In my last garden, in Belgium, I had to wait till June for hibiscus leaf buds to open up but they were swiftly followed by good foliage and beautiful blooms. Unfortunately, the only ones to survive the worst winters were the blue ones so I gave up.
Here we have blue, white with deep red throats, pink ditto and deeper red blooms and the foliage starts in March so they're a good plant to have and cope well with summer heat. I even have to prune them to shape and size rather than just remove all the stems killed by frost. Location, location, location then for so many plants.
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)."
Broad leaf allium - so tattered, munched and exhausted by the time the flowers come around.
And fgmns too. As biennials, new growth is showing now. By the time they get to flower next year, the leaves have often been frosted, blackened, munched and in a dreadful state. I pull out the scraggiest. I’m not convinced they are always biennial. I might pull them all out until the end of the year and see how many emerge next spring, by way of an experiment. I’m pretty sure they sprout and flower happily within the same spring.
No-one has mentioned lilac, am I the only one? And magnolia - looks awful all year, then come spring, they flower....for about 5 mins before a gentle breeze or a bit of drizzle destroys them 🙂
Agree about common lilac. We have inherited 3 and are so pleased one has died and had to be cut down. The other two have been given a serious crown lift to improve their looks.
I rather like magnolia foliage - different leaf sizes and many have that velvet effect on the underside.
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)."
I tried to do the opposite with my little lilac, take it lower down like a buddliea so that when it flowers they aren’t so high up that you can’t even admire it.
@Ilikeplants I work on the basis that lifting the crown and thinning the top growth as well makes the shrub more transparent and also gives you a planting space below and a view thru it, especially in winter.
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)."
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I grow Roses, but I do find most of them very dull when not in bloom, so try to disguise them as much as possible.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Here we have blue, white with deep red throats, pink ditto and deeper red blooms and the foliage starts in March so they're a good plant to have and cope well with summer heat. I even have to prune them to shape and size rather than just remove all the stems killed by frost. Location, location, location then for so many plants.
I rather like magnolia foliage - different leaf sizes and many have that velvet effect on the underside.