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What would you plant with Phlomis russeliana?

LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
in Plants
I'm planning a bed along the front of my house (suburban semi), across the bay window. It will be just 60cm deep, and about 3-4m in length, in full sun, and I want to fill it with Phlomis russeliana - primarily for the autumn/winter stems. I was just wondering whether to put anything else with them, perhaps for a bit of spring interest, but I know they form quite a dense base and am not sure if anything else could compete in the same space. One end of the bed will move into a slightly larger area with (probably) a Pittosporum and other small shrubs, but the rest will be surrounded by hard landscaping. Any suggestions or experiences, or should I just stick to Phlomis on its own?
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
- Cicero
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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wonder if you could use some spring bulbs @LG_ - daffs mainly, as they would colour co ordinate. They would give a succession and would be hidden when dieing down. 
    I think it's quite a tight space - especially once the Phlomis are at full strength.

    Perhaps some pots in front of the bed would be the answer if it's hard standing there. You could ring the changes depending on the season.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Daffs for me too as they'll be showing their flowers and foliage just after you need to be tidying up the tatty, winter worn foliage from the phlomis and removing their old flower stalks.  The clump I had in the Belgian garden took no prisoners once it started to spread and only the lysimachia clethroides alba was equal to it.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Thanks @Fairygirl. Yes, the more I think about it, bulbs seem like the only option. I can't have pots in front of it as that is the car parking space (not that we want a car parking space, but if we sold the house it would probably be sensible to have one so we're keeping it). There won't be a car there 95% of the time so a bit of leaf overflow will be fine - but not pots that could get knocked over. I agree that it seems a bit squashed but I've got a bit of a thing about P. russ. in winter and don't have a lot of sunny spots for it. Am hoping that free rein in a longish, thinnish bed might work.  
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    I had heard that, @Obelixx! Hence putting it somewhere where it should hopefully have a bit of room to spread (albeit only in one direction) rather than it completely swamping out the other plants in the other little pockets of sun I have elsewhere. 

    This all hypothetical at the moment as I've only just started marking out the new design and we probably won't even get the hard landscaping done until January. But I'm fixated on having P. russ in the front garden!
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    I have just dug one up, it was a rampant spreader, about 2m wide and nearly as tall,  but perhaps it is better behaved in the UK!
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Do you think I should abandon the idea, or give it a chance? The height would be fine, though it's given as 'up to 1m' by the RHS. 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    I would plant some purple rain alliums to go around it.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Corsetry I can probably manage, @pansyface :disappointed:
    And I do love an allium, @fidgetbones, so that's music to my ears - though I think they would flower at around the same time (in complementary colours, of course).

    One more question for those who have grown them - do they take a while to get going? After first planting, I mean.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Sorry, like Pansyface, I inherited my big girl too :) She can take a really severe haircut though and does grow just as large again by the next summer, so my guess would be fast growing. I got fed up of having to hack back several times a year, plus it was demolishing the short wall it was planted up against.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I planted 3 small plants one year in spring and they were happy and easily swamped the geranium Johnson's Blue nearby but then it wasn't as happy.   I ended up with a clump about 3m wide and about a metre deep but not a regular shape and that's because I hacked it back each year.

    It doesn't mind being hacked, it is very hardy, enjoys full sun - shorter flower stems - but I've also seen it grown in shade under a  tree by a gardener who didn't know better and there it got to early 2m high with far fewer flower stems. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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