Sarah's Garden: April 2007

29 April 2007

Rudbeckia (P)

Above: what the plant actually grew into...

Below: what the plant was supposed to grow into!

Botanical: Perennial Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset'

Exposure: Full sun

Height/Spacing: 2-3' by 1'

Bloom: Late season, mid-summer to frost, started bloom end July 2007

Notes: Long-lasting cut flowers

Collect seed and start in protected situation, as it may act like an annual.

UPDATE: This plant turned out to be like a regular rudbeckia, which is fine with me, but rather false advertising!!

Alpine Poppy

May/07 - 3 plants

Botanical: Papaver alpinum (burseri)

Exposure: Full sun

Height/Spacing: 10" by 10"

Bloom: Late spring-Autumn

Care: Sensitive to not enough, or too much, water

Notes: Short-lived, may act like an annual?

Sensitive to too much care, just ignore it, and see if the tempermental thing will live!

27 April 2007

Thrift

Botanical: Armeria pseudarmeria 'Joystick lilac shades'

Bloom: June-July

Exposure: Full sun

Height/Spacing: 15" by 10"

Jupiter's Beard

Botanical: Centhranthus Ruber

Bloom: June-August

Exposure: Full sun to part shade

Notes: Has a nice cottagey effect...kind of flops and spreads where it will, so against the lattice of the deck is a good place for it.

Height/Spacing: 2.5-3' by 20"

Jacob's Ladder (dwarf)

Botanical: Polemonium viscosum 'bambino'

Bloom:

Exposure: Sun or shade

Water: Weekly during dry spells.

Height/Spacing: 12" by 12"

Pincushion flower

May/07 - 3 plants

Botanical: Scabiosa caucasica 'house hybrids'

Bloom: July-August

Exposure: Full sun

Height/Spacing: 18"-2' by 15"

Catmint

Botanical: Nepeta 'Walker's Low'

Bloom: Late May til frost

Height: 1 '

Exposure: Full sun

Soil: Well-drained

Care: For a more compact growth habit, shear it back in spring. Cut back by two-thirds after the first flush of blooms to encourage reblooming until frost.

Notes: Lemony scent

Foxglove 'Alba'

Botanical: Digitalis purpurea 'Alba'

Biennial

Height: 4-5 '

Exposure: Light shade to sun.

Spacing: 15-18" apart

Notes: Save the dried seed pods and sprinkle in the garden in spring and fall

Location: 3 in back garden

Bloomed in 08

Bee Balm

After about a month of growth. May/07

Botanical: Monarda didyma

Exposure: Full sun to light shade

Height: 3-4 feet

Care: Cut flowers after they have bloomed. Prune in fall to within an inch of the ground.

Notes: Can become invasive. Divide every 3 years. Dig up the root clump in the early spring, discard the inner, older portion, and re-plant the new divisions 12 to 15 inches apart.