skip to main content

Landscape Design Perennials

Tall, early bloomer to pair with late blooming datura

Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC

last year

I have a section of my garden where I plant a Moonflower and a Devil's Trump near one another, like so:

That pic is last year. This year I'm reversing it, with the Moonflower in the front and the taller Devil's Trumpet in the back.

You also see an elephant ear to the rear left, and canna lilies to the rear right. Farther to the right, off camera, is a roseum elegans rhododendron. In front of them, also off camera, are irises, black eyed susans, crocosmia, and a birdbath that I use as a planter.

These plants are quite large, the Moonflower can easily get to be 6' wide! They're self-seeding annuals, they start to come up in May, and they bloom late July through September. This means that I have a pretty large section of garden that's mostly empty through Spring and early Summer!

You can kind of see that I have Purple Heart setcreasea underneath the Devil's Trumpet, which does help to fill in but it' not ideal. Since this is farther back in the garden you don't really see the short setcreasea unless you walk back there.

Any other suggestions for something that I could plant in this same area that would look good while waiting on the datura to bloom? It would need to be around 3-4' tall, go away (or mostly go away) by late July, and be sparse enough that the datura seeds could grow up through it and around it.

Comment

Related Discussions
Spring/early summer bloomers
Q
Comments (6)
I have loads of TB iris and none of them have ever fallen over and they most definitely are not against a wall or even near the house. i do believe that they are your best bet but they are not a plant that you can forget. they have to be manitained to keep putting on a good show. the dwarf varieties tend to bloom a bit earlier than the TB's but there's a wide range of colours. however if you're lookinf for something about a foot-and-a-half, eiter stay with standard dwarf bearded (SDB) of border bearded (BB). also, peonies might be a viable option but hey can get taller as they age and can be up to 3ft across, but this would take a number of years and they require far less maintenance than irises, as they never really have to be divided to keep up flower power and have few pests (irises have borers and root rot)
...See More
Looking for late bloomer to pair up with NE Astor - photos
Q
Comments (13)
plse tell us what are those striking looking red headed grasses beyond this bed?are they really red?and where are you?- that's always helpful to have in your i.d. so we can give (and get) the best advice from you! I like the suggestions for foliage color rather than flowers.Grasses and small shrubs would be great for giving you some rounded solid masses and vertical spikes w/height. some ideas: daphne carol mackie barberry- ppl helmond's pillar. ------------- blue lyme grass(plant in pot to keep from roaming) helichtrotrichon oat grass short zebra grass miscanthus variega. annual ppl fountain grass- pennisetum pennisdetum moudry- black fuzzy seed heads ------------------ amsonia hubrechtii- airy/ferny- turns wonderful gold in fall; would be great abutting the asters stachys - the non flowering one- as an edger ppl perilla- large deep ppl leaves variegated iris- good wide bold varieg spikes eupatorium chocolate p.s. how 'bout growing some lovely clematis over that stone wall? and edging the wall w/ lavender which loves hot hot full sun reflected heat? best, mindy www.cottonarboretum.com/
...See More
Late Bloomers
Q
Comments (21)
Rothsay Reveller blooms fairly early; not the earliest, but not in October either! I am trying to think of other early ones for you, but that was so long ago, I can't remember what happened yesterday much of the time- let alone months ago. 'Bliss' a little ~4 inch pink and yellow waterlily comes to mind as a consistently early bloomer. Lots of flowers on good stems for Bliss. this one is a little too open and beat up by rain no doubt When I have time (don't hold your breath!) I will try to go back to my photos for 05 and see what order I took them in. That will help spur my memory on who bloomed when.
...See More
Outdoor Celeste Late Bloomer?
Q
Comments (13)
If you are worried about the best interest of the growth and stability, you really need to remove most of the fruits before they get a chance to mature, or in some cases, you'll risk losing the plant. For example, I had two grapes on my porch I started two years ago. Neither fruited the first year. The second year, one had two bunches, the other had six bunches. I left on all of the grapes to see what would happen. This year, the one with 6 bunches almost died to the base. The one with two bunches is vigorous, blowing up, and is three times the size of the other. This is really an uncontrolled experiment, and there could really be any number of factors that set this grape back, but it has been my experience that this is usually how it works with any number of fruiting plants that are just getting started out.
...See More

Related Stories

GARDENING GUIDES 10 Late-Winter and Early-Spring Bloomers for the West

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Tired of waiting for spring to arrive? Try these drought-tolerant, flowering plants for color that starts in late winter

GARDENING GUIDES Signs of Spring: 9 Early Blooms to Look for in Your Neighborhood

By Lauren Dunec Hoang

Crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils, flowering quinces and other bloomers herald the change in the season

GARDENING GUIDES 10 Plants for Colorful Fall Blooms in the Drought-Tolerant Garden

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Want fall color but not a big water bill? Consider these not-too-thirsty fall bloomers

FLOWERS Best Cutting-Garden Beauties for Late Summer

By Paintbox Garden

Pick blooms bursting with color or in classic white for bouquets to give away or keep all to yourself

SHRUBS 5 Glorious Late-Season Shrubs

Spilling over with berries or bursting with blooms, these stunning underused shrubs keep the garden party going through fall

FLOWERS AND PLANTS Plant Rocky Mountain Beeplant for Late-Summer Color and Pollinator Buzz

By Susan J Tweit

Add pizazz to your garden with this native annual. Its vivid pink flower spikes are magnets for butterflies, bees and hummingbirds

FALL GARDENING 8 Plant Pairings for High-Impact Color in the Fall Garden

By Lauren Dunec Hoang

Bring on the jewel tones with easy planting combinations that will carry your garden into the next season

BULBS Plant Tulips for March-to-May Blooms

By Marianne Lipanovich

Learn the basics of growing these favorite spring bulbs

SPRING GARDENING 7 Great Container Plants for Early-Spring Appeal

Good things sometimes come to those who impatiently head to the nursery for plants that can take a chill

FLOWERS 11 Classic Bulbs for Spring Blooms

By Marianne Lipanovich

Plant these ever-popular bulbs in fall to ensure a garden bursting with colors in spring

Sponsored

More Discussions

Backyard patio design help

6

Help with plants for sitting wall near pool

7

Help with curb appeal

23

Heat pump camouflage

11

Advice on Cox Utility Box

12