Total newbie and can't decide

[Beeker]

I am looking at the different plants that will work in my zone, and don't know what to do. There are over 500, and I don't think that includes the winter bloomers. How do I begin planning? What can I do to decorate a BIG tree stump? Can you all help me brainstorm and come up with some ideas? I have very few.

Here are a couple pictures of the easier areas:



For the side of the rectory that is facing the busier street, I plan on planting some butterfly bushes to entertain the cats, and maybe some more of those other bushes that are near the door, I think it is either azalea or rhododendron. We definitely want to break up the white on that side of the building. A climbing vine would be nice if we can get it to climb the rectory without doing damage to the building, of course.





The brick structure used to be a sign. Now we only use it for statues, but we would like to have some vines climbing the brick and the wood back.
Last year, I planted Tulips and Easter Lilies in the front of it, and in the planter in the back (facing the rectory) I tried many various plants, I borrowed some vine clippings from a friend, tried sweet peas, and also some Clematis. I don't know what I will have come springtime. I will take pictures when some things, if anything, starts poking through. Also, around the bottoms of the Cedars, I planted some Lily of the Valley that my cousin was going to throw away because it was taking over her yard. I don't know if they took the transplant well, but we will see.
I will try to show what I mean when I get pictures of the church, but I am hoping to plant some Winter Jasmine near the porch and train it through the railing. I figured the green would break up the white nicely, and the yellow flowers in the winter would be a nice surprise for people.

I will get some pictures of the front of the church and the walkway when the snow melts. That should only take a day or two. That is the tougher part because I don't have any ideas at all except for the Winter Jasmine idea. Please help.

[lynda66]

i would go by colour .... for me black red and purple but they are my favourite colours, then go through the lists and pick the colours you like, an evergreen climber would be nice up the white wall, maybe something like an ivy with a wisteria growing through it or other climbers with nice flowers.

then you need to decide if you want perennials or you want different things each year, pick bushes/shrubs with year round interest, coloured leaves/stems in autumn/winter.

then all you need to do is stick to the colour scheme with flowering stuff .... not sure if that helps much??

[lynda66]

the big tree stump, dig out the centre and use it as a giant planter for trailing plants

[Beeker]

Thank you for replying.

Any color that is bright and will stand out will do for me. I am only staying away from pale color and white flowers. We don't want more white. I just read something about a trumpet vine being a good climber, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, and has bright red flowers. Is it a perennial? I definitely want perennials. We have another woman who does the annuals, and she uses strategically placed pots.
I was thinking about doing just that for the tree stump. The center is very hard, though. Any suggestions? Being a total beginner at this, I probably don't have the right tools or ideas about how to do these things. I was thinking about filling it with petunias and verbena. Any thoughts or other ideas?
I don't know if this makes any difference, but the property is bordered with woods, mostly sassafras and maple trees. In the autumn those would be the colors we get.

[Eco-Chic]

You could grow your own mushrooms on the outside of the tree stumps.

You would need to drill into the stump and push some mushroom spawn in and then seal it with wax. You buy kits on the net. Google mushroom logs.

[Eyren]

I would be reluctant to suggest ivy - we have it climbing our house, and it can be quite damaging to the walls and woodwork. Virginia Creeper is probably better, and would go well with the maples in autumn.

At home we have blue anemones around the tree in our front lawn - they come up reliably every spring and make a lovely splash of colour soon after the snowdrops.

Erm, that's about it for my ornamental gardening knowledge. For the most part, if I can't eat it, I don't grow it

Oh, nearly forgot roses. The sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa) and similar "rugosa"-type roses such as "Fru Dagmar Hastrup" have a gorgeous scent and vivid green foliage, followed by bright red hips in autumn, so you get visual interest for a large part of the year. I don't know how well they would do in your climate but I see them a lot here.

[jogette]

Why don't you think about fragrance for the autumn/winter period. There is a little evergreen bush Sarcocca confusa - common name Christmas box, only grows about two feet high and has tiny insignificant flowers - but the perfume is truly lovely. I have two bushes near my front door and everyone comments on the scent and then asks for a cutting or seedling. It's a lovely welcome to visitors!
For the climber, why don't you consider one of the Polish clematis, they should be hardy enough for a New England winter. The one I'd recommend is called Polish Spirit - it is a small flowered variety but is amazing, it is covered in flowers for the whole summer until cut back by frost. I grow it on a hot dry site where no other clematis will survive and it covers a fence for about a width of 6ft. So easy to look after, just cut back to about 12 - 18inches each spring and give a good feed - it will do the rest.

[jogette]

By the way, Polish Spirit is a lovely purple - would look fantastic against the white background.

[Iamhanuman]

hi beeker
whatever you decide your plot looks wonderful
welcome to the Vine!

[Beeker]

I was looking at the trumpet vine to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, and decided against it. It looks beautiful, but I don't think I would be able to keep up with something so invasive. I thought of planting it in a container, but the building is so old, that I don't think I could dig a hole big enough to bury the container. Any other plants will do. I checked on the Christmas Box. I would love to get one, but the area I would want it gets full sun. I could probably get a couple and plant them in a shady area, but nobody would see them, only smell them.

So far, the snow is melted, and some plants are popping up. I am not sure what all of them are. I only know that some are tulips and some are Tiger Lilies. The others might be Daffodils. I plan on digging up the Tiger Lilies this week and planting them on the border of the woods. They don't look very nice in front of the church. They make the area look messy.

Here are pictures from the front edge of the church property.

[Beeker]

This is a picture taken of the walkway from the front of the church around to the rectory and parking lot:



This picture is from the corner of the church looking towards the front. You can see the tree stump on the left.



This is taken from the corner of the rectory. Along the edge of the church, on the right side of the picture, are some small Hostas.




So what do you all think? I am ready for brainstorming, but I need help.

[jogette]

The Christmas Box plants I have in my front garden face SSW. It is an exposed hillside on London clay which dries like concrete in the summer and is soggy in the winter. The plants are in the sun from about 11 or 12 noon until sunset, it doesn't seem to bother them. It's one of the reasons I recommend them - they have to be tough to survive in my garden - I never water in summer either! The same applies to the clematis.

[Beeker]

I have been asking around, looking for a Christmas Box, and you would think I were looking for a white elephant. It seems like nobody carries winter bloomers around here.

Any thoughts?

[Beeker]

Does the Polish Clematis climb using the little arms, like Sweet Peas, or does it stick to the wall, like Ivy? Sorry, but I don't know the terms.

[Beeker]

I was thinking of using a bright peach color or a bold yellow for the brick sign. Any ideas or alternative thoughts? For the church, I am considering everything but white and pale colors.

Eyren,
I am also considering climbing roses for our church sign (not the brick structure). I am being very picky about the color, though. I am trying to find a peach/pink color, almost like a salmon color. Average size, fragrant blossoms, that can be trained up the sign. What do you think? I wanted to do it last year, but the rose plants did not look well. They were all very unhealthy, so I decided against buying them. I guess last year was a bad year for roses around here.