Super Plants

Had a (non gardening) co worker a few years ago who just moved into a different home. It was a primarily shady yard, and they could tell it had been fashioned into a garden, even though it was winter when they moved in, they could see there were lots of little plant markers in the yard with names on them. It was soon discovered that the previous owners were of my ilk, i.e., "plant maniacs"! When Jim wrote down some of the names and showed me, i immediately recognized most of the variety names ~ they were all Hostas!

Spring arrived, as She always does, and the Hosta, along with many other perennials, awakened from their Winter sleep. It was not long before Jim came in to work and asked me if i wanted some (or all!) of these Hostas, because they wanted a low maintenance yard. Now, much as my heart leapt when i heard "Do you want these plants?", i did the right thing and told Jim that if he wanted a "low maintenance" yard, NOTHING would be LOWER maintenance than those Hostas! Especially established, well taken care of Hostas! i told him not to mess with them. Alas, (she says, grinning evilly) they still did not want the plants, so i borrowed my husband's truck (WITH the husband) and made a couple of trips there to load up said truck! Jim and his wife did decide they liked several of the plants, and wanted to keep them, but still let me cut divisions from those, also. It was a situation ALL plant maniacs hope to run into at least once in their lifetime! AND it just so happened that we had cleared out a space that Spring under the flowering Crabapple, and it was a perfect spot for Hostas! i believe i came home with at least 25 plants that year.

But I digress ~ my description of my SuperPlants list *** 1) Comes back reliably every year 2) Does not need pruning or shaping 3) If they DO flower, it does not take a lot of time to deadhead them 4) Looks good throughout the season 5) Needs little or no cutting down before winter and 6) Is NOT invasive!

A small disclaimer ~ there are no plants that are NO maintenance! Once in a while your Hostas may be eaten by slugs, moles dig up your Poppies, the deer wipe you out, and the most well behaved plant may absolutely LOVE the spot you have it in, and takes over your yard! But ~ dem's da rules, folks!

1) So Hosta are the first on this list. Very cast iron plants! i even have shoved a division of Hosta through a piece of Styrofoam and floated it in my pond with the roots floating free, and they thrived, even after i left them frozen in the water thru the Winter!

2) Next are the Sedums ~ they can grow in sandy or poor soil, can take hot sun, some are tiny and creeping, some are upright and can be 3 ft tall,

and it's very difficult to PREVENT from thriving!

3) Hardy Spring bulbs are very carefree, although some people make more work for themselves by cutting back the leaves sooner than they need to (or braiding them ~ what's with that?) If you wait until the leaves dry out, they will easily come off when tugged.

 

4) Heucheras ~ i love these guys! Compact, a great variety of colors, looks good (a lot of them THROUGH a zone 5 winter). See my "Collectable Plant" post about Heucheras for more photos.

5) Poppies ~ Comes up in early Spring, blooms, fades away. No problem.

There ARE more! Will post soon.

A Spring Garden Stroll

...A garden friend....(who i painted, naturally!)

..An 'artsy" shot!

                                         ...Although i really hate the Cottonwood tree across the street, the "fuzzies" falling, backlit by the sun, are pretty (i guess...)

The variegated Kiwi vine actually is showing its white and pink splashed foliage for the second year in a row!  

First Waterlilies in bloom

We've had a lot of rain this Spring ~ and my Hostas love it!

"Sweet Kate" Tradescandia is one of my favorites. Those colors are almost blinding in bright sun!

Never had a lot of luck with Penstemons, but they're doing great this year!

....And, of course, the sky blue of an Amsonia (If you've gotten any emails from me in the past, "Amsoniared" has been my email name for many years! Hey, 'Amsoniablue' was taken!)

Squib Knocket For Everyone!!!

i like weird plants. Or rare. Or anything obscure with a strange name. i have variegated horseradish, hemp leaved mallow, laceleaf lilac, "Kiss Me Over The Garden Gate" (Polygonum orientale) - stuff like that. I am still looking for Hosta "Illicit Affair" - sounds like a T-shirt slogan ("...I wanted an illicit affair in the garden, and all I got was this stupid plant!")

Anyway. A few years back i heard of a plant in the Euphorbia family (Euphorbia cyparissias), one of the common names of it being "Squib - Knocket", and i thought that was pretty interesting. (Note: Other colloquial names of the plant are Welcome-To-Our-Home, Graveyard-Moss, and Quack-Salver's-Spurge; in Dutch, a quack-salver is a charlatan - ( i haven't a clue what the hell a quack salver is, but, then again, what's a "Squib"?).

So i started to try to find the elusive Squib- Knocket - i finally did, but can't remember if it was thru a swap or if i actually paid money for it (i have seen it at nurseries occasionally). Sort of pretty, except it got less pretty the more INVASIVE it got! Plus the sap is sticky and causes a rash if i get it on my skin. Got it on the rock garden, and hasn't seemed to travel beyond trying to take that over, and i do still have it just because i like to see the look on someone's face when i tell them what it is! The disadvantages don't outweigh the novelty yet, so i'll continue to fight with it until they do!

The Search For The Elusive Himalayan Blue Poppy

(Photo blatantly stolen from Katina Choovanski's Blog)

Found a Meconopsis ( the sky blue Himalayan Poppy) today at a local farm market and greenhouse - this is an "average" farm market most of the year, albeit a nice one, but in May, it transforms into a "collector's heaven"! Rows and rows of unusual, if not downright RARE plants for my area, and a lot of new (and expensive) varieties of Hostas. i make one trip there a year (any more often and i'd be living in poverty- all my money would be theirs!) i have never seen a Meconopsis for sale before around here- but there's a good reason....Yes, the tag DOES say "hardy to zone 5" - and that is where i live, in zone 5b. Unfortunately, MY zone 5 is not the same as "THAT" zone 5! The plant needs a cool, moist environment to thrive (the Pacific Northwest), and our summers get too hot and too dry. With that in mind, did i pass it up? Nope. You never know, we may have a cool, damp summer this year....maybe...:o}

i'll take any advice and/or growing tips anyone passes my way!

i had found seed for it before, and had very little luck germinating it. i did manage to get one feeble little plant going, it didn't make it. Another year, one started in it's pot, and, to my amazement, it was growing like a weed! I pampered that thing for weeks, until i realized that, unfortunately, it WAS a weed! Oops.

"White Feather" Hosta amongst the crabapple petals

So this was a strong looking little plant, and it will be my last try to see one of the blooms in living color! So, in the ground it goes, with some water holding crystals in the soil and in part shade, and i'll let you know what happens. Along with my new "White Feather" Hosta, my "Summer Glow" Tamarisk, and a couple more little treasures, it was a very fulfilling trip!

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