I'm just building a new bed between the road and the sidewalk, with my mailbox in the center. It is about 10' by 5'. This is my first full sun bed, and I'm feeling a bit out of my element. Does anyone have any suggestions for plants in this bed? It is covered by my sprinkler system. I don't want anything too huge, that will swallow up the mailbox! :)
Thanks!
Dennis
New sun bed suggestions?
Wow, there are so many sun loving plants, I wouldn't know where to start. Do you have a preference for colors? blooms vs foliage? shrubs? perennials? annuals? Do you want swaths of a single type/color or do you want a big variety?
A photo of the area may help. Also, what else is growing around there?
You have to be kinda careful with the sprinkler system. There are lots of plants that don't like to have their leaves wet.
Definitely perennials and small shrubs. My design style, if you want to call it that, is pretty random and definitely informal. Most of my plants are single specimens, and I mostly tend to pick based on what will do well and won't get too big for the location. I like a variety of colors, as long as they don't clash too badly.
There isn't much to see about the location itself. It is bordered on the long sides by the street and the sidewalk, and on the short sides by my driveway and lawn (St Augustine). My mailbox is in right in the middle (and is on a post - not the brick variety). There isn't much else around, other than a chitalpa tree about 10 feet to the side.
Dennis
Dennis, you could try Blackfoot Daisy,
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=MELE2
Damianita Daisy
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CHME3
Zexminia
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=WETE
Those are great sun loving plants, with maybe a Red yucca in the center
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HEPA8
Texas primrose (Calyophus). Salvia May Knight or any of the Greggiis. Skullcap. Dianthus. Josephine gave you some wonderful xeriscape choices. I really like Zexminia, but have had no luck growing BF or Damianita Daisy. Good luck!
Carla
I'm sorry to go off topic (sort of), but I was just on the High Country Gardens website looking at primrose for the front of my sunny rose bed. You all really seem to know these plants and Loonie1 just did mention Texas Primrose so I thought it would be ok to ask: What is the difference between Calyophus and Oenothera?
High Country Gardens doesn't list Texas Primrose as such--you'd think they would, wouldn't you--but they do have some cool primroses and sundrops. I'm looking at Calyophus hartwegii v. lavandulifolius, by the way. It will go in with DA Pat Austin rose, New Zealand flax (there's really dwarf one at Digging Dog Nursery), DA Grace rose, Lions Rose, kniphofia "Toffnee Nosed", a few daylillies to be named later, echinacea "Sundown" or maybe "Arts Pride" and I think the other one is "Cocoanut Lime" (or something like that). I'll probably mix in some artemisia as filler.
If you leave out the roses I think some of those might go well around your mailbox, dfwdennis. Ooop, I think I managed to get this back on topic after all!
Well, maybe I can explain it, Calylophus and Oenothera both belong to the same family, Onagraceae (Evening-Primrose Family) but they are different Genus sort of like John and Mary Smith, they belong to the same family, but they are different people.
There are 10 species of Calylophus shown at the wildflower center.
Here is lavandulifolious.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CALA38
I counted 40 species of Oenothera shown, here is Speciosa, our very popular primrose.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=OESP2
I don't know if this is confusing, but i hope it helps.
Josephine.
I like the suggestions so far. The Salvia Greggiis are nice because they function as both a shrub and a perennial flower. I think with it being a pretty big area, you'll want to put some shrubs in for some structure, or maybe an oblisk with a vine on it for some height, or even build something around the mailbox that could hold a vine. You could find one that would behave itself and not overtake the mailbox, like maybe cypress vine?
Loonie is leaning toward the pinks/reds I think and frostweed's are leaning towards the yellows/oranges. I just moved into a brand new house, so I'm starting my landscape from scratch and I decided to separate the hot red/orange/yellows from the tranquil blue/pink/purples, but that's just me. I put the hot colors in front so it will pop from the street (our house is set back pretty far) and the cooler "tranquil" colors in back by the pool. Both areas get a lot of sun.
In the back, I've got pincushion flower http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/332/ , Pink Gaura http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/102478/ , various dianthus http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/77632/ (including china pinks and cheddar pinks) Mexican Heather http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/68526/ , Texas Mountain Laurel http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55062/skullcap, phlox, abelia http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/368/and various salvia.
In the front, I've got daffodils, red salvia, bulbine http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/108608/, rosemary (it blooms purple, but it's mainly there for foliage) yaupon holly, bottlebrush http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1712/ , an angel wing jasmine bush http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1198/ cotoneaster http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/79248/ , Pride of Barbados http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2247/ Flowering Quince http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/909/ and some roses.
If I were planting an area like you describe, I'd do a combination of various plants for year-round interest.
Some suggestions:
Daffodills and other spring blooming bulbs
Martha Gonzales rose - compact, evergreen
Bulbine - almost impossible to kill, tolerates sun and shade, drought and flood, evergreen, blooms year-round (except in winter)
Salvia greggii - lots of colors to choose from, evergreen, blooms most of the year, except in winter
Blackfoot daisy - the smell is just heavenly, takes the heat, and blooms like crazy
Four nerve daisy
Guara - especially some of the more compact cultivars
Cosmos - is self-sowing, blooms like crazy -- note, the taller varieties tend to flop, I like the compact ones -- a favorite is Dwarf Lemon Yellow
I like the suggestions so far. Blackfoot, four nerve,.Damianita Daisy and green santolina are all low and all except blackfoot are evergreen. Blackfoot daisy is fantastic, but won't return if it is mulched. I think it is the same for red yucca and DD.(Atleast with hardwood mulch) I love salvia greggii and MG rose. Some dwarf miscanthus grasses or russian sage: a nice break from green for structural elements .Daisy flowers look nice besides spikes. D mail me if you decide you want some of these. I live close to you and I can share.
Angelonia! They're perennials in my zone 9. I've been growing them for two years, and they really take the heat and continue to bloom! My plants are from the Serena series.
Thanks for all the suggestions! So far I have Damianita Daisy, Texas Lantana (my wife wanted some multicolor lantana), "Ruby Star" coneflower, and some Paprika yarrow I got from a trade last year. I am really thinking about some salvia greggii and russian sage. I'm planning to hit the Grapevine Garden Club and the Heard Museum plant sales next Saturday, and we'll see what I can find.
I also have an unplanted black dalea, but I'm not sure how it would look with those other plants and how compatible it would be with their growing conditions. Any opinions?
Dennis
Black Dalea is very delicate looking, I think it would be fine if you put it close to the edge so it doesn't get overpowered by the others.
A comment about Russian Sage - I had one heck of a time getting one established last year because of all the rain. I planted three, only one made it. The one that made it was planted later in the year, and this was after the torrential spring rains had mostly abated. It does not seem to tolerate excessive water, even in my rather sandy soil. Just my personal experience.
I will note that other folks in my neighborhood who had them planted did not lose their *established* ones, so maybe it is less sensitive to occasional overwatering/rains once it locks in. Last year was a little unusual with all the constant rain - and I also lost a few other drought tolerant plants that were new plantings too, like a rosemary and one of my salvia greggiis.
They are beautiful plants - and the one I have that made it is doing just fine.
I agree with Suze. The sage might not like having the sprinkler system. They are one of those plants that wouldn't like having wet leaves. I had wanted to put one in my back bed, but I decided that bed will probably get too much attention and a sage would probably end up bare on the bottom.
Go to the Grapevine sale early!
I saw blackfoot daisy and salvia greggiis at Tinker's for $2.49. I have lots of four nerve and red or pink salvia you want.
I bought a bunch of stuff at the plant sales today, and finished planting the bed. Thanks for all the suggestions! I'd post a picture, but it doesn't look like much since the plants are quite small. Here's the list: San Jose cenizo in the center, with black dalea, purple coneflower, Texas lantana, damianita, John Fanick phlox, paprika yarrow, and white winecup.
I also found some other cool stuff for other parts of the yard: oxblood and red spider lily bulbs, flaxleaf bouchea, yellow coral honeysuckle, Mrs. Schiller's viburnum, cedar sage, and dichondra argentea. Now to find a home for all of those! Good thing my wife is patient about such things... (and this is ultimately a much cheaper hobby than something like golfing!)
Dennis
Dennis ~ sounds like an interesting selection of plants. I will look forward to your photos and successes. pod
Sounds like it is going to be lovely Dennis.
Can't wait to see it when the babies grow up.Did the Grapevine sale have a good selection?
They had quite a bit of stuff, especially if you were there when they opened at 8. I was particularly excited about the hard-to-find bulbs, which were a lot cheaper than I had seen elsewhere (I once found some oxblood lilies at Calloways for $9 each, and they were $15 for a bag of 10 at this sale).
Dennis
Dennis, I planted a new perennial bed out by my mailbox last year. It's on the street, with heat from the concrete, full sun all day and the blazing western sun in the afternoon. So I really needed things that could take the Texas heat. Some of the things that have done well are Texas pink skullcap, liatris, Mexican mint marigold, ruellia, and Moonbeam coreopsis. Several types of sedums aren't bothered by that much sun either. Last fall I added some things that are happy so far but will need watching this summer: caryopteris, canna, mealy-cup sage. I also have mini roses out there that like the sun and bloom their heads off, but have trouble with the water from the sprinkler. If you can find some that are blackspot resistant, they'd do better.
Wow! That was worth it.