Re: Aconitum

**M* <m*@optonline.net>**

Glad to read the comments here on Aconitum.

It's one of those plants that I tried once but lost. I too planted it in the
shade, it also had aggressive neighbors. Maybe I'll try it again.

Three years in a row I bought Ligularias from a nearby nursery. They told me
they were shade plants and I kept planting them in the shade and then losing
them. After seeing Ligularia Britt Marie Crawford in a garden in Minnesota I
gave it one more try. It's in the corners of my sunny perennial border where
it gets at least 6 hours of full sun. Outstanding! Next season I plan on
adding many more.

Kirk, you are absolutely correct about people no longer shopping by the time
the Aconitum is looking good in it's pot. During every lecture I tell my
audience my number one tip in having a great garden. They must shop from
late winter to late fall. Don't plant the whole garden the first week of May
or it will only look good in May. Nurseries mostly sell plants that look
good at the time of sale. You need to return once every 2 or 3 weeks for
almost a year if you want to get plants that keep your garden looking
wonderful month after month. Many people are surprised by this statement!

By the way, somebody wrote me and asked me why the nurseries only sell short
daylilies. There's a wife and husband in Virginia hybridizing wonderful
daylilies that top out around 5' tall. Amazing, curly, twisty spiders that
wave in the wind over large tufts of luscious foliage. The answer? They
don't fit on those metal carts the nurseries use to truck their plants in
on. They also bloom in August and September and who's buying daylilies then?

Melanie Vassallo
melaniev@optonline.net

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