LITMIR.BIZ

      A lawn sprouting arborvitaes everywhere!

       Run for Your Life!

      There are some plants that love playing the children’s game Red Light, Green Light! Every time you turn your back on them they advance. Perennials like obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), sundrops (Oenothera fruiticosa and speciosa) and ‘Silver King’ white sage (Artemisia ludoviciana) will not remain stationary. They are out to take over the garden, the yard, the neighborhood…the world! Lock your door at night.

      Make sure the plant’s habits match your expectations. If you want a groundcover, then you’ve made the right choice. If not, think again before you purchase one of the following perennials that spread by their roots. I have only noted those that usually don’t have the descriptive word “groundcover” on the plant tag.

      Chinese Lantern (Physalis)

      Ladybells (Adenorpha liliifolia)

      Bellflowers (those in the Campanula punctata group)

      Gooseneck (Lysimachia clethroides)

      Plume Poppy (Macleaya)

      Spiderwort (Tradescantia)

      Bee Balm (Monarda)

       (need I say Mint?)

      Pink Primrose (Oenothera siskiyou)

      Meandering roots aren’t the only way that plants can make a nuisance of themselves. “Seed spewing” plants can cover even more ground in a short period! Just give these fertile little ovules a smidgen of soil, light and moisture, and it’s off to the races. I really can’t fault biennials for this aggressiveness; it’s survival for them. Biennials only live for two years: first year leaves, second year flowers, third year dead. But the following perennials have no excuse:

      Mallow (Malva alcea)

      Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum)

      Mountain Bluet, Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea montana)

      Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus and Heliopsis)

      Ox-Eye Daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)

      Violet, Johnny Jump-Up (Viola)

      It wasn’t our fault! For once it’s not just the kids saying this. It is very likely that through the years the light conditions changed over the garden. Trees grew larger or were lost to storms, privacy fences were installed, or sun-blocking homes sprang up next door. And then again, sometimes we are the ones to blame. Personally, I’m an excellent illusionist. I can make myself see more light in a spot than actually exists, allowing me to purchase the perennial I’m coveting that needs full sun. I’ve also resorted to leafing through multiple gardening catalogs (or websites) until I found one that listed the light condition I was looking for. True confessions of a desperate gardener. Whatever the catalyst was for plants ending up in the wrong light, the end results were the same – they looked scraggly, were more prone to disease or insect damage, bloomed sporadically or not at all; and winter kill (or abuse) was a common scenario.

      My part sun garden only required a little right-size tweaking. The garden was 6' wide and about 35' long (as pictured). After tweaking it, the section extending beyond the garden shed was removed. I only kept the flowers bordering the shed. These low-fuss perennials include many varieties of repeat blooming daylilies; stiff-stemmed shasta daisies; astilbe; coral bells; hardy geraniums and mildew-resistant phlox. (This photo was taken in early spring.)

       Seeing is Believing

      Too many people fabricate their garden’s light condition, usually based upon plants they want to buy or garden conditions they wished they had. Please stop dreaming; you’re only hurting yourself and the flowers. There are plenty of great plants out there for every light condition, excluding cave-like settings such as under decks or beneath low hanging tree limbs.

      Now take a gulp of truth serum and go out and honestly evaluate how much sun your garden gets, or doesn’t get. If it makes you feel any better, I prefer shade gardening any day of the week!

      Full Sun: Six hours or more of direct sun. For gardeners in Zones 6 or colder, these hours should be between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

      Part Sun: Four to five hours of direct sun.

      Part Shade: One to two hours of sun between 10:00 and 6:00 p.m. OR dappled light throughout the day.

      Shade: Pretty obvious, don’t you think?

      If you still feel nervous about “making the call,” buy a sun meter or light calculator as your coach. SunCalc, manufactured by Luster Leaf, is a popular gadget that is typically under $20. I always get suspicious of meters that boast they can measure sunlight, temperature, humidity, soil moisture, drainage and tell you what’s for dinner that night.

      My re-thought shade gardens provide so much joy and so little maintenance!

      Why did we let these poor, sad plants stay so long in the wrong spot? Maybe it was the fear factor – the idea of brandishing a hand pruner, hedge trimmer, lopper or (golly-gee-whiz) a chainsaw at an overgrown shrub sent shivers up our spine. We couldn’t bear the thought of possibly hurting the plant, plus we weren’t even sure of the right time to commit the dastardly deed. Cutting the plants seemed on par with trying to help a child pull a wiggly baby tooth, or tearing a Band-Aid from a scabby knee. Yikes! And so the unchecked shrub kept getting bigger and bigger and we kept looking the other way.

      A majority of us were handcuffed by guilt. The idea of ejecting a plant from the garden family seemed unthinkable. Well, think again. These are not children or pets! If it has never thrived, simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the landscape, or you have a replacement that offers more beauty with less maintenance, then it’s time to say sayonara. Again, repeat after me: these are not children or pets. If the exiled plant has sentimental value, then pot it in a container and give it the light and soil medium it needs to finally flourish. All other indicted plants can be shared with friends (or enemies), offered to plant sales hosted by not-forprofit

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