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The idea is to showcase YOUR CPN
flower achievements. We learn from each other.
           
             
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Reverse Gardening
Perennials that failed to thrive...
Perennials that helped the pests survive...
Perennials that took over...
Perennials that took over...

Aegopodium (Bishop's Weed) - rampant, voracious spreader.

Euphorbia (Cushion Spurge) - not ugly really, just self-sows everywhere and impossible to remove; tough woody stems that have to be pruned back each spring. Phooey.

Anthemis (Golden Marguerite) - sowed itself everywhere, rather stinky too.

Mentha (Mint) - one little snipped cutting five years later is a 15 square foot plot of MINT.

Stachys (Lamb's Ears) - if allowed to go to seed, you will have it everywhere. Bees seem to love the blooms although they are nondescript.

Sedum spurium - if you like a sedum that will take over the cracks in a flag patio or walkway, this stuff will do it.

Vinca (Trailing Myrtle) - what was supposed to be an annual vine took over a 20' length of raised bed; it comes up every year. Who knew.
Plant Pick: Iberis sempervirens (Candytuft)  

(click photo to enlarge) 		 

Candytuft has survived partial shade, haphazard watering and the rabbits and voles. Useful edging, rock garden, and border plant. Long-lived. Shear lightly after flowering. Cut woody stems back every other year to rejuvenate.

Zones: 3-10; space 12-15", spring bloomer.

  
       
Plant Pick: Dicentra spectabilis (Bleeding Heart)  

(click photo to enlarge) 		 

These large, elegant plants have mounding fern-like leaves and arching sprays of heart-shaped flowers from spring to early summer. Good speciman plant for partial shade. There are both rosy-red and white flowering varieties, and a finely-leaved variety. Not eaten by the voles or rabbits.

Zones: 3-10; space 12-15", spring bloomer.

  
       
Plant Pick: Monarda didyma (Bee Balm)  

(click photo to enlarge) 		 

An aromatic flower that attracts hummingbirds, available in red, pink and white. A member of the mint family (but not as notorious an invader) it has repeatedly survived the voles. 'Cambridge Scarlet' is readily available in our area.

Zones: 3-9; space 12-15", summer bloomer.

  
     
Plant Pick: Penstemons (Beardstongue)  

(click photo to enlarge) 		 

Penstemons seem to thrive on low irrigation and poor soil. They are considered a challenge in other parts of the country but are native to western America. Varieties survive (neglected too) as perennials for years in CPN, faithfully blooming, attracting hummingbirds, seldom pested by bug problem either. They are hardy, drought-tolerant — and beautiful.

There is a Penstemon website. A favorite is "Prairie Jewel".
Zones: 2-8; space 12-18", spring-early summer bloomer.

  
       
Perennials that failed to thrive...

Astilbe - have only gotten it to successfully return in pots - not in the ground.

Armeria maritima (Sea Pink) - short lived, only a few seasons.

Asclepias (Butterfly Flower) - no luck ever.

Cherianthus (Wallflower) - no luck ever.

Kniphofia (Red Hot Poker)

Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) tried it as both a pond margin/bog plant and in the garden; didn't like our summer heat.

Platycodon (Balloon Flower) - could never keep it going more than a season or two.
Perennials that helped the pests survive...

Perennial Geranium (Cranesbill) - its rooting habit (a tangled, shallow matrix) makes the roof of a perfect VOLE den. Tried filling and hosing and they are back every year under the Cranesbill.

(True Lily) - the bulb of choice for the VOLE; if it survives the voles, the RABBITS chew the blossoms off.

Papaver nudicaule (Iceland Poppy) - a good munch for the RABBITS, they eat it to the ground.

Papaver orientale (Oriental Poppy) - VOLES relish the roots of this plant overwinter. If it survives into spring, it actually gets to bloom.

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