13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
In spite of our dog using it as a 'cushion', Herman's Pride (Yellow Archangel, Lamiastrum galeobdolon) returned this Spring and has doubled in size!
It's under huge Tulip Poplar's with Hellebores and Sweet Woodruff, and it's super shady and dry as a bone there (unless I remember to water them).
Love the bright yellow Spring flowers and the silvery veining on the leaves. Never thought it would survive and return this year.
I have found after trying heucheras unsucessfully in the past, that they love lots of compost and morning or filtered sun, and now they grow well for me. Pulmonarias like pretty much the same thing and they grow well side by side in the same bed in my zone 7a garden
Heucherellas like a bit more shade, it's the tiarella in them but still lots of good organic woodland soil.
Sandy
Get some red Gaillardia. They will seed around nicely. They bloom such a very long time. The monarda is a good idea too since you can easily propagate it by ripping a piece out and sticking in the ground.
Also try 'Brakelights' Red Yucca. It is a new variety with red stems and flowers. I have it. It's easily propagated by division. I got one and made 3 out of it. It blooms all summer and hummingbirds love it.
Try some red hollyhocks too. They are easy from seeds and you can save seeds and plant more each year. Red Columbines would do the same.
I overwinter at least 100 pots in my garage each winter, (at one time had 243) although the number is dwindling (but not as fast as I want it to!). They range from pots that are 24 inches in diameter to 4-inch pots to lily crates. My garage is unheated, and quite cold. I cover the windows to keep out the sun (which isn't a big deal as the windows face north and east), and I water the plants well before bringing them in, with maybe one watering (or shoveling of snow on them, if there is any snow) before bringing them out.
IMO, the tricky thing is knowing when to bring them in, and when to bring them out! You want to make sure they are dormant when you bring them in. This winter, honestly, most of the pots didn't make it in the garage. It was warm out until late-January, and at that point I didn't really bother, although I have in the past brought them in in January. This year the garage was too messy and I was too lazy, lol.
If you want to keep things outside in pots, for winter interest (evergreens, etc.) then I would go for something at least a full zone hardier, if not two. I did that one year with some red twig dogwoods and other small shrubs and it was nice to have them on my back patio.
Experiment with some hardier perennials if you want to try it first before committing to a lot of stuff. Daylilies, peonies, daisies, echinacea, hostas - these always come through with flying colors for me here in zone 6.
Good luck!
Dee
Veggie bed is a bad idea. There are way too many garden pest.
==>> are you missing the point.. or irritating me on purpose.. lol .. either is approved ...
you have a DEDICATED AREA ... for healing in plants in the fall ...
the veggie idea.. is just an alternate season use ...
i used to have an area behind the garage at the old house ... for just such winter healing ...
it was only about 6 by 4 feet.. you can stick a lot of stuff in a very small area.. since you intend to repot in spring .. before growth starts ... [and you might want to lay some hardware cloth over it to protect from vermin ..]
ken
If this weather pattern continues to hold, I think watering will become essential since there was no snow cover to melt, sink down and moisten the earth. We've also had the same strong, drying winds here every day, day after day. Whenever I check the 5-day forecast, it shows sun & clouds. This time last year I was pumping water out of my cellar.
miclino - my hydrangeas look the same as yours. That hard freeze week before last zapped them even though I tried to cover them as best I could with the wind blowing a gale.
The majority of my new perennials were grown from seed via winter sowing so their roots are deep & healthy but even so, they still need moisture to thrive. I've got just under 200 winter sown milk jugs sitting on my breezeway that are beginning to dry out. I use shallow plastic storage bins for bottom watering. Methinks I need to buy several more. The first two years I winter sowed, we had heavy spring rains and I actually carried a couple hundred jugs inside my garage so they could dry out!
your soil should be damp .. either it is.. or you make it so ...
but with cold nights.. once the soil is damp .. you do not need to water them every day.. like you might in august ... dont drown them ...
make sense???
bottom line.. INSERT FINGER AND FIND OUT.. no guessing ...
ken
Echinacea 'Hot Summer' is not a seed variety. You will not get this plant from any seeds. Thompson Morgan has a seed variety with a similar name but it is a dud. None of the blooms were any color other than pink out of two packets I tried.
I would try Gaillardias if you have trouble with these hybrid Echinaceas. There are seed varieties of those that give a similar look and they bloom longer and fuller. I'm planting yellow, tangerine and red this year. You can't go wrong with those!
Cyn that lilac colored aster is facing East. In the second photo you can see the morning sun hitting it and if you notice the tree branch in the upper right hand corner, that is where the sun will stop shining by late morning. So it doesn't get more than 3-4hrs of sun a day.
I saw that you're in 5b. I gardened in 5b in Ohio for decades. Coleus don't seem to care where they are, as long as it's warm. If you're shopping at a place where they actually know a thing or two, ask them which coleus would do better for you. They might have access to plants that aren't on display. I've been able to get plants that way, but did have to buy a whole flat since they were ordering just for me.
If you like the idea of white phlox, but think 'David' might bloom too late for you, there is a rare found one called 'Midsummer White' that supposedly starts blooming earlier than any other white Phlox paniculata and is impervious to mildew as well as highly fragrant. Perennial Pleasures in Vermont sells it. The owner states that it starts blooming by the end of June in northern Vermont.
I have a few ordered for delivery at the end of this month, so hopefully it will be a good one! :-)
In case you are still searching/undecided....My shasta daisy 'snow cap' according to several pictures I have taken over 3 summers were beginning to bloom in the third week of June, at full bloom by July 1 and still attractive around July 10th. My shasta 'silver princess' blooms about 10 days later than the snow cap. You are a zone warmer, so bloom time may be a little earlier.
I planted 1 or 2 from gallon pots many years ago... had no trouble establishing them, but I don't think they were rootbound...
They are not a fussy plant... they appear to be related to the mallow that I have - seem to have some common characteristics..(no idea what kind of mallow- the mallow seeds around like crazy, and develops a tap root - However, I have seen no obvious self-seeding from the calliroe.)
It is a 'weaver' for me... love the deep magenta blooms.
Enjoy!
Beth
Z5 northern Mi
Thank you for the input, guys! So far so good with these plants. There has been no growth yet above ground, but it has been less than a week since I planted them and temperatures have been cool. They certainly haven't pouted at all, so hopefully they are getting starting on growing a vigorous root system. It could just be my imagination, but they almost seem relieved to have been freed from their tiny pots.
Sorry, scottyboipdx, I forgot to take pictures before I planted them. But they were very nice specimens, though small and root bound.
Lordy I can barely move after refurbishing that rose bed yesterday. 5 catmints from the winter survivors made it into the flower bed, adding to the 3 catmints already there. It is backed up by a kind of fence - pairs of cinder blocks stacked on each other with pairs of split rail type timbers inserted into the holes of the cinder blocks. Today since I can barely move I had to choose a sit-down type job so am painting those timbers. I can use my little tractor-scoot to sit on while painting. I am paying now for a winter of inactivity and a pair of blown-out knees. But it's all good - as long as I can move, I will move. I think when you quit pushing yourself is when things REALLY start going downhill physically.
Love this garden quote:
Who has learned to garden who did not at the same time learn to be patient?
The patience applies to our [limited, restricted] physical abilities as well as to the types of things we can grow. I use a little rolling sit-upon cart for weeding, edging, planting because both my knees were toast many years ago and I refuse to let that stop me from gardening and enjoying all the fun and excitement of getting dirt under my fingernails year-round/whenever possible.
Of the 100+ seed types I winter sowed this year, 45 have sprouted and yesterday I potted up hardy geranium/cranesbill sprouts that had their first true leaves. Just seeing those sprouts (+ 2 Advil) is enough of an answer to the question, "Is it worth it?"
purpleinopp, it is ALL gravel. No soil at all which leads me to believe it was done for a reason. Maybe the french drain? Not sure, but I have decided to leave it alone and pile container flowers on top of it.
Thank you everyone for your input. It is much appreciated.
I have never detected any fragrance from mine. I don't see that as a defect though- these are fantastic bulbs. I've had my Brodiaea/Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola' bulbs for three years now and love them. They require zero care, are not fussy about dry conditions, and add a nice pop of blue to the summer garden. I think mine are even starting to multiply some. I like them so much that I want to find some other cultivars this year...
CMK