Outstanding plant of the year was Coreopsis Presto. Flowered heavily and forever. A little dead-heading keeps it going. Blooms sit at 15 inches and it pairs well with Monarda Petite Delight.

Worst disappointment was a nasty dahlia from Parks. Looked bedraggled and flopped on the ground. And when I tried to kill it, it had the audacity to come back.

MBWD

I had read some bad things about the color of S. Banana Cream

Much of that was probably from me ;); a very disappointing shasta daisy.

MBWD, I had "Presto" in my garden a couple of years back. It did well for me in its first season but didn't make it through the winter. I have had many coreopsis but only two right now have proven hardy for my location. First is "Cosmic Eye" and the other is "Early Sunrise".

It's fun to read new topics in the middle of winter like this, christinmk. Thank you for starting this thread.

- What was your favorite plant of 2014?
I have to say Mertensia virginica. For the past 4 or 5 years, I have been slowly building up the stock. Each spring I would watch for volunteer seedlings and grab any seedlings at plant swaps. In 2014, I had a bumper crop of seedlings and many mature clumps had a spectacular show.

-What plant most disappointed you in 2014?
I would not say they disappointed me, but rather that I got tired of ornamental grass, so I dug out Miscanthus yaku-jima and Korean Feather reed grass and planted some bulbs and tree seedlings in their place.

-What NEW plant are you particularly excited to see return (hopefully!) in spring 2015?

Double Bloodroot! Someone here posted a source for it so I ordered 6! Six double bloodroot. Imagine that. I hope they come back because I had dreampt of it for so long and they were just about the most expensive plants I have ever purchased.

Last summer, I traded for Colchicum 'Lilac Wonder' and autumnale. I hope they come back and give me a better show than last fall.

-What plant(s) are on your "Must Have" list for 2015?
I don't think I will get anything new. For several years now I have focused on increasing the number of old favorites and not replacing any that did not do well.

CMK - congratulations on the promotion! Is there some particular area/function etc. that you are now in charge of?

I'm just beginning my 'winter gardening' activity of sorting through last year's purchases and pictures, organizing things and starting to plan what needs doing for this year. It's hard to pick a favorite plant, partly because different areas of the garden have different themes and different 'stars'. So I have different favorites in different areas.... For example, the blue hostas around the small backyard patio are some of the oldest plantings here (from 2000) and, while not in-your-face showy, set the calm, quiet beauty theme for the backyard. (The intense blue color fades to green by late July).

The front garden is more about colorful shows. The flowering of the hardy hibiscuses in August have become one of the most-anticipated events in the front garden, although the front garden has a lot of divas competing for attention over the spring and summer!
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The north and south alley gardens' showiest 'stars' are clematises of various sorts over quite a long period of time.
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The biggest disappointment in 2013 was that last year's brutal winter killed all the wisterias' flowerbuds, so for the first time since 2006, we had no spring wisteria flowers. Given the cold temperatures and windchills so far this month, I expect a repeat of that non-performance for this spring too :-( At least the Henryi clematis that grows into the Chinese wisteria still bloomed in 2013 and will, hopefully, do the same this year.

There's nothing new in particular that I'm anxiously waiting to see how it does - although I am curious to see how well the haskap shrubs (Lonicera caerulea) grow this year. It will likely take several years for them to start fruiting though.

I don't have anything particularly interesting on the shopping list for this year so far. I'm mainly in edit mode and working on adding to the ground layer in the front bed - I've started to try to emphasize purple-leafed heucheras, dwarf iberis and alpine strawberries as a groundcover combination. I seeded some strawberries in late summer to add to the ones that are already there so it'll be interesting to see how many seedlings appear.

January and February are hard months to get through! I more or less hibernate through them.... :-)

-woody, thank you! That really stinks about your Wisteria. Have you ever tried any protectant type products/sprays to reduce winter damage? We have one called "wilt stop" that is supposedly good for reducing winter kill/burn. I cant' vouch for its effectiveness...I've only used it to prevent wind & sun burn on transporting trees.

Your Clems are amazing. If mine is even half as spectacular as yours I'll be thrilled!!

My job duties as AM are still rather unclear actually. The manager was recently let go, so I've had to do a lot of ordering for the landscape division, pricing, and commercial bids, all of which he did formerly. I've never done this sort of thing before, so I'm feeling hugely overwhelmed. I'm hoping the new manager can take over this part of the job, since I find it tedious and am not very good at it, lol.

Ordering for the retail nursery (landscape division is our parent company, but separate) allows me to branch out into some of the more unusual plant material, which am infinitely excited about! I pre-ordered a lot of cool things last fall, which I'm hoping sell well and prove to the owner that unique plants DO sell.

Otherwise, I think a lot of my job requirement will be delegating/overseeing, hiring, job training, scheduling as well as including my old duties as salesperson, cashier, and occasional delivery/installation. I have a feeling I'll be learning a lot more of the 'business side' of nursery work this year too.
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: wilt stop

This post was edited by christinmk on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 20:18

CMK - that sounds like you've got lots of opportunities to branch out into whatever part of the business interests you. Is this a local business or part of a larger chain of some sort? How much of the business is retail plants vs. landscape design/installation?

Re the wisterias (we have both a Chinese and a Japanese wisteria) - we grow both as 'trees'. The Chinese one is the oldest one. We keep it to about 8-10' tall and 6-8' wide. The Japanese one is younger and we keep it smaller at 6' or so. But neither of them would be easy to spray or otherwise winter-protect. When they were young - and short - we did occasionally throw a sheet over them when frost threatened just as the flowerbuds were expanding. But all-winter protection is really not feasible - and not something I'd be inclined to do anyway! If they can't survive the conditions, too bad....! It's only the flowerbuds that died - the 'tree' part is fine. The main reason I grow the clematis into the Chinese wisteria is to have flowers after the wisteria flowers have finished - and to provide flowers in years like last year! I was also growing clematis with the Japanese one but changed my mind on what one I wanted with it, so I need to plant something else with it this year. I like the wisterias as just interesting green 'trees' so the loss of the flowers isn't too devastating - but it's nicer when they flower!!

I think clematises like the neutral-to-alkaline soil here. Also I don't cut them back hard - just trim them up a bit to remove winter-killed bits and control size a little. They seem to thrive on that. I did have more of a problem with wilt in 2014 than usual though. I forgot to fertilize them in the spring and I think that contributed to stress - since they flower so heavily, I think they need that extra boost from a dose of fertilizer.

'woody', I especially love that first picture (with the Persicaria). As I recall you have a few of these Polymorphas in different lighting conditions. Is this one in mostly shade?

I too love clematis. Having them in one's garden adds that necessary vertical element. For awhile I had thought I was at my limit for these plants as I had run out of plant accessible wall space but once I discovered the use of obelisks, I was able to add several more clems.

(Did you really lose your "Sweet Autumn" clematis to last year's polar vortex? If so have you, or will you, replace it?)

rouge - yes, I have multiple Persicaria polymorphas in conditions ranging from full sun to quite a lot of shade. The patio one in the first picture is in the shade of the nearby tall, old white ash so it is shaded much of the day but the shade is not very dense. The Persicaria flowers quite nicely there although the flowers are a few days later to start than the plant in full sun, the plant has a more lax habit, and the flowers are less dense and less stiffly upright than they are in full sun - but it's definitely worth growing them in that degree of shade!

Yes, 'Sweet Autumn' bit the dust last year! I haven't yet replaced it because a 'Harlequin' honeysuckle that had been previously smothered by the clematis was showing a bit of life so I'm waiting to see if it recovers enough to reclaim some territory!

Beautiful, davids10.

I love delphiniums, but they do seem to belong on a short-lived perennial list. They almost always only last a maximum of a couple of years in various perennial gardens I've installed and maintained here.

Gorgeous pic 'david'. I really should try one in our garden. Any suggestions as to a specific variety? (Is it humid weather that they don't thrive in?)

delphiniums don't like hot and humid beyond that i can only say they either do or they don't-most people say don't-plants are a mystery:-).--------woody great clematis, i also live with severe late spring frosts-went for seven years with no wisteria flowers and have had years when bad frost just when they were leafing killed the entire plant, but i keep trying. ----clematis recta is a great plant-purple foliage and a cloud of white.

more delphiniums and eremurus on the left-after several years of neglect decided i had to get them going again. i grow delphiniums from seeds and cuttings every year-they seem to respond badly to being rootbound which nursery stock almost always is.

does anyone know a source for lonicera graham stuart thomas-lots in the uk but can't find one in us.-thank you barb for the info-ordered it from joy creek-very kool. i had it years ago and posts about plants freezing to death reminded me i need to have it again.

This post was edited by davids10 on Sat, Jan 17, 15 at 0:00

David - great delphiniums! I don't see stakes but they look pretty tall - which kind are they? Ten years or so ago I used to grow the shorter ones - Magic Fountains and Crystal Springs (which I don't see listed anywhere now) - from seed. Most have disappeared but there is still a dark purple-blue one and a white one that keep coming back. Both have their roots near the crushed limestone base under the brick edging in the beds they are in - I gather they like soil on the alkaline side so maybe the easy access to lots of lime is why these two have persisted while the others disappeared. The best-looking delphiniums always seem to be in pictures from very cold places (e.g. northern Alberta and Saskatchewan or in the arctic!), so they probably loved last winter! :-)

That Clematis recta looks very interesting.. I see it listed in Lost Horizon's on-line listing; I'd bet it's not otherwise to be found around here! I will have to plan a spring expedition to Lost Horizons....:-)

We were posting at the same time David....

I have only ever succeeded in getting one eremurus to survive - it's under the eaves on the south side of the house. Drainage is good there because of the gravel/drainage for the foundation. So I assume drainage is very important for them - what is your soil like where they grow?

rouge 21 and anyone who has trouble overwintering correopsis of any variety.

I love correopsis and have many varieties. The main reason I like them so mush is that they are profuse bloomers right until frost and that's the problem. They bloom so much they don't have the energy to survive the winter. If you cut off all blooms and buds about 3 weeks before your expected frosts they can build up their energy reserves to over winter.

I tend to leave 1 plant so I can gather seeds. I leave a few seed pods on and cut off any flowers and buds. After I gather the seeds I cut off the seed pods. This way I always have these lovely plants in my garden

woody-out doing garden cleanup, beautiful day here in 60's but dry. most of the delphiniums i have growing now are the belladonna series and something sold as gertrude jekyll heritage. 3-5' . i don't stake and normally am ok. doing the old pacific coast hybrids from seed this year, will probably have to stake those. will also do cuttings from the darkest blue. ------yes, eremurus need good drainage. when i lift them i gently tug the separate plants apart. i plant them in regular rich garden soil with 1/2" of sand and aquarium gravel on top, press them down and cover with about 1/2" of good soil. it's important not to disturb them except to transplant. transplant time is when the foliage has withered which here in reno is usually late june. love your hostas-am determined to do more with mine this year.------forgot to say that delphiniums want the best soil you can give them and if you throw some broken up concrete into the hole they'll be appreciative.

This post was edited by davids10 on Fri, Jan 16, 15 at 18:23

Beautiful Delphs (& garden!) David. Good tips on the foxtails. I've tried a couple times without much luck. Perhaps they dislike our extreme winter wet....

-woody, it is a local nursery. It's hard to separate the two since the nursery supplies the plants for the landscape side. In terms of separate profit, landscape definitely outstrips us. We are a full-fledged retail nursery though...three acres total with a store for hard goods, three greenhouses, perennials, shrubs and a large tree field.
CMK

unusual leaved verbascum discovered while running mulching mower over front garden. in the past have had butterscotch, banana custard and thapsis in the general area so will be interested to see. temp is 66 and rapidly rising which is a shame because of garden danger and because we leave for kauai tomorrow. always more pleasant to leave for the tropics in a howling blizzard. good late winter gardening to all and will see you in feb.

Heucheras. It was my first year for them and I never would have tried them if not for the GardenWeb. I really, really liked them, especially the Blackberry Ice and Raspberry Ice.

Some of my faves--not sure how to post multiples...here's a no name hardy Geranium that never fails to thrill me!

Beautiful pics everyone!

Eryngium 'Miss Wilmott's Ghost'--I love it from beginning to end!

Miss Wilmott later in the season.

I have too many faves to choose! There are also many new plants that the jury's out on till later this year. I sort of unconsciously block out a lot of gardening thoughts this time of year because I know that when I finally dive in I'll be laser focused...it's not time for me yet, though. LOL!

This post was edited by catkin on Mon, Jan 19, 15 at 23:39

-catkin, that Eryngium is wonderful. The ones I've grown have always been extremely floppy. Not sure why, as my soil isn't particularly rich. What's your soil like?

Ps. if you use the 'upload a picture' feature in your preview post screen you can only post one picture at a time (per post). If you have a photo hosting website (photobucket, picturetrail, flickr, etc) you can paste the pic html code in your messages and show multiple per post.
CMK

CMK, if you don't want floppy in an Eryngium go with the very readily available "Big Blue". I love this plant and it is very much upright (just don't give it rich soil).

(That reminds me of (former? GW member) wieslawl59's Eryngium "Forncett Ultra". He had posted pictures of it and it is gorgeous. I have never seen it for sale on-line or in person so maybe it is only available in Europe or goes by a different name.)

I am looking forward to seeing the Kintzley's Ghost honeysuckle that I planted fall 2013. Last year it had a few flowers but grew like gangbusters past the top of the upended hog panel I attached to the fence for it like it wanted to be the world's tallest menorah. I hope to see a lot of those cool silvery bracts next year.

I am also curious as to whether many of the seedling Heucheras will survive the winter. Also some new iris to look forward to.

Not looking forward to the next years crop of garlic mustard, woodbine and especially buckthorn. Not happy that a Stachys plant I bought marked Helen von Stein was just a seedling one like any other.

For 2015 so far I am interested in:

-"Penny's Worth" Daylily

-Liriope Muscari variegata

-Goldenrod "Fireworks"

-Campanula persicifolia "Takion White"/Blue

-Campfire rose

-Aurinia saxatilis 'Summit'

- Delphinium (in the Millenium series)

This post was edited by rouge21 on Thu, Jan 22, 15 at 12:22

After seeing David10's gorgeous delphiniums I want to take one more stab at growing them, it vexes me to say that it's one plant that I haven't been able to grow with any success they always peter out on me. They make such a lovely architectural statement, maybe if I try just one more time :).

Annette

First congratulations on your promotion.
I have a lot of new Hostas that I am looking forward to but for here I would say one of my favorites this year was like you a Filipendula.
F. Red Umbrellas is one I have grown for a couple of years now but this year it was mature.
This pic will also show Persicaria polymorpha and it really is an all time favorite.

Here Is a close up of the foliage of Filipendula 'Red Umbrellas' taken on too sunny a day, it looks a little washed out.

...how lovely...well, they're all lovely....
I can get that Persicaria over here... but maybe too big for my garden...which is a shame..I should like to try it.. sometime maybe...

My biggest disappointment was Heuchera 'Vulcano' It grew extremely well but the colour of the foliage was not the orangey tone it should have been. It just looked very run of the mill.
I have a group of 5 so this year I may keep 2 or 3 of them from flowering to see if that makes a difference.
I am hoping that Coreopsis permathread 'Red Satin' comes back in spring and Echinacea 'Julia'.
Must haves - Too many! lol

Wonderful pics PA. (I am see more and more good reports of Filipendula...I know I planted one somewhere last August but I have no idea where!)

Thanks Rouge. I have never met a Filipendula I didn't like. Yes even Queen of the Prairie in the right spot ( someone referred to it as Thug of the Prairie lol).
F. p. Elegans and F. Kahome are a couple of others I really like.
Also ulmaria 'Variegata has been one I have enjoyed for years.

-Perenn.all, thank you! Beautiful garden. What is the low variegated plant across the path in your 1st pic? Comfrey?

Your Red Umbrellas is incredible. I bought one a few years back, but it is nowhere near as nice as yours. Does your plant stay nice looking thru summer?

Mine gets so frumpy and/or rusty after blooming. Perhaps it is heat stress or something? we are quite hot/dry come summer.

-Doug, good to know about that particular Sea Holly being flop-resistant.
CMK

Thanks christinmk - Yes, it is Comfrey. Symphytum grandiflorum 'Goldsmith' is a great little plant. That is a group of 3.
F. Red Umbrellas is in its third year in this moisture retentive spot that gets just a little shade from SW sun. Knock on wood it has been flawless.
I have had some rust issues with F.u. 'Variegata'. It gets full sun and the soil is a little drier. We are very humid here and so some years are worse than others for rust.
I am a fan of every plant shown / listed. Love all the pics!

Peren.all - your 'My Page' info says you have a nursery....? Are the pictures from your personal garden or from a display garden at the nursery? If the latter, can you tell us where the nursery is in case any of us are close enough to check it out in person come spring... :-)

woodyoak - I do have a nursery. The pics are from my personal garden which has become a display garden for the public as well. I still do all the gardening except for one section that is our daughters garden.
We welcome everyone and are approximately 40 miles SW of Ottawa. We would be delighted if anyone were close enough to come.
I consider myself a gardener first and feel in fine company here on GW. So many crazed gardeners with stunning gardens and expertise.
If you or anyone wishes to you can certainly email me.

Darn! Ottawa is definitely out of my area.....

woodyoak - Pity. I did check your page and it did seem you were more southerly for sure.

Christin thank you. All my pics are on my computer--transferred from my phone by my dear nephew! I don't mind posting them separately, though. My soil is a little rich, I guess. I know more of what it isn't than what it is, I guess!

Lovely pics! That P. polymorpha's been on my list a while--this is the year! LOL

-Peren.all, do you find the comfrey to be invasive at all?

I passed a large 2gal specimen up at another nursery in town and keep regretting that decision!
CMK

christinmk - Golldsmith has a wonderfully contained habit of growth. It expands in a tidy rough circle and is in no way invasive.
The flowers open pink, fade to blue then white, in a quietly beautiful way.
It is a great performer in nice rich soil. I really enjoy mine.

This is a fun thread, loving this!

My favorite plant of last year was probably my hollyhocks- first year ever giving them a try in a sunny border. Last year they were little clumps of foliage hidden away, I had even forgotten that I wintersowed them the season prior. But then last year they sent up spikes and bloomed. I know that hollyhocks have been a common sight in many gardens for a long time, but everyone I had over at my house asked me about them- they had never seen hollyhocks before! I had never seen them before in the flesh either until last year. And boy, are they beautiful. I had a lovely view out of this window through July of last year.

I was disappointed by my hostas- not because they didn't grow or looked nice for a while or so on, but because they were much loved by my growing chickens like a salad.

I am most excited to see some new lavenders next year! I'm most excited about getting to begin harvesting some of said lavender.

Must haves for me this year, so far have been more perennial herb selections. Lavenders, sage, maybe rosemary, mints... whatever I can get to come back and thrive each year. I love using fresh herbs for more than just in cooking, and I use them a lot. Looking forward to more of a bounty in my garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: More new lavender perennial ideas

pinusresinosa, I agree about hollyhocks. The garden centers stopped carrying them because "they are your grandmothers perennial" or "they are not popular". So now people have not seen them and are re-discovering them. 20 years ago a red hollyhock was the center of my Gertrude Jekyll color border.
MBWD

My favourite of 2014 was a new coneflower, Raspberry Truffle - despite being new, it didn't stop blooming all summer and all fall until frost. Incredible!

Another surprise was an astilbe 'Fanal' that I almost threw in the compost last year because it had performed so poorly for 2 years in a row.

And since many of you talked about delphiniums; I only have one pic taken the day after hurricane Arthur - I was shocked at how well both the delphiniums and foxglove (in the foreground) faired out. Also, both the foxgloves and delphiniums bloomed 3 times after shearing them last summer.

Meanwhile, the biggest disappointment were the peonies! We had a very cold spring and so they bloomed later than usual, but the hot sun faded them right out.

pinusresinosa~ What beautiful hollyhocks!!! I would be thrilled to see those beauties in my garden. A friend of mine up North just spent several days with me, and brought me some seeds from her hollyhocks. Should I plant them now? She only marked the yellow with red throats, and the rest are mixed colors. Any helpful hints in sowing would be SO appreciated.
Thank you~ Mertie

Mertie, there's a thread right now on the cottage garden forum about starting hollyhocks from seed. On August 21 there's an entry by daves10z7annv which has good directions for direct seeding in the garden.