Plant suggestions welcome

Good stuff from Stillhere!

We had hostas, but the Old Man would like them replaced by something which;

1). Comes up every year

2). Won't grow too big/ take over the garden

3). Will be nice and colourful

4). Wouldn't need perfect soil

He's not looking for much, is he?

We already have some nice fuchsias, and I'd be inclined to pop in a few more.

We had a meeting this morning with the professional gardner who is helping us. We've agreed to start with the roses and look to try and build up a stock of plants over the summer ready to underplant in the autumn. What we need now is an idea of just how many plants we'll need for all the beds. I can forsee that we will need to do some industrial scale propagation and growing on...

We've 300sq metres to plant up - that's one hell of a lot of coffee drinking

For the dry shade, how about hardy cyclamen? You can get autumn and spring flowering varieties with lots of interesting leaf markings and they will self seed very happily. I love them. And, if your shade isn't from evergreens, spring bulbs which will flower before the shade plants get their leaves.

My best rose under-planting has been dwarf lavender, including a few later-flowering, and easy to take cuttings to increase stock. Suggest old coffee-grounds as free fertilizer, amazing for roses.

Dryoptera ferns, smaller less invasive periwinkles, the white form looks good in shade, Japanese anemones, foxgloves, alchemilla mollis, aquilegia, brunnera, cyclamen hederifolium, euphorbias, If there's a wall then winter flowering jasmine is excellent, heucheras are very tolerant of dry shade, asters are pretty good, especially the species ones, bergenias, epimediums, hardy geraniums are good, some forms more than others but my memory at this time of night isn't good! The ones with smaller pink flowers. Nodosum, that's it. There's a very good lamium, a white-leaved form. Tellima - not particularly striking but there is a cultivar of the grandiflora that is good, forest frost.

Also have a dry shade area which drives me mad anyone got some good suggestions?

"Spath"!!

Today I ordered a bare rooted pink climbing rose " The Generous Gardener " and thinking about a blue clematis "Elsa can't remember to climb with it as contrast.

shysal we had a very late frost here, as we often do, in mid May. I think it sets mine back later than everyone else's.

Tiny Monster sounds good!

I think we'll have to win the lottery!

Thanks all you lovely people

stillhere, my Rozannes start flowering in May, as stated in the blurb on them, and will keep going until the first frost.
I have some bare rooted Geranium Tiny Monster coming on in pots, which are magenta coloured, and also have a long flowering period.

Oh dear - so many typos!

I second Rozanne, it's very good, mine is still flowering its socks off.

Yes to dwarf asters, I have a few. It's raining now, so I shall only look at the nearest bed.

Chrysanthemum Mei Kyo, pink, 18-23".
Cuphea hyssopifolia, pink flowers, also known as 'fake 'heather', it's maybe 8" high and full of flower right now.

I can't find the aster label, the birds must have stolen it, as usual. There is also another late geranium that looks just like Rozanne, Brookside, that bridges he gap perfectly between early geraniums (many finish in July) and Rozanne. Rozanne doesn't flower until very late in August, so but Brookside as well to extend the season.

I would buy smaller lavenders and loads of pinks with strong clove scents, but be careful, lots of them aren't as scented. Another plant that looks lovely with roses, pinks and lavenders is linaria. Herbs with scented leaves are also lovely, such as sage, especially the purple-leaved one. Rosamary, thyme, and there are loads of salvias to choose from, not just the edible forms. Salvia x jamensis varieties are available is soft colours, I have a few of those and they are very hardy.

Ugh! 'a long' (must proofread)

Mmmm. Just looked up Rozanne and it looks very useful with such along season of interest.

What about dwarf michaelmass daisies? Does anyone have any recommendations? The gardens are open to the public all year round so autumn interest is very useful.

I'd go for hardy geranium every time. I have just planted a bed, under a larch, with hardy geraniums gathered from open garden stalls and divisions from friends' gardens. Can't wait til next summer when they have all bedded in and start flowering!

x

Shysal Geranium Roxanne is fantastic it is a lovely colour and just goes on flowering.

The geranium Rozanne is a great idea, whitewave! I have a few which flowered their socks off all summer and are still going strong. I think it was voted plant of the year at Chelsea a while back.

Alchemilla mollis (lady's mantle) is a thug of the first order! It seeds everywhere in my garden (so I know it's happy on clay) unless I cut the flowers back a bit sharpish. Mind you, I once saw a stunning flower arrangement at Holker Hall of Alchemilla and Rosebay Willow herb, so, in view if the infestation of the beds by the latter it might just look very pretty. But I don't think my fellow gardners would forgive me...

Depending on the rose colour. Mine are pink and I have underplanted with geranium Rozanne a sky blue summer flowered. Spring bulbs also.

Hardy !

Ladies mantle and hardly fuchsia?

Mound forming hebes are a good choice and to save money, you can easily grow them from cuttings.

I love heucheras too Sal and they come in all sorts of colours from acid yellow leaved ones to almost black and are really well behaved. I was going to also suggest lavender.

Indeed. I have a lovely purple leaf one in my garden Still in flower (as are the sweet peas; don't they know it's November?)

I am a big fan of Heuchera. They are low growing, evergreen, clump forming, flowering and come in every colour imaginable.
www.google.co.uk/search?q=heuchera+images&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CB8QsARqFQoTCMub1dLQ9MgCFYhQFAod_t8NQA