13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Highly recommend Hydrangea little honey!

Look at Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Gold Angel' as another alternative if you decide not to go with Lemon Daddy.

STEVE,just want to th you for that terrifically informative post. V Helpful!

Here's a blog entry about Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow from Avant Gardens, a nursery in Dartmouth, MA which is in zone 6. It shares their observations from growing it in pots and in the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: Euphorbia Ascot Rainbow

Just to emphasize the correct name - it's Rudbeckia "Goldsturm" (German for "Storm of Gold"), NOT "Goldstrum" (sellers often screw this up for some reason).

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience with these two varieties and also for a correction on the spelling of "Goldsturm".

Last week I found another short compact rudbeckia variety of Black-eyed Susan that I'm excited about. I'll post here with a description for those interested.

Some great pics, there. Thanks folks. These things are beautiful.

I agree, loved looking at them since this seems to be a kind of plant I can kill faster than anyone, and have done so to every one I've had. Haven't bothered with any since moving south. Obviously I don't understand them. Are they for shade or sun? Moist or dry?

Tepelus, your purple "sugar plum" made me WOL! (Say "wow" out loud!) If I see that plant around I will have to kill buy one!

This is just gorgeous!! I have a red, orange and yellow flower bed too-I just love those colours together. Mine is just daylilies, lilies and I add tall and short snapdragons and portulacas around the edges.
I would do the bench bright red or orange so it shows up and replace the Black-eyed Susans you are going to take out with some tall spidery red or dark orange daylilies-but then I am biased!!
Thanks for posting-so many great ideas about mixing plants with flowers and neat foliage.

That is so inspiring and impressive! Thanks for sharing.

Sorry, but in my book 3 feet tall for a plant that may be 15 feet tall after ten years is not even approximate, lol! Obviously, it may not be possible to pinpoint an exact size of a plant due to several circumstances, but they sure could be a lot more accurate in their info. (or geez, at least get together and all print the same wrong info, lol!)

Gardengal, that article was dead on! Since the first day I stuck a trowel in the ground, I have been frustrated by the variations on tags/descriptions. Again, it's not that I believe them and expect those exact results (never have from day one), it's the fact that you can read three (or thirty) different tags and get three (or thirty!) different descriptions. Oy!

And people wonder why I'm afraid to plant shrubs or trees ...or conifers. I don't want to plant the wrong thing in the wrong place.

"... this from a woman who posted a conifer question in the perennial forum and wondered if the shrub forum would be better ... rotflmbo ... "

Hmmm, maybe I should get a job writing plant-tag descriptions....

:)
Dee

mine below.. verified by the name gurus in the conifer forum ...

planted 9.2001.. maybe 1.5 feet tall at the time ...

the DAS [the green one on either side] .. are bout 6 foot for reference. ...

i dont know what to tell you about your book

ken

would have been a heck of a pic.. had i not cut the tip off.. lol ...

They are a great reasonable online nursery. You do not find many of them these days. We have a lot of over priced places to shop online but for fair price and good plants I have to add my vote for Santa Rosa also.

I have ordered from them at least six times in the last five years. I highly recommend them as well. Have never had any problems even with clearance plants.

Chills, I do not know what you've read, but they are much worse than mosquito bites. But their leaves are actually edible when young after being soaked in water or cooked, very rich in vitamine C.

Oh I know how you feel....When I tripped and fell backward on a patch of oputina....

I got prongs and removed the oputinas to a area that will never have to be moved again. It is so hot and dry in the area weeds dry up and get brown. It is perfect and I can still enjoy the pretty flowers. At a safe distance... I have tried to collect different color blooms. They are so pretty.

Yes stumps are attractive to termites, but there's not much you can do about that. The way I figure, better the termites have something to eat out there than be attracted to my house.

Last year I watched a Pileated woodpecker chip away at one of my rotting stumps in the back garden and feast on the termites for a good 10 minutes.

As for planting into the stump, I have no idea if plants will grow well under such conditions. Gardening is sometimes an experiment and that sounds like a good one!

You're right, ken. Who cares what the knaves think? Both stumps drain very fast. I am going to try it. Like terrene said, it would be a good experiment. I may plant some annuals to see if they will grow before I invest in perennials. And, yes, I will post photos.

Mollydog: :)

Which clematis would work best in this situation? Shade and stays relatively small

The majority of grape growers here in the Napa Valley use roundup for the in row weeds around the vines, where mechanical weeding is difficult. Anyone ready to give up wine, just in case? Al

one thing i meant to tell you..

the stuff will last.. in mixed form.. in the garage.. for at least a week ...

so when you start to lose focus.. just put it away ... and with the babe.. release the pressure ...

also ... instead of trying to go anal.. and doing it all... simply target one half... do the rest the next day ... or later ...

you know i speak of my pastures.. north.. south.. middle ... i just target one pasture for any given tank ... do the edges fast.. and hit the big stuff ... and work at speed ... and let it go for a few days.. until i start to see the dullness ... or yellowing ...

then the next day .... do a different pasture ...

in the mean time.. the tiny stuff.. grows a bit.. so next week.. when i head back to the original pasture.. its take less concentration to hit the closer stuff.. and because i got rid of the great mass.. i can work slower.. with higher concentration ...

ken

in my world.. grass is the most invasive weed in the universe ...

nothing will kill it ... in a bed.. [and no .. the lasagna system will not within a bed .. IMHO]

either remove it by hand..

or use a grass killer ...

proper edging is a great way to start ...

ken

I agree, get in there and pull that grass out, get the roots, before it really gets going. The amount of compost you would have to put on grass to ensure its' death would be a waste of compost.

If the compost not too fine to pick up with a pitchfork, that is a lot easier than a shovel. The lifting is the same but the jab to load the fork is easier than the dig to load the shovel.

You can load some on a tarp, fold it, then use it like the chute on the back of a cement mixer, raising one end and using the low end to drop little piles or rows, leaving less spreading to be done. Works best with 2 people.