Favourite Plants in Your Garden

Discussion in 'Conversations Forum' started by Daniel Mosquin, Jun 12, 2003.

  1. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Since this is a new forum, I thought I'd start it off with a topic that ought to generate some discussion.

    What's your favourite plant in your garden?

    I'm currently appreciating Vancouveria hexandra, the inside-out flower - both the foliage and flowers make it very attractive. I tried to get a good photograph of it this evening, but there was too much wind, so I had to use the flash. Still, it explains why it's called the inside-out flower.
     

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  2. Kathleen Webb

    Kathleen Webb Member

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  3. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Favorite plant is a tough one, but, if I may say so I currently have a most prized plant, I found a Michelia figo earlier this spring and have it in a one gallon pot on my back patio (condo dweller) it's very happy and flowering a bit. I had one years ago (maybe 1993 or 1994) and it packed it in during the winter back then so I was happy to find another at a local wholesaler ( Piroche plants), I just love the fragrance of the blooms, like ripe bananas !
     
  4. M. D. Vaden

    M. D. Vaden Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Beaverton, Oregon
    We have many plants in our yard with variety of all year color, but one of my favorites is the big ornamental grass:

    Miscanthus sinensis - about 6 feet tall.

    It lasts from about April to December when we cut it to 6" stubs before it sheds all over.

    I love watch it blow in the wind, and it makes an interesting sound with the foliage as it moves.

    It gives a coastal feel in some regards.
     
  5. jimmyq

    jimmyq Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    If I was to add another of my favorite plants it would be the Oyama magnolia, Magnolia seiboldii, I love the delicacy of the pure white bloom with red center, gorgeous! Perfume to boot.
     
  6. Elmore

    Elmore Active Member 10 Years

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    Japanese Maples. I have over 100 different cultivars. I need to put a list together but I am pretty sure it is over 100. A lot of seedlings too. I can't think of another species with as much variability and as much beauty. First runner up would be Ginkgo biloba. I have hundreds of them also. I am grafting and budding. Eleven cultivars of Ginkgo and 5 locally found male trees, each with a subtle different trait, except for one fastigiate tree.
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2005
  7. sunshine

    sunshine Member

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    my favorite plant is the solandra maxima,cup of gold vine. i started it from a cutting eight years ago. it eventually grew to l5 feet and had to be pruned hard to keep it tamed. the flower is a buttery yellow with a purple striping inside. the flowers are about six inches wide. pest and disease free.
     
  8. jacquot

    jacquot Active Member Maple Society 10 Years

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    Like Elmore, i'm a maple collector, but not to his extent because of property restrictions. My favorite is Acer palmatum Shindeshojo, for spring and early summer carmine color that repeats later over the more mature pink/green leaves and then later in the fall again brilliant red. All the maples have endearing qualities, and Aconitifolium is a close second with Meigetsu, but then where do you stop??? They are all dear friends, each individual, with many other non acers, too.
     
  9. Chooch

    Chooch Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    SW Ontario 65 miles west of London / 33 miles sout
    Favorite plants growing on SW ON Farm

    Some of the favorite plants growing on our property are : Pterostyrax corymbosa , asimina , gingko , metasequoia , cornus kousa , lagerstroemia , buddleja alternifolia , trillium grandiflorum , acanthus spinosus , vitex negundo , indigofera heterantha, schisandra chinensis , hibiscus coccineus , hibiscus " Kopper King " , aspholedine lutea , fargesia nitida AND ............................. :)
     
  10. bleedingheart

    bleedingheart Member

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    Those loveable Hebes

    I'm having a hard time writing what I like to say about my current favourite plant. Its those loveable Hebes. Garden West Magazine Vol 18 March 2004 made me a fan after reading the wonderful article about Hebes. The variety I have is 'Amy' goregous plant .
     
  11. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    I've liked Embothrium coccineum since I was in high school (I'm 48), when I was taken to see one blooming in a garden near here.
     
  12. Ralph Walton

    Ralph Walton Active Member 10 Years

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    Train wreck maple

    In my top field I have a beautiful survivor, a bigleaf Maple (I think) that has been blown over at least once and started over, leaving bleached dead branches on one side and reaching new strong branches up on the other. It's all by itself, probably 800 ft. from the house and 4 or 500 ft. from it's nearest neighbor.
    I have to pick up rubble every season so I don't wreck the hay mower, and mowing around it is a pain in the ass, but I'd sure miss it if it ever gave up.
    Ralph
     
  13. wrygrass2

    wrygrass2 Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Spokane, WA, USA
    If you consider the local state park, Riverside State Park just north of Spokane as my garden then still I would be hard pressed to find a favorite. Attached are two pictures, one of the lowly milkweed, Asclepias speciosa, which is my favorite because of the intricate inner workings in each bloom. But on the other hand, on a good day even the lowly and I might say hated by most gardners, bindweed; Convolvulus arvensis is truly a sight to behold.
     

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  14. Lulu

    Lulu Member

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    My current favourite is Rhodohypoxis baurii (I think) -- I am in love with the overlapping petals and fantastic colour. They remind me of my second favourite, Plumeria. One day I'll have a hothouse and will be able to have a Plumeria of my own! (When I win the lottery, of course)

    Lulu in BC
     

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  15. My favourites always change but at the moment I love phormiums especially The red or orange varietys.
    Anything with berries is also a bonus.
    Viburnum summer snow flake is great
    As is Amellanchier(sp)
    I love heavily scented roses too, told you I couldnt make up my mind.
    P.S you cant beat good old lavender in a summer garden.
     
  16. floyd

    floyd Member

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    Kingston,WA,USA
    My favorite plant also changes, right now it is lavender which I grow from seed. It takes about three years after germination to maturity but its interesting watching the different varieties as they mature. Lavender isn't too demanding with regard to maintenance, does good in poor soil, is drought tolerant, attracts alot of bees to our yard & is very fragrant. Wooly & Spanish are two of my top choices.

    floyd
     
  17. Honeysuckle

    Honeysuckle Active Member

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    What a hard choice! One of my favorites is my variegated sweetheart hoya (Hoya kerii) because I love succulents, I particularly love variegated plants, and it was a birthday present! I've got several layerings of it going and can't wait for it to flower again! I also love my agave angustifolia - I have two and both are stunning.
     
  18. Gordo

    Gordo Active Member 10 Years

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    In my garden, my favorite is usually what's in bloom right now. In general, though my favorites will always be the unreplaceable ancient giants of the local forests - Douglas Fir, Western Red cedar, Western Hemlock, Big Leaf Maple - trees that make you stand in total awe of nature.
     
  19. Weekend Gardener

    Weekend Gardener Active Member 10 Years

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    The climbing rose Parade. At the peak of it's spring display, it leaves me speechless, every time. And the David Austin, "A shropshire Lad", which is equally impressive.


    GardenPics06June040041200.jpg Garden29May050961000.jpg

    And then, there is the bamboo, Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis', with it's cheerful bright yellow culms, all year round.

    PvivaxAureacaulis.jpg

    And soon to put on a show, the various hellebores, including H sternii, H argustifoliaand this particular version of H hybridus.

    Hsternii6Mar05011067.jpg Hargustifolia6Mar050310672.jpg Horientalispale6Mar0501021067.jpg

    And how can I forget the fall gems, Chrysanthemum "Sheffield" and the dimunitive toad lilly Tricyrtis 'Hatatogisa'

    ChrysthemumSheffield051022116900.jpg Pics23Aug040491000.jpg
     
  20. silver_creek

    silver_creek Active Member

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    Of course, we always love what's in bloom right now (where can we put another witch hazel?!) But if I had to choose one plant in my garden that is my absolute favorite, it would have to be Rhododendron pachysanthum. This rhody is beautiful in every season- When it blooms in late March, and then the long, slow, spectacular foliage display with its orangy tomentum slowly changing to silver over the summer and fall. This plant was the most asked about plant on a fall garden tour- most did not even recognize it as a lowly rhododendron....
     

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  21. Honeysuckle

    Honeysuckle Active Member

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    WeekendGardener, Wow!! Your plants look spectacular!
    SilverCreek, very pretty bush & interesting that it takes on so many different looks.
     
  22. Weekend Gardener

    Weekend Gardener Active Member 10 Years

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    Wow! Silver Creek, I want one of those! It's a beauty.
     
  23. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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  24. Weekend Gardener

    Weekend Gardener Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for the info, Ron. I was getting a bit confused and muddled up on the nomenclature.
     
  25. terrestrial_man

    terrestrial_man Active Member 10 Years

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    My most favorite plant in my garden has to be a native California Rosaceous species of the genus Potentilla. Years before there was anything that even approached the idea of an environmental movement I was visiting a local dune lake, called Oso Flaco (Skinny Bear in spanish) Lake, and saw this new to me plant that was sending runners out into the water near the shore. I snagged a runner with a few plantlets on it and took it home.
    From those few plants I now have a large portion of my front yard plus innumberable pots of propagations of the plants. Initially in trying to identify it using Munz, since I had studied at UCSB, I settled on Potentilla egedei since the other similar species, P. anserina, was noted at occurring in the Sierras. Well it seems that Jepson has treated my plant differently and has called it a P. anserina variety. So??? I will be accepting the more recent Jepson treatment.
     

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