Posts Tagged ‘Sun Plants’

Create a more powerful impact in your landscape when you use Festuca in groupings of 5 or more

Looking for an easy garden design idea that will add some impact to your perennial garden? I love using Festuca Boulder Blue for a number of reasons.  This sun loving ornamental grass is easy to grow, looks great throughout the year and thrives in sun, high heat & humidity in well drained soil.  Hardy from Zones 4-9.   I believe it is one of of the best drought proof sun loving perennial groundcovers out there.

Add Color & Texture

Have some unpleasant spots in your garden?  The handsome mound shape and narrow blue foliage make be just the ticket as it adds season long color & texture.

Break Up Competing Colors

If you have two strong competing colors that are just rubbing you the wrong way try planting a group of this soothing blue Festuca between them.  Festuca is the ideal perennial to help break up strong competing colors in the garden

Small Space Gardening

Festuca grows 12”x12” so it tucks ever so nicely along narrow pathways, beneath shrubs or edging a perennial border.

Plant in Groups

If you really want to add impact, plant in groupings of 5 or more.

Repeating

Some of the most beautiful gardens do a great job in repeating similar plants in adjacent areas. This frequently leads to a more harmonious flow in the garden.

Care & Growing Tips

• Add sand to heavier soils.
• Allow plants to dry out between watering.
• In the spring, use a sheers to prune away any dead foliage from winter
• Fertilize in the spring with Osmocote or a balanced granular fertilizer

I know you’ll really enjoy Festuca - an easy to grow and care perennial.  Click Here for a Sun Perennial Garden Design Idea

Where to Buy Festuca Boulder Blue – www.GreatGardenPlants.com

Plumbago is a moderate spreader and keeps it tidy good looks throughout the gardening season.

A real dependable “tough it out” ground cover is Plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides).  Yes it is a mouthful – but oh what an underutilized ground cover for sun to partly shaded areas (or those transitional areas) that is worth growing in your garden.

If you are looking for a  moderate spreader that gives you light glossy foliage that looks nice and tidy throughout the growing season (and helps suppress the weeds) Plumbago is definitely a groundcover to consider looking charming beneath shrubs or as an edging plant.

Great Fall Color!

I really like blue flowers which appear in mid summer just when you need a pop of color for the garden.   You’ll get some nice fall color too when the foliage turns to a red coppery bronze color.  Give it good drainage, and let it do its thing as it thrives on neglect.

Be patient in spring. Plumbago breaks dormancy later that most plants.

• Botanical:  Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
• Common: Plumbago
• USDA – Zone 5-8
• Light:  Full sun to part shade.  Shade in hot afternoon.
• Size:  6-12 inches tall
• Spread:  Moderate spread by rhizomes 1-2 feet wide
• Features: Tolerate clay, sand, drought, part shade, sun,  deer,
• Uses:  Undemanding groundcover

Easy sun perennial combination for a small space or container garden

Here is a sun perennial combination idea for your garden with 3 easy to grow garden plants

For season long interest I like using perennial plants that will give me 3 seasons of foliage color.

I love the new cherry red SEDUM  (Sunsparkler) CHERRY TART and pairing this with the blue foliage of FESTUCA for a front of the border planting.

For long season flowering color, I added COREOPSIS STAR CLUSTER which grows up to 15″ – so plant in the back). Star Cluster picks up the deep red color in the center.  Another alternative to Star Cluster would be a yellow flowering Coreopsis such as Creme Brule or Moonbeam.

All these perennials are easy to grow in full sun and well drained soil while providing season long interest in your perennial garden.

What would you combine Sedum Cherry Tart with?

KnockOut Roses are disease free, ultra hardy, long blooming and long lived rose!

Need a Back-yard Makeover Idea?  KnockOut Roses are an ideal  choice for a  a busy young mother of 2 energetic young boys.

Natalie Meeks of Mommy’s Memorandum decided to use KnockOut Roses for her garden project.  KnockOut Roses is one of the best-selling flowering shrubs on the market day.  They are long blooming, disease free, ultra hardy and long lived.

Natalie  talks about her project installation and shares some helpful tips on plants she purchased from www.GreatGardenPlants.com

Natalie states “Despite the record high temperatures, these plants continue to thrive.   I think that these plants will be the perfect addition to our backyard for many summers to come.”

CLICK HERE to read full article

Mercury Rising is both Heat & Drought Proof with stunning red blooms!

Coreopsis Mercury Rising is one of the most colorful, drought proof perennial ground cover for sunny areas and a personal favorite new plant introduction for 2012.

Finally, a velvety-red flowering HARDY Coreopsis ((PPAF)that blooms for 5+ months, takes on the heat & humidity and is bone hardy to zone 5,  This year our record breaking heat & humidity has not deterred the performance of this stunning, hard working garden plant in my Michigan  garden.

This breakthrough new hybrid is the result of many years of hand-crossing by famed hybridizer Darrell Probst.

Darrell has spent the past ten years striving for a Zone 5 (possibly Zone 4) ultra-hardy bright red-flowered Coreopsis to add to his much-acclaimed Big Bang Coreopsis series. He has hit it out of the park with his new velvety-red Mercury Rising Coreopsis!

Breeder Comments

“From what I have seen, there are no other Coreopsis in the market place that combine short, compact habit and large flowers with striking colors in a zone 5 hardy, true perennial”  stated Darrell.

“Plants are sterile, so no deadheading is needed to keep them in bloom. Plants blooms from early May in the south, early June in the north until autumn frost, producing more and more flowers as the season progresses.”

Prolific in containers as well!

“My Big Bang breeding program (which includes Full Moon, Red Shift, & Cosmic Eye) is from 100% perennial species, no annual species are in their blood and tested as far as Georgia with good results.”

Foliage is a bright, healthy green all season and shows NO hint of the dreaded mildew disease that often affects other Coreopsis.

Helpful Info

• 1 1/2 to 2” red flowers with yellow centers
• 18-24” tall
• Spreading Habit
• Blooms all Summer
• Thrives in Heat & Humidity
• Full Sun- Part Shade
• Thrives in dry, moist, well drained loamy soil
• Pest Free
• Disease Free
• Blooms First Year
• Butterfly Loving

Combine Mercury Rising with Cosmic Eye Coreopsis for a color echo effect

Design

I combined Mercury Rising with  Nepeta Walker’s Low and love how it looks together. Other combination possibilities: Festuca Boulder Blue, Coneflowers, Sedum Angelina , Rudbeckia Goldsturm,  Yellow Knock Out Roses, or  Cosmic Eye Coreopsis Use in groupings of 7 or more for best effect.

Coreopsis Mercury Rising is a powerful color that looks dynamite in the sun perennial garden. As the season wanes the flowers just keep getting bigger.  Late in the season  flowers take on a cream streak.

You’ll want to add this remarkable perennial to your garden so you can start to enjoy the many features and rewards this Coreopsis offers!