I am wondering how long it would take a 4" plant to grow to full size. Can you share your experience ?

Thank you.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn

which one is your 4" plant? I have had some seem to take forever and others grow like gang busters.

Carolyn ....

I haven't purchased anything, yet. I am still in the planning stage because it is too cold to plant up here. Although, with the drought we are having in California, I may not plant any new plants this year.

I've read that heucheras are short lived plants, but I don't know how true that may be. From your statement above, I am guessing it varies by plant cultivar.

When I have specific plants chosen, I'll ask again.

Smiles,
Lyn

they grow at different rates. I would say by 3 years they get as big as they are going to get.

Thank you. That helps for planning.

What is the most effective way to use them in planning a bed ? Several plants of the same variety or a combination of plants with contrasting foliage ? Since I haven't grown a lot of them, I am having a hard time visualizing the direction I should go.

The photo below shows the bed I am thinking of using because it is deer fenced and really does get a lot of shade down near the soil because the fern you see to the left blocks the light for most of the morning and the house shades the bed in the afternoon. I am going to re-site the rose to another location. It did well when I pegged it, but because it is not getting sufficient light for most of the day at the base, it is not putting out new basals and I know it will do better in another location. I just happened to take the photo at the time of day when it did get light at the base. Please ignore the weeds.




Smiles,
Lyn

I like to combine contrasting foliage , but many like groupings of one kind, really pretty much a personal choice. I would say look at pictures in data base and see what you like.

Bob ... I see another addiction coming on

I am trying to become more of a well-rounded gardener than a collector, but I must have a collecting gene in me that's dominant. That's why I am trying to do more planning this year.

Smiles,
Lyn

I am more of a collector myself, lots of varieties of a limited amount of plants.

As a novice gardener, who just happens to know a lot about roses, I am very much like a singer who can only hit one note.

Looking at the multi-plant photos on ATP, I find myself drooling and wondering how I can find the right plant combinations for this garden. I haven't planted companion plants in the rose beds, simply because I tend to step on them when I am working on a rose.

In a way, it's all new to me. That's why I am seeking suggestions.

Smiles,
Lyn

I like the contrasting colors myself. I did that in my side yard. I think the plants set themselves off better this way.

Lyn - I find myself drooling over a lot of the photos as well.

For a shade area I would suggest Painted Ferns, Forest Grass, Astilbe ,Hellebore, Heuchera, Tiarella,Turtleheads and a variegated Hosta. This would give different Textures and foliage colors and some flowering from Spring till Fall. How these plants will do in zone 8 I do not know, they are rated for it but that does not always work out.

Thank you ever so much for the suggestions. There are so many possibilities that I often feel overwhelmed trying to find the right combinations and have difficulty narrowing it down.

I pulled out the bergenia plants in front of that bed just because I didn't like the plant that much ... that's why the bed looks so bare in front. After I move the rose, that whole part of the bed is empty.

I have lungwort on the other side of the deer fence and then that big fern that seems to be able to handle the morning sun well.

I thought I would start with this one bed and then work in the other shade areas after I see what happens here.

Smiles,
Lyn

Show some pictures when you are done.

Certainly ......... however, I may not do anything to that bed this year other than to remove the rose and dump some compost and mulch on it.

Mother Nature is playing a nasty trick on us this year. Generally we get 35 to 45 inches of rain/snow from November through March, with no rain during the rest of the year. This year, we have only gotten 1.25 inches of rain.

I don't think it's a good time to install young plants because I am not going to be able to water them properly to get them established.

I will have lots of questions about the care of the three heucheras I am growing in another bed, but I think this year will be about keeping things alive instead of adding new plants.

Smiles,
Lyn