this method if you want to be sure of getting something that looks just like the package.
Hi there! I just came across this discussion because I have a similar problem with an unsightly fence -- and more - next door. In my case, I need something tall and broadleaf to block a view that the douglas firs we planted will eventually block... in about five or six years! I'm thinking of using a hardy Southern Magnolia. If you are right about the abutter having the right to plant a vine on a neighbor's chain link fence, I may consider a Major Wheeler honeysuckle which stays evergreen in zone 6.
I wanted to mention, since the subject of invasive plants has been raised, that in the case of Burning Bush or other invasive plants, what makes them invasive is not necessarily that they will sprout up elsewhere on your own property. Many aggressive plants that are also native will do that but they are not considered invasive. What happens with invasive plants, e.g. non-native escapees, is they sprout up in nearby woodlands and roadsides where no one is around to weed them and so they reproduce without any natural controls on them. I have three haggard looking winged eunonymous shrubs growing in my wooded backyard along with escaped Japanese honeysuckle, wineberry, Oriental Bittersweet and mulitiflora rose. There are a couple of Japanese barberry and a Japanese holly back there too. In recent months, I've also been fighting an English Ivy invasion. These invasions are all the result of seeds that either traveled by wind or bird poop into our yard from neighbors' houses in the past twenty years. I intend to weed them all out, but I'm dealing with the worst first: the honeysuckle. Japanese honeysuckle happens to be allelopathic and actively prevents other plants from growing with it. It will also grow in deep shade! By the way, what grows from seed is not the beautiful cultivated variety of the plants I mentioned, it's the weedier looking species variety! If you ever take a walk around the Six Mile Run Reservoir area in NJ in the fall, you'll see pale pink winged euonymous shrubs growing all over the place in the woods, displacing native plants. We can't always see the harm we are doing by planting invasive plants in our gardens. But others get to see it, and the natural environment suffers. Just thought I'd bring it up. I live in a part of NJ that suffers greatly from invasives and it's so hard to keep fighting the good fight. I just found out the arctic kiwi vines I planted last fall are invasive in NJ so now I have to rip them out. How I hate to take the life of a plant : (
I would 2nd the Arborvitae 'Emerald Green' - I have a row of them separating the view from my kitchen window and the next door neighbor's porch and back yard where they are quite active. They make an excellent, tall narrow privacy screen. In my experience, they don't grow particularly fast though.
I am developing mixed borders, roughly 15-20 feet wide along both borderlines of my yard. They are a mix of evergreen and deciduous plants, mostly native shrubs and small trees, but a few are large trees too.
I would be happiest if I didn't see or hear the neighbors at all! I fantasize about a big fence down both sides. That's just not going to happen, so this is the best option until I can move to a more remote location.
Lamium grows well in zone 3 depending on snow cover. Once established, it'll come back quickly from any winter kill. I'm ankle deep with five or six varieties. Any perennials need a bit of nurture their first year - moisture for root development. After that Lamium can be ignored and enjoyed.
Thanks mxk3. I think I have it located in the perfect location in terms of light and richness of soil.
But did you see that picture of SILVER HEART? I am looking forward to getting a couple of these this spring for our new very much shade garden.
There are several silvery/mottled Asarums. PDN likely have a few that would make it in your zone (I intend to get A. splendens myself...someday, lol). Should do fine in dryish conditions.
Might look too similar to Heuchera, but Tellima grandiflora 'Forest Frost' is perfect for dry shade and much easier to grow. I don't have that cultivar, but LOVE the species.
There are some Polygonatums with silver. 'Silver Striped Selections' (rather $$ I imagine) and I think silver-burnished 'Silver Wings'.
Actaea pachypoda 'Misty Blue' has silvery-ish foliage. Wasn't all impressed with it at the nursery, but it would likely look much nicer in an actual garden setting.
Probably not what you were looking for since they go summer dormant, but Cyclamen herifolium and coum can have nice silver/mottled foliage.
Don't grow this myself but...Leucosceptrum 'Silver Angel'. Does best in moist soil, but I have heard some grow these in dryish areas okay.
CMK
This post was edited by christinmk on Thu, Feb 28, 13 at 15:19
Ken, Wiki has an excellent primer on variegation.
Bugs arn't a huge issue for me. Some trees here need chemicals to get rid of them (especially in bad years), but for the most part I don't worry about them on plants.
Disease is my worst enemy. Maybe it is the climate- seems ever couple years some plant is "comming down" with some weird-as* disease I have to figure out. Virticillium wilt on Aconitum and what I am almost certain was an unusual case of anthracnose on a Eupatorum/Conoclinium were my latest. I really liked both them, but there isn't any sence in keeping an infected plant around that is likely to spread it to othes ;-P
I usually give a plant a second season to see if it was "faking" illness or if it is something real before chucking it out.
CMK
pattyw5 wrote: Montrose White was about 18" h but a good 3ft. wide.
That is disappointing. I was excited about using this flowerifeous well behaved plant with the often 'advertised' size of around 1 ft by 1.5 ft; much more compact as compared to other Calamints.
But 3 feet in spread is too big for what I have in mind.
If you're talking about some species of Carex, be warned! Not all are well behaved. The unknown species I had (variegated) started out very nice, but after a few years it really started to get out of control and was spreading everywhere. Not only did it spread by short underground runners, it self-sowed. I finally decided to dig it out and a shovel would not penetrate the root mass. I ended up using a hatchet to chop it out of the ground in pieces. After sifting through the soil to remove any pieces of root, I thought I was done with it. Not so. For at least a couple of years, small plants would reappear in the spring as well as the self-sown seedlings.
I doubt you're going to have problems dividing your plant. These things are tough.
Kevin
Not all Japanese sedge - Carex morrowii ctvs. - are created equal :-) 'Ice Dance' is definitely a runner (politely labled rhizomatous) and can expand to a significant planting in not much more than a season two. 'Variegata', 'Aureovariegata', 'Gold Band' or 'Gilt' all tend to be much more clumping in habit. The lesser know Japanese sedges - C. oshimensis and dolichostacya - also tend to be clumpers as well.
FWIW, these are all considered "cool season" grasses, producing the bulk of their growth in spring and fall, even to some degree through winter in mild climates like mine. Dividing should be done as early in the year as possible.
Compost: homemade, spread everywhere it will cover, veggie patch and very new beds are priority.
I never fertilize perennials.
Hi CMK, I think it's pretty widely accepted that hot composting is better than cold. It doesn't kill any nutrients (not sure where you'd get that idea) though it does kill pathogens and weed seeds, especially if you can get it good and hot for a good long time. It also is a much faster process, so you can make a lot more compost in the same amount of space. It does help to have a strong back to turn it, but turning it will make and keep your back strong. :)
I use a bit of organic fert here and there, for veggies and annuals, in potted plants, on my tiny bits of lawn, and often when I transplant. But mainly I topdress with compost several times a year. It keeps down weeds and feeds the soil. After many years of this, my soil is very rich and my plants get huge. I make most of the compost that I need, but I supplement it with the occasional pick up truck load, which I haul myself and costs about $15 for a half cubic yard.