Tag: agastache
More purchases, plantings, and today’s wishlist
On Tuesday, dear hubby and I took a trip to the local Home Depot. I was intent on building on the idea of his tree ring by grabbing 16 red/charcoal foot-wide retaining wall stones. I also needed some new gardening gloves and gave me a good excuse to check out the plant selection. Sadly, no blue salvia in stock. I did find two trays of Agastache Acapulco Salmon & Pink in full bloom. I took one home and got it planted yesterday.
I discovered that the Salvia Hot Lips in the side yard had gotten so big and rangy that it overwhelmed a neighboring purple salvia (along with a black ophiogon, artemisia, and the only other existing anemone). I quickly dug up the purple salvia–okay, more like violently uprooted–and transplanted it to the middle bed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to survive the move, having lost much of its rootball. It hadn’t been too healthy to begin with after living in the shadow of its leggy neighbor.
So I’ve been toying with the idea of putting crocuses in the yard, except that I learned that they are considered annuals in Texas. Having learned my lesson with tulips, I’m not about to invest in a single-year show. So other ideas have crept onto my white-and-blue wishlist of the day: more muscari, more irises (dutch and dwarfs), white daffodils, white callas, allium caeruleum (azureum), nepeta (catmint) racemosa or faassenii, black leaf plants such as heuchera and ajuga and penstemon digitalis Ruby Tuesday. I’m also growing fond of Agastache rupestris and a agastache coccinea x rupestris hybrid called Firebird.
Speculation of the day: those salvia greggi reds in my front yard–could they be Furman Reds?
Seeds in…excitement building…
My orders of Cosmos Ladybird Dwarf Scarlet (Red) and Cosmos Psyche White arrived yesterday. Dianeseeds.com was kind enough to include a bonus packet of Nigella damascena Miss Jekyll Blue. The hefty bag from Wildseedfarms.com is begging to be planted, but further research into the Psyche White cosmos indicates that it may grow up to 3 feet tall–not the front-of-the-border height I was looking forward to. Still, I’m eager to sow some seeds now, despite that it is August, to see if I can get a fall showing of Cosmos.
Meanwhile, I puttered around in the garden this morning taking seedpods from Cosmos from the existing beds and spreading them around the other beds that have yet to see some of this cosmic blooming action. I have discovered that the orange cosmos are extremely floriferous as well as excessively reseeding themselves. I’ve also found seedlings in the beds, which I presume have sprouted from the previous week’s deadheading. I hope to find more Cosmic Red and Yellow seeds to retain for next year’s flower show.
I also finally planted the Agastache Red Fortune in a semi shaded spot among the Asiatics, gladioli, gaura and calla lilies. I just dug a hole deep enough to plant the rootball, and down it went. Hopefully the soil is sufficiently well drained enough for it to flourish in its new home.
Today’s wishlist : Agastache aurantica Apricot Spires, Penstemon pinifolius Nearly Red Pineleaf Beardtongue, Cosmos sulphureus Cosmic Yellow or Ladybird Dwarf Lemon.
Agastache and salvia revisited
So last week I decided to move three of the “purple” salvia to the corner beds. Two of them seem to be hanging in there, the third (and the biggest) suffered a bit…perhaps because I violently yanked it out of the ground with less of a rootball. I’ve been diligently watering them twice a day, which they seem to be responding too. Still crossing my fingers that they’ll pull through and flourish in their new locations.
I visited Home Depot and Lowes last Friday to see if I can dig up some of the elusive blue salvias. No such luck. I did manage to stumble upon a Salvia greggii Coral Star among some of the other Star series colors (red & white). I also picked up an Agastache Red Fortune…it’s not really red, but I wanted to see if Agastache will grow in my beds.
I relocated my three pots of Hot Lips Salvia in the new tree ring bed, and away from the dead/dying rosemary bush that suffered from the excess watering. Not sure if the rosemary bush will recuperate from all that water…
One final surprise that I overlooked during my salvia transplant: in the middle flower bed I discovered two salvia stems looking hale and happy despite the mother plant being forcibly removed from them. These surprise babies are going to find a new home once I decide on where to place them.