13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Does this place check their Hostas for Hosta Virus X? If they don't, then that might be why the people on the hosta forum don't use them. HVX can totally devastate your hosta garden so it's very important to avoid sources that might have sick plants.

Santa Rosa gardens was mentioned here favorably several times lately (and not just by me) and hostas are perennials.

==>> sounding a little defensive here. ..

i just meant to suggest that if you were ENABLING PEEPS.. no one better than the hostaholics ...

otherwise.. post wherever it makes your little heart happy ... as i dont care ..

ken

miclino wrote:

You might be thinking that it blooms all season? It doesn't, it only blooms in the spring.

As I had posted in another thread in this PERENNIALS forum. there is a 'new and improved' Candytuft called Masterpiece that is intended to bloom for a much longer time (all summer?)

And I quote from a website:

Just introduced to North America in 2012, we've trialed this plant in our garden for several years now. Forget the usual small flowered Candytufts, Masterpiece blows them out of the water! Unlike others, this variety blooms from spring through autumn. Not only that, but the flowers are enormous, huge flat clusters of pure white 7cm (3 inch) flowers with a lightly pink centre. Foliage is evergreen and bushy. Attractive to butterflies, drought tolerant and deer resistant. Prefers well drained soil in sun or part shade. This perennial may be hardier than the Zone 6 we are rating it, and it also happily reseeds itself. Great in gardens or containers.

'Purity' only blooms for a couple of weeks...IF 'Masterpiece' lives up to the description it would be a huge improvement.

This past October a neighbor gave me a catnip plant and I overwintered in my garage. I hadn't gotten around to planting it in the ground at that time. It did just fine, and this past March I put it outside on my deck. Then my two cats discovered it and wouldn't leave it alone. So, I stuck some plant stakes in the pot and wrapped flexible window screen around it to protect it. First, I cut off some of the leaves to give to the cats before I had covered the plant. :>)

It's been growing like crazy and getting tall! I didn't want to keep it wrapped up like a mummy, so I decided to cut it back some and transplant it into a hanging basket. It's just off my back deck, hanging from a bracket near my back door and placed pretty high and far enough away that the cats can't reach it at all. So far so good. As it continues to grow I'll keep cutting it back to keep it more compact. I'll probably be cutting off future flowers :>( but at least I can keep the plant and I'll bring it back into the garage again in the Fall.

I'm also thinking of taking a healthy clump with roots and planting it somewhere in the corner of the backyard. I could cover it with window screening (as I had done previously) to give it a chance to become established. Maybe it will even get a chance to flower! Then hopefully it will spread and the cats can have a ball!

I've been growing catnip for years for the cats. Also the bees and butterflies are attracted to the flowers. It grows like a biennial for me - makes a small clump of foliage the first year, flowers the 2nd year, and then declines.

It reseeds lightly for me, but nothing crazy. There are always new seedlings that pop up here and there every year. I pull what I don't want and either leave or transplant a couple to an out of the way spot for the cats to enjoy. "Cats" would be my cat, and Tuffy, the neighbor's big fuzzy yellow male, who is kind of tough looking, and who wanders through the yard from time to time.

To prevent cats from rolling around on the plants and smushing them while they're small, I have put a small amount of wire fencing around the plant, and as it gets larger it grows through the fencing, and then the cats can chew on it.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!!! I didn't think I'd have this many choices, so I'll put in a mix of plants with clusters of taller varieties surrounded by lower ones.

I hadn't thought about them spreading under the fence, but that could actually be a happy accident since I'm going for a lush cottage garden look (though it's going to take a few years to actually get there). There are deep flower beds on the inside of the fence, but since it's 4-5 feet tall, its shadier than the sidewalk side.

How about creeping thyme, which is suppose to be drough tolerant and have pinkish to red flowers.

having lived in metro detroit.. of which livonia is..

my personal theory on the z6 that flanks the river and lake st clair..

is all the cement and black top ... retaining winter heat.. and adding just a degree or two in winter.. so that min winter temp is JUST SLIGHTLY higher than z5 ..

plus.. the lack of the prairie like winds i now get in the country.. out adrian way ...

in the city.. you can make and maintain little pockets of micro climate.. which i simply cant do.. do to all the wide open spaces ...

ken

lol I may have the zone wrong I am no expert by far - the map I looked at on the weather channel listed my area of Oakland county as zone 6a, but it might be far from the best authority on zones.

N

In my experience with evergreen Euphorbias, if when I cut out the flowered/spent stems and there is no new growth coming up from the base, then it's shot. But, that's how it's worked for me in my climate/garden/conditions/soil etc. I hope you get lucky.

I'm a huge fan of Ascot Rainbow and First Blush. They don't reseed for me. I like Chocolate quite a lot, but it does reseed quite a lot. If I'm on top of my deadheading game (not usually) then it's not a problem. Otherwise, it reseeds in different parts of my property even, but not too vigorously.

I'm trying out Rudolph this year. We'll see how it goes.

Best of luck to you!

I'd agree with both 'Ascot Rainbow' and 'Rudolph' for color - and they are xmartinii hybrids so not inclined to self-seed. 'Ruby Glow' is another one that offers a lot of color but like Blackbird, not one I'd consider a good bet for the long haul. That intensity of color seems to have diminishing effect on vigor in my experience.

Self-seeding euphorbias can be an enormous PITA in climates where they are so inclined......to the point where some species are borderline invasive. That is a problem with most of the selections of E. characias (like Humpty Dumpty) but I love the intensity and boldness of wulfenii so much, I am willing to put up with yanking out extraneous seedlings.

I haven't gotten it yet, but it's on my list. I haven't had a bad nepeta yet so I'm very hopeful.

Given that it is quite new the only 4 pictures I can see are courtesy of the grower TERRA NOVA. But from those it doesn't appear to be as floriferous as other nepetas?

Give it time and you will have lots and lots of veronica. I rip up big patches each year to keep it in check. I dump wheelbarrows of that stuff. All from 2 small pots.

Veronica 'Blue Reflections' and 'Waterperry' are nice too. But they are not in bloom for all that long. I don't know of anything that is. Maybe the iceplant, but it doesn't grow well in my clay soil. If you are looking for full sun? I have Veronica in both full sun and part sun and I was very surprised how quickly the full sun Veronica filled in. The part sun has stayed in place for a few years

Do any of you grow gaura 'Dauphin'? I'm hunting it and have been for several years. What varieties of gaura do you grow? It is a beautiful sun plant. I love it with my roses. Thanks, Lou

lou_texas - The one in my photo & garden is Gaura lindheimeri 'The Bride.' I've never heard of 'Dauphin.'