13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I think lamb's ear is a great plant - the silvery leaves really makes deep- or rich-colored flowers stand out, particularly deep purples (heliotrope next to lamb's ear is smashing!). I have "Helen von Stein" aka Big Ears - she does not flower (well, I take that back - I got one, at the most two, flowers in the past 13 years I've had her at this house), and the leaves are large. Super easy to grow in hot, dry, full sun locations. It does spread but I wouldn't consider it aggressive, and, like someone above mentioned, easy to control - just give a yank or cut off the runners with a spade/shovel.
I believe it is Clytostoma callistegioides, violet trumpet vine. It is pretty common up here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Care info here
Thanks all for the info. I think I may have oversooked. The seeds were harvested from Botainical seeds originally.
Have them trellesed over the deck slider and they were gorgeous. Waiting for them to dry on the vine was a messy and tortures thing!!
Have a few seeds left and will try the paper towel, plastic bag.
Wish I had Remy's advice on the smashing, as some were so dry I tossed them!!
As for the hollyhocks, did save seed and will plant them.
However, I have 2 elderly neighbors who have huge hollyhock patches that come back year after year, so go figure.
Thanks all, again
Once you plant hollyhock seeds two years in a row, you should have a self-seeding patch.
By lablab, I was assuming hyacinth bean vine. It's been so long since I grew them, I didn't feel like I had anything helpful to say... Next time I find some seeds, I will be ready to save any seeds my plants make (thanks to Remy!)
move one or two ... and if in a week they make it.. move the others ...
water well the day before... or even better .. do it in rain ...
and take a big gob of soil with them.. digging new hole first.. and water well.. and at that size ... they may never know they were moved ...
and by gob.. at this size.. i mean a teacup full ... this is a hand trowel job.. not a shovel job ...
ken
in another post.. you indicated severe soil cracking ... and that tells me.. you have a good deal of clay ...
if you dig a hole in clay ... and add stuff to make it anti-clay .. as the clay dries ... it will actually wick water from your prime media ... and in the long run.. you end up losing ...
in the alternative.. the clay will create a cauldron that holds water ... and then all the water retaining media holds too much water ...
so it gets real tricky.. amending ONLY a planting hole ...
and the easiest solution is to do a whole bed..
and the other solution is to raise that bed above grade somewhat ... work above the problem ...
its all about the dichotomy between drainage.. and water holding capacity ...
actually .. its all theory.. and what you do .. is plant one .. and find out if you can make it live..
if it fails.. move on.. there are too many other plants that you can plant..
and never forget.. it is said.. you are not a real gardener.. or greenthumb .. UNTIL you have killed every plant in your yard 3 times ... its the experimenting that teaches you .... though i used to give up after two tries. i mean really.. whats the point after two.. lol .. i can bang my head on the garage for free.. lol ..
ken
A rather simple alternative to all of the above is to get an inexpensive battery-operated programmable water timer and hook it up to a drip irrigation system. By choosing the appropriate drip emitters and watering cycles, you can keep the soil as wet or dry as you want (Mother Nature not withstanding).
Have you tried calamint (Calamintha nepeta subsp. nepeta)? It is a great plant, with a cloud of white foliage all summer (I think it's actually called White Cloud, like the toilet paper, hehe). The one I have is Blue Cloud but the blue is so pale it may as well be white. I love how easy it is too, and how tidy it looks at the front of a bed.
For the past decade, I've been making observations (just mentally) regarding frost and sun exposure. One is that a lot of leaves are not damaged by frost when other leaves are because they thawed before the the sun hit them. The same type plant that is in shade until 10 am might be unscathed while its' twin in a spot that sees the sunrise (and has no discernible difference regarding micro-climate features) is damaged. I'm certainly no scientist but I suspect the more gradual thaw can make a difference, and UNscientific observation has offered support of this. Anyone else notice this happening or NOT happening?
You should see foliage rather quickly. 'Rozanne' is a prolific bloomer for me with part sun/full sun half/half during the day with moist soil. Cutting back produces a nice, neat mound of beautiful foliage. It may take a few weeks for blooms to appear again. I'm basing my experience on my own 'Rozanne' that gets part sun all day and is in moist, well-draining soil.
Something that I do in the cottage garden is use container plants (small to medium pots) in the bed where I need a little distraction while perennials emerge. Then, when the perennials are looking good, I move the container to another spot. This prevents disturbing the soil in a tightly packed cottage garden. Right now, I have a container hosta in the bed with the 'Rozanne' to provide interest while waiting for the phlox 'David' to bloom.
In my deer resistant meadow garden, I grow spring annals that I pull up by the roots to remove when the summer perennials are going strong. Different setting with lots of space.
Cameron
My wild bergamot is growing very densely. Ideally, how far apart should the plants be?
==>>> two or three miles .... have you considered alabama??? .. fl.. or tenn???
BTW .. i used to love the stuff ... i was just in a weird mood that first post ...
grab a gob ... roots and all ... tie a string about 3 inches above the roots ... tightly.. then cut off the roots ... hang upside down in the garage or shed.. when dry.. make tea ... PRESUMING YOU ARE 100% on the ID ... and have researched toxicity ...
ken
They have quite a few left at good prices.
Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestone Perennials
I live in zone 7b where it's been hotter than normal for weeks - and mine are barely a few inches tall. I would give it more time before giving up on it.
Most of mine are earlier than usual this year, but I have a couple that are just starting to poke through - this is the time they normally begin showing themselves. I would give it another approx. two weeks - if no signs of life by then, then I would replace.
BTW: Don't forget to pinch when a full set of leaves emerges. :0)