RE: OT: Companion Plants
- Subject: RE: [iris-talk] OT: Companion Plants
- From: S* S*
- Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 22:27:45 -0400
- Importance: Normal
I have portulaca that is slowly invading the iris area of my garden from
other parts of the garden. It is the Sundial variety. Here in Northern VA,
it is self seeding and does come back each year, and should also in warmer
climates. When I was in central MA, it was an annual, and never did come
back. I was rather surprised when it did down here. It is a low growing
plant also.
It is a rather interesting plant in that the blooms from a plant will change
colors on successive blooms. Each flower lasts just the day, with others
that come the next and the next. Best bloom is in full sun. It doesn't
bloom well on cloudy, overcast days. Bloom starts mid to late June and
continues until the cold comes and kills off the plants. Cold, of course,
being relative, probably around 50 degrees or so--I haven't really tracked
it.
For taller plants, behind, or next to the end of the iris area, depending on
one's point of view, we plant the poinsettia left over from the winter. It
takes a while to get going, but we have some pretty spectacular plants when
we bring them in in the fall. They will not survive the winter here, and
will die off at around 30 degrees F. The colored bracts come later in the
year, when they are given the requisite period of darkness to develop,
however, they are a nice plant, and do draw comments when they start hitting
their stride. After a few years, they will tower over the tallest TB we
have.
\\Steve//
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Northern Virginia, USA, Zone 6/7
-----Original Message-----
From: MryL1@msn.com [M*@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2001 3:07 PM
To: iris-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iris-talk] OT: Companion Plants
Everybody else is talking about the tall stuff, so I'll mention the
small. Creeping phlox, alyssum and rock cress have all done well for
me in the very front of the beds. Alyssum comes back from seed every
year, so I move it where I want it while I'm in there weeding. The
other two are perennial. If you don't like garish colors, be careful
when picking out the creeping phlox. Bugle does well also for blue.
I also like the effect from putting my darkest iris in front of my
snowball bush, which blooms at the same time. The white behind them
really makes them stand out. I've also been putting a few marigolds
in, since I read that they (might) help protect my iris from nematode
infestation.
Mary Lou, near Indianapolis, IN, USA. Muggy Zone 5.
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