Family Asteraceae

Yes. The whole family. This family includes many of the most popular garden plants including Asters, Coneflowers (Echinacea), Black Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), Silver Mound (Artemisia), Yarrow (Achillea), Daisies (Leucanthemum) and so on.



'Becky' Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum 'Becky')

The most obvious shared characteristic of plants of this family are their flowers which are a form of raceme that looks on the whole to be a single flower (the "petals" are bracts and the center of the flower head is actually a large number of flowers. The "flowers" are generally long lasting since the actual flowers open in sequence over several days while the bracts hold on to attract pollinators throughout this period giving the overall impression of long lasting individual flowers that these plants are well known for.



Osteospermum cv.

Most plants from this family are also sun lovers and many are at least somewhat drought tolerant. Colours and sizes vary a great deal though ranging from under a foot (Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' & Leucanthemum x superbum 'Snowcap') to the 8-10' tall monster Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). Colours seem to have traditionally been yellow, orange, and red heavy but now there are few colours you can't find, especially within the newest coneflower cultivars (even/especially) within the past decade. Generally you will see these plants flowering later in the summer but they tend to last a long time (well into fall) so that sort of makes up for spring.



Helenium 'Mardi Gras'

While most of these that are readily available as garden plants do not spread rapidly (forming clumps instead) they seem to have no problem seeding themselves so be careful of that! The ones considered weeds are well known for being difficult to get rid of because of a combination of readily coming back from deep roots (Dandelions, Taraxacum officinale) and seeding everywhere (Dandelions again - wikipedia says the seeds can remain viable for up to nine years).

Deadheading does wonders at extending their flowering time and cuts out the risk of seedlings popping up and as long as you've got time for it will give you the best results. In the case of dandelions a lawnmower can be handy for deadheading them.


Rudbeckia hirta

Houseplant I did buy

I'm going to try to limit houseplant post now so I can spend more time with hardy plants (and so I'll have something for the winter!) but this is a good follow up to the previous post.

So instead of the Aglaonema 'Crete' (yes, the colours are accurate on that picture - also the plants seem to be very fast to produce new shoots. Each 6" pot had about 4 new shoots barely popping out of the soil but definitely present) I had been considering I spent my $20 on an Asplenium sp. (nidus?) that I've been eying even longer.



Asplenium sp.

I've been growing another Asplenium for a year and a half now with no problems so assuming care is the same this should be happy with me as well. Which is to say water by filling the container it's sitting in with water, waiting half and hour and filling it again - sometimes with the weak fertilizer water I'll have mixed up for the orchids. Also my house is very humid all the time. Bright (direct!) light from a south window has worked but the new one will have to live with lower light. Possibly let sit in water then drain instead of refilling? Mine has been forgiving when it dries out so I will err on the dry side with this one until I get to know it better.



Asplenium sp.

PATSP has a picture that suggests I may have the same two - A. nidus and A. antiguum but I do not know enough about the genus to even know how to begin confirming this.

We do also carry a hardy Asplenium at work which tempts me from time to time... but there are so many other ferns I think that come before it that it will just have to wait.

I did start taking pictures at work for a series of posts on the Asteraceae family which I'll be writing soon. Depending on how busy it is tomorrow I'll maybe finish my pictures for that and start on hydrangeas.

Houseplant I didn't buy

Aglaonema 'Crete'

It's new and it's interesting but I've decided I don't really want one. Actually I don't even think it even looks very attractive... The red doesn't seem to belong and it's a little jarring to look at (possibly because of the yellow?). Also I think it's $25 for a 6" pot which doesn't help its case much.

I'm glad I decided against it because space is limited and I'm sure by now I'd be thinking of all the other things I could have bought with that money (I think it's going to be a 6" asplenium nidus).

Toad lilies, part 2.

They are lily beetles and they are back. Stay tuned!

(Fun fact - Toad lilies are actually in the Liliaceae familiy, unlike daylilies which are not which I guess is why lily beetles attack these and not daylilies.)

Hydrangea aborescens 'Invincibelle Spirit'

With so many people bothering me about the new 'Incrediball' hydrangea at work I never thought to check what else was coming down the line in the world of hydrangeas. Then today as I'm counting the stock coming off the truck... wait? Is that a pink H. aborescens? I haven't even seen 'Incrediball' and already I like this better.



Hydrangea aborescens 'Incredibelle Spirit'

Yes, we got in about 20 of these plants and I'm really excited about them. Main highlights are (basically) - pink (regardless of pH), the same shade tolerance of other H. aborescens cultivars, blooms on new growth like 'Annabelle' so more reliable than H. macrophylla cultivars (some people have problems with the re-bloomers too... or want pink under a pine tree etc - this will solve their problems), and that portion of sales from 'Invincibelle Spirit' will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Toadlilies

August is my favourite month for flowering plants especially in a shade garden. Fragrant hostas have just started flowering (I expect my 'Fragrant Bouquet' to open its first flower tomorrow, a H. plantaginea down the road is already open), Hydrangea paniculata cultivars are opening (I suppose they started late July but they're usually at their best in August) and Turtlehead buds are starting to look like they're going to do something. My two Bugbane plants are promising to put on a fantastic display this year (I've had C. 'James Compton' for a few years now and just planted C. 'Hillside Black Beauty' last year) though they may not open until September... but believe me you'll see pictures when they do!

But today one of my favourite Flowering plants for shade opened - my toadlily. I've had this plant for four or five years without moving it (rare in my garden) and it's quickly becoming one of those plants I don't think I'll ever be without.



Tricyrtis 'Tojan'

Unlike many toadlilies with their spotted flowers and mottled or striped leaves 'Tojan' is fairly plain but sometimes that's nice too. I think this is my favourite but I can't say for sure right now - a little biased because it's the only one I've grown. Pictured above is the typical flower cluster for the terminal flowers. Once these have all finished this plant will continue to flower from buds in the axils of each leaf along the almost 3' arching stems from tip down so it'll be in flower almost continually from now until frost. Mine receives maximum 3 hours of early morning sun and shade for the rest of the day and rarely gets watered. I think next year I will fertilize it though that will be the first time I give that a shot. Only problems I've had were some sort of beetle which sort of resembled a lily beetle... They were a fairly big problem last year but I had not seen them before and have not seen them since so maybe they're not a huge problem.

There are a few good shots here showing the flowering and growth habit of the plant. I definitely agree with these people though that these should be planted where the flowers can be viewed up close. Even this being "plain" by toadlily standards is still an interesting flower on a fantastic plant.

Athyrium 'Burgundy Lace'

I just got this and I'm super happy about it. I've been growing 'Ghost' in a bed I landscaped which has been growing well in shade with even moisture so I assume this will need the same. Seems to be a fairly easy fern and very attractive ('Ghost' is perfect for really dark areas because the light fronds stand out amazingly well, 'Burgundy Lace' seems like a great option for getting red into a shade garden without resorting to Coral Bells - which I have no problem with but sometimes you need choices!). Should reach about a foot or so all around. It'll be in good soil when it gets in the ground because I'd gotten my soil perfect for my hardy ground orchid... which then vanished without a trace... so it should do well as long as I keep it watered.



Athyrium 'Burgundy Lace'

Red on the fronds varies from almost fully red to little to none giving the plant an interesting multicoloured look - I suspect the newer leaves are more red fading with age? Will have to wait until next spring to confirm.

Something interesting happened at work...

So a customer at work shows me a cut flower and asks what is this? Well, it's late, it looks obvious (in my mind) that it's an Annabelle Hydrangea. The customer even agrees "yes that sounds right." I show her the Annabelle Hydrangeas and "Oh! They're too big!" Hmm? Apparently hers grow to maybe 3' tall maximum with flower cluster (corymb) no larger than about 5" (The one she had brought in was only 3"). The leaf on the stem she had was also about a quarter the size of the leaves on the plants we had in stock. Cultural differences? Made sense but I checked with my supervisor and he noticed (very quickly) that each flower on her plant had only 3 petals (apparently they are bracts) compared to the usual 4 found on 'Annabelle' and 'White Dome' (which it definitely wasn't), the only two Hydrangea aborescens cultivars we carry (and 'Grandiflora' according to Google). She was looking for more of these but I don't think we'll be able to help her - we have no idea what it is (yet!) but I'm pretty sure I want one.

[Update] Apparently I was closer to being right. After careful observation of any and all 'Annabelle' hydrangeas my supervisor and I saw it appears these differences in plant size, leaf size, number of flowers and number of bracts per flower are all basically a result of cultural differences and the customer's hydrangea is almost certainly an 'Annabelle' hydrangea.