Vines and tall plants

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to gardening (just container gardening in the past) and I've always tabbed the cottage gardening pages in magazines (with the 'I want someday'...). I now live in a 1903 house in Northern California and now the I want someday is here. I'm planting perennials so that I'll see them again next year. I'm currently planting the tall layer along one fence (jasmine, climbing rose, and 3 clematis vines). For the next layer, I have foxglove, snapdragon, delphinium and centranthus. I have more room for tall plants. I would love to hear ideas of fast growing perennials and some annuals. I'm in the process of painting the garage and I'm thinking of planting green beans up the side with sweet peas mingled within. I also have seedlings that I started about a week and a half ago of 3 varieties of tomatoes and bell peppers. I have 2 sun-porches (one attached to my room and one downstairs...I love this house). I love the overgrown look and it will take until next year (I'm assuming) to become established. I have another bed that is empty that I'll need tall plants for. Any ideas of instant gratification beautiful flowers that grow fast and fill in would be great! I love the pastel flowers. Pink, lavender, yellow, coral, white, etc.
Thanks!

Hey HH, Welcome to the forum!

Your house sounds wonderful. Zone 10 California probably has all sorts of options, but shrub roses and dahlias come to mind. If you go to a specialty dahlia house, you can find six footers, easily, but aso 3, 4 and 5 footers. Same with the shrub roses, although a garden center there should have what you need rather than mailorder.

Both come in the pastel colors you favor.

Dahlias are so variable depending on what you buy. The 36" plants might be 36" in diamter, but the 6 footers aren't 6 feet in diameter. The downside is the tall ones have to be staked to keep from falling over. Here's a link to one great source with picture links and also heights.

http://www.cruger.com/pkd1.html

In Indiana we have to dig and store them at the end of the season because they aren't hardy here, but I bet they are in zone 10.

Suzy

Thanks so much Suzy! Beautiful! I really like the lacy-dainty looking ones. I think I'll plant some 6 footers along the fence and when I'm ready to step it down with the next layer, I'll plant some shorter ones. My Dad has extra roses in his garden. My grandfather brought them from Eureka about 30 years ago. My grandfather always called them circus roses. Not sure if that's what they're really referred to. He's bringing some over this week to plant along the side of the house. I just received some hollyhock seeds yesterday through Ebay. I have absolutely no experience sowing directly in the ground, but I'm going to follow the directions and give it a try. Any advice would be great! I wish I would have started seeds indoors weeks ago! I planted starters that I described in my first post a couple of weeks ago. I need to practice more patience....I want blooms now. Oh well....soon.

Thanks so much!
-Heather

Circus Roses -- I love it!

The trouble with me giving advice to someone in zone 10 is that the 'rules' as I know them might not be applicable, but here is my take on it:

If you want flowers "right now" Hollyhocks may disappoint you -- they are biennials and if you sow them now they will bloom next year. If you sow them in July or August, they will also bloom the following year, so from a space point of view, it would be better to wait on them. Foxgloves are biennial, too, although there are a couple of kinds (Foxy for one) that bloom 1st year if they are planted early enough. If you buy either one as a plant, they would have been started early enough that you would probably get flowers -- not sure. I bought some Hollyhocks and Foxglove plants from Bluestone last year and they did NOT flower and they took up a lot of valuable real estate, but your growing season should be quite a bit longer than mine.

Suzy

Thanks Suzy. I'll wait on the Hollyhocks and plant in July. There's a nursery around the corner called Kings Nursery. I've been stopping there once or twice a week on my way home from work...or during lunch. I feel like a kid in a candy store! There's so many choose from. I've been purchasing the 6 packs to save on cost. I have a couple of gardening friends at work and we are thinking of starting a gardening club. We're already trading seeds. We were talking about getting together as a group and help in each others garden for a day and then rotate to the next house. My brother and his friends used to do this. They would have a B-BQ and everyone would help out with something (cleaning out the garage, etc.).
Off to work. They are predicting rain later today and tomorrow.
-Heather

I'd strongly recommend you purchase the latest Sunset Western Garden Book (that's the actual title; don't get confused and buy any of their other good, but not encyclopedic books). This can give you the necessary background info on any plant you are considering.

I haven't checked out the latest edition (just came out in February 2007) but my 2003 and previous editions have a section in the front where there are "recommended" plants by specific categories.

Compared to where I live, for you it's hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, so I won't make any plant recommendations. You'll find a full explanation of the Sunset climate zones in the Garden Book - you're zone 14 whereas I'm zone 17.

BTW, you can often get discounted copies on amazon.com, I noticed. But even Orchard Supply is selling it at a discount, so I'd check around locally first. Good luck with your garden and be sure to post us some pix when your flowers start blooming!

Costco usually carries the Sunset book too - I lived in Phoenix and found it to be *very* helpful as a reference.

I spent a little bit of time one spring in Santa Rosa, just loved it. Congratulations! So close to Napa, too....

How are your water conditions? It may be something that you want to look into as well, before you get too much further. Also, do you have irrigation of any sort? Being tied to hand watering a lot of different beds and plants with differing needs can be a real drag. I don't know if your rainfall will always support your plants....

For some soft, cottage-y blooms - and fast growing - morning glories are hard to beat. You can also easily grow the Lady Banks Rose there - it's a very vigorous and heat tolerant rose, mostly thornless, but make sure it has a wall or something to climb on. There's also some lovely, soft, and tall grasses that you can plant - of course, stay away from the Pampas grass, but the Pennisetum will give you some darker colors (a dark maroon) to show off some of your other stuff and the Muhlenbergias give that softness with the pink mist over them in early fall. Springtime tall flowers - penstemons and later on, a lot of the salvias....

HTH - sorry I was kind of all over the place, but there's so much you can do.... Oh, don't forget the Tecoma stans 'yellow bells' for a shrub - the hummers love it, along with the Orange Jubilee, but that's less in your color scheme... I could go on...

Thanks everyone! I just stopped by Kings nursery on my way home for lunch. This is absolutely addicting. I'm cutting out my daily cafe mocha at work to help support this plant addiction. I love to cook, but since I live downtown, I find myself walking to meet friends for dinner and a glass of wine a little too often. I'll be cutting this down too. I bought more plants today (I can't remember the names) and I'll plant after work before the rains start. There's a wonderful girl at Kings that I seek out when I go there. She has an acre of a cottage garden that she been working on for years.

Jkom51 - I bought a vintage edition of the Sunset Garden book at a thrift shop for a dollar a few months ago. I picked up the new addition at Costco for $21.00 last week and transferred my sticky notes. I love that it's in color! The other one is black & white. But it's hardback and I love vintage, so I'll probably end up keeping it...like I do 'everything' else.

Pagancat - I love Santa Rosa. I grew up here since I was seven and I can't imagine leaving. I travel for work and I'm always happy to come home. My boyfriend gave me irrigation hoses and he's going to install them for me. He's a carpenter and he mentioned that he 'likes' to help me in the yard. He came over Sunday and re-built my fence. I joked with him about 'honey-do lists'. I'm sooooo excited about planting a cottage garden! I can't wait until it all starts blooming! I'll definitely post pics. Back to work...I'd rather stay here and plant my new plants!
-Heather

Pictures will be great!

I remember it as a lovely town - very sweet. You could even take pictures of it....lol...

Ooooh, HH!

Have him make you a gazebo or something, too. LOL! If he came here, thisis what I'd have him make me, It's from the Smith & Hawkins book.

Suzy

That's great that you've bought the SWGB - I think you'll find it very useful.

I noticed you haven't mentioned anything evergreen. You need those for the "bones" of your garden because otherwise 9 months out of the year you'll have little of interest going on. What are you thinking of in this respect?

I'm pretty sure Rhaphiolepis indica works in your zone, and 'Ballerina' is a great dwarf variety, about 4' TxW. The leaves are smaller and darker than the standard Rhaphiolepsis - great as background shrubs. They take little or a lot of water, get a little bit of blackspot in winter but shrug it off nicely without sprays, never have any pests, and have lovely pink flowers 2x year. (Here's a photo, below)

I'd also look into evergreen daylilies - I have some unnamed ones that never disappear even in winter - the traditional standard agapanthus, and bearded iris. I got a bunch of freebies from someone, so don't know the name, but it stays evergreen (which most don't), grows vigorously, flowers 2x year, and gives me deep purple blooms that look fabulous with callas and roses. I'll post a photo in a following message so you can see the foliage and blooms - the iris in the Rhaphiolepis photo is a different one, it disappears every winter.

Here's a photo of the dark purple iris, along with variegated Aucuba foliage and the clover-like Oxalis siliquosa "Copper Sunset". I just really like the sculptural quality of the sword-like iris foliage, and the blue-green color of this unknown variety is wonderful in my garden beds.

Mmm - I really like your Oxalis - I'd be so afraid it would spread all over, here...

pagancat, this is not the dreaded oxalis pes-caprae weed. Oxalis siliquosa is much better behaved, and easily trimmed back by a pair of scissors or just pulling it out. It is like helichrysum, it spreads wide, but the center plant remains in one tiny spot and is easily controlled.

Really... hmmm.... lol, it'll have to go on my list!

I meant to plant my new plants when I got home, but my Dad was here painting away on the garage (it's really a barn). So, I put my paint clothes on and we finished the garage and the fence about 45 minutes before the rain. We had started on it yesterday, so there wasn't much left to do. It's only sprinkling so the paint should be fine. The house is barn red with yellow trim, so I should probably plant bold colors, but I really like pastels for plants. It should be an interesting contrast.

This is what I bought at Kings today:
Statice - 6 pack
Echinaccea - 6 pack
Zinnia - grows to 36" - 6 pack
Elegant Lady 'anisodontea hybrid' - 4" pot
Tree Mallow 'lavatera maritima' - 4" pot

I started seeds for forest gardenia, white cathedral bells and pink bride of barbados. The gardenia will take awhile to germinate, but the pink bride looks awesome already. It's so neat when they sprout! I check on them first thing in the morning and whenever I come home. The tomatoes and bell peppers are doing great. It's time to thin them out and put them into bigger pots.

Pagancat - I'll definitely plant a morning glory! I didn't realize they grew fast. Thanks! I have 2 varieties of salvia seeds which I'll plant tonight (salvia coccinea 'coral nymph' and salvia chiapensis ' chiapas sage). I looked up the rest and I really like the lady bank rose, penstemons and the tecoma stans 'yellow bells'. Grasses haven't really appealed to me yet. I like the delicate / dainty look. Maybe when I see them mingled with plants, I'll like them.

Suzy - a gazebo would be awesome. I wish I had more room. There used to be a overhang / trellis out the back porch, but the wisteria brought it down. Now there's just a structure, so my boyfriend is going to re-build it. He has ideas to ensure stability. The whisteria is coming back strong. I bet it's at least 50 years old. It'll need support soon, so that's the next project.

Jkom51 - I haven't even thought of evergreen foliage. I really like the Rhaphiolepis indica and the idea of evergreen daylilies. I have a lot of shade on the north side of the house. There's a winding path of old bricks that has been there for years. I have tall bulbs of some kind growing. Not sure what they are. There's a HUGE pine tree in front. It was planted 30 years ago. I have a lot of forget-me-nots out front with some other flowers that I have not identified yet. A super large hydrangea on the side of the house and another in front. The front yard has the cottage look already, but needs more plants. I have 3 roses on the south side of the house. There was a stack of old bricks in back and my boyfriend built a brick border down the driveway. The back had a HUGE Texas Privet that my dad and my brother took down when I moved in last October. We also worked forever on the icky ivy. Lot's of digging. I'm getting a few sprouts here and there and I yank them. My dad brought his rotor tiller over last month and we tilled in a truck load of seasoned steer manure. Do you know of foliage that has the dainty / delicate look? I'm not sure why that appeals to me, but it does.

Thanks so much for all of your ideas!
-Heather

Jkom51 - I misunderstood. I didn't realize that the Oxalis siliquosa is the plant on the right of your photo. I love it! It's delicate. That one is a must for my garden. Thanks!
-Heather

Wow! All your plans sound great. For myself a cottage style garden just has as many plants on all levels crammed into my yard. I have always loved Hollyhocks and find that mine grow in one season to bloom. Maybe that is because our season is long? But I always have all stages of hollyhocks around the yard as they reseed themselved like weeds. In fact I have to pull more out than not. My SIL however can't get them started. I am not sure what she does, but they need light to germinate and you can't cover them with soil completely. I toss the seeds and just rake across. I also have some that don't die back completely and are on their fourth year in my yard.

Show us some of the "before" pictures! ; )

For dainty, delicate foliage, you can't beat cosmos, which would love your warm weather conditions and reseeds happily.

Also for sun: Another one is feverfew, a chrysanthemum-like plant whose foliage is a bright chartreuse green. Tagetes lemonii is a tall shrub with marigold-like flowers that grows very fast.
Bidens bipinnata has lacy-like foliage.

For shade: dicentra would work. I like to use variegated plants in the shade, it brightens things up remarkably. Aucuba, oxalis, vinca minor 'Illumination' and 'Jack Frost' brunnera are in a bed with a soaker hose and very happy.

Again for sun: Alyssum will reseed also. Parsley, plain old Italian flat-leaf, is actually a very pretty plant that I've let reseed in my garden's south bed - nice fresh bright green lacy foliage. Flowers are subtle but pretty - in the photo here, they are leaning on a "Yellow Wave" phormium (New Zealand flax) and matching nicely against it.

Yes! Allysum and cosmos. I love the way they reseed so they cut your costs. You can get shorter cosmos too so it lends variety. I have the old fashioned orange ones that tend to take over in the fall in my yard.

BTW, if you can stand the 2 month ratty period they go through in the winter, the new cannas are coming in pretty, softer colors, like coral and yellow and even pink.

This is a pink dwarf canna with variegated leaves - 'Pink Lady', I think altho not sure.

And I can't imagine how we all forgot that incredible standby, artemisia 'Powis Castle'. Here it is with a pink alstroemeria:

Argyranthemums, which used to be chrysanthemums and then were reclassified, are short-lived hybrids that bloom themselves to death and easily available at your nearest big box garden center for a few bucks in containers.

Although 'Ruby Slippers was the first and most famous, I prefer 'Pink Comet', which doesn't fade so badly and has prettier, lighter foliage. It grows in an almost completely round ball, about 2x2'.

For the shade, there is nothing prettier than Abutilon 'Thompsonii', assuming you can keep it watered and free of aphids/scale. Mine grew pretty quickly to about 5x5.

Another bloom powerhouse is the pink cestrum. Mine gets bad attacks of scale, though, so you really need to keep an eye on it. I don't use systemics after I realized the hummers love this plant, it will keep them year-round as it literally never stops blooming.

The red and pink varieties, which are newer hybrids, are not as tall or tough as the traditional yellow cestrum. However, they fit better into urban gardens - the pink gets around 6x6, multi-stemmed and occasionally rangy. But they respond well to pruning, and as I mentioned, the hummers adore them.

Here's a photo of it from a couple of years ago - it's the one on the RH side above the gazania groundcover.

Also worth noting is the pale pink (it looks almost white; my digital camera isn't high res) plant next to it - the rare Ceanothus pallidus 'Marie Simon', which likes partial shade. Alas, this one didn't live for me, I think it was a bit too damp and/or shady for it.

Jkom, your yard is gorgeous.

The Powis castle grew fabulously for me in zone 9b, got huge (long, not tall). There's some other cultivars that are even finer/ lacier than Powis Castle, I wish I could remember the names.... It's a great plant to really set other stuff off. It also has a citrusy smell to it when you brush it or cut it. In case you can't tell, it was one of my favorite plants. >smile< ...

I'm making dinner for boyfriend (Salmon). I looked up suggested plants right before he showed up and loved all so far. Thanks so much for suggestions! You're all so wonderful! All are so dainty. When I have time, I'll write them down and seek...another trip to kings! I clearly need to start a gardening club and trade PLANTS rather than seeds. I start more seeds than I need, so I need to find local who do the same.
-Heather

I planted cosmos yesterday. My Dad had a bunch that re-seeded (they are from a package of seeds that I gave him last year. I only had shade in my last place. And he said he has a lot more if I want them. Of course I want them! I'm just now getting around to planting what I bought the other day (it's been crazy at work...I even brought work home this weekend). I find it difficult to figure out where to plant when they are small (in 6 packs). They'll become large, but there's alot of bare space. Does anyone else become almost paralyzed when it come to putting them in the ground?
-Heather

Just go for it! I tend to space them closer than the instructions say. I think that way they look lush faster! Don't be paralyzed-this is fun. ; )

Cactus is right, but yeah - I get paralyzed too, until I remember that I can move anything perennial and any annuals are... well... annual!

Have a blast!