patty, you have some good plants there, they just need a little time. and sometimes, dianthus is a slow starter & sometimes it jumps right out there. They can be planted right next to each other.. You just can never tell about a plant. That is what i enjoy about the learning experience.
Grampapa. i really like the french lace, I hadn't seen it before, i will have to go look it up... Oh no....
T. gee... you must be in full color all year around..
Ivy... Those are the truest blues i've seen... beautiful
Perennials in the garden setting: Show us your pics!
SouthernOhio, should I tease you more with the French Lace? It really is pretty
Ivy, wish I had just one garden I could say "I can grow anything there". Almost every space is heavy clay, morning shade, afternoon sun. Not plant friendly. I'm getting there - amending the soil and moving plants around. Did you have those pretty rocks on your property, or did you have to bring them in? They are just perfect for a cottage garden. You've done a good job!
Debra
Thanks everybody.
Ivy, Your 'color echo' is wonderful. Love the picket fence and the hydrangea(?) coming on in the background. Looks like a fairytale setting!
Our garden has spotty 'light' situations, too, and it makes me crazy! I spend most of my time moving plants around or cutting out tree limbs hoping to 'adjust' the sunshine and shade.
Beautiful color echoes, there, Ivy and tabasco.
tabasco, even if that lily did not result in the color you were looking for, to my eyes, it looks lovely with the Rudbeckia. If it weren't for the Rudbeckia, you might not notice the lily's subtle yellow edge, something I've tried to use when planning my color echoes.
Ivy, which clematis is that soft blue one? I have a purplish blue, General Sikorsky, that I need to play up with other plants. I haven't yet found an adequately saturated blue for a color echo; but I think your blue one would be a lovely coordination of color. Here's the shade I'm attempting to work with.
Mickgene - that's just a fantastic blue! Is that picture color true? Have you tried Durandii?
Its a soft blue.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/69283/
Tam
I hate to tell you that the blue in the pic is my camera's fault. That is indeed General Sikorsky in my pic, too. The true color of the Clematis and surrounding Campanulas, etc. is more of a periwinkle (my favorite color). It seems to change slightly every year. I was just looking for a coordinating colored Clematis for the northern edge of the garden, and the one I keep looking at is called Viola. I should bring in other colors but I am drawn to periwinkle every time!
That part of the yard was already a good place to plant when we moved in, sitting on a rock retaining wall. They probably brought in dirt to fill, or the drainage is just good, I don't know. There were 4 dead red hybrid tea roses there, smashed flat up against the house like soldiers. 4 barely live yellow floribundas tucked up under the window boxes on the other side of the door. I double dug a bed out in the middle of the yard for the yellow roses, and started a blue and yellow garden where they and the reds had been. It kept getting bigger and bigger as that is the place where I always want to put more plants. They always thrive there. DH built the fence when our daughter was born (we live on a busy street) and I decided to plant it from a picture I had seen in Horticulture or Fine Gardening. The driveway is gravel so I planted lavender and catmint, and Lady's Mantle on the front side, with spikes of Roses, Foxglove, Clematis plus the ground covers on the inside. I planted Boxwoods and Butterfly Bush at the ends. Now Hostas, Butterfly Bush, and Adenophora are seeding there, plus some Ironweed for a nice pink color in mid summer.
Here's Razzmatazz and liatris in bud:
Mystery purple daylily and potentilla (one of the meltons):
Tammy, that is indeed the true color of my Gen'l Sikorsky. It's planted next to Perle d'Or rose which it complements nicely, despite the softness of the rose's color next to that striking blue. Since the rose doesn't bloom for long, I'd love something else in that corner of the garden gate, too.
Ivy, I'd thought maybe that clematis was Ramona, which I planted a bareroot piece of last year that didn't make it. I, too, gravitate to periwinkle blues lately, but mostly in my interiors. I should extend that to the outside, too, I think. Your clematis/catmint/Lady's Mantle/rose/etc planting sounds lovely. Is that still the current mix with those self-seeders thrown in? It sounds like pics of that should be posted here!
mickgene- so far that's what is there, but, you know, in a couple of years it may be totally different! One thing I love and hate about the garden.....I added geranium Jolly Bee this year to the mix- man, it is a good do'er! Next year I would like to add a Veilchenblau climber wrapped through the fence. I was going to pull up and sell the self-seeding butterfly bushes, but then I whacked them back, and they have espaliered themselves on the fence!
Somehow, I can't get an angle with my camera that shows the mix along the fence. It always comes out wrong.
Ramona is so beautiful, that would be spectacular. Is your General Sikorsky in some shade? Mine is in at the edge of the full sun area, I think that is why it is paler.
KatieLD- I had no idea Razzmatazz was so pretty- in the catalogs it always looks unreal to me. The mystery DL is fetching.
I can identify with not being able to get a good pic along a fenceline, Ivy. I have what I call the Rose Fence because there are 7 roses planted along it with intervening grasses, sedums, clematis, and other perennials. I've tried for a month to get a proper shot of it for this thread and have not even come close. The Gen'l Sikorsky is on one end of it and gets full sun from about 11 a.m. until sunset. But maybe the little bit of shade it gets from the small arching arbor gate it climbs on is enough to keep it from fading out. I planted Veilchenblau on a fence behind my shed last year, hoping that it will eventually climb onto the roof and just smother it with blooms. It was quite pretty this year for its size, but hasn't gotten to the outrageously huge size I'm expecting and hoping for.
Give it three years! I have some roses that are like that too, but it really is true. They need three or four years and then they will just burst forth.
I would love to see a picture of that rose once it covers the shed!
My GS gets almost the exact same light as yours, at the same time. Weird, huh? I have 2 others planted along the fence but they were a year younger, so they have not reached the height that this one has.
Mickgene,
Saturated periwinkles I know of: my new bathroom wall (lol), grape hyacinth, Iris (not the fancy ones, just plain ones), lobelia (I think crystal fountain), and a surprise entry, forget-me-nots.
xxxxx, Carrie
Here are my forget-me-nots concurrent with daffodils!
carrie, I have some periwinkle paint left from the bedroom; so maybe I'll just paint that arbor! Thanks for the list. In my garden, I think the only one that might bloom with the clematis is the lobelia - something I've tried twice and doesn't like me. But I've never tried that variety. If at first you don't succeed...
And they had definitely passed their peak. They cost almost nothing at Hazzards last fall. This spring, I went to buy some more and found they now come in two colors, sky blue and indigo. Next spring that may be more indigo than this year.
Patty, have you heard the saying first (year) they sleep, then they creep, then they leap? If everything else is approximately right, then that's what happens! If you put enough mulch or something downso weeds don't take over the blank spots, just stand back!
Katie, can you tell me more about your potentilla?
xxxxx, Carrie
grampapa looks like lime green variegation on the french lace... It is just beautiful!
Well even if the plant isn't true blue, The picture is a keeper...LOL
Does anyone know what the lavender flowers are? They have been here forever next to the driveway and last year I managed to move a small bunch. I have no idea what they are!
Hot off the press.
Day Lily with Clematis. Part of a living fence.
The DL is more red than I wanted but I'll keep it. LOL
Andy P
Americanwoman, I believe its adenophora
Andy, Nice shot. That Polish Spirit still blooming? That's pretty long.
Dave
This is start of my hot bed (4th of July fireworks) Patti
Who said purple and orange didn't work? Andy, I love your living fence. Patti
Here is another patch starting to happen in my hot bed. Patti
Here is the pastel part of the garden in its pink, white and blue phase with yellows just starting. Patti
This is the shady west side. Patti
Here is a pastel group that I rather like at the moment. I am trying to grow a dark clematis to weave through the spirea which will give it some more depth of color. Patti
You know, I tend to lean toward pastels, but when I see the 'hot' colors they really catch my eye. Patti, you seem to have everything covered...very, very nice. You can go where your mood takes you.
Andy, I like that daylily with your Polish Spirit.
I'm a quilter and I used to do block exchanges where you had to use the colors that the other quilter chose. One person always wanted teal/peach/purple and that really grew on me. It was kind of an exercise to force yourself to think outside your own box. That's one of the things I like about seeing everyone else's pics here.
gram
Patti, You have a heck of a nice yard.
My intent when taking this pic was to feature the double-header Bee Balm. When I saw it on the big screen I noticed that much of my back yard could be seen.
Except for the lawn, I planted everything in this pic, including the trees.
This is taken from the east side of the house, just outside the fence where the Clematis/Day Lilies are. Sidekick Sarah saw the camera and turned her head, she is so camera shy.
Andy P
Patti,
I guess it's no surprise that your house on Nantucket should remind me of my (long dead) grandmother's house in Maine. What's pink in the way foreground of your last picture?
Andy, "living wall" sounds self-explanatory, but how do you do it?
xxxxx, Carrie
Andy, so this is the ever elusive Sarah? Tell her I said hi :-) How long have you lived there? Those trees look like they've been there a while. Nice to see the BIG picture. I didn't know bee balm came in a double. That's neat.
gram
I love that shot of the bee balm! It's like finding a surprise when you see the big picture...
Andy P, I love that bee balm. Name?
Carrie, The pink is, I believe, a simple old Malva. Perhaps Party Girl. I'll check and post the answer later. It was from my Vt garden, bought at the Newfane flea market many years ago. Patti
My records say it is Sidalcea malvifora Party girl. What ever it is it blooms without fail.
This message was edited Jul 4, 2006 2:30 PM
Here is the white malva that I grow in Vt
Here is my Acanthus spinosa. I have 3 plants there and they have been planted about 4 years. This is the best blooms by far. Sort of regal looking, aren't they?
Karin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Very nice Karin! I've not had much luck with acanthus (I tried mollis). Perhaps spinosa
is hardier?
Tam
Carrrie, A living fence is simply a fence that's camouflaged in a garden. Vines, shrubs etc.
Sorry I don't know any specifics about the Bee Balm, it was part of a box of 'goodies' from a friend. Maybe 5 or 10 % of the flowers are double headed, not uncommon.
Gram, Sara is too nervous to reply, Fireworks.
It will be 20 years next month that I'm here.
Dave, yes the Polish Spirit is still going. For the first time the Day Lilies are blooming with it. They are usually a week late. Some a month late, the real late one is pink so I don't mind, LOL.
Two DLs are blooming today, the vine is starting to pass. I snapped this in a hurry, late morning. A heavy shower ruined it for the day, maybe for the season.
You can see the Bee Balm at the far left.
The small DLs in the foreground were always shaded out, until this Spring.
Andy P
This message was edited Jul 4, 2006 7:35 PM
just holly hock
jackieshar, I love that shade of pink Hollyhock. They always remind me of my childhood. Sarahskeeper, your vine is wonderful with the daylilies. I love the shape of your trellis.
Susan
I prefer the old fashioned hollyhocks to the newer doubles too.
Tam