Re: Perennial for the year?
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Re: Perennial for the year?
- From: D* G*
- Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999 08:57:55 -0500
At 06:19 PM 12/28/1999 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>* Which plants will consumers want this spring? If they_ve read Better
Homes and Gardens_ January issue, be prepared to have plenty of AAS winner _
>Stardust Orchid_ vinca
I had this in my trial gardens last year and brought it into the solar
greenhouse this fall. Good blooming plant and I'd recommend it but like all
Vinca - you'd better start it early if you want to see blooms in June. (a
Jan or early Feb start is almost mandatory for early blooms) Otherwise,
you'll be trying to find it in the better garden centres. It will not
likely be available through the mass merchants (watch me be proved wrong on
this);-) because of the seed costs.
>and the 2000 Perennial Plant of the Year, Scabiosa columbaria _Butterfly
Blue._
I've not grown 'Butterfly Blue' but I have grown the S. columbaria itself.
Well worth a place in the garden.
>Other selections: Eremurus stenophyllus (bulb),
Excellent and a show stopper when given a place of honour to strut its
stuff. I had it for a few years before I managed to kill them (tree grew up
over them and I neglected to move them). Plan on installing them again in a
slightly better location.
>Comtesse de Bouchard clematis (vine) and
If they say so. Nice but not really outstanding (IMHO) and readily
available at all mass merchants. Quite common.
>Verbena bonariensis (annual).
Perennial in zone 6 I suspect. It self sows for me and often lives under
the winter mulch in a mild winter in my USDA zone 4 garden. Can be weedy if
you don't mulch but easily picked out. The violet balls on top of long
stems are so ludicrous they have to be loved. Easy to grow - we've had it
in our gardens for ten years or more.
-----------------
These are interesting plants but I'd suggest (with the exception of the
Vinca) that there are better plants and/or newer plants out there that
deserve a look and a grow more than these.
Your thoughts?!
Doug
Doug Green,
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