I just bought some Hibiscus Disco Belle seeds. I used to have white Hibiscus Disco Belle plants and they weren't my favorites -- the foliage was nothing to write home about even though the flowers were huge and gaudy. But every visitor we had remarked on that plant -- went nuts about it. So I'm going to replant them.
I often find the plants I love the most are those no one else is particularly excited about. Maybe it is because I slaved over them. Or maybe because they surprised me. Or maybe because they met a need in the garden that I had had a hard time addressing.
But I really like it when visitors get excited about a plant.
So it occured to me it might be a fun theme for a thread to share the plants that your visitors remark about -- even if they are not your personal favorite.
For me, it is the Disco Belle.
What do your visitors love?
Visitors usually oooh and aaahh over Oriental Lilies in my garden, both because they're so showy and because they smell them upon getting out of the car. Now the tropicals get the attention, as they're in full throttle and huge! I had a party in June and several guests commented on the fuschias in my window boxes too- they found them so unusual and fun :)
Last year I moved from a city environment to a country environment and my plants are less common here. In the spring, when the giant Alliums and Eremurus were blooming, people not only slowed down to gawk, but actually stopped by to ask what they were. Once the weather got warmer, it was the black elephant ears that stole all the attention. Kopper King Hibiscus has also gotten a lot of attention. Not only does it have the pretty burgundy foliage, it gets a huge bloom!
That old favorite, roses, get the most attention here. I think it's because there are so many microclimates in the San Francisco Bay Area -- those who can grow them, do so with ease; those who get a little too much fog/shade/deer, are continually frustrated. And of course, it helps that here, roses are evergreen and bloom year round. Most perennials take a rest, but if you feed the roses well, they may slow down when it gets cold but don't stop.
This post made me realize that the OP is quite right -- the plants we gardeners are often most proud of, aren't always the ones that visitors exclaim over! I'm so pleased with my snapdragons and erysimums, but only my gardening friends notice that I'm growing them in challenging conditions, LOL.
(oh yes, in this area snapdragons are indeed perennials, as are many salvias. They're just very, very tender perennials!)
This message was edited Sep 16, 2006 7:52 AM
Everyone loves my gladiolas, which are quite spectacular during the dog days when lots of other plants are taking a rest. Yes, I know they are not really perennial here, and I do dig them up in the fall. But they are very easy to dig up, and they’re not fussy about their winter storage the way dahlias are, so I feel like they are perennials since I have the same plants year after year. I even have a couple of stragglers blooming now.
Visitors love my persian shield, while I am busy fawning over my lilies or dahlias. I get a lot of compliments on the persian shield from men who like the colors of the foliage - they say "It's cool"
Everyone goes nuts over my euphorbia martinii. It's such a beautiful plant and so easy, I don't know why euphorbias aren't more popular, but especially this one with its dramatic foliage and lime green flowers with a bright red eye.
My dinnerplate dahlias and foxgloves are the other two plants that everyone comments on. The flowers on the dahlia this year were easily 10-11 inches across.
Well in the spring it's my azaleas, summer my dahlias, and fall it is asters. I don't get a lot of visitors though really. I probably get the most compliments on my lawn - does that count?
Hart: What kind of dahlias do you grow that are EASY (if any)? I've always shyed away from them. . . . Do they need tons of sun?
After the roses, which everyone seems to comment on, I hear about the cosmos. They are an oldfashioned flower, and I was surprised to find that few people even know what they are any more. I told the kids in the neighborhood that there are some cosmos that get 10' high.. Guess what they want to see next year....
Okay, here's the secret. I got the tubers at WalMart several years ago for $2 something. Don't know the variety, just dinnerplate. I planted them in a bed that's tucked in the corner formed by the ell at the back of the house, right next to the back porch so the bed stays pretty warm in winter. I have never lifted them in the fall, just leave them in place and they come up like gangbusters every year.
I do feed everything with Plant-tone through the spring and summer. They do get a lot of sun.
Hmm. Tons of sun, you say? Oh well, rules my garden out!
What people have commented most on in my garden aren't my perennials but my japanese maple and my "cherry tree" Prunus kurilensis 'Rosea' - which blooms in early May pretty pink cherry blossoms. Both are not commonly seen here so hence the attention - people are amazed that they grow here. :-) Of the perennials it's probably my very tall sky blue Delphinium. It's taller than the hedge so it can be seen from quite a distance.
A photo of my "cherry tree" (no cherries but the flowers are great!):
Gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields'. It's just different to most people and it's planted right at my front door with shastas and miscanthus 'cosmopolitan'. Lots of people want to know what the "cool red plant" is, LOL :) It's an annual, but it reseeds really well for me here on it's own :)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1416/index.html
This message was edited Sep 17, 2006 12:31 PM
duplicated messages -- silly puter ;)
This message was edited Sep 17, 2006 12:27 PM
I just looked online. "Dahlias prefer full sun but partial shade is acceptable."
Duplicate post. I'm having a devil of a time with DG today, especially posting replies.
This message was edited Sep 17, 2006 1:23 PM
Of all the plants in our gardens, two that generate the most comments from visitors:
1 - Disporopsis perneyi (Evergreen Solomon's Seal), forms a wonderful groundcover, dainty white flowers in the spring and looks great all year - especially in the fall when the glossy foliage looks its best and when everything else in the gardens is starting to look a little shabby.
2 - Caryopteris 'Snow Fairy', really attractive green and white variegated foliage all summer. We have it planted in both shade and sun conditions and the variegation is bright in either spot and won't fade in the summer heat like some other variegated plants. Blooms in late summer/early fall when the plant is covered with tiny little blue, almost lobelia-like flowers. Pretty with or without the flowers. Some people don't like the smell of the foliage - personally I love it - smells like green peppers to me!
Debbie
For me it's the acanthus right by the front door and the persicaria 'Red Dragon' a bit further away. People around here mostly have the 'no care' traditional foundation plantings, so anything the least bit unusual really gets attention. Oh, people rave about the oak-leaf hydrangea (h. quercifolia) too.
In the spring, it's our weeping white cherry. just gorgeous. but, by summer, the jbeetles have eaten it up.
summer: the dahlias and roses. Mostly the dahlias in my front corner. very large and showy. Mine were a "freebee" from a Dutchgardens order. I don't dig those up either, hart. I guess the side walk and street keep 'em warm in the winter. I even had snapdragons come back. of course, last winter didn't really count as a winter here. lol
Dahlia: posted other threads, but still a beauty.
