Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: GYO Girl on November 07, 2012, 15:03
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My Lavatera "Barnsley" and Scabious have been flowering their little hearts out in the border right outside my study window since July, and have been an absolute delight. They have proved themselves to be real value for money (the Lavatera even more so because it came from a cutting!) The Lavatera is just about finished now but the Scabious is STILL going strong with lots of new buds!
Can anyone suggest any other plants - preferably perennials, but I'm open to ideas - that have long flowering seasons that I could add to this border for next year to provide even more of a distraction when I'm supposed to be working - like now ::) ?
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I have Lavatera too in two colours and the darker is still going fairly strong, while the paler is all but done now. :D
Another I could suggest is Escallonia. I have more than one of these in my predominantly native plant hedgerow, and they have been flowering since August and are still going strong, in fact I think they're still improving! The bees love it and the glossy dark green leaves and red flowers are lovely, although I understand it will get big if you let it (not an issue as such in my hedge). :)
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Alstroemeria - flowers continuously and beautifully for me from June through to the frosts.
Had mine about 3 years and it's slowly spread to a couple of feet wide and has had no special treatment summer or winter - although it only grows to about 18" high it does benefit from a bit of support.
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Canterbury bells have flowered their hearts out for months
Taller but still very long flowering is buddleia
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I love Penstemons. They have been in flower here since June and are still. When each flower spike comes to an end you can just snap it off , you dont need scissors, and another lot of flower stems appear.
Hydrangeas also look good for months. As the flower heads fade and dry they take on a different look which will last right through the winter. :happy:
I also have a climbing rose which i think might be American Pillar, i can pick a rose off it every month of the year :happy:.
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All duly noted, thank you! :)
The border is in its infancy, I have only planted it up this year, but I'm already really pleased with how it is turning out. The look I am aiming for is Year-Round-Riot-Of-Colour, so I want plants that really earn their place, not ones that flower for a week or two and then sit there all dull for the rest of the year.
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I'm planning a new flower border for next year GYO girl :) along the lines of your "Year-Round-Riot-Of-Colour", except I call it Dixteresque after Christopher Lloyd's Great Dixter (http://www.greatdixter.co.uk/garden/garden-tour/long-border/), with juxtaposed colours not always to everyone's taste. :D
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Haha, just looked at the link, that's exactly the look I'm aiming for! The picture has reminded me - my border will also be featuring lots of Verbena bonariensis too. I bought a plant from a local fete last year and took loads of cuttings and ended up with 14 plants... which I have also now taken loads more cuttings from, and I now have over 20 little beauties rooted in the greenhouse already and there's still potential for many more by next spring. A garden can never have enough Verbena in my opinion - its another long flowerer and dead easy to propagate.
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That sounds like a good result. :)
A garden can never have enough Verbena in my opinion - its another long flowerer and dead easy to propagate.
I'll bear this in mind too.
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So depends on the seasons as to whether they will survive. I have a perennial diaschia, herbaceous geraniums that re-flower after being cut down in summer, also don't forget leaf colour can be just as stunning!