Has anyone grown Veronica spicata...I quite like the look of it, but does it have a big enough presence in the border from a flowering point of view. Thanks
I have several clumps here and there from seed I sowed in 2017. I have Rose Tones (mostly rather dull pink colours tbh) and Blue Bouquet which is a good strong blue. I have another taller paler blue one which lasts a lot longer, but it's one I bought and I can't remember the name. They do look good, but the flowers don't last for a long time and they don't repeat flower. So yes, they do look good for a while, but then die down to a clump of leaves. They also self-seed quite a bit. Mine are in a very mixed border, so it's good to see them, but then other plants take over.
The taller pale blue one -
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Wow that's lovely and a lot more impressive than the ones I grew from seed. I wonder if your plant is sterile so it flowers for longer and repeats. Mine flower, set seed and die back.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
@Pete.8, @JennyJ...thanks for that, it will be going into a mixed border. How long does it take for them to bulk up...SGC have a variety called 'Rosa Zwerg' in 9cm pots available you see and I was just wondering how many to buy.
Pete.8...what is that rather magnificent looking large red flower.
@ Songbird-1...can you remember what variety it is.
It's a dahlia - Arabian Night. It's survived there for many years somehow. It doesn't really fit in but it's happy there so I'll leave it be.
I'd get 3 plants for each clump in 9cm pots to make a bit of an impact, but each of mine formed a clump about 9" across in a year. They're easy to divide too by just slicing through them with a spade in Spring
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
It's a dahlia - Arabian Night. It's survived there for many years somehow. It doesn't really fit in but it's happy there so I'll leave it be.
I'd get 3 plants for each clump in 9cm pots to make a bit of an impact, but each of mine formed a clump about 9" across in a year. They're easy to divide too by just slicing through them with a spade in Spring
Interesting about the Dahlia - I have one that was labelled "Arabian
Night" and while it's the same colour, it's more fully double and
doesn't show the yellow centres. Oh well, I like it anyway.
Agree about the veronicas - plant a group of small ones and split in a couple of years if they get congested. I don't even always bother digging them up to divide, just chop out a few sections to plant elsewhere (like slices of cake) and throw some compost in the gaps. Same with other clumpy perennials, things like asters and campanulas - unorthodox maybe, lazy definitely, but it seems to work.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
@JennyJI think that Arabian Night has gone rogue. It lives in shade until summer then breaks through. I have tubers from the same plant in big pots and they remain fully double and a much deeper velvety red.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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I have another taller paler blue one which lasts a lot longer, but it's one I bought and I can't remember the name.
They do look good, but the flowers don't last for a long time and they don't repeat flower.
So yes, they do look good for a while, but then die down to a clump of leaves. They also self-seed quite a bit.
Mine are in a very mixed border, so it's good to see them, but then other plants take over.
The taller pale blue one -
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I wonder if your plant is sterile so it flowers for longer and repeats.
Mine flower, set seed and die back.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Pete.8...what is that rather magnificent looking large red flower.
@ Songbird-1...can you remember what variety it is.
It's survived there for many years somehow.
It doesn't really fit in but it's happy there so I'll leave it be.
I'd get 3 plants for each clump in 9cm pots to make a bit of an impact, but each of mine formed a clump about 9" across in a year.
They're easy to divide too by just slicing through them with a spade in Spring
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border