by Meg Lynch, Editor

I wasn’t really thinking when I decided to experiment with different plants and different colors in my front-yard mailbox garden this year. Don’t get me wrong—I am all for trying new things, especially plants. But doing it at my mailbox is something like experimenting with body art by putting a temporary tattoo on my forehead. Of course, I could just scrub that off once I realized it wasn’t for me. But I couldn’t bring myself to tear out the plants I soon learned do not look good together, so they’ve been out there front and center, looking bad all summer. At least most of the duds are annuals, and I am happy with the few perennials I put there.

This photo shows three keepers. They did great despite receiving very little supplemental water and not much rain. (As evidenced by the wilting impatiens and dead grass.) The orange-flowered shrubby plant is perennial Helenium ‘Mardi Gras’, which has been blooming since early July and is just starting to wind down now. The common name is sneezeweed.

The low plant in the foreground with the pale pink and purple flowers is Coreopsis ‘Limerock Dream’, also perennial, blooming since mid-July and still going strong. Common name, tickseed.

The flowers of both these plants continue to look interesting even as they fade and go to seed.

The purple-flowering groundcover next to the street is annual ‘Oriental Nights’ alyssum, which I started from seed. I’d plant it again next year. 

I won’t show you the other side of the mailbox. I planted a row of sunflowers across the back and they are just starting to bloom . . . sort of. I’ll post a photo later this week. 

See my other notes on my mailbox garden.

8/29/2007 9:28:18 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [0] 

Mailbox Update: This Year’s Plan

I'm changing my color scheme around the mailbox this year. I'm sticking with orange and yellow, but I want to add purple and blue, too. I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have (just click "Comments," below). Meanwhile here's where I stand so far.

Last year I planted one perennial among the annuals, Helenium Mardi Gras. It has come back very strong this year, with straight, sturdy stems of long, narrow green leaves. It should have daisylike flowers pretty much all summer. These have rounded brown centers and orange/red/yellow petals.
This plant sits directly behind the mailbox post, and last summer it was completely hidden by my sunflowers. I made the planting area bigger this year, so that I can plant the sunflowers farther back. 

Here’s a list of what I’ve planted this spring. I’ll post more pictures once things fill in a bit and start to bloom.   

Johnny-jump-ups (Viola tricolor): I started these from seed indoors in March. Here's a photo of them blooming now.

‘Oriental Nights’ alyssum: annual groundcover that blooms purple. Started from seed.

Convolvulus tricolor ‘Royal Ensign’: short shrubby annual with blue and yellow morning glory-like flowers. Started from seed.

Coreopsis ‘Limerock Dream’: perennial tickseed whose flowers should start pinkish then turn coppery orange, according to tag.

Veronica prostrata Goldwell: perennial groundcover with purple flowers and yellow and green striped leaves. The variegated leaves will be interesting all summer.

And I plan to sow sunflowers again this year, once the soil is a little warmer—Father’s Day is a good marker, where I live.

Read Nan's blog.

6/8/2007 3:09:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [1] 

The Mailbox

Despite my annoyance at yet another increase in the price of a stamp, I'm dressing the mailbox with a cheery flower garden again this summer.

I concetrate on perennials in my backyard garden, so I like to use the mailbox area to try different annuals and maybe go a little wild. Last year I went with a hot color scheme, orange being one of my favorite colors. I planted sunflowers in the back ('Lemon Queen' and 'Autumn Queen' proved particularly good).

Around the edges I planted marigolds, Tagetes patula 'China Cat Mix', which has gold, red, and gold-and-red-striped flowers and easily becomes a knee-high hedge. They flowered all summer through September. I started those from seed so I was particularly proud of them.

In the center I planted a red annual salvia called 'Spanish Dancer', which bloomed from late June through September, with tall stalks of bright red flowers. When the petals fell, the purple calyces that held them remained visually interesting. I had a blue salvia too, but it didn't do quite as well. It also looked a little out of place in my color scheme.

I also planted some "teddy bear" sunflowers (about two feet tall with thousands of tiny petals across the flower head giving it a furry look) in the middle, with ornamental peppers 'Black Pearl', which have purple leaves and fruit that turns from black to red. They were a little lost in the exuberance of the marigolds and salvia, but as they salvia died back they stepped up.

Here's a photo I took last August. Check back later this week—I'll fill you in on my plan for this summer. I just planted a whole different cast of characters over Memorial Day Weekend.

5/29/2007 4:48:24 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Comments [2]