13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I don't have a problem with violets either. They're pretty in bloom, green the rest of the time, and if they are in my way I rip a handful out and carry on.
One year, I had Freckles EVERYWHERE. It was breathtaking and a bit scary too, at the same time, lol. But the funny thing is, after that year, they declined and now I don't seem to have any. I still have the purple, and I have some white, but Freckles seems to have disappeared from my lawn and beds all together.
Of course, this is coming from someone whose "lawn" includes violets, wild strawberry (I think), bluets, buttercups, white clover, red clover, hair cap moss (LOVE that stuff!), other mosses, dandelions, canadian mayapple, bits of ajuga, lichen (I love the lichen ON the moss), and oh yeah, some grass of some sort.
Dee
That looks like Viola sororia, which is a common violet. I have lots of them, in both purple and white, as well as Viola pubescens, which is downy yellow violet. Lovely plants, although they are a little weedy. I let them grow to their heart's content back in the wilder areas, but do weed a lot of them (but not all) out of the garden beds.
Very pretty in the Spring, provide early nectar for insects, and they are host plants for the Fritillary butterflies. Last year I watched a Great Spangled fritillary lay eggs in the violets!
Nothing compact about 'Grosso' - in fact, it is a larger growing hybrid and is often used as a hedging plant. And won't be as hardy for you as any of the English lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia).
Some of the best dwarf/compact lavenders are some of the oldest selections - 'Hidcote' and 'Munstead'. Other good choices are 'Blue Cushion', 'Twickle Purple', 'Folgate' and 'Sachet'.
April, your best bet would be an organized plant swap. I know over on the New England forum, groups of us plan them once or twice a year, according to region.
I took a quick look at the list of forums here and don't see an Indiana one, and I'm not really sure where to refer you to on GW. Sorry!
But try joining your local freecycle. Then you can post on there both looking for other plants and offering yours, and you can arrange individual swaps.
Also, contact any local garden clubs or maybe check at the local garden center to see if they can refer you to a group.
Kevin's suggestion of the Plant Exchange Forum is a good one too. You may be able to find others near you to swap with.
Sounds like you have a lovely garden full of great memories and associations. How nice!
Dee
Very strange that the pictures doesn't always show up. The mysteries of the internet.
It's definitely not monarda - I have a huge stand of that right behind this plant.
I'll keep waiting. I'll report back with new pics in a few days. If it turns out to be lobelia I'll be very delighted.
Yup. I move them. Whenever I want. I just moved some daylilies, hosta, peonies and ferns last night and split off some spiderwort and put it in a new home too. And plopped a rooted cutting of a butterfly bush I started from one of the ones I moved earlier this year into the spot where the peonies were. I will take freebies like daisies and coneflowers whenever someone wants to get rid of them, summer heat or not. I moved a LARGE (like 4' high by 3' round) hydrangea last July because someone wanted it gone asap-and a butterfly bush that was about 6' from the same person. Just watered a lot when it got into its new home and dealt with it looking like a crispy critter for a few weeks, it's back this year happy as ever. Butterfly bush too, it's even got some new blooms coming in.
buyorsell is right!
I browse plant catalogs online, or just Google random gardening/plant terms, then browse the photos.
"hosta fence"..."miscanthus window"..."bay window perennials"...and on. The amount of inspiration I see gets my creativity going again.
Michelle
I can identify with what everyone has said so far. I often rely on the practicalities of a design question to point me in the right direction. How does this area need to function? Which plants would like these conditions, sun/shade, wet/dry, low growing/tall? Then often it is a case of a certain plant that I am in love with and finding the best place to put it. And in the end, even after thinking it through well, and giving attention to care, the end result doesn't please you. Then you try again and see where it is not working and move things around or bring home another great plant to try. I've done that lots of times and have done a lot of moving. Eventually, I have finally succeeded in a pleasing result in some areas, but others I'm still working on.
This year, I am finally seeing some maturity with some of our shrubs and perennials and I have thought what a difference that makes. So patience pays off more than I realized. But, when you plant with eventual size in mind, the spaces are very unappealing. So I've planted between and now, for instance, I am going to have to move daffodils out from under shrubs.
I like the idea of planting annuals for a season until you find inspiration. I love an annual garden. You may find it works so well, you will keep doing it every year. I keep one bed in full sun that has a mix of perennials and annuals, but it started out with just annuals and that was fun.
A garden is so personal. It is a process of learning about yourself as a gardener and your property. The trick I think, is to accept both as they are and with patience just enjoy the process. There isn't a season that I don't find something to really be happy about, but never a season that I'm happy about everything. But if I were, then what would I have to look forward to changing next year? :-)
None of the fernleaf Dicentras go summer dormant here in the Pacific Northwest only the old fashioned spectabilis dies back here.
We've had over three inches of rain just in June and they love it. I would imagine it was on it's way out when you bought it. It may have gotten too stressed in the nursery pot.
Mine is still blooming.
I believe that terra nova article (and others) are for plants that are not to far out of the plug stage. So you should be fine to let yours bloom.
The only exception to that is if the plants you purchased have only a single growth point coming out of the soil. Regardless of how bushy, healthy, and floriferous that single stem is... I would advise, besides to always check the plant before you buy one of the new echs, is to cut all the blooms in order to try and force the plant to add more basal growth points before the end of the season. The single stem plants will never make it through winter. Certain varieties seem more apt to have this issue.
Oh my! That is lovely.
I think you're right about both of these. I really do seem to prefer the airy looking ones. I have the purple Visions and even though I do like it, the flowers are very densely packed together - a completely different look and feel.
K
While I am a fan of the Perscaria polymorpha, for a shady spot I would heartily recommend Kirengoshoma palmata. This is a terrific and underused plant, excellent yellow flowers in the late summer and fall, and though it looks more like a shrub once established, it dies to the ground every year, so you can cut it back without any problems.
Kirengeshoma is indeed another nice plant - but I find it does best in moister soil, and it spreads a lot for me.
BTW another way to control the size of a Persicaria clump as it gets older in addition to digging out the excess is to simply edit/thin out a number of the stems before they reach full size.
I rarely sit in the garden, which is a shame. I find there is always just too much work waiting to be done and once I am out there, I always see something to do. Which I enjoy doing. When the weather gets hot though I do less work, but then it is too hot to sit out there during the day and mosquitoes at night. I am going to make the effort to sit out there more often this year though and see how that goes.
This is such a funny thread - and it really strikes a chord. My boyfriend and I hardly ever sit out in the garden; we're always too busy working in it. (Still, at least our upstairs neighbours get to enjoy it!)
I like the suggestion of having easily portable chairs that can be carried around the garden and plonked down depending on what looks good/what time of day it is, to take advantage of, say, the beauty of backlit leaves and flowers. I'm going to try to keep handy a couple of those folding camping chairs with drinks holders, so my partner and I can potter out at the end of the day to find a good view and enjoy a tasty bottle of beer (or two).
It doesn't look like Lunaria to me either. But it could be because it is shriveled up. I have tons of it. It reseeds VERY prolifically. Started out by breaking up a few "silver dollars" and scattering a few seeds in one of the woodland beds. That resulted in a few plants, and then those few increased rapidly.
This year I have taken to pulling up most of the plants before they go to seed so that it will only make a few hundred seedlings instead of a few thousand! Haha
Very pretty in the Spring.
I think it might be Lobelia siphilitica.
Not knowing where you are, or what zone, makes it more of a mystery. If you're interested in doing so, you can find your zone here. By including it in your profile info, it will show up next to your name when you post. It's also helpful to include your 2-letter state abbreviation since the same zone can be quite different in different states.