Viewing comments posted by blue23rose

This is the fifth year for this plant in my garden and I love how this plant blooms all summer long, beginning in early June in my zone 6b garden and continuing until frost. It gets afternoon shade and the blooms cover the entire plant for well over a month, going from blush pink to white to light green as they age. Then when those blooms turned brown, I cut them off. Being close to the patio and near a water hydrant, I did water it several times throughout the summer. It is now blooming again, which I attribute to the extra waterings, although it is not as full as in June. But what a wonderful, long-blooming garden plant.

It is a small, compact shrub about 2 to 2.5 feet high and about 3 feet wide, so it is nicely rounded. It is perfect for the front of the border and the stems are sturdy and upright, even though some of the mophead blooms can be somewhat large. It blooms on new wood, so I will cut it back after the first frosts affect it.

Rose Campion is an easy care plant that blooms for at least 5-6 weeks (mid-May through late June) in my zone 6b in southern Indiana. It will bloom in complete shade, but does better with some sun. The plant does not over-winter here, but it self seeds easily, so I like to let some of it go to seed and collect it so I can spread the seed where I want it to grow. It may be considered invasive by some if allowed to go to seed. However, it is very easy to pull up if it grows in a spot you don't want it and is easy to cut back before it goes to seed if that becomes an issue.

Running Late began blooming in mid-July and still has an occasional bloom in my zone 6b garden in southern Indiana. It still has a couple of buds to go. It is a large 7.5-inch flower with stippling and a rose blush of color on the yellow petals and sepals. The light coloring of the blooms may not be the flashiest, but it is very welcome in the late garden. The scapes hold up the blooms very nicely, but mine have not reached the registered 49" height yet.

It also has a wonderful fragrance, although I didn't notice it until I bent over to smell the bloom. However, I am hopeful that once it reaches clump size that the fragrance will be more easily detected.

I received Royal Celebration in 2015 and after seven years finally gave up on seeing decent blooms and pitched it. Very few blooms opened correctly, were splotchy, misshapen, or the buds just dried up and dropped off.

'Chew Mailpouch Tobacco' is a great bud-builder. In 2020, it bloomed from July 3 to October 6 until cold weather hit. This year, it started blooming on June 25 and as of October 15 still has a few buds.

This spider daylily has been on the chopping block in my garden for years due to poor performance and some of the ugliest blooms one can imagine, but I moved it two years ago and it has performed better. The scapes are only around 2 feet tall, so the 10" blooms would look better on a taller scape. It has a very nice green throat and it is a parent to 45 other cultivars, so it must have some redeeming qualities that hybridizers are looking for.

This plant is excellent in a large pot and the chartreuse edge goes well with creeping Jenny. I had it in a 12" pot, but it should have been in a larger pot. The leaves are 1" or less making it a nice plant for a fairy garden, but would probably need to be trimmed back to keep it in check. It gets about 12-18" tall and 2 feet wide and is a trailing plant. It would be great in a hanging basket. Does well in sun or shade, but the colors are more intense in the shade. It is an annual in my zone 6b.

The 4-foot scapes on Parfait are skinny and do tend to lean slightly, but never lay over. Like many older cultivars, it does not have a bloom size listed in the AHS database, but it is between 4-5 inches and has a wonderful trumpet shape. Each scape produces about 10-12 blooms and it multiplies fast, making a quick clump in just a few years.

H. Apple Tart has been in my garden since 2008, has multiplied very well. Blooming in July, its color holds up pretty good on hot summer days, turning from a rich red to an orange. I have not seen rebloom on it at all, but the scapes have nicely spaced 3-way branching with about 20 blooms that stand well above the foliage. I have never seen rust on it.

Casa Blanca is only supposed to get 4 feet tall, but mine get at least 5-6 feet tall. They multiply rapidly and add a very sweet scent to the summer garden. In a large clump, the fragrance can be a little too sickly sweet if too close.

Although I love my callicarpa for its late season color, it gets much larger than the stated height of 3-4 feet and spread of 4-5 feet. Mine is at least 6 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide and has to be cut back each year. Here in southern Indiana, it begins to shine in the garden in August with tiny, light pink flowers all along the stems which the bees just love. Then the green berries turn to a vibrant magenta and last well into November.

Even though I started with a double fan of Red Volunteer in 2008, I have given a lot of it away over the years and still have a good sized clump. While it is considered red, some blooms appear to be a very dark raspberry red. On very hot days, it does not look as vibrant, but it still retains a lot of color.

Red Volunteer is listed as a midseason bloomer. I live in zone 6b and my records show that in 2009, it bloomed from 6/29/09 to 8/5/09 and then had rebloom from 9/14/09 to at least 10/11/09. In 2010, it bloomed from 6/17/10 to 7/17/10, but no rebloom. This year, it only bloomed from 6/22/15 to 7/17/15 and I attribute that to the fact that there has been a lot of shrub growth in that area.

Rust resistance is great. The foliage always looks nice on it.

As noticed in the buds in these pictures, the blooms look like they are going to be a sunny yellow. However, once opened, they turn to a creamy yellow, which is not to say it is bad, just different than what one might expect. So there are varying shades from sunny yellow to cream on the shrub at the same time, which is nice. My own rose bush is in shade in the morning and about 4 hours sun in the evening.

This rose definitely is fragrant and fills the air... no need to put your nose into the blooms!

I have not had much problem with pests other than Japanese beetles and have not had much of an issue with disease either.

I've cut this weigela back every year for a few years now. It gets much bigger than the stated size.

This is a beautiful all-white bloom. It has never gotten over 7 feet tall, which is nice for its present location. We have cut back some side branches, though, because it was covering up the bird houses around it. It re-seeds prolifically, and the seedlings come true to color.

This azalea is a slow grower and has only been trimmed once, although it did get moved so that probably stunted it. It was dying, so I figured moving it may help, and it did.

It is susceptible to lace bug damage, which causes the leaves to turn gray-green to white and then fall off. You can tell whether the damage is caused by lace bugs because of the black spots (lace bug waste) on the back side of the leaves. New growth will occur at the same time, but treatment with insecticidal soap will help get rid of the bugs. In order for treatment to be effective, the underside of the leaves must also be sprayed.

It is listed as an evergreen, but in my zone 6b garden, the leaves that are left on it are brown and shriveled and not attractive in winter. It could probably be used as a hedge in a warmer zone.

What I love most about this plant is that it will begin blooming in late May and doesn't wind down until late August in my zone 6b garden. Drought tolerant and very hardy to zone 2, it has been through some rough seasons here. I have not had any disease or bug issues with it.

Definitely has winter interest with its red berries that last well over three months in my zone 6b garden, from November through February. It is a great plant for the birds to feed on during winter. The white blooms are very small and nothing special in early summer. Mine are doing well on the north side of the house, where they get a lot of afternoon shade. I have 'Southern Gentleman' on the west side of the house as a pollinator for 'Winter Red'.

Although I just got Hakuna Matata this July, I bought it specifically because it was just getting ready to bloom in mid-July in zone 6 and had LOTS of buds and great branching. Its scapes are more than capable to support the 50" height. Tried to use pollen from HM on Fairy Tale Pink, Raspberry Wine, and Big Kiss, but none of them took. Also tried to set pod on HM with pollen from Raspberry Wine, but that didn't work either. Will definitely try again next year.

This rose was bred by William Radler, who also developed the Knock Out series, but I like this so much better because it actually has a very nice fragrance and changing color. While it is supposed to be disease resistant, I have seen a few leaves with black spot on them, but nothing too serious. It blooms from spring to fall and has been in my zone 6b garden for 3 years now. It gets a pink tinge to it when the weather is cooler, and it's nice to see the different shades of pink in the white blooms throughout the season.