You need to import just one good deer. No more daylilies.
What are you sorry you planted......Part 2
missingrosie, bite your tongue! I got enough rabbits as it is. I don't need the giant skinny-legged ones.
Ah but you wouldn't have any daylilies running amuck .
Well, I wouldn't call it running amuck. Some of the ones I used to think were pretty don't look all that pretty anymore. But I do have a few keepers.
Awwh, you got rid of them.
Not all of them yet. I did throw a sizable clump on the pile this evening though. Quite a few to go. Not in a hurry.
killd... Don't you know that daylilies don't compost - they just hibernate and adapt to growing in rotting foliage? :)
LeBug - Most of my daylilies are in one bed that gets half-sun - the most sun I can muster up in my yard. The blooms are pretty but it's the ratty foliage afterwords that I dislike. No amount of trimming makes the foliage look great again.
Cindy, I know. A lot of them are still alive after being there for more than a year. It's an out of sight spot so it's OK for now.
Cindy, I hope I get to that point with ferns. Did yours come up from spores or tossed plants?
I recently planted Campanula punctata 'Pantaloons' in a cottage style bed near some roses. I'll keep an eye on it. I wouldn't mind if it spread a bit, but don't want it getting out of hand. It is such a cute plant, starting to bloom already.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/137030/
I also added some anemone near the back of the same flower bed. I hope that they will look nice waving among the higher roses. I love the pictures of anemone, I can't wait to see them bloom. At the moment, they are recovering from planting.
I also received artemesia silver something or other at the same plant swap. I was warned that it could get out of hand, so I have it in a pot. Handling it it makes my hands itch, so I am debating whether to keep it in a pot of give it away. I don't want another invasive, rash inducing weed to deal with. Those awful purple berry weeds, choke berries I believe, are bad enough. A little birdie plants them for me.
I have a couple vigorous plants that I planted myself - pachysandra, sweet woodruff, reseeding 'star of yelta' morning glories -which I don't regret, yet, but keep in bounds. All three are planted in difficult locations where I am thankful to have something attractive survive. My biggest challenges are existing black walnut trees and trumpet vine covering said trees. Thanks to the squirrels and the birds, they get planted in the oddest places.
I had some sea oat seeds that I didn't get around to planting. Glad to have read your warnings about them.
GQ, those awful purple berry plants are probably Pokeweed-Phytolacca. The birds spread them everywhere here also.
Is there a forum for nightowls? I thought I was the only one, but obviously not.
I usually close the place down I think. Haha. I'll keep going as long as I have subscribed threads to respond to.
Me too, then I read for an hour.
killd... - The ferns were given to me 20+ years ago when we moved here by an elderly new neighbor. She had a reputation for making anything grow. I just call them "woodland" ferns since I'm not sure exactly what species they are. They get up to 3 ft tall and love spreading in the shade. They are somewhat aggressive so I have to pull out clumps every year or they'll smother hostas, astilbes or whatever's in their path. They were one of my first plants in my "wilder" garden.
Compared to most of you who have posted in this thread, I feel pretty lucky. I'm basically a beginner with ornamental and flowering plants and dove in head first planting anything I could get my hands on just a few years ago. I've planted quite a few of the above mentioned varieties with very little problems. One plant not mentioned which I had some problem with is Silene coronaria (Rose campion). The first year it flowered I unknowingly just let it go. The following year I had hundreds of little ones everywhere within a 30 ft radius. So needless to say, I make sure I deadhead the original ones in my garden. The remaining volunteers are slowly being dug up, or mowed over to keep them in check for the time being.
My biggest problems are not completely of my own doing, meaning they came with the property. #1 is Asian Bittersweet. An uphill battle but once I slack off for a season, they're back and I've lost all gains I'd made from the prior season.
#2 was mentioned in some of the posts, and also came with the property, that's Lilly of the Valley. Fortunately they're contained to the front yard but have squeezed out much of anything else I've tried to plant there. I know the whole front yard will need to be excavated to completely get rid of them, so admittingly, I slack off in trying to do it by hand and hope I can soon afford to pay someone with the right equipment to rid me of them. Ironically, I also have a small patch of them beside my back deck which is very well behaved.
I planted an Obediant Plant last fall, and is doing great at the moment though only just beginning to bud. I'll keep an eye on it and make sure to deadhead it when the time comes.
Really love this thread, so informative... keep it going.
I think I'll try Silene coronaria here. I have a pretty large place with 'wild' places I where I can let some things go. Mostly in areas where I only intend to plant trees and shrubs later on.
Oh, wait...is the Silene the same as Lychnis coronaria? That's called rose campion also, I believe. I already have that.
killdawabbit... yes
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/80/
Rockgardner - the problem with the obedient plant is that it sends out runners underground, so deadheading does not stop it.
okay... thanks for that info soils. Looks like I have another cadidate for my growing collection of potted plants.
Well, I guess I will go dead head my two Silene coronarias this evening. I have been wondering if I should dead head to see if it will re-bloom--apparently not! but will re-seed too much. I have had just one plant for about five years now and I finally got another one blooming this year. They are both mature plants. The soil is not real good there and gets very hot and dry. The plants have probably already put some seed on the soil.
I have Lamium growing under a tree -dry shade- BUT if you don't keep pulling the babies on a weekly basis, they take over!
Then there is the Solidago (goldenrod). My mom did warn me, but I just had to have it... I've been trying to get rid of it for two or three years now. Just as I think I don't have any left, a new plant pops up.
Don't forget he honeysuckle I planted to help screen off an ugly road next to our house... it really does the job, but I am forever pulling new growth out of the flower bed in front of it. Oh yes, I almost forgot the wild strawberries I planted shortly after moving in (8 years ago). They looked sooo sweet, and I was so impressed with the way they established....
The worst part is I don't learn from previous mistakes. I planted some alpine strawberries in between my flowers before I had my veggie patch, and... you guessed it! I am still pulling strawberries.
I have looked at lamium but have heard it was aggressive. What does grow in dry shade that is not aggressive??
Japanese honeysuckle has killed some of our trees in our "forest" in our backyard. We have to really watch it. Smells good, but is a noxious weed.
I don't know what to replace the lamium with. I guess having them is better than bare soil... Any suggestions will be appreciated.
All of my Lamiums have been ripped out (last year) as their self-sown offspring are invasive and ugly (sorry). I'm a big fan of Epimediums. Once they get established (adequate water the first year), they can stand up to some dry shade. I also do Campanula poscharskyana but you do have to keep an eye on it since it will travel a bit but easy to pull out.
I have had Rose Campion for years now. Fortunately for me it only self-sows in places where I don't mind it being. Not a problem at all so far.
Funny how some plants behave in such different ways in different places. Sometimes only miles apart.
Yea, like I said, many of the plants mentioned in the posts haven't been a problem for me. Lemon Grass, Vinca, Spiderworts, many more, no problems. In fact, I can't seem to get my lemon grass established. Every year I'll start new plants. They do overwinter but just become stunted weaklings. Here's a pic of my Rose Campion from earlier this spring. You can see in the grass area above the garden all the numerous younger offsprings. The small bare spots in the grass are from where I've dug some of them up already.
Edited because I meant to say "Lemon Balm", not "Lemon Grass" .
This message was edited Jun 25, 2010 11:36 PM
I guess I should note the Rose Campions are the grey foliage plants between the Pink Phlox and the Gold Alyssum. My Rose Campions act as short-lived perennials and die off after 3 years. None that I have now are the original plants from about 6 years ago, these are 2nd and 3rd generations. Here's a pic of them blooming from last year.
Rock, I can see those in the grass. Is that an area you mow? I have lamb's ears in some out of the way places in my yard. I just mow right over them. If they're somewhere where they really offend my eye I will pull them or spray them with weed killer.
What is that beautiful yellow-flowered thing?
Oh, I forgot to ask you. What exactly are you referring to as lemon grass? It would be Milium effusum Aureum would it?
My house in Missouri is on a heavily landscaped acre and my DH simply HAD to buy it. He was sure that we could get it all pruned back into 'showcase' looking shape in no-time! We didn't realize that almost every plant and tree on the invasives list was planted in that yard. After 8 years of spending all of our free time trying to keep up with it, I find this thread and recognize our yard.... Almost every one of the plants in our yard was transported into the national forest surrounding our town, and everybody pulls euonymus (wintercreeper) and vinca in their yards. At least I didn't have any Bradford pears! Those are now all over the Ozark Mountains - real thugs of the forest!
Black Fountain Grass, Pennisetum alopecuriodes Moudry. That is one I regretted planting I just remembered. Seedlings came up in the lawn and looked horrible. When you mowed them the tips were hideous and all ragged and stuck out like a sore thumb. I'm pretty sure I'm rid of it now. I haven't seen any in a long time now. I urge everyone to use caution with this one. Also it is tough to pull even when small.
killdawabbit... Opps! Didn't mean Lemon Grass, would love some though, I meant Lemon Balm... just can't get any to establish. Maybe I should be carefull what I wish for!
Yea that is an area I mow, though not as often as my DW would like me to :) There's quite a few things growing in my "lawn" besides grass, though most are fairly harmless as long as I mow them over. Many different areas in my small half acre, all at different levels of maintenance... the only major battle I deal with is the Asian Bittersweet. The Rose Campion is under control, and I could actually eliminate it within a couple of hours but it's not high priority at this time.
Also interesting you mentioned Lambs Ears cause I have 2 patches growing in one of my gardens and it's so welll behaved.
The yellow thing is Alyssum "Basket of gold" (Aurinia saxatilis compacta). Another well behaved perennial (for me) that I've read some people find a bit invasive. See pic of another small patch. I have about 40 new starts going into both areas as soon as the weather cools down. Looking to make a dramatic display for next spring.
The alyssum is beautiful. I'll have to get some. I have a little rock garden area I've been working on for a few years.
Lemon Balm! OK! I've got that. Hahaha. Vigorous self-seeder for me. I planted it probably 20 years ago and never had to plant it again. I wouldn't be without it though. It's beautiful as a tough background or temporary filler plant for areas I haven't totally developed yet. I frequently grab a leaf and take a sniff. Nice.
For me Lamb's Ears go everywhere. I also use it for the same purposes as the Lemon Balm. It is an excellent weed-smothering ground cover for areas that haven't been developed also. I control them both with either hand-pulling or Roundup.
Those two are welcome invasives in my garden.
Cindy, that is the only thing I don't like about lamb's ears. The spent bloom stalks. I remove some of them especially if they are in a much-viewed area.
The bees love lambs ear. I have it and it does spread but is so easy to pull up.