I missed Paul Parent's show when he talked about lupine (found at Garden Talks January 27, 2008) so I was happy to read your comments.
I just found this picture so I am sending it along because it shows lupine that did just fine where I planted it in the groundcover Also shows some of the daffodils that we talked about before. They had finished blooming but I let them die back a little before I pinned them down under the groundcover. (I believe the ground cover shown in the picture is vinca in flower--beautiful blue flowers--but I need to confirm this with Barbara Gardener; Mike S. 3/03/08) This is a shot from my 2006 garden and only shows a few of the daffs that I planted but they all came back and so did the lupine for the 2007 garden.
I used to have beautiful lupine in the garden and in the field beyond my garden, Naturally, I envisioned a whole field of lupine for the next few years. Ha! So did the woodchucks. If they hadn't been so greedy it might have happened. I had read that lupine were poisonous to woodchucks. If so, there must have been a lot of dead woodchucks around that summer! I asked a farmer about that. (Didn't know you then.) He told me that it is only the seeds that are poisonous. Do you know if that is true?
I also read that Lupine like to grow with some kind of vegetation surrounding them. The Lupine leaves you see in this picture came back for 2007 so maybe the ground cover helped. I planted a few more daffodils in that blue groundcover last fall. I couldn't plant many because I kept cutting last year's bulbs in half. This year when they bloom I will mark them. Also planted a lot of blue hyacinths in there to see what would happen. Didn't have to dig too deep so I have no idea if they are resting on daffy bulbs or not. Should be a fight to the finish and a very interesting mess!!
Barbara Gardener
for Skillin's Greenhouses
March 3, 2008
4 comments:
Hey Barbara Gardener!
Is the ground cover that is flowering in blue myrtle or vinca?
The color and timing would be about right since the lupine appears to not have flowered yet. It looks like the picture was taken in late May or early June.
Look at the green of the plants and lovely flowers! This picture and your story gives us hope that Spring soon will be here!
Mike Skillin
What a breath of spring! It won't be long. I so enjoy your articles......
I have no idea what that groundcover is. I have searched every mail order nursery site that I can find. And naturally, I didn't miss Google! Everything I find where the flower looks right, the leaves are nothing like the plants I have. And if the leaf is right, the bloom isn't. The bloom is a baby blue, about the shade of a Forget-me not I have a lot of Vinca Minor and Vinca Major. You can't mistake that glossy leaf. My Vinca has a beautiful bright blue flower. Much larger than the other groundcover.It also blooms much earlier than Vinca and spreads much faster. Also doesn't trail to spread like Vinca does. Believe me, you are getting some to look at come spring!
You just might be sorry that you suggested I join this site.
Barbara and all,
Tim Bate took a close look at the picture and instantly called out Forget Me Nots! I have to say he is probably correct for two reasons; one he is always correct and two that soft blue looks just like forget me nots (myosotis).
Many consider forget me nots to be invasive and some would like garden centers like us to be banned from selling forget me nots and while I agree that they can be intrusive and should certainly be planted where you don't want them to spread over other plants; I certainly don't consider forget me nots to be an environmental threat.
I just love those blue flowers. So, I do think it is forget me not but please bring some in when they are in flower.
Barbara, we are glad to hear from you anytime!
Mike Skillin
Post a Comment