Besides roses
Rosefolly
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
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is it just roses for you guys
Comments (41)Good thread. Roses are the queens of my garden, of course, but queens need courts and the courts ideally are brilliant. I do most sincerely believe that a garden of just roses is sterile and dull, no matter how wonderful the roses may be. I also have fairly frequent infatuations. I can't remember ever having actually fallen out of love with a longed-for plant, but some just don't work out for me, and I either forget them or I set them aside with a sigh and ongoing regret. Acidophile plants don't grow here. I can forego azaleas, though the deciduous fragrant kinds that are close to the species are beautiful. Camellias are harder to let go: I currently have a small one in a pot, and others may join it. I honestly regret blueberries. Rhododendrons are an example of a vast and beautiful class of plants that I can perfectly well live without--though, if I lived in a country where rhododendrons were what prospered, I would grow rhododendrons. I still have a bee in my bonnet about ginger lilies, and if I can get roots (tubers, whatever they're called) without spending a fortune, I'll try them again in pots. I have unsatisfied longings for varieties of box and of daphne: plants can be had, but they cost too much. I lust for lilacs, and intend to get them one day, but it will take time and the lilacs will be a life project. I love aromatic plants, which are reasonably priced, available, grow well for me, and are easy to propagate. I've loved lavender for years, and fortunately it loves my garden; and I've just discovered sages in all their magnificent variety. Rosemary, phlomis, artemisia, perovskia. Thyme is fussy and dies out, unfortunately because I greatly adore thyme. Each successive wave of desire settles down, and if the desired plants work for my conditions I add them to my growing harem, knowing them and loving them in all their beauty and variety. Costs are a limiting factor: I can't go into the collection of peonies in a big way, not because they're not wonderful but because they're simply expensive for my pocketbook. The other limit is time: I don't have enough of it to keep track of all my loved plants, recording names and keeping them labeled; hundreds of roses are work enough for my collector's instincts. Other passions, satisfied and not: clematis, naturally; osmanthus; irises, which are a prime flower here; evergreen shrubs in general; magnolias, which are a killer longing, as they're hard to site here, but not so hard I can renounce them with a light heart, and they're among the most meltingly beautiful of flowers. So far I've been strangely immune to daylily lust. I could very easily fall over the precipice and fall madly in love with tender cyclamen. I appreciate hellebores more every year, but they're hard to site in my garden--I may have more room for them in a few years. Anything that smells wonderful is a candidate. I wish I could find a nursery that offered a decent collection of honeysuckle. Barberries are exciting. Oh, and I forgot: Sansevierias, of which I have a modest collection: the polar opposite to roses, in terms of what they have to offer in plant beauty. I love them, and I want more, who knows why. Also I'm fond of succulents for their grand sculptural qualities, and I particularly love agaves. Melissa P.S. I know those beetles. They love fritillarias too, I'm afraid....See MoreThornless,Climbing Roses near pool?
Comments (14)Thanks everyone for the information! You all have been really helpful! I planted a star jasmine at another home, and I do remember that being a nice plant. There is a family-owned nursery less than a mile from my house. They are really great with plants that do well only in this area. I will definitely talk to them!! They don't seem to carry very many varieties of roses. (There is another larger family-owned nursery across town that has a great website that I have visited. ) That's why I posted to this forum. Obviously, I don't have much experience with roses!! Basically knock-out roses is all I have, and do well wherever!! Harrborrose -- I'm a bit confused about my zone. To register for this site, I googled "find my garden zone" and went to garden.org and entered my zip code. It says my zone is 7B. The map looks to change right near my area. Thanks everyone! I have previously heavily relied on 3 books that I have for DFW gardening. But was just hoping that something different would work. Sounds like this is not the place for that!!...See MoreFavorite Shrubs besides Roses?
Comments (48)There are so many that I like. I favor drought tolerant/heat tolerant plants that like conditions as they are in my garden, with little to no soil amendments or fertilizer, and onlly light watering. That means plenty of California natives thrive, along with my many species roses and European/Middle Eastern origin roses. A number of these plants, both roses and others, want to go summer dormant (and if watered and/or fertilized then they won't be able to rest and often will not flower the next year) as they would naturally in the areas where they are native. Of course this kind of care goes against the grain with lots of rose gardeners in mediterranean climate areas like mine, who are then surprised that roses in these classes won't bloom for them. Salvias are in general wonderful here. Salvia 'Celestial Blue' is a CA native and has the most gorgeous blue flowers. No pictures I've seen online truly capture the stunning color. Foliage is silvery and smells heavenly. Likes full sun, lean soil, and little to no summer water. Salvia dorrii 'Gayle Nielson'. CA native. Desert sage. Foliage is silvery grey green and delightfully scented. Heat tolerant and surprisingly shade tolerant too. Winter bloomer. Has pale lavender flowers. Since it is from the desert where sporadic rainfall may occur, this plant likes a few drinks in the summer. Salvia mohavensis. CA native. Newly-planted baby plants last month. I had to wait nearly a year to get them from a specialty grower. Mine haven't bloomed yet but the pictures online show small charming blue flowers. Salvia namaensis. Native to South Africa. Has delicate lacy, crimped leaves which are deceptive because this plant is as tough as nails. Extremely heat and drought tolerant. It has lovely small pale lavender blue flowers and blooms almost year round. I have never fertilized it and rarely water now that it is established. My soil is very sandy loam and quite lean. Salvia spathacea 'Avis Keedy' (yellow flowers) and 'Powerline Pink'. Both are very shade tolerant and actually need some shade and summer water (not a lot). Powerline Pink in particular has especially yummy smelling foliage (lemony sagey scent). Various Salvia greggii and Salvia jamensis or crosses of either or both. Including Salvia 'Hot Lips' (red and white or combination flowers), Salvia 'Elk White Ice' (pure white flowers, heavy bloomer in 90+ degree heat), Salvia 'Elk Lemon Light' (beautiful clear yellow flowers and bright green foliage, nice bushy shape, blooms well in high heat), Salvia 'Mesa Azure' (striking purplish blue flowers, heat and shade tolerant, stays bushy, branches stay flexible rather than going woody and brittle, long bloom period), Salvia 'Teresa' (prolific bloomer, very bushy, lush foliage a nice shade of green, heat and drought tolerant, pretty white flowers touched with pink), and Salvia 'Moonlight' (pale yellow flowers, shade tolerant, heat tolerant, stays small). Ceanothus. My favorites include C. spinosus (almost lime green stems and trunk, yep prickly spines, will tolerate some shade, dislikes summer water, grows quickly, pretty blue flowers, bushy), C. cyaneus (aka lakeside ceanothus, absolutely gorgeous 'cyan' blue flowers, wants to be a small tree, grows fast, likes some shade, will tolerate some summer water, very nice foliage, scented flowers), C. 'Lemon Ice' (variagated yellow and green foliage, blue flowers, will tolerate some shade and summer water, small to moderate sized shrub), C. 'El Dorado' (very similar to Lemon Ice, too new to comment on ultimate size), C. 'Diamond Heights' (groundcover!, needs some shade in high heat areas, variagated foliage, small blue flowers), C. 'Arroyo de la Cruz' (bushy and low growing, mine is in a huge pot in partial shade, and seems quite happy, small foliage, gets water once or twice a month in summer), C. arboreus (very fast growing, somewhat shade tolerant, will be a tree, does not like summer water). Mimulus, aka monkey flowers! I recently planted 2 and am closely watching their progress. So far they have bloomed heavily and appear to be settling in for the worst of the summer heat. I have M. aurantiacus (sticky monkey flower, peachy color flowers) and M. aurantiacus 'Buttercup' (orangey flowers, which I usually don't like, but I do this one). Eriogonum. Wild buckwheat. CA native. I have 3 different kinds, all very drought tolerant. E. fasciculatum 'Dana Point' (has the nicest foliage and prettiest flowers (snow white in color) of all the fasciculatums I've seen--has been smashed multiple times by my big dogs and keeps on growing!), E. parvifolium (seacliff buckwheat, mine has white flowers, but some, depending on grower and where they collected their mother plants, have pinkish flowers), and Eriogonum umbellatum var. polyanthum ‘Shasta Sulfur’ (very low growing, bright yellow flowers). Miscellaneous CA natives: Asclepias fascicularis (narrow leaf milkweed, very attractive foliage, food source for Monarch butterfly caterpillars) Erysimum menziesii (menzies wallflower, in a pot and very happy) Monardella antonina (coyote mint) Monardella odoratissima Monardella 'Russian River' Isocoma menziesii (golden bush) Penstemon 'Margarita BOP' Penstemon grinnellii Penstemon 'Electric Blue' Penstemon azureus Penstemon spectabilis Lotus scoparius (deerweed, nitrogen-fixer, yellow flowers) Olneya tesota (ironwood, a nurse plant as it is a nitrogen-fixer, eventually a small tree, but so slow growing that will take many years, now a tiny shrub, gets small pea-like violet flowers) Helianthemum scoparium (the only CA native rockrose/sunrose, bright yellow flowers) Lonicera subspicata (southern honeysuckle, likes to grow in chaparral, white and pale yellow flowers) Arctostaphylos purissima 'Vandenberg' (a groundcover manzanita with fuzzy white hairs on the stems and snowy white flowers--needs afternoon shade in hot inland areas) Not a shrub, but I have interplanted with them multiple of the CA native, sun-loving, and very drought tolerant grass Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' (eyebrow grass, and the "eyebrows" are blonde). It's a very feathery and delicate looking grass, really lightens an area. Photo is of Salvia namaensis. Melissa This post was edited by Tessiess on Thu, Jul 17, 14 at 18:26...See MoreFlowers that change color...besides gallica roses :)
Comments (15)Perennial blue flax (linum narbonense) 'Heavenly Blue' can be grown from seed. It blooms in the morning, then the flowers are gone as the day heats up. The next morning, they are magically blooming again. They don't change color, but the bloom sequence is fairy like. I love this flower and it reseeds. Taking little room, you can weave these through other plants. I have some at the feet of roses. Linaria 'Canon J Went' is a toadflax that reseeds a lot, but the pale pink delicate spires on blue foliage is so nice. The blooms are constant and they look like teeny tiny snapdragons. My allium christophii bloomed back in April, but I still have the sparkler looking remains standing in the garden. I use wooden skewers to keep them upright at this stage. Some folks paint them, too! If you could use yellow and burgundy (looks good with blue), then I highly recommend coreopsis 'Redshift' as it changes from pale yellow and gradually turns more burgundy into autumn. It's about 3 feet high, but mine are very upright in full sun. I don't deadhead these and they just keep on blooming. Cameron Here is a link that might be useful: Heavenly Blue Flax...See MoreRosefolly
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRosefolly
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoCori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacy
7 years agoRosefolly thanked Cori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacyRosefolly
7 years agoRosefolly
7 years agoCori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacy
7 years agoRosefolly thanked Cori Ann - H0uzz violated my privacyMelissa Northern Italy zone 8
7 years agosultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoRosefolly thanked sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
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