I need to get some ideas for a low growing plant (perennial would be best) that flowers in summer and can take full sun. I have an area that does not get any shade at all and would like something no higher than 12" that blooms in the summer.
Any ideas?
Any ideas for low growing, flowering, plant?
Four-nerve daisy http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53549/index.html,
blackfoot daisy http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/259/index.html,
Trailing Lantana (comes in white now in addition to purple!) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2042/index.html
pincussion flower http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/31644/index.html,
Perennial Dianthus http://davesgarden.com/pf/b/Caryophyllaceae/Dianthus/gratianopolitanus///
...might think of others later.
This message was edited May 4, 2005 11:21 AM
A huge favorite of mine - Ladybird Dwarf Cosmos http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67551/index.html .
They do great in the heat, sun and do it all without water! Just deadhead them to keep them blooming or let them shatter and reseed for a flush of new plants.
I love this plant!! So much so I saved seeds for this year. (Good thing, too. Wild Seed Farms doesn't offer them this year.)
I'll share with you....
Ooo I like the idea of the dianthus and pincussion, maybe even some lantana.
You all are so helpful.
Thanks, ;-)
Glad to be of help. This morning I was leaving my subdivision and noticed a south facing bed that had a clump about 24 inches across of the dianthus. It was pretty with it's bluish foilage and bright red pink flowers.
Angelita daisies are really good too. Mine have had nothing but neglect since I put them in and they seem to love it. If I watered them once in a while they might spread more. They have been in ;the ground about 3 years and I noticed just this year that the clump seems a little bigger.
My absolute favorite low-grower is Pink Ice Plant! I started with a 4" pot several years ago, and it now covers 3'x8'. It blooms all day, all summer, never fails. The flowers close every night and reopen the next day. Very easy to control, and I have been transplanting more each spring. I hope that it takes over one day.
I keep looking at that plant whenever I go to the nursery, wondering if I should get some. I guess I will next time.
I didn't even start this thread, but I bought some blackfoot daisy today, am starting the Ladybird Dwarf Cosmos tomorrow, and looked for both some more Four Nerve Daisy (I already have some) and some Angelita Daisy. Wasn't able to locate the last two, but that's just an excuse to stop at some more nurseries! ;-)
I thought pink ice plant was not cold hardy. Maybe I'm thinking of something else.
When we visited htop yesterday she showed us a plant that she called four nerve daisy that looked just like the plant I call angelita daisy. So I'm wondering if maybe it's the same thing. Maybe there's just a slight difference that I didn't notice.
I can't wait for our June nursery date! I don't know if I've every been to a nursery with another plant addict. This could be really fun. What if we got lost and couldn't find our way out?!LOL Oh, well, maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea, cuz I for one would get hungry.
htop has a note in The Plant Files that the Angelita Daisy is also called "Giant Four Nerve Daisy", it is larger than the regular one. You weren't seeing things, the size is the only difference!
When you were imagining us lost in a nursery, unable to find a way out, I was thinking that was a wonderful dream! LOL I'm sure we could find plenty of edible plants to keep us going, for a while at least. :-)
Silverfluter is correct. Pink ice plant is not cold hardy. My trailing lanta (purple) grows much taller than 12 inches. There are several miniature crepe myrtles that don't grow over 12 inches, but they go dormant in the winter. I have had one variety for 3 years and it is only 5 inches tall at that. It is covered in blooms in the summer. Some are listed here:
http://www.crapemyrtles.com/crapemyrtle_variety.htm
The great thing about 4-nerve daisy is that it is evergreen and will bloom in the winter when the days are mild.
Try pink skullcap. Evergreen, small mounding to 12 inches, bunches of small bright pink flowers all summer. A compact plant that is a drought-tolerant Texas native and doesn't require pruning. Mine has performed nicely for four years now. Rainbow Gardens is featuring it this week.
Editing to say: botanical name is scuttellaria
This message was edited May 7, 2005 8:51 AM
Sunshine, this is my all time favorite. It is called Forever Blue Lisianthus. Here in Oklahoma it is an annual and sometimes overwinters for me. It is a native to Texas so it's probably perennial for you. Approx 10" tall with a mounding habit and continuous blooms.
Yes, scullcap is a wonderful plant. I have it in my abelia bed where it ignored most of the time. It does get Sick Tree Treatment, 6-2-2, and cornmeal because it's close to the drip line of the pecan tree, but it has to survive on rainfall (which is pretty spare most of the time). I don't know how much space you have, but my dwarf abelias have been in the ground 6 years and are only about 15 " tall. They get about 3-4 ' wide though.
"Silverfluter is correct. Pink ice plant is not cold hardy."
That may be the norm, but after bringing mine inside for 2 years, then leaving them alone after that... Mine have been in their place for over 6 years now. I have them in 2 different places, both in sun, one full sun, one in mostly sun, dappled shade. They are extremely happy and have overwintered well.... through snow, ice and hail.
Go figure.
mel
Brinda, what a beautiful picture! I do have some lisianthus, Balboa Blue Rim, and Balboa Blue, both doubles. I would have to say they are one of my favorites also. I just recently got a few more since the 3 of the 4 made it over the winter without any protection and in terrible soil so figured I definately had to get some more. Now just watch these I will put in good soil and take care of and they won't do so well.
The ice plant is a great idea. I found one Delosperma cooperi (is a bright pink) that says it is hardy from zone 5-11. Think I might try that one.
Hi Sunshine! I know, they are great plants, aren't they? I've had the Blue Rim & Balboa Blue also. I think the blooms are just gorgeous, but they tend to be too leggy for me and need staking. My favorite would be the Forever Blue (it is also labled Blue Landscape and Florida Blue Landscape) and the Forever White. The white is a double flower and really pretty. What I like most about these is the size of them and their blooming power. They go nuts......and bloom forever. They are drought tolerant and don't like fertilizer. My biggest job with them is deadheading. And believe me, there is plenty to deadhead. LOL
I'm glad to hear about Lisianthus because I thought it was a very delicate plant for some reason. Don't know how I got that idea. And blue is one of my favorite colors.
I have heard they are very hard to start from seed and grow, but I have always had luck with buying them in 2-6 inch pots. I usually can't find them, and end up ordering from Burpee.
Where do you get yours at Brinda? Burpee's selection is limited.
I only order them from Burpee. I've ordered them from Park's in the past, but they didn't do as well and Park's doesn't have them every year.
I'm extremely pleased with what I get from Burpee....I think they are labeled 'Florida Blue Lisianthus' or 'Florida Landscape Lisianthus', not really sure. Maybe Forever Blue.....I would have to go look. I've had most every kind of Lizzy, but always come back to the shorter blue flower. And yes....they are extremely hard to start from seed. Maybe not really hard....but they take forever to get any size to them. I would say they probably take about 6 months from germ til bloom.
I have a ROTTEN, full-sun, dry blistered site that has low-growing spoon-shaped coreopsis that THRIVES there. And, the clumps are so easily divided....I just pluck up a chunk, stick it back into the dirt, and I swear, a couple of weeks later? It's blooming too!
Coreopsis--a life-saver for a crummy corner of my front garden bed.
=) MKJ
MKJ, what kind of coreopsis is that? Baby Sun maybe?
Hiya, Maggie--not Baby Sun......have the tag SOMEwhere around here. Here's a clump:
Mouse Ear Coreopsis? I have that one too and it's really cute. The clump almost completely died back last fall and though it rebounded, it has not bloomed much this year. :/
Oooh, that's a cute name, sweezel! I've got the hybrid name tucked into a tag box somewhere......there's no telling, really! lol
Mine didn't want to bloom last year, and I've had them for four years now. This year, I put some of that granule plant food from Scott's....kind of like Osmocote....down into them. Just sprinkled in, thinking what the heck. Well, they've been blooming ever since, and spreading even more!
MKJ
Hmmm... I'll have to remember that and add them to the list of things that like more fertilizer.
I have mouse ear coreopsis. I planted 2 of them last spring and they literally quadrupled in size. They flowered from the time I planted them until the 2nd frost we had. They started up again in like February!!!! They stayed evergreen but the foliage did have some dark spots from frost damage. I pretty much sheared them in late February or so (yes, I gritted my teeth and cut off those little blooms) and now they are HUGE and blooming again. I have not tried to divide them, but it’s getting to the point where I will probably need to this fall. I love the bright orange flowers. Full sun, and very little water or attention. Just deadhead them every couple of weeks. I will post a picture this evening- just took them yesterday but don't have access to them here at work. :)
Jamie
I can vouch for Mel's ice plant. She gave me a small piece of it last fall and it's come back nicely.
Ok- here is that mouse ear coreopsis. Starting against the fence and going outwards towards the patio- it's bulbine "tangerine," yellow yarrow, May Night or Freisland salvia or sage/salvia hybrid (whatever you want to call it) and of course the coreopsis is the orange one on the left. I have some green sweet potato vine in there as a filler. This bed blooms just like this from early spring to frost. It is also very drought tolerant and low maintenance.
Just one more- this is that same bed but taken from the front porch looking into the backyard. Not exactly "full" yet. Darn, guess I still need to buy/trade more plants. Ha!
Here is my Coreopsis and the Blue Sage (unnamed) with new red Spirea in front (Anthony Waterer). This was this morning. The bed is FULL of Coreopsis, sage and columbine. All yellow, blue, pink and red.
I will have to show the Pink Ice Plant when the sun comes out and the blooms open!
PRETTY nice, TXMel!
I like those color combinations. Pink, blue and yellow combos are so fresh and inspiring. They give me energy.
Hey, Mags&Moos ;-), mine is "Nana" mouse-eared coreopsis. =) Good stuff.
That's the one I have too. :) Got it at HD.
Is it my imagination or have you done some work on that side of the house since I was there, Jamie? Looks like you are slowly but surely loosing the grass to more flowers!
Yes Terrie- I dug out another 103 square feet of grass two weeks ago. I have put in 3 cannas and a fountain grass. I have 100+ square feet of full sun space, which you know is in short supply for me. So I flipped out looking at all the full sun plants I normally ignore. Abe was fighting me on digging out that grass but I finally convinced him it's just a wasted side yard that he has to keep mowed so why not let me make it something pretty? He is all about a lawn. Oh, and the dogs like the idea of a lawn too. :)
Looks great! So did you extend the invisible fence to that area to keep doggies out?
I have always had it blocked off. If you are standing at the edge of the house in the backyard and looking down towards the front porch (opposite view of what I posted here), it runs across in kind of a diagonal line and then circles around the pond to keep them out of there. They are completely cut off from that side of the house I guess is what I'm saying. :)
Oops. Just realized I hijacked this thread. Funny how you can get carried away so easily. lol To get back on track, would love to see pictures of your pink ice plant. I have grown it in containers before but never tried it as a low growing ground plant.