Is any one familiar with a zone 5 perennial that has lime or chartreuse leaves, tolerates full sun, isn't invasive and stays under 24"? Showy flowers are not necessary.
Looking for a perennial.
All that comes to mind for me
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/69243/
I have a plant called spurge (Euphorbia) that fits your discription.
DEMinPA
Centaurea 'Gold Bullion'. http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/CEGBP.html?mv_pc=dgar http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54762
Some of the iris pseudacorus ensata crosses have chartreuse leaves. And they are NOT invasive. Aichi-no-kagayaki is one. The spring foliage is very bright chartreuse, and then it gets a little greener in summer, but still chartreuse. There is quite a number of irises that have this foliage, let me know if you are interested in more names.
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/05794.html
Oh Hey - Great Choices!! I would never have come across those two on my own. This is a big bed I'm filling and there is a place for both. Thanks so much.
I've ordered Euphorbia polychromia "Lacy" from Herronswood. Even though the leaf is varigated grey and yellow/ white and the flowers are chartruese it pairs real well with the Black Mondo Grass in the planned bed.
The Lime Rickey is said to need a bit of shade. This bed on one end gets too much hot sfternoon sun for this plant - but - it's gorgeous and I have another place on the shady end against a big big puckered leaf blue hosta called "Blue Wave" Should be absolutely stunning. I've ordered it from Big Dipper Farm.
Thanks again.
Mary
Aaarg pollyk - Now another great choice! Time to head out back and see if I can squeeze it in. There is a problem here in this area with iris borer. Two yeas ago I pulled every iris up and trash bagged them. Boy did that ever hurt. I'd had some of them for over 15 yrs. In spite of careful fall clean up of the beds, removing iris in the spring as soon as damage was noticed, and all the other things you are supposed to do, the borer finally won. My plan was to have no iris for two years which would allow for the borer to die out or move on or whatever. Then try to replant just a couple and see what happens. This is the second spring with no iris so maybe it's time. Also no neighbors nearby have any iris so there is not an immediate source for the pest. Our local University Cooperative Extension Urban Horticulture office acknowleged that iris borer was becoming a serious pest in NW Ohio and they had no solutions to offer either. I lost over 300 iris. Lots of bare spots to fill in the gardens.
Iris borers won't bother this one.
Here's a picture of mine right now. You can see the foliage from quite a distance.
You're right, of course. It's not a bearded iris. Silly me. I've always thought of the psuedacorus as a wet soil or water plant. I had no idea that some of them could prosper in drier conditions or that there were crosses. I am interested in some names.
Not silly. Actually some of the beardless can get borers, but it's less common.
The others I know are Hatsuho, Kikoshi and Pixie Won. All pseudatas. Ensata carries them all.
Wet conditions, of course is optimal, but they will do very well drier.
Snapple, I used to know an elderly couple who had a million zillion irises. He would go around plant-by-plant and run his hands up and down the leaves, squeezing. Not hard, just enough to squish the iris borer grubs in the leaves.
It has to be at a certain time of year, and I'm not sure when it is, but it has to do with either when they are in bud, in bloom, right after bloom, or something where you can get the timing right, no matter where in the US you grow them. Anyway, those little borer grubs go up the leaves or down the leaves (in the inside where you can't see them) and by squeezing the leaves, you can actually kill them inside the plant without chemicals. I know they attack the rhizomes, but they travel and are on the move inside the leaves. I am sorry I didn't pay closer attention: all I could think about has how many irises he had, and how long it must take, although he was able to do hundreds of plants just while he was talking to visitors seeing the flowers.
Maybe there is enough information for you that you can contact the extension and ask them what I'm talking about and when they are on the move? :)
Suzy
Also there's a lot of talk on the iris forum about how to get rid of borers. If you don't mind using chemicals, I guess Bayer grub treatment is quite effective.
I did the "squeeze" thing for several years. Apparently the sheer number of them just was overwhelming. No - I don't mind using chemicals - as a last resort. Had I known there was anything I would have used it. I just finished Master Gardener classes. To get the certificate I have to complete 50 volunteer hours. The only criticism I have of Master Gardener training is that, at least locally, they do not provide much information about the use of pesticides, except to promote responsibility. The agenda is to curtail their use. That's fine. But it goes a little overboard in that when they could be effective they sometines are not offered. As in the case here.
I loved my iris's. I'm going to be like a kid in a candy store replanting. And I'm going over to the iris forum. What a tremendous help you've all been.
One of my favorite plants---Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' Here's the link in PF http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54764/
Here's a good thread on the borers.
Congrats on finishing your Master Gardener course!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/511746/