In defence of much maligned Periwinkle (Vinca Minor) ... As flegeling posted: "it does have a place in some situations, but often it is placed in places where it could cause problems. Where those probems don't exist, it can be attractive" & c..p..g..: posted as well: "I had a very pleasant patch under some Witch Hazel bushes for years without any problems." 25 yrs ago I planted mine under a Locust tree ... like wendyb had done, I allowed a few inches around, over the years as the tree grew ... tree became a problem due to tornado threats - limbs over roof ... was cut down! whew!!! I was afraid Periwinkle had gone too, after the stump/roots were grounded down ... they fortunately left a few small clumps that I nursed back to health. in 2 yrs, became a good mat ... very well behaved, even with just a 'pretend' barricade of rocks (w/o plastic edger) ... Periwinkle didn't know any better & stayed in place. Certainly a haircut, now & then (butched or pixie fringes as the mood pleases!) The site is now an L-shaped, garden bed w/ KO roses, yellow-mini-rose, Sentimental Blue-Platycodons, Li'l Spire, Lavenders, as well as, a large H Tardiva, an old Nikko H & a bird bath ... Periwinkle provides a nice sumptuous, dark-green mat & her Periwinkle-blue florets, welcome Spring along with the roses! No pretties have been choked to death yet. The tulips of 20 yrs ago, didn't complain either. Did I plant a timid type of Vinca M? I've recently created a corner-p/s-bed to move old Nikko to, this Fall ... pulled some rooted sprigs of old Periwinkle to (sooner than) eventually make a mat for old Nik. Arc Angel-Lamium, I think, is a worse invader & Snows on the Mt, as well ... in Jul/Aug, even looks like kids' football shirt after a muddy-scrimmage! Oh, you should see my retaining wall & bed of Baltic Ivy!!! :-( I love my Periwinkle & hope my neighbor won't use my name in vane, should the new bed overflow, with her long limbs & crawl thru the fence! ... Fingers crossed!!!~ FWIW! - sorry long story! Â:(

I have a friend who has a quite large, dry, mostly-shade bed. It originally was five trees, a few rhodies, and pretty much nothing else but vinca. We planted perennials into the bed amongst the vinca, and in their third year they are doing great for the most part. We planted hostas, lilies, lady's mantle, heucheras, astilbes, columbines, dicentra, and lobelia, to name some. Each spring, and then again maybe once in the late summer, we just rip out some vinca from around the perennials to give them a bit of room. It looks great, and the vinca is easy to rip out. The one thing that is more of a battle is that in an empty area we added lamium White Nancy. We think it looks fantastic where it meets and mixes with the vinca, but the vinca does kind of overpower it, so that area takes more vigilance to keep the lamium going. :) Dee

Holly I think I got lucky with the 3 icebergs. I had driven down to the large rose supplier to pick up the main roses for my new bed (5 of them) and since I had to use the freeway interchange right by Lowe's, I decided to stop for a pair of Russian Sages since I could not find them locally and they were listed in their ad. There sitting with the roses were a few 1g pots with 3 small icebergs started in them. All were listed as Iceberg-Brilliant Pink-Burgundy. I left the elastic tags on the plants just so I could figure them out later. I think the darkest is a bit close to hot pink, but with so much white they really are Brilliant Pink. I prefer the paler pink but if you are doing a bright colored bed, I think either would be fine. Like many, I have a love hate relationship with Icebergs. I hate that they do so well and are so common-loving the unusual and uncommon. But I LOVE that they do so well, bloom so well, grow so fast, seem to not care where they are planted. The two 1g's I bought last season are just as happy as the rest of the bed, even though they started smaller and do not get the care that the rest of the bed gets (less water-more heat)

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!