13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Yeah, I grow them (Polly, Pippa et al) and they are reliably perennial, even in rough grass. I am less keen on the washed out peachy colours though. The third season, they have clearly hybridised with something because there are seed heads - not anything like as full or fat as the usual d.purpurea, but I will sow the seeds and see what emerges. My favourite digitalis this year (2 actually) is the d.heywoodii 'Silver Fox' (great silvery foliage) and the little Spanish d,obscura 'Dusty Maid' - a sort of subshrub, bushy orange-y bloom which looks lovely in a gravel bed.
I have something spreading through my native shade bed that I haven't identified yet. Maybe I can find the photo and you can help me.
Does anyone recognize these? Here is a larger area.
There is a circle of sticks that indicates a central/original group that I planted. There is a marker for Mist Flower nearby. Could that be what they are? If so, I am cautiously thrilled, because they are wonderful nectar plants. But, might be a little more enthusiastic than I realized. I have Monarda fistulosa that I think is also growing like gangbusters, but it is in a spot where there is more room to grow. Let me know what you think.
Martha
Someone on the forums here once referred to columbines as "promiscuous" and I thought that was a funny but rather accurate description! They wander at will, via self-seeding, and mix with others freely as well, leading to the garden crosses gardengal refers to above. I have so many columbine seedlings in so many spots in my yard, that they are one of the few plants I don't feel bad about weeding out in the early spring. Don't get me wrong, I usually weed around them, but if I pull one by mistake, or they are growing smack in the middle of another plant, I don't feel bad yanking them.
Luckily for me so far, most of mine have stayed fairly true to their original variety, or at least color! I actually have a lot of Green Apples, (which in my garden are actually white) which I don't particularly love, but I leave them because hey, it's something in bloom and everyone else seems to like them! And truth be told, I don't know till almost bloom time what color they will be, and I can't bring myself to yank them at that late time!
you would leave some seed to mature [as compared to deadheading] .. and when they are brown .. they are standing upright ... .. and when open .... you could just dump the seed in your hand.. or an envelop ...
since you know they are doing it by themselves ... that would mean.. you could replant immediately ... no need to store the seed until some magic time ..
ken
Floral_uk - Gorgeous!
ogrose_tx - both of those are very pretty. I miss having poppies! When we first moved into our home 17 years ago we had them, in one spot, but that's become overgrown and I haven't seen them for years. I think I need to direct sow and try again.
I just saw some ninebark at my nursery on Monday. Fell in love! I have the perfect spot for it! Shovel pruning? Wow! My neighbor always laughs when I exit the garage with shovel in hand. I bought a Siberian Motherwort that was pretty in the pot, but weedy in the garden. Gone! I "pruned" a baptisia, but it came back. Roots must go on a ways. My artemesia had a baby and I gifted that one to a co-worker.
I am in the process of moving and dividing a number of daylilies as they are now in too much shade, digging up and potting seedlings. Of course weeding, weeding, weeding. Have started staking my big guys - persicaria polymorpha, lespedezas, baptisias. I have to laugh when I see in gardening magazines all those designs for 'sitting areas' in the garden. HA! I don't the resident gardener would ever use them. Too much to do and so little time.
From the patent, Lynnet.
"Variety of salvia plant named 'Haeumenarc' US PP13322 P2".
Confusingly, 'Marcus' seems to be subsequently treated as an alternative cultivar name for 'Haeumenarc'.
"The new variety was discovered as a naturally occurring mutation of 'Ostfriesland' (East Friesland) (unpatented) in a bed of sage plants in Stuttgart, Germany in the summer of 1998."
A confusion here: 'Ostfriesland' itself is said to be sterile.
Does that mean that 'Marcus' appeared as a branch mutation? I'm not thinking so.
Also in the patent literature: "The new variety was first asexually reproduced in 1999 by cuttings in Stuttgart, Germany.
Another confusion is that the garden Salvia cultivars (often assigned to Salvia nemorosa) are rather interspecific hybrids or interspecific-hybrid hybrids.
Many of our spiderworts are looking 'droopy' along with yellowing foliage. The blooming period was 'brief' to say the least. We are in GA; I am thinking of cutting them all the way back and letting them try again?????? So many of them are just 'laying down'?????
Check out some of the milkweeds such as butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, which is orange or occasionally yellow, and there are several kinds of milkweed that bloom in the pink and white range. There are several native asters such as Aster cordifolia that are in the right size range, but will need deadheading to prevent vigorous seeding around. If your soil is moist enough, Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower) and Lobelia siphilitica (Great blue lobelia) may work for you, but neither is happy where it's dry. With adequate moisture, false Solomon's seal, Maianthemum racemosum, may work - I have some in all day sun though in general it prefers some shade. There are many species and hybrids of Monarda (bee balm and horse mint among others) and some of them will be in the right size range, though many will be taller than you want. Many Monarda are vigorous spreaders. The columbine that is native to this area, Aquilegia canadensis, blooms at around 2' here, but the leaves are a much shorter rosette. There are a bunch of daisy-shaped flowers, some of which grow in your size range if you choose the right variety. Look at Echinacea (coneflower) and various perennial sunflowers such as Heliopsis and Helenium (Helen's flower), one of my favorites.
Native plants can include different things depending on who is using the term. Some folks include hybrids and selections of native plants, while others only want the wild type. The hybrids and selections will be more predictable with things like plant height and bloom color and may have larger flowers. Some folks want native to their immediate area; others want the same state, or region, or country, or continent.
You haven't really talked much about your garden style or goals or given a photo or a bed size or even what else is growing there, so I find it's more difficult to make suggestions other than just a scattershot list of plants, and that may be why you haven't gotten more folks' ideas; your question is really broad. Some of the plants I listed above play well with others (as do the Penstemons suggested by docmom) and some seed around or grow runners that help them take over territory, including that of other plants. Some will feed pollinators, some will feed caterpillars, some appeal to hummingbirds, and some have seeds that birds like if the seed heads are left on the plant. Some nurseries and botanical gardens have a plant finder that allows you to plug in your various needs. Here's the one for the Missouri Botanical Garden, and though their native plant designation is limited to MO, many plants will overlap with your area. Here's one from Bluestone Perennials, though it doesn't include native status, though that can be researched for the US at the USDA's Plant Database (and by looking at the map you could probably infer whether it's native in your area north of the border). You can search by scientific name or common name by using the choice under the search box.
Thanks for the extra photos. Sorry, but I can't add anything beyond my first guess, and if no one else has suggestions, I would post it for the whizzes at the Name that Plant forum, being sure to include all 3 photos.
Here's a pic from last year. Mine aren't closemto blooming yet. Terri