I sat in my garden today after an afternoon of deadheading (veronicas, salvias, geraniums, stachys, my roses) and just looked around. Which plants are in bloom and which have been munched by the buggies? Then I looked at my callirhoe. I have 3 of them and they have managed to weave themselves all over the garden probably 100 blooms. I pretty much do nothing to them and they have been blooming for weeks. Other than the callirhoe, I have campanula birch hybrid and Hopley's Oregano that are pretty much maintenance free.
What's your favorite low maintenance perennial?
I'd have to say my yellow tickseed coreopsis is one of my favorite low/no maintance perennials.
I think I would have to say, Heliopsis 'Loraine Sunshine' . I just got it last year but this year it has impressed me even more. I haven't done a thing to it and it just keeps on blooming.
Erysimum, Bowles Mauve
Verbascum 'Southern Charm' blooming it's fool head off since May and I haven't deadheaded it at all.
I also like Verbena 'Blue Princess' but man that stuff can take over so you have to have it somewhere that you want it to just scramble over the ground. Put it in last year and this year it's about 5 feet in diameter. Low-grower about 4 inches high. Great for an embankment in full sun.
Good thread! Thanks!
Marc - which coreopsis do you have? I have 'Sterntaler' and I don't care for it's floppiness. I'm wondering if trimming it when it gets to be 6 in. or so would help keep it a bit shorter without losing the bloom. Any ideas?
Hmmm... mine gets to be about 2 1/2 to 3 feet, and a nice mounded ball shape.
I believe it to be fern leaf coreopsis-VERTICILLATA
Very obedient and not at all floppy......I'll see if I can't get a pic of one of the clumps when I get in today.
Sedum 'Autumn Joy' - It is hard to imagine a plant more low maintenance than this one. I planted one a few years ago by the road and I think a dog trampled it. It looked sad for a year or so but now is a large plant that adds contrast to the garden.
Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' - Added this to my garden two months ago. It was blooming when I put it in and it is still blooming.
- Brent
Columbines are one of my favorites... the flowers are pretty, and the foliage is attractive also. They spread on their own, in surprising places! I like the leaves - just very neat & orderly looking.
Blue Flag (VA. native) iris. Not a long bloom time but very pretty and it can go years without being dug and separated. I'd also say obedient plant if it weren't so darn invasive.
Lamium, for sure.....
Will any of these grow in shade? Except the Sedum, I know it can take some shade.
I have some of my coreopsis in part shade, and it's doing just as good as those in full sun.
Here's a pic of one of my mounds/clumps.
And another...........
very lovely - nice round shape! rb. My neighbour has moonbeam also, I think. I'm gonna give 'sterntaler' a haircut and see what happens.
woodspirit - I have columbines in almost total shade and they do well.
I would add heuchera to the list of easy perennials that I do nothing to - also a shade lover.
my geranium sanguineum and geranium maculatum are tops on the no maintenance perennial list. Then there's the russian sage and ceratostigma which only need a bit of whacking of dead in the early spring. If groundcovers count there's my all time favorite _soapwort [sapponaria].
Not counting the stuff ya hafta deadhead.
I have columbines in near deep shade too! Does very well. Ah yes...Heuchera!! Very no-fuss. Astilbe is a good low-maint. perennial for shade too! And there's hosta and ferns - of course not as floriferous as others.
I have tried the soapwort, but it hasn't lived. I wonder if it's too rainy here.....anyone know?
I bought some this spring and it didn't fair well. It's either going to come up next year or not I guess. We had a wet spring so if it doesn't like water then it probably won't be back.
After watching what the hail did to the rest of my garden, I would have to vote for my penstemon as being the lowest maintenance. Doesn't want watered, transplants itself everywhere, and is the only thing the bugs aren't eating on.
I'm not sure if they qualify as perennials, but for me it would be ceanothus, toyon, pride of Barbadoes, and just about any cactus.
Lilium! As mentioned above, Coreopsis "Moonbeam" is a gem and my ornamental grasses only need a cutting in spring. Bellflower and Caryopteris.
Can "moonbeam" take some shade? How tall does it get?
I love my Gaillardia "Goblin"
I don't bother to deadhead..I like the fuzzy seedheads..and then I get more plants that have grown on their own.
Takes hot sun and no watering other than from the rainfall.
I have to add another one here that I tend to forget. I have a Cinquefoil Miss Wilmott, that just quietly sits there with lovely interesting foliage, and suddenly surprizes me with the prettiest small red blooms for most of the summer. Not only does she come back every year a bit bigger, but she gave me seeds, that I started and now have several of her children. She thrives on whatever water I occasionally remember to throw her way. I just love this plant!
Woodspirit1, I have some of my 'Moonbeam' in part shade...
it gets morning sun and filtered afternoon, and seems to be doing just as well as those in full sun.
(see pic #2 above)
wow, that looks like a big clump, rikerbear! How tall does it get?
I have 4 of them scattered around the variouse garden areas. Each is about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall and about as round.
I saw a burgandy one very similr this afternoon....gonna have to re-arrange afew things and find space for one or two those those.
edited for stupid typoes...................
This message was edited Jul 18, 2004 10:04 AM
Lol, we're always looking for space for one more hole to stick a plant in.
I can think of a bunch! LOL I love my daylilies, hardy hibiscus, black eyed susans, grasses, any of the coreopsis......
Lots of good suggestions on here too for new gardeners that would like to start with easier plants.
Help please!
My Threadleaf coreoposis that I planted about 4 to 5 weeks ago has turned a whitish gray instead of the beautiful green bust that it was then. We have had an enormous amt of rain. Could it be mildew? What can I do about it? I live on the shores of Lake Ontario in NYS. My neighbors coreopsis plants still look lovely.
I did notice while planting them that their was a lot of ashes & pieces of coal that the previous owner had dumped back where I planted. Could that be the problem?
Darshobby - can you post a pic? If it's mildew it won't harm them it's just unsightly.
Darshobby, again welcome to Dave's, I see you found the place to get answers. The ashes and pieces of coal may be unhealthy for plants. There's a place on my property where previous owners emptied their ashes and pieces of coal and NOTHING grows inside that boundary. I haven't thought of what to do with that spot [dig it out I guess] as there's plenty to do that I can undertake. ~Blooms
I have a place like that too. It is high in salts and so far only daffodils, rose campion and (amazingly) cardinal flower live there. I have killed roses there, passion vine, and others there.
Grass! Cut it down once a year and that's it. Takes care of itself.
One of my favorites: http://www.pbase.com/image/31936830/original
A second choice might be the coreopsis (purple varitey). Does NOT form large, unweildy clumps. Forms a loose, delicate spreading clump with wonderful purple flowers :)
HC, Do you really have grasses that look that beautiful? I want some... I may get some. I have a front lawn in the throes of dying. Some blowing grasses would look nice. Not however, the nasty ones that are moving in.
Yeah....that one is in my yard. I think there's a mail order place that specializes in southwestern garden plants. I'll try to find the link/remember the name. Will post it if I see it. Would be good for you to check that since they would have stuff for your area
What does one do for powdery mildew?
It looks like someone splattered the leaves with skim milk or whitewash which I believe is about the same thing. LOL
It's on a coupla things: my wild bee balm & also way on the other side of the yard and not near anything else it's on the meadow rue herb /which is the only thing in that bed.
It's not from too much rain I can assure you. Does overhead watering cause this?
Yes, Blooms, overhead watering is the biggest culprit although very damp conditions will also cause mildew to start. You can be sure to only water early in the day so the water has time to evaporate or make sure you only water at ground level those susceptible plants. Adiditionally, improved air flow is helpful so a thinning might be needed.
Other than that there are some homebrew recipes to combat it that contain aspirin or milk (or murphys oil soap for roses).
1 cup milk to 9 cups water. Mix in spray bottle, spray on foiliage, refrigerate between uses.
2 uncoated aspirin tablets dissolved in 1 qt. water. Spray on foliage to combat mildew.
Believe it or not, some plants get powdery mildew because of LACK of rain. At least, that is true of my bee balm