Where have you been? Haven't seen you around.

Anyway, what's the sun exposure? And your height limit? You mentioned that some were too tall.

Karen

hey Karen! I've been hanging my hat over at a mosaic forum lately, and although the gardening took a back seat all summer (which is why it's in the condition it's in), I'm going gung ho now to clean it back up, so here I am again.

Full Sun, height no taller than 36...MAYBE 48...and soil is excellent and drainage good.

Valueseeds posted their fall offerings last week. Seed sales get my creative juices flowing. Dahlias from seed are nice.

First I would start with several questions...
what kind of garden are you trying to create? If you still want to go with cottage garden, do you want spring bed, summer bed, fall bed? Or you want garden looking the most at certain time?
Low maintenance or you like being busy?
Do you have shrubs or architectural structures to keep interest going?
Focal spots- what is going to be there?
Ornamental grasses have been tremendously popular , many to choose from...
Natives or anything goes?
I would suggest browse good catalogs with pics like Wayside or Khlem for what is new out there. Even Bluestone perennials has enough good pics to see what catches your eye.
Out of seed catalogs I have been looking lately at Plant World Seeds- UK is usually at forefront of most new development in gardening trends so seeing what is newest available always interesting.
If you haven't looked at Gardens North seeds- they always offer things that are rare, native and pics/ presentation/ germination info is good.

Well, so many things should do well. Do you like rudbeckia? There are so many kinds and colors.
Salvia coral nymph
Zinnias- but watch out for height. Most of my big ones were 5 footers this year. Magellans stay nice and compact, and the profusions are winners.
Like hummingbirds? lobelia cardinalis, salvias, nasties
Gaillardia, lots to choose from
Coneflowers-easy, no care, long-lived
Butterfly weed- no care also
Tithonia- new to me this year. There are tall ones and shorter ones (Fiesta Del Sol)
Origami columbine- stay small. Mine like a little shade though. The McCana's Giants are at least 5 ft.
Ever try agastache Purple Pygmy? Really pretty, smells like bubble gum.

I know what you mean about out of control. My wall-to-wall flowers have just become too much and some have to go. My 2nd year potentilla put out lots of beautiful flowers, but were 6 feet wide! They're outa here for sure.

Karen

I'm focusing on the insect world and trying to simplify. So, I'm going to plant masses of Dotted Mint and a new Monarda I found last year. They bloomed for a long time and were swarming with bees and butterflies all summer. I'm also planning masses of red and red-mixed zinnia varieties to attract hummingbirds. I'm going to group all of my scattered plantings of common varieties together--so my BES will all be in one clump, my cone flowers will all be together, etc. I understand butterflies are more attracted to mass plantings than mixtures. Those are just some of my ideas.

Martha

Thompson and Morgan will be posting their 2009 new seeds on the 24th so you might see some interesting new things there.

They've got a preview photo of Cherry Brandy, their new red rudbeckia on their home page right now. That one's going right onto my wish list!

Lynda

Here is a link that might be useful: First ever red rudbeckia available from seed

Oh, boy. How many of us will succumb to that red rudbeckia? I'm drooling.

Karen

Like you, I took a lot of plants that were too tall/too messy out last Fall. I FORCED myself to seek out seeds for shorter plants this year. Grew a lot of dianthus and sweet william (which didn't flower much this year but will next year), melampodium (love it - collecting seeds to grow it in a bunch of places next year), Lavatera "Twins White" at just 12" was great, tons of nasturtiums (never met one I didn't like)and seed dahlias for the first time (bishop's children) which are great bloomers. Also Lobelia Emp. William and Alyssum Royal carpet which has bloomed at the front of the bed non- stop since May. I learned that small can be terrific this year.

I plan to "bring down" another bed next spring! Good luck to you.

Nancy

I like to plant sweet potato vine, the lime colour, near my border edge. The colour blends so nicely with other foliage, and seems to wander around and fill in spaces. Ageratum is a beautiful low bloomer, I'm also a sucker for portulaca which keeps going and going.
My nasties (w/s from seed early spring) are still going strong. I'll be yanking the biggies next year (datura, shastas, some milkweeds), just to "bring it down" in the middle of the bed.

This year I found out that four o clocks will come back from seed and bloom when there isn't as much color in my garden. I have traded for tons now and can't wait to see them all next year. They are so lovely now and have been blooming for weeks. Mine got about 20-34 inches.

OMG, I thought I didn't have anymore extra jugs for WS until I saw those red Rudbeckia............ Those are BEAUTIFUL.

Melissa

OMG look at that Red Rud!!! Yeppers, it's going on the list! Hope they have it available locally at my Agway, which usually carries T&M!
Martha- Thank you for the great idea for moving things together. While I loved my BES this year (they just kept going & going...), they were "all over the place." I've ripped out many immature ones, but I'm sure there are more that I can group for a better show. (thunking head: "Why didn't I think of that?!)
Valueseeds- yeppers- BTDT...spent $24 the other day.

I did miss the 4:00 this year...I think I didn't plant them in the right spots, and def need to get back to the "birds & bees" since 2006 I focussed my efforts on them, and despite the chaos in my garden, the B&Bs do love to hang out. I just need more ORDER!

Wendy- Great idea for the potato-vine. I've been trying to find something to tuck under my daylilies, and that might work to fill in under there.

Linda's list:
what kind of garden are you trying to create? If you still want to go with cottage garden, do you want spring bed, summer bed, fall bed? Or you want garden looking the most at certain time?

E- all of the above. I've been fortunate to have a lot of everything (when I discovered WS in 2005 I planted EVERYTHING I could get my hands on), and my gardens do look 1/2 decent (when cleaned up) for 3 seasons

Low maintenance or you like being busy? Don't have any issues with busy- I LOVE being in the garden, even just to weed.

Do you have shrubs or architectural structures to keep interest going? Yes...they are already in. Didn't realize it, but I have a Mickey Mouse shape going on around my flagpole bed...round bed with shrubs on either end...it seems to work LOL!

Focal spots- what is going to be there? Focals? Huh? Maybe I should add some pictures of what's going on right now so you can see what I've got to work with. I'll get to that later.

Ornamental grasses have been tremendously popular , many to choose from...

Never been a fan of OGs...but I'm not opposed to putting in Dill and Parsley for the BFs.

Natives or anything goes? B. I'm open for anything, and we have nice climate up here, too.

Karen- you got any tips on keeping the Gaillardia in check? Mine are falling all over themselves.

Have you tried the Gaillardia Goblin? It stays in a nice neat mound, the blossoms sitting just above the foliage. This is one of mine.
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If you want that kind I recommend starting with new commercial seeds. Some I started from my saved seeds obviously cross pollinated with something else, probably my burgundy gaillardia, and are sprawling and rambling everywhere.

This is one of my burgurndy this year. This is all one plant.
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I'm still drooling on the keyboard over that red rud. They might replace my burgundy gaillardia this year. I wonder if they really look like the picture...

Karen

Mmqchdygg, I too was going to suggest Gaillardia. If deadheaded every 2 or 3 weeks, it will bloom non-stop from mid June, until the first frost. The 'Goblin' is a nice tidy mound, about 15" - 18" in height, that doesn't flop at all. Oranges & Lemons is about 18" and all of mine grow upright, though less of a mound shape. That one is a hybrid, so can't be wintersown though, but it is such a gorgeous color that it's one of my favorite plants this year. The 'Burgandy' is more like 24" - 30" and a definite flopper, but I absolutely love the color, so I forgive it for its sloppiness. In some areas of the garden, I have staked it, and other areas, I have planted it behind something that compliments it, so that when it leans all over it, it will still look nice : )

'Burgandy' with Coreopsis 'Autumn Blush'

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'Oranges & Lemons'

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'Goblin' (still going strong after 12 weeks of bloom!)

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Bonnie

Thanks for the Goblin pix...while I have some low-growing ones, I am convinced (now that you say yours pollinated with something else) that perhaps mine did, too. The mound LOOKS like a Goblin, but the blooms are sprawling everywhere.

And here's my burgundy when he was more well-behaved last year with some shastas & Musk Mallow Pirouette. It never got to this nice condition this year...and the mallow was also a mess.

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As I was thinking about these Gaillardias, I realized that I DID have the Goblins last year, and forgot that the ones that I'm thinking may have cross-pollinated were moved this time last year to their current spot. I found a picture, and there they were!

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So yes, they WERE Goblins and COVERED in blooms (all gone to seed by the time I got to them to dead-head- oopsie). I guess I can see why the description on the T&M website says you can use them as perennials or as an annual. I guess I'll be doing the annual thing with them from now on (I wonder how they keep their seed from being cross-pollinated...)

wow.... those are beautiful garden pics everyone

mmqc: That really is beautiful. I wish you'd come and redesign my beds.

Karen

Well, see, that's just it. 07 was a "very good year" for my gardens. Things were behaving, and I had clumps of this, and clumps of that.
This year it seemed the ruds overtook everything (even though pretty), I didn't have the time to maintain the weeds, and everything went to he:: in a handbasket in a blink.

See that purple stuff on the right? I don't know what that is, but it didn't do so hot this year, and the root ball seemed to rot, so it got yanked. I really liked that one, too...darnit. The Tall Deluxe Sweet Williams in front of that purpley stuff also did poorly since that birdbath marks the access to the septic, which had to be pumped last fall, so THAT area was butchered by my DH...even though he WAS careful to dig everything up and set it aside...they didn't seem to take hold again, and the SWs were splotchy after that. I'll have to start them again for a '10 showing.

I was feeling frustrated all season, and am finally getting some semblance of order in some spots, but others are perpetually bad...like that spot to the top left behind the lilacs...which you can't really tell from looking at this picture, but is basically a barren wasteland where nothing seems to want to grow. I think there's just enough of a slight slope away from the house that the moisture is pulled away, and creates hardpacked soil. The easiest cure would likely be to mulch it, but since I'm always using it as a thru-way to the front yard, I yanked everything out except a Flowering ALmond bush in there, and the rest will be reseeded with grass. Sigh. I'm certain I can find something to expand to replace it ;)

So anyway, what I'm saying is this: I miss what I had in '07, and likely most of it can be blamed on all the rain we had all season, but I'll be right there with you all winter sowing everything in sight. Can't wait for the stores to start selling seeds...I'll have to get my fix online. Not sure what condition my seed stash is in for germination.

How much sun does the area you call "a barren wasteland" get? The west side of my main perennial bed has more of a slope than I realized when we created it (wish I had thought to have the landscaper terrace that area), and I have trouble getting things to grow there too. It doesn't help that the wind whips through that area, because the space between my house and my next door neighbor's creates sort of a wind tunnel affect. Anyway, what has done well over there instead of mulch, which just blows away, is the groundcover Delosperma congestum. It needs quite a bit of sun to bloom well, but it will survive in part shade. Mine gets about 5 - 6 hours of afternoon sun. There is also a white one, and a dark pink one too. You could also try groundcover sedums there.

Delosperma congestum (Hardy Iceplant)
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Delosperma kelaidis 'Mesa Verde'
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The problem I have is that the air conditioning unit and garbage cans are on that side of the house, so I'd like something tall to block them from view, but the wind is so bad through there that everything tall ends up flopping everywhere. Several of the plants on this end of the bed are repeated in the middle, and on the right end of the bed, and those same plants are much taller and more vigorous on the flatter, less windy sections. For example, that Coreopsis 'Sunburst' is about 18" tall, the ones at the other end of the bed are closer to 30". If you look behind the flopping Achillea, you can see the AC and garbage cans. What you can't see is a 'Karl Foerster' ornamental grass, which is growing very slowly, that hopefully will hide things a bit by next year, but I have tried three different kinds of shrubs in that spot, and they either sit there without growing an inch, or they wither and die.

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I hope you don't think I'm trying to hijack your thread with my own issues. I just want you to know that every yard has its problem areas, and they are much more noticable to us, than other people that see our gardens. When I looked at your photo, I didn't see your problem area at all, only a gorgeous flower bed! I'll keep trying new things in that tough spot, but as long as the rest of the garden is in good shape, I don't let that one area bother me too much.

Bonnie (whose hoping that this post comes across as an encouragement and not a criticism)

Bonnie- Your post is totally on topic, and much appreciated! This bed that we're looking at...is it sloped towards me so that the Fescue (is that fescue?) in the front is slightly lower than the rest of the plantings?
If so, then YES, this is exactly the 'issue' that I have behind the lilac bush...between there and that window you see to the left of the front door.
All of my front gardens are direct southern exposure, but the area I'm talking about back there gets little in the way of sun because of the lilac bushes.
Once the sun goes around to the left, it gets afternoon sun. But again, for some odd reason (the slight slope I'm guessing), it's dry as a bone. Crab grass heaven. I had some Malva Fastigiata planted over there next to the window, and I guess it did well only because of a HUGE LONG tap root that I didn't realize it had until I moved it the other day (to clear out for switching back to grass). Now that I think about it, since I was clearing that out, the better place for it would have been in FRONT of that lilac bush (another big bare spot that is pretty dry all season. Funny how if you step 10 feet to the right (other side of the door), the moisture levels are good, and very little issues.
Hey, thanks for listening to my rantings on this thread, btw.

Bonnie: Very pretty. We all have those heat pumps or air conditioners or something we try to hide.

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mmqc: Do you compost? There's nothing like lots of organic matter for improving soil and it can increase water retention tremendously. Maybe the problem with that area isn't only sun exposure, or lack thereof, but also a soil problem if it doesn't retain moisture. Have you tried plants there that like more shade? Is it also possible that that area doesn't get much rain due to proximity of the house, overhang of eaves, etc?

Compost can only help and can't hurt.

Karen

Yep, and also on the section along the side of the house, it slopes away from the house. The area where I have the Delosperma is behind the Achillea. I planted it there after losing several bags of mulch to the wind, and it has done an effective job of preventing soil erosion in that area. I bet it would work in your spot too, or a groundcover sedum, like 'Dragon's Blood', or Sedum kamtschaticum variegatum. You could still plant some upright things too, but at least it would give you something other than bare ground there. It made me able to live with that spot until I can find something taller that can tolerate those tough conditions.

Bonnie

I live for my compost heap...which reminds me I need to call Farmer-Boy down the street to bring me my base load of cow poop to start my new pile.

The soil is very good all around the house...it's the water retention that's bad right there. I admit that I haven't amended it with compost like I should...why is it that I end up neglecting the spots that need it most, and paying more attention to more favorite spots in the yard...

That'll be my chore for tonight. Since most of the stuff is out of there, I'll dump in a couple WBs full, and go buy some grass seed. Then I'll pick out another section of the yard to rip UP the grass (can't tell DH about this part, though). HA!

Well, there you go, you're on your way.

I love my compost, too. Spread and dug in some finished stuff today and I'm too tired to stand up. I might just sit in this chair until tomorrow.

Karen

My favorite new-to-me plant this year was Agastache Honeybee Blue. It had a very long bloom time and attracted tons of bees. I'm going to include it in my veggie garden next year to improve pollination.

My favorite combo was interplanting cypress vine and Purple Hyacinth Bean on the same cattle panel trellis. The red and purple was delicious and it has made for a non stop hummingbird show.

Many ornamental grasses have very long root system which will prevent any soil erosion, and you can always place tomato cage once it starts growing to support from wind- works like a charm and inexpensive.
BTW please do not put anything too close to your air conditioner units, it suppose to have space around it ;)
for those tough to grow areas- go with the natives- do a search on prairie plants for dry areas- added benefit of them being self sufficient and not fussy.