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Small white plants for bog garden please

debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
in Plants
Hi all, I am setting up s tiny pond in a half barrel and want a few plants to grow in soil around the edges. Thinking off keeping it pretty boggy. Any suggestions? Scent would be a bonus. I do have bugbane would it like the conditions RHS site says poorly drained or well drained???? 

Posts

  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    bugbane (Cimicifuga) likes really well drained soil, no good for a bog garden, i would recommend hosta's, astillbes, and ferns for a bog garden, you can get small versions of all of them so they are in keeping with the size of the pond.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    White drumstick primulas, and the white version of Caltha will grow there happily. Cotton grass for later in the year.  :)
    Cimcifugas [ Acteas , as they're now called] like damp soil. They aren't small though. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I have a gorgeous actea lovely scented white flowers and though tall not too bushy but such conflicting advice, the water will be in a plastic tub sunk into the soil in the barrel with a rim of soil around the top. Little solar fountain and a few oxygenating plants to keep it clear. The barrel is pretty  watertight so thinking less drainage holes drilled in and fairly damp soil. I can’t put water straight in the barrel as the inside is charred and smells very strongly of whisky! I do have a couple of lobelia which may do well too, is it cardinalis? Not white though so may set it up in the coloured part of the patio. 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    They [Acteas] need a reliable amount of moisture, Debs, to keep them growing well. The soil can be free draining as long as they get plenty of rain to keep the moisture levels up. They don't so so well if the ground gets dried out.
    I think they'd be too big for your site, going by what you say though. Most of them are in the four/five feet, or more, sizing, and will spread to form decent clumps :/
    Polemoniun [Jacob's ladder] would suit - it comes in white. White Dicentra if you have room. Mine grow in soil that never dries out.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    There's a white version of Ragged Robin too (Lychnis flos-cuculi) that would be suitable.
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    Take a look at Astilbes, plenty of white versions. Valeriana Officinalis, the common Valerian and Monarda Snow White would look nice there.
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