Perennials: Mertensia v. Problem, 2 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
I started mertensia a couple of years ago in a weird microclimate on the south side of my house that is actually in shade about half the time, so I get more sun than Wee. They are thriving, much to my shock. In the second picture you can see some of the seedlings that came up since last year.I had four plants, and now with seedlings I have about ten. I\'m in heaven - I always wanted this plant.There were hostas against the house but nothing else so I started adding all kinds of plants I had always wanted. Geranium Bevan\'s Variety goes nuts, but so do white martagon lilies and gautheria (wintergreen - which likes acidic soil so I add soil conditioner). The geranium does so well I dig up sections of it and move it around my yard. It\'s one of the few that is evergreen.

The martagon lilies in white came from Old House Garden. They were originally $15 each, but at that price they were hard to sell, so they were discounted. I paid $38 plus shipping for five and got EIGHT!!!!! Why are people so nice to me? I paid for three viburnum plicatum tomentosum \'Pink Beauty\' and the lovely man from Plant and Gnome (Chris, the Brit), and he was worried about one of the plants so he sent me a fourth small one - which has now caught up with the others.

And for goodness sake, I have myosotis. I could never grow that!

I used to envy people who could grow mertensia. It is REALLY weird to go out and see a bunch of them developing. I was going to buy some more but I can now see that I don\'t need to do that.

Do try again. They are such lovely plants, and if they are happy they reproduce very quickly.