13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
My Baptisia is small yet, just visible to the left, but I used to have a big one in the same area. Then it is able to hold itself against the oriental poppies I love there. Gold variegated Iris pallida dalmatica would be beautiful at its feet too. Flowers compatible blues with vastly different shape, foliage also glaucous, but with the gold to liven up the picture all through the season. Geranium magnificum would be tall enough to hide the baptisia's bare legs, and it blooms at the same time. Itoh peony Bartzella also catches up with the club, it just starts a few days later. You can see it to the left, on the point of opening its buds.
There's a lot of different types of shastas - some very compact and some that can get really large. They all like lots of sun. Sun loving plants in less sun than they need will get leggy - they get taller than normal, look less dense or full with fewer leaves and will lean towards the sun.
I plant perennials in bud and bloom all the time. Their season of interest and demand at area nurseries tends to coincide with their normal bloom time so very common. As noted above, just keep them well watered. The blooms will open :-)
Thanks so much guys !! I definitely needed to water more, like daily. I was doing a couple times a week and things were looking droopy nut perked right up with daily watering. Also 2 of my blooms are opening !!! I'm a happy and proud garden mama !!!
Oh right Ken - nothing like missing the obvious. Still, I do think this scenario merits further investigation (and defoliation from drifting herbicide is a serious contender, as well as the (over)watering issue (which is, I agree, quite plausible). Does the plant rock at all or does it feel securely anchored in the soil?
Thanks yet again for being so helpful, everyone! I just got home and went outside and tried to weed a bit around it. It looks like at one point there was a clear circular area, but it was overrun with (I think) wild violets? I apologize for my ignorance, I'm new to gardening. Also, I'll do a more thorough job later when I'm not getting soaked :) Anyway, it does seem (to me) to be securely anchored. Here are a few other pictures of what foliage it does have(in case it's not even a lilac at all!) 
Also, there seems to fresh/new growth at the bottom. It's raining here (finally) so I apologize for the rainy wet pictures 
This is my third attempt with Lucifer and it did come back this spring! I have another one that I bought from Seneca Hills Perennials that has come back reliably for many years. I just think this genus north of zone 6b is a very iffy thing unless you dig up the corms for the winter. Something I just am not willing to do.
I think I'm moving into early summer at this point? I don't know. I really need a better selection of perennials, but I keep banking on my roses filling in enough that I won't really need that much.
Just some assorted dianthus for now, and my wisteria, which has decided to bloom like mad.
I ended up just using a shovel to split mine, as in the bull in a china shop method I mentioned on the other thread. They all look great.
I still have more to divide and am definitely going to try cutting the roots into sections like Marlorena. Lots of space to fill. Thanks for the pictures!
Floral_uk, I think your original thesis around "invasive" is an extremely interesting one, but I feel it deserves more than speculation.
From my involvement in gardening, I tend to see gardening in terms of the Little Dutch Boy with his finger in the dyke. But is the sea invading the land or is the dyke invading the sea?
To the latter, I do agree that what I take to be gardens are temporary. As they say "Gardens die with their gardener" or, without knowledgeable and diligent intervention, very soon thereafter.
Entities that sell garden implements and packages of stuff have an interest in "educating" the public about aaaaaaall of the little tasks they're "supposed" to do to "control" plants and the wildlife in their yard. A guy with a Scottish accent is constantly on TV commercials reminding everyone to "feed" their lawn (almost certainly a monoculture of non-native grass, if in the US.) And the Roundup commercial constantly reminds that you're delinquent in your duties if you have a dandelion on your property, or anything growing in a crack in pavement.
Foundation shrubs are the biggest mystery to me. Most people hate to do anything in their yard, but most houses have them, usually meatball or hedge-shaped. When they don't get mangled often enough, then it becomes a "creepy house" where shrubs block most of it, especially the windows.
By cultural in origin, I took that to mean learned behavior, following the cultural norm. I've read a couple books about this, how government and garden associations, the golf/turf industry, has gone to great lengths to influence the attitudes of homeowners and appearance of neighborhoods, at least in the US. Most municipalities have laws about "weeds" growing above a certain height. A front yard full of native wildflowers would likely get attention from an enforcement officer in most incorporated areas. There is a definite attitude and assumption that, through the miracle of products and implements, one *can* (and should) control nature.
In the US, this seems to have started with the first boatload of pilgrims, who cleared native vegetation to have a spot to grow the edibles they knew from the mother land. Then they started chopping down the biggest trees to build things.
I also reserve the term invasive for non-native plants that have gone feral and displace natives.
In my experience when I formerly used shredded wood mulch or now just using shredded leaves, weeds are going to germinate and start growing on top... Regardless of what's below the mulch (soil, plastic, landscape fabric). These are easily pulled or you can use a variety of tools to ruff up the mulch and expose their roots to the air. For me the only weeds that would work their way through the mulch from the existing soil are dandelions. Organic mulches just reduce the weed count and make weeding easier.... But the don't elimate them.
I don't have a problem with seeing the foundation; I just think visually there needs to be something taller, under the windows. I had also thought of a trellis of some kind, not necessarily an obelisk, against the house with something climbing. But I still think I would go with a taller evergreen, for winter interest.
BTW, you mentioned roses - is this a sunny spot? I see the hostas, so just curious. The amount of sun will obviously affect your choice(s).
These are two of my favorite plants, and I grow them every year. The OP has a picture of Monarda citriodora ( at least that is what I have known it as) and Kez has Monarda punctata. Here in Michigan the punctata will overwinter and grow back from the roots, but citriodora always needs to be re grown from seed. I plant both to be sure I always have them. They are favorites of all pollinators and easy,easy to grow.
Martha
Docmom, thanks for confirming what grows near me is indeed punctata. Glad to hear they are easy to grow. I have only admired them so far with no hands-on experience growing them. Time to change that.