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winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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Posted by ohiovalleygirl z6 KY (My Page) on Mon, Dec 17, 01 at 10:33
| All this rain is driving me stir crazy, so I thought perhaps a good conversation with interesting folks is just the remedy!
I would be interested to hear from those of you who maintain a traditional herbaceous border how you display winter interest. I cheated and went for the mixed border, so I'm intrigued :)
I think the bones of any garden look wonderful under a layer of snow, but here in Kentucky, we seem to get the cold weather minus the snow. It leads to many days of dreariness so I enjoy the color and texture from red and yellow twig dogwoods, upright junipers and holly bushes.
what seed heads or other tricks does one use to spice up the winter in a truly herbaceous planting scheme?
OVG
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| Hi Ohio Valley Girl, all I can think of are Budddleia, Perovskia, and a multitude of grasses. By the way these are three that do not get cut back til late winter. Yes, a plant that holds and supports snow is a keeper. Happy Holidays! |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| If you lived in the PNW right now, you'd see Ornamental Cabbages. A nauseating number of them. Apparently nothing else will grow here in winter, judging by the numerous specimens. Is it OK to say this? Ornamental and Cabbage are two words that should never been found in the same sentence. A plant that looks best when it is under about a foot of snow, IMO. Oh, yeah, best of all, they will grow in containers, so there can be no excuse for not planting them. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Charming example
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| that pink does seem a little jarring! Has anyone tried Miss Wilmott's Ghost? I can't spell the latin name but it starts with an E! |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| Rhododendrons, Arborvitaes, Eunonymous, Vinca Vine, Honeysuckle vine are all green here and keep some color in the garden. My main winter colors come from the big Canadian Hemlocks and pines around the property. I like the Buddleia form, Caryopteris seed heads, browned ornamental grasses and plumes, Barberry bushes and bamboo here for winter interest. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| I live in the PNW, and I refuse to grow "ornamental" cabbages--I will not turn my flower garden into a "kailyard." Instead, I grow primroses, camellias, hellebores, winter jasmine, viburnum, several of these are in bloom right now. So are my winter cherries. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| aahh, to be able to garden in the climate you have! I always wondered if you guys could grow good tomatoes up there. I never seem to see 'maters being listed as what an english gardener grows. I can only imagine what your delph's look like! I don't even try with our rot-gut humidity. thanks for the input. I have decided to try hellebores this
spring. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| A large stand of tall Monarda always looks nice as do a few Cardoon specimens. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| Hellebores: Augustifolius, Sternii & Foetidus carry fab fab all season foliage. Good old Orientalis isnt all that bad either. Euphorbias: Characias, Martinii & Myrsintes all are wondrous all season plants Bergenias maintain themselves (most of em!) all winter long. Colors vary from deepest apple green to wondrous reds. Anyone know a source for Rotblum? The best of the reds & I have yet to be able to find it. Arum Italicum reverses its seasons. The arrowhead marblelized leaves appear in the fall, carry thru all winter. Bloom is in the spring with late summer berries on short spikes. Teasel makes wonderful seedheads as do the assorted rudbeckia family. Grasses as have already been mentioned. Some of the bamboos are wondrously reliably green thru the worst of Feb. a new to me low plant is the Rubus. It colors up cranberry and carries nifty kind of corrugated leaves. tis a ground cover thou so the littlest snow will cover it over. Altho not herbaceous, the erica family always has a place here for its nonstop brilliant all winter display. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| Lavender and Thyme are evergreen here in zone 6 Boston. They keep green spots in the garden, so it doesnt appear too bleek come January, Feb. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| I think a lot of people make a big mistake in cutting back ALL of the perennials after their leaves have browned. In my ornamental beds, I leave the seed-heads of Rudbeckia, Echincea, Teasel, Sedum, and some Iris. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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- Posted by Cady z6 MA (My Page) on
Tue, Dec 25, 01 at 15:27
| Funny you should mention lavendar and thyme. II was just noticing how nice it looks this winter. The tansy and creeping phlox have stayed green, too, along my driveway. As do others on this forum, I leave the seedheads of rudbeckia and echinacea, as well as the dried miscanthus stalks, leaves and plumes. They get cut back in late March before the new growth comes up. |
RE: winter views for a true herbaceous garden bed
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| I have intended to leave the seedheads on my perennials, but something has been cutting them off at a sharp slant. We have a lot of squirrels, so they are my first guess. They cut off the turtleheads, the astilbes and the echinaceas. I guess they are trying to get at the seedpods. |
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