2010 Edition of "corner garden additions"

This seems to be a recurring post for me, as I have planted some new things in our corner garden every year.  First we planted it with shade items.  Then the ice storm hit and removed the shade trees for us, so we had to plant some full sun and heat tolerant plants.  Every year some things come back and others don't.  So we fill in the spaces with new trial plants.

At this time of the year the garden looks really full because the Tulip and Daffodil stems are still all laying around.  But they will soon be gone.  Near their empty spaces, we have planted several different perennials: Gaura, Baptisia, Salvia and Centaurea.

Passionate Rainbow Gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Passionate Rainbow’)

I love Gauras, and these two particular Gauras have great foliage, even when they aren't blooming.  The Crimson Butterfly Gaura (below) has been blooming constantly since we bought it, though.  We went to Marcum's Nursery in search of Gauras and we found two real winners.  I just need to stay on top of watering them in the heat of the summer this year and they should be well established from here on out.

Crimson Butterflies Gaura (Oenothera lindheimeri ‘Crimson Butterflies’)

I have been wanting to grow Baptisia for the last couple of years, but haven't found one for sale anywhere locally.  I was just about to purchase one from a catalog when I realized they were for sale at Bustani.  So I picked up this pathetic little Baptisia.  I hope that he puts out some major growth soon.  I saw my first Baptisias in person at the Missouri Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks ago and they was awesome!  Right now mine just looks like a little clover that came up by mistake.  Here's a good picture of a mature plant, if you've not seen one before.

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis v. minor)

This Salvia was impossible to pass up when we saw it at Bustani.  Christie and I both felt like it was the most bang  for the buck.  And since it is a perennial Salvia, we were all in.

Pink Preference Autumn Sage (Salvia greggii 'Pink Preference')

I have never tried Centaureas (Bachelor's Buttons) before and don't know much about them.  The blooms of this particular plant look so exotic I'm surprised that they can be hardy in my zone.  I ordered these plants through Bluestone Perennials and the plants look like they have been chopped off at about 6 inches in height.  There is a lot of new growth coming from the base, so I think these plants are really robust.  Bluestone's website says the plants can be cut back after blooming, so I'm not sure if my plants bloomed before they were sent to me or not.  They are supposed to bloom from spring to early summer.  I'm crossing my fingers for some blooms.

Bachelor's Buttons (Centaurea 'Amethyst Dream')

And here's an update on a plant we added last year.  This Potentilla was a healthy plant when we purchased it.  I thought it had really neat foliage that looks like a strawberry plant and the bloom on the tag was really cool, so I thought I'd try it out.  Well, it never really did much of anything.  However, this year it is growing like mad and I think I even see some buds embedded in the clusters of new growth.  We shall soon see!

Miss Willmott Potentilla (Potentilla mepalensis 'Miss Willmott')