13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
geum - bright red one (name escapes me, Lady Bradshaw or the other one?)Love geums but many have fleeting blooms but this common chiloense flowered all summer with a luminous red.
Salvia greggii - another red and a lilac, both from cuttings so NOID. Fabulous with grasses such as Stipa tenuissima and various sedges.Propagated zillions for friends too.
Tulipa sprengeri(a long, long wait from seed and much delving in pots for the minuscule deep bulbs - but so fabulous)
Dahlia -Bishop of Aukland (I think, a clear orange single which has gleamed with mimulus auriantica and red hemerocallis)
Callirhoe involucrata - never stops.
I had seen Red Jewel Helenium in a catalog yesterday and thought they were a great shade of red, but it was a seller that touches up photos, so wasn't sure how real it was. Good to hear it's a neat one.
Eric, I had been looking at dwarf crape myrtles for containers, but am waiting as I don't think they love a cold winter, especially just planted in fall.
woodyoak, I especially like the Veronicastrum and hibiscus as well
as forget-me-not and Daphne - really nice!!
Thank for the other additions garcan and connietn, I'll have to look up some of those :)
I ordered, paid for & took delivery of 'Osprey' 4+ years ago. It grew, bloomed, thrived...and every year around the middle of August the foliage keeled over, turned orange and looked dead. The first time, I thought it was dead but it came up again the following year. Fast forward to mid-August of this year: I dug the nasty, ugly pile of decayed foliage + roots up and trashed it all. I couldn't think of a place anywhere in my garden where I could transplant it, enjoy it and not have to look at the mess every year. Number of reseeds? Zero. It was pretty when it was pretty but the ugly after-bloom sealed its fate. The regular purple one grows in a different bed and appears to die back without the ugly mess so I've left it alone. Although I've found a volunteer here and there, they always come up in the same spot so I wouldn't say it's invasive or even too enthusiastic.
Very nice. I love the bright coloured plants, until I get to the grasses, and fall in love with those; then I see the coloured ones again and I love them. I do love the ones I'm seeing, I guess. :)
How much of your farm do you plant in? I love the variety of plants you have.
Yeona
That first shot is worthy of being framed! What variety of Aconitum is that? Very nice blue shade on it.
Your Leptodermis is lovely. I picked one up last year, but have yet to see a bloom. The more I see Angelica the more I like it.
Lovely pics gardenbug! I could seriously look at them all day ;-) Thanks
CMK
I've had it for years, not a problem as of yet. I have it growing on a trellis on the side of a concrete carport, several times a year I cut the long shoots off to keep it under control. The berries that fall I clean up so they won't germinate.
Annette
Brer, as above, depends on which Z7....ampelopsis brevipendunculata (porcelain berry vine) has shown aggressive or invasive tendencies in at least Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin.
In my cool summer area, it's serving as a summer screen between my back door and my neighbors deck. One year only out of many, I found some seedlings at its base which I pulled. Every other year, we've had frost before the berries could fully ripen, unfortunately that often means before they have fully colored too.
So is it invasive - maybe. Is it poisonous - No.
I agree with purpleinopp as to what they are. We would have to know what zone you are in to know if they are perennial for you. Some sources list the mexican heather as hardy to zone 9-10 other sources say it may be hardy to zones 7 and 8. Pentas zone 10,11. If not hardy in your zone you may be able to dig them and grow them indoors as houseplants.
I cut my Mexican Heather down to a few inches before the first frost, leaving some leaves around the base. Works great, comes back every year. Pentas are annuals in my climate, they won't go through the winter outside. Yours are such a nice color, I hope that you can find a place to put them.
Someone in the butterfly forum buys pentas at Walmart early every spring, Penta lanceolata, the tall old-fashion pentas that she says the butterflies love in dark pink shades. Maybe purple, too, as they like purple lantana. Hummingbirds reportedly love the tall red pentas.
Do you know how to put your zone and your city or state on your profile? Makes it easier to get help!
Oh, dear, Lizzie, please send me an email through my GW page before buying any more of these or any other common (or even some less common) plants. I can certainly provide you with more if you are anywhere near me in NH.
Also, you should check out the New England forum where there is a plant swap near Manchester each spring and fall. New gardeners aren't obligated to bring plants.
The KO roses are young, still only 2 feet tall. Although I don't usually see dieback on other roses I have in backyard. That being said, perhaps I should move the KO roses to the front and the Helenium to the back? It looks like it only flowers on the top anyway right?
Do you pinch for height control and still get 3ft tall?
I don't pinch my Mardi Gras, it naturally gets three feet tall or a bit more. Yes, it is only the top most part that blooms.
Hummm...it is really hard to say. Most roses over here have a ton of dieback, so many never reach their full potential. I looked online and double knockouts are said to get 3-4 feet around. That is cutting it close since that is about the same height as the Helenium. Since you don't get a lot of winter dieback you might expect the rose to get four feet, but again I am not one hundred percent sure.
Sorry I couldn't give you any pat answer ;-(
CMK
Whatever you leave will become mulch. On both of those plants, the stems are not woody at all and decompose quickly enough that they settle down under new spring growth, which completely covers it.
If the lambs ear is the blooming kind (some types are bred not to bloom) the dead flower stalks likely contain a lot of seed. The same is true for catmint. One way I like to propagate both those plants is to shear the stems with some heavy-duty kitchen scissors (or anything else that works) and toss the dead stuff somewhere I want them to grow. Both types are vigorous re-seeding plants that will go from seedling to blooming plant by next summer if they germinate in the fall.
Be careful about composting the stuff because then your compost will erupt into blankets of plants wherever you put it. That's one reason to leave the dead material in place where it can benefit the garden and only multiply in place.
Am I the only one that has problems keep SAC alive? I've inadvertently killed several over the years either moving them or just disturbing the roots. And I have never had a seedling. Had to move a small one last fall and potted it up for the winter but it did not grow this year. I am keeping the pot. Maybe it will come next year. I miss the late bloom and fragrance.
The eighty some other clematis I have are all doing well.
I don't think moving it now will be a problem. The new growth should be hardened off and with a good watering in it probably won't even wilt.
If it dies I can send you a couple of the dozens that have seeded out throughout my lawn. There used to be a plant next door which was removed.... the seedlings remain. I'd love to keep a couple and let them grow, but it's so invasive I'd hate to see them seeding out all over the neighborhood.
I know the seeds are quite toxic but I don't know in what concentration. When my son was a preemie infant, he had episodes of frighteningly high heart rate (we once clocked him at 320 bpm in the NICU) called Superventricular Tachycardia, SVT. Anyway, they had him on a medication called Digoxin. The 'dig' part of the drug name comes from Digitalis as that's what the medicine is made from.
The hospital staff put the fear of God into us about how serious this medication was and the importance of NOT OD'ing him on it. They told us that there didn't used to be an antidote so kids had died before from the med. Once, after a particularly difficult night caring for my preemie twins I dosed the wrong twin with digoxin! They were in their baby swings right next to each other and I just gave the med to the wrong baby because I was so out of it (it's difficult to maintain normal function when sleeping in 45 minute increments). Fortunately, it turned out okay because my daughter had never been given a 'loading dose' of the med so the dose for her brother was not enough to have a negative impact. I thought for sure we were going to have to ambulance her to the local children's hospital. It's about as scared as I've ever been.
That said, I DO have a few foxgloves growing in my yard. The seeds are pretty small and I don't have them in an easily accessible area.
The whole plant is toxic. But it is also used in heart meds. As for animals avoiding eating it, it is hard wired into them i.e. instinct. If something has a certain color or smell they wont eat it. Especially if they have eaten it and gotten sick before.
Most of the companion recommendation are for spring plants that bloom roughly about the same time as Hellebore. Are there plants that one can pair with that blooms in summer and fall (in the shade of course).
Thanks everyone for the replies so far.
Paul
I planted a couple of hellebores some 20 years ago, one lenten rose (Orientalis) and one Christmas rose (niger), and they have both colonized well, flinging seeds everywhere if I don't remember to cut the spent flowers.
I've moved them all over the place when I spot the seedlings coming up where I don't want them (in the cracks of the patio, mostly) and so far they don't object at all to being relocated.
The niger is not nearly as prolific as the orientalis, tho there are usually hundreds of seedlings under the old plant.
I find that the orientalis produces lots of variegation in blooms, from pale pink to deep purple. I love the leathery evergreen foliage, and I always cut off the old leaves in the spring and let the new stuff grow. The old plants are nearly 4' across and have hundreds of blooms, so I give them lots of space. They look wondeful with hostas and ferns.
I spent a couple of hours today in fact, digging up bricks in the patio to get the teenage seedlings out of the cracks and replanted them down in the woods gardens. I must have moved 20 of them.
I can't make myself compost any of them, I know how expensive they are to buy! I think I paid over $10 each for the original plants, and that was 20 some years ago!
I have actually bought a few of the newer varieties in the last couple of years. They all grow fairly slowly so don't expect immediate huge plants, but one year you will look at them and go, WOW!
They seem to grow well in partial or filtered shade, average soil with minimal water. I don't find them fussy at all.
Woody, things are looking great in your garden yet. I agree about the hydrangeas too. They really give a good 3 seasons of interest.
My Hydrangeas are done for here Woody, I think no rain for 4 months or so does them in. I'm not good at providing supplemental irrigation to shrubs, instead I focus on the perennials and the containers. Love those berries !
Kathy in Napa