{"id":2853,"date":"2019-09-16T05:23:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2853"},"modified":"2019-09-16T05:23:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T13:23:29","slug":"gardeners-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/gardeners-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardener’s Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"

A terrible thing has happened.\u00a0 My sister has given me a gift certificate for my favorite perennial plant vendor.\u00a0 Of course I am grateful for the gift, which is enough to buy me a few new plants, but not so much that I can go crazy.\u00a0 The problem is that time, that most precious of all resources, is flying away.\u00a0 It is fall, the window of opportunity for perennial planting is short, and the vendor\u2019s website is full of alluring plants.<\/p>\n

I have to make some choices.<\/p>\n

If I want to play it safe, I can look at the vendor\u2019s array of spring-flowering bulbs.\u00a0 As long as they arrive a few weeks before the ground hardens, I can get them planted.\u00a0 But this particular vendor is not my bulb supplier of choice and I have already made a big order from the preferred supplier.\u00a0 I return to perusing the perennials.<\/p>\n

A sensible person would say, \u201cWhat do I need?\u201d\u00a0 What I really need most is not perennials at all, but a trained garden crew at my beck and call.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that is not available through this vendor either.\u00a0 Even if I could order such a thing, the amount of the gift certificate would probably pay for about fifteen minutes of work.\u00a0 Again, I need to return my thoughts to the realm of the possible.<\/p>\n

My back fence needs something and that something should be a tall plant.\u00a0 The area is more shade than sun, with soil that tends to be dry.\u00a0 Deer frequent the premises.\u00a0 I have often thought of \u00a0\u00a0filling the spot with Filipendula rubra or \u201cqueen of the prairies\u201d, a native plant that grows six to eight feet tall, with delicate foliage and pink summer flower panicles that look a little like astilbes.\u00a0 My problem\u2014the vendor in question only carries Filipendula \u2018Flore Plena\u2019, a white-flowered, shorter variety that tops out at three feet tall.\u00a0 I will transplant some vigorous Joe Pye-weed to the site instead.\u00a0 It is incredibly vigorous, will sprout up to the moon if you let it, and the deer seem to avoid it.\u00a0 I am not sure Joe Pye will be as floriferous in the semi-shade, but it\u2019s worth a try.\u00a0 Besides, the price is right and the gift certificate is still unspent.<\/p>\n

My thoughts turn to fall-blooming anemones.\u00a0 These are beautiful plants that come in shades of white, pink and red.\u00a0 The tall stems stand out in the fall garden and the single, semi-double or double blooms look a little like poppies.\u00a0 Each flower is enhanced by a cluster of golden stamens at its heart.\u00a0 Post flowering, the seedheads are also interesting.\u00a0 Happy fall anemones also self-seed in an appealing way.\u00a0 My vendor has a lovely variety called \u2018Max Vogel\u2019 with slightly recurved or backswept petals that are pink edged in white.\u00a0 They look absolutely scrumptious in the picture.<\/p>\n

There is only one problem with \u2018Max Vogel\u2019 and the other gorgeous anemones.\u00a0 In defiance of the vendor\u2019s assurances, deer think they are scrumptious as well.\u00a0 If I invest in one, I will also have to invest in deer spray on a regular basis and hope that the deer can content themselves with wolfing down my hostas instead.<\/p>\n

My thoughts stray to coneflowers.\u00a0 Thanks to aggressive breeding and marketing efforts there are now an enormous number of varieties on the market, with more arriving each growing season.\u00a0 I am attracted to one called \u2018Rainbow Marcella\u2019, which allegedly \u201cblossoms in glowing sunset hues, aging to a soft pink\u201d.\u00a0 The petal tips may be orange\/yellow.\u00a0 It sounds lovely, but I have lots of coneflowers already.<\/p>\n

I also have lots of hardy geraniums, but I am convinced that it is impossible to have too many.\u00a0 They are a diverse group of plants, and if you search even a little bit, you can find a hardy geranium or cranesbill for just about any garden situation.\u00a0 Deer really do ignore them\u2014at least in my garden\u2014and they combine lovely blooms with interesting leaves.\u00a0 I am taken with one in particular, Geranium himalayense \u2018Derrick Cook\u2019.\u00a0 The name sounds like something out of Downton Abbey, but the reality is probably not as romantic.\u00a0 In any event, the flowers look gorgeous\u2014two inches wide, with white petals ornamented with vivid purple veins.\u00a0 I like plants with good foliage and \u2018Derrick\u2019 features deeply dissected leaves that flush red in the fall.<\/p>\n

A similar plant, Geranium wallichianum \u2018Crystal Lake\u2019, has the same bright purple veins against soft blue petals.\u00a0 \u2018Derrick Cook\u2019 and \u2018Crystal Lake\u2019 would make a nice pair.<\/p>\n

So, my mind is made up.\u00a0 I can get both my geraniums and have a little money left over to pay for shipping costs.\u00a0 I figure that by choosing geraniums over anemones, I\u2019ll also save on deer repellent.\"Geranium<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A terrible thing has happened.\u00a0 My sister has given me a gift certificate for my favorite perennial plant vendor.\u00a0 Of course I am grateful for the gift, which is enough to buy me a few new plants, but not so much that I can go crazy.\u00a0 The problem is that time, that most precious of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3],"tags":[1347,2174,774,2172,122,737,2173],"class_list":["post-2853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","tag-fall-blooming-anemone","tag-filipendula","tag-garden-catalogs","tag-garden-merchandisers","tag-hardy-geranium","tag-perennials","tag-plant-choices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2855,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2853\/revisions\/2855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}