Polemonium advice

wakeshine

I have a beautiful polemonium Brise D'Anjou bought this year. It's in a small pot and it's pot bound. We want to put it in the ground but there is no space in the border yet - well, not where we wanted to put it.

Shall I just repot it into a bigger pot for the time being? Are polemoniums okay in pots? Or shall I take some annuals out (it's marigolds that are taking all the space at the moment), or just squeeze it into the border somewhere and move it later?

Thanks in advance.

Fairygirl

Nice healthy looking plant wakeshine  

I'd think it would be fine in a pot for now, but they're better in the ground. Bit of shade and not too dry.

wakeshine

Thank you both very much. Very good to get advice from experienced polemonium growers. I think I may have to pot it on for now. How big does it get Verdun? And are Stairway to Heaven and Brise D'Anjou the same thing?

Indeed the foliage is sooo beautiful. And the blue flowers have come and gone. It was actually my mum who bought it - she always goes for something a bit different and has an eye for these lovely leafed plants. Hmmm we do not have any hecuhera but we do have some ophiopogon nigrecens - also in a pot at the moment. I was wondering what to do with the latter too - in the border it just doesn't seem to show up? I  was never even keen on ophiopogon, even though it has already had pink flowers in the pot. I just couldn't see the point of them. I want bright bold colour in the garden. I was going to give it away. But please advise on how can I 'associate' these two together, and I may try it. Do you mean plant them beside eachother?

As for the annuals which should be over soon - this is a different issue really but my marigolds seem to be going on and on forever! Buds all over them. I already took a whole load out and put in two troughs as I needed the space for something. I may need to take out some more. It's quite concerning as I've been told marigolds flower until December -and my dahlias are going on forever too!! I need the space!!

We have heavy clay soil on the south facing flower bed but on the north facing there is a corner, also very clay, which receives morning sun. The soil is very most and sounds just like the soil requirement you are describing for the polemonium. Which is more important, the sun or soil requirement?

Last edited: 18 September 2016 22:01:48

wakeshine

Thanks for the idea for ophiopogon nigracens. It is given to me by someone who really likes it  - I think she has too much and every time she gives me some I don't know how to tell her that I really don't like it. But at work there is a whole massive bed of it - it makes a big statement, never seen anything like it anywhere else. It's there due to the 'Plants of the World' theme and is listed under Japan. I think in huge masses like this it works (though I still find it it a little freaky...)

But anyway, your idea sounds do-able - in a terracotta with white gravel. I will try that. If I put it in the flower bed in front of the polemonium, it won't even show because it's black and the soil is brown. I think I will try your suggestion.

Yes the annuals have put on a good show and I sadly may need to move them soon. How on earth to people decide when? Just be ruthless? Most of them are in baskets, but I was again given loads of marigolds by someone who loves and grows loads of them and so I put them in the border to the detriment of all these perrenials I need to plant.

As for associating plants Verdun I saw photos of your associations in your 'grasses' thread and your design and creativity is just brilliant. Also Fairygirl has amazing planting associations. Everything pot luck for me at present, still learning.

I will find a good spot for the polemonium when the flower bed is more free, and hopefully it will like it there. I will avoid that boggy area then. So far irises, crocosmias and river lilies did well there and I also have a rose that seems to like it. But will avoid it for the polemonium

Last edited: 18 September 2016 23:19:35

Fairygirl

I think they'd be superb together. As Verd says, it's a case of putting plants together, but it depends on the effect you want as well. They both have good foliage - the flowers are secondary on those two plants. Just sit them together for a while and see what you think. 

Brise is a lovely plant - I had it in another garden, in a south easterly location, in a bed with good rich, and always slightly moist, soil. I don't like the colour of the flowers though, but that's a personal thing. My Canadian cousin visited me when I lived there, and was delighted to see it as he had it in his garden at home in Vancouver  

wakeshine

Thanks, Fairygirl. The flowers were quite inconspicuous, I thought...a very pale blue. Either way, the leaves are so pretty. I will have a go at placing it..possible pair it with something else as I think I'll but the black grass in a pot.

Obelixx

I would sacrifice the marigolds which are destined to die anyway and keep the polemonium happy so it goes on for several years.

wakeshine

It is funny..because I was looking at our garden this year and thinking how next year I want to grow more blue and purple flowers. The overwhelming colours have been yellow, pink and red - typical, I suppose! It looks fab, but I need blue to break the monotony and make a rainbow effect. And you know the story of my Teller Blaumeise hydrangea - that's just going a murky grey/turquoise/lilac. Any suggestions for more blues? I'd love to know what the 30 are - that must have taken a lot of thought and a lot of creativity.

No I don't like the ophio - it's been on the patio for months and still hasn't grown on me! If I keep it I was thinking of putting madiba flowers (little chrysanthemums) in the middle and ophio around the edge...but I really like the sound of your busy lizzie combination - you should definitely do that again. Black and white combinations are a good idea.