PLANT ADDICT'S CHAT #1

Thanks Yehudith I'll have to check out Good Earth sometime!

Sorry, Good Earth is on the left!!!

OK. How many of you have *spiderwort* growing in the middle of your lawn??

Muddy I hope it does as well for you as it has for me!! :-) well maybe not in the middle of your lawn but robustly anchoring all those shady difficult to grow spots!!

Wow, that's pretty sweet Cat! I guess they seed about nicely?

OK! I am getting worries about all this stuff about Spiderwort....

I have ONE clump growing in my YUK bed. Since it is only its second year-
it hasn't spread yet. Got it from Sally....my "FRIEND"...........:o/

How hard will it be to remove it? How about the future spreading bits of it?

it IS pretty when it blooms..... G.

Gita.

They are real easy to remove, even the mature spiderworts. Their roots are spider/spaghetti like but don't get longer than a few inches. I wouldn't worry about it weed them out as you would anything else. The yearlings are small enough and easily recognizable. Speaking of reseeders, I got a clump of northern sea oats from Sally at my first swap. I haven't had any problems with it. It isn't thriving though even though I planted it in two very different spots.

P

Gita, I do have to keep an eye on mine. I have it planted in one bed and it definitely spreads-- but like Terp said I just dig it out when it pops up where I don't want it.

Seq, I think it ended up in the lawn because last year when I was pulling it out of the one bed I probably accidentally left some in the grass and it either rooted or seeded where I left it. That's okay, though--I've decided I no longer have a lawn but a meadow... ;-)

On Friday on the way home from work, I stopped by that Potomac Behnkes. I go up the GW Parkway, and at the end instead of getting on the Beltway towards VA, I went on the Beltway towards MD. River Road was just two exits away and Behnke's wasn't too far in. OMG has anyone ever been on River Road? The houses are enormous multi-million dollar things. Anyway, I found some nice plants at 20% off. Unlike Cat's experience, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful when I was there. I didn't overdo it, hopefully they will mark off even more when they are closer to shutting down. I would go back, so if anybody sees a further discount, can you post about it? To get home, I went a back way through Point of Rocks instead of heading back to the beltway and my usual route via the Dulles Toll Road to Leesburg. What a pleasant way to go! Very rural and missed all the usual Friday commuter traffic.

My great find was a Schizophragma Hydrangeoides 'Moonlight' - similar to a climbing hydrangea. This is something that I read about years ago and have been on the lookout for it ever since. It is available from several specialty online nurseries, but I wanted a large sized plant to start with since they take so long to mature. Found it at Benkes!!! 20% off really helped (50% would be even better, but I didn't want to chance it not being there later).

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=q340

This message was edited Jun 17, 2014 9:12 AM

Catmint, you theory about your spirderwort sounds spot on. I have had huge clumps of it for a couple years, built up by having in for a number of years. Never a big deal- a few stray shoots near the plants is all.

Good going Terri!

I am a sucker for spiderwort. I like them in smaller clumps rather than letting them grow into big enormous clumps. They are really easy to dig and divide, and I like the self seeding it does on its own. My plan is to have them growing all over the hillside shade garden in clumps no bigger than 4 - 6" around. I love the height, straplike foliage, and spots of color they provide. And to chime in on what the others have said, the stray shoots are easy to get rid of if you don't want them.

I like the spiderwort too. I want to get a fuchsia one to have with the lavender one I got at the swap. I forget who I got it from though.

Aspenhill, I also went to Behnke's at Potomac to get some Espoma Tones and a large bag of Perlite. I was also looking for Mahonia Soft Caress, but they were sold out.

You're right about the mansions along the way! There are beautiful multi-million dollar homes with gated entryways. It's a beautiful drive.

I also had a pleasant experience there. Catmint, I wonder if you went on an off day. All the staff I encountered were very helpful and helped me look for a couple of plants. I found a table of sedum there, but the Beltsville location definitely has a ton more.

They had a lot of very nice trees, but it's just too hot to be planting right now. I'll look out for a larger discount.

Seq, you got the spiderwort at the swap from me! :-) I promise I didn't pull yours out of the lawn, though! ;-)

Aspenhill and SSG, so glad you guys had a good experience at Behnke's. I think I was there on a slow day when staffing was minimal. Yes, lots of very wealthy families and very expensive homes in Potomac!

Haha, great! It's doing well and I love the color :)

Paul--

My one clump (so far) is in the middle of the bend of my YUK bed.
I never realized how many plants I have that bloom in blue or purple????
Must be a fixation........

I no longer have my N. Sea Oats--Thank God! It has now been years--but every
now and then I still see one coming up in this bed.
That was the problem--the "Oats" seeded ALL over my YUK bed ant it was
insane to try to dig up all the ones that were sprouting. Endless!!!!
That is the bad part about these---but you can cut off the Oat seed-heads
before they dry and that will be it. However--those ARE the beauty of this plant.

Funny......I dug one sprout up and potted it and was going to take it to the swap--
but no one asked for it. You can have it--it is just one nice, sturdy spike.
I will keep it going until I see you again.

BTW---The :Sea Oats like any crummy soil to grow in. No special care---
I always thought they would look great on a sea-shore property. After all--
they ARE called "SEA Oats".....

Mine used to grow on the "doomed bed" where I want to get rid of all the rotting ties
and dig it down flat to get rid of this "bed"....by the Lilac bush.

This bed----taken in April of this year. No wonder my YUK bed was full of seedlings..
it is right next to it.
G.

We have three small clumps of spiderwort that just appeared one year toward the bottom of the driveway. They have very slowly increased in number, and are in fairly deep shade. One is a sort of spotty light blue, the second a deeper blue and the third group is white. They bloom in that order, too, and only the white is still flowering. They get no care from us except to move a large rock partly into the drive to hopefully spare them from vehicles backing out.

Nice! I hope that mine increases over the years too :)

It will, Seq, it will! :-) The cultivar I brought you is I think an older one and quite robust. Both my elderly neighbor and I have it--I think she and the former owner of my house must have shared it over the years. When we chat over the fence about our gardens, we both cluck our tongues affectionately about our spiderwort and how it spreads and pops up. In a way it's nice having a plant that is so low-maintenance and so reliable, one that we know will always be back... :-)

Seq, I could give you a hunk of my tall pink spiderwort sometime, or do you have some?
Mine have become fat clumps, now you have me thinking about the small clump theory.

Pink would be a nice addition Sally, I'd welcome some of course :) I always hate to see spiderwort planted in full sun because it always looks like it's suffering. Down at the beach there was some and it was only ~8" tall and the foliage was yellowish and it looked terrible.

I picked up a spiderwort cultivar last fall called 'Blueberry Sundae'. First time blooms this spring - I think it is my favorite spiderwort so far. I keep forgetting to take a picture of it, but this is what it looks like:
http://www.almostedenplants.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=9117

LOL on the spiderwort, just told my DD Jen to pull it out. She asked if it was a weed and I said no but you don't want it. LOL I have always thought of it as a floppy unruly plant that just looked messy. Maybe in the right location I would like it, it does have lovely blooms.

You got it Jeff! Pics around here somewhere.

aspen, that's very cool!

I like the dark colors of spiderwort because the yellow bits of pollen just POP visually.

Holly, you're perfectly within your rights there! We probably all have certain plants everyone else seems to like that we can't stand! Mine is Rose of Sharon.

Mine is hosta...all varieties. I love my ROS!!!

Thanks for the tradescantia :)

Lol. I love hostas and can't stand the ROS. Haha.

I'm obviously a controlled spiderwort fan.

WOOT Paul high five on ROS!!

Jeff, these pink spiderworts are on the tall side of the range, plan accordingly, will have them for fall swap at latest. I recall they all go sort of dormant in summer and have new growth in fall similar to iris. Plenty to go around, that clump has gotten big.

I love hostas and ROS. I tolerate spiderwort. ;-)

I love Hosta but... don't really have much of an opinion about ROS. (does that earn me half credit?) ;) We've had them at work, and they are pretty... but... I guess they just don't "do it" for me. Now, Paeonies, on the other hand.. Ooooooh yeah! =)

Sounds good Sally. I have a spot for them :)

We've got "Sweet Kate" at work, and honestly, I really don't like it. Maybe my bias comes from ONLY ever seeing it in its little pot, getting all bedraggled-looking as the season wears on, but even if I had more shade to put it in, I can't see doing it on purpose.

I like Rose of Sharon--it's like having a tree full of hibiscus flowers! :-)

I think Sweet Kate is pretty with its light colored foliage. But the one spiderwort I have is enough! ;-)

Let me dig into my archives and show you how Sweet Kate lit up her shady spot and pulled in the light green of a hosta nearby...plus, purple flowers on chartreuse leaves, YES

ROS and forsythis, to me, are one trick ponies, that have nothing at all attractive the rest of the year. Its the seedlings of ROS that really made me turn sour on them. But you all go enjoy!! I actually do have one ROS, because it is a natural PINK, much less common of the wild colors you usually see. And it's behind bottlebrush buckeye so I just look at flowers peeking and not the gawky structure and boring leaves.

My neighbor has a ROS that shelters part of the garden behind my shed and I am *always* pulling the seedlings out of the ground back there! Still, they're pretty. I also enjoy forsythia (thanks, Muddy!), but up in New England where I spent so many years, forsythia was really the first harbinger of spring. Here not so much--but I still feel a thrill of 'yay it's springtime' when I see it! :-)

Hmmmmm...have to think what i DON'T like.....how about groundcovers?

They always get to look messy....of course--the only one I ever had was
Vinca Minor. Never grew a solid cover--so all the sprawling stems were just ugly.

OR--maybe it is because I never had enough ground to cover...so I cannot judge.

G.

Speaking of ROS, I pulled a funny on David about a month ago. He absolutely HATES ROS - like Sally, mostly because of the hundreds of seedlings he has to contend with. When Jill, Sally, and I went to the Baltimore County Master Gardener Plant Sale, I told Pat that I would be on the lookout for any unusual shade type plants, and if I saw any I would get more than one. If it was something they liked, they could have the extra and if not I would just keep it. Well, when I dropped Jill off and we were unloading her stuff, I saw she had lots of ROS seedlings potted up. I took one with me, stopped by David and Pat's on my way home, and keeping a straight face told him I found the most unusual plant ever that he just had to have. You should have seen the look on his face when I presented him with that ROS. OMG, it was priceless - trying to hide complete dismay so as not to offend me. I couldn't keep a straight face for long, but I was so proud that I kept it long enough to play the joke LOL.

LOL Aspenhill--too funny! I remember him commenting on ROS as one of the wildly-sowing plants he wasn't fond of. :-)

hahaha

Hey--David!

Talking about plants---You may want to check your "Stinking Iris".
Mine looks like it is done blooming.....the blooms are SO inconspicuous--
junky looking--you can easily miss them--until the pod of orange seeds form.

LMK! Gita

LOL Aspen, that is soooooooo funny!! I wish I could have seen his face!! Haahahahaaa!!!!!!!!

Beautiful sedum, Speedie! :-)