Need ideas for a long bog garden

Deb - Well, my documentation will be how to plant the wrong plants in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong growing conditions. My gardens should be listed under "Garden Blunders" or "What NOT to do in your garden"! I'd laugh, but it's true. By posting/documenting my gardens here ..... I can prevent others from making the same gardening mistakes that I am making. Or at least I hope they learn from my mistakes. It'll save them a lot of time, money, and energy. Not to mention the disappointment. Hey, I garden to relief stress. I'm a maniac out in the yard! LOL Forget having something asthetically pleasing. And dead plants sometimes work, too! Makes an interesting backdrop to other things in my yard. ROFL!

Becky and Deb........................... Its actually quite easy to do a garden like mine..............
You pick the plants you love!!!
Big shrubs and tall plants at the back, Medium sized plants in the middle, and small plants at the front.
Thats basically all you do....................... and because they are perennials, if you dont like something where you plant it................ just move it to where you do like it!!!
The trouble with you yankees................. you make simple things such hard work.........!! LOL
You dont need to plan it or make it formal.
Plant what you want and let them all grow into each other..................
Then if you have any spots that are bare, fill them in with more perennials or even annuals!!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EASY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe i should move to USA and become a cottage garden designer..................!!!
Could make a fortune...........

You must have penned the phrase, "Just Do It". Do you work for Nike? You could make a fortune here especially with your optimistic view of gardening.
What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? Never been called a yankee;... y'all!. ROFL

Deborah♥

Yesssssssssssssssssssssss I love that phrase!! JUST DO IT..................
I am always optimistic Deborah..................... Thats me!!!
Really, you have never been called a yankee???? LMAO............ well you have now!! LOL
I remember that programme from years ago........... that little black guy that said What ya talkin bout willis!!!
Sooooooooooooooooooooo funny..........

Mark

Oh, I forgot, you are from across the big pond! I'm from south Georgia so yankee I ain't, but you can call me one any time.

I guess I'm showing my age with the slogans, ugh?

Deborah♥

Oh, you're not a yankee, what are you then???? Here we call anyone who lives in USA a yankee, but then we dont know any different!!! LOL
Awwwwwwwwwwww, thank you for saying i can call you one anytime...........

Yes you are showing your age, but then so am i........................ but who cares!!!! Its only a number!!

Mark

Now if only those of us on this side of the pond had some of that good English weather. Can you just imagine gardening where it does not get too hot or too cold, where the rain flows gently and often and where they have real soil, no red clay or pure sand there. Big sigh........

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww........................ not everyone over here has good soil, some people do have clay or sand.............!!!
Look on the bright side......... if you have red clay, buy a potters wheel and make some pottery and sell it!!!!
But you are right about the weather................ its not too hot or too cold!!! But we do get 70 - 80 mph winds quite often!!

Would you believe I actually did that once in one of my former homes! I dug the clay, strained all the twigs, etc. out of it and threw some small pots. Bet there are still a few up in the attic

When we get 70 to 80 mph winds we call them little hurricanes! Here at my place the house blocks the prevailing winds so my front yard is mild but all winter we have sustained winds about 30+ mph in the back garden.

LOL.............. really?? Oh wow...................... Now that is pretty cool !!!
Did you make a good job of the pots you made......???

We seem to be getting more and more of these winds.................... probably due to global warming!!

Haha Mark! There! Simple! Just do 'it'!

I get ya, It is 10% knowhow, and 90% optomism... "It" I can do!!


;-D

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

;-D

But don't you think Mark should come 'cross the pond and SHOW us how???????

(and maybe bring a few ideas with him) :-))))

Yes Alice, Ithink maybe i should.............................. LOL

Mark, I just looked at all of your collection of Crocosmia...they are beautiful!!! You should grow, breed and sell them, I would buy some. I'm not familiar with them so I'm going to do some research and see if they will grow here. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Fly...................... Thank you.............. yes they are very beautiful!!!!
If i had the room, i would do just that................. I am infact looking to find somewhere i can rent at a nursery....... i just need a poly tunnel or a large greenhouse.
Most will grow up to zone 9 or 10.................. so you should be ok!! But you will i imagine have to find either Masoniorum hybrids or paniculata hybrids.
The Aurea are woodland plants, so i dont think would like texas much.
The Pottsii are found by riversides so need plenty of water.
Both need plenty of shade................... so i doubt either would survive texas weather.

Hope you signed the guestbook..................LOL

This message was edited Jan 17, 2007 6:55 PM

Mark, how about salt tolerance; do you think they could handle a it?

They are just so beautiful.........

Thanks Mark, much of my garden is woodlands, but even in the shade, our summers are brutal. I might try one and see how it does.

I signed your guestbook!

See, Mark I knew you'd be in your 'element' over here!! rofl! Your surrounded by purdy gurls... Your flowers and site are a real hit!

Cool Roxanne, ya saw it, pretty huh??! Nice to meet you ardesia!
Deborah, sounds like your garden is coming along very well, I am so glad!

Alice.................... salt tolerance!! Hmmmmmmm, well in the wild in south africa, some were found along the coast area, so going by tat i would say yes they would cope with salt!

Roxanne................ i would go for a masoniorum or a paniculata form, they originally come from mountain areas of south africa....... in poor soil and heat!! Worth a go .........

Deb........................... best move i ever made sweetie. I just love purdy gurls........... and especially when they like my flowers............... hehehe

Woo Hoo, I have a somewhat salty, somewhat shady, woodland area. Now to find the pretty ones........

That will be hard to choose ardesia, they are all gorgeous! might be easier to do blindfolded... LOL!

What zone you in Alice????????????????????????
It will be hard to find many in USA anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9a, I live in a (once) maritime forest along the salt marsh.

Deb, you are right. I couldn't even look at all the flowers on Mark's site. By the time I had gone through several pages I wanted so many of them my head was spinning.

Mark, when I look them up in the PlantFiles, it says they are C. x crocosmiiflora, what species are they? You should submit some of your pictures, there aren't very many with pics.

Oh .... now I know your secret Mark .... you live in the U.K. and have very good weather to grow all those plants. See .... the rest of us can't help it if we live in hot, humid, and sandy/red clay areas of the USA. So .... maybe I need to move to the U.K.? Nah! I don't like snow. I guess I will just continue to grow drought tolerant plants which are probably consider weeds in the U.K.! :-P

Are any of the crocosmia plants good in bog areas? I have never seen any crocosmia here for sale other than Lucifer. (Of which I have 2.) Neither one blooms for me. Any suggestions on crocosmia that like wet feet? What do I need to do to get my crocosmia to bloom?

Okay, I need opinions here ....... should I or shouldn't I plant carnivorous plants in my bog garden. I really, really like the Pitcher and Venus Fly Trap plants. But I don't want them eating my butterflies. What do y'all think???????

Roxie................................ which ones are you looking for in plantfiles?????????
There wont be any photos or info on species in there!!
There are 4 common speciesL Aurea, Pottsii, Masoniorum and Paniculata.......... thats where most hybrids come from............. the crossing of those 4 species plants!!


Becky, over here i dont think they like to be too wet..................... but i have been told that over there they dont mind!! To get them to bloom, try feeding them........... fish blood and bone

Mark, so those that are listed in PlantFiles are the hybrid and that's how most are sold, with different varieties such as Ellenbank Skylark?

Becky, I think if a butterfly landed on a carnivorous plant it may end up as food. I don't think I would try it.

Rox................................. Yep, most of those in plantfiles are hybrids...........!! Ellenbank Skylark is a hybrid, yes. They all come from basically b crossing those 4 species plants i told you about.....

Thanks, Mark! I didn't know what to feed them to get them to bloom. I will try the fish blood and bone. Do they need cold periods to bloom in the Spring or Fall? Since it doesn't seem to get that cold here in Florida, I was wondering if they aren't blooming because of that. Usually my daylilies die back in winter and then come back much thicker each Spring.

fly_girl - I am debating over the carnivorous plants. The butterflies are the main reason I am afraid to grow some. Maybe the dwarf version are too small for the butterflies to get stuck in them? I am going to have to do some research on the sizes available for carnivorous plants. Maybe dwarf varieties wouldn't be a threat to most butterflies.

Becky, are you saying Lucifer doesn't come back thicker for you?

ardesia - My 2 Lucifer crocosmia are thicker, just no flowers. And they never seemed to have a rest period this year because of the unusually warmer temps this winter. Why is this plant considered a "thug" among crocosmia?

Don't hit me, but I compare the crocosmia to daylilies because of the long narrow leaves. And from what I read they do die back in winter and return in Spring through Summer. Just like daylilies!

This message was edited Jan 18, 2007 11:44 PM

Becky
Usually when a plant doesnt flower, it needs either splitting or feed.......................

Crocosmia do die back in winter and return in spring and flower in summer!!

Becky, mine do sort of die back in winter. Because we have not had a frost in several years they never completely die back and are always putting up new growth. Actually, the way I keep mine in check is to just grab a handful of the leaves as they start to look weary and yank them out of the ground. A lot of small bulbs will still be attached and I have found that helps to keep the bed less crowded. I am sure that sounds mean to but it is the only way I can keep Lucifer from taking over. It is a terrible thug for me. I have found it is almost impossible to get rid of this plant. I have a gold one (maybe Norwich) that is almost as bad.

I should say I have planted some in less than full sun and they are behaving better, in terms of spreading, although they do not bloom well. Perhaps I'll try a bit more food and see if Lucifer and I come to a happy medium.

Mark, I hope you did OK with all thet wind yesterday.

ardesia - I have one Lucifer growing in semi-shade and one in sun. The one planted in sun is definitely growing better. I guess I need to fertilize it with some fish blood and bone to get it to bloom. I have both of them in pots, not in the ground. Maybe I should leave them there since they might become invasive?

I am very interested in Ginger for the bog garden. I am also growing canna and ditchlilies that I received from some nice folks on DG. These plants all have those nice long green leaves. I received all of them as tubers or rhinzones. (These generous folks dug them up out of their own gardens for me, like Karen did when she sent me the Papyrus.) Here's what the ditchlilies looked like on January 13th. They had only been potted for about 2 weeks and had already gotten tons of green leaves. Now they are twice that size. One person sent me the kwanso doubles ditch lilies as well. I will have to put some kind of barrier underground around them when I plant them in the ground because they could become somewhat invasive in my zone. But I love daylilies and wouldn't mind a yard full of them! lol

I like daylilies like Mark likes Crocosmia. Only I don't have 200+ varieties of it planted in my yard. lol I currently only have 4 different varieties and these ditchlilies will make it 5 and 6.

This is a link to what they look like. They are supposed to do well in moist soil. http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/138048/

What do y'all think of these ditch lilies for the bog area?

Super super.. those look great Becky!!

Alice........................ Thank you for thinking about me in the wind!!! Only slight damage here thank god.
But a chap a few miles away was killed when his neighbours shed roof got blown off and landed on him!!! There are trees down all over and rooves off etc, but not oo bad.

Becky....................... you didnt tell me you grew the lucifer in pots!! In that case take them out and split them for a start, i dont mean just rip them out of the pot either!!! i mean split them properly. Then put them in new compost, which you should do every year by the way! Then mix in some fish blood and bone!! They will flower then...........................

Mark - I didn't know if made a difference ... pot or ground? Mine are not very thick. I only got them last year. Should I still split them? What would be the best way to keep them upright? Tomatoe cage? Also, it seems I read somewhere that they don't tolerate hot weather. Is that true?

I'm sure looking at this photo will make you cringe. I potted one Lucifer and the other is still sitting in the original pot. (As you can see.)

This message was edited Jan 20, 2007 8:04 AM

Here's the other one that I put in a container pot. This is the one growing in shade. Very sad looking, wouldn't ya say?

What's the best kind of soil to plant them in?