Hi Anne, I'm a new gardener on Edisto Island, very close to you (as-the-crow-flies). I'm drooling over the hardy hibiscus that I have seen, but "loves moisture, suitable for boggy locations" is scaring me off. Do you actually have a boggy location or do you just water a lot or what? I've also put in a lot of the salvias, but I'm not getting blooms. I've tried to use a bit of shade in the afternoon... the sun is so fierce here. Also I've tried to not OVER water and fertilize, but they look truly sickly without a little help. I guess I'm having trouble finding the balance. The plants themselves are reasonably healthy looking. Can you offer any advice? Oh! also, what are your favorite nurseries in the Mt.P/Ch'ton area?? PS. just to stay on-topic, I've got lantana blooming..ha! who doesn't?..gaillardia (ha!ha!), oleander (3 ha's), melampodium (I'm going to quit laughing now). Only thing interesting is portuguese ageratum (centratherum intermedius). Thanks for any advice!

Lawdha'mercyno! I definitely don't have a boggy situation. My yard is a sandy, dry desert that I irrigate into submission and the hibiscus do fine with that. The swamp mallow has the most difficulty and may move to my brother's pond area this fall. I do heavily amend planting holes with peat moss and humus and cow manure and have been adding compostables on top of my soil for a couple of years so it is getting a bit better.

Most of my salvias haven't started blooming yet: Anthony Parker, Mexican Bush Sage, Limelight, Pineapple haven't even budded. During the growing season Salvias seem to be able tolerate regular watering, at least where there is good drainage. Mine are in full sun and I can't remember having fertilized them at all but maybe have.

My fav garden centers are , Hyams on James Island, Cross in West Ashleyand Abide-awhile in Mt. Pleasant- in that order.

I'm off to look up Portugese Ageratum!

That Portugese Ageratum is beautiful! I would love to find some of that, it is always nice to have some blue in the garden during the hottest months. Where, oh where did you find it?????

Anne,
I hope you have auto-sprinklers. Otherwise, you must be watering for hours every day. Sure would like to see a picture of your gardens, especially your rose garden.

I've been here in Georgia for just one year--starting from scratch. What's blooming are the pelagonians, hydrangias, plumbago, oxalis, gardenia, and crepe myrtle. My pelagonians are in trouble because of watering/humidity/fungus. There are a couple I'll be taking indoors for good. A few that may make it back in the garden next spring, but I'll be taking cuttings pretty soon while they're still healthy.

Your roses...aren't you bothered with black spot? I used to have a beautiful rose garden, but thought that there was too much humidity here to even bother.
Pat

Thanks for the tips, Anne. I haven't tried Hyman's Nursery! So many of the hardy hibiscus have "swamp mallow" as alternate names. The names are all so confusing for me! What I want to try is the Texas Star, Disco Bell, Luna, Lady Baltimore, and H. Militaris (Soldier Rose). Any comments? If I haven't amended my soil enough, can I keep piling compost around perenniels and shrubs..or dig up and re-do....anyone have any advice? Ali, the Portuguese Ageratum came from Pete's Herbs on John's Island, Spring 2003. I see from another post that you are familiar with the nursery. Last summer, I had NOTHING that would bloom for me except that ageratum...and it re-seeded for this year. 'Course we had such a mild winter; that may not always happen. Should I be starting new threads for all these different topics?...send private emails? I want to mind my P's and Q's as a newcomer. Thanks!!

Hey Brass Tacks. I'm a newbie to the world of roses so am not the best resource. This is only my second year with them. However, they have done very well this year with very little blackspot and I only sprayed two or three times in mid-pring. I just noticed yesterday that my Abe Darby rose has finally starting spotting. Some of the other roses have no blackspot, some have a little, but none have it to a conspicuous degree. They are mostly in blazing sun, we've had almost no rain, and the air movement in my yard is pretty good which all helps.

And unfortunately I do not have an in-ground, automatic watering system and yes, I do move sprinklers around a lot. Fortunately, I have a small yard and several outdoor spigots so it isn't as bad as it could be.

And to Dancingdachsunds: those hibiscus would probably all do fine for you in ordinary garden conditions and with ordinary irrigation. I'd slap the soil amendments right on top of the soil too, just don't do it too deeply. I constantly top-dress with cow manure and oak leaves and grass clippings and have never had any problem with any of it.

Blooming in my yard right now---

Let's see, there is the old stand-bysin the summer gardens---
impatiens, forget-me-nots and the creeping violets. The Rudbeckias are smiling near the zinnias and the sedum matrona is just about to bloom. The lemon drop lantana is blooming and so is the asclepias... I haven't seen but one or 2 butterflies though. No hummingbirds either.

The knockout rose is getting started with a few blooms. And there is also plenty of blooms on the torenia (clown faces).
The Mexican petunias are blooming every day now & they drop their buds at night. My hibiscus is budding too. And the crocosmia is in bloom too.

For the summer doldrums, there is certainly plenty of color here at "The Shoe".

Annie, I live just down the road from Pete's Herbs!