Plant Library Archives - Page 3 of 4

Leading Lady Monarda

One of my new perennials this year is Leading Lady Monarda. Pale pink and lavender colors are not my usual choices, but I have this variety in Lilac, the series also includes Plum.

Monarda 'Leading Lady Lilac', it's the cutest little Bee Balm. — Monarda ‘Leading Lady Lilac’, it’s the cutest little Bee Balm.

It started flowering last week, which took me by surprise because it was still so short. But that’s as tall as it gets! It only reaches a height of 10-12″ with a spread of 22″, making it perfect for a front border planting. It’s supposed to be well-behaved in the garden, which I’m hoping means it won’t spread all over the place. This is my first time trying Monarda in the garden, so we will see how it goes.

Leading Lady Monarda is also supposed to flower again above the first flush of flowers, extending the bloom time from early summer through to mid-summer. Deer are not a problem in my garden, but it’s also listed as being deer resistant. Maybe that means it’s also resistant to dog. My retriever has a habit of chomping blue and lilac colored flowers when he spots them.

Clockwise from top left: Heuchera 'Caramel', Monarda 'Lilac Lollipop', Dogwood 'Silverleaf', Hosta 'Allegan Fog' Hibiscus 'Summerific Perfect Storm', Hosta 'London Fog' and Monarda 'Leading Lady Lilac' — Clockwise from top left: Heuchera ‘Caramel’, Perovskia ‘Denim ‘n Lace’, Monarda ‘Lilac Lollipop’, Dogwood ‘Silverleaf’, Hosta ‘Allegan Fog’ Hibiscus ‘Summerific Perfect Storm’, Hosta ‘London Fog’ and Monarda ‘Leading Lady Lilac’

For all I don’t normally enjoy pastel flowers, I am appreciating those little lilac colored flowers of the Leading Lady Monarda against the dark soil. Next year I may have to plant Dragon Wing Pink instead of Dragon Wing Red.

The Rest of the Garden

I spent a very long day in the gardens yesterday. It was hotter than – well you know – but I wanted to get everything planted. I widened most of the bed so I could pull some of the shrubs away from the fence, particularly my Japanese Maple. The poor ‘Denim ‘n Lace’ Perovskia may never do anything from the several times I’ve moved it already.

From the top left: Dogwood 'Prairie Fire', Veronica 'White Wands', Sedum 'Lemon Jade', Hosta 'Hanky Panky', Hibiscus 'Mars Madness', another 'Hanky Panky' and Japanese Forest Grass 'Aureola' in the center. — From the top left: Dogwood ‘Prairie Fire’, Veronica ‘White Wands’, Sedum ‘Lemon Jade’, Hosta ‘Hanky Panky’, Hibiscus ‘Mars Madness’, another ‘Hanky Panky’ and Japanese Forest Grass ‘Aureola’ in the center.

I pulled the hardy hibiscus on each side of the composters way out from the fence. Each has a dogwood behind for interest while the hibiscus put out their new growth every year. They are also each under planted with suitable Hosta varieties.

I decided the fence garden had too many shrubs in it, so I moved the Hydrangea ‘Endless summer’ over in front of the shed. I also moved a lot of the predominantly blue Hosta to that bed. I’ve left a big gap for another Hydrangea for balance, but mostly the space is for Hosta ‘June’ which I will be getting from my mother next spring.

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Heuchera Black Pearl

I’m not sure how I feel about this new Heuchera in my garden. It’s a Proven Winners variety called Black Pearl. Black Pearl has black leaves (who would have guessed that?) with purple undersides. Flowering is later in the season, around midsummer, and it flowers white with a pink calyx.

I have it in a fully shaded spot which seems to cause the topside of the leaves to show as more olive than black. What is troubling me though is what to plant around it to make the black foliage pop.

I’ve kept my beds top dressed with compost instead of mulch, so the soil is black. Which makes the dark foliage of Black Pearl fade into the ground. I feel black foliage should offer dramatic contrast against its surroundings and I’m struggling with companion plants that will make that happen.

Heuchera Black Pearl has better heat and sun tolerance than other dark-leaved varieties. It does well in the landscape but I think the color of Black Pearl would be easier to display in a container. It’s a shorter Heuchera, only reaching 8-10″, so it would be hard to plant in front of it. Tomorrow I’m going to try moving it to improve its visibility in the garden.

I have two Brunnera Jack Frost that I could plant it in front of, or I could try a grouping of three Heuchera, and plant Black Pearl with Silver Scrolls Purple Petticoats. Silver Scrolls has a very complimentary but lighter leaf color, and Purple Petticoats would accent the purple undersides of the leaves nicely. Both are slightly taller at 12″ so Black Pearl would be a bit shorter and possibly work well in front of them.

It’s tricky to decide how it will all look when none of the plants involved are mature plants. At maturity the leaves of Black Pearl will have ruffled edges so perhaps next year the purple undersides of the leaves will be more noticeable and differentiate it from the background of dirt.

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Hybrid or Interspecific Begonia

Up until last April I rarely thought about begonias and if I did think about them I was thinking of ‘wax’ or ‘seed’ begonia. Those flats of annuals with their tightly packed fleshy leaves that are usually planted in a line along the edge of a garden bed.

And while those begonia still have a place in shade gardens, especially with the downy mildew issues that have affected Impatiens, these next four begonia are something all-together different.

Dragon Wing Begonia

These are the huge showy plants you’re most likely to see in municipal planters and gardens. And why wouldn’t you? Sun, Shade or anything between they put on a fabulous show until first frost. Dragon Wing begonia are to shade what petunias are to sun, only even better because they have a longer season.

Usually they’re sold in hanging baskets or 5-6″ pots, last year I was lucky enough to find them in 6 packs so I bought a flat of them.

In September they were still flowering like crazy and holding their own against that horrible chameleon weed. Dragon Wing is available in either Pink or Red with green leaves only.

BIG Begonia

Another new to me variety, I tried this one out last year too. BIG begonia are suitable for full sun to full shade and everything between.

With its more upright habit, BIG begonias are perfect for planters and landscape use. I grew it in the lower level of this corner bed.

Begonia in Corner Bed — Santa Cruz and San Francisco top level, Big series begonia in Pink and Rose in the lower level.

By the end of the season, it was as tall as the begonia in the top level and it never stopped flowering.

Flower colors of Pink, Rose, and Red are all available with either green leaves or bronze leaves.

Megawatt Begonia

New for 2017, Megawatt is another upright hybrid begonia, perfect for landscape and planters. From the same company as Dragon Wing, it has those nice big glossy leaves. Initially offered in 4 colors, Pink Bronze Leaf, Rose Bronze Leaf, Red Green Leaf and Rose Green Leaf and recommended for part sun.

I will be trying the Bronze Leaved Pink this year.

Already I’m super impressed with the Megawatt Begonias well branched beefy stems.

Surefire Begonia

Surefire are a green leaved hybrid Begonia in Pink and Red by Proven Winners. They are suitable for sun or shade. In growth habit, they so far seem very similar to the BIG begonias.

Side by Side comparison

BIG, Megawatt, and Surefire Begonia — Lower Level – Megawatt Pink w/Bronze Leaves. Upper Level – Surefire Red and BIG Pink w/Bronze Leaves

For my own satisfaction, I decided to do a bit of a side by side comparison of the biggest of the big. This bed gets an average of two hours of sun per day, with the front dead center getting three to four. I’m interested to see what, if any, difference there are between these three varieties.

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Santa Cruz and San Francisco Begonia

6-28 Corner Begonia Bed — Santa Cruz, San Francisco Begonia top-level, Big Begonias in Rose and Pink lower level

Last year, after the fence went up I threw together this raised bed for the corner that was too shady for vegetables but still needed something. Once the monsoons we had last year started, I was grateful it was a raised bed or everything would have been underwater and probably rotted.

I planted top-level with Santa Cruz (the red) and San Francisco (the coral-pink color) a 2016 Intro, and the bottom with begonias from the Big series, Rose Green Leaf and Pink Green Leaf.

Santa Cruz and San Francisco are both boliviensis type begonias, so they’re perfect for hanging baskets or planters. The leaves are smaller than Dragon Wing and not as glossy, while the plants themselves are a bit more compact.

For 2017 Santa Barbara with a white flower joins the collection, you can see it above mingled with Santa Cruz and San Francisco.

I have three Santa Barbara to try this year. I added them to a sorry-looking palm that I have and nearly lost them because there were no drainage holes in the planter.

Of the three, one is fine, one is maybe and I’m doing my best to salvage something from the third one.

The bed below has 3 each of the Santa Cruz and San Francisco along with 3 large-leaved hosta in the top-level. The bottom level has 3 each of Big Rose Green Leaf and Big Pink Green Leaf.

Everything was planted in a mix of fresh soil and compost but never fertilized. Once the plants were established I rarely watered or weeded either. This bed gets a couple of hours of morning sun and shade for the rest of the day. It’s roughly 10′ across the front and each side of the triangle is about 85″

All of the colors in the Sun City Collection will handle sun or shade, and they are heat and drought tolerant. They’ll reach a height of roughly 12″, Long after my petunia were sad and scraggly, these were still gorgeous and worthy of a spot in your planters and hanging baskets.

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Non Stop Begonia

I’ve said it before – I love Non Stop Begonia. For shade gardeners looking for something more than pretty foliage, the flowers on Non Stop begonias are high impact. It’s kind of like they’re the shade equivalent of Geraniums.

There’s a huge range of colors to choose from either with green leaves in the Non Stop series, or in the dark-leaved Non Stop Mocca series.

Last year was my first year growing them.

I tried the Mocca Bright Orange, with chocolate-colored leaves and those amazing bright orange flowers.

And I tried Non Stop Joy, a beautiful clear yellow that’s perfect for hanging baskets. I have seen Non Stop Joy advertised as having 100% double flowers, but even though it tends to a higher number of double flowers, it isn’t 100%. Non Stop begonias never are, because they have both male and female flowers, and it is impossible (or at least very difficult) to completely breed out the male or single flowers.

It was instant love, so I added Mocca Cherry to the collection too. There was never a time over the summer that these plants didn’t have flowers.

Non Stop Begonia Care & Habit

Nonstop and Nonstop MOCCA are both available in a range of colors.
Nonstop Begonias will grow in sun to partial shade – a huge plus in my mostly shady yard.
They grow 8-9″ tall with a well branched mounded habit.
Suitable for Pots, Hanging Baskets, Mixed Containers and Landscape.
Plants are usually sold in pots 4 1/2″ and up. They are showy enough that for the home gardener, the higher price is still a good value.
Non Stops are a tuberous begonia
They are day length sensitive, so starting them from seed might be tempting but providing 12 hour days for them is rarely practical outside of the greenhouse. Without the correct amount of light, they stop growing and eventually disappear, so unless you know how to save the tubers they won’t over winter.

This season I planted Mocca White – you can see how I used them here – Plant Your Own Dramatic Patio Planter!

For more information on Non Stop and Non Stop Mocca Begonias, visit the breeder website –Benary.

True story – way back when I started working in the wholesale ornamental plant industry, I used to enter customer orders. Some customers would send their orders with tray counts and I would have to convert them to units for our order entry system. So along comes this one order and the customer requested say 9 trays each of red and yellow Non Stop Begonia. So I multiplied 72 ( the number of plants in each tray) by 9, lost my mind for a minute, and multiplied by 9 again. It was a huge and extremely expensive error.

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