13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
While they definitely need lots of water...they aren't as prone to crisping up as Rodgersias are...at least for me. I'd definitely put them in shade and water generously until you get a feel for how they like it in your conditions. I've had mine for 2 years...and the leaves aren't huge yet...about the size of dinner plates last year. Still...the shape is really nice. The biggest problem I've had with them is protecting them from slugs when they are emerging.
C. obliqua 'Alba' and C. glabra are 2 different plants. Obliqua 'Alba' is a white form of C. obliqua and very prone to mildew. C. glabra is taller, has narrower leaves, likes slightly more moisture, and I haven't ever seen mildew on mine. I grow and sell C. glabra 'Black Ace' and it's a wonderful variety with somewhat darker foliage. Supposedly emerges with black stems. Black may be an overstatement of color. It's more smoky green. C. glabra isn't as dense as C. lyonii 'Hot Lips'. 'Hot Lips' (which I have grown for more than 10 years and also sell) isn't aggressive or invasive, but give it room. Clumps can reach 5' wide. All of them likek partial shade and plenty of moisture. They tend to grow in wet woodland edges or stream banks. C. glabra is more sun tolerant, and I often find it growing wild along streams amongst grasses and blue lobelia. All turtle heads are definitely under-used. 'Hot Lips' was in the running for PPA Perennial of the year, but lost out.
The Plant Geek
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I use local fences 5' high around garden areas or even welded wire circles around individual roses or plants. The fences are not attractive but at least let me enjoy my plants. I have deer constantly but they don't bother my one Phlox paniculata, which is in an area not near any edible plants they visit, and by the driveway. I'm actually buying some new Phlox paniculata plants this year, but they would be inside fenced areas. I am also planning on growing some P. divaricata and pilosa from seed, and was also hoping to add some annual Phlox drummondii as a ground covering carpet near my apple trees, would deer bother these if unfenced? I know deer in different parts of the country bother different plants, on the east coast I understand they eat daylilies but have never bothered mine. I also have them eat my regular roses but they don't bother my rugosa roses.
I think poppies are not generally eaten by deer, but they are probably not fragrant. I'm getting a plant of Stylophorum diphyllum which has a low clumping form and is covered with yellow flowers in spring. Oriental poppies have large but not fragrant blooms.
There are some oreganos that have nice flowers, not on par with Phlox paniculata, but attractive anyway. I haven't had deer eat any of them. I think Nepeta and Calamintha also are not eaten by deer. I had some Agastache rugosa I started from seed last year that bloomed well by fall, some were 4+ feet tall, and Agastaches are supposed to be deer resistant, but I left my wire fence open by mistake and deer got in and ate the flowers off some, see blog photos. You can see some of my fences in the photos.
Here is a link that might be useful: Agastache rugosa
CMK wrote: I would very much love to see your stealth garden if you have pics.
"My" guerrilla garden in the public park is larger in area than any garden I tend on my own property!
(I will post a picture or two in the near future...thanks for your interest).
We don't stay young forever and if you're the one doing all your own gardening one can't expand forever without up keep getting rather difficult. As for myself It's always been about that coveted plant for a special spot. Building a back bone of long living plants. Adding fillers to complement add grace and movement. As their all beginning to grow and fill in I've asked myself the same question. Will I be just as pleased when the challenge of getting that spot that just isn't working to become pleasing to the eye. Will I enjoy the beauty and be happy pulling weeds, adding compost, deadheading, ect. There will always be a plant to add and a death in the plant family here and there. How much will I miss the challenge? A spot that needs height and softening. Fun
You could always give them a call to see if you could still get the discount. Last year i ordered a bunch under a nice discount... then a few days later after the sale was over... called them back and asked if i could add more to the order under the same discount. They were more to happy to do so. They are a great company and i have received nice plants the couple of times i have ordered from them.
It won't hurt to ask! Especially since they send out the sale emails a lot.
I'm in northern Illinois, In a normal year it's up and ready to flower in May If cut back by half to 1/3 rd you'll get much stronger stems or she'll be flat on the ground when it rains later on. Then I'll let it flower away for awhile. May be once a month trim another couple inches to keep tidy. Only takes a couplle of minutes. Few years ago I got a nice Blacken Decker Cordless Trimmer for Chirstmas. Yeah! It's the only way I can keep up with the clems and kalimeris Devided mine imto 40 plants three years ago. This is just what I do with them.It's the only plant that I shape this way. My expirence with kalimeris, while it dosn't need to much water, it's NOT drought tolerant. I let 10 go mostly unwatered in the drought this year. Their dead! Easy to start new ones. So not a problem. Here's a nother pic with some to the side. Should have mentioned I also trim trim to control size by year three can get kind of large if happy. Hope you enjoy yours.
OK, I got curious and did some Googling as to where these hybrids originated and found this:
"Though several Caryopteris species are grown in botanical gardens, as ornamental plants the species have largely been superseded in gardens by the hybrid Caryopteris ÃÂ clandonensis (C. incana ÃÂ C. mongholica). The accidental cross that produced it occurred in the garden of Arthur Simmonds at Clandon, near Guildford, Surrey.[5] In 1930, wishing to propagate C. mongholica, he gathered seeds from a plant that was growing near C. mastacanthus. When the seedlings eventually flowered in their second year, hybrids appeared. The final selection, however, was made of a self-sown volunteer that appeared under C. mastacanthus, and eventually smothered it. It began winning Royal Horticultural Society medals in 1933."
I find this stuff fascinating and it proves once again - you have to have at least a basic understanding of botanical names.
Kevin
Those delosperma look great. I hope mine come up strong this spring, they seem to be a favorite of the rabbits and struggling as a result.
There are some great ideas in this post, but I can't get past the image in my head of a nice perennial edging that's got a ton of weeds and grass sprouts growing in all over the place. Must be the scars from a childhood spent weeding bluegrass out of creeping phlox.... and that was just a 3 foot patch, not 700 feet of driveway edging. Sure you don't want to just line the drive with a couple dozen crapemyrtles or some other shrub that can be easily mown around?
I have grown the common one that was in my mother's yard when I was growing up. It blooms about the end of June here and is then sporatic on and off for a month or so. As mentioned, it seeds everywhere and has become such a nuisance in my yard that I have been trying to get rid of it. It has very long tap roots and so it seems by the time I see a seedling, the roots have already reached down so far that it is hard to pull and get the whole thing. I think if a piece is left in the ground it grows again.
When it grows it tangles up in my other plants and can be very annoying to try and control the vines. Just not worth the hassle for me anyway.
Lots of other plants to choose from--just be careful of those too. lol! I love morning glories, but they are also trying to take over my yard. :-)
Patty -
There's an explanation of how to load more than one photo at a time into a message in the FAQ on the New England forum that dates from before there was to option to load a single photo into a thread. As others have said, though, you need to first upload your photos onto a web hosting site like Photobucket or Picasaweb and then copy and past the code from one to the other. I find it useful if I expect I will use a photo more than once.
Here is a link that might be useful: How to post photos in a thread FAQ
In late June/early July I planted a grouping of five on the other side of a Japanese maple - not directly underneath it - and under the shade canopy of a large, established sugar maple (about 10' from the trunk), which is the area I mentioned above. The soil is not great and on the drier side, but I do have sprinklers which hit the bed, so they did get supplemental water from the sprinklers, and I did hand-water occasionally just to be sure. I was going to go with three shrubs, but a grouping of five looked better.
Most of them seem to have done fairly well this season except one. I think the problem with that one is I may not have planted it deeply enough because of the way the sprinkler lines run (and I want it in JUST the right spot goshdarnit!), and it seemed to be slowly petering out over the season, losing leaves little by little.
Really, though, it's too early to tell how they will perform in that location, it's only the first season.
Deep shade is not good. You wont see the variegation develop to it's full potential. Here in California I grow it out in the full sun. On the east coast where I first developed the plant I tested it from North Florida to Upstate New York in full sun. The variegation might not develop well in cool spring but it will surprise you when the heat starts. It likes the heat and really shows off it's colors in warm bright places. It becomes too leggy in shade. It is hard to forget the dogma (no offense to garden writer) that Diervilla is just for the shade. It may tolerate it but in order for it to look it's absolute best. Take it from someone who has literally grown thousands of plants. SUN SUN SUN.......
I've been lucky, I guess...mine have done really well. They got really bad rust their 2nd year, and the other poster is right, they don't grow back lushly when cut back hard (well, maybe they do if you give them water and fertilizer at the time...but I didn't). Last year, however, they were fabulous...and HUGE. I think they are really variable, depending on what the weather is like that year. She definitely likes to be well-watered. Stress from drying out seems to trigger rust
Here's one plant to from my garden last summer...Geranium 'Rozanne' is just to the left of 'Ann Folkard'.
-patty, lol! Same here. Year 2007 was "The Year of the Tulip" for me!! Never again...
-Scotty, so interesting you also found her rusty. Thought it was just because mine was in too much shade. Thanks for sharing you findings. Ps. love your blog! Go there for picture-pick-me-ups when I'm in a funk ;-)
CMK