Author Topic: Some new plants for me this year (Read 2783 times)

Kittyzee · « **on:** July 05, 2008, 05:40:54 PM »

I used to have a bed of native wildflowers, but tired of it since most of the light and fragile stuff died off and I was left with leggy, tall, straggly plants. I purchased some new echinacea this year and love it. The first one is coconut lime and the second pic is summer sky. They are compact plants and I have just randomly planted them in some of my poorer soil that gets baked in the hot summer midwest sun. I finally decided to plant native prairie plants in this flower bed because of that reason. They are fairly drought resistant, and have set many blooms.
I think I like them!

Sunbeam56 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2008, 06:21:57 PM »

I like them a lot!

I like the liatris too.

Kittyzee · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2008, 06:30:25 PM »

Thanks Sunbeam, I like the liatris too. It's a bloomin' machine!

landey1230 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2008, 07:20:19 PM »

I read in your last post, you don't water much. You are so lucky. Your plants are wonderful. I especially love your grass. I envy such green grass. Very nice.

Kittyzee · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2008, 07:35:15 PM »

Thanks Landey! About a week and a half ago we had such a hard rain that stared in the evening and went on all night. We have two creeks that converge in our pasture and these overflowed and they backed up filling the whole yard! All my flower beds were underwater, my garden, and my green grass. It looked like I had a very large fish pond where you are looking out across that grass. When it receded, there was mud and grass everywhere. Stuck in the fences since the county had come through recently and mowed the roads. That also kept the water from moving away from our property, it just couldn't get through all the debris. It does this about once every 10 years. It has rained again since then and I've mowed, trying to clean up the yard--but the mosquitoes are just AWFUL now!

Mikey · « **Reply #5 on:** July 05, 2008, 09:17:18 PM »

I enjoy cone flowers too. Can't have too many! Yours look happy and healthy.

Jerry · « **Reply #6 on:** July 06, 2008, 07:19:09 AM »

Love 'em too.
Oh how nice to have your own creek. What kind of creatures do you see in and around it?
As a boy in PA I was always off to a creek or lake. Take a photo one day. Those of us who live in very dry areas appreciate it.

Kittyzee · « **Reply #7 on:** July 06, 2008, 07:42:09 AM »

Mostly small fish (minnows) bull frogs and crawdads. Yes, it's great fun: I've never lost the thrill of picking up a rock and finding out what's underneath! Usually a crawdad with his pinchers pointing up to the sky trying to swim backwards!

The granddaughters LOVE exploring there and also finding new wonders in the pond. I recently found many slimy trails under my lily pads which mean snail eggs, and they were mystified by that and pulling very large to very small snails out of the pond and watching the animal emerge from the shell. When you are a child, everything is fresh and brand new.

Mikey · « **Reply #8 on:** July 06, 2008, 08:30:18 AM »

Quote

Usually a crawdad with his pinchers pointing up to the sky trying to swim backwards!

Reminds me of my first experience with a lobster. I was fishing off a jetty and a very large lobster got tangled up in my fishing line and I was able to land it on the rocks. It started thrashing about and not wanting to lose it I reached down and grabbed it.

Well that was one of those experiences in life that one never forgets. In a matter of moments that lobster pumped its tail back and forth several times and the sharp hinges on its side sliced into my fingers making a bloody mess. That evening as we ate the lobster I remembered the battle each time I raised a tasty morsel of its meat to my mouth and saw the Band-aids wrapped around several fingers...

Kittyzee · « **Reply #9 on:** July 06, 2008, 07:13:33 PM »

Nothing quite like experience to keep the memory fresh, huh?

Great story...now I'm hungry for lobster!

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 08, 2008, 07:06:34 PM »

Nice echinaceas!

That liatris looks like a veronica to me.

liatris only blooms once.

Kittyzee · « **Reply #11 on:** July 09, 2008, 05:28:00 AM »

Oops, you're right - that is a veronica! I have some liatris but not in that flowerbed...

Joyce · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2008, 05:59:34 AM »

Very pretty!

They say Coneflowers are deer proof, but not around here.

I broke down and bought a few more plants this year too, even though I have dozens of dug up plants from the old house, still in pots sitting around here.
Yesterday I bought the new variegated Gaura.

CoolShades · « **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2008, 06:09:01 PM »

Very nice. I thought it was the deer eating my Echinacea, but it was my dog...I guess that's why she isn't depressed!!

Kittyzee · « **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2008, 06:30:02 PM »

And probably why she doesn't have a cold either! We do have lots of deer passing through, they just haven't found my yard yet...lot of stuff for them to munch on, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I love Gaura, but have not seen the variegated one. I need more plants in one flower bed to cover some bare spots. Maybe that would keep the cats from pooing in there

I have baby kittens bunny-thumping clumps of blue fescue and anything with a floppy long flower that springs back is toast....

Ky Kim · « **Reply #15 on:** July 11, 2008, 08:40:28 PM »

Me likes them. Love the color.

Kim

miguynmkoi · « **Reply #16 on:** July 11, 2008, 09:54:44 PM »

Nice flowers! I really like the coconut lime echinacea!

lorraine1960 · « **Reply #17 on:** July 13, 2008, 10:46:52 AM »

Very Nice !!!!

lorraine

tinkster · « **Reply #18 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:40:46 PM »

I love then kitty! I am in love with the entire big sky series! They have bloomed great for me for two years but I have yet to be able to winter one over. I dont know what I am doing wrong.. if you get a chance you will also love the sundown to go with the summer sky.

tinkster

SueSTx · « **Reply #19 on:** July 13, 2008, 06:51:00 PM »

Pretty...I love native plants. The bunnys ate all mine :'(

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #20 on:** July 18, 2008, 09:36:06 AM »

I had one of the new pink variegated gauras but it didn't make it over the winter. Don't know if it rotted or was smothered by forget me nots in early spring.

Rick40 · « **Reply #21 on:** July 20, 2008, 07:27:23 AM »

Awesome photos . My Liatris are just starting to bloom also.

Rick