Viewing comments posted by jvdubb

My Pink Pussytoes was only a very tiny patch in spring of 2015. It went crazy this summer, expanding to more then ten times its original size! I did not, however, have very many blooms. This was disappointing because I had never seen pink blooms before (I have had the white Antennaria for years). I was happy, however, that the EXTREME amount of Painted Lady caterpillars that took up residence in the spring on other Antennarias I have were not seen much on the Antennaria rosea. Looking forward to more blooms next year.

In past years Anaphalis New Snow has been ultra vigorous for me. I had two stands of it. They were both taking up too much room, so I removed one. Also, I find numerous seedlings in the general area. Every year early in summer it is host to the Painted Lady butterfly. I always leave the caterpillars because they never seem to do too much damage, even though I find their "nests" to be unsightly. However, this summer in 2015, they completely covered the plant and decimated the large stand. It is now October and a few pieces are alive and about 3 inches tall. So I hope I will have it next year, but it was very disappointing to miss a year of these unusual interesting blooms.

Ajuga Dixie Chip is probably one of my favorite Ajugas, but it is my least hardy Ajuga. In fact, I no longer have any. For me, most Ajugas are aggressive and need high maintenance to keep them where I want them, or I have to plant them where they cannot escape the area, but every time I have tried Dixie Chip it has died out. I will admit that I have never kept it in deep shade or kept it well watered (I am brutal when it comes to watering. After a plant is established, if we don't get enough rain, whatever survives minimal watering is all that stays). But I have three other Ajugas that have survived, if not thrived, even in challenging conditions. I may try Dixie Chip again if I find it on closeout or discounted, but I won't pay full price for it again.

I bought this Agastache Champagne from Bluestone Perennials in spring 2014. I am torn about the blooms. The color is certainly different from all the other agastaches I have, but I am not sure I like it.

The plant itself only performed ok in 2014. It survived winter 2015 barely and then it appeared dead in the wet spring. However, a very small sprig did seem to survive. I dug up the plant and kept it in a pot all summer. Slowly it came back to health. It did not get mildew like some of the other Agastaches in my nursery. I planted it back out in a new bed at the end of August. It is doing quite well and has even bloomed a bit, so it is a fighter! I hope it will overwinter fine this year. While I am still undecided about the color, I will keep it as I need as much Agastache as possible for the hummingbirds.

This was the second year for my Purple Pygmy. It barely survived the winter and spring so I am glad it even stuck around for summer. It certainly was not a great plant this year, but it was a harsh winter, a wet spring, and a hot dry summer. It did bloom a bit. Hoping for better next summer. If it does not survive, I will replace it. It is a great all-round Agastache.

I absolutely love this Agastache. It has a wonderful color. It is not a dwarf, but it does not get too big. This was the second year for mine. Sadly, it was not very vigorous, but it did survive. By the end of the summer, it was of such decent size and health that its chances for overwintering seem good. It did, however, throw off some seeds that produced interesting seedlings. One is more pink than the original. It is a lovely plant. One seedling seems to be almost identical to the parent, and the third seedling produced a washed-out pink bloom that is not very attractive. I plan to remove this one.

I do hope the parent plant survives as I did not see this sold at the big box stores this year and did not find any mail order companies offering this variety.

I have two of these plants, bought two years apart. The first one did not come back yellow this year. It was a pale pink. It seemed to be the original plant that overwintered, but perhaps the original plant did die and whatever came back was from seed. I don't think this is the case. I am not a fan of the mutation, but I kept the plant anyway to see what it does next year.

This unique flower blooms at the end of summer in my zone 6 garden. It does have a tendency to reseed, but seedlings are easy to remove. It has fuzzy leaves. In the spring it tends to get covered with the cocoon material of some sort of moth or butterfly. While unsightly, this does not harm the plant. Drought tolerant and extremely low maintenance.

'Little Leo' is a big joy! 'Little Leo' is shorter than other Leopard Bane varieties. Its early spring blooms just scream happiness. I have been told to cut the spent blooms to prevent reseeding, but this plant spreads so slowly for me that I don't dare. Besides, I would love to have more 'Little Leo'. It detests dry soil. It will go dormant in mid-summer under those conditions. I find it does best in partial shade. I love the heart-shaped leaves, so I try to make sure to keep it watered so they don't disappear.

I have had 'Golden Jubilee' since I started gardening in 2005. I have heard that for some the leaves lose their golden glow and turn to green. This has never happened for me, but I have seen it in other yards. Perhaps it is due to the amount of sun it gets.

I do absolutely nothing to my 'Golden Jubilee' (no supplemental watering, no fertilizing, no dead heading) other than pull out the millions of seedlings it produces. No matter, they are very easy to pull out. The birds move the seeds all over my yard. Sometimes it is amusing to see where seedlings emerge. Some seasons I let the new plants take hold. Sometimes I clean house, except for my original stand.

I was surprised to see hummingbirds feeding on the blooms. Mostly mine are swarmed with bees of one sort or another.

I purchased three plugs of 'Blue Boa' from a co-op this summer. I potted them up in one-gallon pots to allow them to get somewhat established before I planted them out in the flower beds. All three grew to fill their one-gallon pots in no time at all. This is a striking and compact Agastache, great for the middle of the border. As with many Agastaches, the stems are somewhat brittle so take care when moving the plant so as not to break it. I planted my 'Blue Boa' next to Agastache 'Kudos Gold' and it really makes the color of both pop!

This yarrow grows to about 24 inches in my zone 6 garden, in full sun. This area is close to the patio and sidewalk, so it gets piled high with snow in the winter and gets soggy in the spring. It does not bother this Achillea. It is a vigorous spreader for me, so I thin it out every year sometime in July. I also cut it back aggressively after the blooms fade, and it often reblooms. I enjoy this Achillea, but it does tend to get floppy, so I place supports around the front and grow taller plants behind it to prop it up.

This is one of my favorite Achilleas. In my zone 6 garden it gets mostly sun, but some deep shade mid-day due to some trees. It is planted in an area of my beds with clay soil. It is one of my first Achilleas to bloom, and the blooms last for about 7 or 8 weeks. It reaches about 20 inches high. I do cut it back after the blooms fade, and sometimes it reblooms. Other than that, it is a completely care-free plant for me. Unlike many of my other Achilleas, it never flops.

I was once lucky enough to discover this gem at a local nursery that sells tiny pots of starter herbs and plants for $.99! The tiny plant took off from the start. It developed into a bushy specimen approximately 24 inches high. It started blooming in June and with deadheading continued blooming into fall. The blooms are tiny bright white gems that blanket the whole plant. This was in my zone 5 garden. The original plant did not survive winter, but it self sowed prolifically. I did not take any with me when I moved.

I found seeds online and wintersowed them in winter 2012-2013 in my zone 6 garden. Germination was very successful and I ended up with many more plants than I could handle. I planted out perhaps ten seedlings, all in full sun. They all performed well. Again, I deadheaded throughout the season and they continued to bloom into fall.

All ten plants survived the wicked winter of 2013-2014. AND I even found seedlings growing behind my shed, a good 50 yards away from where any had been planted. I cut all of them back harshly in early spring to create shorter, bushier plants. They all became quite lush and stocky, to the extent of crowding their neighbors. After the first round of blooms, I dug up all but two plants and gave away the rest. Some of them required a three-gallon pot! I am sure I will have plenty of volunteers next year from the two plants I have left.

A stunner in the garden that will make anyone walking by stop in their tracks! Very easy to grow from seed. Plant it once and you never will need to again! Prolific seeds are edible, for birds and humans!

It is a shame that this Veronica only blooms in the spring! Its explosive blue blooms are like an official announcement that a new growing season has begun. I also enjoy how the ground around the plant turns blue as the blooms fade and drop.

In both zone 5 and zone 6, this plant has grown vigorously for me. I use 12 inch tall border fencing to make cages for my 'Crater Lake Blue' because it can be quite floppy. It grows to hide the cage very quickly. I cut it back by about 4 inches after it blooms. Sadly, it has never rebloomed for me.

This Veronica grows to approximately 26 inches in my zone 6 garden. I never have trouble with it flopping, even in harsh driving rain and wind. It is planted in a south-facing bed that gets sun all day long. It blooms at the very end of June and the blooms last until the beginning of August. It does tend to get some mildew, but it never seems to harm the plant. I leave the spent blooms on the plant until there is plenty of new growth at the base. At that time I cut the old stems back to about two inches.

When I first saw this Verbena it was growing in a large clump in a nursery display garden. It was stunning! They did not have any to sell, but my mom bought seeds the following season and shared some plants she grew. I enjoyed the tall stems with blooms swaying above the plants below. It did not matter that it is not hardy in zone 5. There were plenty of seedlings coming up the following spring, and I have had reseeded plants year after year since....through two moves. In fact, I often have seedlings pop up in pots of other plants that my mom shares with me. One might say it is insidious.

I only let two seedling grow to maturity and bloom last year. Still, I was pulling out hundreds of seedlings this spring. Even in the last few days, I still have been finding about one a day. They are easy enough to pluck.

I have found that some years they were prone to mildew.

I have grown this Veronica in both zone 5 and zone 6. When I grew it in zone 5 it was in full sun. It grew nicely and filled in the area where I started it. It was reliable for two more seasons and then it did not return after winter, despite an unremarkable winter.

I tried again last year in my zone 6 location. This time I planted it in an eastern location where it got at least 6 hours of sun. This time it struggled to survive. There were still some small pieces left at the end of fall. Somehow, an even tinier bit managed to survive the harsh winter. I moved it to full sun this summer. Unfortunately, it is still struggling, but it is in better condition than it was this time last year.

A dear friend gave me this Salvia last year. It was in a 4-inch pot. It immediately took off, growing into a lush full-grown plant in what seemed like a few weeks. I cut it back twice and it rebloomed after each time.

This past spring it was slow to wake up and I thought I may have lost it over the harsh winter. Thank heavens, I did not! It was again a lush specimen. I did cage it this year to keep it from flopping over and taking up horizontal space in an already crowded bed. I again cut it back twice with reblooms after each trim.

My friend who originally bought the plant for me bought herself a second one this year because she likes it so much.