Snazz up your plant combos (giveaway!)

Karon says:

The best preforming old fashioned flower in my garden is campanula glomerata.  The huge purple heads of flowers are wonderful.

Posted on July 24, 2011 at 11:44 pm.

petalpatch says:

I have a few, but golden feverfew has such a nice fern-like foliage that combines well with so many other plants and in so many conditions! I grow it for it’s fine chartreuse foliage, however, the flowers are a great little filler in a vase, and it’s almost too easy to propogate… just poke a mature piece in the ground, water in, and it frequently roots! Super among alstromerias or with succulents…

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 1:13 am.

Meg says:

Grandpa Ott morning glories. When everything else is fading here in New England the Grandpa Ott’s are taking over the fencing, what a deep, rich purple. The only dilemma is the deer—we have to put up a double layer of fencing or they’ll eat them all.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 1:22 am.

kathy lueck says:

My favorite all-sun stand-by is “Martha Washington geraniums”. They are beautiful in my hanging pots or lining a pebble path.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 4:05 am.

Jeanne Rubin says:

Agapanthus - - they give a wonderful cool blue shade in the heat of summer here, and the hummingbirds love them.  Plus, they are very drought tolerant even in the heat of the San Joaquin Valley summers.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 4:30 am.

April says:

I love hyssops—they’re lightly scented (to my nose anyway, not the butterflies!), the colors—esp. the Apache Sunset—are gorgeous and they bounce back after our Zone 6 winters.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 5:28 am.

Kathy Matthews says:

Cuphea is one of my favorites….so many varieties dot my yard, bat face, La Chiquita, cicnea, and nelsonii.  They seem to bloom all year and bring in the bees and hummingbirds.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 6:32 am.

Denise says:

Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ is a top-10 great filler plant and has multiple uses for theme-type gardens.  Whether it be Asian-inspired, Drought-tolerant, Hillside, Beach or Cottage, it blends well with almost whatever it is paired with.  In our courtyard under Japanese maples, planted with mosses, callas, euphorbias and yes, creeping charlie, it turns a lovely limey-green.  Out on the curbside, it is planted with dymondia, grasses, and succulents and happily it is golden-russet.  Just lovely!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 6:40 am.

Linda Mendelssohn says:

Petunias - love the bright colors and they last so well in the summer heat.  My tortoises also love the blossoms!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 6:42 am.

Rebecca Walker says:

Agapanthus is one of my favorites due to the pretty greens they add year round to any garden.  I also love how they attract hummingbirds when they bloom!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 6:43 am.

sharon green says:

the last couple of years i am loving chocolate mint…it is an easy filler in containers.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 7:16 am.

Janet Clause says:

Favorite for this time of year is mandevilla. The colors pop and they seem to love the heat.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 7:18 am.

Christine Bliss says:

Bergenia is my garden favorite as it reminds me of my Great Grandma Mabel.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 7:27 am.

Victoria says:

My dad, with the green hands(!),not just green thumb, planted moon flowers and my favorite, sweet peas, climbing up the back fence.  How I love sweet peas!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 7:40 am.

Ellen says:

I love nasturtiums - they make it look like I’ve been working in the garden even when I haven’t!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:15 am.

Daisy says:

My all time favorite is hydrangea. Look forward to their big blooms every year.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:17 am.

Susan Fortune says:

Verbena bonariensis.  Gives height without blocking the view of what’s behind it.  Good to intersperse, like baby’s breath in a floral arrangement.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:30 am.

Regina says:

I like using chocolate geraniums in places that are filled with dry shade. Fixes that problem in my garden.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:40 am.

Donna Ross says:

I love my Hydrangea as an old timey faithful - the heads are as big as mine and they are amazing.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:42 am.

Chris Eyer says:

One of my favorite old faithfuls would be gaura - I love its wispiness, especially when mixed with roses.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 8:53 am.

Teena Spindler says:

Rudbeckia!  Just picked a couple dozen to bring in the house.  They’re great cut flowers, really light up the summer garden with their bright orange color, are perennial and even self sow.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 9:29 am.

susan hirsch says:

Love this topic! My favorite plant is anything that performs well in the spot I plant it in; right now that seems to be white lantana, which is a great edging plant. The deer and snails leave it alone too!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 9:41 am.

Gen says:

I am constantly getting teased for it, but I adore Geranium ‘Rozanne’. She’s perfect! Great groundcover, easy to care for, looks good with everything. Seriously! Name me a plant that looks bad with Rozanne and I’ll name you a plant that just plain looks bad.
I’d love a copy of this fun FG issue!

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 10:31 am.

Steven Coker says:

Fave “bulletproof” plant is a Cape Honeysuckle.  Survives sun, heat, drought, wind, never any bugs or disease, has lovely orange (or orange-red) tubular flowers that the hummingbirds just love. 
Small, pretty green leaves when not blooming. 
Vigourous grower too (once saw one 2 stories tall).  A once a year pruning keeps it in check.  We keep ours around 5-8’ tall.  Does come in yellow, but orange seems better.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 11:16 am.

Cynthia Stetson says:

I enjoy flowering plants.  I would therefore venture to say my favorite old faithful is the…Gable Evergreen Azalea

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 1:17 pm.

Nancy Andreasen says:

I love the way my chartreuse lemon thyme spreads and sets off the dark euphorbias and verbena bonariensis.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 3:46 pm.

Lynn Salinger says:

Fifteen years ago a client of mine gave me a cutting of tropical smoke bush off of her yard waste pile.  She said just put it in the ground and I did.  The burgundy foliage is superb and it could not be easier sun or shade.  I’ve given cuttings to many and taken many myself.  No brown thumbs with this beauty.

Posted on July 25, 2011 at 4:07 pm.

Jill Patterson says:

Having little time to garden (work, etc.), I love my plumeria.  They’re in bloom right now and take very little care. They do well in pots or in the ground here in Orange Co., CA

Posted on July 26, 2011 at 7:12 pm.