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Weather Diary, April 20: Hi 75, Low 45/ Precip 0
Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Wednesday Vignette, everyone's experience is different
A few weeks ago I posted an image of this plant—Ligularia dentata ‘Othello'—on Instagram. @renegade_gardener commented: Nice to see you honor a Z4 perennial, “Othello” grows beautifully in Minnesota, gets huge. I responded: probably grows for you better than me! To which he replied: They’re like hosta here. Can’t kill them with fire.
Here in my Portland Zone 8 garden they're not quite so hardy. Well okay hardiness isn't the issue, I grow this plant in a container because otherwise the slugs would have a party and that would be the end. Or at least it's been the end of the other ligularia I've grown in the ground. Just another example of how everyone's experience is different...in the garden as in life.
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I lost my L. dentata to slugs, but have had better luck with 'The Rocket’ (Ligularia stenocephala), which seems more resistant to slugs. Bet you would love the leaves of 'Dragon Wings’ (Ligularia przewalskii). It is a beautiful plant.
ReplyDeleteI grew 'The Rocket' years ago and really loved the leaves (not so much the flowers)... it didn't like the lack of summer water and eventually dried up.
DeleteIt's a beautiful plant. Ligularia isn't common here but I do see it periodically in garden centers. Growing it in my own garden poses a water issue.
ReplyDeleteHere too, that's another reason to grow it in a container.
DeleteVery good points. Sometimes everyone's experience is different even in the same town. I remember how the Austin gardeners talked about how very different their gardens were depending on the location, because of the different soils, altitude, etc. That's a beautiful plant--no matter where it's growing. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat point Beth! Soils are very different around Portland as well. And of course microclimates.
DeleteIt's easy to grow here as long as it gets enough water. When hit by the sun it immediately wilts and looks sad until the sun moves on. If happy though it seeds itself abundantly. Though it would love your climate the slugs would thank you.
ReplyDeleteSeeds! I guess the fact I cut off those alarming school-bus-yellow flowers will keep that from happening here.
DeleteIt's hardy in Zone 4?? Good to know, for when we move back to Sweden. I have a Ligularia in a drainage free pot, lest I forget to water it. It likes the juice, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSmart woman! Its love of water is why I was so surprised to see it growing happily in Austin.
DeleteI grow and love L. othelo as do slugs and snails. Although some leafs get eaten and I lose a few battles, I do win the war. I occasionally use sluggo although I'm not at all sure its effective.
ReplyDeleteI'm such a lazy gardener, I've never used sluggo.
DeleteOn the rare occasions when someone comes to the nursery looking for something to plant in a shady, boggy area, we point them straight to the Ligularias. Othello is a beauty that might even win me over but we don't grow it at JC...hmmm...
ReplyDeleterickii