Hah, well that helps Laceyvail, at least it helps my conscience in the probability of killing another. Maybe we just have to concede they're fickle?

Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried Silene laciniata (Indian Pinks)? Sometime back I direct sowed seeds I ordered from PoSW which came up easily but they seemed to want more moisture than we get here, the plants seemed less robust than other natives I've grown and once summer hit they dried up, maybe it was too hot? I figured it was either that or its not wet enough for it here.

Yes, I grew them in a woodland environment for several years when I was in Oklahoma. And yes...your area would be too dry w/o supplemental moisture I would think.

They were easy (for me). However I want flaming red or hot pink (lol)...

What color were the ones you grew? The Indian Pinks from PoSW had red blooms.

Silene laciniata is white . (let me verify that)...whoops my bad, I was thinking of silene stellata :(

No, I've never tried laciniata (now that I'm talking about the right species)

I'll take a picture of mine. They aren't thriving, but they've managed to stay alive for 3 years, so i consider that a small victory, and it's better luck than I ever had trying to keep Lobelia cardinalis around.

Jay, this time of year, I'm finding lobelia cardinalis all over the yard (as it starts to bloom)...so I can grow that...with abandon, I even stopped mowing a twenty foot strip because it had too much cardinal flower in it to mow (didn't want to cut them down).

Your soil must stay fairly moist if the cardinal flowers are doing so well. I ammend individual planting holes. I'll be growing lupins next year. I'll have to improve the drainage for those. I ammended all the soil in the backyard before I started the garden. It was such heavy clay, you could make pottery out of it.

This land used to be swampland before being drained...it's still well moist is often an understatement, flooded is maybe more appropriate (except in mid summer to fall).

Well, then, drainage could be an issue. I bet Barbara's Buttons would grow well for you. I'm going to ask my niece in Southern Illinois to hunt me some A. variegata seeds. It's most common down south.

I figured redring would do well here, but I lost every one last winter (abrupt freeze). Barbara's buttons seeded about my meadow in Oklahoma, it likes good drainage best I could tell, though was pretty tolerant. I liked it.

If it was my soil, and my Silene, I think I would have 2 options. Ammend the planting hole with grit or gravel and compost and hope for the best. I think the roots like being in something lighter and well draining, even if it is consistantly mildly moist. The other option would be to mound up some soil, and plant it in the higher mound, and hope for the best. I'm winter sowing more Silene regias. I could lose the 3 I have this winter, you never know. I'll probably winter sow some L. cardinalis too. The light situation at the new place suits it better, and they will be close to the hose. Thats where I have the jewelweeds. Next year I'm planting I. capensis, I. pallida, and I. ballfourii. Hey, it would be fun to have one of these posts show up in name that plant every time, just to hear all the bitching......priceless!!!

Hmm, I can never find pallida seed, where did you score that ? I tried balfourii this year, but no germination:(

Prairie Moon has pallida seed. That's where I got it. Did you winter sow the balfourii? I don't think I had any germination problems with my balfourii. It even made vollunteers for a few years, but was eventually outcompeted by the capensis. I did have trouble germinating the glandulifera. I don't like the shabby look of it, so I won't grow it again. Not to mention how invasive it can get. I've seen photos of it growing in other areas, where it looked beautuful, but it don't around here. The A. variegata is pretty, but I think the aquatic A. perennis is just as pretty if not prettier, it blooms all season long, and it's easy to find seeds.I love the bright rose colored spots on the buds, before they open.

I had both variegata and perennis last year, growing well, but I transplanted them just as they lost leaves (from a shallow growing pan) and they froze to death when we abruptly went from 70 to 20. Not a one of either survived my winter.

Yes, I WS'd the impatiens, but it is not impossible that slugs played a role in it as well.

Blue flag Iris and obediant plant probably do real well for you. I connected a Smilax vine to a mulberry branch. Hopefully the Smilax will choke and kill the mulberry. Then it'll be a native tree and not a non native tree. Could you grow water willow, or does that need to be directly in water?

I suspect I could...but it would get choked out by more vigorous taller things.

I actually lost obedient plant, it doesn't like hot moist conditions...bad juju combination.

Liatris pycnostachya is the best Liatris for wet or medium wet soils. It gets 4 ft. tall.

Yep, it sometimes hits 6 or almost 7 here...in wet years.

Your location is showing again. Did your Silene have flowers?

Nope was seedling sown in winter.

Next year then. Hey, what species of Rhexia did you get? Aren't they supposed to be hard to tell apart? I think there's around 8 native species. I liked them the first time I saw a flower. And very exotic looking, moreso than a lot of the showy annuals people use. I will have to look into seeing if I can grow one without killing it, and I just take risks now with plants ranging closer to my area. I gave up trying to grow any plant with California in its name a long, long time ago. But if I were living in California I'd go totally crazy with plants.

My 3 Silene regias were winter sown seedlings also and didn't bloom the first 5 years. I meant their 1st year lol. Have you figured out why your earlier atempts at growing royal catchfly failed?

Rhexia virginica

https://youtu.be/0RXdd0pCJ9Q

Oh, I believe the silene passed away....due to bug and slug deforestation.

You mean the brand new Silene regia? They must be really big slugs to defoliate an entire forest. I thought you lived in a swamp not a forest??? :)

And you don't think slugs like wet conditions? I mean snails w/o shells?

I picture your yard like this.

I thought my racing snail might move a little speedier if I removed it's shell. But no - if anything, it just made it more sluggish.