Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Deer Resistant Plants - S

An odd one here, Synellensus or Shredded Umbrella Plant. It starts out with what look like closed furry unbrellas and as it grow to its 3 foot height, the umbrellas open. It likes shade and a woodsy setting. You'll find a lot of shade plants in my garden since I much prefer weeding and caring for a garden in the shade. The daylilies and peonies take up a large percentage of the acreage, but the interesting stuff is in the shade.
Saruma henryii is another less known one. it has yellow flowers in the spring, gets about 18 inches tall, and again, likes shade.

In early spring you will find Bloodroot in a number of places in the garden. The flowers are pretty ephemeral, but the leaves persist until the heat of summer. This will self seed gently and I don't know anyone who wouldn't want a few more of these in their garden.


Deer seem to be quite fond of some kinds of Salvia, but this one, Salvia koyamae, doesn't seem to interest them. It is also unusual for a Salvia since it doesn't bloom until September and likes, rather demands, shade. Sun will have it wilting. It also likes to be a little moist. The flowers are a bit brighter yellow than they show here.



Another Salvia, this one argentea or more commonly known as 'Furbee', also doesn't seem to interest the critters. The leaves are really furry, way past fuzzy, and probably don't appeal for that reason. It does sometimes flower, but is primarily grown for the large leaves. It isn't that tall, but can be 3 feet across. As long as it isn't really soggy over the winter it makes it through here just fine.
Hot, hot, hot here today with enough humidity to make it really unpleasant. We managed to get out really early so we could pull thistle out of daylily beds for 4 hours. Not nearly as much got done this afternoon. Maybe rain tomorrow. I hung out laundry to try and get it to rain today, but it didn't work.
Jane




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