Angelica Gigas
Korean Angelica
Campanula trachelium ‘Bernice’
Throatwort / Nettle-Leafed Bellflower
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Hardy Plumbago
Clematis heracleifolia ‘China Purple’
Tube Clematis
Dianthus caryophyllus
‘Prairie Pink’
Dianthus x ‘Double Spotty’
Heuchera ‘Marmalade’
Coral Bells
Lobelia cardinalis (wet winter feet?)
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’ (wet winter feet?)
Cardinal Flower
Penstemon x mexicalli ‘Red Rocks’
Beardtongue
10 comments:
Yikes, I'm sorry! The body count is always full of unexpected returns and unlooked-for absences, isn't it? Though I must say, from my POV you should count your blessings re: Angelica gigas. Perhaps I'm being unfair to the poor plant, which may have gorgeous foliage and form for all I know. But if I see one more garden writer wax rhapsodic about those hideous bloom stalks...
Don't fret. The more plants you kill the better gardener you become. At least if you learn something when they die.
I think the Angelica is a biennial, or maybe weakly perennial. So you really shouldn't expect it to be back forever and ever amen. Unless you get it reseeding. I grow a lot of reseeding biennials (most folks call them weeds: mulliens, scotch thistle, milk thistle, etc.), but you've reminded me that I love Angelica gigas and just haven't tried hard enough to get it going.
Yo, don't give up on the hardy plumbago just yet. Mine are just an inch tall here in zone 6... they're notoriously late arrivals. (But if you did lose them, and want to try them again, spring planting helps ensure their return.)
Sorry to hear about the 'Marmalade' heuchera. (I love mine.) And unlike Ben, I love the otherworldliness of the angelicas, so I'm mourning yours for you, too.
Hi Ben ~ Had to come see what you lost, and ended up adding the 'Queen Victoria' Lobelia to my list. Mine may have been wet, too, but I was under the impression that they like that. Saw it growing happily in a boggy area at Winterthur. But they're a couple of zones warmer there, too. So it might not like WINTER wet.
Sorry for your losses!
OFB--You are unfair! Lalalalala. Didn't hear that. Lalalala.
Craig--A voice of reason, hurrah! I'll have to get another one, as will you. Mine bloomed, but bloomed at only 18" tall, and never set seed. I don't understand why I lost some of what I did, though!
Kim--Good to know about that plumbago; I loved the blue flowers and the great fall color. Some of these heuchera cultivars are bugging me with reliability, as are the echinacea, and the sedum (Autumn joy is far better than Autumn Fire). And another sane person who likes angelica gigas! Huzzah!
Kylee--I did some research, and apparently lobelia like it wet, but not in winter. Huh. Kind of makes it difficult to grow then, don't you think? Grrr. I might try lobelia again but a bit further uphill--as opposed to in the valley it was in. So much wasted money.... Well, not completely wasted.
Hi Benjamin, we feel your pain. It does seem the new improved introductions sometimes haven't been tested thoroughly enough. That genetic material that makes for that unique color is often what affects the hardiness in heucheras and echinaceas in particular. I also lost Marmalade, almost immediately after planting, as well as many other expensive ones. Caramel has been good though. Red Rocks penstemon is not at all like Husker Red, just not very vigorous, even here. But in Texas it was a winner. Keep trying, get those good performers in your garden and spread them all over the place. RIP or rot in hell?
Keep in mind that I don't remember where I heard this... but supposedly the lobelias are social plants. They do better (like dill does) if you grow them in a clump. I lost the 1 or 2 lobelia siphilicata plants I grew two years in a row... and then after hearing about their social nature I planted 6 of them together in a clump (from Bluestone Perennials.) And the clump grew even bigger the next year.
Kinda weird, this thought that plants can be social... um... creatures. But if you want to try lobelia again it might be worth a try to go whole hog and do 3-4 at least.
Frances--Yes, the heucheras seem hit and miss to me, and that darned penstemon--the hummers really like it, but after 3 years it gave out at my other place, and only made it one year here. Guess I'll consider it an annual now. Grrrr.
Kim--I will take your sage advice and buy 3. Tis a holy number, tis a holy plant, tis holes they will be put in to.
Now here's something completely wacky
I feel your pain, too, but it does sound like you have balanced your losses with some successes, so it's all good? ;)
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