So what are you growing new in 2008?

Sounds fun, Doc--I do botanical waters--take lessons from someone who does flower & grass illustrations for UCONN & wildflower society--also for an article in a farming CT mag. She has just finished cataloguing some rare plants for a historic house in her town. I'm still plodding along! I visited Cricket Hill a few years ago--the folks who own it have quite a project developing the land--very rocky & ledgy--but it's coming & the peonies look so cute with their paper umbrellas over them! We have planted many throughout the town--glad people don't know their value. In Aug our town is hosting Thomas the Tank Engine, & we are expecting 18,000 people in 2 weekends--we are a town of 7,000. The parks will be hosting activities--hope no one notices the peonies!

Wow............that is a nice promotion for a relatively small town. Even Girl Scout Cookies will sell with that electric number of people investing in the labor of your love.

I don't plan on being in town for those 2 weekends--we have relatives in ME & NH & that's where we'll head! Although K-port in Aug. is also very bad!

Oh my.................of course we vanish from our area the week of Little League Baseball's annual event. I find that a great week to loaf at our cabin in the mountains. There we have absolutely no neighbors, no electric, no plumbing. It is a hide-away quite basic and serene by today's standards. We are among the few that love it that way. The cell phone won't even catch or send signals. Now that is about as basic as things come these days.

I could get used to that in the summertime!!

I'm with you doc!

Any suggestions for a long-blooming pink flowered perennial, but not a dayliliy??

Also not an echinacea and it is for full sun. Summer blooming - Jun-Aug.

First thing I think of is a pink rose, a mallow or pink phlox. You didn't say how large a plant. Also for smaller plants dianthus comes in many different colors of pink. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2650/ http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51620/

Yes, I realized that. 24 inches or under. Phlox is one I am considering. So is a mallow. (We're in sync!) Don't want a rose there. It 's at the front of my property, furthest from the hose so can't need a lot of water. I planted Geranium Rozanne in the area and some Stokesia so I want a nicce complement to those blues. Thanks.

How about a hummingbird mint? That might be too tall. A pink salvia like 'Rose Queen' might work too. A more spiky flower form might contrast nicely with the other two you have.

Salvia doesn't really bloom long, even if you're lucky enough to get a second bloom. The first bloom is usually done for me in a few weeks. For the vertical reason, I was considering a heucherella.

How about heuchera obsidian. The flowers aren't that interesting but the foliage is very pretty and it can take full sun. This is not the greatest pic but it gives you an idea of the color.

I have one of those in a pot - very nice, but there are no real flowers to speak of. GC has a heucherella - 'Dayglow Pink' that looks nice. I like to hear firsthand though. Pics always look nice.

http://www.gardencrossings.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/603/index.htm

Dahlias, Victor!

Penstemon 'Pink Chablis'
Heuchera 'Midnight Rose'
http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/perennials/64180
http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/perennials/geranium/64741
http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/perennials/geranium/64736
and my favorite, but not hardy for here:
http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/specialtybulbs/73679

Monarda?

a nice soft pink? http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/perennials/aconitum/64109

pink & purple? http://www.dutchbulbs.com/store/perennials/61157

This message was edited Mar 26, 2008 6:34 PM

Thats pretty mrsj!

There are two in Mom's back garden....so I'm sure they would grow for Victor.....also called "bee balm" and"Oswego tea"....

I grew a deep fuschia colored one when I lived in northern Arizona....

So many pretty ones Victor, a hard choice. Here's another one. http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/HEPLS.html I have heucharella 'Viking Ship'. It is the only one I have experience with but it doesn't bloom that long. Sorry no pic of it. Maybe other ones do. I also have heuchera Vesuvius which does bloom for a long time but got that at a local nursery. It is poking out from under Cherry Bells in this pic. The hummers like it.

I like the one @ bluestone ngam....very dainty and a lovely shade of pink.

Thanks all! I'll check them all out more closely. Won't go with the geraniums, even though I like them. Already have Rozeanne there. Not sure heuchera (or heucherella) will take this hot, all-day sun area.

Victor - I can send you seeds for the Pimpinella Rosea I talked about in earlier thread, they might grow a bit taller though.....but they are a beautiful pink!

Thanks mrsj, but that's a bit big for that area. I appreciate it though.

I know pirl wasn't kidding when she said dahlias...she is a regular contributor on the dahlia forum! and really, if you want flower power from july through early october or frost you cant beat it. Perhaps you're a perennial man, though-- actually, they are perennial- just need some help in our climate. sarah

No - they're annual here. Not into digging up or re-planting each year.

yeah- i know- i think i grow about 200 of them.... I do the digging and replanting thing..

Victor - check out Home Depot's supply of dahlias. Getting 6 tubers for $7.00 makes them cheaper than annuals so leave them in the ground and don't fret.

That's a possibility, Pirl. But sometimes they take long to start blooming, don't they??

My brother in law grows nearly half an acre of dahlias. They go to his farmers market in NH. He makes a bundle sellling them as flowers. I think his other goodness is just going along for the ride. He digs and holds the tubers over winter as well as trading with other growers to enhance his plantings. He is getting up in years too....but somehow finds the time to stay in the race. We love to visit when it is showtime. He too has had to cut back on his garden products both in variety and the amount he grows. Mostly now he sells to his favorite area gormet chefs or trades for his weekly night out on the town. He can take fifty dollars worth out of his patch three times a day and never miss a pea.

doc - your BIL has one sweet deal!

Victor - talk to Al but for me they come up fast enough. Plant them when you plant your tomatoes. They both like warm soil to start growing.

Gaura would be perfect but it never returns for me. It really needs perfect drainage. The wetness of the winter kills it.

I put in some Gaura last year - was hoping it would return. You're warmer than me though.

I have tried the pink one twice and it didn't come back either. I understand the white one is not such a diva, but I have not tried again. They are a nice plant maybe I should give the white a try. I can keep lavender and delphs going through the winter so maybe.

I'm looking at blueberries again, trying to decide on variety. Self pollinating, or 2 varieties? Anyone have a favorite/favorites?

Not sure which ones I have, Deb. Also inherited two. All are high-bush. It's the wet that gets Gaura, not the cold. It's worth having as an annual, in my opinion. Blooms very long and looks so nice in the slightest breeze. Like Verbena boneriensis, it's a great see-through plant.

The Gaura works too well here and reseeds, then it's all over the place and steals the show from other plants.

Debilu - we don't use netting for the blueberries so DH has had about one a year but last year managed to get two. The birds get the rest.

There is a product from Gardens Alive! that you spray on fruit that supposedly protects the fruit from animals but is safe and washes off. I would love the Gaura to reseed.

If I find Gaura babies I'll ship them to you, Victor.