Re: Liriope & ophiopogon
Matt Trahan wrote:
>
> >Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 06:00:57 -0800
> >From: "Diana L. Politika" <diana@olympus.net>
> >Subject: Liriope & ophiopogon
> >
> >Lily Turf and Mondo Grass for the linguistically challanged among
> >you....
> >I have these two plants in the GH, going on a year now. The soil is
> >acid-ish, moisture is constant and lighting is shaded with other plants
> >in full sun as a trial. temperatures are natural, in that I'm not
> >heating this GH.
> >Waaaaa....they simply won't grow. And they won't die, either.
> >Information about them is scarce, so I don't know if they simply don't
> >like our cooler temps (my suspicion) or if I'm truely doing something
> >wrong.
> >I've heard that they grow wonderfully as ground covers in the east.
> >ANY info would be appreciated.
> >- --
> >The Greenhouse Nursery
> >81 S. Bagley Creek Road & Hwy 101
> >Port Angeles, WA 98362
> >(360) 417-2664
> >Zone 8
> >
>
> Hi Diana,
> I've had to skip the list for more than a month due to a new job, but I
> was reading todays digest and thought I might be able to offer a little help.
> Both of these are heat lovers AFAIK. Some are great spreaders and some are
> as shy as you can get.
>
> Silver Dragon Liriope is a real non performer compared to most others, but
> it's absolutely pure grey white and green. Well worth having the patience
> of Job while you wait 3-4 years for it to double in size.
> It's been mostly replaced by 'Aztec grass' in the trade due to easy
> spreading. Silver Dragon only goes to 7-8" while Aztec grass can top out
> about 1.4 feet. They have very different 'looks' in the garden.
>
> The vareagated mondo grass is as slow as Silver Dragon, but very pretty.
> The other mondo grasses will eventually spread around and create a nice
> thick carpet.
I have Silver Dragon, and the variegata also. And a couple varieties
with japanese names that I cannot recall without seeing. One is a
dwarf, and one is a super dwarf, only growing 1-2 inches tall. Cute,
but not invasive at this point.
As I suspected, my folks were very taken with it in Alabama, but here in
Washington, tho we are also a zone 8, we rarely hit a 90 in mid summer,
and the warmth and muggy-ness just isn't here. Perhaps next spring I'll
put them outside and see what they do. Maybe they'll put us both out
of our misery and just croak. Then I can just figure $500 was flushed
down the old compost heap rather than having it writhing in a slow death
before my very eyes. (I prefer instant gratification, after all.)
--
The Greenhouse Nursery
81 S. Bagley Creek Road & Hwy 101
Port Angeles, WA 98362
(360) 417-2664
Zone 8
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