Beginner Gardening: DJ"S SHARING GARDEN DESIGNS "WHAT TO GROW WHERE ???, 2 by warriorswisdomkathy

warriorswisdomkathy wrote:
Hi...I'm here!!! LOL. Ok susie...Got some questions for ya...Is this garden to be viewed mainly from 1 side or as a destination to be walked around and viewed from all sides? It will make a difference as to where you should place the taller plant material. How tall do your butterfly bushes get and are they all the same color? (and are we talking about the late summer bush or the spring bloomers?

How close to the house is this garden? I do have a few great plants for attracting those Hawk Moths...and seed if you don't have. The Lunar moths are night seeking nectar freaks!! Lol. And one way to attract them is evening fragrance and long tubular flowers. The flowers I have seen them frequent most in my garden are: 1. Datura metaloides, they will start easily in the garden and can get to 3-4ftx3-4ft.. White flowers are large with fragrance in the evening thru the night. They will reseed insitu. 2. The Nicotianas are wonderful and my favs for attracting the moths. Just to let you know there are many to choose from, mine are the fragrant varieties..... A) N. sylvestris, gets tall, topping out at 4-6ft, long flowers hang down, white only, I always have to start these indoors and have never had them start out, they need warmth and controlled conditions, I start mine in Feb or March under lights and they are worth it, rarely have I found them available in commerce as plants, believe me they are worth the effort. B) N. x sandersae (I have Heaven Scent and an all purple. Heaven Scent hangs down til early dusk and upright as the evening progresses and allowing the fragrance to exude and I'm telling you it's just yummy!!!!!!! The other one is Purple and newer to cultivation, it's flowers are more upright but again not fragrant til evening and all three continue til mid morning and sometimes on cloudy days. Both of the N. sandersaes will grow from seed thrown into the garden and will sprout when they are ready in the spring....I am including seed in the box when it gets to me for Datura m. and N. x sandersae Heaven
Scent and a few of the purple... Just to let you know there are a few others that are N. and fragrant....but those that are bought at most nurseries are the NON fragrant varieties!!!!!!! The reason I ask how close this garden is to the house is the fragrance that these flowers have, and it's wonderful to have an open window in the summer. Personally I have had a bench in the garden for night time so I can just sit and enjoy the show and such wonderful fragrances that permiate the evening...The more the merrier....This is one of my favs for filling in garden space as perenns. mature, So I have allowed them to reseed at will and are easy to edit out (pull).

Ok....So what is the tree? and did you put it there or seeded in? Gotta know how big it will get and if you'll have problems in the future with roots being a problem to dig in and around. What color's are the Daylilies? (are there any fulvas as they are root runners and multiply to the side with shoots popping up a foot away eventually making a large patch or are they true clumpers? What size are your mums (borders at 12-18" or the taller varieties? and colors?)

Do you like the English cottage effect? It's my personal favorite, garden bed is filled from front to back, no soil shows as all plant material eventually touches, this also helps to shade out weed seed from sprouting.

So far this is the best pix I have of the English Cottage effect, still waiting for a few plants to fill into each other and having mass color. I try to make sure I have taller in the back and shorter as it gets closer to the path. I also like to make sure I have some great all season bloomers. One of the best things about these long bloomers is instead of just deadheading your flowers you can actually get fresh bouquets the whole season. It also prevents that hacked look when you have to cut back a whole clump of flowers and then wait for weeks for it to begin rebooming. And when you only cut a few stems (from each plant) for the vase it's less noticable that any material has been removed at all.......

Take this pix as an example....most all of the plant material is all season bloom, the exception is the Penstemon strictus (Rocky Mountain Blue) (here 3-5 plants), this plant blooms only in Juneish and then it's done,it get's cut back to only about 4-6" (unless I'm collecting seed and then the stalks are 30-36", and it does reseed (as many of you know whom I shared with in the trades or should I say will find out,lol, but again thats only if allowed). This is an area I might want to consider planting some annuals that will bush out and bloom after the P. is done. That way there is no gap but it's totally acceptable just to leave the tufts of P. and the green effect. Ideas could be some of the nicotiana or say maybe zinnias.

In front of that is a unopened catanche carulea (Cupids Dart) (I have blue and a straight white here in this spot), another all seasoon bloomer and a reseeder, but hasn't produced any babies yet, I'm hoping for a patch also. Clockwise to the left is Lavendula angustifolia (Munstead), another great all season bloom, here just beginning. Again several plants were placed 3-5. Continueing is Veronica spicata (Sight Seeing -Blue), a tall variety that I haven't seen offered as seed for a number of years (28", most only get 14-20"). It's another of my favs as it blooms blue and blooms early (late May -e. June) and blooms til frost. Center is a Malva (the pink, not sure which one, maybe Party Girl), at 30-36", another all season bloom, (This year I noticed a few babies that are going to be white, so editing will be necessary. Last fall I took out the reseeding wild sunfllowers and planted some Eupatorium m.(Joe Pye Weed) in the far back along with Aster Lady In Black which should get to 4 ft and the Eup 5-6ft. And a few accents of Campanula pyramidalis which get to 5ft and are biennial. The campanulas are rather narrow (6-8" wide)but will top out at 4-6ft, with blue hanging bell type flowers, and fit nicely inbetween other plants. Yet won't be missed when they are done blooming. Just a nice early summer verticle accent. One thing I could consider for later in the season would be a few of Lilium Chinese Trumpet lilies at 5-6ft (Easter lily fragrance). They would bloom later and add great visual interest along with wonderful fragrance. Dotted around in the back with the taller plants and would peek out, placing them in the back would help to hold them in place as they bloom. Or I could take some of the lilies from pix 2 and place them behind the Malva or to the side of the Daisies. I'm not trying to confuse you, just get you to look at the bigger picture and think about the bloom progression of plants you have available in your own garden... What you are trying to do is create little vinnetts (sp?) of flowers. a grouping of flowers that will let the eye flow from plant to plant, nothing jarring or would look out of place. To me the sunflowers did that, wrong color for the effect that I am trying to create with this area. but I will keep them somewhere else in the garden with the proper setting (reds, oranges and yellows). Remember these are my personal prefrences... Some people like mixing hot and cool colors together, just remember it will tend to make the eye move past them for something more comfortalbe and soothing to view if there are clashes going on. See, now that's another area of the garden I need to work on, a vinnette of the warmer colors that will then flow into another section of cooler colors. We can dicuss more ideas for that later.

So now susies must sit down at some point this winter, lol, like you have time... No, just sit down and do some daydreaming.... what do you want to acheive....warm or cool, how far from the house is it...this can help in determining what colors to place in this section. Dark colored flowers will totally disappear (purples) when viewed from a distance, that why I was asking the color of the buddleias at the back of the border. If they are in fact purple could we add some lighter colored accent plants behind them so they can visually be seen from a distance. It may seem daunting but it's not as bad as you might think....thats also why I was asking what plant material is available, not just what's in there now, (can still D-mail me and I will draw something up for you if your interested in the Cottage effect). It might be just some regrouping or moving some things into this bed, that will help create that AHHH Wow that's Beautiful!! The main thing is that people fail to do is plant in groups, 3,5,7s. This will give a block affect and not a polka dot effect, (and I'm guilty of that one myself too, like I say I have much to do in my beds). It may take me YEARS to achieve what I want, but I have time...lol. I have the plants and now I just need to organize them in a way that is pleasing to me, after it's my garden!!! LOL!!! Just remember, There are rules for gardening.....and if you don't like them just throw them out!!! lol. So I've rambled on enough for this post...geez lady are you done yet....lol......yes. For now... Just saying...food for thought.