13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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'm a big fan of Neem oil. I've never seen mildew on my coneflowers, but our winter was so mild this year, I've been seeing it elsewhere for the last month already. Neem oil is primarily used as an insecticide/miticide, but it also has fungicidal properties. It's pretty much the only garden "chemical" I use because it's so effective against a broad spectrum of common garden issues-- plus it's organic.
You can find pre-mixed bottles of neem oil spray at just about any garden center, but they're a bit pricey. I use so much of it, I buy the pure oil and mix it myself-- 2Tbsp oil with 1Tbsp of old-school Dawn dish liquid in a one gallon pump sprayer. I say try a bottle of pre-mix, and if it works for you look into buying some pure oil. I buy it by the gallon from a website called organeem.com. One gallon usually lasts me at least a season, but it's the best price+shipping cost I could find.
I would plant something you don't dare plant elsewhere - like bishops weed - a green and white variegated ground cover that is an aggressive spreader. Maybe Sedum Autumn Joy would work but you might have to work at the maintenance. You need something that will hold up under the baking reflected heat of the cement and splashing chlorine pool water. Maybe an idea is a decorative border of some cool tiles or mosaics and be done with it.
Marguerite daisies (Anthemis punctata) have done well for me in my "hell strip" areas. They love crappy soil, lots of sun and don't need a lot of water. My clumps are usually around 6-8" tall when not in bloom. The leaves are a good contrast to most other garden plants-- very delicate, finely cut and greyish-green. The blooms are 2" pale yellow, and make good cut flowers. It normally flowers here (Richmond VA) in early summer, but mine looks like it'll bloom within the next month thanks to our crazy winter weather. My gardening encyclopedia says it will rebloom if given enough sun and cut back hard after the initial flowering. I may have to try that this year.
They are, if in the ground but not in a pot in our zone. I also overwintered a mum in one of those plastic pots but I kept in the garage. It put a green shoot when it started to get warmer. I would give it until the end of the month to see if there is any growth.
Rule of thumb for over-wintering plants/perennials in pots/containers is the plant has to be hardy to two zones colder than yours. Generally it would need to be Z3 hardy to over-winter in a container outdoors in Z5 but the extremely mild non-winter that just ended may have given your mum a better shot than it might have had spending several months out in a normal Z5 winter.
I grow perennials, trees, shrubs, etc. from seed via winter sowing and normally see only a handful of seed types germinate in March. In past years, most have sprouted in April. This year 45 perennial seed types sprouted in March.
In answer to what they look like when they die....picture a dead spider plant, only much fuller....lol. The stems do eventually fall off, but the foliage turns yellow and just stays there until you cut it down (or have to pull it all off by hand if you're like me and don't get around to it before they start growing again...lol).
Personally I don't think it's a good look in a garden, but on a bank...who knows? And I think the 'grasses' idea is excellent !! Think it would help offset the dead lily foliage since they have the same 'structure'. Green "grass" foliage plus yellow (dead) lily foliage would probably look nice. Like yellow mounds of ornamental grass, maybe??
Just one afterthought -- if I did plant grasses, I'd make sure there was enough room in between them so that you could just mow down the lily foliage (or weedwhack) versus having to hand pull it off.
Because in my experience (and anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) my dead stuff never just falls off by itself. It stays attached in the ground, no matter how 'dead' it is, so it's time consuming doing it by hand if you have a lot to do.
Just something to bear in mind, depending on how much area you'd have to tend. I can't see your post right now so forgot your exact planting situation...sorry.
I have a bank of old-fashioned orange daylilies, but mine is along the back of the house where no one goes in winter (unless I am skiing in the field beyond it and then it's snowcovered.) I have it mulched, and the daylily foliage just dies back and dries quickly at the first frost - I don't usually bother to clear it away. I find the foliage is less trouble than more modern daylilies that I grow. You may want to remove stems after blooming, however.
I have planted a couple of shrubs (viburnum) just above the base of the slope to add interest as well as a small dogwood at the edge of the field near the base. These help provide interest when the daylilies aren't up and break up the look of a 50 foot long bed of essentially all the same plants. I'm just now starting to add a few other plants to see if I can make it a bit more interesting.
Personally, I love frothy white with the orange (kind of Creamsickle-ish) so you might want to think about elderberry bushes or Limelight hydrangeas if the area is moist at the slope's bottom.
I planted primadonna white last year and it did quite well.
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!