My Garden's Got the Blues (And I Love It!)
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- Juju57
- Carol Wallace
- Caroline
- Carol Wallace
- Gay_Klok
- Carol Wallace
- silvan
- Carol Wallace
- Treeman
- Carol Wallace
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» Juju57 - Re: Re: Blue Garden
In response to message posted by CarolWallace:Carol, loved the article, and the photos! I like blue in the garden a lot, too. And I was bummed when my Nanho Blue turned out to be purplish! I like the Perovskia, I think I'll plant more next year. Oh, and here's a site I like for drying flowers, from GardenGuides.com.
I kinda like the chicory-blue color. There's a plant (I'm sure it's a weed) with a smallish blue flower in several areas of the garden. I pull most of it because it'd take over. But it grew outside our backdoor when I was a kid, so I like it! I used to know the name of it, maybe someone would know. It has leaves sorta like a wandering jew.
I'll have to try that ageratum you mentioned, for some reason I didn't plant any. There's always next year!
Anybody want some Columbine seeds, or Gailardia, or Goldsturm Rudbeckia?
-- posted by Juju57
» Carol Wallace - Re: Re: Re: Blue Garden
In response to message posted by Juju57:I almost bought a couple more Perovskia yesterday - but I DID buy a couple Rudbeckias. The purple coneflowers are going beautifully but there are some holes in the planting right near them that would look great filled with the gold of the Rudbeckia.
So that was my mission when I hit the gardencenter. The sale on clematis kind of threw me off the quest for a bit though. There is a lovely one called Multi Blue and another called Blue Light that would really add to that blue - but unfortunately I didn't see any on the sale carts. ;-)
I have (or had) a gorgeous columbine in deep blue and white that I always allowed to go to seed hoping for more - I finally got one more plant from it in that color. I'd love more blue columbine. I think I've allowed so many of mine to cross breed that all I have left is a dull blue and a washed out pink these days.
Thanks for the flower drying site!
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Caroline - 'real' blues
In response to message posted by CarolWallace:I have the same color perception problem too then - Johnson Blue is just a tad bit purply to me too, but not as much as many other so called blues. I guess that's why I love the campanulas & gentians - they tend to stay 'real' blue (cobalt as you put it well).
I'll have to look at that ageratum too! :-)
-- posted by Caroline
» Carol Wallace - More blue
I did a tiny bit of garden shopping yesterday and ended up buying some blue asters to fill in a few of the holes in the garden. I didn't intend to put them there - I intended to put them in the gazebo area where nothing happens once the Oriental lilies are finished. But the holes in the riased bed garden were crying out for them. So it lookslike I get to go garden shopping again.For me this is a good time to shop. The garden looks pretty decent most of the summer except for a lull between the early, early spring blooms and the emergence of a lot of plants that grow dormant. And the fall is good too - but it's also the time when I'm likely to go through the garden with a fierce eye and pull out any plants that proved to be difficult. Like the liatris that all decided to lie down on the job, or a mystery plant that no one was able to identify that grew in a tangle. Get rid of the non-paying passengers who didn't contribute to the garden and then you can see where you're at - bot in terms of now and in terms of what we might want to shop for over the winter months when the catalogs are as close as we can come to gardening.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Gay_Klok - Re: More blue
In response to message posted by CarolWallace:Yes, blue - sky blue [even the forget-me-not] is so lovely in the garden.
Carol, you mention that it is hard to photo. Today, I have been trying to photograph a clump of Hepatica that has at last taken off. To the naked eye it is as blue as as an unclouded summer's sky, yet when I look at the photo, it appears to have a lot of plum colour in it. I also keep on trying to photo a Salvia that I have forgotten the name of, for the moment, and it will not show the true colour, which is an electric dark blue
And, how about the blue poppy - Meconopsis. M. sheldonii or the more frequently grown M betonicifolia must be true blue because they photograph beautifully
Ceanothus photographs true to colour, both the dark blue and paler ones.
-- posted by Gay_Klok
» Carol Wallace - Re: More blue
In response to message posted by Gay_Klok:On one list I'm on a few photographers were arguing about whether digital cameras will ever replace film cameras. Most of the pro photographers said no - and gave all kinds of reasons. But the digital side almost won when they pointed out that it's possible to photograph blue and actually have it come out the right color with a digital camera. I have a lot more to learn about all the fancy settings on mione because I have to admit that not all my blues look the same on camera as in life - but then again that could be the fault of my monitor.
And Caroline, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one whose personal definition of blue heads toward cobalt. And the blue of the forget-me-not as well. I'm trying to remember the name of a newplant I put in this year with heart shaped leaves and sky blue flowers and am not getting it - it's nickname is heart-leafed something and the blue of the little forget-me-not flowers was gorgeous.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» silvan - Blue for my dry garden
Carol, there are some terrific suggestions here. I chose blue as the main colour for my little garden because it's situated on a sunbaked highway corner along a busy sidewalk. I hoped my colour choice would help create an impression of coolness in this dusty, tired site. The garden gets neglected in summer when I get busy with my kids and we spend long weeks at the cottage. But in spring there is a nice collection of flowers in shades of blue, cool pink and white.Two of my favourite true blue bloomers are perennial flax and blue-eyed grass, which are also natives, another plus in my books. I also love the miniature species of the speedwell and bellflower clans. One of real gems in my garden is a little plant called, I think, Veronica gentianoides (is that a real plant?) It is groundhugging and has little flowers which are slightly larger and more solitary than in most of the Veronicas. But they are a wonderful royal blue.
I grew borage as a teenager, and was always delighted with its flowers, which started pink and turned clear blue. Of course they're edible, a nice addition to salads, which is another plus.
I listed a few more of my favourite native dry garden plants in this article, although the rest of them aren't blue:
-- posted by silvan
» Carol Wallace - Re: Blue for my dry garden
In response to message posted by silvan:You've mentioned some wonderful blues, Van! Perennial flax is a grat plant! And yes, I think htere is a Veronica gentianoides - and I suspect the gentianoides means blue - wouldn't you guess? I've never seen it before but it's absolutely lovely!
And last year I had another small blue veronica - porcelian blue on silver leaves called Veronica incana that I loved - but that's the corner of my garden that appears to have been robbed early this spring - all gone.
There is a very unusual Veronica that I love - tiny leaves, almost a groundcover and it is covered in tiny blue flowers earlly in the season - and then often again when it cools off. That's called Veronica peduncularis. There are so many different kinds of Veronica I'm always meeting new ones.
And let me tell you - any plants that flourishing a dry climate are welcome here! Lucky for me I am naturally attracted to plants with silvery or gray foliage - which usually means they are drought tolerant. But the ones that aren't are sure showing their displeasure over the summer we've had here!
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Treeman - Got the blues...
Hey Carol, don't know why blues have a rep for being hard to find. There are some great ones out there as you have pointed out.But I missed any mention of Vitex. What a wonderful blue summer shrub. Perhaps your are too far north for it. It does well here in zone 6 forming a impressive vase of blue from mid-summer on. I suspect some people mistake it for buddleia as its spikes are similar in shape and born on the tips of the branches. They form a denser upright branching habit though. I've seen specimens here that achieve 15 feet in height.
BTW the Phlox paniculata 'David' you mention is the Perennial Plant Association's "Perennial of the Year for 2001. If you can find any in garden center's this fall, you may want to snatch a couple up. May be more expensive next year.
-- posted by Treeman
» Carol Wallace - Re: Got the blues...
In response to message posted by Treeman:Lucky for me I snatched P. paniculata 'David' up a few years back. It has formed a nice clump now and is starting its second flush of bloom.
I suspect Vitex may not be happy here. I have never seen it in a nursery. Dirr says it's hardy to zone 6 and I am on the fringes of that - but the local nurseries are solidly zone 5b and may not want to risk it. I'm not sure I've ever knowingly seen one but it sounds lovely. I'll have to watch the mail order catalogs.
A week or so ago I founds some blue asters that exactly match the blue of my Caryopteris 'Longwood Blue' - they look so peaceful together!
-- posted by Carol Wallace
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