Re: Late summer/fall flowers

Amy
What climate zone do you live in that Hostas stil trive, Do you have frost
in winter
Willem
Oostvoorne The Netherlands zone 8
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Amy <marvlusgrdns@ecom.net>
Aan: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Datum: dinsdag 1 juni 1999 2:30
Onderwerp: Fw: Late summer/fall flowers


>I believe this was accidentally posted to me, Amy
>
>I would try very hard NOT to make mountains of work, nor to use
>squillions of gallons of water tyring to defy the natural conditions
>of where you live. I'd try to modify things so that all is easily
>managed through the drought and heat so that you do not kill yourself
>from heat stroke, and I'd try to keep the garden neat, with a varied
>background of greens, lawn still green if you must have one for
>pragmatic reasons like having children that need somewhere to play
>and I'd try reaslly hard to have colour accents in big pots and tubs
>at the key points in your garden.
>
>This is what we do here where we get no rain at all for the hot, hot,
>hot summer from early December until the end of April - 5 months of
>heat and drought. Our focus is not on a green, green, green garden
>overflowing un-naturally with flowers. We focus on the swimming pool
>and on several shady bowers, pergola covered patios and shady spots
>made by big trees. The lawn - really semi-wild grass - goes yellow.
>We have planted a background screen of shrubs with varied green
>folaige - varied in shape, in colour of green and in light reflecting
>qualities. Then by the areas which we use and pass by every day we
>plant up collections of pots with all sorts of plants, by colour
>schemes, by spectacular foliage combinations, by need for shade or
>sun and concentrate our garden efforts on these. All the watering is
>concentrated in a few spots - easy to do night and/ or morning and no
>threats of irrigation systems clogging and needing perpetual fixing.
>For late summer colour we use Oriental lilies, Hostas, hardy
>ferns, Vireya rhododendrons, hybrid Echeverias and species
>Echeverias, bromelaids, a wild assortment of succulents and
>caudiciform plants, rhiozomatous begonias - mostly the very old
>fashioned tough pot plants our grandmother's kept on their porches
>and in their shadehouses. The trick is in how daringly they are put
>together. Lots of lovely pots to choose from too that build the
>colour scheme with contrasts or co-ordinates. The fun thing is you
>can change the planting ideas at will - right now, at once if you
>have to, or you can plan new combinations for next year in advance.
>
>I find trying to grow perennials etc through summer just goes against
>Nature. It can be done but the results always suffer from the impact
>of all those long months of living under the stress of super high
>dehydration/ expiration rates, day and night temps that are
>un-natural for the plants, soil temps that are way too high even with
>mulching and frequent watering etc.
>
>Now that I have accepted the limitations to growth imposed by my
>climate and environment I am having a ball experimenting with ways to
>use and combine what will grow here relatively easily. Try it.
>
>regards
>
>trevor n
>-----------------
>Trevor Nottle
>Garden Writer, Historian,
>Lecturer and Consultant
>
>    'Walnut Hill'
>     5 Walker St
>     Crafers SA 5152
>     AUSTRALIA
>
>Phone: +618 83394210
>Fax:   +618 83394210
>
>
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