Re: New or Tried and True?
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: Re: New or Tried and True?
  • From: P* E* <g*@gmail.com>
  • Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:29:46 -0600
true enough, I think you'll need suggestions from our group more familiar w/
your conditions.  I'm fighting heat & drought about 90 % of the time.

On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 6:22 PM, Catharine Carpenter
<cathycrc@comcast.net>wrote:

> Have a lot of them, and enjoy them.... but variety is the spice of life!
>
> Cathy, west central IL, z5b
>
>  On Dec 18, 2010, at 4:43 PM, Pam Evans wrote:
>
> you're right Cathy.  This stuff is what works in dry and hot weather.  You
>> need stuff for cold and wet.  Maybe some hardy daylilies in your zone for
>> starters?
>>
>> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 4:33 PM, Catharine Carpenter
>> <cathycrc@comcast.net>wrote:
>>
>> I wish we could follow your example here in our city flower beds, but our
>>> winters and heavy clay soils doom your choices. Anyone out there have any
>>> ideas for west central IL?
>>>
>>> Cathy, west central IL, z5b
>>>
>>> On Dec 18, 2010, at 12:14 PM, Pam Evans wrote:
>>>
>>> Tried & true works for me.  And using more xeriscape stuff all the time.
>>>
>>>> Something croaks, it gets replaced w/ a rosemary shrub, a regular purple
>>>> coneflower or a salvia of an appropriate size to fill the hole.  I'm
>>>> going
>>>> to re-do the flower bed in the Kemp city park in March w/ all xeriscape
>>>> stuff.  rosemary, cenizo, salvias, 'Powis Castle' artemisia & lavenders.
>>>> Another gal is going to get the rocks and gravel & I'm supplying the
>>>> plants
>>>> and doing the planting (she has bad knees & no health insurance)  No
>>>> more
>>>> dead flower bed in the center of town.  The mayor is delighted of
>>>> course.
>>>> Plus all that stuff is evergreen so will look good 12 months of the
>>>> year.
>>>> Woo.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 11:06 AM, Daryl <dp2413@comcast.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I found that the Chicago-bred coneflowers never went dormant for me, and
>>>>
>>>>> were then killed when the temps dropped abruptly into the teens, as
>>>>> they
>>>>> do
>>>>> here. Are you trying them, or Saul's? Saul's seem to do better here -
>>>>> probably because they're breeding and growing them here in the HHH
>>>>> south.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was working Customer Service for Van Bloem's during the 'Limerock
>>>>> Ruby'
>>>>> fiasco. I can't tell you how much we refunded on that one the year we
>>>>> carried it. It quickly left the catalog, as you can imagine.  I'd
>>>>> gotten
>>>>> a
>>>>> sample at a GWA meet the year before. Too bad nobody asked me. :-(
>>>>>
>>>>> One nice thing about being a member of the Garden Writer's Association
>>>>> is
>>>>> getting plant samples before they hit the catalogs. I've found some
>>>>> things
>>>>> that I absolutely rave about to my readers, but then there are those
>>>>> that
>>>>> are absolute duds in my climate, like the CBG coneflowers. Sometimes
>>>>> I'm
>>>>> so
>>>>> entranced by a plant that I've purchased additional plants the next
>>>>> year,
>>>>> or
>>>>> two or three if the sample fails, but I'm learning now to trust my
>>>>> instincts
>>>>> rather than to waste money. And frankly, if it doesn't like our
>>>>> climate,
>>>>> my
>>>>> readers aren't going to be able to grow it, either.
>>>>>
>>>>> d
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "andreah" <andreah@hargray.com>
>>>>> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
>>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2010 11:30 AM
>>>>> Subject: RE: [CHAT] New or Tried and True?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm really leaning towards the tried and true. I LOVE LOVE LOVE those
>>>>> new
>>>>>
>>>>> Echinacea, however every single one I've ever tried has died except, of
>>>>>> course the original purple cone flower. Those, I can't divide fast
>>>>>> enough.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I tried the Limerock ruby back when it came out. It died. So, I am
>>>>>> sticking
>>>>>> with what I know will do here now. I don't want to spend the money and
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> want my plants to thrive!
>>>>>> A
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: owner-gardenchat@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On
>>>>>> Behalf
>>>>>> Of Daryl
>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2010 11:20 AM
>>>>>> To: gardenchat
>>>>>> Subject: [CHAT] New or Tried and True?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was reading a trade article and the interviewee was asked what he
>>>>>> thought
>>>>>> of
>>>>>> some of the new perennials. He replied, " Coreopsis 'Crhme Brulee,'
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> 'Limerock Ruby': These were hot, hot plants five years ago. Everybody
>>>>>> had
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> have them. Now, they're like the lepers of the perennial community."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I like that phrase, "the lepers of the perennial community." It fits.
>>>>>> The
>>>>>> only
>>>>>> thing good about some plants, like 'Limerock Ruby', is that they make
>>>>>> way
>>>>>> for
>>>>>> something else to kill.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I've seen so many plants come and go in my previous hort-head life
>>>>>> that
>>>>>> I
>>>>>> now
>>>>>> prefer to grow the tried and true. If they're newer plants, I want
>>>>>> them
>>>>>> tested
>>>>>> in my climate. I don't care whether a plant does great in Chicago. I
>>>>>> want
>>>>>> it
>>>>>> tested at UGA. Even though UGA is a bit warmer in winter than my area,
>>>>>> and
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> soil is better, and there are plenty of garden slaves (hort students)
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> take
>>>>>> care of the beds and to weed and water, at least it's humid - with
>>>>>> hideously
>>>>>> hot days and many hot nights. If a plant thrives there, it's likely to
>>>>>> survive
>>>>>> in my garden.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What do you think? Are you still wanting plants that are on the
>>>>>> cutting
>>>>>> edge,
>>>>>> or do you prefer to save the money and the aggravation?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> d
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Visit the Gardening Forum Home Page to see what's new.
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Pam Evans
>>>> Kemp TX
>>>> zone 8A
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>> --
>> Pam Evans
>> Kemp TX
>> zone 8A
>>
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-- 
Pam Evans
Kemp TX
zone 8A

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