Archive through May 17, 2002
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The ClubHouse: Archives: Gardening Tips: Archive through May 17, 2002

Jewels

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 02:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Verbena is good too, there is also a ground cover version, but I've have had a hard time finding it now that I want some more.

Wink, is the "vinca" you are talking about the same as "vinca minor", that is used as a ground cover with the small purple flowers? I love that stuff. So dainty looking.

Julieboo

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 03:01 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What does verbena look like?

Tess

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 08:53 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I will try to find a picture, Julie. Now I'm thinking that I really meant vinca. I'll look for both.

Tess

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 11:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Julie, here's a picture of Verbena.
verbena

Tess

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 11:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Shoot, I have another one I should have posted side by side.
more.verbena

Btw, I found the pictures with descriptions and a veritable wealth of info at this site: Flower Info

Tess

Wednesday, May 15, 2002 - 11:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
So those are Verbena and what I found out is that what I really meant earlier this afternoon was vinca which is a flower someone else had suggested.
vinca

Riviere

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 12:28 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I planted 3 Moonbeam Coriopsis plants, they will be perennials.. Bloom June to Nov by St Louis.. They get about a foot tall and 18 inches wide in sun and even poor soil. They look so delicate like ferns to start, then a zillion blooms! No maintenance.. I also raise iris, lily, and more annual growers like lantana.. Fillers are the impatiens and verbena, then mums for fall color.. I have a non green thumb but have the best flower gardens in my neighborhood, all my plants seem to eat the weeds and few attract bugs.. :)

Wink

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 05:02 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Julie if you go to google and click on "images" then type the name of the flower in and do a search you will find a ton of pictures and descriptions.

Here's a vinca123

Riviere I love Moonbeam Coreopsis. It looks really great paired with lavender. Both like the same conditions are are so maintenance free.

Wink

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 05:12 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Jewels Tess posted a pic of the vinca minor ground cover. I love that one and it has done well for me in half-day sun and shade. The pic of the vinca I posted is in the "vinca cooler" series which is sold here as an annual bedding plant for sun and isn't as vigorous as the ground cover species. I have 20 window boxes on my house and I often do vinca in the ones on the south side of the house that get full day sun.

Julie perennials like coreopsis and lavender are a really good option to annuals for a dry sunny spot and really are no care "I can take care of myself plants". Munstead or Hidcote lavender would probably do best in your area as opposed to the french or spanish lavender. All they require is a haircut in the spring of the brown over-wintered stems.

Dahli

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 11:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow - you guys know your stuff!
Now I have a question/problem... last weekend I bought a (perennial) peegee hydrangea - not very big, in a ten inch pot or so about 2 feet high.
We have had some record breaking hot weather Tuesday and then some snow crystals wednesday. Last night just to be safe I covered it up with a sheet, and this morning many of the leaves look kinda limp!! Do you think it will be okay? Does anyone have an encouraging word? I still need to plant it but if it's toast - I won't bother. HELP!

Wink

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 12:03 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Dahli your hydrangea has probably spent the winter in the greenhouse and just needs to get used to being outside. Hydrangeas like semi-shade so it's probably best to keep it out of direct sun until you can plant it. The limp leaves are probably just shocked from the extreme temperature changes. If you have your spot picked out for it you can plant it anytime now. Hydrangeas are pretty tough to kill.

Dahli

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 12:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
OH wonderful Wink! I feel a million times better - out of the sun she comes!
Thanks

Riviere

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 01:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love my hydrangea, planted on north side of house so very shady. They do get thirsty!!! If we have 3 days no rain the poor thing wilts but a bucket of water perks it right up like magic. My hubby thought it was dead once (I'd been away 4 days and he forgot it) but I said nope, watch this and poured 2 gallons on it, within hours it was back to normal.. They're very hardy, my kind of low maintenance plant. :)

Tess

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 03:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hydrangeas are hard to kill unless you live in Minnsota. :( Charlie killed mine off 2 years ago and I'm going to give them one more try. I know they can be grown here because lots of people have them and they are easily found in the nurseries. I'm just not sure where he went wrong. We had it planted on the west side of the house which is shady in the morning and then dappled shade the rest of the day. We have a number of very large trees in our yard so we have few areas which are full sun all day.

Any hints about what to do differently this time? I want to get 3 of these same peegee hydrangeas to put on that same west side of the house?

Oregonfire

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 06:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
How timely! Guess we all have late spring planting on the brain.

Here's a question: In front of my house there is a patch of dirt that has trouble growing anything--even weeds. It's hidden from the sun by a low tree. What will grow there? I bought some pansy seeds, and columbine too. I live in Central Oregon--very lush, except I think the soil can be fickle.

I put some lupine seeds on the sunny side of the tree--we'll see. I think I have purple coneflowers growing in there from last summer. The patch have been difficult, and the weeds are strong. Could it be striped of nutrients, or are the weeds taking up all the nutrients? I hacked away this weekend, a battle of wills not to be forgotten.

BTW, there is a lovely grotto between my house and the next with very little sun; those vinca flowers mentioned above are blooming profusely in there as I type--very pretty bluebells too.

Grooch

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 06:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oregon, maybe you need to dig up some soil and replace it with some good potting soil, and how is the drainage?

You can try ferns. I know they don't flower but I love them.

I remember wild violets and lilly of the valley growing in the woods by me up north (they got no sun) maybe you can try them?

Otherwise, boring impations.

Grooch

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 06:28 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Tess, where you had them planted, what about the wind protection?

If they are in an area where there is no wind protection, it can either be drying them out, or making it feel like it is much colder than it is in the winter.

I remember everyone wrapping their Rhododendrens in the winter time to protect them from the wind.

Anyway, if they did not do good where they were, try them again in a new spot. A lot has to do with micro climates.

Tess

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 11:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Grooch, that's very good advice, thanks. I will try wrapping them next winter and I'm having Charlie move them to the corner of the house where they will have a tall shrub behind them that would block wind at least from one direction.

Part of what happened with them is that we had large egress windows put in last year as the first step towards renovating our basement. It was too early in the year to move the bushes (March) and the construction guys said they had clearance. However, the edge of the cedar comes within 6 inches of the stem of one plant and the other one is even closer. Charlie promised to move them last summer or at least replant them more securely where they are but he didn't quite get to it. This month he will move them. :)

Tess

Thursday, May 16, 2002 - 11:48 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oregon, we had an area like that in front of our porch and under a very large maple tree. It was hard as a rock and the grass wouldn't grow. We had it all covered with topsoil and I planted ferns, bleeding hearts, violets, and in a couple areas that get a tiny bit of sun each day we have pink yarrow. When late May comes we fill in the gaps with impatiens and johnny jump ups. This year I hope to add more violets but they are hard to find here. I'm having a problem with the bunnies eating them but they are so pretty. I'll definitely be able to get more bleeding hearts.

There are also many varieties of hosta almost all of which love the shade. We have an entire row of them on the north side of our house next to the path to the backyard. We picked a variety with interesting foliage and pretty flowers. Three years later they have grown tremendously and completely filled in that side garden.

Oregonfire

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 05:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thank you all for the advice--so knowledgeable! Now I need to look up what many flowers look like--hostas? Will they grow in my "zone?" I planted shasta daisies seeds and delphineum seeds last summer that never came up. (Then again, last year was a record-breaking drought; this year the reservoirs are full) It's very rainy here in every season except for the summer, which can be bone dry. However, there is little chance of frost or snow.

Wink

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 06:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Oregon you should probably amend the soil somewhat too. Depending on the type of tree that you're talking about the trees roots will rob a lot of nutrients from the soil. Mixing in some compost and topsoil would probably help. I have yet to be able to grow lupins and delphiniums from direct seeding so can't help you with that one.

A great ground cover for shady areas that really brightens it up is lamium. I have two types, Lamium Beacon Silver which has a beautiful variegated green and white leaf with very pretty pink flowers and Lamium Nancy which has yellow flowers. This is low growing and spreads fairly quickly to form a beautiful mat. Tess' and Groochs' suggestions of Hostas and Ferns planted amongst the lamium would be very attractive and pretty maintenance free.

Grooch

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 07:35 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I agree with Wink about amending the soil. But if there is a tree in that area be careful. If you raise the level of soil around the tree you will kill it.

Don't Lupins and Delphiniums need sun? I don't think they would grow in a shady area.

Also, how is the drainage in that area? That might be affecting things also.

Oregonfire

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 11:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks again--there is a big tree root coursing through the middle of the patch, so that explains a lot. The soil definitely needs some nutrients--very clay like. My work's definitely cut out for me.

There's room for adding soil--this I may do, or Miracle Grow. I'm being a bit stubborn about spending too much $$ because it's a rental unit, and I'm unlikely to get reinbursed.

Wink

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 12:15 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You might want to try placing some larger pots surrounded by smaller ones in that area instead of trying to actually plant Oregon. That way you can get some variety and move things around for interest.

Grooch

Friday, May 17, 2002 - 12:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
And she can take it with her if she moves. ;)