13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

the way they sell little mounds of mums.. so clogged. and shaped into domes.. i doubt air circulation is an issue ... but i suppose VA could be different.. some parts redefine humidity.. dont they.. lol

ken

Lantana makes me a bit nervous. Last year I dug up a nice red/orange one that I didn't think had made it through the winter. Potted it up instead of tossing it out and it only put off a single bud before it died. I knew I should've left it in the ground!

Last year I cut the lantana back to about 6 inches somewhere in the late Feb/early March range. I think I got lucky because the dead growth did look a bit... bleh. Still waiting to cut back hibiscus. Our roses lost half their leaves, except the "Dr. Huey" that kept trying to put on new growth only to have it nipped by the cold... now it has a bunch of scraggly reddish growth on it that I'm afraid might be rose rosette or damage.

Hmm. Maybe I should leave the mums alone. Better safe than sorry. I could just add them to my spray regime in case they develop something.

Thanks for the help!

I'm so glad you asked this! I'm redoing some beds and have three green and gold euonymus (not necessarily the botanical name; but they actually are dark green with a wide yellow border) and I didn't realize what I could do with them. After seeing your photo, I've decided to plant them so that they grow together forming a mat under the mailbox. Thanks for the inspiration!

I forgot to mention my pick for shade and dry soil; under my Norway maple Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima' has done very well for me. It even self-sows a little, but the plants are easy to transplant, and survive a move very nicely, particularly if you pot them up early and give them time to get established a little first.
The soft pink flowers are held aloft on wiry stems that float above a mound of bold, deeply-cut trifoliate leaves. These would contrast nicely with your ostrich ferns and euonymus.

yep, i think that's good call, flora - the snow lotus or saussurea medusa

flora, it is a picture taken by some tourists. People think it is snow lotus but they are not able to ID.

Perennials that multiply well for me have been:
Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), cone flower (Echinacea), most phlox paniculata cultivars, Japanese anemone , most of the older daylily cultivars clump up nicely, beebalm (Monarda), mums, penstemon 'Husker Red', shasta daisies, cannas. Some of those seed themselves about also.
The salvia 'Victoria Blue' is sold as an annual, but will survive for years here and seeds around.
And one that really increases is Mexican Petunia (Ruellia), especially if it's planted in rich soil with plenty of moisture.
Bluestone Perennials, High Country Gardens and Plant Delights are all good sources for mail order.

I guess when I said "multiply" I should have said somewhat quickly. I know with the daylilies I have, some multiply faster than others. I just wanted to see what plants others have had good luck with. Everyone here is a wealth of information.

I also have to read up on how to divide certain plants. I have a Shasta Daisy that looks like it could be divided, but while looking at it I wasn't sure how to go about it.

The pictures above of the winter sowing are amazing.

I think I'm thinking of the wrong Christopher Lloyd....

Dee

An alliterative Clematis that always made me smile is Lady Betty Balfour. But for really unique names you must turn to the daylily world. Where else could you find a cultivar named "A Moose Fishing On A Pond On Monday", or "Snake In The Grass Boo". Both are reportedly good modern daylilies and certainly would be a conversation piece in the garden.....Maryl

Yes, they sure are tough plants! That's why I like them, they're one of the few things that survive around here. Thanks, it gives me assurance that I can just move them and cut them all at once. But for you... how about digging up and giving them away? I don't know if you are near a city, but there are plenty of empty tree boxes around my neighborhood that could use something un-killable.

Great idea! Most of the neighbors already have these from the original 'supplier' but I'll check out other areas in the City and perhaps find them a good home!

I also have Helene von Stein (aka Big Ears) - it *never* mildews but it does look yucky over winter; easily remedied with a good spring trim-back, same as most perennials. Like the poster above, I also appreciate that it doesn't flower - because man are lamb's ears flowers U-G-L-Y!!

I see the OP is in WA - perhaps not the best climate for S. byzantina, they like it hot and dry, although, of course, I know nothing of your particular microclimate...

I've never had a problem with it not overwintering well (even though our late winters and spring can be quite wet). Then it always drys out quite a bit here come summer...

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with lamb's ears. I don't have anything against the way they look (even kinda' like the flowers), just that they require a little too much attention to keep them looking good. Although I do appreciate the CHVS recommendation, in case I should ever want to give them a second chance I will try out that cultivar.

I have actually found a replacement for lamb's ears that I LOVE. Salvia argentea. The leaves are silver and whooly, but much bigger. The flowers are only white with a tinge of purple, but I like the overal tumble-weed like look of it in flower.
CMK

It's a mail order business too. Most people won't walk into the place. I have never visited High Country Gardens either but they have a nice catalog and prices that are much better. You can get a new, named cultivar plant for less there than White Flower Farm's sale price for common seed varieties.

I think the proper term is car analogy.

nhbabs - sounds like we are pretty close to each other, I'm in a similar area, suburb of Cleveland. It's pretty dry here, although today it's rainy! Pooh! I ended up just transplanting those two russian sage...we'll see how it goes. One the whole rootball came up with roots and dirt intact, the other bare root, and shovel went into some so we'll see what happens. I am NEVER moving those again!!! Lol* Other than that I dug up my veggie garden bed a little but just turned the soil and was sure not to step anywhere I had already turned. Thanks so much for all the great advice!

I too am eager to get out in my gardens as I never clean anything up in the fall and they look like a mess! I leave as much as I can to catch the snow which was pretty useless this winter. Today was miserable enough with high wind, rain and a few snowflakes to keep me inside.

But what I have done to help my itches in the spring is to put garden stones or pieces of flagstone through my gardens so I can walk there and look at things earlier than I can dig. It helps to prevent compacting at any time. Sometimes it is just one stone to give me a space to put my feet if I have to get into a garden.

It also helps me to clean up earlier by not having to walk on the soil. What I can't reach from the outside I can get from on the pathways. And they are attractive too!

Just my 2 cents worth!

oh boy .. lets see ... how to explain.. w/out making your head explode ... lol ..

first.. welcome to GW ...

when a name is in quotes.. like 'Ellagance' .. that means its a named cultivar ...

and it is probably an F1 ... but even i dont know what that means precisely .... but i do know that you can cross .. e.g. momma A and with daddy B .. to get seed that is true to the name 'Ellagance' ... and that is what the seed producers do .. on a very large scale .. insuring who mom and dad are ... its mysterious to me.. but they do do it ...

perhaps where you are getting lost .. is thinking that you can then take the seed off 'Ellagance' and get more 'Ellagance'.... and that is usually where peeps say.. they dont come true from seed ...

but in that case its momma 'Ellagance' crossed with unknown daddy ??? and that is most likely not going to produce seed consistent with 'Ellagance' .. for sure it will be a lavender.. but it may or may not perform like 'Ellagance'

can you wrap your head around that much ... if so.. ask more questions ... or maybe that is enough ...

all i know is that i dont want to go further.. if that is enough of an answer ... i mean this could be a masters thesis dissertation.. and most of us dont need that level of info ......

it is the same reason .. that your would graft a good apple .. because the seed inside of it .. will not produce the same apple type ....

make any sense????

your quest for knowledge is inspirational ... keep it up ...

ken

drat.. she beat me to it.. lol ...

check out the link ...

you can not offer 3 types of a plant with quotes around its name ... it defeats the whole point of the quotes ... the quotes mean it is a unique individual cultivar ....

but the link shows that there are two names withing the quotes... all seem to have Ellagance .. but with a second word.. like 'Ellagance Sky' or 'Ellagance Purple' .. etc ...

for all i know.. Mr Ellagance has named 3 different varieties .. lol ...

some producers like to put a keyword within the name.. so you can ID their plants ... and here.. that is the 'Ellagance' part ....

you can track down that history ...

but they are not the same plant.. for sure ...

and they are all probably F1 hybrids .... but that is just a guess

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Wait... is there a reason why roxanna's naming of companies are edited out? I thought we were allowed to discuss various companies.

I am in need of a good perennial supplier, but I'm seeing bad reviews of one that used to be a highly popular one.

I came to this forum to find another one but now I see strange and mystery edits. That really bothers me. We should have the right to voice our opinion, even if it is or is not favorable to any particular company.

I don't mind saying that the bad reviews I'm finding is with Bluestone. Let's be frank here, please.

gardenweed_z6a, care to share those reputable folks?

Magnoliasouth -

I am not Gardenweed, but here are companies I have been quite pleased with and would order from again. (As someone else mentioned, if I can get it locally, I try to, both to support local businesses and to save mailing costs, which allow me to get more or larger plants for the same $. I live in a rural area, though, so there often isn't the variety I would like.)

Lazy S's Farm Nursery www.lazyssfarm.com all types of ornamentals
Brushwood Nursery http://www.gardenvines.com/ many types of vines
Silver Star Vinery http://www.silverstarvinery.com/ clematis
Hummingbird Farm http://hummingbirdfarm.net/ clematis and herbs
Forest Farm http://www.forestfarm.com/ I've only bought woodies there, so don't know what else they carry
High Country Gardens http://www.highcountrygardens.com/ plants tolerant of dry situations, though they include many I can grow here
Avant Gardens http://www.avantgardensne.com/

I have also ordered from Bluestone http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/index.html for this spring. While they had a lot of issues last fall with their new system of growing and shipping, they are a company that has been in business a long time and has great customer service and a guarantee. They have made modifications based on last fall's customer feedback, and unlike many companies with bad reviews on GWatchd*g I trust them to treat me well. With coupons, I found their prices quite reasonable compared to many mailorder & online nurseries.