Favorite plants you're growing

[simpsongal]

Transitioning from my negative gardening post, let's crowdsource what's working?  What are you growing that's been successful, easy, and that you love! Bonus for including your zone, water/sun requirements, size, specific variety, etc.

I'll go...I'm in zone 7

Panticulata hydrangea - in it's second year mine is 5.5ft, it doesn't have the moppy big hydrangea blooms but the red stems, broad leaf, and flower look gorgeous in my landscape border.  It needs full sun.

Limelight hydrangea standard - planted last year, I LOVE this plant.  It also likes full sun, it started blooming just as the above hydrangea was finishing (so great staggering).  It's like 6 ft tall and 5 ft wide, will probably get up to 8 ft by 8ft.

Cryptomeria - I love this evergreen

Black eyed susans (can't remember which type) - they're so easy, they grow quickly, the bright yellow makes me happy.  I started w/one tiny stub which I've divided into a dozen giant patches.  I think they prefer full sun (deer nibble on mine sometimes)

Coleus varieties - I try not to plant too many annuals but I do spend $50+/yr on lots of different coleus.  They bring so much color and interest to the shady area in my yard (in view from my house too).

There might be more and I have plenty of things that I'm just ok with, but the above really seem to make me happy year after year. 

[thatgirl2478]

unfortunately, a lot of weeds. :/ We need to redo the gardens, but it's lower down our list of things to pay for at this point.

but we've got a lovely crop of overly obnoxious (and poisonous to some extent) weeds... some Hemlock, some poke weed, some poison ivy, some morning glory vine, some virginia creeper, something that looks like burnweed but has 'hairs', and don't forget the thistles, crabgrass, and whatever it is that has spiky thorns up and down the steam...

[mrsukyankee]

We're in zone 9a according to what I can find.

My roses are rocking it overall. The rest of the garden is made of bushes and they are a bit thirsty due to our hot weather.

[hamster]

Hydrangeas - I have both blue and white. Hostas.

I have a bed with red twig dogwoods, a japanese grass I believe, and cardinal lobelia that I love.

Ivy geranium hanging basket

[simpsongal]

hamster, do you like the red twig dogwood all year? I have one, I'm waiting to see if I love the winter interest enough to plant more but the spring/summer it's just ok for me...

I really want to plant a hazelnut - I loved how the crooked branches look in the winter.

[lilac05]

The deer are eating everything that I love this year. We’ve been here 4 years and it has never been a big issue.

My favorite new discovery is Mezoo. It’s a kind of succulent, but it is spilling out of my pots beautifully! It also roots well and can be kept inside. So as the season winds down, I’ll be able to make some cuttings and pull it inside to use again next year! It has tiny bright pink/red flowers on it that add interest. Unfortunately, the deer got to one of my pots. (But I cut up some of what they left behind and put it back in the pot to root and fill back in.)

My BIL shot my Rose of Sharon with heavy duty weed killer this spring. We had thistles that were taking over an area, so he was trying to help...but he shot the Rose of Sharon when it was just emerging. It’s my favorite, and I thought I’d lose it, but it’s full of buds and about to be stunning again. As a bonus, there’s a volunteer Rose of Sharon that popped up in the perfect place!

[hamster]

Jul 25, 2019 11:42:58 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

hamster, do you like the red twig dogwood all year? I have one, I'm waiting to see if I love the winter interest enough to plant more but the spring/summer it's just ok for me...

I really want to plant a hazelnut - I loved how the crooked branches look in the winter.

I do! It's a nice shade of red. Beats looking at brown twigs, haha. Agree the summer shrub isnt really anything special.

[Deleted]

I'm Zone 7a.

I'm not a very good gardener, so so far I've only planted really hardy plants LOL I have 2 varieties of Coral Bells that are doing well along with 2 different varieties of Hostas (Aphrodite and Wide Brim), and then some Day Lilies. I also have some Ferns in my shade garden which are coming in nicely. My hydrangeas are not doing great, but I think that is because 3 years ago my H week whacked them in the spring not knowing what they were. They've filled in nicely, but the first year back I got no blooms, last year I got 2, and now this year, no blooms again.

I do have a few annuals as well including some pansies and a few other things, some of which are doing well, others not so much. I really should give up and just plant bushes LOL

[boiler717]

I’m in 6a. My phlox, coneflowers, black eyed susans, Russian sage, and coreopsis are all doing great and loved by butterflies and bees. Limelight and oak leaf hydrangeas are looking good, endless summer and the other kind I have are just okay. I have some awesome giant hostas on the west side of our house that get late afternoon sun. Chardonnay pearls are my favorite uncommon bush we have, so pretty in the late spring! My peonies also did great this year.
My azaleas are struggling big time, as are my Memorial Day roses.

[mrsukyankee]

Jul 26, 2019 8:31:51 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

This post needs photos!

I have a barren wasteland. Well, that's not entirely true, I do have pretty decent grass but our sucky builders never put in any plants so we've just got a bunch of empty beds that I haven't gotten around to dealing with yet.

My roses:  


      

[dr.girlfriend]

Zone 7A -- my main success are my clematis, I think. Love that they come back better every year and I don't have to do ANYTHING to maintain them.

[treedimensional]

I'm in Zone 7 too.
Here are some general recommendations based on personal experience:

Major trees: oak, black cherry, river birch, pine, sweetgum

Intermediate trees: Black tupelo/ black gum, Yoshino cherry, Persian ironwood, Japanese lilac, redbud, Teddy bear magnolia

Minor trees/lg shrubs: sweetbay magnolia, saucer magnolia, Gordlinia, arrowwood viburnum, blackhaw viburnum, Little gem magnolia, windmill palm, Celeste fig, pawpaw, persimmon, peach/plum

Medium shrubs: oakleaf hydrangea, bigleaf hydrangea, gardenia, fatsia, rhododendron

Small shrubs: sweetbox, Korean boxwood, needle palm, pomegranate, quince, yucca

Perennials: salvia, verbena, lantana, peony, sedum, daisy, cannas, elephant ears, monkshood, hosta, liriope, oregano, mint, clover, spiderwort, aralia, purple hearts, autumn fern

Annuals: coleus, geraniums, pentas, petunias, millionbells, bacopa, impatiens, fountain grass, Persian shield, portulaca, begonias

[Pibs]

Milkweed. My dad sent me a root two falls ago and I neglected to water it last summer so I thought it was dead. It's doing great this year, and is providing munchies for Monty, George II, and Queen Elizabeth the monarch caterpillars.

[MrsAxilla]

Jul 27, 2019 15:06:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Zone 7A -- my main success are my clematis, I think. Love that they come back better every year and I don't have to do ANYTHING to maintain them.

I have been trying to grow clematis for years and the rabbits get it before it takes hold

[simpsongal]

I'll add clematis to my list - I LOVE IT

RockNVoll, I have pics, but I don't know how to post now that tinypic is gone. Anyone? Is there another easy go-to site?

[Susie]

I’m zone 5b.

This day lily variety is Going Bananas, and it’s an ever blooming variety that’s living up to its name. I have them in a number of beds. The clematis is also doing great, I successfully divided the plant that has been by the front door since we bought the house.


Some of my other day lilies that are blooming this year for the first time:

South Seas


Joan Senior


Wrapped in moonlight


Not sure because I got it as a bonus freebie:


Carolyn Criswell


Early bird Cardinal


My hydrangeas are also killing it.

Annabelle hydrangea (and my dog after surgery earlier this month)


Endless Summer (and my kids)


Pretty much everything is extremely low maintenance.  I select plant varieties and species based primarily on hardiness, duration of bloom time, and ease of maintenance.  The one thing I do is apply sulfur/soil acidifier to lower the pH of the hydrangea beds so that the Endless Summer hydrangeas bloom blue instead of pink.  That's a pretty easy, annual-ish task for me.  The lower pH also suits the hollies and azaleas that we have.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 30, 2019 9:20:20 GMT -5 MrsAxilla said:

Jul 27, 2019 15:06:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Zone 7A -- my main success are my clematis, I think. Love that they come back better every year and I don't have to do ANYTHING to maintain them.

I have been trying to grow clematis for years and the rabbits get it before it takes hold

Interesting...I know we have rabbits, and they have decimated my primroses in the past, but they don't seem too interested in the clematis.  I wonder if certain varieties are more attractive to them?

[ktzmoh]

I haven’t been on this board regularly in ages but I wanted to jump in because I’ve been working really hard on converting some hideous overgrown beds into the succulent garden of my dreams. It’s been a year long process and involved a lot of other landscaping upgrades and hardscaping as well, but I think things have come together and my succulents are thriving.

we are zone 9b? 10a? I am not entirely sure - it’s very hard to read the maps exactly because we have crazy microclimates. The climate can be dramatically different just a few miles away. Nevertheless, we don’t really get freezes and we have hot dry summers so perfect for succulents. 

Here are are a few of my favorites. Some of these I’ve been cultivating for 6 years because holy moly large succulents are expensive. I’ve been planning this landscaping for a long time so I grew some of the key pants  from inexpensive babies. Now they are glorious and huge

This is one of my soft leaf agave , it’s about 5 ft across



This is my spiral aloe, it lives in a large container near my garden beds

[ktzmoh]

A few more since I could only include 3 attachments 

Attachments:

[ktzmoh]

And one more because I just adore this one- it’s like a prehistoric beast and I love the drama. This one also lives in a very large container on the hardscaoing near my main bed. 




Sorry for the repeat posts. I think I used to use photobucket or something to upload and share pics when we were doing lots of remodeling and I was active here. But I can’t seem to remember my password or how I used to do it and now I feel old 

[mrsukyankee]

ktzmoh, LOVE!!!!