unsung heroes in your garden

15 years ago

Which plants do you think deserve more talking about for either their disease resistance, or beautiful flowers, or a great fragrance? Which plants do you grow and with more people grew?

Mine are, what I can think of right now...

Vitex

Great bush, covered with bees

Fernleaf lavender

I grow it in my rose garden, and for almost a year now, it has been carefree...Beautiful plant

Lemon Basil

Great addition to my full sun rose garden..Masses of leaves: every time you walk by it and touch it, the air is filled with the lemon fragrance...Always covered in bees

Mexican Heather

I think it is so cute...Lovely flowers, adorable foliage

Dove orchid, Dendrobium crumenatum

Easy to grow, and so rewarding. I do not see this plant in collections often, yet is not all that hard to find

The beauty of this plant...Lovely white flowers with the strongest smell of jasmine and gardenia.

And even though the flowers only last a day or two, they show up throughout the summer season, after a nice heavy rain...

Another orchid which Southern gardeners will enjoy

Cymbidium Nut

Blooms twice a year, and is a warm grower

Carefree and very fragrant: to me, it smells like raspberries and roses

I know I will think of more :)

What are your heroes?

Olya

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Comments (8)

solstice98
15 years ago
coral honeysuckle vine
porterweed
brugmansia
lovely bananas and plantains
Belinda's Dream rose
coleus
Mexican sage
pentas (especially the tall pink ones)
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thonotorose
15 years ago
Louis Phillipe, the Cracker Rose.
Blanche La fitte
Buff Beauty
Duchess de Brabant
Maggie
The Bogies
Rain Lilies, Zephyranthes.
Impatiens, esp the white double
Marconi Peppers
Papayas
Epis
Pandora vine (Can be invasive. I pick and destroy the rare pods that develop.)
Broms
Crotons
Hibiscus
Moss Roses, one of my all time favorites.
Caladiums
Ipe tree
PeltaPhorum trees
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barbcoleus
15 years ago
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olyagrove
Original Author
15 years ago
nice!
yes, I was thinking impatients too...wonderful for adding color to shaded areas
Cracker Rose is certainly a hero in the south

Another one I thought about...Blue daze. Love the plan, especially planted next to Prosperity rose
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the_musicman
15 years ago
Great topic! I like the list so far.
Let me add a few things that I grow. Just about all of this stuff is low-maintenance, high-reward :)

Lemongrass - Cymbopogon citratus
Large clumping grass that bursts with lemon scent and flavor.

Sweet Flag - Acorus calamus
Has an indescribable sweet scent and a highly medicinal root. Works great in a marginal water garden.

Mexican Tarragon - Tagetes lucida
A perennial Marigold with surprising tarragon-flavored leaves and edible gold flowers. Good for tea or seasoning.

Society Garlic - Tulbaghia violacea
Leaves are like a cross between garlic and onions. Pinkish flowers smell good too.

Southernwood - Artemisia abrotanum
Feathery, whitish-green foliage smells like lemon-cedar. Awesome for potpourri or air-freshening. Sun and drought tolerant plant.

Yellow Anisetree - Illicium parviflorum
Native large shrub or small tree that survives with near total neglect. Leaves smell like licorice or anise and the seed-pods look just like the true star-anise, Illicium verum.
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juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
15 years ago
Soltice98: I have the tall red pentas but wasn't aware that there are also tall pink ones. Is there any distinguishing feature about the tall pink that would identify it as such when one is buying a new pentas plant? I don't recall ever seeing it offered. Also, do you find the tall pinks to be butterfly and hummer attractors like the tall red? - June
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atreelady
15 years ago
I especially like carefree dependable plants that don't wilt if I don't water them, don't care if I don't fertilize them, don't care if it freezes a little or gets too hot.
These I have in the sun -
African Iris (Dietes iridioides)
Blanket Flower
Confederate Jasmine
feverfew
calendula
butterfly weed
primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
purselane
Tassel Flower
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Broms
Confederate Jasmine
Crossandra
Firebush
Madagascar Periwinkle - (once established)
Mandevilla
mother in law tongue
oyster plant
Passion Flower
Phillipine Violet
Spanish Iris (Dietes bicolor)
Varigated Flax Lily

I love my other plants but it is time consuming to have to water them every day.
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annafl
15 years ago
Olya, that's a beautiful cymbidium. One of these years I'm going to have to try one.

I have to say live oaks is my number one. They need nothing, give perfect shade almost every day of the year- which makes it bearable to do some gardening in this weather and creates the perfect place for a table and chairs to sit and enjoy the garden.

Cycads of all types. Extremely carefree plants and almost always look good. I have several dioon spinulosum, dioon edule, encephalartos ferox, ceratozamia hildae and a couple of other ceratozamias, cardboard palms, and coontie (altho these are native, they are the only troublesome ones for me and look bad about half the year).

My beloved tall, pink pentas and the starburst pentas. I love these so much. I use them en masse wherever I can. Any time I see them at a nursery, I buy them no matter what. I use them as filler just about everywhere. They bloom every day of the year, need little, and the butterflies and bees love them.

Furcreas- again, they need nothing and always look good. I love the structure they give the garden.

Japanese fern trees- yes, they need little, look good 10 or more months of the year, and the birds love to nest in them. I love their tropical looking foliage.

Floss silk tree- No other tree in my garden gets more admiration and attention from others. I love it too. Needs nothing. Has interesting trunk and pretty foliage. Blooms in the fall. It is deciduous for a few months, but still looks good without leaves!

Alright, someone stop me!

Anna
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unsung heroes in your garden

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solstice98

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unsung heroes in your garden

Comments (8)

solstice98

thonotorose

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