LOL Stacy - Persian Sword / Persian Shield - we knew exactly what you meant!
Here's some more info on Persicaria affine 'Darjeeling Red'. It likes sun to partial shade and is hardy zones 3-7. The flowers are 12" high and pink, turning reddish when they finish blooming. The spent flower spikes stay on the plant for a long time so it looks like it blooms in two colours from June to September. It's related to Persicaria bistorta 'Superbum', which is more common and the main difference is Superbum (pronounced soo-PER-bum, not the other way ha-ha-ha) is 30" high flowers and isn't as pretty, IMO, as 'Darjeeling Red'.
Anyone looking up this plant may also find it under Polygonum which it is sometimes still listed as. Some of the Persicarias have a bad name for being invasive, but 'DR' is fairly well behaved and is easy to pull out if it gets out of bounds because it is small. I'd say it spreads about the same rate as Lamium. It's clump-forming (not stoloniferous) but it spreads fairly quickly, so you'd want to put it in suitable spot with lots of room, maybe in a big sweep along the front of a large border, or on a bank. It's one of those groundcover plants that is so pretty and useful that you have to find a spot for it. It's easy to pull out if it gets out of bounds.
I'm in Zone 4 and it's manageable for me, but it's possibly more invasive in warmer climes, I'm not sure. Can anyone comment on this?
bluegrass425 - There is an annual Persicaria called 'Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate' which I've seen for sale and it apparently reseeds with abandon. But 'DR' is a perennial and doesn't seed itself in the garden. It's a hybrid anyway so wouldn't come true from seed.
I bet that is way more than you wanted to know, you guys!
Sandy
Longest blooming perennial?
Can Persicaria thrive with part shade? Also, where can you buy it?
Hi Sandy,
Not too much at all. I love that Darjeeling Red, and glad for the clarification on this genus. I've never noticed it being offered; I'll have to do a hunt! Guess anybody who's got it is bound to have plenty from the sounds of it, so I should hit the trading forum first :)
Neal
woodspirit, I've seen a couple of varieties grown for foliage in Bluestone's catalog (I got 'Red Dragon' last year-nice!), and seed for Kiss me over the gate in Parks, Select Seed, etc. But that 'Red Darjeeling' is awsome. And I think most of the Periscarias do well in partial shade.
I have googled "darjeeling red" but still cannot find it for sale. Can anyone tell me where I can buy it? I prefer the plants to the seed. Or maybe someone has a trade?
Malva sylvestris 'Brave Heart' will bloom its head off until frost, too weak to return the next year, it reseeds profusely.
http://www.grovestreet.com/jsp/onepic.jsp?id=73094
Sandy, regardless of whether your photo is "out of focus", it's still a beauty! We picked up Persicaria affinis 'Dimity' in Oregon several years ago - basically the same plant: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53916/index.html although it hasn't grown into a beautiful specimen like yours, it's still a sweet little plant. PF says Nature Hills has it, but I'll be darned if I can find it - their search feature stinks and the only Persicaria I could come up with is P. amplexicaulis 'Firetail'. We have an assortment of Persicarias in our garden and 'Firetail', a large "cousin" of your plant is another beauty - blooms almost all summer. (Just realized there is no picture of this plant in PF - guess I need to post this one I just found and scanned over the weekend!)
Woodspirit1- maybe you'll have better luck finding the other varieties 'Diminity', (which rcn48 has, and it's a bit shorter at 6"H), 'Border Jewel', or 'Donald Lowndes' .
golddog- good to know about Malva 'Braveheart' reseeding. Much cheaper that way!
rcn48 - nice pic! I once saw a tall 'Firetail' next to Echinacea 'Magnus', or one of those deeper coloured purple-coneflowers and it was gorgeous. I'm holding off buying 'Firetail' because I'm afraid it will take over in a perennial border, and I've also heard that it is really difficult to get rid of if you want to remove it. The smaller Persicarias have a shallow root system and are easy to remove. Where do you have your 'Firetail' planted? What's your experience on it being difficult to remove, do the roots go to China?
Sandy
I just found the common name, Himalayan Knotweed or Himalayan Fleece Flower.
rcn, will you have a division of Dimity this spring? I have not learned the Trading format here at DG, so will have to operate by e-mail.
golddog- You and I must be on the same wavelength! I was going to post about Malva Zebrina- I actually had a bloom in December this year, because of extroadinary weather conditions. It blooms forever. I would love to get Malva Primley Blue as well.
The other great thing about Malva is that you can place the dry stalks wherever you want new plants to come up. I find that this plant is very easy to sow because of that.
Ivy, does M. zebrina reseed a lot ?
Hardy geranium question -- I have Johnson Blue in part shade and it's leggy and doesn't bloom much after the first flush ... does this mean I should put it in full sun? Will it be happier there???
sanannie, I'll let you know re: "difficult to remove" - this plant has been there for three years and even though we have in an area where we wanted it to spread, it's turned into more of a 'shrub' and it needs some thinning! I will tell you that growing them in pots - they literally bust out of their pots after the second growing season if we hold them over! Regardless, I still love the bruts!
woodspirit, our 'Dimity' is still so teeny I wouldn't have divisions - I'm still waiting for it to "establish" itself and it's a good thing I'm patient!
crockny, do you whack it back after the first flush? That helps, but it would probably appreciate more sun if you can get it to a better location.
I think Johnson's Blue is a spring bloomer only. Some of them are. Then there are some that boom June & July, some June through August and some from spring to first frost. Geraniums should do well in part sun. However, if it is obviously leggy, then it's looking for more sun.
crockney, I've read in a couple of places that it is the nature of 'Johnsons's Blue' to sprawl. I moved mine toward the center of the beds so that they could sprawl around and be supported by other plants. I also found wacking it back after its gets really leggy and stops blooming seemed to stimulate another flush of bloom later.
Neal
crockny, there are quite a few Hardy Geraniums that benefit from a "pruning" after the first flush. If you're looking for one to bloom all summer - check out 'Rozanne' http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/57636/index.html. One of the few Geraniums we have that continues to bloom right through until frost and its foliage doesn't take a beating in the summer heat that alot of the others do. Another one that I've been impressed with is G. 'Espresso' - unique 'coffee colored' foliage with pretty pink blooms and the fall color is outstanding! I really wish I had taken a picture last fall - with the onset of the cool temps the red foliage was brilliant.
golddog- Zebrina reseeds like a champ! I found it was seeding further and further down my hill, so I started taking the stems and placing them back up where I wanted the plants to sprout.
I wonder if I planted Primley Blue in the same area, would I end up with neither Zebrina nor Primley? from cross pollination?
I have Johnsons Blue geranium and it is leggy as well. I have had it for 7 years and it has always been like that. I will try whacking it back after bloom and see if it does any better this year. If not, I am ripping it out and replanting Rozanne.
Someplace, earlier in this thread, someone mentioned the long blooming qualities of Yellow Swan Columbine. I've been checking around and can't seem to find any seed or plants. Does anyone know where this might be obtained. My preference is not to go through EBAY.
Thank you all for your input ... I will be moving Johnson's Blue this year to more sun ... I have been chopping it back and it doesn't do much after chopping ... guess I'll plant more stuff around it so it's not so obvious ... I'll definitely look into "Rozanne" and "Espresso" -- they sound great!
well, I got 2 dicentra in the mail and planted them. We are probably still in for more frost. Should I mulch them?
I'm anxious to see what my dicentra 'Luxuriant' does this year. I recieved it last year in a trade and it was happy and had started blooming. In August a big tree fell (on part of the garden!) and suddenly lots more sun for some areas, including the spot with the dicentra. Within a week it turned brown and completely dissappeared. I never gave up hope, and yesterday I found a clump of new growth from it nearly 10" across! This started out as a single rosette of foliage with a couple of blooms, so I was amazed.
Gemini, That's another benefit of the "luxuriant". Only have to buy one and in a few years you can supply the whole neighborhood. Ken
Well, I just have to get me one of those then! ;-)
I just put in two luxuriants last year - looking forward to seeing them this spring!
Kylee, unless you're in a hurry for some or see them really cheap, hold off on buying; I think I'm soon to have plenty to share :)
This message was edited Mar 17, 2006 8:43 AM
Whoo-eeeeeee!!! :-))))
Thanks, Neal!
Neal, if you have some extras, I have my hand stuck out, lol.
You've got mail.
I wanted to resurrect this thread to post an update on the Nicotiana I mentioned on October 17th. It stayed in bloom until January (that's 11 months), died down, and came back a month later.
Here's how it looked last year after nine months of bloom:
Here's how it looks now. This has got to be the best $3 investment I've ever made:
Wow~ Even bigger, wow - though, is the inset on the fence. Did you make that?
No, it came from the $15 catalog. I put them in all of my fences.
What's the $15 catalog?
Go to www.collectionsetc.com
Everything is $14.99 or under. I buy loads of garden ornaments from the catalog and the Website. Also dolls and art supplies for my friends' kids.
Oh sure - send me shopping! LOL
I'm looking for the yellow swan columbine too. Anyone know where I can find it?
I have to laugh reading this thread. So many of you have a favorite plant that was a pain for me. Hardy geranium spread SO much that I gave it away after 1 and 1/2 years. Four o'clocks are driving me nuts- I cannot get rid of the volunteers- scores of new ones every day, even in the lawn. And verbena bonariensis? Volunteers are covering ALL of my beds this year. Every time I hoe it out in a bed, it comes back with a vengence a few days later. If I ever allow another of those to survive in my yard I hope someone will shoot me!
Now I do love my gaillardias. They are starting to bloom now and will reliably do so until fall. Those have trouble surviving winter in my wet clay soil. Occasionally one or 2 make it.
Karen
I wish my verbena bonariensis would reseed, I need a few more of them.
And my Gaillardias are taking over, I pull many and give to neighbors but there are so many that I am not sure if I have to get rid of all of them. I will give them 1 more year to see because I used extra mulch this year to see if it will keep down the volunteers. Funny how zones play a part in what gets overly happy.
I moved my Johnson's Blue into a "throwaway bed" under the birches ... it's now my favorite bed ... things I couldn't bear to get rid of but were disappointing me in their spots are now there and it's turned into something great ... still working on it! I replaced the hardy geraniums with the pink dicentra exima which I'm very happy with ... they look great next to my burgundy colored heuchera and bloom forever ... I also love the white dicentra exima "aurora" ... small and continually blooming from early spring onward ... spreads daintily! That's my longest bloomer ...
Veronica Sunny Border Blue does very well for me in full sun ... it does tend to get mildew in August though ... I just strip off the yucky bottom leaves ... so it should have something shorter planted in front of it, but not too close ... I've divided it and winter sowed it ... does well both ways ...
I had to move my Jupiter's Beard from mostly shade to a sunny spot ... it wasn't doing well ... although it can take part shade nicely ... I prefer the white one ...
Love this thread! I can see I'm going to have to get some veronica and another fernleaf bleeding heart. (Mine was tiny last year and barely made it back to life this year.)
Cranesbill are probably the longest bloomers in my garden right now. The rudbeckia does last a long time, and so do the shasta daisies, but they don't really start blooming here until early- to mid-summer.
erysimum bowels mauve and brachycome amethyst......... they bloom their fool heads off spring - winter.
