If I need quite a few plants I usually contact them in advance and they have the plants ready for me .... but I always come back with a few "extras" once I've been around the nursery. At the moment I've got a shopping list for a large prairie style border I'm developing ... as soon as it's possible to visit them I'll be going over.
I'm a bit of a garden addict too ... there are worse things
Bee x
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Of your list I chose to buy Ferner Osten when we visited Wisley two years ago. I was looking for the darkest red I could find and thought this one was a good deep colour.
And mature size in flower is a 1.6 to 1.8 metres according to the label.
That's what I thought too... I have Malepartus (1.8-2m), and I thought that Ferner Osten was slightly smaller, with similar red flowers. I think it's a bit finer too... Malepartus has quite broad jungly leaves, very 'Japanese looking'. TBH I prefer Ferner Osten!
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
The border is very heavy clay which I'm gradually improving with homemade compost / leafmould. It is also quite damp so some of my choices are not the usual prairie plants.
and the herbaceous:- Astrantia major 'Rubra' and 'Ruby Wedding' Aruncus sylvester Allium sphaerocephalon and Purple Sensation Filipendula palmata Goteborg Veronicastrum virginicum f. roseum syn. ‘Pink Glow’ Sanguisorba officinalis 'Red Thunder' and menziesii Actaea simplex (Atropurpurea Group) 'Black Negligee' and 'Brunette' Euphorbia griffithii and epithymoides Echinacea pallida Macleaya Cordata Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’ Veronica 'Pink Damask' Lysimachia clethroides Hylotelephium 'Matrona' Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea' Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' Helenium Sahins Early Flowerer Helenium 'Ruby Tuesday' Monarda 'Jacob Cline' Lysimachia ephemerum Persicaria virginiana 'Lance Corporal' Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Blackfield' Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea'
Some are in the ground already ... some are in pots, and some have yet to be bought. There's also quite a few Northern marsh orchids that have self seeded around which are not part of the plan but I haven't got the heart to take them out.
Bee x
Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
That's what I thought too... I have Malepartus (1.8-2m), and I thought that Ferner Osten was slightly smaller, with similar red flowers. I think it's a bit finer too... Malepartus has quite broad jungly leaves, very 'Japanese looking'. TBH I prefer Ferner Osten!
Glad I picked a good one I think I discounted Malepartus as it was that bit bigger too. It's a fine line sometimes.
I think we have reached a tidy end to this interesting discussion....just wanted to say how impressed I am with everyone's knowledge and expertise....and to thank you all for your willingness to share so generously...keep safe and remember 'After winter must come spring'!!
Posts
If I need quite a few plants I usually contact them in advance and they have the plants ready for me .... but I always come back with a few "extras" once I've been around the nursery.
At the moment I've got a shopping list for a large prairie style border I'm developing ... as soon as it's possible to visit them I'll be going over.
I'm a bit of a garden addict too ... there are worse things
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
The border is very heavy clay which I'm gradually improving with homemade compost / leafmould. It is also quite damp so some of my choices are not the usual prairie plants.
The grasses include:-
Calamagrostis emodensis
Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'
Stipa Gigantea (grown from seed)
Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'
Monarda 'Squaw'
Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Karl Foerster'
Molinia 'Edith Dudszus'
Calamagrostis brachytricha
and the herbaceous:-
Astrantia major 'Rubra' and 'Ruby Wedding'
Aruncus sylvester
Allium sphaerocephalon and Purple Sensation
Filipendula palmata Goteborg
Veronicastrum virginicum f. roseum syn. ‘Pink Glow’
Sanguisorba officinalis 'Red Thunder' and menziesii
Actaea simplex (Atropurpurea Group) 'Black Negligee' and 'Brunette'
Euphorbia griffithii and epithymoides
Echinacea pallida
Macleaya Cordata
Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’
Veronica 'Pink Damask'
Lysimachia clethroides
Hylotelephium 'Matrona'
Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea'
Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon'
Helenium Sahins Early Flowerer
Helenium 'Ruby Tuesday'
Monarda 'Jacob Cline'
Lysimachia ephemerum
Persicaria virginiana 'Lance Corporal'
Persicaria amplexicaulis 'Blackfield'
Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea'
Some are in the ground already ... some are in pots, and some have yet to be bought.
There's also quite a few Northern marsh orchids that have self seeded around which are not part of the plan but I haven't got the heart to take them out.
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
Glad I picked a good one
I think I discounted Malepartus as it was that bit bigger too.
It's a fine line sometimes.
It's one of my Fave grasses
Take lots of photos and keep us posted.