Shade Gardening: Favorite Astilbe?, 1 by rcn48

rcn48 wrote:
Gone for a few days and time to catch up! WOW, Snapple your pond area is gorgeous :) It looks "familiar" - if my memory hasn't totally failed me, isn't this the same area where you posted a few years back with the HUGE Salix 'Hakuro Nishiki'? Curious what your impression of 'My Monet' is - none of the growers in this area have been impressed with it but it might just be the heat and humidity that knocks it down here.

Re: Kerria, a love/hate relationship with it here! We have the double blooming Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora' and I love the double blooms and the fact that it grows AND blooms beautifully in almost full shade. However, it is quickly becoming a nightmare after 10+ years :( It is now taking up a 10' long and 6' wide space and I'm frantically removing suckers every year where it's creeping into the Hostas! If I let it do its thing it would be twice as big :( I planted a variegated Kerria j. 'Picta' last year because I love the foliage and everything I've found indicates it won't become the monster that 'Pleniflora' has - I can only hope I haven't made the same mistake all over again!

Cindy, I've basically all but given up on growing any of the Hydrangea macrophyllas here, i.e. All Summer Beauty, Endless Summer, Lady in Red, etc. They grow beautifully, lush foliage, etc. but with our "cold" Z6 winters we rarely see flowers. I'm just not willing to give up all that space in the gardens for a "green blob" and no flowers :( Sticking with the paniculatas and serratas for any future purchases. I've had 'Pinky Winky and 'Quickfire' in the gardens for a couple of years and still waiting for them to look as gorgeous as some I've seen at nurseries. I'm fairly patient and I think they'll eventually "earn" their spot in the gardens :) I've also had 'Pink Diamond' in the gardens for years, pretty but the poor thing is located at the top of the driveway and doesn't get much attention, i.e. additional watering during drought. After seeing this beautiful specimen along the path at Plant Delights this summer I think this "gem" deserves more attention :)

ge, if I actually get around to pruning any of our Butterfly bushes, I usually do what Hoosier does after they bloom the first time and then again in early spring before they leaf out. Just be careful pruning them back in the fall, you want to make sure they're basically dormant. DH got really tired of looking at huge, overgrown bushes a couple of years ago and whacked them back HARD to a couple of feet in September. They sent up a ton of new growth because we had an unusually warm fall, no frosts until late October. All that fresh foliage was hit hard when the frosts finally came and the plants never leafed out the following spring. Didn't hurt my feelings any, they were overgrown, unruly and I wanted them out of there! LOL