Favorite Astilbe?

Snapple - love the way those whites and yellows pop against the blue conifer. You put my ideas of a yellow and white bed to shame.
rcn - After looking at all of your photos, do you have any lawn left? :) I've ordered a few things from Plant Delights in the past but, as beautiful as their selection is, zone and light limitations reined me in. My list of things I've killed is almost as long as the list of survivors. I do have one source of "good" soil but it's limited - straight back from the house where it drops off into the wetlands, I haul leaves every fall for the past 15 or so years. It's my way of holding back some of the erosion since we're not allowed to build up anything along the edge of the wetlands. I may need to haul some of that up to the Astilbe bed (which sits a little lower than the rest of the yard) next week. I've been having a hard time with my conscience on acquiring any new plants right now. My beds are all packed and all of this dividing makes more plants. Some I pot up for my daughter and some being edited out go into the compost pile. It's finally stopped raining here but the humidity is 95% and still too wet to go tromping in beds today. Have a potential site for some the white Astilbe divisions in the same bed with some white Epimedium, Hepatica, white violets and various columbine. Might even move my poor little 'Ghost' there too.

The coleus is Gay's Delight. The pagoda was a Christmas present. It's in pieces, of course. You have to assemble it. My DH tried to hide them in the garage under a tarp but I accidentally found them about a week before. We had a lot of snow on the ground that year so we couldn't put it up in the yard. Instead we put it together temporarily on the back deck right outside the kitchen window. The deck sagged! To top it all off I glanced out the kitchen window one day in the early spring and noticed it had yellow stuff on it. I went out to investigate and it had been "egged". Neighbor kids next door have good throwing arms. They're a huge pain in my bottom. Where it's at now they cant get to it. I wont bore you all with stunts these "home schooled" chruch attending little darlings have done over the years ( some serious). But I will tell you I'm fixin to fully retire in about two weeks. And I'm gonna get 'em.

All my beds are raised beds. Done the hard way. Double dug with the sod ( if any) buried upside down in the bottom of the hole. The soil is put back in the bed with the addition of 1/3 compost and 1/2 peat by volume. At least some of you have DH's that plant. For my lovable DH his total contribution is not flinching when he pays the plant aquisition bills. Good enough for me!

You're fixing to retire? For real? Congrats! Oh geez - double-digging. I give you kudos for that! DH doesn't plant or dig. He's helped out occasionally in the past but I really have to "ask". He does help with constructing my ideas though (he just completed a 2-year project in the family room - built in desk 9 ft long with bookshelves above, strong enough to hang from). He is my biggest plant acquisition enabler though.

Cindy - Count yourself lucky, lucky lucky. A DH who pays the plant tab and builds? Priceless as they say in the commercial. Also If I was diggin on a slope like your working with the double digging would never have happened. It would have been me upside down in the hole.

Speaking of plant aquisitions I've had a very bad experience of late. Please be careful.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1032448/

Was moving a Phalaris 'Variegata' (ribbon grass) which I've kept in a pot in the ground for years. Trying to dig a new hole to accommodate the 12" pot was a challenge. I ran into hard tan clay. Maybe I need to add a pick ax to my gardening tool collection.
Thanks for posting that Hosta warning. How sad that growers (and distributors) would let something like that go to market. I know that the department managers get training initially and that some of them really do love plants but they should be on top of new plant health threats. I've seen them reject a whole loads of plants for mildew on leaves (usually caused by shipping in refrigerator trucks in hot weather). Of course, who knows what store policy is these days other than profit margin focus.

Do you have hard pan? Oh My! I worked on a crew this spring that dug over 300 holes for 4" pots of bedding dahlias and some other stuff. Every single hole had hard pan that had to be broken through. There were some mighty achey arms the next day. The dahlias bedded out beautifully. This was a brand new bed cleared this year for planting the first time. Next year when it comes time to plant out that bed I'm volunteering elsewhere! Good idea on keeping that plant in a pot.

Hmmm - I don't think I've ever been stubborn enough to break all the way through the clay layer. For all I know, that's what we've got under "real" soil. In some areas there's more soil on top of the clay. I have a feeling that when they built this subdivision, they did a lot of filling in just to build, as evidenced by the grade of my "lower garden". Back in the 70's when this house was built, the developers didn't hesitate to fill in with whatever they could get their hands on. Of course, clay would be preferred to minimize erosion.

I think you're right. If you had hard pan you would know it. The layer is usually 2" to 4" inches at most. You would have at some point broken through it. I don't have to do the half the work you do to put stuff in the ground. You're amazing.

Not only was clay preferred because it was stable but it's also cheaper than other fills. One small end of the town where I live was a dump in the late 30's and very early 40's. Those folks have some real issues. Glad I don't garden there, because in 1950 when it was built the dump wasn't properly capped. Ouch! It probably shouldn't have been built over at all. Back then it was "anything goes" for stuff that went into the landfill.

OK - now I can't complain about my lot. Owning a house on top of an old dump would be way more disastrous. The upper yard is a different set of problems. The clay is deeper down but I have more tree roots. My guess is that they put some sort of top soil on top of the clay in the yard. Didn't say it was good soil since it does tend to be rather fine and silty, forms a crust by mid-summer and is down right hard by fall. Sometimes if it's been dry for a while, you can actually hear your footsteps when walking through the yard. Bizarre.

LOL, We have plenty to mow but most of it is "pasture" :) We basically only have a couple of strips left of "lawn" before you get into the open pasture. It's been years since we ordered anything from Plant Delights but always wanted to visit their gardens. We finally made a quick trip to their Open House this year and it was much easier actually being able to "see" the selections before purchasing them :)

Snapple, sometimes I wish DH's only contribution was not flinching with plant purchases! LOL Our concepts of "design" definitely differ and we're always "discussing" each other's placement of plants in the gardens - the main reason why there are now "his and her" gardens :) We've even been known to "steal" each other's stashed plants when one of us isn't looking!

Interesting...one area of my gardens in Maine was actually created in a spot which was a dumping spot for earlier generations! I don't remember how many loads we had to cart off to the real "dump" but I did find some old bottles that I kept and remember an old rusty tea kettle that I used for a container :) I'm not sure if you would consider our soil hard pan or not, all I know is when DH tried to bust through the soil years ago to plant a large B&B, the attachment on the tractor actually bounced off the soil! Ever since that miserable fiasco we've resolved ourselves to choosing smaller sized specimens :) When I recently landscaped my daughter's garden in Maine I was discouraged to find most of the "fill" around the house was sandy soil, some almost pure sand :( Not so bad for digging but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plants will tolerate it!

How funny - stealing each other's stashed plants.
I don't believe it - more "lake effect" rain this morning. I was all set to go out and get dirty today after waiting all day yesterday for things to dry out a little. Now it'll be tomorrow. Can't sift compost when it's wet. I've taken all of my summer cuttings so there's not much else I can do outside except maybe pot up a few herbs to bring in later. Sigh. I'm getting a little antsy being indoors.

Yippee - the lower garden is finished. I'm not saying it's perfect by a long shot but it will definitely be in better shape next spring. I even had enough energy left to cut down all of the wild raspberries and transplant a small tree (it's either a Chionanthus or a Halesia - have to check which one) that's never bloomed in 10 years and has stayed around 4 ft tall.
Tomorrow I get to tackle the white Astilbes and try to reconfigure some beds. Additional relocation of some other plants as well. Just hope I've made all of the various Astilbes happy so far.

Snapple45: What is that blue conifer in your posted picture on August 28th? At first I thought it was a blue spruce, but looking closer it is much prettier and elegant. Can it be that it's a blue Atlas cedar? (I've been "eaves-dropping" on this thread.... very entertaining!)

Mornin everybody

LOL, Good morning ge :)

Hoosier, I think this is the information you're looking for? http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=6975686 Yes, we certainly have strayed from the thread topic but it's been fun!

Cindy, congrats on finishing the lower garden! I'm sure your Astilbes will thank you next spring :) Re: stealing each other's stashed plants - it really is comical. On more than one occasion I've had a plant in mind for a specific spot but when I finally get around to planting it the plant is MIA and somehow? has ended up in DH's "stash". Since we're working in different areas I merely wait for him to slip inside and I take the opportunity to RUN not walk, grab the plant and get in the ground before he realizes it's missing! LOL

rcn48: Thanks for the reference thread, but I don't think the conifer in that photo is a juniper. Now I'm confused!

Maybe Snapple will give us IDs of everything in that photo, I know I'm more than curious about several in the photo :) Snapple? ^_^

Is it a deodar cedar? If so, pretty impressive for Ohio!

All of the white Astilbe have been lifted and are slowly being divided. Having a tough time telling the difference between 'Bridal Veil' and 'Deutschland'. One appears to have slightly darker leaves than the other but I'm still not sure. All I can do is coordinate the divisions from one clump (usually 4) with the divisions from another clump when replanting. Rescued azalea 'White Lights' from it's tree root-congested spot in the front yard and replanted it among the Astilbe. As long as I was working in that bed, Hosta 'Parhelion' and 'Guacamole' were dug up for repositioning and dividing as they were too big for the space. Now I have to decide which Hosta divisions to put where (me - the poor planner). And in the same bed is Deutzia 'Magician' which needs to be moved to a sunnier spot (which will give more light to Viburnum 'Mohawk'). Already have the spot but have to get rid of rose 'Celsiana' (which is going south to my daughter). That's what will start out my day today (looking forward to all of those scratches). Then it's back to another bed to reconfigure a bit to make room for the rest of the Astilbe. Hauled up 7 tubs of compost (the last of the "official" pile which now means I have to go to the secret stash) to work in before replanting stuff. Meanwhile, dug up plants are basking on the sidewalk in wet bath towels until they get replanted. The weather has been absolutely beautiful for all of this intense digging - sunny, low 70's, slight breeze so I can't complain.

Weerobin, where have you been hiding? I don't spend as much time on DG during the summer months but haven't seen you much since spring :)

Hoosier, since Snapple is MIA, is this the conifer you're asking about? My apologies to Snapple for "borrowing" her photo :)

Cindy, I have no complaints about the weather either, cool crisp mornings are perfect for playing in the gardens. I've just been too busy and haven't been able to take advantage of them :( Sounds like you're making up for the rainy days you were idle! With everything you've accomplished this summer you should be able to sit back, enjoy and take a well deserved break next year :)

great pix

Beautiful photo, rch48, but the conifer I'm wondering about is up about 20-some entries from this and is in the photo that she shows her pagoda. I hope Snapple is OK!

Oops, my bad :( I failed to see you that had requested an ID of the conifer in her posting of August 28th! LOL Hopefully Snapple is still watching the thread and will come back with the ID we're looking for.

HoosierGreen - that was a beautiful specimen. I wish I had more sun to grow conifers well. I do have some but I have to be content with a "wispier" look.
rcn - I pulled out two big 'Spilled Milk' Hostas yesterday. Both totally green (they were divisions of one original plant) but one did have a tiny little 3-leaved off-shoot that showed the markings of this variety. Could the plants have reverted? Are the markings only evident in younger plants? I know it didn't come cheap and I was disappointed. They now reside in the lower garden where I had just cleared wild raspberries on Monday since I had nowhere else to put them. I'm struggling with more of the rampant Campanula there as well and hadn't really planned on planting much there until next year.
The white Astilbe bed is done. Dug out a rose to make room for the Deutzia, replanted the Viburnum, replanted Euphorbia, corralled the white columbine ('Nana Alba' and 'Sunlight White') and amended the soil quite a bit. Hosta 'Silver Threads and Golden Needles' is enjoying the amended soil. That area was originally a slope until DH built some retaining walls years ago and the original soil was fine, silty stuff on top of clay. It tends to dry out quickly even though I've amended and leveled over the years. I had pulled out 'Guacamole', divided it and put back two plants. Two more divisions replaced 'Spilled Milk'. Now I have 'Parhelion' to contend with. What was I thinking putting a "giant" Hosta in that small space? Working on another bed today to make a home for the rest of the white Astilbe, a 'Parhelion' division and JP fern 'Ghost'. If I can get that done today, I'll just have some more editing to do that doesn't require reshuffling half the garden. Snapple - you were a great influence on me.

Hey folks - I'm back. Had a "time out" for some family business issues, but all is back under control. The tall backdrop conifers behind the pagoda are a pair of 25+ yr old Tsuga canadensis 'Pendula'. They've never been pruned or shaped.

The plant list for the Juniper 'Skyrocket' photo is as follows:

Going clockwise. Back center is Juniperus scopulorum 'Skyrocket' ( 20' H X 2' W in 10 years ). Partially pictured to the right is Taxodium distichum 'Cascade Falls - a deciduous Bald Cypress, grafted. The dark purple mound shrub is Berberis thunbergii 'Concord'. In front of it is a small weeping Hemlock, 'Coles Prostrate' . The two pink shrubs are Wiegela 'My Monet". Between them is a ground hugging creeping gold Juniper - Juniperus horizontalis 'Mother Lode' . The low conifer to the left of 'Skyrocket' is Juniperus x media 'Daub's Frosted' . Behind them as a backdrop is a pair of mature Fraser Firs. The green ground hugger in the foreground is Arabis caucasica - Wall Rockcress. The blue flowered plants are Campanula carpatica 'Blue Clips'. The goal was consistent color without fussy annuals or any short bloom period plant followed by a long period of "down time" and especially any plant that died back. I have done away completely with annuals, except for pots, and any perennial that did not provide color or good texture contrast from spring until frost, with the exception of a tree peony. The first on my list to go were poppies, iris, daylilys, fox gloves and daffodills. Those are beautiful plants but I think they are best admired in someone elses garden or a very large garden that can absorb a few seasonal holes in the plantings.

Pictured below is a 4 yr (here) Cedrus deodara 'Eisregan' about 18'. It came through last winter's -17° temps with flying colors. It's located on the south side of the big hemlocks and firs which obviously keep it sheltered from sweeping winds. This is a C. deodara I would encougare others to plant with the admonition of wind protection. I'm not saying it's necessary, just that I don't know how much protection it truly needs. The needles are a beautiful true frosty blue.

Hey Cindy - Thanks! But really I don't think my small gardens would hold a candle to what you have. Can't wait to see the spring pictures.

Snapple - My turn to say "Oh my"! Your pond area is gorgeous and the conifers look perfect.
The last of the divided Astilbe have been planted. I used the last of the white divisions to "bolster" a bed of almost all columbine. I do like the columbine but they start looking ratty after they're done blooming until the new growth comes back towards the end of summer. Found a spot for 'Parhelion' and 'Ghost' and even my little dinky Gentiana (although I'm not sure the spot is sunny enough for it). Pulled out a big clump of Caex siderosticta. It looks great in the spring and early summer and then flattens out towards the end of summer. Maybe too much shade. That's one tough root system. The biggie - pulled out Hydrangea 'All Summer Beauty'. Never bloomed for me in 6 years - probably too much shade again but who knows. Even gave it a mini dose of super phos but then it started wilting even though it had sufficient water and it's been pretty cool at night. I've lost all patience with it. Maybe I can relax now - no, I take that back. I'll expand my to-do list even more. :)

Thanks Snapple for the ID. That's one gorgeous weeping hemlock! Mine is much smaller, but nice all the same. You have beautiful conifers.

Cindy: You'll have better luck with 'Endless Summer' or the new lacecap 'Twist & Shout'. 'All Summer Beauty' just isn't hardy enough outside of Zone 6 in my experience. Super-phosphate seems to help with repeat blooming.

I think 'All Summer Beauty' is destined for TN. I've decided that I'm not going to put a replacement in that spot. I probably thought (at the time) that I was getting an 'Endless Summer' knock-off at a lower price. 'ASB' was a real thorn in my side since I could see it from my patio, just sitting there for several years. I think I'll just have to be content with the 5 varieties I currently have, which includes an 'Endless Summer' that had 5 or 6 blooms this year. I'm just too limited in providing the right site for them. Now if I could only get 'Tardiva' to put on some growth. It's been in several spots and I just can't find the right one for it. Even though it's supposed to be great for different light conditions, maybe I just can't find enough light without giving up another plant. My one half-sun bed is crammed full.

sounds like my place.

Cindy: A great cultivar of Hydrangea paniculata that you might have room for since it stays smaller than 'Tardiva' is 'Pinky Winky'. Of course, you can always just cut regular 'Tardiva' to stubs every spring to keep it in check, usually 4'-5'. The hydrangeas are fun.

For more shade areas, have you tried any of the oakleaf hydrangeas? 'Alice' and 'Snowflake' are particularly nice, especially 'Snowflake'. 'PeeWee' stays at about 3'.

I have oakleaf 'Snow Queen' which seems to do okay where it's at although I know it's growing in some clay. Hmmm - looks like I purchased some of my Hydrangeas before they came out with the smaller varieties. I'm holding off on purchasing any more shrubs until DH can decide if/when/where he's going to build a small shed. I'm thinking it's going to take over a little less than half of my back garden where I have a couple of azaleas, 'Snow Queen', a Weigela, a Kerria japonica 'Picta' as well as Hostas, perennials and bulbs. Dreading the relocation of everything already. Oops - and a couple of Astilbe (trying to stay on thread topic). :)

I've got Pinky Winky. It's not been that great a performer. The sepals tend to brown rather than go pink if there is a hot spell. It's a vigorous and floriferous H. paniculuta, just not always in the pink. There is a new H. arborescens called 'Invincible Spirit" that is supposed to have bright pink blooms and strong stems. I've got one sitting in a pot, just came two days ago. We'll see. I've been thinking about adding a Kerria japonica but can't decide on a cultivar - translate havn't done my homework on that one yet. Care to make any suggestions?

Snapple: You might try 'Quick Fire' Hydrangea p. It's reliably nicely colored when it fades. This is the first year I've used 'Pinky Winky' and since the rains turned off in August, I'll have to give it another year to prove itself (but 'Quick Fire" has done nicely. Good red stems too.)

My two favorite kerrias are the larger-flowered 'Golden Guinea' and 'Kin Kan'. The latter has wonderful yellow-orange winter stems, actually better than some yellow-stemmed dogwoods! The pic is of 'Kin Kan'.

'Pleniflora' does have double flowers, with some summer reblooming, but can get really lanky and tall.

Thank you HG. I want one in the ground soon so I'll be looking hard at your suggestions. I appreciate the time saving.

I have Pinky Winky, in 2 years. Should I cut it back in winter?
It hasnt bloomed yet

ge1836: Are you saying that your 'Pinky Winky' hasn't bloomed in the two years you've had it? That'd be really unusual unless it was a very small plant to begin with. They are usually very vigorous and reliable bloomers. I cut mine back to about 12" or so in the spring, enjoying the dried blooms during the winter. If you don't cut it back, it gets a little larger each year, but should stay smaller than other Hydrangea paniculata cultivars.

It was a small plant. I ordered 3 from Forest Farm
Ive moved 2 of them. Thanks for the trimming tip.
How about Buddleahs I need to trim this fall in order to plant tulips there.
I cut them back this first spring but wonder if Fall cut back is OK?

I've had the variegated Kerria 'Picta' for a long time (before there were a lot of varieties available). It's a more delicate looking plant compared to other Kerrias I've seen. The leaves are smaller but the variegation is so clean and fresh in the spring along with the yellow flowers that I don't think I'd trade it for another variety. It does get some light from the north but is sited in shade. Because it's not protected from the north winter wind here, it's possible to lose some branches but they're easy enough to prune out - keeps it more open too.

This has turned out to be a spectacular thread. Just spectacular. 'Picta'? Well, that makes my choice lots harder. LOL
While we are on the subject of H. paniculatas I did a bad, bad thing. I just did an impulse buy - 'Pink Diamond' trained as a standard. Never mind the fact that to site it right I have to build an entire new bed in the front yard. ( DH is scratching his head.) The real problem is I don't know how to properly maintain the darned thing. There are several planted outside a local business that are beautiful. They've been there for years. They don't look like they are fussed over or pruned. The one I've got has been nicely branched at the top. Very balanced with no akward branches or a bad side. I suppose you just allow those branches to continue to grow, but remove any others that sprout? Dead head the blooms? Help!