The tithonia look amazing! I am so pleased I got seeds in a trade :-)
Regarding the use of begonias - I still intend to use them in my own yard, I think the wax begonias look excellent.
But we have a very large, but neglected terrace on our street (if even have a large fountain!). Anyway, the neighbours have given me the okay to build gardens around the terrace, so this year we will start planting perennials, but will use a lot of annuals as fillers until the perennials fill in. That's where most of the seeds I aquire through trades/swaps are destined. So if I seem rather piggy (seem???? hahahha) the seeds are going to beautify a neighbourhood, not just my own property.
So, if you are looking for more garden space, but don't want to invest in more real estate, maybe there is a small park or boulevard you might be able to make a garden.
Frankly, the terrace is my only hope for a full-sun garden; DH won't let me tear up any more of the lawn :-)
2nd Chance Swap - Pictorial
flowerhead410, the first time I planted Tithonia was last year. I just put the seeds in regular potting soil until they sprouted and got big enough to set out. They didn't seem to grow very fast until they got in the ground, and then they took off.
I don't remember fertilizing them at all. Now, after they have finished blooming, I notice a few little ones coming up under the momma plant, so I dig them up and put them somewhere else, or give them away.
They are very eyecatching, everyone notices them, and wants either seeds or a plant. Very bold color, and every seed looks exactly like it's mom.
It might be that they need really poor soil, like I have. (alot of sand) A couple of them did have pine mulch around them, and it didn't seem to bother them. I only had one that did poorly, and every plant in that area , except Devil's Backbone, does bad. It was beside a telephone pole.
Lucy
Hi Kath! :), I'll start mine in just like pro mix in the spring outside then when they get a little size on them I'll plant them I have a lot of bunnies where I want to plant them so they have to have some size on them but it's the clay soil I have it everywhere! I hate it lol
Seandor, I got some begonia seeds in a trade and I think I got some in the stokes seed thing, so glad you mentioned those I need to plant those now too I forgot all about how long they take to grow! lol
I'm going for the no grass thing and it sure takes a lot longer than I thought to fill at least an acre right now for the ground around the house and I've planted trees and shrubs in the field but not enough yet still have about 2/3 of it to go this spring and summer. A lot of work! lol I need some neighbors like you have Seandor then I would have it all planted by now, I can't even get anyone to till for me, I'm doing it all by myself, do I sound pitiful enough for you to come help? lol
How far should you plant them apart I want to plant a bunch together.
Gee, thanks LeBug - I also forgot about the begonias - and I have some seeds that I bought myself! :-)
Gee, I don't know . . .I think I planted my wax begonias about 9-12 inches apart. Can't remember, cause they are sooo small when I plant them at the beginning of May. (I think I am supposed to wait until late May, but so far, so good!)
lol I didn't say what I was talking about, how far should I plant the Tithonia apart I want a good show of them :)
Wowsers-you all have been busy. Here is cayopteris:
Seandor-I love the pics with fences in them!! I really like the color combos!!
Wind-love the birdbath-can I get 1-LOL!!
Mao-here is a pic of 1 of the hosts I have in the front of my house. Do you know which it is?? We inherited it when we moved in & the people B4 us didn't pay attenetion-just basically said "that's pretty" & put it in. The pic was taken Aug of this year.
LeBug, I just went out and measured my Tithonias. I was wrong on my measurements. They are 4 1/2 ft wide, and 41/2 ft tall. So probably you will have to plant them 4ft from each other, so the slightly intermingle.
~Lucy
Here are my bachelor buttons, aster & 1 wave petunia on the side of my house
Here is the left front in June....
and here is is in Sept...Everything got HUGE!!
4' gotcha Lucy, thanks!
Fairy I like your butterfly :) I got some metal butterflies at the nursery the other day coming out for spring you can buy 3 or 4 and make them into a whirly gig thingie :)
Going outside to compost :) It's cool but just right for working outside!
I got those ones at the dollar store. I have 2 copper yard stakes that I got in Carmel, CA when I lived in San Jose-1 is a purple butterfly & the other is a green leaf w/ a mama & 2 baby lady bugs on it-the colors on these ones are beautiful-it was at a small artisan garden shop!!
Here is my Weigela 'Wine & Roses'-my fave thing we inherited when we moved in here!!
OMG I love your weigelia - I bought one at the end of the season this last fall for the south garden on the terrace; it looked a bit bedraggled, but now I am sooo glad I bought it. I hope it looks as good as yours, Fairy, in a few years.
I love your gardens! Your hosta is magnificent.
Fairy -- sorta looks like a Mildred Seaver to me.
Fairy- if it has poor substance (thin leaves) it's likely to be 'Undulata Albomarginata '. An older hosta, it's the one I originally started with.
Your bachelor buttons, aster , and petunia make for a pretty combination. I'd add an iris for the leaf shape and call it perfect.
I planted a little twig of a Weigela 'Wine & Roses' last year. I'm looking forward to when it becomes as large and beautiful as your's.
tcs- don't you wish you could touch the hosta leaf and see exactly how thick and large it is before you guess what it is. My guess was made by how abundant the undulatas is. I know I can walk around the block and see it at three or four different houses.
That is georgous Fairy how long does it bloom?
maoza -- yes true... i think i was going on the margins, plus the bit of puckering in the leaves. The undulatas i've seen are not that pretty.... though... I am very new to hostas.
Mao-do you mean thin as in thickness or width-mine is a MONSTER!! Everyone who comes by while I'm gardening comments on it & how gimongo it is!! I could split ech one(I have 2) into 10 parts & still have a tone left!! I am actually going to try to offer some of it up this spring and scale it down a little. EAch one has got to be 4 feet across!!
LeBug-If you are talking about the Weigela (which if you want some cuttings thron in this spring for our trade, LMK), it blooms for about 2-3 weeks and the hummers LOVE it. I can be sitting on my deck right behind it drinking coffee and they come right up to it-about 4 feet away from me. I dug up the things around it & now have a small purple daylily on the L of it (the daylily from my earlier post was there) and have red dragons blood sedum & yellow sedum to the right of it...
Mao-Thanks for the compliment on the pic of petunia & etc.-I have moved just about everything this year though & have put a bleeding heart over there and some trascandia (spelling) and when I split my hostas this spring I plan on flanking those 2 w/ a that & putting some low growers in front and mix some jacob's ladder in between. I will have to send you some pics this next summer....
Fairy- substance is thickness. Looking closer I'm sure both of our guesses are wrong but mine is way off. There's just too many white margined hosta to guess from a picture. I know tcs and I would both agree that whatever name you call it it is still lovely. I like using bleeding heart in the sun because in the summer it disappears and I can have another plant using that space, then next spring it comes back better then ever. Your plans sound good and the shape of the Tradescantia and hosta will give nice contrast of leaf shape. I think you have a good plan and I would love to see pictures. I'm always looking to steal... I mean borrow other peoples idea.
Another example where the plants are more important than the flowers.
ooooHHHHH-is that a sedum??
BTW-I call the hosta "the hosta that ate new york"-even though I'm sure that isn't really a cultivar!!LOL
LOL... no, it's not. btw -- if you like hostas... have you been to hostalibrary.org yet? OMG, you will fall in love over there.
here is Mildred http://hostalibrary.org/m/mildred.html
>> 'Undulata Albomarginata '.
this, if you break down the words... Albo [white] marginata [margined or edges] and undulata is sorta of like, slightly curls under.
but you can also wander over to the Hosta Forum and see if anyone in there knows... but if it's quite common, which white margined, green hostas are... it may be almost impossible to accurately identify... though it may have a certain characteristic where someone may be able to "peg" it right away.
sorry to be a bit OT here.
Great image Maoza!!
The center plant is Donkey Tail spurge, Euphorbia myrsinites . I see two different sedums in the ground cover. Nope make that three. Golden something-or-other, blue spruce, and tri-color.
Yet another example of texture.
Thanks Terese-it looks like that, but as I read the description, it sayd that the margins start yellow & turn white into the summer-which mine do not... I'm not hugely into hostas-I like the ones I have and got a chartreuse colored one from mao in the swap & would like a blue variegated on, then think I'd be done-I don't have enough spots with shade as most of them seem to need it...
Mao, What is the purple drumstick in the middle, an Allium, probably, but which one? (It's thepicture right above this Post #4393260)
Are you in the Am hosta soc?
Suzy
that is a pretty one. i personally care for the look of the "puckered"(though i have a few) ,,,, but i LOVE chartreuse. I'm planning on getting some Sun Power for my front yard [southern exp]
I think they have their plkace in a bed-I have some people in my sub that only have hostas & evergreen trees & it looks blah-ya know-no color at all at any point in the year!!
OH yeah... we have those sterile yards too. I try to have a lot of color .. and my shade side, which is just the north side of my garage ... it's 55' long, but narrow, is a lot of ferns and i've added a lot this past year.... bleeding heart, heucheras [plum pudding] astilbles [white],jacob;s ladder [variegated] and some hostas and i have some ditch lillies. I"m looking to add a bit more and get rid of some ferns.
Suzy- you names it if you put it together. Drumstick allium. No I'm not. There's been some bad blood in the local chapter that I don't want to be involved in.
Fairy- I lost the tree from my last yard. The hosta is many of these pictures are in full sun. Including the Sum & Substance I posted at 3:22 today, and I don't water my established plants.
hosta nursery
WOW -- you've got some great, established ones. is the 3rd one in June?
I just got mine, so its a wee thing... but i love the colors.
another one i really want is Alex Summers.... well, i want A LOT, but with similar features.
I have a place in Wisc that is total dappled sun. so i can go wild with hostas...and i'm getting quite a few Columbines to plant up there too. VERY excited about those.
Really-it seems that most of the types I like need shade-maybe because I pick the colorful one -I don't know-that path looks pretty-just needs some color here & there-like a red or pink-for contrast!! I do like that they put some of the blue & lime ones in & that they varied the hights to add a more 3 dimensional look and some depth...
tcs- That's June. It's om my must have list.I don't have Alex Summer and since I'm running out of room I'll probably never get it. So many great hosta and so little room. Luck you having a place for more hosta.
Fairy- not everyone needs to love hosta like I do. But all gardeners need to appreciate the leaves on the plants they do like. Flowers are easy but to have a garden that always looks good you have to play attention to the plant.
Mao-yes you are right in that. I think that is why I liked how they had the different heights of the hostas grouped together along the path-it really draws your eye to the 3 dimensional aspect!! I like it all & wish I had a couple acres to put it all on!!:) I'd be hapy with 1 of just about everything I see-too bad I'm not rich with a yard the size of several football fields!!
here's a small part of my yard, but i'm putting most of my hostas here. I'll have to see if i can find a shot of the other side where i have Frosted Jade.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3513898
here's part of my back yard.. you can see [barely] one of my albomarginatas.
going around probably 50% of my yard, i have lanciflora and the albomarginata...
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3561058
we have ownership in an RV park in Lake Delton, Wisc... near Mirror Lake St Park and Wisc Dells... if you know the area.
I really like that bear-how cool.
Don't laugh, but when I opened the 1st pic I though it was a real crane-blond moment!!
Can't wait to see it when everything matures-WOWSERS!!