Adam, what do you have planted in your perennial bed? Are you looking for tall, short, spreading, wide, all the above?

Jenna

Well, I am not decided yet what will go in there. I have a narrow long wavy bed against a white house. It is 5ft wide at it's widest on each end and down to 2 ft in the middle and about 22ft long.

What I am thinking of putting there..[have tried a number of things] in part sun, from 11:30am to 4pm...Alchemilla mollis, phlox subulata, bulbs, huecheras,salvias, veronica crater lake blue, nepeta walkers low, sedum purple emperor and sedum frosty morn..geraniums..sambor, and karmina, and anthemis susanna mitchell.

I seem to have an abundance of purples all summer and not enough in the fall. I'm undecided about what will go with the purples..anything but pale pastels or whites.

As for annuals I am looking for...not spreading as I have enough of that. Something bold, vivid to set off the white house and purples, that is a vigorous grower with lots of blooms in part sun. Other than that, I don't care about height ..wide would be hard to do.

Adam

Hi. All the annuals below have done well in my fairly shady UK garden in heavy clay soil, so they should do even better for you.

I've had really good results with Cleome spinosa, which is a really beautiful plant. It gets 3-4 feet high and flowers for a long time.

Sunflowers will perform okay and flower for you with just afternoon sun, but some of the larger varieties have coarse foliage that mightn't look too attractive(though they could be placed at the back). If you don't want the full-on contrast of yellow with your purples, try the red varieties.

Amaranthus cultivars such as "Intense Purple" and "Velvet Curtains" have beetroot-coloured foliage and plumes of maroon flowers (but take a look at the Amaranthus threads on this forum - it turns out a lot of us are having trouble getting these beauties to grow to anything like the promised 4 feet tall).

Have you considered cannas? They're not annuals but they can be grown really easily from seed in spring to reach flowering size by August (and if they can do that in my garden, I'm sure they'd do even better in yours!) They provide a bit of drama in the border.

Rudbeckia hirta varieties are worth considering, if you think the gold/bronze/browny orange colours would work with the other colours in your border. They are easily raised from seed each spring.

Marigolds - which you mentioned - are a good choice, because they'll flower for ages if you keep them deadheaded. There's also a wide variety of flower colour, shape and height to choose from.

One plant that isn't actually an annual but a short-lived perennial/biennial (but I had to mention it in case you hadn't considered including it) is Verbena bonariensis. The beauty of this plant is that it creates a see-through effect, so it can be planted more or less anywhere in the border and doesn't block your view of, or shade out, surrounding plants. Allegedly hardy to Zone 5.

Good luck with the project - I look forward to seeing some pictures next year!

Hi Ornata,

Your in London...wow...have been following the news and it's just horrible all that has gone on there. I'm sure people on the forums have already offered their sympathies,but want to add mine. I am usually in the New England forum the most and not used to an international group there so it startled me a bit to be corresponding with someone in London. :-)

Thank you for those suggestions for annuals...such a vivid group of annuals too. I can see I need to come to the annual forum more often. I hadn't thought of any of these.

I just googled the Amaranthus 'Intense Purple' and wow, what a show stopper that is! [g] From the few hits that I came up with on the Velvet Curtains, I assume they are not available everywhere. Ooops.. I found a very good photo of the Velvet Curtains that I attached below. Amazing..! Well, when you said Amaranthus, I think I was thinking of cockscomb, which I tried last year that didn't do well for me. This photo is a huge plant. It does mention it wants full sun, but you think I can grow a decent plant in less?

Here is a link for other new varieties of Amaranthus for anyone interested:

http://www.raretrees.org/aman0219.html

The canna idea is one that I will have to pass on. I just can't seem to warm up to tropical looking plants in my garden. I LOVE them in other settings, but I have a colonial cape house and I usually feel comfortable with a cottagey garden style..and cannas make me think of Florida. It is too bad, because the new colors are unbelievable. I am so surprised you can grow them from seed.

I have Rudbeckia hirta 'Indian Summer'' that reseeds for me in another part of my garden. I hadn't thought of that.

Marigolds...I did try a variety called 'Snowdrift' last year with just that idea, but wasn't too thrilled with the habit of the plant. Loved the white pompom blossoms, but it was a messy gangly plant that bloomed very late for me. I realize there are lots to try so I will keep that in mind.

Verbena bonariensis is one that I had been considering for another area, and am hoping to get some. It would add to the overall purple effect though.

The sunflower idea is surprising. I wouldn't have thought I could try them in that location. You are right, the foliage of the large ones is coarse, but maybe I can find one of the smaller ones that I will be happy with.

Thanks again Ornata....yes, I hope I will have photos. I am still trying to figure out how my digital camera works... lol

Adam

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:21223}}

Lychnis coronaria is a tiny magenta flower that looks good between perennials. It's a short lived perennial that reseeds all over. I also use bright colors of annual vinca, which are short. Poppies look nice in spring and then you pull them out. Tall ageratum (2 feet), plume celosia, zinnia, cosmos, nigella. All have their place between perennials.

My garden it mainly perennials, but the annuals I wouldn't garden without are.

Castor Bean Plant
Melampodium
Hibiscus 'Red Shield'
Petunias (they never stop blooming!)
Cleome
Dahlias
And my absolute favorites, Salvias. If you have never grown S. Black and Blue, you should try it. It blooms all summer, but is really starting to fill in nicely now. S. Leucantha is another great one, if you can find it. It's not blooming yet, but it puts on a fabulous fall show.

Just wanted to mention that I'm really enjoyed Zinias in my perrenial garden this year. I tried growing them from seed this spring as a lark with a 10 cent packet of seeds from the dollar store. They were tiny but I put them in anyway and all summer watched as they did nothing. Then about a month ago they shot up a couple of feet (now are 3-4 feet tall) and started blooming all kinds of bright colors, yellow, orange and pink. They are still going strong and really add a much needed dash of color.

Hi Adam,

I am not much of a marigold person but I love the gem series. If you haven't looked at it, the plant has marigold foliage but thinner and airier (is that a word?)
It get tiny yellow blossoms on it all summer. There is no deadheading. I'd say that plant gets to be about a 10' ball around in my garden. I grow the yellow but it also comes in at least orange and gold. And they are easy as pie to grow from seed if started inside.

Adam, thanks for your kind thoughts. I know that our recent terrorist attacks resulted in far less loss of life than scores of other terrible events, both manmade and natural, but somehow it just hits you harder when it's your own city. Not for the first time, I feel lucky that I live, and work, in South London, away from the busy centre... It also means that we can have a garden that's 175 feet long!

As for Amaranthus, if you can keep them growing on (i.e. not doing what I do, which is starting off loads of types of seed and then leaving them sitting far too long in cell trays, when they eventually start to flower without putting on much leaf growth), I'm sure you'll end up with decent-sized plants that flower well. It's got to be worth giving them a try, surely, after seeing those GORGEOUS photos. Even after my disappointing attempts at growing them this year (probably mainly due to my own procrastination detailed above coupled with the good old British maritime climate) I'm still going to have another go next year!

I believe you said you want some color impact. Have you seen flower beds of purple which yours seem to be predominately with the bold colors of impatients? I love the red shades with purple. Also yellows create a whimsical look with purple. Let us know what you decide

I know marigolds have been mentioned already, but I really want to encourage you to find a variety that you like for this. The most incredible combo I had in my garden this year was some purple salvias and Durango Red marigolds. They are not the pom pom type. All I had to do was consistently dead head them. They are still the strongest thing blooming for me without a break.

Here is a link to a shot I found in a VERY EARLY stage of my garden this year. Doesn't look at all like this now, but you will see the color combo. It all get better as things filled in. Hope you like it!

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful:

I love nicotianas. You can choose different colors, sizes, hybrids,etc. and make things different every year.(have to keep deadheaded or picked for bouquets)
I also like 'Rocket' snapdragons. Last year I planted groups of white ones here+there, this year I have light pink...going back to white next year,lol...or maybe a mix.
'Indian summer' Rudbekias-supposed to be annual inZ4 have been blooming since july=yellow/orange
I have a driveway border that gets hot+dry. This has some white vinca(calthranthus?) and dianthus 'ideal pearl'(white with purple center)

Don't underestimate the impact coleus can make in your perrenial bed! Some of the new offerings grow well in sun if watered. These foliage plants look beautiful when the perrenials start to slow down and add interest to the beds. I use my pinch and poke method (see Impatiens thread) to make hundreds of these plants early in the year. Often I only buy one of each variety and just pinch them to make hundreds more. I love them.
Pauline

Ditto on most suggestions here. Verbena bonariensis winter sows nicely as does nigella and larkspur. Consider Impatiens balsam! My direct sown plants are just now bursting into color. I love gomphrena strawberry fields too! It just kinda winds its way around everyone. I LOVE coleus. It's fun to grow from seed, cuttings and fairly inexpensive to purchase some really far out examples!

It's fun to see what people in other lands are doing and how much we are alike and different!

Gee, I haven't been back to this thread in awhile, and I see there are still lots of ideas coming in. I could have sworn I responded to this again, I remember talking about the tall ageratum. Maybe I had to get offline in the middle of a post or something. Sorry about that.

Susan..I have that lychnis coronaria in a full sun location, will it do ok in part shade? I also have that tall ageratum.. Blue Horizon and I was completely absorbed in renovating a back shrub border this spring and early summer and didn't have time for much else. I threw some seed of the Blue Horizon in a large pot that had poppies already growing in it because I didn't have time to find another pot..lol. I forgot that I planted it, then late in the summer I noticed something else growing in the pot. They are just starting to peak, when a lot of other things are gone by. I really like them. Did I mention I got some cactus zinnia at a swap this spring and they are very pretty too. Rose colored, but they open with a cream center, and are a good height. They don't even look like zinnia and I didn't get JBeetles with them either. Are zinnia susceptible to mildew? Because mine developed some. I do water overhead in containers, so that could be why. I've never tried nigella...I should try it.

FlwrPowr...Wow, that Castor Bean plant...isn't that huge leaves? The Hibiscus 'Red Shield' another one that has large leaves and wow..red foliage. I tried dahlias one year, and although I love them, I find them too much work. Can't winter them over, either. Love them though. Yes, I tried the Black and Blue Salvia once and that didn't winter over for me either. You are in zone 5, how do you do it?

jozamom, as I said, the cactus zinnia was great this year!

Nancy...yes, I like the gem series too. I tried a marigold called 'Snodrift' last year that was just about white. I didn't like the habit of growth though and it didn't bloom til very late in the season for some odd reason. I do like the gem series and haven't tried them yet. I usually grow marigolds in the veggie garden and always stick to Queen Sophie. I will have to try the gem series for a change of pace.

Ornata, I will definitely try the amaranthus if I can find the seed to WS. They must be really fun to watch them grow.

Joan...I hadn't thought of using impatiens in my beds. I usually try them in containers...I don't think I ever put red together with purple, but that really sounds good to me right now. Very different from my usual. I especially like the New Guinea Impatiens.

Thanks for that photo of your garden...what a nice combo and I love that name..Durango Red! lol

Franeli, Nicotianas are fragrant too, right? I also like the 'Rocket' snapdragons and think the single colors would be great rather than the mixed. I have Indian Summer rudbeckia in another area of the garden, wasn't sure they would grow with that much shade though.

pauline, I love coleus too. Last year I bought about 4 or 5 of the new varieties, and they grew in containers in that location. I hadn't thought of putting them in the beds. They are very easy too. What is your pinch and poke method?

bakemom, haven't I seen you post to WS? I am going to be a regular there this winter. I want to start collecting seed to start a lot. I have verbena bonariensis on my trade list, but not the nigella and larkspur. I hear the larkspur can be an alternative to delphinium. I haven't tried the nigella because I can't figure out how to use it or what to put it with. On the coleus, can you grow the new varieties from seed? I haven't seen too much available as seed...except the wizard series which I found to be more of a shade coleus. I grew 'Palisandra' this year with HUGE dark leaves from a plug though.

Thank you all for continuing to add even more ideas to this thread. It will make a great reference for people looking to mix the perennials and annuals together.

Adam

Adam, yes the Castor beans are huge, but they are at the back of the border. The Hibiscus gets pretty big too. But my border is big, so I can use the bigger plants. I don't get the Salvia B & B to overwinter either, I just treat it as an annual. I have several Salvias that I grow that aren't hardy for me. They are the best Hummingbird plants you can have, and they create quite a stir with my little winged garden friends. The Butterflies like them too.

Hi FlwrPwr,

It sounds like you have a lovely garden. You must really enjoy the hummers. We haven't gotten any here and I have lived here for 25 years. I have a few other plants that are supposed to attract hummingbirds, but nada. I will keep my eye out for some of those plants though. I might be able to use them as annuals if I could find seed to start myself. I wonder if they could winter sow?

Thanks..
Adam

Adam, there are a few that you could winter sow. I grow Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red', and I am sure you could winter sow that one. I also have a Salvia coccinea that is a pink color, but I can't remember the name of that one. They have reseeded themselves all over the place. If you would like some seeds to winter sow, I could save some for you.

Lori

Hi Lori,

I would love to try to WS a salvia this winter! I couldn't really use a red, unless it was a burgundy or a violet red. If you do have a pink salvia, I would love to have a few seeds of it, I wouldn't need a lot. If there is something on my trade list that you might want to swap for, I would be happy to.

Thanks
Adam

hi,
The annuals I use every year in new perennial borders or just to add a big splash of color all the time are:

Verbena bonariensis - this is so light and airy and looks good with everything. Easily winter sown...

Cosmos - "Cosmic" variety which is a really lovely shade of light orange, also very light and airy and a real attention-grabber

Nasturtiums - I have always loved them and they are so easy..just push seeds into the ground near plants where you want some "filler". Maybe not for a formal garden area though.

Alyssum - white and purple varieties..another good "filler"

Silene "Catchfly" - these are a nice airy filler for early summer when not much else is too spectacular yet. Medium pink small flowers, and easily winter sown. In fact, they reseed readily...

Larkspur - just gorgeous and easily winter sown.

good luck!
Ellen

A Pink Salvia - there are many. Salvia coccinea, an annual and mentioned above as Lady in Red also comes in pink. Salvia coccinea Coral Nymph is a pink and white version and fairly easy to find. A packet planted in March will give a succession of flower spikes from June until frost if you snap off the spent stalks. I grow maybe 20 types of salvias, and among all of them Coral Nymph is my wifes favorite salvia. I'm also surprised you can't overwinter Black & Blue in 7b, perhaps your soil is wet in winter, a sure way to kill B&B.

Hi Ward,

I think I am the one who can't winter over B+B, but I am in z5/6. I enjoy salvias too. Each year, I seem to be adding another one here, another one there..[g]

Is the link below the Coral Nymph salvia? It is a beauty! So they're annuals..wow. I wouldn't have thought it.

Thanks for sharing that plant with me..it is a new one to me.

:-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Salvia Coral Nymph?

Hi Ellen,

I am going to be getting some of that Verbena bonariensis at a swap soon. Where do you put it in your bed?

I found a photo of that Cosmos cosmic..quite a full bushy plant in the photo and shorter than I would have expected for a cosmos. Packs a wallop of color I can see! What do you put that with? I keep toying with the idea of a blue/orange color scheme..but I have so many pinks..purples..

I have a lot of nasturtiums but didn't get to sow them this year. I would have put them in containers though. I should really trim my veggie area with these. I have about 4 varieties I was going to try in the spring and instead we were ripping out bushes..[g]

I used to have a lot of alyssum. I love the fragrance and it attracts a lot of beneficials. I will have to go back to it. I think I stopped growing it when I had to spend $4. a flat of 6 for them and I wasn't starting seed any more. Can these be WS?

Silene..I had that last year. It bloomed pretty late, is that typical?

Haven't tried larkspur yet. I love delphinium but after one season with them, they didn't come back right and didn't look good so I pulled them. How tall can you get larkspur and which are your favorite varieties?

Adam

Here is a link that might be useful: Cosmos 'Cosmic'

wardw, thanks for coming up with the name of 'Coral Nymph'. I knew it, and it's been driving me crazy that I couldn't remember it.
Adam, I will make sure to save you some seed. I sent you an E-mail, but that was before I read this post. I will e-mail you back for an address.
I also think there is a white salvia coccinea, maybe that color would work better in your garden.
Lori

Don't forget coleus! Although not a flower, it adds so much interest to my perennial beds this time of year. I use the pinch and poke method doing it virtually all spring and summer as shown in my photobucket album: "pinch n poke" to propagate hundreds of these from just one plant of each variety. My garden would not look as interesting without these propagated beauties at this time of year.
{{gwi:21227}}
{{gwi:21228}}

Here is a link that might be useful: My pictures

Adam, to answer your questions...I have lychnis in a partly shaded garden and it does OK there. Yes, zinnia does get powdery mildew. Try to keep it in an airy place with consistent watering at ground level. It seems to get it when it's hot and dried out.

What else does well in my partly sunny garden (and getting shadier every year!) is perennial rudbeckia (Goldsturm is one, but I have a tiny flowered perennial native which is darling and robust). Also, tall asters like Hela Lacy and Alma potschke. These all bloom now when the perennial bed is ready for winter. Sorry, I know you asked for annuals, but I couldn't resist.

Paulinep, I'm not contributing to this post but must ask you a question regarding your pics. I've tried posting extremely simple pictures of potted flowers but this site keeps prohibiting me due to their size, I think 60kb is the limit. I've scaled them to the smallest size possible where you can hardly recognize what the picture is. When I see your beautiful landscape pictures I've got to think they are much larger than mine in terms of digital bytes, any suggestions from anyone.

Thanks Lori...I appreciate your offer. :-) Do you have photos of your garden?

pauline...Nice photos..your grass is still green! I had to stop watering my grass and it looks awful. Waiting for some rain, it is the driest summer I can every remember.

Is that a porch on the back of your house? It looks so private and inviting. I just love your front porch. The gated entryway with the planters on the top of the trellis is very different looking.The coleus make quite an accent. I went and looked at the link to your photos...such a nice nice yard you have. You are so lucky. wow you have so many cute things. on your porch and around the yard. The dragonfly doorknocker. Lots of plants that I would like to know the name of. A couple of iris. What is that vine growing up around the front? porch? Is that hyacinth bean vine? Looks like you are a daffodil enthusiast. Do you enter them? Nice little vignettes. Love your mourning doves and your cat! lol Cute photos. Your camera takes very good closeups. Good job with the photos. Very good job.

Susan, glad to know that about the lychnis. I can try it in a different location then. I have been thinking of adding asters..how are you liking your asters? I keep thinking some of them are leggy and too big for me.

Thanks everyone.. Love ideas..and photos too... :-)

I've been extremely happy with TinyPic.com -- try that.

hi Adam
I have the verbena bonariensis in several beds - they look great with just about everything. They look really nice in one bed with hardy hibiscus (pink) and pink and white cleomes. I also love them in combination with several ornamental millet (Purple Majesty)...the effect of the light purple with the burgundy is very cooling.

I don't know what Larkspur variety I have...I think I got the seeds from somebody. Mine don't get more than 2 ft tall so they look great in the middle or front of a bed.

Yep, the Cosmic Cosmos are a really nice variety of cosmos. I have mine with yellow coreopsis, Mexican Sunflower and other yellow/orange flowers. They really stand out. They also look nice with the Verbena bon.

Have fun...
Ellen

Rich, I take all of my pictures in high resolution then use the free program Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/)
to resize my pictures and save them as a reduced version (usually 640x480 size which results in files of about 140 KB. This is the perfect computer screen size. Then I upload these to my photobucket account and cut and paste the tags into my email. Hope this helps.

Adam: We live in Wilmington NC and I am lucky to have a well so irrigation has not been a problem. The back of the house has a raised, very large patio --was cement aggregate that I have laboriously handpainted to look like brick (see separate album on that adventure!) Finished it finally last week too. It is such a large area, it was just too visible and the painted bricks help it to stay down viaually. We have been here for 8 years and I started the garden from scratch 7 years ago, but since I throw everything I have at each new adventure, I tend to overdo things as you can see.
Thank you for all the kind words about my garden, etc. (you can tell I love it can't you?) The vine around the porch (both front and back) is Confederate Jasmine an evergreen for us with the most intoxicating scent when in bloom during May. I do have lab lab on the white garden screen in some of the photos. Love Daffodils, do not enter any just love having them. Thanks for all the comments on my photography too, if you take enough pictures, you are bound to get some good ones and with digital photography I take thousands! Instant gratification and no film to buy/develop. I am on my third camera now. I have so many more great photos, not all of them are on the photo site. I love to make CD slide shows with music and send them to my sister in Massachusetts (New Bedford) since she is not able to visit and can tour the garden too.
Glad to share it with you.
Pauline

Ellen, yes, I can't wait to have the verbena next year. I especially liked it in a photo I saw of it in the fall with a grass that had an orangey tint to it and they were almost the same height...wow.

Well Pauline, you are an experienced photographer with the digital camera and it shows. I have a very small inexpensive one and it has been nothing but trouble and takes awful close ups. Now I am getting a battery needs replacing notice after 8 photos. I thought it would be a good starter camera and we could learn on it before getting a better one, but we haven't even been able to do that..lol

Your yard is just fabulous! I enjoyed very much looking at all the photos and it is amazing what a person can do in 7 years. I CAN tell you love it and I bet your family gets a lot of enjoyment from it. For sure your cat does..lol.

Adam