Gardenia Radican as small sized flower bed border?

Hello,

I'm trying to find a low (1 to 2ft) height evergreen border (flowering plant would be a plus for sure!) for a section of my front yard that I plan to use as a flowering bed. The way I picture it, the front and the sides of this area would be bordered by flowering perennials, preferably evergreen varieties, the back border would be occupied by 2 to 3 ft high flowering perennials (I have peony in mind) and the middle area would be dedicated to annuals (I've ordered tulip bulbs for the coming spring). The area is shaped as the attached picture. It gets pretty consistent afternoon sun. Here in Cupertino, CA weather is mostly pleasant with summer temp staying below 90 for most times and winter is above 32 for most times. USDA zone is 9.

Sorry for the rather lengthy description, but, given the above, would you recommend Gardenia Radican for the front and side border? The reason they look attractive is their height, width, evergreen nature and of course fragrant and showy flowers. But since I have never grown these, I'm not sure if they would be actually viable.

If you have any other suggestions, I will only be too glad to hear :)

Take care,
Prabal.

Gardenias can be a little temperamental sometimes. I've had problems with them in places that get afternoon sun here. Your summer temps might be a few degrees cooler than mine, but I'm not sure if it would be enough to make a difference. The only places I've ever had luck with them are places that get some morning sun but not much in the afternoon. I've also had better luck with them in pots rather than in the ground, they like to be watered frequently but don't like wet feet, so my clay-ish soil hasn't been the best thing for them. Plus they like things a little on the acidic side, and my soil is a little higher pH, so for me at least it's been easier to keep them happy in containers.

I have to run for now, but I'll come back tonight and post a few suggestions of other things you might consider that would be a little less picky!

Thanks ecrane3! I'll look forward to your other suggestions...

FYI .. the other plants I have in mind for the border are gazanias (the clumping types, like the daybreak series), gerberas, and gaillardias. As you can see, I'm trying to choose flowering perennials (with 2-3 inch bloom size) that do not grow beyond 2 ft. or so. for the border. However, I believe (and I may be wrong) all of these will either reduce to little to no leaves or even die back during the winter period leaving the yard with a rather empty look (since all the annuals will be either gone or barely getting ready for the next spring). That's why I started looking for some low-growing evergreen flowering varieties.

All said, I'm a rookie in gardening in general, and hence could be completely off target in terms of creating a viable plan. So, as always, such helps are _most_ appreciated!

Take care,
Prabal.

This message was edited Oct 26, 2007 1:00 PM

I went back and re-read your original post as well as the new one and have some thoughts for you.

On the peonies and tulips--these are maybe not the best choices for our warm winter climate. Tulips you can do as long as you pre-chill the bulbs, but you'll have to dig them up every year and chill them or else they won't bloom. Peonies also need winter cold in order to bloom well, you may get a few blooms here and there but they definitely won't be as spectacular as what someone in a colder climate would have. I'm pretty sure they also get taller than 3 feet, so I'm not sure if that's what you want anyway.

I'm pretty sure gaillardias and gazanias both keep their foliage over the winter--I honestly haven't paid that close attention to mine, but I'm pretty sure they stick around. Most of my perennials are evergreen so I do tend to notice the ones that disappear for the winter, and Coreopsis is the only one I can remember that does die back. They won't bloom much during the winter, but at least the plants will still be there if that helps you.

For other suggestions...here are some ideas for you (note--for many of these there are some species and cultivars that are the height you want, but there are also some that would get taller, so make sure you're buying one that stays short)
Abelia
Hypericum
Cistus
Helianthemum
Lavandula (lavender)
Salvia (some species...there are some species that get a lot taller)
Diascia
Dianthus
Anagallis monelli
Artemisia 'Silver Mound'
Brachycome
Erigeron
Cuphea
Lantana montevidensis (L. camara is nice too and comes in a bigger variety of colors, but it can get taller than what you'd want, but you could probably keep it pruned to ~3 feet)
Lotus (Lotus the genus, not common name Lotus the water plant)
Nierembergia
Sisyrinchium
Eschscholzia (California poppy)
Nemesia

I'm sure there are a million other ones too, these are ones that I've grown so I know they do well in our climate and are evergreen through the winter.

I have some experience with abelia. There is one cultivar called Abelia grandiflora compacta. It is open, airy looking, long lasting pink flowers and takes well to pruning. The compacta probably would not need it though. Gene
rereading your originial post, I think the abelia would be great on the back side. I know you would only have to prune an occasional stray branch.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2007 8:08 PM

Hello Ecrane,

Thanks so much for taking the time and compiling this list! I'm going through your suggestions one by one from the Sunset book and will get a plan ready pretty soon. I'll post it here and will appreciate your comments.

Hello geneivy, yes, I do feel abelias will be a good choice for the backdrop.

As for tulips and peonies, in accordance with my rookie status, I had ordered these online about a month back without doing any of this research and now the tulip bulbs are already here and peonies are on their way! I'll get the tulips in the front bed, since that's my only space for a bed, and I think I'll get the peonies in my backyard (which only gets morning sun) as a space filler between some mature trees. Hope they would do okay there ...

- Prabal.

They'll do fine, they just won't bloom much! I think there are some cultivars that will bloom better than others with less winter chill, maybe you'll get lucky and yours will be one of those. I believe though that peonies need full sun, so if you combine low-chill winters with not being in full sun, your chances of seeing anything besides leaves are not too good.

The tulips you can pre-chill in the fridge, I don't grow them so I don't know the specifics in terms of how long you have to put them in there, etc but if you start a new thread for that question (maybe in the beginner flowers forum) I'm sure someone else will know.

Also before you order anything else...there aren't all that many things that don't do well here because they don't get enough winter cold, but since you already got unlucky and found 2 of them, I should warn you about the other one I know of--lilacs (genus Syringa, not Ceanothus which is often called California lilac). Again there are some cultivars that will do OK here, but I think there are only a couple of them, the majority of them will bloom poorly here because it doesn't get cold enough. Don't trust your local nurseries either, I swear they bring in blooming lilacs from colder areas and don't bother to mention to you that you'll never see those pretty flowers again! I don't even know if you like lilacs or not, but if you do, make sure you do your homework ahead of time and know which cultivars will work well here, then you can safely go to the nursery and know which one to buy!

Thanks again ecrane3!

I'm well into creating my landscape plan and will soon post it for comments.

As for peonies, I ordered 5 of them (partly lured by the $25 discount coupon from Breck's) and I'll have a tough time in finding a good spot for them.

As for tulips, the box says that the bulbs are pre-conditioned and can be planted right-away in my hardiness zone. I'll do a bit more research. For now I have left them outside to get them some fresh air.

- Prabal.

If they're prechilled then you're fine, you can go ahead and plant them.