13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Richter's in Ontario has one they call 'Carpet' and list it as M. p. 'Nanum' Would that work for you? They also have one called 'Spice Ball' that appears to be a creeper, but don't give much info on it.
They also have some other pennyroyals. And, they do ship to the U.S.
Here is a link that might be useful: 'Carpet' Pennyroyal at Richter's
For the downspout you can go to Home Depot and get the rusty wire panels that are to reinforce concrete. They are cheap and you can bend around the downspout. Yes, you can buy commercial trellises for this but the DIY way is less than half the cost.
Clematis are not the best vines at gripping their supports. I have them flop down or out all the time especially since Portland is so rainy and windy. They don't tuck in well either because they break off. They climb thin wires better than thicker lattice/trellises. They do climb rebar really well too. I've seen towers made of rebar that they do great on.
888 and woodyoak, so glad you are still posting- how helpful you always are! 888, how does that rusty stuff compare w/ what we have been using- panels of hardware cloth w/ 2" openings- nailed to our wooden fence? is it denser or does it have larger openings?
w oak, def will use that north side idea. i have a new blue clem i'll grow through a philadelphus aurea; great!
i think your point about sheets of flowers is a good one.
linnea, plse look at this and tell me if it looks like your polish spirit!
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0615475621365.html
thx to all of you,
mindy
There are no mutants in tissue culture??? You should definitely post it on the Hosta Forum!!! Where do you think all the distorted plants come from then? Yes, he can travel the world with the money he owns me and millions of other people who've been ripped off. As far as nice persons go: nearly all the serial killers were the sweetest neighbors.
This is actually a bulbous anemone, aka windflower, that typically is planted in fall at the same time other spring blooming bulbs are planted. Once the spring bloom season is over, the foliage does tend to yellow and wither away as the plant goes dormant during the summer months. It should be hardy to -30F but unlike some of the more common spring bulbs (like daffs and crocuses), is not a reliable returner.
pbl - :) I need a relatively fast-growing, thick evergreen plant that will stay leafy on a trellis year round. The goal is to block my neighbor's view into my yard, as they enjoy banging on their window and yelling at me when they see me outside. I know ivy can get out of hand and I intend to keep a very close eye on it.
Ken - I'm not really sure what ivy would work best in this situation, which is why I haven't looked at specific cultivars yet. I can get common English ivy from my local nursery, though I'm not adverse to ordering something else via mail.
So, if I wanted to grow common English ivy in a container, what size container and what type of media would give them plant the best chance of surviving the winter?
The Profusion Zinnias are wonderful. I bought just a few of them this year, but the darn critters ate them all. Now I can't find them except at Steins, and too expensive for a tiny 3-pack. They really ARE blooming machines. Has anyone seen them at the discount chains? I want to replace them.
I'm in 2b and it's an aggressive spreader here, so the cold won't stop it. I find that you can control it to a certain degree, but it's when you want to totally eradicate it where you will run into trouble. It's almost impossible to do unless you go after it for YEARS.
I agree that it is pretty but I will never, ever plant it again nor advise anyone else to.
Here in the PNW it is very invasive, I've seen it jump from cement containers (retaining wall built in planter) at my brother's, take over a friends entire back yard smothering hostas and ferns and also it jumped a sidewalk by sending runners under it at the house I rented before buying our current house.
I thought it was pretty and introduced it to friends and relatives as I had just moved here from Arizona and wasn't familiar with it's habit. Twenty years later they are still fighting it. I moved....
I was thinking of heuchera too :) I can't make the bed any bigger than it is, but I can go with smaller heuchera like Obsidian or something. BTW, any heucheras, like obsidian, that are darker leafed can take more sun than the lighter colored ones like Citronelle.
This are dark leaf Heucheras excellent performers and grow on full sun for me: 'Midnight Rose', 'Black Out', 'Stormy Seas'. Everyone says that 'Palace Purple' is bulletproof, but it is too plain to my taste...
Orange 'Caramel' is also in full sun, but its leaves do get burned sometimes. Not a real problem though - it is easy just pulling those burned leaves off.
Woo hoo, so glad to hear that it won't revolt and die the instant it comes into contact with clay. :)
Incidentally, how would one improve drainage in a bed of clay soil? It's not a raised bed, it's on the ground though I do work compost into it pretty well.
There is sort of a short answer and a long answer to the "how to improve drainage in clay soil" question. The short answer, ie, the quick fix, is to work in as much sand and organic matter (peat, compost) as possible. The more complex, long term would include doing the above, but also fixing the bigger issues such as making raised beds, installing drains or even making a swale or raingarden at the low end to channel and collect water away.
Just wanted to share that I bought a package of pest netting...very thin and almost invisible when you are standing away and looking at it. We guided the vines (talk about intertwined and messy) along and around this netting. Hoping that it will stay up for the season!
They also love Yews, even more than Arborvitae. I have 3 Taxus cuspidata (Japanese Yew) that are growing in tree form - they look lovely and interesting, although it takes decades for a Yew to grow into a tree since they grow very slowly at about 2-3 inches per year. And it's probably not a coincidence that most of foliage starts at just above deer-browsing height.
My neighbors have many Yews that are sheared into meatballs or meat loaves or other weird shapes. There have been hit hard by deer browsing during a couple winters, but they filled in again during the growing season.
Deer have eaten juniper in my garden during the winter.
The juniper was under the snow,but, they pawed away until the upper branches were exposed and feasted away. Severe pruning in spring brought them back, but,these are 5 foot spreading plants,not tall uprights.
bgaviator, which method is correct - removing the entire stalk, or just the spent blooms off the stalk?
Cut off the stalk, but be careful not to cut too low, since the secondary blooms will be lower down on the same stem.