Follow up sort of; DR flower bed
Two years ago I posted about the loss of a beloved big old ivy-covered tree outside our DR. I contemplated, statues, fountains, new trees etc. Ended up moving a white wood obelisk from another part of the property.
It's been 2 years and I realize I like all of the light we get with the tree gone, and I am now thinking more in terms of flower beds.
I have a nice boxwood hedge I'd like to keep. The bed is semi circular, about 30' long and 6' feet deep (no incl the boxwood) at its deepest point. I am thinking of planting Endless Summer hydrangea in front of the boxwood, then purple salvia, then a row of white annuals ("babywing" green leaf white begonias). WDYT? Too crowded? Can the hydrangea be happy if kept shorter than my hip-level boxwood? And will i have to banish the hosta?
Before:
Proposed:
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3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoJojoco,
I think it should have something more than just boxwood and hostas (which is what's there now). It is really in the center of the back terrace of the house and it's one of the larger beds. We have a lot of boxwood and hosta on the property. I actually considered getting rid of it here. The I realized I like it for how it looks from inside the DR year round. (important because of the DR's floor to ceiling windows.)
Pink,
I"m looking for summer blooms here, and my color palette is blues, purples, greens and white. Throughout the property I have a lot of endless summer Hydrangea. I have a bed near the front door, plants at the base of my trellis columns, in my potager, on the path to the stonehouse, in the beds on the far side of the pond. They do well and I like them
We are zone 6a iirc. The boxwood have been here 10+ years and do well. I would call the bed full sun. It faces west.
I've seen Hydrangea with mounded boxwood, is that better DYT?
localeater
3 years agoI love dwarf fothergilla, but it is very early Spring bloomer. Of course the scent is heavenly and I love it waft into the house in the Spring. The autumn color is a plus too.
However it sounds like you are after summer color.
I really want you to have a couple of Callicarpa, mostly because I love them and it is too cold here for them to do well, a fairly insignificant Spring flower, but clusters of amazing berries in the late fall. Shape wise, it may not be what you are after though, but its beautiful!!!
I would surround these with masses of Everblooming Shasta Daisies
Purple Stella D'Oro daylilies
.
mtnrdredux_gw thanked localeatermtnrdredux_gw
3 years ago
Eileen
3 years agoSomething like Rozanne geranium would be ideal, with a few caveats. First, it blooms from early June right until frost. After the first flush of bloom, the stems get very long and it loses its neat mound shape. You can let it weave through other plants or you can cut it all back and it will mound up again. This is the first year that I've cut mine back and it took several weeks to start reblooming. Mine doesn't get full sun though, and maybe it'd like richer soil. I'd like to hear what others who have grown it think about its behavior, especially those in your climate. Maybe it's better under other conditions.
If it looked like this all summer in my garden, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly.
mtnrdredux_gw thanked Eileenmtnrdredux_gw
3 years agoI've been looking around, and I really don't see any perennials in either blue or white that are the right size. I think going from the boxwood hedge that is there (~ 3')
+ to something 1' for example would not look right.
I do like the idea of knock out white roses (I have them along one of our stone walls) but I think scale is an issue. The bed is so large at nearly 30 feet that I think the flowers need to be large, and in perennials that means Hydrangeas it seems.
I see the point of structured boxwood hedges not "marrying" with voluptuous hydrangeas, but if you google it, in fact it is done all the time. The boxwood acts almost like a wall.
I am going to stick w hydrangea but get a dwarf variety. I was totally fine with going with a white or lime, in fact I thought I might prefer white ...but they all turn pink. Since I will have salvia, I don't want a pink and purple garden come fall. So I won't choose a white variety.
So I think i will do these: https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/hydrangea/cityline-vienna-bigleaf-hydrangea-hydrangea-macrophylla They bloom all summer, can take full or part sun, and with no pruning will go to 3'. We can keep them blue by changing the soil pH. We will keep them pruned, as my gardener does with my hydrangea out front (this bed is in the back of my house).
Local, I love callicarpa too. I might have another place to use that.
Nini: Plus, if you will be gazing at that area from your dining room all year long...hydrangeas look so crappy in winter. From the DR, we will see what we see now, a boxwood hedge. And then, ever so fleetingly come spring, the big Allium peak their heads over. I adore those. All 15 minutes, sigh.
Ninasmom, Big fan of Phlox but it has not been a good performer here (in another, similar bed). I like astible too, so delicate. There is actually a random sedum in the bed right now. Pink. The grow well but don't thrill me.
Pink, I think finding something small and white for the edges is the easiest (since I will do an annual there), and salvia are easy too. It's that third layer right before the boxwood that is tough. As you said caryopteris and perennial ageratum are more of a salvia replacement, so they might be almost redundant. Little Henry sweetspire is so cute, btw. Not sure I've seen that. I am adding all these ideas to a master list because we will need plants when we finish a new project in front too (moving the walkway and guest entry).
At one point i was googling hydrangea with boxwood and saw this below. I think I actually have an urn somewhat like this (we have a ton of pots). Dumb question; doesnt it full up with rainwater?
lobby68
3 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years agomtnrdredux_gw
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI have them literally all over my property in full sun. One of the reasons I keep coming back to them is because they do so well on my property. I’ve had good luck with them.
East side
West side
kkay_md
3 years agomtnrdredux_gw
3 years agoThey even grow in my south-facing veggie garden
This is one that *is* in shade. The color on this ... is crazy!
Umm, i guess maybe I have a hydrangea problem.mtnrdredux_gw
3 years agoKKAY LOL on your 6' "dwarfs! "The first year I was here I cried when they did all of the fall pruning, esp of my dear clematis vines on my pergola columns. But they are ruthless and they know what they're doing. I think homeowners have a tendency to let anything healthy grow. One thing I have done as part of my 10yr refresh is walk the property with my orange spray paint and put the ax to stuff that has become leggy or just too big. Painful.
Less painful; I did find an urn among all of our pots! Not as big as I hope,d but I am stealing the look above. Since the bed is half moon, I think it will look good. Here is in the bed.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years ago
OutsidePlaying
3 years agoMtn, you do have some of the most gorgeous hydrangeas I have seen. I am a hydrangea lover, but I haven’t gone crazy. I also like hosta, mainly because there are so many varieties you can love. And probably because I cannot have many due to deer.
I’ve tried to think of other things you could use but come up empty of anything that would bloom all summer. The only other hydrangea suggestion I have is Annabelle. It does grow large (5’) but mine isn’t that large as I cut it back every year. The blooms are beautiful mop heads, and fade to green. Mine are now greenish with brown edges. Time to trim them off.
We have a native perennial, Stokes Aster that is a gorgeous purple this time of year that would be a pretty low-grower in a border, but it doesn’t bloom until late summer. Another favorite of mine is Allium Millenium, which is a more pale purple, and the pom pom blooms fade to white this time of year. It’s another good border plant and easy to grow.
This is the second year for this aster. I will be buying more for some fall color.
Sorry I don’t have a good photo of Allium Millennium with its purple bloom but you can google a photo
Here is one I took a couple of days ago.
This is Annabelle in summer
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3 years ago
texanjana
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3 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
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Funkyart