Viewing comments posted by Paintedtrillium

Unfortunately, this did not survive the first winter in southern Maine. Auriculata prefers moister soils and is not as drought tolerant ….

Something to keep in mind when you consider buying this plant… there are compact, medium, and tall plants being marketed and sold as Viette's Little Suzy.

- Missouri Botanical Garden notes a height of 10-18". It seems likely this is the original selected cultivar height of "Viette's Little Suzy. The photo here displaying a National Botanical Garden tag shows this compact height. I have purchased this perennial at this compact height a few years ago and was hoping to find another.

- At the garden center today, I observed a medium sized plant with a commercial vendor tag for Viette's Little Suzy indicating a height between "18 - 24". Not what I was expecting.

- Online, the Ball Seed bench card describes Viette's Little Suzy with a height of 26 - 32". I was even more surprised to read this height description!

Perhaps the seed strain has reverted to the species height.

Just calling this to your attention so that you find the perennial height that meets your needs.

Pan American Seed has some Frizzle Sizzle colors available individually. These can also be bought as trays from
specialty garden centers with individual vs mix variety tags. It is very helpful if you'd like to design with certain colors, while still appreciating some variance among the patterns and colors.
There are colors which may not be prominent in mixes such as "lemon berry" and "yellow blue swirl". I am enclosing a photo of nursery flats showing a sample of the color range in Frizzle Sizzle "Lemon" aka "Lemonade" and I have individually uploaded some flowers some from a flat that I purchased of this color variety.

For me, "Junior Walker" is a very large dominant plant which is now hiding multiple perennials on either side in my border garden. I'm going to try to reduce it. If that fails, I may discard it.

Creamy white

Yellow florets:
pale yellow

One of the posters mentioned that she did not know how some of the photographs were taken as her 'Primrose' was white. Another agreed that her plant was also white. Thank you for sharing your observations.

I affirm that my photographs of the pale yellow 'Primrose' were taken with a phone camera and the pale yellow color is true to the color I witnessed at that nursery. (I also grew and enjoyed this in my own garden for many years until it unfortunately became over-shaded by fast growing shade trees. I look forward to one day enjoying the blooms again from replanted suckers.) Many of the online photos on various websites are color enhanced, contributing to false expectations that this Lilac is a deep yellow.

A tiny bit of history… the original yellow color of what was to become 'Primrose' was discovered on a single branch of a white 'Marie Legraye' lilac, a favorite forcing Lilac in the European cut flower trade. The branch was successful propagated as a yellow lilac, eventually introduced in 1949 and became much celebrated for its unique pale yellow color over many years.

This week, 'Primrose' was again available for sale at a local nursery. The plants in bloom had creamy white flowers, not pale yellow. The flowers otherwise bear a striking similarity to 'Primrose'. Although the nursery was different, the distributor was the same.

I then found a reference to Primrose in a bulletin of the International Lilac Society stating that the florets are primrose yellow in bud but fade to white with age. So, perhaps these white flowers (shown in a separate post) had been yellow florets that faded in the bright sun. Unfortunately, I had not seen them in bud.

If people have Primrose that is not a soft yellow in bud and when first opening, I would be concerned that it is not a true to name plant.

Best wishes!

'Marie Legraye' is one of the oldest registered cultivars, in the year 1840, by hybridizer Legraye. The flowers are ivory-white from yellowish buds.

The pale yellow 'Primrose' lilac, introduced in 1949, is a mutation from a branch of 'Marie Legraye'.

'Marie Legraye' was the female seed parent often used in the French lilac hybridization program of Lemoine. It is a parent of 'Edith Cavell' lilac from which the famous 'Rochester' and 'Rochester strain of lilacs' descend.

Some notes about 'Maiden's Blush'…

-Father John Fiala rates this Lilac as "outstanding, excellent." This hybrid is highly popular and consistently rated among the very best pinks.

-color variability The color ranges from a palest blush pink to a deeper pink which is attributed to soil conditions and climate. This has also been noted even for container grown plants in greenhouse conditions.

-Height: In a list of recommended lilacs for Maine, Walter W. Oakes noted that there are apparently two versions of 'Maiden's Blush' in cultivation, a dwarf and a tall form.
Mine is definitely the dwarf form! I've had one for many decades that is only 5 feet tall. I have seen it advertised as "6 - 8 feet" and "over 10 feet."

Hybridizer: Clarke, 1953. Father Fiala rated this as very fine in his Lilacs book.

I highly recommend this vigorous and beautiful Hosta. About ten years ago, this plant produced a delightful sport in my garden that is a solid golden green which has survived and flourished. I have about six divisions now. Not surprisingly, my unnamed sport is more sun-sensitive than Golden Tiara and somewhat less vigorous. Golden Tiara is itself a sport and has produced other sports. (I would have posted a photo of the sport but the format has changed and I no longer see that option.)

This is a long-lived and low maintenance stoloniferous alpine perennial that is visited by bee pollinators. I obtained it as "chrysanthemum weyrichii" in a plant swap about 15 years ago. Some plants bloom as a dwarf 5-6" and some are 12 - 14". This makes a long lasting cut flower, and developed a root in the vase.

Although I now focus on Rewilding / growing more locally native pollinator plants, I am still happy to have this no maintenance, bee-attractive, autumn blooming perennial.

I have had Blue Billow for perhaps 25 years. It has been one of the most lovely and reliable plants that I have ever grown. It produced a volunteer seedling which is indistinguishable from the parent. I have since divided and shared that. I couldn't be happier with this plant!

Sad that this lovely zone 5 plant did not survive the winter.

Sadly, this cultivar did not return this year. Cheyenne Sunset and other echinaceas in the same bed did.

Just a clarification on the color….G. endressi 'Wargrave Pink' has petals of a light salmon pink RHSCC Red Group 55B, though a little bluer at the extreme edge in young flowers; towards the tips a slightly darker network of veins is visible. The petals change color with age only slightly…. Because of its colour it is best planted away from more pinkish geraniums." Peter F. Yeo, Hardy Geraniums, 2nd. Ed., p. 62.

One can actually do an Internet search of RHSCC 55B and see examples of some flowers with that beautiful light salmon pink color.

So…my plant is not light salmon pink despite being marketed as G. endressi 'Wargrave Pink'. It is a heavily veined and very pretty light pink. I would still appreciate finding the original light salmon pink.

Update: I think the photos posted by kniphofia best match the light salmon pink color desbribed by Dr. Yeo. :)

'Nashville Star' is a long bloomer which blooms surprisingly well in filtered shade. 'Nashville Star' is displayed at and recommended as a ground cover by the Chicago Botanical Garden. Other daylilies they recommended are 'Countless Carrots', 'Chicago Heirloom, 'Fringed Porcelain', and 'Lavender Frolic'.

Photo and description at: https://www.chicagobotanic.org...

Daylily recommendations at:

https://www.chicagobotanic.org...

A daylily breeder / garden blogger recommends it as a groundcover because of its beautiful foliage and quick ground-covering ability.
http://daylilybreeder.blogspot...

Apparently, this lilac is noted for having dense upright flowers. Mine has bent under weight of panicles but I don't know if that is due to receiving less than desirable light or cultivation, or whether there was misidentification at purchase time.
https://m.facebook.com/story/g...

I've had this shrub for 20 - 25 years. I have never seen a bloom!

Cornell Pink had buds April 15th, bloomed heavily, and there are still some pretty blossoms left. That makes over five weeks of pretty flowers. My Northern Lights azaleas which are also exceptionally pretty and hardy haven't begun opening up. So I highly recommend this shrub if you like Azaleas and want to begin the season with this and or azalea dauricum Midwinter. Also, Bumble bees love this azalea!