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stephanie_hirshberg

Help identifying plants

3 years ago

I love the look of this garden and would like to replicate in Zone 6/Massachusetts. I have limelights already planted and would like to fill in with other plants. Believe there is salvia/sage and red fox Veronica pictured, but what else? Is it Hosta and Slender Deutzia? Any help is appreciated!

Comments (11)

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    The majenta or rosy purple flowers that are the tallest in the back of the border look like Lythrum to me, also called Purple Loostrife, a plant that is outlawed in many states because it spreads and takes over wetlands. It is not something I would ever plant intentionally!

    The lighter airy bluish plant that is slightly shorter in front of the Loostrife towards the front of the bed looks like Russian Sage or Perovskia to me, closer to the foreground of the picture is something that resembles Perovskia but looks more like some type of Salvia or Flowering Sage.

    Red Fox Veronica only grows 15" tall. The loostrife in the picture looks much taller than that.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Nothing there looks like hosta. Plus, this looks like a full-sun bed; most hostas fry in full sun.

    The fuzzy-looking thing in the front lower right might be some variety of lamb‘s ear (stachys Silver Carpet perhaps).

  • 3 years ago

    In the front row I think I see stachys Big Ears and alchemillia mollis. Those may be the plants that remind you of hostas.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    There are lots of taller growing pinky purple spike veronicas. I would not necessarily assume the plant in question to be Lythrium or purple loosestrife without a more detailed inspection.

    If not exact ID's, the other plants suggested - perovskia, alchemilla mollis and stachys - would provide a very similar look.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I said it looks like, not that I was absolutely sure, haven't run a lab DNA test with positive results or have gotten a first hand look at the plant in person while it was in full bloom to be absolutely sure it was Purple Loostrife!! I was only taking an educated guess. (50 plus years of growing all types of plants)

    Gardengal, you are the Gardengalliest! - And I mean that in the kindest, fondest, Gardenwebbiest sort of way! :)

  • 3 years ago

    You can get pink spiky flowers from Veronica, Salvia, Agastache and Obedient plant. You'd have to find cultivars with the right height and color.


    The fuzzy purplish spikes in the front part of the border look like perovskia to me, but it could be lavender. You'd need a short cultivar of perovskia. Between the pink, there are other plants, probably to bloom at a different time. My hydrangea bloom later in the summer, so you'd want some spring blooms.


    Between the lady's mantle (alchemillea mollis) and lamb's ear, there's another plant. Hard to identify, but I might suggest a moss phlox. It will bloom in the spring and you can get them in pretty much every shade from purple to pink to white. They should be native to you.


    I hate lady's mantle. It spreads like crazy and is hard to get rid of. It looks lovely only when a few dew or raindrops are on the leaves. It gets dull in the summer heat and I'm in Maine, on the coast, so almost certainly get less summer heat. You might put in a lime-colored heuchera in its place. You'll get the lime (the color of the lady's mantle flowers) year-round, heucheras are native (lime is not a native color, though). And you won't get the stuff in your lawn. The heuchera won't like too much sun, though.


    So, bottom line is check sizes to ensure you get cultivars that will be the right height for your design. Check bloom times so your garden has something blooming in all seasons, and check for sun/shade.

  • 3 years ago

    If you want to replicate the look and have the full sun conditions, I think the already mentioned perovskia, alchemilla and stachys would be fine, just avoid the straight species stachys and look for 'Helen von Stein/Big Ears' so you have fewer flowers and more foliage. I think the short grey foliage is snow in summer (Cerastium) and there might be a few boxwoods in there for some structure in winter.

    I'm not sure what you could put in place of the purple lythrum, maybe a tall, similarly colored phlox like 'Robert Poore' but that wouldn't give you the same form. Veronicas or salvia might work but I don't think they bloom as long as the phlox or lythrum.

  • 3 years ago

    consider verbena bonairensis - not the same form as the lythrum but airy & blooms all summer

  • 3 years ago

    Liatris (Blazing Star) blooms with purplish spikes, and is a favorite of pollinators - especially if you plant a native variety.


    Photo from Brent & Becky's Bulbs



  • 3 years ago

    Verbena Bonariensis might be iffy for Z6.

  • 3 years ago

    It certainly won't be perennial!! But it could self seed enough to appear so.

    FWIW, Verbena bonariensis is considered invasive in many mild climate areas. Like mine :-)