PNW Work Party

LOL - NOT! (too cold & who in their right mind wants to rip out large Miscanthus & blackberries?)
BUT - I do need your valuable input.

For the past 3 years, I have wanted to create a garden that is dedicated to the folks here that frequent the PNW forum; non-PNWs & lurkers also welcome.
This area will be a collection of Shrubs, perennials, vines, bulbs, grasses & annuals the you love to grow, or just plain love. It is large, and may be expanded, receives summer sun from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm, with rich, well-drained soil. I can probably work in some shady areas, but this definitely qualifies as very sunny.
Sorry - but there are a few rules:
1. Colour is restricted to white - yellow - blue - purple. (no pink or red. Orange is negotiable...)
2. It must be hardy to zone 7.
3. It must be something I can buy or grow from cutting/seed.
4. Unusual foliage is always a good thing.
5. Please - nothing that requires constantly moist soil - NO bog plants!

I have no sketches, no photos - no time! It has a path through it with an arbour, so things will be viewable from a variety of positions. (I could entertain a couple tropicals, but I have no way to overwinter, so they can't be too large to bring indoors.)

I acquired an Edgeworthia chrysantha last week, which I'm dedicating to Gordon. He encouraged me to buy one last year & is quite fond of his. We had spoken at length about having gardens dedicated to the PNW folks some time back - many of your plants now reside with him. I don't know how often we'll see him, but I will think of him every time I look at the Edgeworthia.
Same for you all: I want to be able to view & walk through this area and "see" each of you there, represented by the plants you cherish. This is my way of bridging the distance that separates us & the lack of time due to our different schedules & such.
I am not requesting plant material from you - just ideas. However, if you grow something well (seed or cutting) that you adore & want to pass it on, that's great.

Thanks for your ideas! K

Oh, that sounds way to cool. Lets see what I have Mmmmmmmmmmm.
When are you planing this? I can maybe set a Vac. time to come help, would love to do that. Real good at the Blackberry thing, got my own mess of them, pickfork will travel LOL.
Still thinking.
I have
Centaurea montana (blue)
Sheep's Bit (blue)
Iris Setosa (blue)
Thats all I can come with at this time

OOOOOOOooooooh, Rich, Well-Drained Soil !!! What a wonderful thing to have!

Pondering my garden, I seem to have a lot of pink flowers, but one yellow one I like is my curry plant. It is a perennial with thin gray/white leaves and sulphur yellow flowers sort of like yarrow. I have it next to a native iris (Iris tenax) that has purple flowers with a few yellow streaks.
I don't have a picture of the curry plant, and I can't remember its proper name, but the leaves really do smell a bit like the curry spice.
This pic is of the iris.

I like that Iris, Hint Hint

Setosa ( and I know its poisonous to animals, but with all the fur balls I have' and I have had it for 5 years have not lost a animal yet) Guess mine are smart. LOL

thanks - Iris will do exceptionally well there, and the purple/yellow combination is pretty.
I'll put these 2 on the list, Jasione & Centaurea, also. I think Curry plant is Helichysum italicum, and its has culinary uses too. I'll check on its size. Thanks for the great ideas!

Tills - I am currently working on clearing the area. then bringing in some manure & straw to mix with all the coffee grounds I have & even out the low spots. Planting when the weather warms up & these plants become available.

I grew some yellow lilies last year that I really enjoyed, but they became a feast for the voles over the Winter. So sad.

I LOVE Mealy Cup Sage Salvia farinacea 'Victoria blue' Sometimes it winters over, but I keep trying.

edited to say I'm in zone 7b too

This message was edited Feb 8, 2009 4:25 PM

For shrubs I love the yellow Japanese Barberry. Resistant to everything. Very easy to maintain. No problems. Takes lots of sun. Always looks happy.

Great I have a new seedling that has come up on the Centaurea I do not want it there, or do you want a older one? Will take a pic in AM.
Still thinking, Do you want any seeds?

Tills - I will gladly take the Centaurea seedling off your hands - don't need the seeds, but thx! Love that blue flower & the stubborn persistence of Centaurea.

Willow - Is there a particular yellow Berberis you like best? Or one that has done well for you? I see there are some smaller varieties now...decision-making will be tough!

Jan - Aha!!! we have a mutual LOVE! I grow it every year - such a pretty one. S. Victoria Blue is fairly common, but it always does well for me, no matter what kind of summer weather we have.

Just a thought on Salvia, not sure as yet on mine with the winter we had I may have to divide my Black & Blue or I may have many Babies or have lost it, not sure as yet. Is this one you my like??

Ohhhh, this is great!! May I contribute English blue bells - I can collect seed for you and you can just broadcast it - oh how they would love the treat of deep soil, I think all of mine would file for plant passports and migrate if they get wind of this! I would also like to send seed for my fav. verbascum: Verbascum Phoenicium Violetta - I just think this is the most sensational deep rich purple - but not on the black side at all, just luscious. But the plant is so modest - rosettes of low roundish crinkly leaves with racemes of these little deep purple blossom.

I would love to be remember by these two - yup, that's my contribution.

Kayte I don't know what 'name' mine is. I've had it for at least 10 years and it is only 3'x3' and just stays that way. With Iris and catmint. Catmint is also a very east plant to grow and is beautiful all summer.

This message was edited Feb 9, 2009 1:50 PM

Laurie - Bluebells it is: I'd love some seed.
V.P. Violetta - I have been growing this for the past 3 years - I have several to transplant, and I will do so in your honor!

Willow - that Berberis looks sulphuric! It really glows -and 3x3 is a great size, so I will look for this one. Size & age helps greatly - thanks for letting me know the details.

Tills - Black & Blue is one I do like, but then I really love Salvias. Let me know if you have a baby; if not, I'll buy a grownup.

Will do.
Did not take seeds from it. may have sprouts We will see.
Also I need to divide my Blue columbines, the seedlings do not come true. would you like some. Its the state flower of Colorado.

If I had sun - I'd have every kind of Salvia and Verbascum. Two of my very favorite sun-lovers.

Yes - blue Columbine, Tills, and thanks!

I'm so glad you already grow the VPVioletta! I love that plant. I have made a note in my diary to collect Bluebell seed for you. Such a nice idea.

Well, I'm a lurker. Can I offer you a groundcover, the evergreen, white-blooming Iberis? I'd be quite happy to be the bottom feeder for everyone else's lovely, lofty, taller bloomers!

Hi summerkid. Welcome and lurk or talk as you will.

Hi Summerkid - welcome!! And what a sweet offer to share from your garden from so far away.

Well, I'm trying like heck to move to a place called Rose Lodge, Ore., so I've been reading everything you guys post. It would be a shocker, believe you me, to move from a Zone 5 to a Zone 8!

Welcome summer, you will love it here.

Hi Summer & welcome!
I had read your previous posts elsewhere (don't remember which thread/forum) about relocating to the West coast.
Experience shock - yes, you will! But we offer the finest in Intensive Gardener Care with an official Plant Acquisition department for any deficiencies you might experience.
Pixy is our gentle resident Doctor of YES-YouCanDoIt!
She specializes in Zone Denial: "Aligning the Garden to your Mind", as well as "What Haven't You Grown Yet?"

Iberis is a wonderful overlooked plant & I would love some - it will be quite at home at the edges of the rockery part, spilling over like sn*w. (We're currently a bit sensitive to that word...)

Looking forward to meeting you & sharing our zone 7, 8, 9 & in Pixy's case - Zone 10 lovelies with you.
Thanks much!
K

Rose Lodge - not too far from Lincoln City? It's a beautiful area!! Will you be relocated soon enough to attend our late summer get-together in Buckley, Washington?

Hi, Summerkid. Iberis is a wonderful suggestion. Lucky you on the anticipated move.

OK, who wants Iberis, since I'm digging it up?
Yes, I would be there by June. I have to make a decision on the house soon -- it's pricey but absolutely perfect. You would all have to come down. (And yes, it's a couple of miles from Lincoln City.)

Katye
I'm saving you a start from a sambucus that has become one of my favorite plants. I got it at Heronswood a long, long time ago. It gets fairly large but blooms magnificently and has birds nests in it every year. I have a pillar rose next to it that likes to weave into it, they both flower together and it's gorgeous.

Oh - that's a gem!
A Pillar rose - does it suffer from any blackspot or fungal diseases, being that it's intermingled with the Sambucus or does this area get a nice breeze?

It doesn't seem to get too much black spot and if it did it is fairly well hidden. This area is between the barn and greenhouse so is probably somewhat more breezy. I think the rose likes the heat from the side of the barn too.

Meant to show you the other side of it too.

Now that is a pretty combo.

Very nice!
How would this Sambucus look with a pale-yellow to medium-yellow rose?
Hard to tell from the photo...

Your Sambucus and roses are stunning. How old is it? I have a row of the Black Lace Sambucus, and they are one of my favorite plants. I never thought of planting roses with them.

I love that sambucus! Do you know which one it is? The combination is glorious!

How about lupine and/or hollyhock? I know they're considered somewhat "common" and old-fashioned, but there are some neat yellows and whites in both. And I have a gorgeous oenothera that is low growing with white flowers about 2" - 3" in diameter. Have some seeds of lupine, hollyhock and oenothera that I could share.

Lupines & Oenothera do well here, and I like both of them - I'd love some seed!

HollyHocks - wish they didn't have rust issues, but each time I grow them I have to rip them out, so I don't grow them anymore!
Thanks so much!

Ohhh, Lynn, Roses with black lace sambucus - very nice idea. I've got one I'm just about to plant out, and I think the idea is stunning. I just saw a tawny copper coloured rose - and I desperately wanted to buy it but didn't have an idea where to put it, now I do - thank you very much.

Laurie1 and Thistle, Now you have me thinking. Here are pictures of part of my Sambucus hedge, I didn't get any pix when they were at their best in bloom. Darn.
Anyway, would you plant roses in between all of them? Color? Floribunda, Climber? Grandiflora? We have approx 25 or so of the Sambucus planted here, 3 years ago.
If I alternated roses and an evergreen clematis, would that be too busy? WOuld the clematis take over and strangle my Sambucus?

Another view