I have been looking at Aubrieta for cascading down over landscape brick terrace to soften the hardscape.
I think the Aubrieta is quite pretty. I don't know much about it and haven't been able to find many people on Dave's Garden that grow it.
It appears to be an Alpine plant that is mostly grown in England??
When does it bloom? Only spring? Clay soil? Good drainage? (probably, all plants want that!)
I find that it is drought tolerant which would be a good characteristic for the area I would like to plant it.
Those who grow it, please tell me what you know about it. Full Sun? Bloom time? Bloom period? Evergreen leaves? Invasive? Will it even grown in hot humid zone 6 with temps from 95* down to 0*??
I just don't know much about it.
If Aubrieta only blooms in spring, do you have other suggestions to fill in other areas of the terrace that will bloom later?
Aubrieta What do ya Know?
I have two Aubretia that bloom only in the Spring, but they bloom for awhile. They are somewhat evergreen in my region (Pacific Northwest) especially the one that is in a protected location with good drainage and sun. The other is in a partly shady place with clay soil and is suffering a bit, though it has managed to come back every year for 8 years. It was in sun when I first put it in, but the other plants have grown up around it.
Thanks. I have learned from "Garden Smart", a PBS show that I contacted. They said it's a little tough to grow here as it gets hot and may die out and to treat it like an annual. I'm not crazy about this annual stuff. I need some plants I don't have to plant every year.
That makes sense. I live in a fairly cool summer environment (over 90 only for a week or two) and we have relatively mild winters too (2 to 4 below freezing cold spells, sometimes into the teens). My Aubretia leaves look great right now in a south facing raised bed, where it trails nicely over the short wall. It does get a little ragged sometimes in the hottest part of the summer there, but has always greened right up with water. Since it is in a garden by my classroom door, we aren't there much in the summer anyway, and it looks good during the time of year everyone is around. I don't do too well with annuals either, except for vegetables.
I think I am going to try Campanula carpatica 'Blue Chips' and 'White Chips'. I believe they do better in cooler climates as well. Sometimes, you can luck out however. I believe the Aubrieta and the Campanula are both happier in cooler climates. I am looking for something that will trail in my hot weather. There's got to be something out there or maybe the above will do fine. Anyway, I am going to try it.
We had temps down to 3* this past week. Today, it is 66* with lows in the low 50's. We're getting some nice south wind from the gulf.
Here are some plants that I consider Ironclad. They bloom well for me and last for many years in my USDA zone 6 garden. There may be many others and some in other hardiness zones, but these work best for me
Daylilies- the wild ones spread too easily but it is really hard to kill a daylily unless you are a deer.
Peonies I have had 5 or 6 that are still growng and blooming well after 40 years
Azaleas from Joseph Gable There are many other aza;eas but his varieties are Rock Hard
Shasta Daisey Beckey strong,3' stems and returns every year with no care
Coreopsis Zagreb-Tidy clumps and carefree growth
Cone flower
Euphorba-Spurge 8" ground cover
phlox the tall Summer kind
Ferns -Autumn, Japanese Painted
Geranium, Rozanne
Helleborus Easter varities good for Shade
Heliopsis Summer Sun late summer
Hosta deer love them
Sedum Autumn Joy
Azalea -Northern Lights
arf: thanks for sharing your information and taking time to put it here. I am familiar with a lot of the plants your have in your list. With the unfamiliar ones, I am going to research them.
I have had Peonies, Sara Bernhardt for 20 years. I have read they will live to be 100.
I don't have any of the Gable azaleas. I am wanting a deciduous azalea. I just think the flowers are so showy and gorgeous. However, they like acid soil, and my soil is on the alkaline side.
I don't have Shasta Daisy 'Becky'--mine were given to me, and they flop over. I will surely look into these.
I'm checking on the Coreopsis. I had Moonbeam, but it died out.
Have Helebores--fun plant and so appreciated in the late winter. Mine re-seeds.
Azalea: Norther Lights--I'll check that one out also.
Oops! We kind of went off topic!
Does anyone know of a complete list of Toadlily(Tricyrtis) cultivars. I can find reference to a few in the articles that have been published on them but have never seen a complete list or description of the many new cultivars and forms. Most nurseries only carry a few and one has to jump from 1 to another to find specific ones. Probably the most complete list I have found came from Rick's Custom Nursery in Lexington VA. Thanks
Len, I don't know anything about Toadlily other than I think they are quite interesting looking flowers and would like to have some of them someday.
I recommend you post on the Blub forum and the Shady Garden forum. They will probably be able to help you there.
It is a ground cover for me, cascading over a rock wall that I have constructed from an old sidewalk that the town broke up to make a cement walk. It grows fron the inside of the wall, over the wall and thru seperations in the stones. It requires little, care just a little weeding of the few plants that come up thru its 2' x 3' bed. The bed gets early sun and little or no late afternoon Sun. I dont think I have ever seen it bloom after its initial early Spring bloom of little white flowers.
birder ;
I have grown aubrietia here in 6b. It lasted about 3 years. It is a beautiful plant . I started some from seed (burpee seed rack). I do think it must need very good drainage.
Thanks Time.. I did not follow through on the Aubrieta--it's a gorgeous plant.
How did you grow the Aubrieta to germinate, grow etc. Did you WS?, or under lights? Thanks for telling me it grew in your area. That gives me the idea that I may be able to grow it here also.
I did plant Campanula carpatica 'White Clips' and C. carpatica 'Blue Clips' and Saxatalis aurenia (Basket of Gold). I did both the Campanula and Saxatalis under lights. I also did the Saxatalis aurenia Deno method. Both methods for the Saxatalis aurenia worked well.
I'm not sure the Campanula is going to make it. It just sprouted and they are really tiny. I am watering them from the bottom in a basin and gently misting them.
Birder,
Actually I have some started in the basement now with heat mat. The results are variable and unusual. I bought the seeds from seed.com . 3 packages with about 28 seeds per package. I sowed each package in a 2 inch cell of a cell pack. . I cell has had perfect germination for over a week now while the other 2 have not germinated at all. Go figure.
I have bought three or four packages of seeds off the rack from Lowes and plan to sow in august like pansies.
John
The ones you are going to plant in the fall, are you thinking they will sprout early spring or late fall?? I haven't seen the Lowes here have any Aubrieta. They pretty much just stick to same o same. The most unusual thing I have seen in Lowes for seed is Oriental poppies.
In conclusion regarding the seeds.com, I wonder how good their seed is--33% is not very good.
My thoughts are that they may be heat sensitive over time so i will treat them like pansies. Start them sept/oct and then plant out nov/dec. We haven't had a deep freeze here in december for years.
Please remember to let me know how this worked out.
will do
http://greensborogardens.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/non-invasive-groundcover-for-zone-7/
Here's a link for plumbago, a ground cover I swear by. It cascades over rocks for me and doesn't seem to mind heat, drought or monsoons. It's vigorous, but seems easy to keep in bounds, fresh green most of the time, and very pretty flowers in the summer. Worth looking at...
I love Plumbago. It's gorgeous. I have been told more than once that Plumbago will not survive the winters here. Sigh. It seems strange it will grows for you in zone 5 but not here in zone 6. It's sold here as an annual. I checked on Dave's Garden Plant Files, and it shows it grows in zones 8 through 11. You must have it in a special mini climate or it's a different species than what Dave's Garden describes. How long is the bloom period?
Blue plumbago grows fine here... Maybe the city heat-sink effect, don't know.
Well, golly, I think I will try it. Where do you have it located? Did you guys read the info on Dave's Garden by any chance on this plant?
This description is fromDayton Nursery:
"Ceratostigma plumbagnoides
Plumbago, Leadwort
zones: (5) 6-9
Description: A groundcover that provides interest in late summer, after many other perennials are finished blooming, Leadwort is hard to beat. The foliage is green during the summer, then turns a beautiful bronzy-red in fall. It provides the perfect backdrop for the brilliant gentian blue blooms which are present from late summer until the first hard frost. Use Leadwort as an underplanting to shrubs or large perennials or allow it to ramble over small rocks. Any way you use it, Leadwort will be a dependable, long-lived perennial."
Are we talking about the same plant? For me it's tough as nails. I found a patch of it in light shade, where it had been neglected for years, and started spreading it around. It's done really, really well, especially as edging near shrubs. In one place It cascades over a fieldstone edging on a sunny corner and fills in where wild ginger burns out every August.
Pam
No!! I was thinking of this plant: Plumbago auriculata! It's good there are the scientific names.
It's so easy to get confused, isn't it? I guess that's why it's worth the bother to learn the true names!
Is the Cerastostigma plumbagnoides invasive??
I haven't found it to self sow, but I don't know about your zone. It spreads consistently but doesn't run...it's vigorous but easy enough to pull up in my garden. I primarily use it around shrubs and between stepping stones, and wherever I want a good weed preventer.
Just an up date on the Aubrieta. Lowes's had it on their clearance rack--so I bought some. I planted them in various locations. The ones by the poor rocky soil next to a rock edge is doing the best. They are blooming and are quite pretty.
I am looking locally for C plumbagnoides. My C. carpatica 'Blue Clips' are doing pretty well although small, and they "look" fragile. The C. carpatica 'White Clips' did not make it. I just re-seeded the White Clips. I am putting Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft) in some of the areas. Lowe's had them on clearance for a good size pot for .75. Some of them are blooming---soooo pretty - pristine.
I grow Aubrieta and Saxatalis aurenia (Basket of Gold) together at the front of my house cascading over a wall. They both seem to bloom once in the spring.
Very hot temperatures. They get larger every year.
The two campanulas you spoke about, white and blue clips seem to die out over the winter here in zone 5a.
Cerastostigma plumbagnoides, is sold as a shade plant although I grow it in the sun and it does well, it only blooms in the fall. It is a nice shade of blue.
obliqua, Thanks for sharing your experience with the various plants. I really like the Aubrieta that I purchased from Lowe's. It has been blooming ever since I planted it. The color of the flowers is striking. I wish I had purchased more.
I grew the Saxatalix aurenia from seed. I planted some outside before we received 15 inches of rain this past week. So, my little seedlings all got washed away. I may try to start some more from seed that I have left.
I have not been able to find the C. plumbagnoides locally.
When I double checked my campanula seedlings, I actually have the white clips and not the blue clips. I used the little bit of seed I had left to re-seed the blue clips. However, with all the rain lately, they probably won't germinate.
birder:
My heat mat sown au bretia didna' do anything. I sowed aubretia under lights in the basement in August with no heat mat. They germinated and did fine . transplanted to individual flat in Late August. Unfortunately I turned the flat upside down while they were still tiny and in the process of picking them up I lost half of them. I transplanted out about 30 of tyhem into the garden just yesterday. It is cold and rainy here right now...but they look perky in the garden.
John
Update here:
I planted a couple of the Aubrieta and they bloomed profusely in the spring in the cool weather. When it became hot, they died. :( Or maybe they went dormant. I would sure like to think they went dormant, but I am afraid they died.
The Saxatalis I WS was planted in the spring and did well with care. Then, we had a new hydrant put in and the plants were ripped to shreds. I bought some large Saxatalis at Lowe's, but they did not make it either. It was probably a combination of the soil, the plumber, and a lack of water.
I rec'd some Cerastostigma plumbagnoides plants from a DG trade. I have one that has survived. It is tiny-about four inches in diameter, but such a cute little plant! It was the only plant that ended up close enough to a soaker hose. I am hoping it will make it through the winter eventually getting starts off of this plant to use in other areas as well as expand in the area it is planted in.
This year was really challenging for the plants. We had way too much rain in the Spring so you couldn't get your plants planted at the right time and then, no rain and terrific heat. This fall has been beautiful. We have had nice weather from Labor Day up to two days ago. Now, it is cold, windy and very wet from the rain we had the last two days. By the time we received the good weather, my seedlings had died.
John, thanks so much for reporting your experiment with the Aubrieta. I am so sorry you lost so many of your plants when they tipped over. I have had that happen to me. It's discouraging. At least you have quite a few left. I hope they all make it. I think you are right about the flowers being heat sensitive. I am finding my perennials do so much better when I plant them in the fall than in the spring. I plan to do more perennial seed starting in August instead of March and April this next year. Every year, I WS digitalis and water it all summer long and then, plant it in the fall--it has worked very well for the digitalis.
I am with you on fall planting. I have planted out some 300 plus seedlings this fall ( digitalis, english daisy , sweet william, pansies, Johnny jump ups) They are all thriving except for the pansies and the Johnny Jump ups which for some reason this year has become a favorite of a rabbit. I am now starting on my fall bulbs.
John
Aubrieta 'Dr Mules', year three. They are each about 12 x 12 inches. I wish I had planted them closer together. Slow growers compared to phlox subulata and lithodora. But I love them.
Those are beautiful. Where did you find them?
Thanks! Found them locally. I think grown by Peoria gardens in Albany, OR. Huge nursery industry all around me, so I am very lucky--rarely have to mail order anything.
Kosk, plants are beautiful. Thanks for posting them.
My Aubrieta that I purchased fr. Lowe's last year did not return. It was too much heat and dryness.
We had a crazy year climate wise last year. We had way too much rain in the spring that washed small seedlings away. Then, terrific heat and very dry in the summer, then, way too much rain in the fall. This area usually gets a yearly average of 47 inches of rain. Last year, we had 75 inches of rain--lots of flooding around the area. You may have even heard on the news; they blew the Birds Point Levee up to save a very small town from getting flooded and in the process, flooded 570,000 acres of some of the best farm land in the country.
I had planted some Saxatalis on a terrace, and it survived and is blooming niecly next to the pristine Iberis. Can anyone tell me if the Saxatalis gets "out of hand"?
My favorite is the Iberis. IF, I can get more on sale, I will buy more. Does anyone know if the Iberis roots easily from cuttings? I am the worst on getting cuttings to grow: 50%.
The Aubrieta would have been quite pretty with the Saxatalis and Iberis. All of my Campanula Blue and White Chips died.
So, this year, I started Aubrieta from seed in the WS process. I have enough seed left to re-plant in the fall should it not make it through our hot and humid summers. I am also thinking of just potting some up and keeping them watered over the summer, then plant them in the fall. This works well for my Digitalis.
This spring, I also WS Aethionema schistosum:
http://nargs.org/nargswiki/tiki-browse_image.php?imageId=2563
A DG sent some Cerastostigma plumbaginoides but in the terrible weather we had, it didn't make it. I bought a pot of it and hope to take cuttings or somehow propagate it. Suggestions here would be helpful.
Both the Aubrieta seed and the Aethionema schistosum germinated very well. I have planted some of the Aethionema on my terrace in my garden with a light mist that goes on daily for about 30 min. It is doing pretty well---along with all the crab grass and other weed seedlings! :( The ground is too wet for me to get in there and pull the weeds out. I just hope they don't over power my little seedlings. I hope it well work out for me. If you have suggestions/comments, please share.