13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Here is a really good place to get seeds in bulk, complete with growing instructions that you will also want to provide your guests. This is a great idea, by the way. Anyway, these seeds are fresh, they have an exceptional germination rate and I think if you call this company directly, you may be able to work a deal with them. I've called and talked to them on occasion and they were always helpful. Using a trusted vendor is important for your guests to have success growing their seeds. On the seed bar...say how much sun the flowers need, how much moisture, how big they get and provide a good picture. I think you can copy the pics off this site to use on your seed bar. Have fun with this! Another idea? Maybe buy plants that are the same as the seeds to have on the seed bar instead of just photos...though to have them all blooming when you want them to could be problematic and one more thing to worry about while stressing over all the details of a wedding...but a though. Enjoy!
Here is a link that might be useful: Source for seeds and advice
For my medical school graduation, my mom used live pansies as table decorations and let the guests take them home, if they wanted. You could wintersow several favorite perennials and have them in Dixie cups with growing instructions paper clipped to each plant. I love the seed idea, but I agree that many guests won't go to the trouble of planting them, especially since June is a bit past ideal planting time for most folk. Best wishes for a wonderful day.
Martha
I am a fan of Sanguisorba. I grow 'Tanna", tenuifolia, obtusa and obtusa alba.
These var. have been in the ground nearly 10 years with no issues. (tenuifolia will seed about if not deadheaded)
I have just planted 'Pink Tanna' in the fall.
They are intolerant of dry soils but if too moist will flop. obtusa is pink but will turn white if the soil is too wet.
I really like them all but 'Tanna' and obtusa alba are the ones I like best. I am sure I will like 'Pink Tanna' as well.
Red Thunder sounds quite nice. Could not find the height of Midnight's Child but it looks nice as well.
They have gone to town on seed selection / hybridizing. Wow
Edited to add
Hope arbo_retum shows up, this will teach me to check the OP date.
This post was edited by Peren.all on Sat, Jan 3, 15 at 18:43
There is a good article on Sanguisorba in the journal The Plantsman (published by the Royal Horticultural Society).
J. Sutton, "Sanguisorba in Cultivation". The Plantsman 6 (2) 2007, 78-83.
Unfortunately I can't find this article anywhere online (it used to be on the RHS website).
I did have Sanguisorba hakusanensis in my garden for some years but got tired of because it flopped. Now I have Sanguisorba "Pink Brushes" which SEEMS to me a more sturdy plant than S. hakusanensis. Love the fluffy flowers!
Me too - going for the garden equivalent of bear vs shark.
So, I have campanula rapunculoides against hesperis matronalis,.......symphytum officiale with angelica archangelica.
I am hoping the combined efforts of selected thugs will overpower the brambles and nettles which have previously held sway.
Have taken note of your suggestions - aster cordifolia definitely has legs, I think.
I sadly lost the last of my chocolate joe pye last year. It did great for a few years, but I think the soil dried up too quick where it was. It was in part sun. I was constantly having to water it, and it never stayed moist. It wasnt too close to anything that would harm it.
I also have two pots of these bulbs, and give them about the same treatment as flowergirl. I think they are pretty nice. They bloom for me with just morning sun. Last year I repotted them into some new soil in the spring and threw the old soil out into the mostly shady flowerbed. They bloomed okay there with sun from 11 to one PM, but later than when the photo was taken. You can just see the buds starting.
I got a surprise one summer about 20 years ago when one came up in my vegetable garden. I like the plant a lot, but it has spread because I have tilled a bit. In pots it does not survive out side here in zone 8. I should move the dirt from the vegetable garden some where more suitable. I can imagine that mulching in the fall could allow them to survive eastern WA winters. I think that they could make a nice house plant also.
Perhaps you could cut holes in some of the bags and leave others completely sealed to see which works better. As I recall when I buy bagged bulbs/tubers they have holes in the thin bag and some kind if shavings.
One would think that wrapping in plastic wrap would have the same effect as withdrawing the air from the bag. Sounds logical, but I wouldn't chance having all my tubers rot.
Thanks everybody. Actually I got the idea of wrapping in saran wrap right here on the Garden Web and it works great...they look like the day you wrapped them up. It's impossible to wrap them as tightly as the food saver would. I think I'll leave just one that way and redo the others in saran wrap. I had a feeling it would be a little too extreme.
I have had Nora Barlow for years now. I originally bought the seeds because they were being promoted as "new". They were grown in Virginia by George and Tom in their gardens. So,hot weather is not a problem. I have found success with columbine to chill in fridge for a couple of weeks in a small amount of dampened starting mix and then spread seeds in a larger container to germinate. Late winter is a good time to do this or even now, if spring comes early where you live.
For the Foxglove fans, Digitalis grandiflora is a real gem. This one is long lived and a lovely soft yellow. I like to cut the flowering stems back since it will keep putting new flowering stems up pretty much all season. If I want them to reseed I let a couple of stems go to seed later in the season. The plants shown are quite young, first year (from pots planted the fall before) Quick growth from seed though too.
If you want international flavour this book brings together advice from some of the worlds leading designers including John Brookes, Beth Chatto, Piet Oudolf, James van Sweden and others.
The title is Gardens by Design ---by Noel Kingsbury
John Brookes Garden Design is the best selling garden design book in the world.
Then there is The Essentials of Garden Design by John Brookes
Over the years many garden related books have been on my bookshelves. I only have so much room on them so many have been given away. Looking at my bookshelves this morning most of the books left are more for reference and specific plants. Here's a few titles.
Asters... by Paul Picton (has a new one coming out in the spring).
Daffodils for Home, Garden and Show... by Don Barnes.
English Roses...by David Austin.
The Checklist of Species, Hybrids and Cultivars of the Genus Fuchsia...by Leo B. Boullemier ( have many books on fuchsias )
Canadian Garden Perennials...by A.R. Buckley (this is an oldie).
The Genus Epimedium...by William T. Stern
The Color Dictionary of Shrubs...by S.Millar Gault, George Kalmbacher and Ernest Crowson.
Then I have books on Clematis, Cliva, Begonias, Climbing Plants, the list goes on.
For light reading I have several books by Beverly Nichols, have read books by Rosemary Verey, We Made a Garden by Margery Fish and a few others. The one I'd like to read again is 'Capability Brown' the story of his time as a gardener on an english estate who grew strawberries in the dead of winter in the glasshouse. It's not a very big book, I've searched and searched for it but no luck :(.
My garden design, has come about by what I call constructive staring, and the hit and miss method, well that worked well but that bit over there has to go plan LOL.
Merry Christmas everyone and best wishes for having your best garden ever in 2015
Annette
The Echibeckia "Summerina" series supposedly flowers for 2-3 months, which sounds about average to less than average for Rudbeckias.
I have not had a disease issue with Rudbeckias, so that feature is not relevant for me. I'd be inclined to wait on this one to see what long-term hardiness is ("hardy to zone 6" sounds borderline in any case, especially as it sounds like this variety does not produce viable seed so you'd be out in the cold if it didn't overwinter).
I think you have Mercury Rising confused with one of the other Galaxy series--might be Start Cluster. Mercury Rising does not change to white, no matter what the temperature or time of year. Tthere is one that does (Star Cluster?), but not MR.
On Mercury Rising it was the outside edges of the flower that would turn white. Perhaps I was sent the wrong cultivar. Thou a picture on Monrovia site shows this fading to white edge. It was very healthy here but did not survive wet winter. Star Cluster did live threw same winter and came back strong.