Do even the hardiest plants grow in your garden? Vegetable markets Emedelynas.lt manager Margarita Vasiliauskaitė at the Conference on Environmental Design “Garden style” presented the report “10 plants for your healthy garden: resistant and reliable”.
Margarita works daily with nurseries that sell thousands of different plants on the electronic marketplace. So it’s great that he shared his insights with us. Some of the plants on this list will be familiar to you, others unheard of, but they are all very decorative, hardy and reliable.
The most resistant plants
- The flowers are small, bluish, similar to forget-me-nots.
- Brunera flowers early, around May. They are suitable for planting together with spring bulbous flowers (for example tulips) not only for the combination of flowers: the broad leaves of Brunera camouflage the yellowing leaves of bulbous plants well.
- Extremely decorative heart-shaped leaves. This, especially if you choose varieties with silver or even white leaf patterns.
- Bruneros are the most resistant plants and because of the snails they are almost uninterested. This is why Bruneras are often chosen instead of Blueberries: both love shade, both have beautiful large leaves, but Blueberries are particularly loved by snails.
Snap (lat. Geranium and Geranium Macrorrhyzum) impresses with its long flowering.
- It can grow in both sunny and shaded places.
- Not very demanding on the soil.
- Disease resistant.
- It blooms from mid-June until frost, the decorative leaves remain in autumn.
How different are the shapes depending on the different species. Some grow more compact, others more spreading, and are very suitable among larger plants for covering the ground;
Spanutis ‘Rozanne’ remains the most popular, having received the highest awards, it is prized for its very long flowering, it spreads well.
Of all the types of beaks, they are worth mentioning touch the rootas they are the most resistant, forming a dense carpet. It is so tough and strong that it can somewhat overshadow weaker plants. Worthy of attention are the beaked varieties: «Spessart», «Bevan variety», «Czakor» and others.
The most resistant plants are bulbs
Botanical tulips – more resistant than usual. They are one of the closest predecessors of wild tulips. Although they are smaller and appear more delicate, botanical tulips are much hardier than their modern relatives.
- There is no need to dig every year, it naturalizes well.
- Mostly these are very precocious children. There are many different colors, you will definitely match them in your flower garden. Some are extremely short (e.g. Tulipa humilis) and some are multi-flowered (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica).
- Gardeners are very fascinated by their expressiveness, not only by the variety of colors, but also by the response of flowers to the sun: when the rays reach the petals, they spread elegantly, and when the sun hides, they gracefully open again like modest personalities.
- A good choice for those who want to create a naturalistic spectacle in their flower garden or lawn in spring.
Sibirinis vilkdalgis (lat. Iris sibirica). In Lithuania, people most often grow bearded irises, but due to their hardiness and reliability, it is worth choosing beardless Siberian irises, especially if there is a more humid or flooded area on the land.
- It tolerates wetlands better than bearded ones and can even grow in shallow (coastal) water, although it can grow just as easily in all other soils.
- Reduced maintenance.
- Frost resistant.
- Erect leaves: decorative all season.
- It blooms profusely, usually the flowers are bright purple-blue, but there are also white, yellowish or pink shades.
- Collected flowers keep well in a vase.
Bluebells are the most resistant plants
Ear flowers snails (lat. Calamagrostis x acutiflora) are the most appreciated Emedelynas.lt on the market, but not in vain:
- Undemanding and frost-resistant bell-shaped plants.
- It can grow in various soils, tolerates drought well.
- It loves sunlight, but also grows in the shade.
- They are not attacked by parasites.
- They are not aggressive: they grow in groups, expand slowly, not through root shoots;
- A fantastic vertical accent in a flower garden – beautiful in all seasons.
- Reduced maintenance: cutting only at the end of winter.
- A big plus is that it freezes in early spring.
The most popular choice remains ‘Karl Foerster‘, named after the German breeder who raised her. Although it’s becoming a bit of a boring choice, this variety is so popular for a reason: it will always give a guaranteed result in your garden.
Blueberry (lat. Molinia caerulea) is elegant and keeps its shape all year round.
- Frost resistant.
- Undemanding to the soil – pay attention to those who have clay soil.
- Ideal for changing climates, when it is very humid, it is drought.
- It sprouts early, the charm is strong, they keep their shape well all year round, the winds and rainfall are not terrible;
- Creates a «cloud» effect of elegance and lightness in flower gardens;
- In autumn some turn bright golden yellow, for example ‘Heidebraut’.
There is a wide variety of varieties, so when purchasing choose the shape of the pendant and which brushes you want. Popular varieties such as ‘Moorhexe’ ar «Edith Dudszus» the highlight are the almost purple bristles.
Perennial flowers
Phaseno Catnip (lat. Nepeta x faassenii) – resistant and undemanding soils.
- Beauty is not demanding on the soil, it feels great even in barren sand.
- Tolerates drought, heat, lack of watering.
- Cold resistant.
- Resistant to pests and diseases.
- It is advisable not to fertilize them, otherwise flowering could decrease and the stems could recline.
- After flowering it is possible to prune it for a second flowering.
The varieties differ in kero size and height. For example, the most popular «Walker is short» the flowers grow up to 60-70 cm. Because it is quite large and grows quickly, it may be necessary to save roses or other plants if distances are not maintained. But there are also smaller alternatives: «Junior Walker», ‘Pursian Blue’‘Kit Cat’ are a little lower and more compact.
By the way, as the name suggests, catnip seems to have something to do with cats. This is partly true. Margarita found that some cats (about 65%) can experience short-term euphoria from catnip, but this appears to be the case with catnip (Nepeta cataria). And bred hybrids, such as Fasen catnip, are of much less interest to cats.
Shylock (lat. sedum) will grow completely without water, definitely try it. As for the name, it should be said that botanists divided shillocks into several groups, you can find wolfpeas and other names, but this time let’s call them as they are called by the people – simply shillocks.
- Because they store water in their leaves, they are very resistant to drought;
- Not very demanding on the soil. The less fertile the soil, the better!
- Pest resistant.
- Large scales form dense inflorescences that bloom in autumn and last all winter. Race ‘Aautumn joy – remains one of the most popular.
- Among the carpet/creeping ones, the rock and Caucasian Shylocks should be mentioned. A delightful evergreen carpet that flowers in early summer, unlike the large Shylocks. It is not for nothing that they are also chosen for greening roofs due to their simplicity and resistance.
The most resistant plants are trees and shrubs
Shrubby silverwort (lat. Potentilla fruticosa) resists sun and drought. In the people they are simply called silver bushes.
- Incredibly long flowering that lasts from early summer until the first frost – almost 5 whole months! More sun, more flowers.
- Undemanding to the soil.
- Heat resistant, drought resistant, resistant to polluted city air.
- Tolerate training.
- Most varieties are compact bushes of medium height. It grows from 0.5 m. up to 0.9 m, so it is perfect for forming low, flowering hedges.
The most common are silver bushes with yellow and white flowers, but there are also more interesting shades of pink and pink.
True, there are myths about color and hardiness: white and yellow are said to be the most hardy, while pink/pink should be covered by frost because it comes from the south. But In a study conducted by the VDU Botanical Garden in Kaunas their hardiness to cold and fluctuating temperatures shows that there is actually some variation in hardiness between certain cultivars rather than between color groups.
Bladder snow leaf (lat. Physocarpus opulifolius) is a reliable shrub with more variety than you might think.
- It tolerates humidity well, but also resists drought.
- Frost resistant.
- The root system is so strong that it can grow even in the heaviest clay.
- Tolerate training.
- Decorative due to the leaves: The leaves of different varieties can be green, salad or dark burgundy.
- It blooms in the first half of the year (the contrast between dark leaves and bright white inflorescences is especially fun).
- They later form pods that look decorative for a long time.
- The bark is unique in that it peels off as it matures, revealing layers of different colors, which is why it is not surprisingly called «Ninebark» in English.
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