Looking for perennials, 1-3ft tall, shades of yellow & orange, hardy zone 6, summer bloom and able to withstand wetness in late winter through spring. Geum and Siberian Iris are the only plants that are happy there now, but their bloom time is too early. Suggestions appreciated.
Recommendation for perennial, tolerant of spring flood
The old orange day lilies are known as "ditch lilies" and are quite moisture tolerant. Some of the more attractive modern varieties might well fit the bill as well, but you'd need someone with more experience with them than I have.
Oenothera - Sundrops- will also tolerate wetness and spread easily by runner and seed. I have an area for them that is bounded by flexible black plastic edging thats pounded down into the ground so its not very noticeable. Then I know when they are getting out of their area and pull out any extras. - They pull out easily so its not a big deal to keep them in place.
Other plants are hosta, pulmonaria, rudbeckia, all the primrose family, dwarf sunflowers as an annual,
Lobelia, cardinal flower. I would also go with any daylily.
There are a few yellow Japanese irises that would love it. Aichi No Kagayaki is one I have but there are others.
Our orange, nameless to me, Asiatics (from small to tall and light to dark orange) also love the moisture.
Ligularia might get a bit taller, but it's a lovely moisture tolerant plant.
I moved my ligularia to a more moist area and it took over! It is absolutely amazing this year!
I have mine under trees. Must be too dry. They haven't grown all year.
Thanks for the hints. I didn't realize that sundrops and daylilies would tolerate spring flooding and will try them in that area. I have been looking for more wet-tolerant yellow/orange perennials and considered buying more crocosmia because to my surprise they survived the late winter wetness on my problem area. On Lazy S's website, it specifies that crocosmia need dryness. Has anyone else had crocosmia survive a prolonged wet period? I wonder if my experience was a fluke.
Lillyo, do you dig them up for the winter or leave the bulbs in the ground? I have never had any crocosmia survive.
They were pllanted in the srping of 2005, in the ground over winter and endured a prolonged period of standing water. Their blooms this summer exceed those of 2005 so maybe they liked all that water? I had tried crocosmia in an area that is dry over the winter and does not have the benefit of the sprinkler system like the flooded bulbs did and they didn't come back! I still wonder if this is a fluke.
Anita - we're probably just 50 or 60 miles apart but our crocosmia overwinter year after year, without any mulch, any windbreak, any help.
hmmm...I wonder what I am doing wrong?
The depth of planting, maybe? I always go deeper, even with Perennial tulips I go to 8 or 9".
That's possible. Thanks for the tip.
Thank you, Anita, for the ligularia tip. Was that in sun or shade.
Lillyo - I just dug up a batch of orange Asiatics. Interested?
Lillyo, I just put in some crocossimia in an area thats wet in the Spring this summer. I hope mine survive too. JRUSH gave them to me.
These are the orange Asiatics - just the shorter ones are those I dug up.
Obviously there is a problem posting photos today.
watch out for yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus). This is a very showy taller iris but it has a nasty history of long-lived seeds getting in water and floating wherever the water goes and can be invasive in wetlands and along river banks.
Pirl,
Thanks for the offer. I need to log on more often. Sorry to be dense...asiatic iris in orange?
Flyingsquirrel,
I don't need to worry about iris seeds travelling via water, ironically, the water goes nowhere, hence the flooding problem. This drainage problem is one that I would wish on noone. My nightmarish March vacation in 2005, I spent digging a 100ft long trench, with perforated pipe buried in gravel and topped with landscape fabric. Even rented a jackhammer to drill through the ledge. I think that was the weak spot in my plan, a friend's husband helped with the jackhammer and I was reluctant to ask for the ditch to be deeper. I hope that someone can learn from my experience and not end up with a seasonal bog garden!
Yes, the Asiatic is in orange and would go more towards the drier of the soggy area with a handful of sand below the bulbs. They'd be like the lower ones in this photo, providing the photo comes through. Please let me know.
I've made the mistake, and sure we're all capable of making similar ones, of not wide enough or not deep enough, etc. We hate to impose on another person's good will and meanwhile we're wishing we could just spit it out and have it come out right the first time.
Pirl,
I'd like to try some of your bulbs if you still have extra. Are they hardy in zone 6? Lillyo
I sent you a Dmail.
Lilly - I sent a fully loaded package of orange Asiatics to you this afternoon. Enjoy! Don't worry if they don't make it - at least you tried but they survive whatever nature hands out here, including the 12.5" of rain about 10 days ago.
Thank you, that's exciting!
How large is the area that becomes very wet? The most ideal plants would still be (to my mind) the Japanese and Louisiana irises. They would adore it but still need water the rest of the year, though not as much right now.
The garden bed is 3 x 24 ft and submerged under an inch or two of water in March and April when the ground is sort of frozen. That area has sprinklers so that I can regulate the water during the summer. It is an area that we spend time in during the summer so I am trying to use long blooming plants and the exposure is full sun. The garden is all in shades of yellow and orange which are my favorite colors. I haven't heard of Japanese or Siberian iris in shades of yellow or orange, other than the Butter and Sugar that I have. Maybe there are some colors I haven't seen yet?
Not that this is the most exciting of yellows but they do have several newer (JI) yellows now. This IS one of the most reliable ones. Just browse ($$$$$$$$$$$$) at Ensata Gardens, Iris City Gardens, and my favorite Aitkens Salmon Creek for photos.
Since you said the area gets SO MUCH water I'd put a nice layer of plain old sand under the Asiatics or they just might rot. If they don't then you can dig up a few next year and replant to continue the color throughout.
Purple goes so well with your yellow and orange family. I just mention that in case the JI's tempt you but it's quite true.
I like the iris in the photo very much; ..it is exciting to my eye! Which Japanese iris is this? Are the dollar signs purportional to the cost?
I do have a sand pile left over from the patio and am contemplating digging up much of the bed and putting down sand under the soil. Boy that sounds like as much fun as a root canal!
At least for root canal the dentist puts you out!
Aichi No Kagayaki but there are others in yellow. This one was recommended highly by Pamela Harper, author of Color Echoes, my favorite gardening book.
Lillyo,
Not sure if I mentioned cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis). They love being wet but don't have to be wet. As those in my bog garden have become more established, the bloom time has really become impressive though they are a later bloom. I plant mine with iris and they don't have to match because they are not in bloom together.
Dave
I think that Aichi is a prefecture in Japan and that kagayaki means something like brilliance. I guess that would fit if the iris were yellow.
The use of a stone for a marker is something that I have never seen before and it is a wonderful and natural way of labeling plants.
Here's the link to the thread about alternatives for plant labels:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/524012/
Thank you for the compliment. Seashells work, too!