Perennials surrounding the pond

[BKHpondcritters]

Bargain plants are always great to find! I look forward to seeing pictures of how it's all come together. PS - Your Setcresea won't over winter in the ground here, but you could pot some cuttings (yes, it roots super easy!!) and bring it in as a houseplant. Then you'd have some ready to go next year!

 

[addy1]

Most of my yard plants were Lowes about to toss plants. Good deals to be had.

 

[csdude55]

@BKHpondcritters , I've actually had this Purple Heart for 7 or 8 years, and it comes back every Spring! Bigger and bigger. Maybe because it's always been in a part shade area that's protected it from frost? I hope that's not it, because I've divided it in to a thousand areas... Monrovia says it's good with zone 7-11, so I was going by that.

I'm thinking about setting up a greenhouse, though, because I have too many perennials to bring in over the winter! But I'll definitely stash some of this purple heart in there, too... just in case. It's too pretty to lose!

 

[Casbah]

Can you guys suggest any perennials I might use around the border that would work well for the area and matches what I already have in place?

I'm new to ponding but a long time gardner... I've come to love hardy biennials that just seed themselves and creep around the yard. Especially when you want a large space like that filled quickly. Blue salvia, coreopsis, blanketflower, sweet william, etc. Columbines and foxglove would do well in the shade/partial shade.

What you've already done is very pretty as is. Keep digging!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

@BKHpondcritters , I've actually had this Purple Heart for 7 or 8 years, and it comes back every Spring! Bigger and bigger. Maybe because it's always been in a part shade area that's protected it from frost? I hope that's not it, because I've divided it in to a thousand areas... Monrovia says it's good with zone 7-11, so I was going by that.

I'm thinking about setting up a greenhouse, though, because I have too many perennials to bring in over the winter! But I'll definitely stash some of this purple heart in there, too... just in case. It's too pretty to lose!

Wow! I'm super impressed. Mine didn't over winter here (zone 7a) I didn't actually expect it to, but where it crept out of its pots & landed in the ground, the next spring it did not make a reappearance. You're probably a bit warmer over winter than we are up here (not quite high country, but well above Piedmont level) That might have something to do with it. But, yeah... I'd make sure to bring at least a bit indoors over winter, just in case...

 

[csdude55]

@BKHpondcritters, I realized today that we might be talking about different plants... what I used to call Wandering Jew is being marketed as Purple Heart these days (maybe the old name wasn't PC?).

This is what I call Wandering Jew:

Tradescantia zebrina (Inch Plant) - World of Succulents

Tradescantia zebrina (Inch Plant) is a very popular plant that typically grows up to 6 feet (15 cm) tall but creeps to 2 feet (60 cm) wide...

worldofsucculents.com

And this is my Purple Heart:

Amazon.com: Purple Heart Plant - Setcreasea - Indoors or Out - Easy - 4" Pot: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: Purple Heart Plant - Setcreasea - Indoors or Out - Easy - 4" Pot: Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

I used to buy Wandering Jew every year in a hanging pot, and it would hang down and root to the ground like you described, too. I would bring it in the house before the first frost, but it never survived to Spring :-(

I have 2 pics of my Purple Heart attached... I planted two small sprigs on either side of the pond sometime around 2010, and in the first pic of the pond you can see how much it had grown by 2012. I never really messed with or protected it for the winter, and by this year both patches were around 6' in diameter! So now I've dug it all up and spread it around.

 

[csdude55]

@Casbah, I have salvia in another area of the house and love it! But it's never grown the point where I can divide it :-(

I bought some blanket flower from the Lowes clearance rack, though, in the hopes that it will come back good next year! One of them has completely died, but the roots still look alive so I'm just going to let it be and see what happens. I'll post some pics next week or so.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Most of my yard plants were Lowes about to toss plants. Good deals to be had.

The first place when Sarah and I go to Lowes is the discount rack..... you can buy good plants for $2 ..... they just need a little TLC

 

[BKHpondcritters]

@BKHpondcritters, I realized today that we might be talking about different plants... what I used to call Wandering Jew is being marketed as Purple Heart these days (maybe the old name wasn't PC?).

This is what I call Wandering Jew:

Tradescantia zebrina (Inch Plant) - World of Succulents

Tradescantia zebrina (Inch Plant) is a very popular plant that typically grows up to 6 feet (15 cm) tall but creeps to 2 feet (60 cm) wide...

worldofsucculents.com

And this is my Purple Heart:

Amazon.com: Purple Heart Plant - Setcreasea - Indoors or Out - Easy - 4" Pot: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: Purple Heart Plant - Setcreasea - Indoors or Out - Easy - 4" Pot: Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

I used to buy Wandering Jew every year in a hanging pot, and it would hang down and root to the ground like you described, too. I would bring it in the house before the first frost, but it never survived to Spring :-(

I have 2 pics of my Purple Heart attached... I planted two small sprigs on either side of the pond sometime around 2010, and in the first pic of the pond you can see how much it had grown by 2012. I never really messed with or protected it for the winter, and by this year both patches were around 6' in diameter! So now I've dug it all up and spread it around.

Yeah, lol - it's very true that the "common names" can seriously trip people up. But I'm definitely thinking of your setcreasea. It has definitely not been successful as a perennial at my house. But, that's OK. I have a few happy plants that aren't "supposed" to over winter in the ground here that absolutely do, so... I guess the moral of this story is that the silly plants simply do NOT read those web sites!
PS - after spending 4 hours today (and that was only in one small area) weeding out overgrown plants, I've decided (and my aching back & legs agree) that we'd really rather see some more tender items giving it up totally when cold weather sets in.

 

[EricV]

Apologies if this isn't appropriate for the forum, since I'm asking about regular garden perennials. But since they're going around the pond and I need them to complement the pond and pond plants, I felt like this was the more appropriate place to ask.

I'm in zone 7A. I'm attaching two photos of my pond that were taking a little over a week ago, but note that since then I've removed the cattails from the pond and I'm in the middle of dividing the purple irises and putting them on both the left and right side of the pond (to flank the boulders in the back), with pond lilies in the front.

There are trees just above the pond, so the front of the pond is in part sun while the back is in mostly shade (dappled sun in some areas, I guess). The front of the pond has a 3-4" ledge that keeps water from running in to it, but the back is built up about 10-12" above the ground so it has a much taller wall of river rock back there.

I really want to improve the look of the border with natural-looking perennials, but I'm kind of at a loss on what to do. I've spent hundreds of dollars to plant several types of flowers and ornamental grass along the back, and they always look good the first year... but then never come back :-( My guess is either not enough sun, or the soil is too wet, or both.

I've planted a few types of ivy along the front, but even though ivy does well everywhere else in my yard, they've never survived here, either.

I have a ton of Mondo Grass, Queen Anne ivy, Autumn Joy sedum (aka Stonecrop), Purple Heart setcreasea, and bearded irises (mostly light purple), which you can see that I've used to fill in the garden to the left of the pond. The irises and sedum are both part-sun to full-sun perennials, though, so while the height would be good for behind the pond, it's really too shaded and wet. I have a Japanese maple behind the pond right now (on the left side), but it's in a container and I'm about to move it because it really needs more sun, too.

Can you guys suggest any perennials I might use around the border that would work well for the area and matches what I already have in place?

One thing that has never failed for me is native plants. Although around here finding short ones (in front of the pond) which like sun is a problem.

My suggestion is to take your photos to a good local nursery and get some advice there; trending towards natives if you can. Most things your can plant sparse and divide in future years.

(My local nursery does an Earth Day sale every year where 2" plugs are $2)