Comments for Oakleaf Green's Garden Smackdown™

Comment on Plant Review: Origanum laevigatum ‘Pilgrim’ by AK

AK — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:57:03 +0000

@Debbie: I love the types that have flowers like hops! ‘Kent Beauty’ is one of those. I’d like to find a place for them too. We don’t get many oreganos in nurseries here either, though one of my wholesalers sells ‘Rosenkuppel,’ similar to ‘Pilgrim.’ You’re pretty close to Logee’s, right? I know they still sell a few.

@Scott: I love the foliage too — I almost think it’d be worth cutting off the flowers right when they go from bracts-only to blooming. ‘Pilgrim’ gets about a foot tall for me.

Comment on Plant Review: Origanum laevigatum ‘Pilgrim’ by Debbie @ GardenofPossibilities

Debbie @ GardenofPossibilities — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:54:38 +0000

Andrew, I grow two ornamental oreganos, Origanum ‘Amethyst Falls’ and Origanum libanoticum but neither looks quite so spectacular as ‘Pilgrim’. Both have drooping flowers that look like hops and are a favorite of the bees. The leaves on both were quite spotty this year so I did shear them after they bloomed and the new foliage looks must fresher. I ordered both mine through the mail, for some reason Origanum doesn’t seem to be a popular plant in the local nurseries.

Comment on Plant Review: Origanum laevigatum ‘Pilgrim’ by Scott Weber

Scott Weber — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:44:32 +0000

I love this plant…the foliage is great, even if it doesn’t flower! I think I may have “Hopley’s Purple”, which is beautiful, but really suffers from lack of good sun in my garden…The flowers are quite dark and the bracts stay colorful even after the blossoms have faded. How big does “Pilgrim” get?

Comment on Marginals: Cunninghamia lanceolata by AK

AK — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:27:38 +0000

@Andrew: Thanks for commenting, and yes! Let’s hope. I’m enjoying the blue too.

@Susan: Man, it is BIG. Look it up on Wikipedia if you’re interested in these things like I am…

Comment on Marginals: Cunninghamia lanceolata by Susan in the Pink Hat

Susan in the Pink Hat — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:12:42 +0000

That’s a pretty broad family to lump in Taxodiaceae. Taxonomy is fickle, though. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Comment on Marginals: Cunninghamia lanceolata by Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 23:13:01 +0000

If it suckers early enough maybe you won’t have to worry about it being a lateral branch, or about its dead “leader.” Nice colour on it regardless.

Comment on Wishlist: Cephalaria gigantea by AK

AK — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 22:20:41 +0000

@Scott: Thanks for commenting! Yep, very like Knautia on stilts, and Annie’s is a very dangerous place. Let’s HOPE if I ever make it there in person, it’s when I have money to burn.

Comment on Wishlist: Cephalaria gigantea by Scott Weber

Scott Weber — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:51:28 +0000

That’s awesome…I’ve never heard of it before…but I’m a sucker for Knautia…so I have to check out Annie’s Annuals…yet again :-)

Comment on Roll Call: What Looks Good In a Bad Year by AK

AK — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:16:08 +0000

@Margaret: Grasses 2/3 height, YES! A client from last year mentioned his shorter grasses to me and asked if that was normal. I told him nothing was normal this year. Ugh, I say! Aralia cordata is happy, though……

Comment on Roll Call: What Looks Good In a Bad Year by Margaret Roach

Margaret Roach — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:37:33 +0000

I couldn’t have said it better (worse?) myself. What a year. Ugh. My grasses are good but like 2/3 height maximum; the panicle hydrangea blooms are a relief (white looks so fresh right now compared to all the TOAST).

I cannot wait to start the cleanup, which I will do next week — yes, like almost a month early — because I cannot stand looking at some of it any longer.