steelnut Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 pick your brain?? If you don't mind?? We are trying desperately to get some of our landscaping finished. I know that I posted a while back that I had bought some lilies at the 100 mile yard sale and I was worried about what to do with them over the winter. Well, we got one section finished today. It's 3' wide and 22' long. What I have are 2 August Flame Lilies, 4 Stella D'Oro's, 3 Red Magic and 8 other lilies that are a light yellow color. I also bought 2 Gloriosa Daisies and a Black eyed Susan. What do you think? Should I try and put them all in this space? Or should I just plant some of them and add some other plants? I know what I love to see, I just have no idea of how to do it!!! As always, I so very much appreciate your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 You have the makings of a very nice perennial border. First of all August flame lilies are probably Gloriosa superba (that is what I get when I google it) which are not hardy around here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloriosa_(plant) They seem to be fairly tropical so I don't know about them making it through our winter. You could try growing them and lifting them in the fall. Or maybe they are something else. The black-eyed susans are going to get to be 2-3 feet tall and bloom in August-September. They will make a large clump. You might stick them to one end of your border. Gloriosa daisies are the same genus and species as black-eyed Susan's but come in different shades or rust and yellow. Some have a green center. They get to be about 2-3 feet tall. Both of these are very hearty and could go near the back of your border. The Stella d'oros are fairly short, start blooming in mid summer and will rebloom. They only get a little over a foot tall and make a nice edging for a border. Magic lilies are Lycoris. They are the ones that put up flowers from the ground very late in the season with no leaves. The leaves come after the flowers are done blooming. I'm not sure how hardy they are around here but I have seen them. You might want to mulch them. I'd plant them as a cluster. I'm not sure what your "lilies" are. If they are daylilies you certainly have enough room in a 22' border for all of them. Daylilies will get tall flowering stems but the foliage is usually not too high. You are kind of heavy on the yellow shades here and on plants that don't bloom until mid summer or later. Maybe you could get a few bulbs for spring. Some veronica might be nice to add a touch of blue/purple when these are blooming. Liatris or gayfeathers are a good plant around here. You might want some plants that bloom earlier in the summer and in spring. Borders are an ongoing thing. You will be adding and subtracting plants for years. Don't forget small shrubs like spirea or some interesting evergreens to anchor your border. This perennial selector might give you some ideas of what you might need when you find places you want fill in with specific colored flowers that bloom at a certain time. http://www.rydersranch.ca/perennial_border.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 Thank you Lavender! I knew that you would be able to help me out on this. I told hubby yesterday, when we were talking about what to do, "I'll get on GoDuBois and ask Lavender, she'll know!" I really appreciate it, thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 You're welcome, someone might as well benefit from all my mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Ok, tomorrow is the planting day. We have the 23' x 33" section ready and also a 11' x 5' section. I have the 6 lilys, that I have no idea what they are, but they get very tall, 3 red magic, 4 stella d'oro, 2 August flame, 2 gloriosa daisys, 1 black eyed susan and 1 lily that I have no idea what it is. So, I bought 20 crocus, 15 tulips and 6 hyacinths. (I gave away the gladioli) I'm planning on planting my herbs on the long side of the 11'x5' section. (parlsey, dill, chives, thyme, basil & oregano) Does this sound like too many plants or too few? Hubby says to plant them thick, and I'm reluctant to do that, I think they should have room to grow. Which one of us is right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I don't think that sounds like very much but you can always add more in the spring when you see what you need to fill in space, color and bloom time. Lilies should go about a foot apart. They will make clumps but it will be 3 or 4 years maybe more before you have to divide them. Gloriosa daisies should be planted about 8 inches apart. Stella d'oros go about a foot apart. It will take about 4 years before you need to divide. Plant the crocus, hyacinths and tulips in clumps of 2-4 bulbs with the width of one bulb between them. The thing that will spread fastest is the black-eyed Susan give it at least 36 inches if it is one of the standard sized ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thank you, I really appreciate all of the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 You're welcome. Hope it goes well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slk59 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 steelnut - make sure you post pictures next year when they all start to come up! sounds like it will be pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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