(Photo from Asiatica Nursery)Mid-Winter is a time for impractical garden dreams, when I think about getting plants that I don't need at a price I can't afford. Case in point - that fabulous, rich double pink Rue Anemone/Anemonella (Thalictrum thalictroides), 'Shoaf's Double Pink' a/k/a 'Oscar Shoaf.' I don't need another Anemonella, I already have a pink one and a blush double. But I still dream of this plant.
Two more dream-producing plants are also hybrids of a familiar native and are featured by that tempting nursery Plant Delights. From last year's drool-fest is Arisaema triphyllum 'Black Jack.'
Added to that is the new entry Arisaema triphyllum 'Starburst,' a variegated Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
(Both images are from the Plant Delights catalogue.) As is the case with the Anemonella, I already have the straight species of these plants. I don't need either one, but I can't help dreaming about how great either would look in the Woodland Garden.I dream of Ladyslipper Orchids, the Cypripedium species and their hybrids.
(Photo from Flickr)Not only are they extraordinarily expensive, they are also difficult to grow. I doubt my soil will ever be able to support such plants, but in my Winter Pipe Dream garden, they bloom extravagantly.
The whole category of Intersectional Peonies is a pipe dream for me. Intersectional Peonies are hybrids of crossing herbaceous peonies with tree peonies, resulting in plants of herbaceous habit with tree peony flowers. The most common hybrid is 'Bartzella,' which routinely sells for over a hundred dollars a plant. The one that I want, 'Cora Louise,' is even more expensive.
(Photo from A&D Peonies)The thing about plant pipe dreams is that eventually, they can become reality. If you wait long enough, the price of many of these plants will come down to an affordable level. I just placed my order for double Bloodroot (Sanguinaria candadensis 'Multiplex'), which had been a Pipe Dream plant for many years.
So, what are your Pipe Dream plants?
19 comments:
I went to out local garden centre yesterday, intending to get some primula - which they didn't have. But I spent a while wandering around. Some of the plants were superb - and so were some of the prices. Wonderful trees and shrubs in containers, huge cacti -and price tags of over 500 Euro. Not sure what that is in dollars (about the same?) but way over my budget. Keep on dreaming ...
Mmmmm...that Black Jack looks appealing. Actually they all look great.
This winter I still have a list of things I saw last summer that I want. I am wanting some ever green bushes. My trouble being where I want to plant them. There is a lot of shade. However I wonder how long the shade trees will be there. Do I take a chance and plant the bushes with the thought that trees will succumb to ash borers and Pine Bark Beetles or do I wait... Sigh~~ I will have to think on your question longer for a definative answer.
I want all I see and read about. I know this sounds crazy but I do. I will probaby just wait to see what the nurseries around here show.
I have so many pipe dreams that I can't even begin to recount them all - the problem is that most of the plants I covet are mostly zone 4 and beyond.
The one pipe dream that I am going try is Baptisia sphaerocarpa. It is a z. 4, so we'll see if I can get it established. I will likely try some Masterworts and Toad Lilies - neither of which I have kept alive. But, I figure it's worth another try!
Oh I could go on and on, but I try not to let myself get carried away. I don't have a whole lot of room left in my garden.
Your pipe dreams are good ones ...
Sue Swift - with the US dollar in decline, 500 euros is probably worth more. Pretty stiff price at any rate. It does sound a fair amount for large cacti because they grow so slowly. So you can imagine the problem of cacti theft in Tucson, Arizona. You could always buy a small one & hope it will take less than 100 years to mature. :^D Keep on dreaming!
Lisa - just plant something that can take sun or shade. If there is such a plant. Yew?
Kate - all my Pipe Dream plants are ones hardy to my own Zone. Don't even get me started on my Zone-envy plants. (That list goes on for days!) It is helpful to try to consider how much available garden space there is, but in winter, when the garden is buried under snow, it's so hard to remember.
Oh, you're on!!! I'll have fun with this after I get done today's assignments (gotta work to pay for the plant habit...)
Now, as to your question about putting a background on my blog; go to Kylee's site (Ourlittleacre) and look at her two posts about "Giving Your Blog a Makeover." She explains how to get into the HTML code to add an image to the background, as well as if you want a mildly textured or coloured background for behind your posts. You need to have a site like Flickr or Picasa to upload your images to and link from there, and you need to go poking through the HTML code for your layout to find the right place to paste in the URL for the image. I had some frustrations, first because I couldn't find the right place (some layout codes describe things slightly differently) and finally I went to some other sites for a bit more explanation. And once I got the link right for the background image, that helped too!
I hope this is some help. I've no experience with doing this stuff before, but I knew to back up my layouts, and I also copied the whole code and pasted it into a word document so I could hunt for the spots a little easier. So if I could do it, you can too.
Thanks so much, Jodi! I did read Kylee's posts, but now I'll write it all down & see if that makes it more comprehensible. I'll try your suggestion about pasteing the code into a Word doc 1st. Now if I can just remember my Flickr password...
This is a very unsettling post, MMGD! Until you asked, I didn't even realize that my pipe dream plant list is practically non-existent... all I can think of are the fabulous camellias seen at Pam in SC's blog, which would probably die here.
What the heck has happened to ex-plant-collector-me? I hardly ever dream about plants that will grow in Texas - it's hardscape and structure that make me wish for garden bucks now. Maybe I'll have to write about this unexpected bit of introspection.
As for you, kiddo - $35 is a lot for that Black Jack, but "stunning black spathe" is sure the right phrase...no wonder you're dreaming about it!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Oh boy, my list is so long for such things!! I WANT IT ALL!! Now there's a pipe dream for ya.
Gardening sure is an expensive habit...but I have NO plans to give it up. The double Bloodroot (Sanguinaria candadensis 'Multiplex') is one of my wishes! ;-)
I didn't have a pipe dream plant list until you showed me that wonderful Intersectional Peonie and that gorgeous Arisaema triphyllum Black Jack! Grrrrrrr! ;-)
Just noticed a comment above, that gardening is expensive. I have almost no money to spend on gardening, and I still manage to have many wonderful plants. Many come from seeds, cuttings, gifts, rescued plants, etc.
I have 2 dream gardens, one would be a little pixie garden with tiny plants and flowers in soft pastel and candy colors.
Another dream is an alien garden, with wierd and bizare plants with possibly a green/white/black color scheme.
...someday...
Your choices for the i wanna, gotta hava, getmea list are beautiful and diverse. The dream list here would certainly include all your picks. Anything black always catches the eye, a black garden is in the making now, but is in full sun. A flowering peach tree with purple leaves started the black theme and maybe will offer some shade in a couple of years for your black jack in the pulpit. Thanks for a thought provoker.
Annie - maybe you've evolved to the next level of pipe dreams - the grand plans for structural improvments! Even more expensive & possibly more impractical than Plant Pipe Dreams.
Kylee - I bet you drove your parents nuts when they took you to the toy store when you were a kid. :^}
Dirty Knees - spending money are gardening feels much easier to justify than spending on clothes, which wear out, or on electronics, which become obsolete. If I were a better gardener, I would be able justify buying expensive plants. I have a hard time spending a lot of money if there's a good chance the plant won't survive to the next year.
Yolanda Elizabet - I am so guilty of being a gardening enabler. I'm always trying to get people to buy great plants. It's a vicarious satisfying of plant lust.
Salix - wow, not only do you have dream plants, you have whole dream gardens! I like the idea of a pixie garden. There's a nursery not far from me that sells all kinds of supplies for pixie, or fairy, gardens, including tiny furniture as well as miniature plants.
Frances - I can't wait to see pics of your Black Garden. It sounds so sophisticated. Black Jack would be a great addition.
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria candadensis 'Multiplex') Looks great! Do you know anyone who grows it? I'd love to have any or all of your list of woodland plants!
Do Jack in a Pulpit grow for you??? I absolutely hate the idea of ordering something and not having it grow! Especially if there's very much $ connected to the purchase (not to mention the time it takes to have a replacement sent, etc).
But I'm way deep into making lists right now: 1) practical and 2) wish lists! :-)
Thanks for the inspiration!
Pipe Dreams? Hmmm, so many I think I am going to have to sleep on this to compile the never ending list which has yet to be written down! Nice post.
Hi!
I find your blog on Pams Digging, and I think your blog is nice to read. You have manny plants that I rekordnice even if a live over seas in Sweden.
I will follow your blog now when its realy bigins to hapening things in the garden.
Regards Ken
Shady Gardener - I haven't actually seen Sanguinaria 'Multiplex' in person, but I'm certain that it is no harder to grow that the straight species. Even in my very well-drained soil, Jack-in-the-Pulpit has flourished in my garden. In fact, I probably should divide them this year. I would think they would grow well for you also. They were abudant around the house where I grew up, on the banks of the Fox River.
Layanee - thanks! When it's this cold out, dreaming about plants is the only thing to do.
Ken - thanks for visiting! I'm glad you found me. I haven't seen any world Zone maps recently, but I think it doesn't get much colder where you are than it does here. So most, if not all, my plants would likely do well in your garden. I'll pay your blog a visit now.
I am growing Native to my area. After 35 years of gardening what I want is to plant more butterfly habitat. Lots of host plants that will be eaten and nectar plants.
Last year I planted for all the different Swallowtail butterflies that are in my zone and all came to my gardens. I was so pleased when the Zebra Swallowtail found my one Paw-paw! I am planting understorey now for the butterflies. I have my lists and have set aside my funds. Now I need Spring to spring!
Sherry
Sherry - your butterfly garden sounds wonderful! I ordered some Asclepias purpurescens to replace Asclepias syriaca that is trying to take over the garden. I wish I had more room for more butterfly attracters.
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