This spring I've decided to take a different approach to what I'm doing with my budget. Usually, I go hog wild at the local nursery buying quarts as soon as they hit the shelves. This has worked for me but my taste has become more evolved since I've been on here. My taste is starting to move away from the common things that are readily available at the nursery. Anyway, this has resulted in spending a good chunk of my budget on mail orders. Below is a list of things I recently placed orders for; certainly not rare plants but uncommon in my area for sure. I'm super excited to get everything and see how it grows. Don't scold me about the non natives as I appreciate natives but I'm not exclusive :) I just wanted to get a conversation going because I'm curious as to what everyone else is doing in their gardens this spring.
I tried to post everything but DG is giving me some issues. If it didn't sort itself out I'll post the rest later.
Got it! User error :)
This message was edited Feb 6, 2014 12:16 PM
This message was edited Feb 6, 2014 12:22 PM
SHOPPING LISTS, Spring 2014 What are you getting?
Bluestone:
Geranium phaeum Samobor (Hardy Geranium 'Samobor')
Geranium Ballerina (Hardy Geranium 'Ballerina')
Prunella Summer Daze (Self Heal)
Dalea purpurea Stephanie (Purple Prairie Clover)
Penstemon barbatus Rubycunda (Penstemon)
Anemone multifida Annabella Deep Rose (Anemone Annabella Deep Rose)
Anthemis tinctoria Kelwayi (Golden Margerite)
Papaver orientalis Brilliant (Oriental Poppy 'Brilliant')
Heliopsis helianthoides Summer Nights (Perennial Sun Flower 'Summer Nights')
Lychnis Chalcedonica (Maltese Cross)
Lychnis coronaria Atrosanguinea (Catchfly/Rose Campion)
Primula denticulata Cashmeriana Ruby (Drumstick Primrose)
Chrysogonum virginianum Pierre (Goldenstar)
Geranium Johnsons Blue (Hardy Geranium 'Johnson's Blue')
Geranium Purple Who (Hardy Geranium 'Purple Who')
Lobelia gerardii Vedrariensis (Purple Cardinal Flower)
Bergenia Bressingham Ruby (Heartleaf Berginia)
Trollius Ledebourii (Yellow Globeflower)
Geranium Dilys (Hardy Geranium 'Dilys')
Lazy S&S: does anyone else know they're trying to sell their nursery?
Persicaria affinis 'Darjeeling Red' (Fleeceflower/Knotweed)
Osteospermum barberiae var. com. 'Purple Mountain' (African Daisy)
Callirhoe digitata (Poppy Mallow)
Chelonopsis moschata (Japanese Turtlehead)
Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash' (Lungwort)
Rabdosia longituba (Trumpet Spur Flower)
Ranunculus hispidus (Bristly Buttercup)
Ruellia humilis (Wild Petunia)
Potentilla nepalensis 'Ron McBeath' (Cinquefoil)
Stylophorum diphyllum (Celandine Woodland Poppy)
Jeffersonian diphylla X 2 (Twinleaf)
Plant Delights: I hate their new website :(
Impatiens pritzelii 'Sichuan Gold' (Perennial Japanese Impatien)
Kalimeris incisa 'Edo Murasaki' (False Aster (Edo Murasaki)
Salvia glabrescens 'Momobana' (Salvia)
Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink)
Hymenoxys acaulis (Western Sundancer Daisy)
Blackfoot Natives: I have a dry area under the overhang of our bi-level (south facing)
Dodecatheon pulchellum (Darkthroat Shooting Star)
Castilleja Miniata (Indian Paintbrush)
Eriophyllum lanatum (Wooly Sunflower)
Heterotheca villosa (Hairy False Golden Aster)
Ipomopsis aggregata (Scarlet Gilia)
Liatris punctata (Dotted Blazingstar)
Linum lewisii (Blue Flax)
Lupinus argenteus (Silvery Lupine)
Penstemon eriantherus (Fuzzy Tongue Penstemon)
North Creek:
Geranium macrorrhizum Bevan's Variety (Hardy Geranium 'Bevan's Variety')
Meehania Cordata (Meehan's Mint)
High Country Gardens:
Ratibida columnifera (Mexican Hat)
Lilium philadelphicum (Wood Lily)
Penstemon mexicali Pike's Peak Purple
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This message was edited Feb 19, 2014 8:31 AM
I almost forgot my Swan Island Dahlia order too!
CHERRY DROP
GINGER SNAP
HOOTENANNY
JAPANESE BISHOP
JITTERBUG
SAYONARA
SANDIA SHOMEI
This message was edited Feb 6, 2014 12:28 PM
Nice list Jeff! Familiar with many and many new ones too,
This year I am ordering at least four types of Milkweed plugs from North Creek. I have pledged myself to a goal of planting or seeing planted 25 or more Monarch Way Stations (min of 6-9 Milkweeds of two species) along my paper route and in MAF ers gardens! I wnt to do what I can to Bring Back The Monarchs. Their migration to and from our area is endangered as a phenomena in North America, I'm following Monarch Watch campaign and hope others will, too.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=bring+back+the+Monarch&oq=bring+back+the+Monarch&gs_l=firefox-hp.3...0.0.1.40.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1ac..34.firefox-hp..6.16.4243.7WFx6LlhOuc
I've restarted my business 'The Plant Bus' (Have plants will travel) and if Milkweeds aren't on everyones get some now list, I will bring Milkweeds to the people and some wild places I know with maybe a stop or two at a Farmers Market or library or...what ever to create a buzz buzz buzz bus
Comments and offers to order or help or can be posted over here along with interest in additional North Creek orders:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1349252/
Sweet Coleup! I'm unfamiliar with your business, how does it work?
I'm interested in hearing about it as well, Coleup!
Sequoia, that'll be a lot of happy planting! You're gonna need a bigger yard....
I'lI have to wait for garden centers to open up before I can buy what I really need: big shrubs and trees. And I've got to get those in the ground before I can plant the beautiful flower seeds I'll be getting at the swap!
I probably will have to order the Gaylussacia baccata shrubs I want, though, because I don't think garden centers carry them. I found one online nursery selling them: Reeseville Ridge Nursery. The ones they sell are small, though, so I'll look around some more.
Good luck finding that one. Half the fun in planting is the chase :)
I'm always saying I need a bigger yard! The more plants you have the less you need to weed...LOL
Muddy, last fall I made a wonderful friend of a friend contact who is chief buyer for a garden center near me and he offered to locate trees/shrubs we might want thru his multi years of connections and sources for same. Bring your wish list to seed swap and I'll put it in his hands...no commitment to buy thru him just info and availability and best price if interested. A number of us got terrific 'deals' when they clearanced some choice plants last fall.
Huckleberry! Yea for edible forests.
"Now, for the first time in its history, gardening has taken on a role that transcends the needs of the gardener. Like it or not, gardeners have become important players in the management of our nation's wildlife. It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to make a difference."
-- Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home
Some of the idea behind The Plant Bus is that it can bring plants to people and locations rather than just depending on them coming to the plants. For instance, if The Plant Bus brought Milkweed and other native plants to peoples gardens or their neighborhood they could see how they could be incorporated into existing landscapes , like a traveling butterfly garden...or maybe a mobile habitat that follows the migration and fills in some gaps along the way..or what does a mama Monarch do when in two weeks she can't find milkweed to lay eggs on? Next Milkweed 75 miles
http://www.loudounwildlife.org/Monarch_Campaign_Plant_Waystations.html
Lol...next milkweed 75 miles...
Jeff, Plant Delights used to be one of my go to sites as I resonated with their plant descriptions. New format doesn't work for me either.
Yes, some of us discussed Lazy SS for sale last year or so. Don't we all have those dreams! I liked that the owners were willing to pass things on and just thinking about the extensive list of stock plants they have sets my heart dancing.
Muddy, I did see Black Huckleberry offered at AmericanNatives in PA
http://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/bayscapes/bsresources/bs-nurseries.html
Is there some reason you want that particular one? Are they for 'your' woods?
Thanks for the tip about AmericanNatives. It's helpful that I can call them and let them know what I'm looking for in terms of size, etc. The huckleberries are for my own garden. I can't remember how my obsession over huckleberries started - I might have read that birds love them - but my quest for G. baccata in particular is based in large part on this article: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2523/
It seems like the species that will do best in my back yard; however, if G. brachycera (Box Huckleberry) will thrive, I'd actually prefer that because it's evergreen. I was amazed to read that there is a colony of G. brachycera in Perry County, PA that is about a mile long and is over 12,000 years old - much much older than the oldest Sequoias. Isn't that incredible?!
A locally-published gardening book says that people who read Doug Tallamy's "Bringing Nature Home" will never want to buy an alien ornamental again!
I'd like to hear more about The Plant Bus next weekend!
Yeah Coleup...it's a real shame about their website. I had thought previously that it the plant finder and uniqueness of some of their products made up for their plants being so expensive. Now, not so much. The only things I bought from them were things I couldn't get at Lazy or Bluestone.
Wow Jeff, that is a nice list of plants! I've purchased from Bluestone and Lazy SS several times, and have been happy with them. Mail order is great for the variety you can find, but the plants are small - no instant gratification :) I have learned to be patient.
I have the first one you listed - Geranium phaeum Samobor. I got it last year from Lazy SS. I like it. As Coleup said, a few of us had discussion dreams about buying Lazy SS. I wish it was feasible, sigh....
The harder to find plants that I will probably look for this year are cyclamen, dodecatheon, trillium, and epimedium. Someone somewhere on DG mentioned eidelweiss perennials - new to me, but looks like a great selection:
http://www.edelweissperennials.com/
Aspen, Jeff and Muddy One of my favorite haunts that eventually moved to Shannandoah Valley and where I had the deep privilege to be employed might offer some of those harder to find goodies Here is a link to their ferns and I think they have 3 or 4 epimediums, wonderful tender Salvias, and their Bridgewood Gardens site has Hosta s from breeder and book on Hosta partner. They used to trial plants and shrubs before they became new introductions for Plant Delights guy and others who were personal friends/associates.
http://www.crownsvillenursery.com/xcart/home.php?cat=113&sort=orderby&sort_direction=0&page=2
Their old paper catalog had wonderful extensive descriptions of each offering but I see they are down to a short version now
Aspen, I'm getting my Dodecatheon pulchellum from Blackfoot Natives. I purchased a few shepardia canadensis from there in September, she's really easy to work with.
I've bought from Edelweiss before and their plants usually come in great condition. I've had much success with the cyclamen I've purchased there. I do believe they have a fairly expansive Epimedium collection as well.
Muddy, so the Eastern Forests have had colonies of Huckleberry in the understory for 12,000 years, a long time to develope interdependence and balance with all other creatures from microbes to mammels...like the Great Praries and coastal wetlands and arctic tundra, rain forests, etc. As I delivered my paper route pre dawn this weekend I imagined the woods pre developement. filled with edibles like Huckleberry and wondered how that kind of woods would sustain the deer population which is being managed by managed hunts as 'over population'
Kinda misses a point doesn't it?
Doug Tallamy will be here March 2 for presentation and book signing.
Wonder how the woods back in Illinois that my mom was instrumental in getting 'reserved forever in its wild state' (my woods as a kid filled with all those Easternwoodland wildflowers and spring ephemerals we now shop long and hard for) is doing in the 32 years since I have been back?
Greenthumb, ecnalg, and I went to hear Doug Tallamy when he was in Leesburg a few years ago. It was a great lecture!
I was just checking out what was new on the Shade Gardening forum, and re-checked a thread on cyclamen. Ha ha ha, sequoia it was YOU who had recommended eidelweiss - I knew I had seen it by someone somewhere on DG LOL.
Want to get your eyes popped? Look at a page of Gazania images
phew! I like gazanias but haven't grown them in a lot of years. I think they take a while to bloom.
This message was edited Feb 18, 2014 8:47 PM
Sally, unless I did something wrong I think that link is to this thread.
OK--you all horticulturists.....using all those fancy-schancy names---
Jeff--I have NO idea what any of those plants you listed are!!!
If it is not too much work--it would be nice if you included the common names
in parentheses after the Horticultural name.
I, for one, am a huge gardener--and a knowledgeable one--but i do not
know the fancy names of anything. Have pity on us ignoramuses.....;o)
Thanks--Gita
sorry Seq- the original address was way long and somehow it did that?? I edited it all out now.
I had a Gazania last year but I think it got smothered by all the other stuff in the garden. It was sited poorly so I'll assume responsibility for its demise.
Gita, I try to train myself to use the botanical names since I've been on DG. I feel like people know what I'm talking about more if I do. Plus the plants are easier to look up online that way. I couldn't tell you what half of their common names were LOL. Hopefully the end result is beautiful. I have a tendency not to plan very well when I install plants. Case in point, the gazania I killed last year. I planted it in an area that had taller plants over take it. I have a spreadsheet all laid out with the plants I'm getting so I know where to put what. Hopefully that will make a difference.
Jeff, are you getting one plant of each on your list or multiples?
Looks like you like Hardy Geraniums! Do you plan to use them as ground covers? You will find that several people have 'starts' of several to swap at Spring Swap. Are you planning to attend?
I was looking online yesterday for brugmansia cuttings and the search engine kept coming up with "mini brumansia" aka iochroma. Has anyone ever seen or grown these before? They sure look pretty, and I think I'll get a few for summer containers to try them out this year.
http://www.kartuz.com/c/7RFPJ/Iochroma.html
looks interesting aspenhill- I have not grown them or seen them that I recall
Gita: With Coleup's help I edited my list to include common names.
Coleup: Thanks for the help. Also, I will be getting one of each except for the Twinleaf, I'll be getting two. I do plan on attending the swap. I like the geraniums mostly for their extended bloom period and tolerance of part to mostly shaded areas. I'm trying to bring some more perennial color into areas that have long non flowering periods after the spring flush.
Hardy Geraniums go well with bulbs and under bushes and take little care and can handle dry. There is a white flowered one Biokovo? that I like from Sallyg I think
www.davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/38287/
and 'BlushingTurtle' which Aspenhill has in her turtle garden
www.greenhousegrower.com/.../geranium/spotlight-on-blushing-turtle-geranium/
and dark leaved 'expresso' with finely cut leaves. being ordered from North Creek group buy
www.edelweissperennials.com/PlantGroup.aspx?plant=Geranium
Most of mine bloom much better with more than 'shade'
Have you figured out a way to mark your new bevy of plants in their inground locations?
I think my neighbor has the Biokovo. The Blushing Turtle looks similar to the Bevan's. I usually try to limit my whites in the garden. I think white's have more of a formal tone to them and my personality is way informal...LOL
In regards to marking the new plants, I don't plan on doing any marking. I think it's nice that many people do mark their gardens but I prefer the unmarked look. Anyone that tours our yard (which is rare unfortunately because I love to show it off) isn't concerned with what the names of the plants are. In case I ever get questioned though, I have kept all the pot markers for the plants piled up in the garage :)
Besides Sally's "Big Root" geranium--I only have one other.
It is well behaved and a pretty blue. Name???--not that it is important...
OH--and thanks, Sequoia--I will look at your list now that i will
understand what's what.
Gita
Reminder
North Creek Group Buy still need to complete some flats for ordering for delivery by Spring Plant Swap
Goldenrods and Asters
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9772998
Other Native or Nectar or Host plants
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9773013
FERNS (4 plants of 6 different ferns)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9775679
Please indicate your interest. Thanks
We had Lowes store credit to use so I bought some seed packs. Prices sure vary for the amount you get. some spinach was 6 grams of old bloomsdale long standing vs 1.5 grams or something for a new hybrid, for about the same price. Some store packets are very lightweight in seeds. They wouldn't even budge the self check scale. Even when I tried throwing them in the bag really hard LOL
The southern states store in Glen Burnie had packets cheaper but not quite the selection of Burpee seed at Lowes. They also had the onion sets and some dormant vines and summer bulbs. Spring is coming!
I used to pour over plant catalogs and order many flowering plants for my garden in Asheville, orders from Bluestone to more expensive offerings from Plant Delights. It was a lovely garden but wouldn't help feed me.
Now my focus has changed nearly 100% to growing edibles, and with the severe drought in California added to the 2014 harsh winter in the grain belt, you can bet grocery prices will increase again. Already milk, bread and eggs are up 60-70% over the last 2 years. Some of the vegetable blooms are amazing, like okra and squash, or of the blooms of the culinary herbs I grow.
I still have some non-edibles in the garden, mostly perennial bulbs and I love them. The blooms on my fledgling fruit trees are lovely, as are the blooms on the more-established fruiting and nut-bearing shrubs.
Jeff, You would be very welcome to come and dig perennials from my yard this spring. We will be at the swap as well. I won't put up a swap list quite yet but when I do just let me know what you would like and we can take them to the swap or maybe you would like to come over for lunch and plants. We have plenty of Wood Poppy and so do several others in the group. I have the Raspberry Splash pulmonaria but not sure if I have enough to divide will have to wait and see what comes up.
So far I am only ordering annuals and caladiums.
Holly, is that the celandine poppy? I do like those. I think I have one on order from Lazy S&S but more are always nice :) I'll check out your list when you post it and let you know if anything catches my eye. I am also getting a Pulmonaria too.
When I tell people I garden, the first thing they assume is it's edibles. Then I promptly tell them that growing edibles is boring and I'm only in it for the beauty. It will be interesting this season then when I head up an edible plot with our church. It's 20'x40' and I have no idea what we'll grow but it should be a nice learning experience.
Jeff--
I have several types of seeds to heirloom Tomatoes...and also different Basil seeds...
Tomatoes:
Mortgage LIfter--Cherokee Purple (my fave)--Yellow Brandyvine--
Sun Gold (hybrid).
Basil:
Italian Genovese --Thai--Lemon/Lime mix. Jill started me on all these...
I can mail you all of these.....
Also--When at Home Depot the "Bonnie Vegetables and Herbs" tables
get set up--you can buy all kinds of edibles from them. Very good asst. and quality.
FYI--I work at a HD....
Gita
Haha, nice plug for HD. I have a general rule not to buy plants from HD because of the consistent poor quality but I'll have to check them out this spring for the edibles. There are several amish places around us that I'm going to check out as well.
I appreciate the seed offer but I'm not set up to grow things from seed at my house. We have 3 cats and they would no doubt get into trouble with seed trays around.
Seq... There are two similar wood poppies please try to get the native and not the invasive. I think Stylo is the native.
I think you would like my Corydalis cheilanthifolia. I will pencil it in for you at some future time T BD.
Mine might be the invasive, It sure spreads fast and is pretty tall. I just love it though.
Jeff--
I don't know how long it has been that you bought plants at HD.
Since they have these Companies delivering and caring for the plants--"Bell Nursery" here--
they are pretty OK and healthy. They have a HUMONGOUS distrinution center in Elkridge, MD.
I just wnt to their annual, big "Road Show" over there--and "Bell" told us they have purchased a perennial Nursery in NC and will now be growing 80% of all their Perennials themselves.
That's good news--we have not been getting enough quality perennials here.
You DO know that all the Tropicals (House Plants) come from FL and may not, be as
healthy as one would like...I have seen mealy Bugs on them.
I was once told that many of the larger tropicals are grown in fields...no wonder....
I do not buy too many annuals from HD as they are pricy--and IMHO, pushed into
bloom by over-fertilization (to sell quickly) at the cost of root development and hardiness.
I am a total miser and very frugal. I have a wholesale grower near me and I buy all
my annuals and accent plants there. Only 5mi. from my house. Grown there from seed...
cuttings, or plugs they get from warmer climes...
Besides--I have a couple roadside Plant Stands and Nurseries around here.
I prefer them to HD. So--shoot me!
The shrubs and trees HD will carry will be EXCELLENT, as the new supplier is a
huge Nursery in NJ. Halsted??? H...something....:o(
G.