Aside from the book, I discovered Bluestone Perennials. (See my links.) I previously bought two plants through mail-order (Springhill Nursery) with much trepidation, especially after reading some reviews. But my plants arrived looking healthy, although extremely small. The clematis had all of one green leaf on it, but within days of planting, it was 6 inches tall and sprouting more leaves. It has since slowed way down. I rigged up a trellis for it, but so far it's not catching onto the idea of climbing. Not sure what's up. I've heard it said about clematis that "the first year it sleeps; the second year it creeps; the third year it leaps". I'd say it's sleeping at present. I'll be patient, though. The other plant I bought was a hydrangea (Nikko Blue). It was about 3 inches tall. Now it is in full PINK bloom and about 10 inches tall. Not sure what pink blooms are doing on a Nikko Blue plant, but it's pretty nonetheless.
So, with the above in mind, while I was leafing through a magazine the other night, I came upon a listing for plants from Bluestone Perennials. After seeing their prices and reading their reviews, I was very impressed! I perused through their site, and easily came up with several plants I think I'll be ordering, if it's not too late in the season to do so: Echinops Ritro (Globe Thistle), Eryngium Plano (Sea Holly), Perovskia Atriplicifolia (Russian Sage), and a salvia. (Can you tell I'm going for the blues and purples?) There are others that I love as well, but I'll wait till fall or spring. These, though, I think I could work into my garden now. And Bluestone sends three plants for approximately $10-14.
3 comments:
Kristen,
I'm enjoying your blog very much :-). It's fun to read about your projects as they inspire me. Charles would probably say that I don't need anymore inspiration. I also have struggled with getting my hydrangeas to bloom blue. Evidently it has to do with the acidity of your soil, the more acidic it is the bluer it will be. I'm still not sure how to make the soil naturally acidic but, you can get aluminum sulfate from your local Lowes or other such store, and sprinkle it around the base of your plant. This has worked well for my hydrangeas and this year is finally paying off big time, as my biggest hydrangea that for last two years has only had one huge blue blossom on it, is bursting out with blooms everywhere. If you ever find out how to do it naturally let me know, for some reason I think I read that it is not good to use this method forever. I have also read that you can bury pieces of iron at the base of your plant and this will also work, but I haven't tried this.
Have a great day.
Kiersten
Kiersten,
I have heard about the iron/aluminum sulfate as well. A quick trick I read recently was to stake in a rebar next to the plant. I'll probably be trying that, although the pink IS pretty. -- I had just planned on getting a blue one! Apparently the soil I packed in around it was an alkaline soil, thus the pink blooms.
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