Favored Weird Plants you can't wait to burst from the ground

Please note, I used the word "Weird" here, so weirdness is a factor. 12" white daisies are not weird, but black ones , lets talk about them.

We have previously talked about Arums, Amorphophallus, Brugsmania, and such, but lets get down and dirty. What grows up here that is a good weird plant? And how is it to grow?

This all poped up while looking at the Plant Delights Catalog, so no blaming ok?

OOH, I love that catalog! I just got mine today. I have never ordered because the shipping is outrageous, but it is worth reading anyhow.
So now you have me thinking. I do have a lot of 'wierd' plants, I guess. I'm more worried about the ones I've lost already since we had that early deep freeze when things were still growing. I'm tired of losing things, frankly.

Okay, not I'll have to give this some thought. But I'll get back to this thread. I like the topic. I have lots of cool seeds to try this year. Some of them are likely wierd.

I ahve a pineapple lily which is a bit weird. The flower was not as dramatic as I had hoped however.

I like the idea of this thread too! I love the unusual, and it has been a lot of fun to see some of the really odd and wonderful things that people in this area have in their gardens. I will have to give it a bit of thought to come up with my own contributions, but will be very curious to see what others come up with as well.

Well, is Corokia cotoneaster wierd enough? It's one of my very favorite shrubs and survived last winter just fine. I also have two calceolarias that I hope will survive. They are hardy enough, it's just the wetness that worries me. They are planted in an alpine bed, but who knows if I've done that right? Keeping fingers cross. Here's a photo of one of them. Tiny yellow fairy pocketbooks!

I've lost Corokia Cotoneaster twice now. Both were small shrubs and could have been in soil with better drainage, but still . . .

I love Calceolaria, but also lost mine last year. I think it'll just be a few years before my soil drains well enough . . .

Holly - did you see my pictures of Dan Hinkley's new place from last summer? He has HUGE Eucomis plants - the size definitely adds to the drama.

I just love to watch plants like Disporum and Polygonatum poke their heads out of the soil. The challenge for me is making sure that the dogs and cats don't break them off and that no night critters bite them in half. This year, though, I'm playing hardball - I'll be ready with wire fencing for them . . .

OOH, sorry to hear you lost both of those plants, Katie. You can get cuttings of the corokia from me if you like.
I love the disporum and polygonatum also. They are so graceful coming up. Last year I almost lost my 'night heron' to the voles. This year I am ready with the castor oil mix!

the other 'wierd' plants I'm thinking of are the restios. I may have lost a couple, but there are more that are still green. maybe the roots on the ones that look nasty will be okay. I've mulched the heck out of them. On the same order, I love Asparagus plants and have a few different ones that I'm looking forward to. Those should be plenty hardy.

I missed the Dan Hinkley garden photos somehow. That would be fun to see. Could you post a link?

Oh, yes!!

His new place is called Windcliff and Rachierabbit and I were there one morning last fall with a group from PHS:

http://picasaweb.google.com/katiegirl2u/WindcliffSeptember52009#

I'll look and see which picture is the Eucomis.

I think one picture of them is Photo 61.

Boy has the garden changed since I have been there. Is the GH in the front where you come in? I think it is where the old barn was. He has completly changed the Pampas Grass that filled the front.

The GH is to the left as you're looking at the house from the drive (with the water on the other side). It's pretty big; very cool.

One of my favorite plants in the spring is when Cyclamen hederifolium puts up its little purple flowers, and then when it puts up variegated leaves in the fall. I love this little plant.

The other is the hardy fuschia that is about 5 years years old and held out to last summer to flower and grow to bush size.

Then there is the spring leaves of the Autumn Crocus which were a mystery till this year too.

And then the beautiful garden when I see Croscosmisa Lucifer and Bee Balm sprouting high for the birds and butterflies.

Ahh, summer!

Yes they hadn't developed that area yet. They had a small old wooden barn there before.

Ahhhh. With the big rock slabs to walk on and the greenhouse it looks much different.

That is quite a spectacular place.

I am glad he kept his prayer flags.

Here's a pic to my pineapple lily.

The flags are cool. They're really beat up now.

My pineapple lily flower was a squat little dwarf compared to yours; it never seemed to rise from the base of the plant. Maybe I didn't give it something it needed to do better.

Holly, I wonder if they get bigger and more robust with age. Is yours young?

I got mine at a plant swap, I think when we were at Pixy's house, and I planted it sometime last Spring, so this was its first time blooming. Perhaps it will do better next year. It gets plenty of sun.

I think it's a South African plant, so it will like the sun!

Mine never bloom. I dug them this year and put them in pots. Maybe I'll get a bloom out of them if I can keep them in the sun all day. Yes, they do get larger with age, like lilies do. Willow, yours are glorious!

Nice Lillies Willow!

Every year I pray that this Aresaema Ringens has survived the voles. I used to have two of them, but the other is gone.

Here's the foliage.

I do have the Eucomis in a pot with potting soil and add compost on top. They form a new bulb every year and then it takes a year to bloom. Yours might have been a new bulb. The bulbs get huge 4" to 5" across and up and down. My sis has a clump that is about 18" in diameter. Maybe I can get some from her this year to share. They are most unusual. Wayside Gardens has a burgandy color also.

I don't know if you are talking to me, Willow, or to Holly, but my bulbs were several years old, like probably 5 years. They didn't really put on a good show of foliage, either. They are the purpleish variety. It's possible they would like it better out front.

In the realm of 'wierd' or 'different' plants, I always look forward to Scilla peruviana. It's one of the prettiest bulbs around.

More in the 'wierd' category is Rumex flexuosus, but I don't have a photo of it. I grew these from seed last year and they are very cool. The leaves look like miniature kelp. They are actually a very decided bronze color. I can't wait until mine look like this:
http://www.stewo.no/R/Rumex%20flexuosus%202.jpg

Hi there I have just place an order to Japan where Plants delight get there plants. I will have some of the cool stuff they have in their catalog local so you can see it before you buy it. Pixy I also have the scilla peruviana very cool. Heidi Oh and to the Dave's garden member I'm sorry I can't remember your name but you know who you are I got the ceanothus conch.

OOH, Heidi, you'll need to post a list!

I'll let every one know when I get it on my website. Where's Rachel? Say hi to my scrappy man.

She's been working and not having much time for DG. She'll be at the seed swap, though.