What are you sorry you planted..... Part 4

What a great joke and a great relief for her to know they weren't dandelions.

She put a bunch of tadpoles in my big birdbath to get back at me, but I was happy to get the toads in my garden once they made the change.

How funny! Frogs have periodically turned up in my yard. I think they're great!

Last year I put a few daffs in the newly renovated daylily bed-- worked out perfectly. The daffys bloomed, then the daylily foliage hid the mess. This year I'm adding more!

Pam

I'd love some toads to feast on slugs.

Pam - this summer I dug up many daffodils to re-plant them behind daylilies, not in front as I had them. A friend made little cages for her groups of daffodils but, unless we get two weeks of rain, I won't be quite as industrious.

Once a hawk that had picked up a turtle and couldn't manage it dropped it in my yard. I actually created a little have for him (a cracked terra cotta pot) and he hung out for a couple of weeks.

I have plenty of frogs and toads. I brought one in last year on a big elephant ear, he stayed all winter and then went back out this spring. It was one of the small green tree frogs.

I plant according to bloom time. Earliest in the back and coming forward. I did it by mistake but it seems to work. People don't notice the flowers not blooming in the back just the nearest thing blooming.

That makes sense to me... I'm realizing that there's all kinds of room under roses, peonies, tall perennials for earybirds like violets, phlox divaricata, polemium and other self-perpetuating favorites that are just in the way right now farther forward. The old pro Brits knew that- Jekyll, Fish, Lloyd--how many times have I read about it? But it's just starting to finally sink in.

Pam

True, Pam. The problem comes in with our anxiety to actually see the tiny daffodils, the hyacinths, etc. so we tend to give them a front row seat.

Lol...I guess it depends how deep the bed are!

You're right!

Yeah it would depend on the depth of the bed and of course your own garden, but mine range from 4 ft to 10 ft and most are viewable from all sides and it works for me. I always read big things to the back which I understand with shrubs that are green all summer, but like late blooming hardy hibiscus that take so late to come up at least at my house do great in the front of the border, it hides all the raggy leaves I have now from everything being worn out from growing, blooming, heat, and dry that is behind it (lilies, daffs, clematis on a trellis, siberian iris). Now that crazy sweet autumn clematis is in the back thank goodness cause it goes past the point of being huge early in the summer. I'm like the rest of you, I don't want to spend 1/2 my summer looking at the poor daffs leaves slowly drying up. I have quite a few tropicals in pots and I use them to hide alot of things also.

Has your summer been brutual? Mine was temp wise horrible.

Brutal barely covers it here in St. Louis. The beds around my patio normally look great until frost, I've been cutting off the dry, crispy plants and hope they come back next year. Even watering them helped only a little, the air was just too hot. My ferns are toasted. I let the milkweed climb my trellis because the vines that I use for privacy gave up. The only bed that looks good is the new one where the trees were torn out from the tornado. All the plants are new, I used lots of peat and some water crystals, and have watered them frequently. All the plants are heat lovers, so they are happy. The back yard used to be full shade, now it is mostly sun and I've been watching the plants to see which ones will have to find new homes.

I made the mistake one year of planting lantana near a place I end up fiddling with alot...sort of a high traffic garden work area and realized I can't stand the scent the lantana foliage releases when touched--it's so funky and gross smelling to me:lol: I still plant lantana but in out of the way places so I won't brush it by accident. I also let it die till embarassingly dead so there is little chance of the strong odor bugging me when I have to yank it out.

Love all the bees and butterflies that come to visit the lantana but that smell is sure weird:) Also my roommate and the neighbors thought I shouldn't have planted all the sweet alyssum right by the front door because of all the bee activity=) I didn't care much as they're just honey and bumbles--I just love that sweet honeylike smell of them when I come and go from the house:lol:

That's funny, my daughter says alyssum smells like someone has peed, I had a big pot by the front door.

LOL I have a friend who hates craft stores because of the dried eucalyptus--says it smells like cat pee but I love it:lol: Too funny!

I think alyssum smells wonderful! The thing that smells like cat pee to me is Jupiter's Beard. I had some in my flower bed near my front door, and I swore that the neighbors cat was using the bed as her litter box. One day I was removing some of the Jupiter's Beard, and it just about knocked me out! I still wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors cat was adding to it, but I moved the plant to the side of the house. It smells awful! It's also totally invasive for me if I don't deadhead it. I'm always digging up seedlings! They seem to grow in the worst place too, like right at the base of all the other plants, which makes it really hard to get rid of.

Natalie

I always liked the smell of alyssum, like eucalyptus, never even had Jupiter's Beard, but hate the smell of Houttuynia roots as I rip them out and dig them out. It's funny how we all love or detest the smells in the garden.

There is a small nursery here that I buy all of my annuals and almost all of my perennials from. As soon as the allysum is ready, they fill the entryway with huge tables full of them! Everyone talks about how wonderful it smells! I know for a fact that I buy more flowers after smelling them! One lady told me she was drunk on the smell, which I thought was hilarious! It's funny to me that someone would think it stinks! I hate the smell of petunia foliage, but love the smell of the flowers. I never notice the smell though when I'm gardening, unless I'm right next to them. To me, Tall Garden Phlox has the most amazing smell, and it hangs in the air! Another plant that I can't stand the smell of is geranium foliage. Stinky! It's not "cat pee" stinky - just stinky! When I have to cut back my perennial geraniums, I put rubber gloves on so that the smell isn't on my garden gloves! I also hate the smell of eucalyptus, but that's probably because I grew up in CA where it's everywhere.

pirl, Jupiter's Beard is a great plant, and grows well from seed (too well sometimes), but I'd never plant it by the front door! A lot of people grow it here, and we had tons of it in CA when I was growing up, but I've noticed recently that everyone plants it off in the corner of their yard somewhere so that they don't smell it when they walk through the door! My neighbor with the cat thinks it smells good, which I can't figure out! I've always been a little confused about the plant. Some sites call it Valarian, so the smell makes sense, but others call it something else. I take Valarian for muscle spasms in my back, and my husband and I call the capsules "baby poop pills". I have to plug my nose to take them, but they sure do work good at getting rid of the spasms! I don't know if Jupiter's Beard and Valarian are really the same thing or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. It's also very drought tolerant, as it has a deep taproot. That's another reason why it's hard to get rid of it you don't catch the seedlings right away.

Natalie

Here it is, Natalie, and it is one and the same plant:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/136/

I know the pain of spasms all too well since I suffered for 12 years with Trigeminal Neuralgia until it was diagnosed and then corrected by surgery. I wish you well.

The smell of sweet autumn clematis to me STINKS! I will walk out the door and sniff and think what in the world is that, then have that oh yeah moment. Everyone else seems to like it.

I like the smell of allysum also. I bought several packages of seed this spring and sprinkled them along my front sidewalk to my door. It did very well but pretty much done in now due to the heat. I sure enjoyed it, however.

I don't care for sweet autumn clematis either. I finally ripped it out. It was very aggressive. Clematis durnadii is blooming.
http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=S660

I just bought some Alyssum seeds at the 99 cent sale T&M is running right now. Seems I don't see it at the garden centers anymore. I got the dreaded sale email and couldn't resist:) In case anyone wants to partake the coupon code for the 99 cent stuff is 2403679.

I love that my alyssum always reseeds for me where I had it planted, so I don't have to buy it often. The seeds don't ever seem to go a long distance either, so it's never been where I didn't plant it to begin with. The only time I buy it is if I want it in a new spot. I really should surround my front porch in it! I'll have to check out that sale!

Natalie

"The dreaded sale email" - that is the best!

The dreaded sale email get me every time! That's why I try to block all of them!

Natalie

Well, it got me twice. I ordered from t&m last month- free shipping was the lure. I keep a list of everything I order- copy and paste from the confirmation email- because I forget, get confused, yadda yadda...
So meanwhile I'm also getting a few things from Swallowtail, Bluestone... Then comes the 99 cent carrot. I check my lists, edit carefully, take days doing it, and finally send it off. But something keeps tickling at me, a sense of something vaguely familiar... So I look back at all the emails, and discover that my first T&M order is only 1/3 present on my loooooong list! Somehow only a small part of it was copied and I didn't notice at the time. Which means I've ordered doubles. Grrrrr...But at least the doubles are only $.99!

Pam

Pam, don't worry, that hasn't happened to just you! I have to keep lists of everything I have because I tend to keep buying the same plants over and over again! I guess I know what I like and tend to stick to it! That's not a good thing when I'm trying to expand my horizons!

The good thing is that now you'll have some seeds to swap with others!

Natalie

Too funny about ordering and buying things you already have. Cant tell you how many times I have done that with iris!

Ewwwww, I was cleaning the garden around the purple salvia and talk about stink. I sure don't like the smell of that stuff and right now it looks so raggy. Surely been a tough summer, altho now we have cooled off and getting rain, some things have popped back but some of the other stuff has just had it.

I was also going to mention how I hate the smell of Salvia! Yuck! I was weeding the flower bed a few days ago, and there was some grass growing in the middle of a bunch of mine. I almost just left the grass because the smell grosses me out! I thought I was the only one who hated that smell! Mine are looking great though. As soon as they were done flowering, I cut them back, and they are blooming nicely again. I just hate having to cut them back - because of the stink!

Natalie

Anyone like the smell of Monarda? Yuck. And I steer clear of any teas containing bergamot.

Natalie, we are the same zone and I cut mine back right after the first bloom, but this year they just look horrible. yeah it was all I could do to pull grass out of mine also. pewh....

I don't think I've ever smelled Monarda. I know they sell it at all of the nurseries around here, so I'll have to take a whiff the next time I'm at one of them!

happgarden, has it been really dry for you this year? We were soaking wet all spring, after a soaking wet winter, and I think that has helped a lot in how good they look now. Seems like last year they didn't look so pretty at this time of the year. I know for sure that they smell just as bad though!

Natalie

It's been a few months since i first looked at this thread - just happened on it again tonight. I realize immediately what my dreaded plant is - impatiens - yes the regular old annual. I have a small bed and several planters I always planted with impatiens. A few years ago they started reseeding and coming up literally everywhere in my yard. They over take my other plants so I have to pull them up like weeds. They are even in my koi pond! This year they also came up all over my day lily bed in the full sun and grew taller than the day lilies. They don't even wilt in the full sun. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them. It's the craziest thing! It's like they are on steroids! They are giant!

Wow, I've only heard of that one other time when a friend always had beautiful impatiens in her ivy beds. She never did a thing for them, but they came back every year, but always in the same place. We baby ours and they still struggle.

cathy4, I know exactly what you mean about having to baby impatiens! I can't even imagine having them reseed, in full sun, and growing taller than my daylilies! I'm in the same zone as you are, and can't plant them anywhere that gets any sun, and the second it gets close to freezing, they are gone! I've never been able to get them to grow from seed, and always buy the plants. This is the first year that I haven't bought any! I usually buy 4 flats worth, but decided to redo the shade beds with hosta instead. I guess I got tired of wasting money every year!

Natalie

I haven't had to buy impatiens for years, but it's not because they survive for me outside.
I've never had them overwinter successfully outdoors.
But I always put my houseplants out for the summer.
And the impatiens have reseeded abundantly in my planters.
I let them stay.
They bloom beautifully during winter indoors, much better than my houseplants.
Then, out they go again next summer, where I divvy them up for the yard.

Really? wow, that is so cool! I'll pot some up to see how they do indoors. Thanks!

I've gardened forever and have a list of plants I've ended up ripping out (sounds mean). But sometimes I buy them again and plant them in pots and sink in the ground to contain the roots from spreading. I did this with mints and cherry bells campanula.

monarda
moonflower
oregano
agastache
comfrey
sumac
violets
johnny jump ups
lily of the valley
snow on the mountain
campanula - all invasive? Cherry bells is so beautiful but prolific!
rudbekia (tall)
mint
money plant
ribbon grass
morning glory
coneflower (now I can't get it to grow)
purple phlox
St Johns wart
feverfew
mullien
catmint
sundrops
bouncing betts (native to Mn)
spiderwort

There are some great plants in this list but can become 'too happy' and crowd out others. Anybody want some of these? I still have most in small quantities for postage?