The list of plants I love to grow has become smaller over the years, mostly because I' have made the decision to be more "selective" and to refocus on growing more of what grows/survives for me instead of having a large variety of plants. I have a huge problem with deer and this year (for the first time in 14 years in this home) I have a problem with rabbits as well. My filters are now....zones 4-8 minimum (I'm 6b), deer and rabbit resistent, insect damage resistent, and powdery mildew/disease resistent. What is working for me right now is boxwood, daffodil, iris, native wisteria, nasturtium, barberry, japanese holly, green giant arb, spartan juniper, wiegela, dwarf crape myrtle, cimicifuga, prairie winds 'lemon squeeze' and 'cheyenne sky' fountain grasses, blue star juniper, dwarf mugo pine, and hellebore. I recently added some baptisia and I'm waiting to see how that goes. So far, so good. I don't mind tending my garden, but I don't want to feel like I'm going to war with it each year.
So True! We go to war every year and fence most everything. This year is the First year we ever had rabbits dig under the fence!! Suppose the ground was saturated from all the rain. I had a deer jump into a small fenced area that I thought was too busy inside for them to jump in and it gouged a rose and tasted many. So up went another several feet of string above shorter fence. I generally use 7’ fence, but this was landscaped front yard and wanted it lower. The wildlife pressures were less in severe drought last year. Plants are too expensive to feed the wildlife and we are the salad bar on a run to the water.
For the beebalm, I would do a chelsea chop in mid spring for the floppiness and thin out half the stems at that time to create better airflow for the powdery mildew.
Thanks for the great suggestion. I am definintely going to thin out the grouping. I still haven't decided if I am keeping it, but it might make sense to try one more season with more drastic human intervention. Thanks for the note.
@@sleepinglioness5754 There is another area in the garden that I might try that is less visible. Now that it is done blooming, I am seeing all kinds of yellow finches eating the spent flowers. I love those birds so I am not thinking of how to save it.
@@GardenMoxie Many Mornada s get mealdow, but there are resistant ones. I have no names for you, but you can find them easily. A request for you and all garden friends: please use the latin names also. Like most Dutch I can read and write English, but plant names..... The first plant I have to google, although I can see it is Dianthus or related to it.
I love my monarda, it's called 'Mahogany ' and has never gotten powdery mildew, has gorgeous deep fushia colored blooms and very strong stalks. Last year it grew to nearly 7 feet high(more rain), this year under 6, with drought. As I have horses, most of my garden has very rich soil and I rarely need to stake anything, even peonies with massive and abundant blooms. Your garden is really lovely. Happy gardening.
Thank you for sharing your recommendation on the variety of monarda that you grow. I will write that down and check it out. Thanks for watching and happy gardening.
Thx for sharing Texas greats are… Lantana, Cone Flowers, Day Lilies, Rock Rose, Salvias, Hummingbird Bush, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus, and the list goes on and on and on… 😊
I grow lots of salvia varieties because they just handle my zone 8b (Texas/Arkansas border) heat and humidity so well and perform till winter. I also like several varieties of coreopsis, gallardia, coneflower and rudbeckia. I love the different styles of your gardens.
Hello. Your garden sounds wonderful. I just learned how much hummingbirds love salvia. I am hoping to add them to the pollinator garden next season. Thanks for watching.
I bought some shorter varieties of bee balm that I could put in with my roses without overwhelming the area and they have done an amazing job of still attracting tons of pollinators for me!
Lovely video. Thank you for the recommendations and the pdf. I've had trouble for a long time growing most flowers in my garden (it's always had terrible drainage). This year I'm trying something completely new - I planted everything in pots and I just put the pots in my garden. Lol, it's never looked better! Lots of beautiful blooms everywhere! :)
Wonderful video, Sue - so helpful to see your successes. I grow Penstemon 'Dark Towers' which is similar to your cultivar and I love it for all the same reasons! Also, its emerging dark foliage looks great with spring bulbs, plus it is a cultivar of our native Penstemon digitalis, hence the insects flocking to it. If you decide to remove your Monarda fistulosa, consider the selected form 'Claire Grace'. It was recommended by the Mt. Cuba studies and I planted it 3 years ago. It was a naturally occurring selection chosen because it was a little shorter and less prone to flopping as well as with better mildew resistance. I grow mine in a partly sunny area and it has not flopped at all nor had any mildew. (Zone 6, SW PA) Also, the deer seem to leave it alone unlike Monarda didyma, which they nibble quite a bit. It also tends to not travel as much as the Monarda didyma. Another favorite in my garden is Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' - I love flowers with multiple colors and this is a beauty - it stands straight up, the pollinators love it, and it has been persistent for me for the past 3 years. It would look great with your Heliopsis ''Burning Hearts'. Finally, I am smitten with our native grass Deschampsia cespitosa, tufted hair grass. It is a cool season grass and greens up very early in the season. It blooms in mid-summer, very airy see-through 2' blooms that add a magical touch to the garden for months until late fall. I used it with great success in my wild garden and am now adding it to my more formal garden beds to reduce the maintenance work while adding a little ethereal magic.They also divide easily in early spring, not at all like dealing with miscanthus or other large grasses. I recently bought several more in plug form from The PollenNation nursery by mail - they are the least expensive source of native plants that I've found and have given me the most success. Thank you again for such an informative video!
Powdery mildew is definitely a problem on almost all monardas. To me, they make up for it by blooming basically all summer long and feeding thousands of bees. As for the flopping I’ll say that many times a native plant will grow much taller in the first two or three years after planting than they typically grow for the rest of their lives or in the wild. Once they reach equilibrium with the other plants, they usually hold themselves up a little better. :) Good luck and thanks for the video!
In RI, we have really high temperatures and without being able to weed in my garden…..now unless it gets cooler the weeds just keep coming with little mosquitoes or really small insects the bite me, and help will help. Love your video❤
RI this time of season sounds like Michigan. Once it gets hot and humid, those mosquitoes come out here too. I use a repellent when I am in the garden this time of year. Thanks for watching!
Loved the video. My favourite plants are False Indigo, Peonies, Columbine, grasses, irises, poppy, honeysuckle, lace cap hydrangeas and hosta ( deer ate most of mine this yr) for pots I love begonias, verbena, and so many more
Beautiful 💐 My days of gardening are over, I'm afraid, but I still dream when I see a beautiful garden like yours. I always had as much echinacea as possible, red beebalm, rudbeckia (can't get enough!). Always admired the softer tones, but I was drawn to the stronger coloured perennials. I still have them but more flowering shrubs...less management. Your garden is a delight.
Loved the video. Your garden is quite the prize. I am a container gardener and have mostly native plants for the birds, bees and other pollinators. The Monarda I have is the didyma "Jacob Cline" I am having problems with mealy bugs on the Monarda as well as on my Salvia Coccinea and my coleus. (Alcohol and cotton swab). I am not crazy about the salvia Coccinea mostly because it is in a large pot and constantly dried out here in SC. It would be great in the ground at the back of the garden. A great new thing I did this year was plant native wildflowers in an old kids wagon. A plastic Radio Flyer. I used old potting soil and just sprinkled the seeds, patted them down and poof they came up in 3 days. Of course I over planted so I have to water deep twice a day, but boy what a bunch of blooms since April non stop with something new as the days go by. There are seeds for every state. Sun or shade etc. Very pleased. Oh and I also love the Passiflora vine which would be an annual in Michigan unless you have a conservatory but of course the flowers are so unique and of course the passion fruit. Thank you for your helpful video and a peek at your lovely garden.❤
Thanks for your note. Wow! What a cool idea to use that wagon for wild flowers. I have a neighbor that planted a wild flower border and I walk by everyday to see how it changes through the season. It's lovely. I tried growing passion vine from seed last season and didn't do something right and it never germinated. That is definitely a plant I want to try. Thanks for being here and happy gardening!
@@GardenMoxie I have a suggestion. Maybe you could order the fresh fruits from somewhere and try. I have a tiny zip packet that shows my failure with seed as well. They are so tiny. Hope that helps. Your garden brings smiles. Smiles bring joy.
I love Agastache’Blue Fortune’. It seeds around and the seedlings can be variable in height and sometimes color. It also has had chartreuse seedlings like the cultivar ‘Golden Jubilee’. The golden form is not as tall in my garden.
Thanks for the recommendation. I have a few plants of 'Blue Fortune' I need to move into a sunnier location. You may have just convinced me to get going on that task.
I’m in NZ and love to grow the tall brightly coloured zinnia. The butterflies just flock. They also grow all summer long. And I like to leave the dried branches until into June as the birds collect the seeds.
I think zinnias are such happy plants. What a great idea to leave the seeds for the birds. I like to leave things out over the autumn and winter for the same reason. Thanks so much for being here.
@@annar8290 I am happy to report I have not had an issue with slugs on my zinnias. I tend to get more slugs in my shade border, but I also have a fair number of toads in the area.
I am loving that penstemon midnight! I need her in my life! She will go well with the hibiscus and elderberry in our garden. I love that dark foliage contrast! Thanks for sharing such informative video. Will keep an eye out for the penstemon. Have an awesome day Sue!
Coleus is a fantastic plant. You have to love something that will bring such great colors to a shady space too. Thanks for sharing another great plant!
I certainly ditto your sentiments on the beebalm! Though mine doesnt usually flop, it is covered in powdery mildew despite the drought we've been going thru! Since it has such a short bloom time, I wont miss it when I boot it out of my garden! ha ha!
Thanks for your experience with plants. Yes, bee balm is notorious for mildew especially with all the rain we’ve had. Cool nights and foggy mornings can bring on mildew also. I’m not sure if there is a mildew resistant variety in bee balm, but I have hollyhocks with really bad rust and they do have rust resistant varieties in that. However, I just started 2 other colors this year and won’t bloom until next year. I will continue for one more year, but start spraying copper early before rust arrives and see if I can stave it off. Sigh. Never had this issue that I remember. Another flower is some kind of basic black eyed Susan that gets mildew and they reseed everywhere. I’ve noticed it depends where they are growing if they stay healthy or not. Tall phlox mildew as well. Breadseed poppies can look ragged on the bottom and probably reseed as readily as the red poppies and will need to watch. New flowers I like are Gomphrena, bunny tails grass and gazania so far. Definitely loved that a speedwell survived and like those over sages and live all penstemon! New ones that I don’t understand are Cup & Saucer vine, Blackeyed Susan vine and Ice Plant. C&S just keeps growing vigorously and afraid it will bloom just before frost, BES vine will not grow and seems allergic to climb as it’s always on the ground what little of it there is and at only 5” popped a flower and just isn’t growing in several places. And the Ice plant that I so thought would love it here like moss roses, I just don’t know what it wants. You can’t overwater it, yet it just isn’t thriving and I think the rabbits love it. I might still have one growing somewhere but it must want a different climate and it hasn’t bloomed. We have sandy soil and it probably didn’t like all the rain, but we dry out to dust quickly here. And I realized why they named the flower Forget Me Nots because when the seed dries it sticks to your clothing Bad, like the weed stick tights. 😂. Last year I thought I had some of that weed somewhere on the property and it was the flowers😂. And the snap dragons are not as tall and vigorous as the pictures portray. Lol, matter of fact many don’t look like their pictures. I think plants have a timeline of when they will do well. Some that lag for years all of a sudden take off like the short primrose here. As far as 2 invasives I’m still trying to get rid of would be a stonecrop sedum and basic dark green hostas that were here. They grow into the grass and that stonecrop has legs.
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing all that great information. I laughed out loud when you mentioned how the forget-me-not seeds stick to you. Ugh! My garden gloves look so gross after I remove the spent flowers for the season. I appreciate you taking your time to share such great information.
I am with you! I was thrilled that it bloomed the first season that I grew it from seed. It is growing strong its second season too. I love great plants that are inexpensive to grow.
I have yard envy watching this video. Your space is so beautiful and inviting. And you have butterflies! I've smothered all of the grass on 3 sides of my yard and replaced it with flowers and shrubs for the birds. I'm in central Illinois, and I've seen maybe two butterflies all summer. Orher people I talk to locally haven't seen any. My yard is the only oasis in the kentucky bluegrass desert of the neighborhood; it should be crawling with butterflies. As I said, I'm jealous 😊 I dont have the flopping issue with my 5' tall bee balm, but, yes, it does get powdery mildew every year. Jerry Baker had a lot of books about home gardening remedies. There was sonething about a baking soda solution to get rid of the mildew. In my yard, it doesn't bother me much because it's surrounded by other, equally tall prairie plants that block my view of the foliage. My favorite summer perennial is liatris. It's strikingly tall and beautiful, and the pollinatirs love it.
Thanks for your note. I am sad to hear you are not seeing butterflies. You are not the first person to tell me that. Such distressing news. It sounds like you are providing a beautiful space for them. Thanks for watching.
I agree re verbena bonariensis! I love it’s ability to pop up anywhere with no care whatsoever. In my Cape Cod sand, I need plants that don’t need babying…or water! And hopefully spread on their own, because nothing is going to get too aggressive here. Alliums and agastache are favorites lately, and I’ve turned back to some old plants from my past - malva zebrina and rose campion. The malva took a beating from rabbits, but I’m not giving up on it. I adore penstemon , and am happy with midnight masquerade, but the hot sun and dry soil leaves that lovely foliage looking pretty washed out by August. I’m intrigued by Carthusian pink, and will be looking into seed for that. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for watching the video. It sounds like you have a lot of great plants in your Cape Cod garden. I think you'll enjoy growing Carthusian pinks from seed. Happy gardening!
How nice of you to share a PDF for people! I just bought my first Mondara but it's tiny at the moment. Interesting to see how big they get! Looks like I'll be moving mine later on.
Thanks! I love the Carthusian Pink and had never heard of it. I grow a variety of dianthus including carnations already and the bloom time on this makes it perfect for me.
What ultimately worked for me is to lean on the studies from Mt Cuba - which evaluated the plants for vigor, mildew resistance and stem strength. That’s how I landed on Purple Rooster. That’s my color. But there are others that might be worth a try that performed even better. I use branded plants judiously but this is one of the cases where I would caution against unless regional field data is available particularly in regards to mildew resistance AND length of bloom which can be short in more compact varieties
@@PeggyMills The challenge is that this study is at least 10 years old. What we really need is for Mt Cuba to do another study evaluating the cultivars now available, including those in a wider color range. For me, given when I live, in New England, and based on experience, I just cannot plant anything unless it is listed as excellent in terms of PM resistance. That could explain why this cultivar is not being stocked in retail nurseries. The easiest way to obtain Gardenview Scarlet is as plugs. That’s probably too many plants - but you could buy them online in sets of 5 retail (costs more but still under 4 including shipping) from places like Pollen Nation. Note plugs the plants will likely not flower their first year
Good evening Sue! Right now I'm loving my butterfly bushes! Can you recommend any direct sowing into the ground seeds. That loves dry conditions . Love your videos!❤😊
Hello and thanks for your note. Zinnias are great direct sow into the ground seeds for sure. The others I have tried are cosmos (the deer go crazy for them unfortunately), nigella (love-in-a-mist), and rose campion (this is biennial so blooms the second season). Rose campion is great in tough spots and if you sow seeds and let them grow in the garden you can move them around where you need them to bloom.
I kind of regret planting monarda as well. Someone here said it bloomed for them all summer but it doesn't do that for me. It blooms like mid-July to the beginning to mid-August and then goes to seed and always, always gets powdery mildew. It spreads like crazy as well and I spend a lot of time just trying to control it. If I had a wild, meadowy area I'd like to move it there, but I don't have that in my present situation. I am a big fan of zinnia's as well. I tried planting seed direct in my garden this year but the blooms came so late for me that next year I'll go back to winter sowing it to get a head start. Love the variety you're growing and lovely verbena too!!
Thanks for watching. It sounds like you and I share the same experience with monarda. I visited a local native meadow and the plants there look absolutely perfect so I think I just don't have the right conditions to make this plant happy.
I’ve tried different bee balms with no luck ever. I got some dark towers penstemon on clearance a year ago. This year it bloomed and I was in love. I started Culvers root from seed a year or two ago and this year, well I’m in love with that too.
I have Penstemon Dark Towers, too Just love it. Also, I have found that Balmy Pink Bee Balm is resistant to PM. Short, pink and front of the border plant.
Thank you. I know EXACTLY how you feel. I was reluctant to plant such a big garden in the front of my house, but it is the only place I get sun now that a winter storm forced us to remove a large white pine. I want to focus on shade garden plants and part shade plants for my back garden. There are several beds to redo. I will make a note to share recommended shade plants too.
Agree in peacefulness and loving the woodland garden. That said, sunny patch for sunny perennials I think I will use containers to place them in the sun. Cheers
Nice summary. Thanks. I like Amaranth. Exotic long tongues of red flowers, and the leaves can be used in place of spinach. They do not taste as good as spinach, but they save me a few runs to the store when making a spinach omelet or a spinach enchilada. The leaves are said to be rich in nutrients. I also have self seeding small, multi-bloom per stock, sunflowers. They take care of themselves and they bloom in late summer-fall, an make a cheerful yellow swath. I am in france, zone 7b or so.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I dream of growing lots of sunflowers. I can't manage to get plants to grow with the deer in my area. I only have sun in the front of the house and you can't add fences there according to the rules of where I live. I bet your garden is beautiful. Cheers! 😊
@@GardenMoxie My garden is pretty nice. Only a half acre, but these days in Europe, that's better than most. These are multi-headed, small flowers, but still compound like a sunflower, and they brighten the late summer and autumn. I would rather have deer in my front garden than flowers, so lucky you. I always here of plants that deer do not eat, but have no experience with deer. Looking forward to more Moxie.
I have the wild bergamot and live in the hot sunny 40 degrees Celsius🎉 Okanagan of British Columbia . It does not get much rain in the wild , please plant it where you don’t water it , it will thrive without mildew . I hope this helps. It is planted with my Showy Milkweed, Wild baby’s breath ,and Queen Ann’s Lace . All these do well without great soil and pampering them .
I love perennial hardy geranium Roxanne. I love how it rambles over it’s neighbors with non-stop blooms. A favorite annual in my zone 6 garden is Victoria Blue Salvia. I’ve had it over-winter sometimes, but is sold as an annual.
I grew my first salvia in containers this season and you are right. Such great plants. I also love Roxanne. I have an issue with the deer eating that one which is a shame.
Regarding bee balm: I discovered if I cut back almost to ground it will stop the legginess and grow back beautifully. I have several varieties and have learned to love this bergamot plant. An arborist told me to spray copper on mildewed plants and I can't believe how it has solved my problem.
Native butterfly weed is a staple in my gardens. The orange variety gives several hues and is overall very forgiving plant. Plus excellent to attract the pollinators. You can direct or winter sow the seeds. It’s easy and reliable.
I very much appreciated your commentarybee balm. I, as well, love it, and it frustrates me incredibly. I cannot control the powdery mildew either. You answered a very important question for me and my garden.
zone 4 - Minnesota, I just picked up that same monarda, from the local pond, we have a ton of it growing, so I thought I would spread it out to my garden , since I have a tall red monarda that is doing so great, as far as favorite plants- I also love our native perrenial verbena, I got it from again the hills around us, some native coreopsis seeded itself in my garden and finally I love our native rudbeckia, blooms a ton and easy to pick up from the side of the road, we have a tall rudbeckia variety with its petals turned downwards, I also plucked a few for my garden, basically this year I got a lot of plants foraging around, because I agree that plants prices are out of control and I do want to have a plant that will grow no matter what, very often I see garden centers bring flowers of zone 5a thinking it will survive here but no, they do not
Thanks for watching. You are growing your garden in a tough areas there in Minnesota. I love your idea to use natives. I love rudbeckia too, but I'm having a heck of a time with deer. The deer ate it right to the ground.
I'm in zone 5 and I absolutely love epimedium. Maybe my favorite. Grows in shade, even under black walnuts! My other favorite is Trycyrtis or toadlily. Another stunner in the shade with late orchid-like little flowers on long stems. Thanks for your videos!
Thanks for sharing the great shade garden suggestions. I still want to add toadlily to my garden. I am also a fan of epimedium. That plant is stunning and perfect for dry shade. You are so right! 😊
Your garden is beautiful. I grew the Carthusian Pinks this year and also loved them. One I don’t like as much as I had hoped was pennyroyal. Live the perennial salvias too
You are the first person that mentioned growing the carthusian pinks too. They are the coolest plants in my opinion. Thanks for your kind note. I appreciate you being here.
Thank you so much for these suggestions. I recently moved to zone 5a and its been quite a challenge finding long blooming perennials that work here. Will try to find the Carthesian Pinks. They seem to pop!
I’ve tried a couple of these… but I agree. My monarda looks great in the spring, and struggles with powdery mildew the whole rest of the season! It’s very frustrating. 😅
Very nicely made video with very clearly stated explanations on the plants. Thank you. May I ask though if you noticed if the penstemon spreads aggressively and self seeds the same way? I have one in a large pot because I’m worried it might be hard to control. I’d appreciate your thoughts. Thanks again!
Thank you and thanks for watching. This is the second season for this penstemon and so far I have not seen aggressive tendencies. But with only 2 seasons under my belt, I need to keep observing before I can give my opinion on this one.
Beautiful blooms! You just added more plants to my wishlist. I have very arid conditions usually and my monarda don't seem to fall victim to powdery mildew...yet. I have Jacob Cline and Purple Rooster and I was looking at the lavender one but it may be more susceptible and I should be content with what I have. I try to keep to plants that just thrive in my area and conditions to make it easier but I do like testing out new to me plants as well. And if the gophers don't seem to eat them. Of course, I usually get them off the bargain rack.
Thanks for watching. I have great luck with Jacob Cline too. I have that growing along the side yard and there is not a sign of mildew. I think I just need to consider a different variety.
I’m definitely going to add Heliopolis to my hot border it looks stunning in your garden, the flowering is very impressive for its first season. I’m having the same problem you’re experiencing with the Monarda with a lot of my perennials this year because of our wet summer. Not so much powdery mildew although my lupins have succumbed, but with plants growing huge, so much bigger than normal then flopping over, lifting and staking has become a daily chore I could do without.
Hi there! Thanks so much. Just to be clear, this is the second season for the heliopsis. I grew them from seed and they bloomed that first season, but they were not as full as you see in the garden this season. I love them and think they add some much needed color to my garden. I have issues with something eating them when they first start growing in the season. I am pretty sure it is the rabbits, but luckily, they lose interest as the grow a bit more and the majority of plants survive the assault 😊.
A mixture of milk and water will control powdery mildew. Experiment with different ratios. Start with 25/75 and work from there, going up or down until you find the ratio that works for you. 😊
Thanks for watching. That plant is turning into an awful looking bunch of foliage. As soon as the blooms are spent, I will chop it in half and decide what I'll do next.
I grew bee balm for the first time this year. Mine never got that big, maybe next year. Love the zinnia! Gonna look for some of those seeds. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for that video and a bonus pdf. I agree that the pink bee balms are very susceptible to powdery mildew. The cultivars of bee balm tend to be more resistant to that. I bought a "red shade" one on the internet and it is a beautiful plum/maroon color. LOVE IT. If U want native suggest the Lemon Bee Balm (Monarda citriodora), it has an unusual flower and as I planted it on a dry hill it didn't get mildew, not sure if it is resistant to it possibly not but doesn't turn into the massive messy looking one your not to thrilled with.
I live in south central Michigan and by chance discovered Montauk (sp)? Daisies a few years ago. They bloom in the fall and are around 30” tall. The leaves are almost succulent like. We’ve had so much rain this summer that they were looking really healthy and green and had not started to grow buds yet this year when the deer ate all the tops off the plants. I’m not sure they will recover for this year. I don’t remember having that problem before. And the rabbits are eating my morning glories right to the ground. Also don’t remember having that happen ever. The morning glories keep trying though! 😊
Hello fellow Michigan gardener. I haven't heard of the daisy variety you recommended. I am looking forward to learning more about them. Thank you for sharing. Happy gardening!
Hi Sue. Another great video. Thank you. I have grown the Carthusian dianthus but lost it because I had it in the wrong spot. It loves the heat!! I have not grown the Burning Hearts Heliopsis, but I do grow Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine. It is a variegated variety with the typical yellow flowers. A great bloomer. This year I am growing the Zinnia queenie Lime and excited to collect seed and see what I get next year. Verbena Bonariensis is a staple in my dry Colorado garden; an absolute must!! The dark leafed penstemon that I have grown for years is Dark Towers. I have seen Midnight Masquarade at the garden center where I work, but wasn't sure...yours looks great. Finally, Bee Balm!! I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with Bee Balm. Fabulous for the pollinators but a bear when it comes to powdery mildew. I don't grow it in my garden because I don't have the water requirements for it right now, but I do grow a variety at one of my client's gardens that does not get PM and that is Balmy Pink. Bloom with bright pink flowers, short, about 12 inches or so, but great colour and tends to keep blooming with deadheading. I have it at the front of her border. Thanks for all the effort you put into your videos, Sue. You are and exceptional RUclips Gardener!!!! God bless you.
Thanks so much for your kind note of encouragement and thanks for the awesome suggestions. I am going to investigate your suggested bee balm. I was so hoping the native would perform well, but that is what makes gardening so fun. You get to experiment. Thanks for being here.
I might surprise you, but at present my pet peeves are: Heliopsis helianthoides (the basic variety) and Verbena bonariensis. I cannot get rid of them, they self-seed everywhere, even in pots, in seemingly seed-free soil straight from a bag. By the way, there seem to be some more mildew- resistant monarda varieties. Thank you for the video!
Yes, one of my pet peeves is the Silpheum, a hardy Heliopsis variety. Self-seeds like mad and it is a nightmare to dig out. From the Canadian prairies with roots that will challenge anyone. Given to me by a friend...gahhhhhhhh.
Hello and thanks for sharing your experience. That is the great thing here where we can learn how different gardening zones perform. I know verbena is invasive in some states in the USA. I am glad it seems to be okay here in Michigan. I appreciate you sharing your experience.
@@GardenMoxie Funnily enough, when I started growing Verbena bonariensis I was really happy about its self-seeding habit. After a few years, I'm no longer that happy ;-) I'm sure it's going to escape into the wild here, in central Europe, perhaps it's already happened. I find Verbena hastata easier to "tame" and keep it so.
Hello Sue, I enjoy seeing your plant choices for this year and learning from your feedback! Thanks! This summer I found a mildew resistant bee balm variety, it’s called “Jacob Cline”. You can look it up. It’s red, tall and beautiful, attracts hummingbirds to my garden. No mildew for me so far.
Thanks so much. I am happy to report that you are absolutely right about the Jacob Cline. I believe that is the variety I have along my side yard and it is amazing. Thanks for sharing that find. That is a great recommendation 😊.
@@dustyflats3832 I can appreciate that - but I must say that I could not imagine being without it because it provides such great color and height to a space which gets some shade - the foliage colors up in fall and the plumes last well into the fall/early winter. IMHO This is a great plant but the choice of cultivar is crucial….
I just bought the burning hearts heliopsis at my local garden center the end of June . I had it in my garden a few years ago but it was eaten by voles and I couldn’t find another one until this year . I want to try growing verbena b. next year
Hi, Sue! I can’t believe how big your Monarda is! Mine has always only been knee high. I haven’t much luck with them. They seem to disintegrate when the summer storms come. I didn’t plant any this year.
I love to grow so many plants, Sue but one native you might want to try is Rattlesnake Master, if it’s hardy in your area. I have it in its second year, and I’m loving it.
Hi Peggy. I have had the worst luck trying to winter sow Rattlesnake Master. I want to grow that plant in the pollinator garden so badly! Any suggestions on growing it from seed? Apparently I can't seem to get it right.😊
@@GardenMoxie no, I actually ended up getting a starter plant on Etsy and have already gotten a pup from it. I might can find which seller if you’d like.
We are in our third summer of "severe drought". I've lost plants despite my watering. The ones that have done best without much water or fussing are black-eyed Susans, echinacea and heliopsis. My older daylilies have done well too.
Thanks for sharing your tips on drought tolerant plants. That is an important feature for sure. I am sorry to hear you are suffering with a severe drought. That is tough. The plants you mention are beauties.
I’d cut it back and wait another season. I’ve heard you had a lot of rain. So maybe a drier summer it would be fine. I have the red one. It’s been good but not that thick as yours. Good luck and thank you
Agastache might be a good replacement for the Monarda. It can flop but seems to be disease resistant and bees adore it. I got my seeds from Baker Creek Rare Seeds. I also grow a lot of pink Hyssop. It smells lovely and has a delicate haze of pink flowers all summer.
My Agastache flopped due to rain and wind so this year when it first came up I surrounded it with 3’ bamboo stakes and then crisscrossed twine from stake to stake, kind of like when you were a kid and did the ‘cats cradle’ with your fingers and string. It looked crazy for a couple weeks until it grew up and thru the spaces but in no time the stems and foliage covered it all. It’s about 3 1/2’ high now and standing just perfect!
I love that you recommended agastache. I just bought a pack of 'Heather Queen' variety seeds to sow this autumn. That might be the perfect replacement now that you mention it. I didn't think of that. Thanks for the suggestion.
There are some newer monarda varieties that are powdery mildew resistant. And shorter so they don't flop. I have a meadow garden and wanted all natives but I did pick a resistant monarda. I guess that still counts as a native. I am in SE MI too
My favorite in the garden right now are candytuft masterpiece & pentas & blushing bride hydrangea. If I had to pick one, it would be Blushing Bride. It is luminous white & then it starts to blush & turns to luminous maroon.
Hello. I think Blushing Bride hydrangea is a real beauty. I have trouble growing it here because of out late frosts. I tend to only get foliage. Such a shame because it is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing your top picks.
I had a similar problem with my bee balm. I ended up moving it to a very sunny area that had dry soil and it thrived and the bee balm never got powdery mildew again.
Thanks for your incite on some stellar plants. I still love my purple echinacia even though it multiplies. They are perfect for a tough spot because of their deep tap roots. One thug I wish I never planted was Pink Japanese Anemones. Although the bees love it, and it's a late summer bloomer for pollinators, it will take over despite efforts of carefully digging it out to control it.🤪
Thanks for watching. I managed to accidentally figure out how to get anemones to slow down. Let them dry out. Yikes. My clumps in the back garden have completely dwindled after a hot, dry summer a couple seasons ago. But I agree, that plant is a real thug...but I love it none the less 😊
@@GardenMoxie Thanks for the tip. It explains why they are prospering since they are intermingled with my pampered plants. They are beautiful, and I tolerate them. Just wish I had known.😊
Oh man! I just planted wild bergamot bee balm this year. Now I am worried. But you are right; that's just part of gardening - trial and error. I'll see how it does out here in Utah. I just planted tall verbena this year for the first time as well. I hear that it self sows readily, so I am hopeful that happens for me. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching. You might have great luck with the monarda since it is not as humid. There have been a few gardeners leaving comments that the monarda grows well in CO.
Your garden is lovely. Everything looks so healthy and beautiful. I hate bee balm. It is invasive in my garden and it always gets powdery mildew also. I pull it out every time I see it now because I don't want it spreading powdery mildew to other plants. I have a coral honeysuckle that I love the flowers but it too keeps getting powdery mildew.
Hi! Thank you for the recommendations. I am in your area so I always like to hear what grows well or doesn’t in my area. That penstemon is on my list. Now the Carthusian Pinks will be as well. I like plants that give you a lot of bang for your buck. I totally agree with you on Verbena Bonariensis. It’s a huge pollinator magnet in my yard and it doesn’t flop. Thank you for your videos!
I have three bee balms. Only two get powdery mildew, and they always comes back with fresh foliage once I cut them to the ground. I know you said that you are not a fan of branded plants, but proven winners has a variety "pardon my pink/purple" that are mildew resistant.
I used to have Burning Hearts Heliopsis. I loved it for a year or two, then it spread everywhere in my border and just took over. Maybe it's my sandy soil...but just a warning to keep an eye on it. Verbena B is definitely a delight. And Penstemon Midnight Masquerade is a gem!
Thanks for the heads up Karen. My Mom's house up north had sandy soil and I was amazed at how some of her plants grew. She had Shasta daisies like I have never seen before. So huge and healthy. I will keep my eyes peeled. 😊
There are definitely varieties that are mildew resistant. This specific plant is a native. I think you can also help by thinning the plant to provide better air circulation. I let this plant just go because I don't have time to fuss with plants...ha ha. I recommend talking to local garden center staff for recommendations.
Monarda fistulosa has wonderful medicinal qualities for your immune system,respiratory,digestive and nervous systems. I would recommend you let it be for at least another season ~ let the bees enjoy it and then before or after the first big rain cut it back and dry the leaves and flowers to make a wonderful tea.
Enjoying your channel so very much. Love these plants, but I have no location in my garden with enough sun exposure. I may try Penstemon in the brightest spot. Thanks for sharing.
I assume you had a lot of rain like we did in WI. The mildew on my phlox started real early this year. I bought spray for it but it wouldn't stop raining long enough to apply it. I stripped the infected leaves off the stems top to bottom and they are blooming nicely. I pulled my long standing brown eyed susans because of avids which I will not tolerate. What a summer....
It sounds like we are getting similar weather. We have had a nice amount of rain this season. The garden always appreciates it...maybe not the bee balm...ha ha.
I have had the same experience with bee balm of the same color. I am not a fan of this plant. I live in a southern suburb of St. Louis,, MO. To help with the powdery mildew I have cut alot of the plant cluster to make it more sparse to allow for more air movement, this has helped.
Lovely! I am smitten with the heliopsis, I've gotten seedlings about the place that are every bit or nicer than the parent plants, hard not to be keeping many of them, THOUGH the nasty large red aphid has arrived to this region and will completely cover the stems of the plants from top right to the very bottom and one must either spray with a jet from the garden hose or remove the plants entirely, in a large garden as mine, it really creates a good deal more work tending to these wonderful plants! The tall verbena is another gem, seeds out terribly though! I have a newer more compact variety called 'Vanity' that I prefer, flowers are a bit more intensely colored as well.
Thanks for sharing your plant picks. I have seen verbena Vanity and it looks like a beauty. Now that you mention it is more intensely colored, I may have to give that a try. Thank you.
Powdery mildew is my nemesis. We live in a humid climate, and I have pulled out all my phlox and some of my monarda because of powdery mildew issues. My new favorite plant is Nigella (Love in the Mist). I started it from seed last year and it self-seeded. The seed pods are as interesting as the flowers.🦋🦋🦋
I can imagine a humid climate can be challenging. I agree that nigella is a great plant for the garden. I love the fact that it readily self seeds too. Thanks for watching.
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The list of plants I love to grow has become smaller over the years, mostly because I' have made the decision to be more "selective" and to refocus on growing more of what grows/survives for me instead of having a large variety of plants. I have a huge problem with deer and this year (for the first time in 14 years in this home) I have a problem with rabbits as well. My filters are now....zones 4-8 minimum (I'm 6b), deer and rabbit resistent, insect damage resistent, and powdery mildew/disease resistent. What is working for me right now is boxwood, daffodil, iris, native wisteria, nasturtium, barberry, japanese holly, green giant arb, spartan juniper, wiegela, dwarf crape myrtle, cimicifuga, prairie winds 'lemon squeeze' and 'cheyenne sky' fountain grasses, blue star juniper, dwarf mugo pine, and hellebore. I recently added some baptisia and I'm waiting to see how that goes. So far, so good. I don't mind tending my garden, but I don't want to feel like I'm going to war with it each year.
Fully agree with the principle of sticking with what performs well and get rid of the rest.
What environment does helibore like?
As I have "matured" also narrowed my choices. Presently into shrubs and evergreens
Have you tried Agastaches, penstemon and salvias?? They are both deer and rabbit resistant plants and provide much for the pollinators.
So True! We go to war every year and fence most everything. This year is the First year we ever had rabbits dig under the fence!! Suppose the ground was saturated from all the rain. I had a deer jump into a small fenced area that I thought was too busy inside for them to jump in and it gouged a rose and tasted many. So up went another several feet of string above shorter fence. I generally use 7’ fence, but this was landscaped front yard and wanted it lower. The wildlife pressures were less in severe drought last year. Plants are too expensive to feed the wildlife and we are the salad bar on a run to the water.
For the beebalm, I would do a chelsea chop in mid spring for the floppiness and thin out half the stems at that time to create better airflow for the powdery mildew.
Thanks for the great suggestion. I am definintely going to thin out the grouping. I still haven't decided if I am keeping it, but it might make sense to try one more season with more drastic human intervention. Thanks for the note.
What about moving it to another area. It is very pretty, but I appreciate the 'problems' it creates.
@@sleepinglioness5754 There is another area in the garden that I might try that is less visible. Now that it is done blooming, I am seeing all kinds of yellow finches eating the spent flowers. I love those birds so I am not thinking of how to save it.
@@GardenMoxie God love you for being the finches' warrior....and they love you too!
@@GardenMoxie Many Mornada s get mealdow, but there are resistant ones. I have no names for you, but you can find them easily. A request for you and all garden friends: please use the latin names also. Like most Dutch I can read and write English, but plant names..... The first plant I have to google, although I can see it is Dianthus or related to it.
I love my monarda, it's called 'Mahogany ' and has never gotten powdery mildew, has gorgeous deep fushia colored blooms and very strong stalks. Last year it grew to nearly 7 feet high(more rain), this year under 6, with drought. As I have horses, most of my garden has very rich soil and I rarely need to stake anything, even peonies with massive and abundant blooms. Your garden is really lovely. Happy gardening.
Thank you for sharing your recommendation on the variety of monarda that you grow. I will write that down and check it out. Thanks for watching and happy gardening.
What a beautiful space you have created!
Thank you and thanks for watching.
This is my first season with Heliopsis 'burning hearts' & I love it as much as you love yours. It looks great with little care & keeps blooming
I am glad to hear the heliopsis is growing well for your too. That is great news. Thanks for watching.
Thx for sharing
Texas greats are… Lantana, Cone Flowers, Day Lilies, Rock Rose, Salvias, Hummingbird Bush, Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus, and the list goes on and on and on… 😊
Thanks for sharing!! You get to grow some real beauties.😊
I grow lots of salvia varieties because they just handle my zone 8b (Texas/Arkansas border) heat and humidity so well and perform till winter. I also like several varieties of coreopsis, gallardia, coneflower and rudbeckia. I love the different styles of your gardens.
Hello. Your garden sounds wonderful. I just learned how much hummingbirds love salvia. I am hoping to add them to the pollinator garden next season. Thanks for watching.
I bought some shorter varieties of bee balm that I could put in with my roses without overwhelming the area and they have done an amazing job of still attracting tons of pollinators for me!
Thanks for sharing that tip. Happy gardening!
Lovely video. Thank you for the recommendations and the pdf. I've had trouble for a long time growing most flowers in my garden (it's always had terrible drainage). This year I'm trying something completely new - I planted everything in pots and I just put the pots in my garden. Lol, it's never looked better! Lots of beautiful blooms everywhere! :)
Thank you. That is a great idea!
Wonderful video, Sue - so helpful to see your successes. I grow Penstemon 'Dark Towers' which is similar to your cultivar and I love it for all the same reasons! Also, its emerging dark foliage looks great with spring bulbs, plus it is a cultivar of our native Penstemon digitalis, hence the insects flocking to it.
If you decide to remove your Monarda fistulosa, consider the selected form 'Claire Grace'. It was recommended by the Mt. Cuba studies and I planted it 3 years ago. It was a naturally occurring selection chosen because it was a little shorter and less prone to flopping as well as with better mildew resistance. I grow mine in a partly sunny area and it has not flopped at all nor had any mildew. (Zone 6, SW PA) Also, the deer seem to leave it alone unlike Monarda didyma, which they nibble quite a bit. It also tends to not travel as much as the Monarda didyma.
Another favorite in my garden is Helenium 'Sahin's Early Flowerer' - I love flowers with multiple colors and this is a beauty - it stands straight up, the pollinators love it, and it has been persistent for me for the past 3 years. It would look great with your Heliopsis ''Burning Hearts'.
Finally, I am smitten with our native grass Deschampsia cespitosa, tufted hair grass. It is a cool season grass and greens up very early in the season. It blooms in mid-summer, very airy see-through 2' blooms that add a magical touch to the garden for months until late fall. I used it with great success in my wild garden and am now adding it to my more formal garden beds to reduce the maintenance work while adding a little ethereal magic.They also divide easily in early spring, not at all like dealing with miscanthus or other large grasses. I recently bought several more in plug form from The PollenNation nursery by mail - they are the least expensive source of native plants that I've found and have given me the most success. Thank you again for such an informative video!
Thanks so much for sharing the excellent suggestions Lynn. I appreciate all your experience. And thanks for watching the video.
Powdery mildew is definitely a problem on almost all monardas. To me, they make up for it by blooming basically all summer long and feeding thousands of bees. As for the flopping I’ll say that many times a native plant will grow much taller in the first two or three years after planting than they typically grow for the rest of their lives or in the wild. Once they reach equilibrium with the other plants, they usually hold themselves up a little better. :) Good luck and thanks for the video!
Thanks for the great tips and thanks for watching.
In RI, we have really high temperatures and without being able to weed in my garden…..now unless it gets cooler the weeds just keep coming with little mosquitoes or really small insects the bite me, and help will help. Love your video❤
RI this time of season sounds like Michigan. Once it gets hot and humid, those mosquitoes come out here too. I use a repellent when I am in the garden this time of year. Thanks for watching!
Loved the video. My favourite plants are False Indigo, Peonies, Columbine, grasses, irises, poppy, honeysuckle, lace cap hydrangeas and hosta ( deer ate most of mine this yr) for pots I love begonias, verbena, and so many more
Thanks for watching. You have shared a great list of plants. I love all of those too.
Beautiful 💐 My days of gardening are over, I'm afraid, but I still dream when I see a beautiful garden like yours. I always had as much echinacea as possible, red beebalm, rudbeckia (can't get enough!). Always admired the softer tones, but I was drawn to the stronger coloured perennials. I still have them but more flowering shrubs...less management.
Your garden is a delight.
Thanks so much. I appreciate your note and thank you for watching the video.
Loved the video. Your garden is quite the prize. I am a container gardener and have mostly native plants for the birds, bees and other pollinators. The Monarda I have is the didyma "Jacob Cline" I am having problems with mealy bugs on the Monarda as well as on my Salvia Coccinea and my coleus. (Alcohol and cotton swab). I am not crazy about the salvia Coccinea mostly because it is in a large pot and constantly dried out here in SC. It would be great in the ground at the back of the garden. A great new thing I did this year was plant native wildflowers in an old kids wagon. A plastic Radio Flyer. I used old potting soil and just sprinkled the seeds, patted them down and poof they came up in 3 days. Of course I over planted so I have to water deep twice a day, but boy what a bunch of blooms since April non stop with something new as the days go by. There are seeds for every state. Sun or shade etc. Very pleased. Oh and I also love the Passiflora vine which would be an annual in Michigan unless you have a conservatory but of course the flowers are so unique and of course the passion fruit. Thank you for your helpful video and a peek at your lovely garden.❤
Thanks for your note. Wow! What a cool idea to use that wagon for wild flowers. I have a neighbor that planted a wild flower border and I walk by everyday to see how it changes through the season. It's lovely. I tried growing passion vine from seed last season and didn't do something right and it never germinated. That is definitely a plant I want to try. Thanks for being here and happy gardening!
@@GardenMoxie I have a suggestion. Maybe you could order the fresh fruits from somewhere and try. I have a tiny zip packet that shows my failure with seed as well. They are so tiny. Hope that helps. Your garden brings smiles. Smiles bring joy.
@@LAWandCoach Thanks for the great tip.
I love Agastache’Blue Fortune’. It seeds around and the seedlings can be variable in height and sometimes color. It also has had chartreuse seedlings like the cultivar ‘Golden Jubilee’. The golden form is not as tall in my garden.
Thanks for the recommendation. I have a few plants of 'Blue Fortune' I need to move into a sunnier location. You may have just convinced me to get going on that task.
I’m in NZ and love to grow the tall brightly coloured zinnia. The butterflies just flock. They also grow all summer long. And I like to leave the dried branches until into June as the birds collect the seeds.
I think zinnias are such happy plants. What a great idea to leave the seeds for the birds. I like to leave things out over the autumn and winter for the same reason. Thanks so much for being here.
Just today I watched 6 goldfinch eating seeds from my zinnias. So nice.
Don’t slugs love them? How do you keep them from eating them away?
@@annar8290 I am happy to report I have not had an issue with slugs on my zinnias. I tend to get more slugs in my shade border, but I also have a fair number of toads in the area.
I am loving that penstemon midnight! I need her in my life! She will go well with the hibiscus and elderberry in our garden. I love that dark foliage contrast! Thanks for sharing such informative video. Will keep an eye out for the penstemon. Have an awesome day Sue!
Thanks friend. I am in love with that penstemon.
Those were all very good picks. Here in Raleigh NC, 6b? I love Coleus. So many colors and varieties for a part sun/shade yard.
Coleus is a fantastic plant. You have to love something that will bring such great colors to a shady space too. Thanks for sharing another great plant!
I think you are prob 8A
Love that Queeny Lemon Peach!
Me too! Thanks for watching.
I certainly ditto your sentiments on the beebalm! Though mine doesnt usually flop, it is covered in powdery mildew despite the drought we've been going thru! Since it has such a short bloom time, I wont miss it when I boot it out of my garden! ha ha!
Ha! I hear you! I am feeling the same as I keep an eye on that plant as end the season here. It is looking rough.
Thanks for your experience with plants. Yes, bee balm is notorious for mildew especially with all the rain we’ve had. Cool nights and foggy mornings can bring on mildew also. I’m not sure if there is a mildew resistant variety in bee balm, but I have hollyhocks with really bad rust and they do have rust resistant varieties in that. However, I just started 2 other colors this year and won’t bloom until next year. I will continue for one more year, but start spraying copper early before rust arrives and see if I can stave it off. Sigh. Never had this issue that I remember.
Another flower is some kind of basic black eyed Susan that gets mildew and they reseed everywhere. I’ve noticed it depends where they are growing if they stay healthy or not. Tall phlox mildew as well. Breadseed poppies can look ragged on the bottom and probably reseed as readily as the red poppies and will need to watch.
New flowers I like are Gomphrena, bunny tails grass and gazania so far. Definitely loved that a speedwell survived and like those over sages and live all penstemon! New ones that I don’t understand are Cup & Saucer vine, Blackeyed Susan vine and Ice Plant. C&S just keeps growing vigorously and afraid it will bloom just before frost, BES vine will not grow and seems allergic to climb as it’s always on the ground what little of it there is and at only 5” popped a flower and just isn’t growing in several places. And the Ice plant that I so thought would love it here like moss roses, I just don’t know what it wants. You can’t overwater it, yet it just isn’t thriving and I think the rabbits love it. I might still have one growing somewhere but it must want a different climate and it hasn’t bloomed. We have sandy soil and it probably didn’t like all the rain, but we dry out to dust quickly here.
And I realized why they named the flower Forget Me Nots because when the seed dries it sticks to your clothing Bad, like the weed stick tights. 😂. Last year I thought I had some of that weed somewhere on the property and it was the flowers😂. And the snap dragons are not as tall and vigorous as the pictures portray. Lol, matter of fact many don’t look like their pictures.
I think plants have a timeline of when they will do well. Some that lag for years all of a sudden take off like the short primrose here.
As far as 2 invasives I’m still trying to get rid of would be a stonecrop sedum and basic dark green hostas that were here. They grow into the grass and that stonecrop has legs.
Wow! Thanks so much for sharing all that great information. I laughed out loud when you mentioned how the forget-me-not seeds stick to you. Ugh! My garden gloves look so gross after I remove the spent flowers for the season. I appreciate you taking your time to share such great information.
I also love the burning hearts Heliopsis! I planted it in the front of my home and it is just beautiful!
I am with you! I was thrilled that it bloomed the first season that I grew it from seed. It is growing strong its second season too. I love great plants that are inexpensive to grow.
Rabbits or deer got mine.
@@chrispetersen6402 really? I guess eventually they might try anything.
In Colorado's high desert, dry climate monarda in my garden has never gotten powdery mildew. It's fragrance makes it one of my favorite plants.
Ahh...that makes sense. I think the humidity here is not helpful to the plant. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I have yard envy watching this video. Your space is so beautiful and inviting. And you have butterflies! I've smothered all of the grass on 3 sides of my yard and replaced it with flowers and shrubs for the birds. I'm in central Illinois, and I've seen maybe two butterflies all summer. Orher people I talk to locally haven't seen any. My yard is the only oasis in the kentucky bluegrass desert of the neighborhood; it should be crawling with butterflies. As I said, I'm jealous 😊 I dont have the flopping issue with my 5' tall bee balm, but, yes, it does get powdery mildew every year. Jerry Baker had a lot of books about home gardening remedies. There was sonething about a baking soda solution to get rid of the mildew. In my yard, it doesn't bother me much because it's surrounded by other, equally tall prairie plants that block my view of the foliage. My favorite summer perennial is liatris. It's strikingly tall and beautiful, and the pollinatirs love it.
Thanks for your note. I am sad to hear you are not seeing butterflies. You are not the first person to tell me that. Such distressing news. It sounds like you are providing a beautiful space for them. Thanks for watching.
I agree re verbena bonariensis! I love it’s ability to pop up anywhere with no care whatsoever. In my Cape Cod sand, I need plants that don’t need babying…or water! And hopefully spread on their own, because nothing is going to get too aggressive here. Alliums and agastache are favorites lately, and I’ve turned back to some old plants from my past - malva zebrina and rose campion. The malva took a beating from rabbits, but I’m not giving up on it. I adore penstemon , and am happy with midnight masquerade, but the hot sun and dry soil leaves that lovely foliage looking pretty washed out by August. I’m intrigued by Carthusian pink, and will be looking into seed for that. Thanks for the video!
Thank you for watching the video. It sounds like you have a lot of great plants in your Cape Cod garden. I think you'll enjoy growing Carthusian pinks from seed. Happy gardening!
How nice of you to share a PDF for people! I just bought my first Mondara but it's tiny at the moment. Interesting to see how big they get! Looks like I'll be moving mine later on.
Thanks for your note and thanks for watching.
Thanks! I love the Carthusian Pink and had never heard of it. I grow a variety of dianthus including carnations already and the bloom time on this makes it perfect for me.
I'm glad to hear you liked the recommendation. Thanks for watching.
What ultimately worked for me is to lean on the studies from Mt Cuba - which evaluated the plants for vigor, mildew resistance and stem strength. That’s how I landed on Purple Rooster. That’s my color. But there are others that might be worth a try that performed even better. I use branded plants judiously but this is one of the cases where I would caution against unless regional field data is available particularly in regards to mildew resistance AND length of bloom which can be short in more compact varieties
I also got Purple Rooster based on Mt. Cuba’s trials. I’m looking for Gardenview Scarlet based on this trial too.
Thank you and thanks for sharing that great reference. I will check that out.
@@PeggyMills The challenge is that this study is at least 10 years old. What we really need is for Mt Cuba to do another study evaluating the cultivars now available, including those in a wider color range. For me, given when I live, in New England, and based on experience, I just cannot plant anything unless it is listed as excellent in terms of PM resistance. That could explain why this cultivar is not being stocked in retail nurseries. The easiest way to obtain Gardenview Scarlet is as plugs. That’s probably too many plants - but you could buy them online in sets of 5 retail (costs more but still under 4 including shipping) from places like Pollen Nation. Note plugs the plants will likely not flower their first year
@@GardenMoxie I have been there - I had to rip the first ones I tried out
@@emmalavenham yes, that would be great.
Good evening Sue! Right now I'm loving my butterfly bushes! Can you recommend any direct sowing into the ground seeds. That loves dry conditions . Love your videos!❤😊
Hello and thanks for your note. Zinnias are great direct sow into the ground seeds for sure. The others I have tried are cosmos (the deer go crazy for them unfortunately), nigella (love-in-a-mist), and rose campion (this is biennial so blooms the second season). Rose campion is great in tough spots and if you sow seeds and let them grow in the garden you can move them around where you need them to bloom.
I kind of regret planting monarda as well. Someone here said it bloomed for them all summer but it doesn't do that for me. It blooms like mid-July to the beginning to mid-August and then goes to seed and always, always gets powdery mildew. It spreads like crazy as well and I spend a lot of time just trying to control it. If I had a wild, meadowy area I'd like to move it there, but I don't have that in my present situation. I am a big fan of zinnia's as well. I tried planting seed direct in my garden this year but the blooms came so late for me that next year I'll go back to winter sowing it to get a head start. Love the variety you're growing and lovely verbena too!!
Thanks for watching. It sounds like you and I share the same experience with monarda. I visited a local native meadow and the plants there look absolutely perfect so I think I just don't have the right conditions to make this plant happy.
The pollinators absolutely love all your flowers. I love watching them fly around throughout the day!
I am always so happy when I see those pollinators.
I’ve tried different bee balms with no luck ever. I got some dark towers penstemon on clearance a year ago. This year it bloomed and I was in love. I started Culvers root from seed a year or two ago and this year, well I’m in love with that too.
I have Penstemon Dark Towers, too Just love it. Also, I have found that Balmy Pink Bee Balm is resistant to PM. Short, pink and front of the border plant.
Thanks for sharing your recommendations. I am not familiar with either of the plants you recommended and I am excited to go investigate more. 😊
Thank you! I wished I had a sunny border!!!! purple cone flower (echinacea) is the best I can do in the small area !
Thank you. I know EXACTLY how you feel. I was reluctant to plant such a big garden in the front of my house, but it is the only place I get sun now that a winter storm forced us to remove a large white pine. I want to focus on shade garden plants and part shade plants for my back garden. There are several beds to redo. I will make a note to share recommended shade plants too.
Thank you
I wish I had more shade , shade gardens are so beautiful and peaceful. I love 💕 my sunny backyard but boy is it hot 🥵
Agree in peacefulness and loving the woodland garden. That said, sunny patch for sunny perennials I think I will use containers to place them in the sun. Cheers
@@Laura-rx9mp Great idea!
I love them all but the ones that always stop me in my tracks are daisies in any variety and cone flowers. I can't get enough of then!
Oh yes! Daisies are the happiest plants. I agree.
Nice summary. Thanks. I like Amaranth. Exotic long tongues of red flowers, and the leaves can be used in place of spinach. They do not taste as good as spinach, but they save me a few runs to the store when making a spinach omelet or a spinach enchilada. The leaves are said to be rich in nutrients. I also have self seeding small, multi-bloom per stock, sunflowers. They take care of themselves and they bloom in late summer-fall, an make a cheerful yellow swath. I am in france, zone 7b or so.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I dream of growing lots of sunflowers. I can't manage to get plants to grow with the deer in my area. I only have sun in the front of the house and you can't add fences there according to the rules of where I live. I bet your garden is beautiful. Cheers! 😊
@@GardenMoxie My garden is pretty nice. Only a half acre, but these days in Europe, that's better than most. These are multi-headed, small flowers, but still compound like a sunflower, and they brighten the late summer and autumn. I would rather have deer in my front garden than flowers, so lucky you. I always here of plants that deer do not eat, but have no experience with deer. Looking forward to more Moxie.
@@quicknumbercrunch8691 Sounds great! Happy gardening.
I have the wild bergamot and live in the hot sunny 40 degrees Celsius🎉 Okanagan of British Columbia . It does not get much rain in the wild , please plant it where you don’t water it , it will thrive without mildew . I hope this helps. It is planted with my Showy Milkweed, Wild baby’s breath ,and Queen Ann’s Lace . All these do well without great soil and pampering them .
Great suggestion. Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge. BC is one beautiful place.
I love perennial hardy geranium Roxanne. I love how it rambles over it’s neighbors with non-stop blooms. A favorite annual in my zone 6 garden is Victoria Blue Salvia. I’ve had it over-winter sometimes, but is sold as an annual.
I grew my first salvia in containers this season and you are right. Such great plants. I also love Roxanne. I have an issue with the deer eating that one which is a shame.
OMG so much great info! Loved this 🎉❤
Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed the video.
Regarding bee balm: I discovered if I cut back almost to ground it will stop the legginess and grow back beautifully. I have several varieties and have learned to love this bergamot plant.
An arborist told me to spray copper on mildewed plants and I can't believe how it has solved my problem.
Thanks for sharing that tip and thanks for watching.
Native butterfly weed is a staple in my gardens. The orange variety gives several hues and is overall very forgiving plant. Plus excellent to attract the pollinators. You can direct or winter sow the seeds. It’s easy and reliable.
Thanks for the recommendation. I am adding that one to the list. It sounds like a good replacement for the bee balm.
Wow....that zaina looks gorgeous, I have some multi colored ones in my garden too
Thank you. I have really come to love zinnias.
I very much appreciated your commentarybee balm. I, as well, love it, and it frustrates me incredibly. I cannot control the powdery mildew either. You answered a very important question for me and my garden.
Thank you and thanks for watching. Happy gardening!
zone 4 - Minnesota, I just picked up that same monarda, from the local pond, we have a ton of it growing, so I thought I would spread it out to my garden , since I have a tall red monarda that is doing so great, as far as favorite plants- I also love our native perrenial verbena, I got it from again the hills around us, some native coreopsis seeded itself in my garden and finally I love our native rudbeckia, blooms a ton and easy to pick up from the side of the road, we have a tall rudbeckia variety with its petals turned downwards, I also plucked a few for my garden, basically this year I got a lot of plants foraging around, because I agree that plants prices are out of control and I do want to have a plant that will grow no matter what, very often I see garden centers bring flowers of zone 5a thinking it will survive here but no, they do not
Thanks for watching. You are growing your garden in a tough areas there in Minnesota. I love your idea to use natives. I love rudbeckia too, but I'm having a heck of a time with deer. The deer ate it right to the ground.
I'm in zone 5 and I absolutely love epimedium. Maybe my favorite. Grows in shade, even under black walnuts! My other favorite is Trycyrtis or toadlily. Another stunner in the shade with late orchid-like little flowers on long stems. Thanks for your videos!
Thanks for sharing the great shade garden suggestions. I still want to add toadlily to my garden. I am also a fan of epimedium. That plant is stunning and perfect for dry shade. You are so right! 😊
Your garden is beautiful. I grew the Carthusian Pinks this year and also loved them. One I don’t like as much as I had hoped was pennyroyal. Live the perennial salvias too
You are the first person that mentioned growing the carthusian pinks too. They are the coolest plants in my opinion. Thanks for your kind note. I appreciate you being here.
Thank you for sharing! Happy Gardening 🌻🌻🌻
Thanks for watching and happy gardening to you. I appreciate you being here.
Thank you so much for these suggestions. I recently moved to zone 5a and its been quite a challenge finding long blooming perennials that work here. Will try to find the Carthesian Pinks. They seem to pop!
Thanks for watching. I am glad the video was helpful. I am sowing more Carthesian pink seeds to plant. I love the color.
I’ve tried a couple of these… but I agree. My monarda looks great in the spring, and struggles with powdery mildew the whole rest of the season! It’s very frustrating. 😅
Thanks for sharing!
Very nicely made video with very clearly stated explanations on the plants. Thank you.
May I ask though if you noticed if the penstemon spreads aggressively and self seeds the same way?
I have one in a large pot because I’m worried it might be hard to control. I’d appreciate your thoughts. Thanks again!
Thank you and thanks for watching. This is the second season for this penstemon and so far I have not seen aggressive tendencies. But with only 2 seasons under my belt, I need to keep observing before I can give my opinion on this one.
Beautiful blooms! You just added more plants to my wishlist. I have very arid conditions usually and my monarda don't seem to fall victim to powdery mildew...yet. I have Jacob Cline and Purple Rooster and I was looking at the lavender one but it may be more susceptible and I should be content with what I have. I try to keep to plants that just thrive in my area and conditions to make it easier but I do like testing out new to me plants as well. And if the gophers don't seem to eat them. Of course, I usually get them off the bargain rack.
Thanks for watching. I have great luck with Jacob Cline too. I have that growing along the side yard and there is not a sign of mildew. I think I just need to consider a different variety.
I grew up some Elijah blue grass from seed. I got a couple little tufts of it, and it made it through the winter. Very exciting. 🎉
That is awesome!
I’m definitely going to add Heliopolis to my hot border it looks stunning in your garden, the flowering is very impressive for its first season. I’m having the same problem you’re experiencing with the Monarda with a lot of my perennials this year because of our wet summer. Not so much powdery mildew although my lupins have succumbed, but with plants growing huge, so much bigger than normal then flopping over, lifting and staking has become a daily chore I could do without.
Hi there! Thanks so much. Just to be clear, this is the second season for the heliopsis. I grew them from seed and they bloomed that first season, but they were not as full as you see in the garden this season. I love them and think they add some much needed color to my garden. I have issues with something eating them when they first start growing in the season. I am pretty sure it is the rabbits, but luckily, they lose interest as the grow a bit more and the majority of plants survive the assault 😊.
A mixture of milk and water will control powdery mildew. Experiment with different ratios. Start with 25/75 and work from there, going up or down until you find the ratio that works for you. 😊
Thanks for the tip.
May also mean it is dry at the root, I think they prefer damp soils in the wild.
Totally agree whit you on Monarda. The plant has a lovely scent but no worth to keep and risk spreading of Powery mildew.
Thanks for watching. That plant is turning into an awful looking bunch of foliage. As soon as the blooms are spent, I will chop it in half and decide what I'll do next.
Such a great video!
Thanks so much.
I grew bee balm for the first time this year. Mine never got that big, maybe next year. Love the zinnia! Gonna look for some of those seeds. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching. That Queeny lemon peach zinnia is a great plant.
Thank you for that video and a bonus pdf. I agree that the pink bee balms are very susceptible to powdery mildew. The cultivars of bee balm tend to be more resistant to that. I bought a "red shade" one on the internet and it is a beautiful plum/maroon color. LOVE IT. If U want native suggest the Lemon Bee Balm (Monarda citriodora), it has an unusual flower and as I planted it on a dry hill it didn't get mildew, not sure if it is resistant to it possibly not but doesn't turn into the massive messy looking one your not to thrilled with.
Thanks so much for the great suggestions. I appreciate it.
I live in south central Michigan and by chance discovered Montauk (sp)? Daisies a few years ago. They bloom in the fall and are around 30” tall. The leaves are almost succulent like. We’ve had so much rain this summer that they were looking really healthy and green and had not started to grow buds yet this year when the deer ate all the tops off the plants. I’m not sure they will recover for this year. I don’t remember having that problem before. And the rabbits are eating my morning glories right to the ground. Also don’t remember having that happen ever. The morning glories keep trying though! 😊
Hello fellow Michigan gardener. I haven't heard of the daisy variety you recommended. I am looking forward to learning more about them. Thank you for sharing. Happy gardening!
Hi Sue. Another great video. Thank you. I have grown the Carthusian dianthus but lost it because I had it in the wrong spot. It loves the heat!! I have not grown the Burning Hearts Heliopsis, but I do grow Heliopsis Lorraine Sunshine. It is a variegated variety with the typical yellow flowers. A great bloomer. This year I am growing the Zinnia queenie Lime and excited to collect seed and see what I get next year. Verbena Bonariensis is a staple in my dry Colorado garden; an absolute must!! The dark leafed penstemon that I have grown for years is Dark Towers. I have seen Midnight Masquarade at the garden center where I work, but wasn't sure...yours looks great. Finally, Bee Balm!! I think everyone has a love/hate relationship with Bee Balm. Fabulous for the pollinators but a bear when it comes to powdery mildew. I don't grow it in my garden because I don't have the water requirements for it right now, but I do grow a variety at one of my client's gardens that does not get PM and that is Balmy Pink. Bloom with bright pink flowers, short, about 12 inches or so, but great colour and tends to keep blooming with deadheading. I have it at the front of her border. Thanks for all the effort you put into your videos, Sue. You are and exceptional RUclips Gardener!!!! God bless you.
Thanks so much for your kind note of encouragement and thanks for the awesome suggestions. I am going to investigate your suggested bee balm. I was so hoping the native would perform well, but that is what makes gardening so fun. You get to experiment. Thanks for being here.
Your garden is lovely
Thanks so much and thank for watching!
Great list Sue. Going to add a few of these to my garden next year.
Thanks for watching Jo!
Hello my friend, now I have to get those seeds , they’re all beautiful
There is nothing more fun that growing plants from seeds for sure. Thanks for watching.
I might surprise you, but at present my pet peeves are: Heliopsis helianthoides (the basic variety) and Verbena bonariensis. I cannot get rid of them, they self-seed everywhere, even in pots, in seemingly seed-free soil straight from a bag. By the way, there seem to be some more mildew- resistant monarda varieties. Thank you for the video!
Yes, one of my pet peeves is the Silpheum, a hardy Heliopsis variety. Self-seeds like mad and it is a nightmare to dig out. From the Canadian prairies with roots that will challenge anyone.
Given to me by a friend...gahhhhhhhh.
@@elisekuby2009 Thank you for the hint, I will remember that!
Hello and thanks for sharing your experience. That is the great thing here where we can learn how different gardening zones perform. I know verbena is invasive in some states in the USA. I am glad it seems to be okay here in Michigan. I appreciate you sharing your experience.
@@GardenMoxie Funnily enough, when I started growing Verbena bonariensis I was really happy about its self-seeding habit. After a few years, I'm no longer that happy ;-) I'm sure it's going to escape into the wild here, in central Europe, perhaps it's already happened. I find Verbena hastata easier to "tame" and keep it so.
Same here about powdery mildew on the Mondara. I don't grow phlox for the same reason.
Thanks for watching and thanks for sharing your experiences.😊
Hello Sue, I enjoy seeing your plant choices for this year and learning from your feedback! Thanks! This summer I found a mildew resistant bee balm variety, it’s called “Jacob Cline”. You can look it up. It’s red, tall and beautiful, attracts hummingbirds to my garden. No mildew for me so far.
Thanks so much. I am happy to report that you are absolutely right about the Jacob Cline. I believe that is the variety I have along my side yard and it is amazing. Thanks for sharing that find. That is a great recommendation 😊.
Love the purple-foliage penstemon, but note at least some cultivars - like Astilbe - can self seed…. That might be good thing though for some of you
My astilbe after several years has now gained a lot of strength and not sure what to do with it.
Thanks for the tip. This is the second season with the penstemon. I am going to be paying close attention to see how the seeds form.
@@dustyflats3832 I can appreciate that - but I must say that I could not imagine being without it because it provides such great color and height to a space which gets some shade - the foliage colors up in fall and the plumes last well into the fall/early winter. IMHO This is a great plant but the choice of cultivar is crucial….
Gave up on Monarda for the same reason. Love your other picks-Verbenia B is a prolific reseeds in my garden and I love it.
Thanks so much for watching. I was so excited to see how the butterflies flock to the verbena. I absolutely love that plant too.
I just bought the burning hearts heliopsis at my local garden center the end of June . I had it in my garden a few years ago but it was eaten by voles and I couldn’t find another one until this year . I want to try growing verbena b. next year
I am glad you found another heliopsis. I think it's a great plant for the garden. Thanks for watching.
@@GardenMoxie Greetings from Massachusetts
@@amyhoff1501 Greetings!
Hi, Sue! I can’t believe how big your Monarda is! Mine has always only been knee high. I haven’t much luck with them. They seem to disintegrate when the summer storms come. I didn’t plant any this year.
Hi! Mine is definitely disintegrating now...ha ha. What a messy plant.😊 Thanks for watching.
I love to grow so many plants, Sue but one native you might want to try is Rattlesnake Master, if it’s hardy in your area. I have it in its second year, and I’m loving it.
Hi Peggy. I have had the worst luck trying to winter sow Rattlesnake Master. I want to grow that plant in the pollinator garden so badly! Any suggestions on growing it from seed? Apparently I can't seem to get it right.😊
@@GardenMoxie no, I actually ended up getting a starter plant on Etsy and have already gotten a pup from it. I might can find which seller if you’d like.
@@PeggyMills I think I will look for a plant based on your suggestion. Thank you.
We are in our third summer of "severe drought". I've lost plants despite my watering. The ones that have done best without much water or fussing are black-eyed Susans, echinacea and heliopsis. My older daylilies have done well too.
Thanks for sharing your tips on drought tolerant plants. That is an important feature for sure. I am sorry to hear you are suffering with a severe drought. That is tough. The plants you mention are beauties.
Really lovely - thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much.
I’d cut it back and wait another season. I’ve heard you had a lot of rain. So maybe a drier summer it would be fine. I have the red one. It’s been good but not that thick as yours. Good luck and thank you
Thank you. Now that it is done blooming, that monarda is attracting yellow finches. That may be enough for me to keep it in the garden.
Heliopsis is so great! Mine comes back bigger and more spectacular every year
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing your recommendation and thanks for watching.
Agastache might be a good replacement for the Monarda. It can flop but seems to be disease resistant and bees adore it. I got my seeds from Baker Creek Rare Seeds. I also grow a lot of pink Hyssop. It smells lovely and has a delicate haze of pink flowers all summer.
My Agastache flopped due to rain and wind so this year when it first came up I surrounded it with 3’ bamboo stakes and then crisscrossed twine from stake to stake, kind of like when you were a kid and did the ‘cats cradle’ with your fingers and string. It looked crazy for a couple weeks until it grew up and thru the spaces but in no time the stems and foliage covered it all. It’s about 3 1/2’ high now and standing just perfect!
I love that you recommended agastache. I just bought a pack of 'Heather Queen' variety seeds to sow this autumn. That might be the perfect replacement now that you mention it. I didn't think of that. Thanks for the suggestion.
There are some newer monarda varieties that are powdery mildew resistant. And shorter so they don't flop. I have a meadow garden and wanted all natives but I did pick a resistant monarda. I guess that still counts as a native. I am in SE MI too
Hello fellow Michigan gardener! So nice to have you here. Thanks for the great suggestions.
Zinnias are muy favs. For sure next summer I will have some place for theme!💕
They are such happy plants. Thanks for watching.
They are beautiful Sue 🥰
Hello Jasmine and thanks for watching.😊
My favorite in the garden right now are candytuft masterpiece & pentas & blushing bride hydrangea. If I had to pick one, it would be Blushing Bride. It is luminous white & then it starts to blush & turns to luminous maroon.
Hello. I think Blushing Bride hydrangea is a real beauty. I have trouble growing it here because of out late frosts. I tend to only get foliage. Such a shame because it is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing your top picks.
I love the the monarda too. 😊
I found out it attracts yellow finches after it's done blooming so now I am trying to figure out how to make it work.
I had a similar problem with my bee balm. I ended up moving it to a very sunny area that had dry soil and it thrived and the bee balm never got powdery mildew again.
Thanks for the tip. I think the soil is too wet in the area I planted it.
That verbena grows well here California. We don’t have an issue. We just trim our monarda and that takes care of it. and
That is great! I am glad to hear you don't have issues. Thanks for watching.
Gillenia trifoliata is one of my favorites.
Thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing your lovely garden❤️ I have the Penstemon-Midnight Masquerade and absolutely love it.
Thank you. I'm smitten with that penstemon too. Definitely an all-season interest plant which is not easy to find.
Thanks for your incite on some stellar plants. I still love my purple echinacia even though it multiplies. They are perfect for a tough spot because of their deep tap roots. One thug I wish I never planted was Pink Japanese Anemones. Although the bees love it, and it's a late summer bloomer for pollinators, it will take over despite efforts of carefully digging it out to control it.🤪
Thanks for watching. I managed to accidentally figure out how to get anemones to slow down. Let them dry out. Yikes. My clumps in the back garden have completely dwindled after a hot, dry summer a couple seasons ago. But I agree, that plant is a real thug...but I love it none the less 😊
@@GardenMoxie Thanks for the tip. It explains why they are prospering since they are intermingled with my pampered plants. They are beautiful, and I tolerate them. Just wish I had known.😊
Oh man! I just planted wild bergamot bee balm this year. Now I am worried. But you are right; that's just part of gardening - trial and error. I'll see how it does out here in Utah. I just planted tall verbena this year for the first time as well. I hear that it self sows readily, so I am hopeful that happens for me. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching. You might have great luck with the monarda since it is not as humid. There have been a few gardeners leaving comments that the monarda grows well in CO.
Your garden is lovely. Everything looks so healthy and beautiful. I hate bee balm. It is invasive in my garden and it always gets powdery mildew also. I pull it out every time I see it now because I don't want it spreading powdery mildew to other plants. I have a coral honeysuckle that I love the flowers but it too keeps getting powdery mildew.
Ha! I now know exactly what you mean...thanks for your note and sharing your experiences.
Hi! Thank you for the recommendations. I am in your area so I always like to hear what grows well or doesn’t in my area. That penstemon is on my list. Now the Carthusian Pinks will be as well. I like plants that give you a lot of bang for your buck. I totally agree with you on Verbena Bonariensis. It’s a huge pollinator magnet in my yard and it doesn’t flop. Thank you for your videos!
Thanks so much. I am glad you find the video helpful. That penstemon is a beauty. I bought more seeds to grow more carthusian pinks too.
I have three bee balms. Only two get powdery mildew, and they always comes back with fresh foliage once I cut them to the ground. I know you said that you are not a fan of branded plants, but proven winners has a variety "pardon my pink/purple" that are mildew resistant.
Thanks so much for sharing the varieties that work well for you and thanks for watching.
I used to have Burning Hearts Heliopsis. I loved it for a year or two, then it spread everywhere in my border and just took over. Maybe it's my sandy soil...but just a warning to keep an eye on it. Verbena B is definitely a delight. And Penstemon Midnight Masquerade is a gem!
Thanks for the heads up Karen. My Mom's house up north had sandy soil and I was amazed at how some of her plants grew. She had Shasta daisies like I have never seen before. So huge and healthy. I will keep my eyes peeled. 😊
Very helpful video, I was planning to buy Bee balm buy not sure about it.
There are definitely varieties that are mildew resistant. This specific plant is a native. I think you can also help by thinning the plant to provide better air circulation. I let this plant just go because I don't have time to fuss with plants...ha ha. I recommend talking to local garden center staff for recommendations.
Monarda fistulosa has wonderful medicinal qualities for your immune system,respiratory,digestive and nervous systems. I would recommend you let it be for at least another season ~ let the bees enjoy it and then before or after the first big rain cut it back and dry the leaves and flowers to make a wonderful tea.
Thanks for sharing your suggestions on how to handle the monarda.
Enjoying your channel so very much. Love these plants, but I have no location in my garden with enough sun exposure. I may try Penstemon in the brightest spot. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much and thanks for watching.
I assume you had a lot of rain like we did in WI. The mildew on my phlox started real early this year. I bought spray for it but it wouldn't stop raining long enough to apply it. I stripped the infected leaves off the stems top to bottom and they are blooming nicely. I pulled my long standing brown eyed susans because of avids which I will not tolerate. What a summer....
It sounds like we are getting similar weather. We have had a nice amount of rain this season. The garden always appreciates it...maybe not the bee balm...ha ha.
I have had the same experience with bee balm of the same color. I am not a fan of this plant. I live in a southern suburb of St. Louis,, MO. To help with the powdery mildew I have cut alot of the plant cluster to make it more sparse to allow for more air movement, this has helped.
Thank you. I definitely will need to thin this plant if it stays in the border.
Lovely! I am smitten with the heliopsis, I've gotten seedlings about the place that are every bit or nicer than the parent plants, hard not to be keeping many of them, THOUGH the nasty large red aphid has arrived to this region and will completely cover the stems of the plants from top right to the very bottom and one must either spray with a jet from the garden hose or remove the plants entirely, in a large garden as mine, it really creates a good deal more work tending to these wonderful plants! The tall verbena is another gem, seeds out terribly though! I have a newer more compact variety called 'Vanity' that I prefer, flowers are a bit more intensely colored as well.
Thanks for sharing your plant picks. I have seen verbena Vanity and it looks like a beauty. Now that you mention it is more intensely colored, I may have to give that a try. Thank you.
I have that Penstemon absolutely love it in my East TN garden
Yay! It is a great plant. Happy gardening.
Powdery mildew is my nemesis. We live in a humid climate, and I have pulled out all my phlox and some of my monarda because of powdery mildew issues. My new favorite plant is Nigella (Love in the Mist). I started it from seed last year and it self-seeded. The seed pods are as interesting as the flowers.🦋🦋🦋
I can imagine a humid climate can be challenging. I agree that nigella is a great plant for the garden. I love the fact that it readily self seeds too. Thanks for watching.
I love verbena. I started from seed a couple of years ago not knowing how wonderful it is. Ignorance is bliss😅
It is a great plant. Thanks for watching.