Podcast: Let's Argue About Plants

Episode 66: Reliable Performers

Video by Danielle Sherry & Steve Aitken, Edited by Kara Demos

Take a tour through Danielle’s and Steve’s gardens as they point out some of their go-to plants. These options may not be the showiest or most alluring plants in their beds, but they are the dependable stalwarts that show up year after year without complaint. This episode was also filmed to have a companion video. So if you choose, you can watch it to get a sneak peek into our hosts’ gardens. We even visit the summer cottage of expert nurseryman Ed Gregan, where he points out two of his most reliable shrubs—and gives us a pruning lesson at the same time.

 

Expert testimony: Ed Gregan from Bailey Nurseries in St. Paul, Minnesota.

 

 

DANIELLE’S PLANTS

‘Kopper Kettle’ Itoh peony (Paeonia ‘Kopper Kettle’, Zones 3–8)

‘Blue Ice’ bluestar (Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, Zones 4–8)

‘Perry’s Gold’ Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Perry’s Gold’, Zones 3–9)

 

STEVE’S PLANTS

Shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia, Zones 4–8)

‘Karmina’ geranium (Geranium × cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’, Zones 5–8)

Variegated broad-leaved sedge (Carex siderosticha ‘Variegata’, Zones 4–9)

 

EXPERT TESTIMONY PLANTS

Harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum, Zones 6–10)

Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus, Zones 6–9)

 

Clerodendrum
Harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum, Zones 6–10)

 

Chastetree
Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus, Zones 6–9). Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 

Shredded umbrella plant
Shredded umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia, Zones 4–8)

 

Sedge
Variegated broad-leaved sedge (Carex siderosticha ‘Variegata’, Zones 4–9)

 

Perry's Gold Norway spruce
‘Perry’s Gold’ Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Perry’s Gold’, Zones 3–9)

 

Kopper Kettle Itoh peony
‘Kopper Kettle’ Itoh peony (Paeonia ‘Kopper Kettle’, Zones 3–8)

 

Karmina geranium
‘Karmina’ geranium (Geranium × cantabrigiense ‘Karmina’, Zones 5–8)

 

Blue Ice bluestar
‘Blue Ice’ bluestar (Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, Zones 4–8)

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Comments

  1. geather2002 07/14/2020

    Thanks for the selection of lovely performers. By the way, voles don't like peppermint oil, so I use it on sponges around my plants. Of course, you can grow peppermint (in pots which you can move about) to help deter them.

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