Monday, July 16, 2012

Fillers


As much as I grouse as I pull up the hundreds of spent stalks in March (and meanwhile the spring weeds are growing unchecked), I don't know what I'd do without Bidens in the garden. They are very handy fillers. They pop up everywhere.










In September they will burst into glorious golden-yellow bloom.

And what is this, that bloomed in early July?


To my surprise these white baptisias held up very well to searing 100+ degree heat. Six baptisias waited until summer to emerge. Tony Avent wrote that (depending on the species) white baptisias bloom much later than the other baptisias. Perhaps my spring-blooming white baptisias are Baptisia alba var. alba (formerly B. pendula) and these later ones are Baptisia alba var. macrophylla (formerly B. leucantha). Does anyone know? The early ones have a shorter stature and smaller daintier cut leaves than these later baptisias, whose flower spikes stand over 5' tall.



17 comments:

  1. Sweetbay,

    Never heard of white baptisias before. Our Carolina Moonglow grew huge this year crowded out many of it companions. Your garden look lush, guessing you have gotten more rain than we have, watering out there right now.

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  2. I grow the arching white baptisia alba pendula (that was the tag back in 2008), and it blooms early, along with the other baptisias. It's been done flowering for a month now up here in the north. And it is not so big, maybe a little less than my height, around 5 feet.

    So I think your big white late blooming baptisias are something else, perhaps macrophylla as you suspect. Beautiful tall spires, and such a crystal clear white!

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  3. Gorgeous gardens. Love how you put the woods and flowers into one. They look great!

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  4. You have very large and pretty garden! I love the baptisia Alba, white color looks nice in the garden.

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  5. Pretty as always! I couldn't imagine having to care for all that. It has to be a full time job.

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  6. Your garden is looking so lush, too full of lovely plants to allow space for weeds! Everything seems to be dealing with summer's heat very well. i hope the same can be said of the gardener!

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    1. Regarding the gardener -- not so sure about that! lol

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  7. Your garden beds look so full and rich, always with something blooming, while I struggle to keep my few roses alive. I think I'm jealous.

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  8. Your garden is just so lovely! I've never really seen the white Baptisias before...they certainly are lovely :-)

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  9. The white Baptisia is lovely and shows up so well against the various shades of green. Your garden seems to be doing very well despite the heat!

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  10. What a great surprise!! I don't know much about baptisias except that they're beautiful! Your garden is incredible! So full and lush. :o)

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  11. Those baptisia blooms are huge! How nice to have some blooming in mid-summer. I'm always a bit sad when my purple one finishes blooming in the spring. I remember I had never heard of Bidens until I saw them here, Sweetbay. Now we have a few small ones in a planter at our Idea Garden, and they have been blooming all summer, impervious to the heat.

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  12. You take such good care of your garden - I can't imagine weeding such a large space :). Your baptisias are lovely and your butterfly bushes are very impressive, and nothing looks stressed by triple digit heat.

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  13. ooooh ~ I've never seen WHITE baptisias SB!! Absolutely divine. Those spires of white show off the other colors in your garden just perfectly.
    I love your long lush border. The buddleias & monarda are looking so good.

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  14. I haven't seen white baptisias, yours is a lovely bloom! I like white in the garden, it really pops. Can't wait to see your Bidens bloom. That will certainly be an explosion of color!

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  15. I know what an impact your bidens make. wonderful. Hoiw's the heatwave situation over there now?

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  16. Beautifull flowers.

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