13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

I really like the Geranium 'Dark Reiter' series. The foliage is very beautiful and very dark - near black. It's an easy grower, and the lovely blue flowers are almost a distraction. Mine are in full sun, though I suspect, without having tested it, that this geranium would work well in shady areas too.

Tough to get purple and low because so many that I think of are taller.

Would a see through type foliage plant work such as Husker's Red Penstemon?

I really like Firecracker Lysimachia & cut foilage back because I prefer the purple leaves & skip the yellow flowers. I put them in pots near our dove cages to greet me daily when I feed them. Still it will be taller & kind of floppy, so might not be the edger you want.

One way to keep ajuga in it's place is to sink a large pot of it & keep the runners clipped. When it's above the other plants those runners don't root.

Maybe try one of the brown Carex ornamental grasses there for a neat front of border plant. I had some further back last year, but pulled them forward this year and to a corner in some beds and I like it better. The longer tips types aren't my favorite unless in containers because the tips get caught up in other foliage. I've often been tempted to snip the tails.

Many of the annual in your zone red flowered snapdragons have dark foliage or possibly darker markings on tender perennial geraniums. Many have very lovely accents.

Here is a link that might be useful: firecracker

Funny George, I thought Yellow Archangel was a lamiastrum also, but when I looked it up earlier today, I kept seeing it referred to as lamium. Hmmm.

I think way back when, when I first started gardening, I had Herman's Pride, and it did beautifully for awhile, till I managed to kill it off. That is one that I would try again - and maybe now is the time, lol! What with my l. maculatum dying out on me...

:)
Dee

I sought after lamiums after I read about them in Marianne Binetti's books as slug resistant easy care plants to let roam under shrubs and trees. She suggested to dig out clumps to put in hanging baskets or deck containers in part shade as fillers.

There is a big difference between yellow flowering ones & the pink/white ones.

I've been happy with them, but have noticed they have different levels of vigorous.

My current favorite is Aurea for it's golden foliage plus bright orchid blooms that attracts the hummingbirds in a hanging basket near our hot tub. It grows nicely outward down & up again in baskets.

My least vigorous is a white leaved purple pink flower, perhaps Red Nancy. It brightens up shady corners, but isn't liking container growing. I put some of it in the ground as well and is a slow grower as compared to white stripe green leaved bright pink flowered one, Chequers.

I favor 4-5' sweeps of them as 18" wide edgings in shady beds. In early spring I cut back any scraggly stems to make it tidy. Then I cut back again quite hard after flowering for good foliage all summer. These cuttings can easily be rooted for more plants to give away.

I've only purchased one lamium Aurea as the others were from plant swaps often in a plastic bag as bareroot clumps. They appeared almost dead, but water perks them right up especially after getting back into soil.

The best part is they're so easy care because they flower in the shade without fertilizer, water, or slug bait protection. I've tried some in sunnier beds and as long as kept moist or in part shade or away from heat reflecting pots, rocks, or garden ornaments they do better. Also, they don't need any fertilizer to bloom well.

The 2nd year in the ground growth is amazing! I wouldn't hesitate to plant them.

I ordered them Online, and when I received them they were beautiful. I havent replanted them yet because I was moving, and It seems like the new growth is void of the Mold. The seller said most of the time the mold will go away with the new growth. They said to keep them informed.... I did put them in a sunnier location and they seem to be doing better.

i see pretty active bud growth under those whompin large leaves..

personally.. i would probably just cut off the worst of the lot.. and give the energy to the new ones ...

and i would probably repot it into a larger pot.. with a better soil mix..

sedum.. in general;.. like a drink.. and high drainage .... and that potting media is not that..

the media its in .... hold a great amount of water.. for the greenhouse.. to aid in the rooting of the cutting ...

it wants to grow up now... so it needs different media ...

unless i am mistaken.. that plant can get near 2 to 3 feet round.. and you should easily conceptualize.. that that tiny pot will be insufficient in the long run ..

ken

Hmmm, I have 3 or 4 seedlings of Pow wow berry that are getting ready to bloom. They were started from seed last Spring, and a couple made buds last fall, but they didn't have time to open. Now I am dying of curiosity to see what color they'll be.

The seeds were purchased from Swallowtail. Also got Echinacea 'Primadonna White', which has started blooming and is pretty so far, and Bravado, which hasn't bloomed yet either.

I've purchased a lot of commercial seed, both species and cultivars, and by no means are the seedlings always vigorous growers nor do they always live up to the pictures and descriptions in the catalog!

Great plant. Mine were planted last year and same color as Emaniacs although my camera does not do it justice. Having said that I just saw some at Lowes that had a washed out pink color? Anyhow, very floriferous and mch more branching than other echinaceas

By miclino at 2012-07-02

It was getting on my last nerve since it is right smack in front of a large picture window

==>> i seem to recall it very shaded by the front door..

is it under some ginormous maple????

ken

It's not shady by my front door - are you thinking of someone else's door, perhaps?

The fern is in one of the back beds, facing north, shaded in the afternoon and evening but gets nice morning sun from the east.

Thanks! It's dog fennel. I don't know why it is considered a weed. It's so nice looking in my garden.

TJ

Yeah, even though it is a weed and it smells funky, it's attractive. One grower on our local farmer's market was selling it this spring in one gallons for $8 each as a foliage filler for combo pots. I don't know if she came up with this herself or found it in a catalog. I know it isn't native here in Michigan, but it is commonly seen in nursery stock imported from TN, so it tends to sprout up around new plantings of things. I've seen it quite a few times growing at the base of newly installed landscape plantings.

I have plain Echinops ritro growing directly under a greengage plum tree, right up to the trunk, so probably you'd call it dappled shade. It is a reliable hardy perennial here. Mine is pretty old, at least 7 years I should say and probably more. Must be to do with the climate. It increases slowly in width but has not self sown. Surprisingly the centre has not deteriorated and remains vigorous. Much enjoyed by bees.

Basically, Echinops are long-lived, but:
1)they drown easily in winter
2)they are susceptible to some kind of fungus at the base of the stems or even in the crown itself, causing wilting even in the middle of the summer. I have learned that I can save such a plant by digging the crown up, and the plant will usually return from the roots.

Babs,

The trellis idea is a fantastic suggestion, especially to grow edibles on it. The area is really shaded until 2 or 3, but then its super heated. Would beans and squash produce alright? Would the vines get burnt by the bricks as the grow up the trellis? I guess as the vines matured they would shade the brick enough to keep from gettin burnt, but i worry about new growth. I could always try it i suppose and it would free up space in the veggie garden. The area is definitely too small for sunchokes and the like. Im really thinkin the trellis is my best bet. Clemantis would loose their leaves in our winters, but then leaf out from previous growth next season right?

Almost too many possibilities!

I grow clematis on black iron and rusty steel trellises, so if that doesn't burn the vines, the heat from the bricks won't. Type 3 pruning clematis are your best bet. They do fine in the southeast as well as colder and less humid areas, and the pruning is easy - just cut the stems down to 1 or 2 buds each in winter and they will regrow quickly when the growing season starts.

I've grown scarlet runner beans in an area that was shaded by a building until just after noon, so you should be fine with slightly later sun, as long as the morning shade is reasonably bright. There are lots of other edibles that do fine growing on trellises, like cukes, melons, and squash, but they may need more sun.

Is the reseeding a huge problem? Or easily pulled?

Easy as I remember.

I don't think I've ever looked at the conversation side of any garden web forum. I have made friends on other forums that I have talked too for years and met in person, some many times. :)

Not a facebook or Idyll type of person. For me that is way too much personal information to put on the Internet.

I love to talk about gardening though!

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Deanna

This is my front yard water feature. Last summer. The Chamaecyparis by the front door is now gone. DH fell on it and broke it putting up the Christmas lights. There are four ponds will no filters nor fish. I do have a fish pond in the backyard.