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May 7, 2015 11:54 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Dicentras start to look sad toward midsummer here, even though they're mostly shaded. What do you plant to cover them up? I'm thinking about toad lilies...
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 7, 2015 2:06 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I think toad lilies would be an excellent idea, planted in front of the dicentra. The toad lilies shouldn't get tall enough until after the dicentra finish blooming. And there are a few different foliage choices as well.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 7, 2015 2:18 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Okay--I have a nice-sized clump of toad lilies coming in a trade. Never grown them before, so I'll divide it up. How many do you suggest per square foot?
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May 7, 2015 2:25 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica) doesn't get going here until the dicentra are just about finished, and they seem to like the same conditions.

Do toad lilies like to be kept continuously moist? I don't have any planted yet, but I was thinking that they do. Can dicentra take those conditions, or do they prefer to dry a bit over the summer? My dicentra and Indian Pink are all in *you're on your own* areas that don't get watered, but the idea of toad lilies and dicentra growing together is intriguing. I'm all ears!
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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May 7, 2015 2:33 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
I should have gotten some spigelias from mamajack's sale but didn't. I've not grown them, but from what I've read toad lilies don't like to be kept wet and the spot the dicentras are in is pretty much the same as yours--planted and forgotten in deep shade under a pine. The whole area needs to be that way since I need to concentrate on the veggie and front beds.
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May 7, 2015 2:45 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Thanks Taqiyyah. I tip my hat to you.

I don't know why, but for some reason I always think of toad lilies as a type of marsh plant. Funny how those ideas can just get stuck sometimes, isn't it?
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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May 7, 2015 2:53 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Well it does seem natural to think that with a name like "toad!" I only know different because I decided growing them would be interesting and a member had it up for trade. Most things in my shade garden finish blooming by midsummer, so it'll be nice to see something blooming in fall. I did caladiums last year and they were gorgeous but I don't feel like replanting every year, so I'm filling things in this year with dozens of heuchera seedlings that look like Green Spice or Dale's strain, and some variegated Solomon's Seal--also new to me from trade. And the toad lilies for the dicentra.

I better get out there to plant the heucheras now--the yard guy just left!
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May 7, 2015 5:01 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Yard guy? Green Grin!


There are sprouts on my new dicentra now, but I don't think they'll do much more if this crazy heat hangs on much longer! Blinking
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


Avatar for Shadegardener
May 7, 2015 5:24 PM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Toad lilies don't need to be continually moist. I grow them in 3 different spots and I rarely see them wilt even in afternoon sun. If I remember correctly, each stem or two is its own little plantlet with roots. As for how many to plant in a square foot, it would depend on how fast you want coverage.
I did see that it's supposed to turn cool next week. Today was a scorcher for May. My thermometer (remote digital) read 87 this afternoon.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 7, 2015 6:54 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Thanks for the info Cindy. Thumbs up
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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May 7, 2015 7:32 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Thanks, Cindy--that will be helpful for when I place these.

I call him the yard guy because for me he's not really a landscaper--I do all that. I just need him to mow and trim and take away my yard waste.

I never thought of dicentras as being so affected by heat. Has it happened before that their growth was arrested because of an early heatwave?
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May 7, 2015 7:45 PM CST
Name: Jason
Gold Bar, Washington (Zone 8b)
Toad lilys are great! we plant them very tight together here in Washington. the one drawback, if you can call it that, is they tend to lean very badly towards the strongest light source. we have ours planted in full shade against a fence. last year they were almost horizontal, leaning away from the fence towards the daylight. they were practically laying on top of our Solomons Seals! and the flowers are small. but they come back every year and need little attention aside from watering. great shade plants!
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May 7, 2015 8:27 PM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
lovesblooms said:

I call him the yard guy because for me he's not really a landscaper--I do all that. I just need him to mow and trim and take away my yard waste.

I never thought of dicentras as being so affected by heat. Has it happened before that their growth was arrested because of an early heatwave?




Oh my! That's nice! I can barely keep up with cutting the darn grass right now...let alone do much of anything else. Rolling on the floor laughing


I've had new dicentra go dormant and disappear early. Not exactly sure why, but I assumed it was due to too much heat since we were melting that spring too.
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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May 8, 2015 7:25 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Yeah, we can't seem to keep functioning lawnmowers so we quit buying them a couple years ago and we just let him do it. No one here really wants to mow a lawn or trim bushes--not even me. I dig, I sow, I transplant, I water, I mulch, I weed, but I do not mow. Not even when we had a mower, lol. So it's best this way.
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 8, 2015 7:56 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Riverman - I forgot all about the leaning part. I don't know that I've ever grown one that stands up straight. The group that gets the most sun (afternoon) doesn't lean as much. Another group in mostly shade gets a little "corralling" with twine strung between two sticks so that they don't fall over onto the path.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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May 8, 2015 8:12 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Jason, I read your post last night but couldn't reply and saw Chelle's this morning and forgot--didn't mean to ignore you. I was grateful for that information, which you don't get in the plant profiles. I had the thought to "corral" them, too, glad to hear that works okay for Cindy.
Avatar for Shadegardener
May 8, 2015 9:42 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
I found that the simple twine and sticks thing is a little less obtrusive than the metal plant supports. Do make the sticks tall enough that your can adjust the height of the twine as the plants get taller.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
Image
May 8, 2015 10:27 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
Yay! I've finally mowed everything ...once. Hilarious! The yard grass has had a couple of trimmings in the last 10 days, but it wasn't until yesterday and today that I could get the other stuff cut. Rolling my eyes. Our yard tractor is out for repairs, so every bit of it has to be done with the push mower for now.

Now that that's almost caught up, I have a bit of time to check on my toad lily seedlings. Hurray! I had luck with just one out of three types of seeds...a yellow variety. I'm thinking the others might have been from sterile hybrids. If I'm successful in getting plants, I now know where to put them. Thumbs up

Thanks everyone!
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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May 8, 2015 10:52 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Taqiyyah
Maryland (Zone 7a)
Bee Lover Vegetable Grower Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Salvias Roses
Region: Maryland Region: Mid-Atlantic Container Gardener Winter Sowing
Oh--I'm supposed to get some purple-spotted ones.Yellow will really light up your spot!
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May 8, 2015 11:22 AM CST
Name: Michele Roth
N.E. Indiana - Zone 5b, and F (Zone 9b)
I'm always on my way out the door..
I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator Garden Sages Garden Ideas: Master Level Dog Lover Cottage Gardener
Native Plants and Wildflowers Plant Identifier Organic Gardener Keeps Horses Hummingbirder Hosted a Not-A-Raffle-Raffle
I agree. Maybe not quite like these dinner plate-sized yellow tulips do here in "Vinca-ville" Big Grin , but along those same lines.
Thumb of 2015-05-08/chelle/da0123

Purple-spotted ones would look really nice with blush-pink windflowers too, I'm thinking.
Cottage Gardening

Newest Interest: Rock Gardens


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