Pretty plants as well as flowers

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

I am always searching for flowers where the plants are pretty as well as the flowers themselves for our summer camp. Someone who was there before me had a green thumb and planted it as a cottage garden so I have lilacs, only they bloom before we get there at the end of May, and Rose of Sharon - i love those, lots of hostas which actually act like landscape bushes as they are growing right underneath our living room pull out. They also make a border across the rear of the site. And Lily of the valley but those also are almost finished blooming by the time we get there in May, though the pretty plants fill one corner beautifully so I put some petunias in pots between them for summer flowers and don't disturb the lillies. In the front of our site we have a bed that used to be solid hostas but my DH pulled them all out. Now I plant 3 large planters out there with annuals when we get there every summer. Usually red geraniums, white petunias and yellow snap dragons. I'd like to put some plants in the ground in that bed to fill in between the pots but would want something that is a pretty leaf plant. I was thinking of pachysandra or ivy of some sort. It would need to fit into the cottage garden theme that is already there. All that we have now is mulch and that isn't very pretty, and not the look I'm wanting. The reason i use planters instead of planting in the ground there is the rabbits eat all the flowers - the planters make the flowers too high for the rabbits to get them. Also my DH won't let me spend too much to fix up the landscape as it is just a leased campsite not something we own, so he complains about every nickle or dime I spend to fix it up. Also, are vincas a good annual for in a shady area?I have a small - very small, plot right beside my rose of sharon that is shaded by the rose of sharon and I thought some white vincas instead of impatients there.

JustJazzmom · ‎03-09-2010

N/M

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

@JustJazzmom will Brunnera Jack Frost spread eventually? I've had one for a couple years and it hasn't grown much. It's in the shade and looks healthy. I'd like it to fill-in and would rather not buy more Jack Frost because they're rather expensive.

JustJazzmom · ‎03-09-2010

@ValuSkr

The clump does expand slowly but I use them to brighten areas below a dogwood and a NE corner of my garden. The flowers in May are a dark blue forget me not shape. It would work for a cottage garden.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼

Serenity-Now · ‎07-05-2010

Have you ever tried Calibrachoa? Here is a link to read about them, if you scroll down once getting there, you'll see many links for many different varieties:

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/annual/calibrachoa/

They are listed as annuals, but if you live in a milder climate they will come back sometimes. I'm not sure where you are located. Anyway, I live where we get snow & ice in the Winter, and these flowers are great because they are easy to grow, don't have to be babied constantly, and come in many beautiful colors & varieties, even striped. I just love 'em, because they are almost always blooming from Spring until late Fall!

My mother never liked Azaeleas because she said although they are beautiful when they bloom, the rest of the year she didn't like the way the leaves looked on the plant, so she would never plant them for that reason. That matters less with a big planting area in a huge yard, but if a person only has a small garden, they really want to love everything they plant.

Good luck with your project, it sounds like fun!

I'll add some pictures of various Calibrachoa, then I'll add pics of Coleus, which are leafy plants that are very colorful & come in many different varieties:

Calibrachoa come in many different colors, from red to purple, blue to yellow, and multi-colored.

Coleus varieties:

Several different varieties of coleus ^^^

Red & Green Coleus

Purple Coleus

The above Coleus (last one) is called "Ruby Laser."

☼SerenityNow!☼
"Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her; still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings." ~Victor Hugo

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

Serenity - all so pretty - thank you.

shoesnbags · ‎03-10-2010

I don't think anyone answered your question about vincas. They generally like full sun, so I'm not sure if they would do well next to your impatiens, which are shade loving plants. Do you maybe have a sunny spot for the vincas?

"Breathe in, breathe out, move on." Jimmy Buffett

Another new name Sue · ‎03-11-2010

@151949 I do not know the answer to your question, but I have a question for you, ok?

I think I've read your mention of summer camp here before. Does this mean you have a summer cabin, or is it actually camping? But you are landscaping there? If you don't mind, I am just curious.

@Serenity-Now Aren't coleus just great? Easy to grow, inexpensive, can even be grown from seed. (By the way, the second one from the bottom isn't a coleus, it's Persian Shield. I think it has the most spectacular foliage of any plant, just breathtaking, irridescent.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Another new name Sue wrote:
@151949 I do not know the answer to your question, but I have a question for you, ok?
I think I've read your mention of summer camp here before. Does this mean you have a summer cabin, or is it actually camping? But you are landscaping there? If you don't mind, I am just curious.

@Serenity-Now Aren't coleus just great? Easy to grow, inexpensive, can even be grown from seed. (By the way, the second one from the bottom isn't a coleus, it's Persian Shield. I think it has the most spectacular foliage of any plant, just breathtaking, irridescent.

We snowbird to Pa in the summer where we live in a park model camper for about 4 months. It is in a campground where the camping sites are owned by the people who camp on them, and then the facilities such as the laundry and the pool and the rec hall , roads are all owned by a family who charge a yearly fee for their maintainence services. Our campsite was owned by a couple and when the husband died the wife did not wish to continue camping there so she now leases it to us yearly. We have been on this same site for 6 years and the camper we have now can't be towed by us as it is much too large for our vehicle. She has offered to sell the site to us but we don't know how many years we will want to continue to do this - though she told DH she has put it in her will that we get the site when she dies if we have been there continuously for 10 years. that is only 4 more years, otherwise it will convert back to the family that owns the campground property, and we would lease it from them.