suggestions please

[charlie]

Got a small area 15' long by 2' wide alongside a building facing approximately east so gets morning sun, soil is poor and mostly spoil from the building but seems to get quite damp in winter.

The main problem is there are windows in the wall that come down almost to the ground meaning I can't use anything too big or dense
For the last two years I have had it planted with Erysimum Bowles Mauve which looked ok the first year, a bit lackluster last year, and is presently looking terrible.

So ideally I am looking for something evergreen, can be shrub or perennial, not likely to become damaged in winter and look rubbish, and preferably either cheap or easy to propagate

[Paul S]

How about a fern border, Charlie? There's lots of lovely evergreen ferns. A particular favourite of mine is Cyrtomium falcatum - the glossy one. I don't know if you do business with Jane Michell but she usually has this in quantity. A classic combination of you can get away with it, would be Cyrtomium falcatum with Farfugium japonicum - that robust clone with leaves so glossy they look like they have been varnished. Perhaps mix it up with Liriope muscari and some epimediums. Or even the lower growing mahonias like M. repens or even 'Apollo'. Getting carried away now - so the mahonia will turn purple in winter - have some bergenia around to echo that.

[kGarden]

I like the Ferns idea :) I've got plenty of Farfugium if you need some roots. Mine are pond marginals, not quite got their feet in water, and they flop completely on hot summer's days - and recover overnight, so i think they want it wet?

I'm reluctant to suggest anything as really I don't have much idea at a plantsman level ... but one thing we have been successful with is bulbs. The front of a shrub border here, which was originally intended to be "mixed", has become too narrow for a decent herbaceous "front half", and getting decent continuous colour was a problem too as it all looks brown-earth in Winter, and then nothing until they start, and then some things start/finish early and others late ... so I've switched to bulbs that come and go through the season. The old, scruffy, foliage doesn't seem to get in the way as whatever comes next obscures whatever is dying down - except for Alliums, they look dead almost before the flowers appear, and I've never found a way to disguise that.

Whatever for the winter, Iris reticulata, Crocus e.g. Grand Maitre, Scilla (inc. S. peruviana), Hyacinth, Camassia (I have 3 or 4 varieties, both Blue and White, that come at slightly different times), Alliums as said, Lillies and I ahve some Agapanthus (evergreen, more tender ones, overwintered under glass [here]) in pots that I stuff into gaps later on, and probably some other things that I've forgotten about - ask me later int he year when they stick their heads above ground :)

[charlie]

I like the idea of Ferns, not sure why I have not thought of that, so long as I keep them well away from the Clematis Crowns all should be well, sadly Paul I think Farfugium japonicum would be main course for the slugs and snails, I tend to avoid plants whose leaves are supposed to look good as here they are always full of holes!

I dont know Jane Michell although the name rings a bell, do you have an idea what she trades as?

We have tried bulbs of various kinds along this stretch but is a bit too soggy in winter I think as they don't seem to last long, I could try some S. peruviana to check. But you have hit the nail on the head it is the narrowness that is the problem

[Paul S]

Jane trades as Hayle Plants or Cornwall Plantaholics. She is a grower and supplies all manner of folks.

Farfugium japonicum - sometimes seen as F. giganteum - is the tough one - no sunshine wilting! The leaves have the texture of leather, a slightly puckered look to them and are really glossy. I believe Clive has them. I get mine from the plant stall on the top floor of the mercado in Funchal - the lady who used to be an English teacher, if you know the one I mean Charlie. It is a common plant in the parks and gardens of Madeira yet relatively hardy here, too. Pic nicked off t'net because I can't find a pic of mine...

[Chad]

Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum has been on my 'wish list' for some time.

Clive at Hardy Exotics has it, but hasn't propagated it for ages and I haven't seen it for sale there.

It isn't listed in the current RHS 'Plantfinder'.

Charlie that is a difficult site! Damp through the winter but dry in summer.

Hardy ferns would be good.

From a design perspective 'less is more' so a mass planting of one thing would look 'posh'.

If only it wasn't such an annoyingly effective self sower Carex pendula would do it with class.

BUT it does self sow enough to be an inveterate pest!

Chad.

[kGarden]

Farfugium japonicum - sometimes seen as F. giganteum - is the tough one - no sunshine wilting!

Mine was bought as Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum, definitely doesn't have leathery leaves, and definitely wilts in Summer, so I guess it isn't what the label says :(

Fairly sure it came from Beth Chatto (Essex) [not currently listed in their Online Store], but seems unlikely to have been mislabelled there (unless she was selling two varieties and the labels got crossed over of course ... I certainly wouldn't have know the difference, back then, when I bought it)

[Paul S]

Farfugium japonicum - sometimes seen as F. giganteum - is the tough one - no sunshine wilting!

Mine was bought as Farfugium japonicum var. giganteum, definitely doesn't have leathery leaves, and definitely wilts in Summer, so I guess it isn't what the label says :(

Fairly sure it came from Beth Chatto (Essex) [not currently listed in their Online Store], but seems unlikely to have been mislabelled there (unless she was selling two varieties and the labels got crossed over of course ... I certainly wouldn't have know the difference, back then, when I bought it)

Is it evergreen? It should be, but it sounds like this isn't the real thing. Which surprises me as Beth Chatto stuff is normally spot on.

[kGarden]

Is it evergreen?

Nope, definitely not evergreen. Perhaps its not even Farfugium, and I am being an idiot ...


Feb 2011


Jun 2016

[Chad]

Now that is lovely in a different way.

It's Petasites japonicus var. giganteus.

Chad