Acanthus spinosa in the background, veronica 'Eveline', tiarella, heuchera, big fuzzy lambs' ears.
Acanthus mollis. First year blooming, no winter protection. Yay!
Bunny tail grass, sedum, and more sedum, or is it spurge, I always gets them confused.'Mardi Gras'
Lady's mantle with euphorbia in front. Gorgeous in the morning.
I believe everyone should have perilla. It self-sows all over the place, but you can easily yank the ones you don't want. The plants you do keep add this beautiful, purply-black background to the mix.
Helianthus 'Loraine Sunshine'
Jupiter's Distaff (Salvia glutinosa)
3 comments:
I LOVE all of the color and texture you get through foliage! Those sedums that intermingle and that purple perilla are knockouts.
I'm so excited that you're growing two of the three types of acanthus I have been considering purchasing... because I want to pick your brain about that! Which one of the two do you like better? (And I mean the whole plant, form, foliage and all--although I have a feeling from looking at your garden that you would take all of that into consideration anyway.)
Very lovely Acanthuses. I wanted to grow them but haven't for some reason. Now that I've seen your very lovely specimens I may give it a try.
I planted two types of Perilla. The green one had a stronger scent and didn't reseed so much but the purple one although it looked very handsome has turned into an invasive pest and sets seeds everywhere. It's been three years since I planted it and I'm still pulling out seedlings despite the fact that we have not knowingly let any get to the mature flowering stage. A big mistake to plant purple Perilla imo.
Kim!—
You flatter me. Which is the third bear's breech you're thinking of? I have a little 'Tasmanian Angel', which is variegated, in a 4" pot I can't wait to plant. Between spinosa and mollis, spinosa is hardier and quicker to mature. It's also impossible to eradicate once it's established—the taproots go very deep. Probably the same is true for all. But it has spiny foliage that makes it unpleasant to handle. Mollis, on the other hand, has no spines and its leaves are a prettier shape, I think. The classic Greek acanthus leaf is mollis. But it's not as hardy and is slower to mature. Once they are both going they will flower at the same time.
Ki (which is my daughter's nickname)—
I'm surprised you found the purple perilla problematic. I'll have to watch out for that. And I don't know if I've seen the green, so I'll look for that. Maybe where you live it is more hardy? And I hope you do try the bear's breech. I think it's one of the classic underused border plants.
Thanks for visiting!
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