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A cascading evergreen for an urn in full sun?

Skylark001Skylark001 Posts: 75
edited June 2020 in Garden design
This urn is exposed to full sun for most of the day and we would like to see an evergreen cascading over its edges all year round. 

If the cascading evergreen also flowers, then all the better! 

The top of the urn is 30 inches in diameter, so there's quite a bit of space on the surface to cover, so we would prefer to avoid a plant that creeps to the edge and doesn't permanently cover the surface of the urn. 

But we could plant two evergreens: one that grows round the edges and cascades over the sides, and another that remains in the middle but which grows to a height of about six inches around the irises in the middle (which will remain the urn's vertical feature).

The urn is well drained by a hole in its bottom, which drains through the shaft to the ground below.

We will be so grateful for suggestions.   Thank you!



Posts

  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    We have a similar "urn", which was actually a concrete fountain which was in our front garden when we bought the house.  We re-purposed it as a planter.

    Currently we have a Chaemerops humilis (European fan palm) in the middle of the pot, where you have your Irises.  It would get bigger than 6 inches, so perhaps not the right plant for you, but I'm showing you it just to give you some ideas.

    Around our palm we have planted 3 varieties of Delosperma (Lavender Ice, Nubigenum and Cooperi), which is a succulent and very drought tolerant.  The Delosperma are not strictly evergreen, but we are in the South East and so we find that they mostly are.  They have begun to trail over the edge of the planter, and are stunning when in bloom.  This is not the best photo, and the Delosperma has almost completely covered the planter.



    I can't imagine planting something around your Irises, it doesn't look like there would be enough space, and it would look quite odd.  Personally, I'd move the Irises elsewhere, especially as they don't look great after they have flowered, and instead put something evergreen in the middle.
  • Maybe try a Vinca like Vinca minor 'Illumination.' It is an evergreen but also has wonderful blue or white flowers through spring. Prefers partial shade and perhaps a bit of shelter against harsh winds. However i'm not sure if there would be enough room, as you need to also have something mid level, and I fear it would be too packed with that large central clump staying put?
  • MarineliliumMarinelilium Posts: 213
    Hello Skylark,

    A Dichondra argentia 'Silver Falls' is evergreen here, loves full sun and would "urn" its keep ....ooh, I'll get m' coat!

    MLx
  • Skylark001Skylark001 Posts: 75
    @KeenOnGreen, thanks for suggesting succulents and for posting the picture of your colourful Delosperma!  Yes, Delosperma are certainly a possibility.  We have a smaller "urn" elsewhere in the garden with very small succulents growing happily on it and slowly wandering to the edge but we hadn't thought of using bigger succulents on the bigger urn.  And because of your comment re. the central feature, we're now thinking of replacing the irises with something similarly tall.  (We're thinking about a "fountain grass", but haven't yet looked into how they cope in a severe winter.)

    @rebeccamM6CA_Gn6, great minds think alike!  Six years ago we felt certain that Vinca was the answer.  That brown tuft which you can see in the centre of the urn, round the irises, is actually the remains of vinca which has just been cut right back.  For six years we have watched the vinca explode beautifully at the end of each winter and early spring, with many green shoots and lots of its beautiful blue flowers, hopeful that it would keep extending and tumble over the edge.  Well, only a few shoots ever made it that far each year and dangled over to drop about 12 inches over the edge.  The problem is that as soon as the weather improves the vinca objects to the strong sun, which hits that urn from about 11am until about 5pm.  All growth immediately stops and the luscious green leaves either turn yellow or dry up and die.  It was looking so scraggy last week that we trimmed it right back, but it's always lost its splendour in early summer.  It happened more dramatically this year because of the exceptionally sunny weather, with not a cloud in sight day after day.  So as much as we love vincas, it's time for us to dig this one out and try something else.  We brought the vinca with us from a shady corner of our previous house.  But thanks!  You thought exactly as we did!

    @Marinelilium, we'd never heard of
    Dichondra argentia before, but after looking at the images of it on Google we can see that it would drape beautifully!  So it is definitely a contender.  Its silveriness would contrast nicely against the yellow-green laurel hedge behind and the barren strawberry on the ground.  The copper of a fountain grass would also add contrast colourwise.  Can you tell us if Dichondra argentia heads for the edge and eventually stops growing on the flat?  If so, we could perhaps grow KeenonGreen's Delosperma on the flat, beneath the central feature. 

    Marinelilium's suggestion has reminded us of aubretia, which in addition to loving to hang also provides vivid blue and purple flowers for several weeks each year, but we don't think it would drape as beautifully as Dichondra argentia.  

    Thanks so much for what you have each said, and if any of you have further ideas, please suggest them.  We really do want to get it right this time!  :)





  • Skylark001Skylark001 Posts: 75
    Re. the suggestions made above, here is an inspiring shot I have found on the internet.  It features Dichondra argentea and agave.  I have discovered that Agave americana is extremely hardy, although a decent sized one costs about £50, so I think we may settle for a hardy lavender instead.




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