Struggling up the ladder

I was feeling morose a while back. My beautiful Jacob's ladder (the Bressingham Purple) looked deader than a doornail. Polemoniums normally come through the winter with most of their foliage intact, but all I could see were dead stubs. I was, quite frankly, miffed. I'd grown rather attached to this particular form of Jacob's ladder, with its purplish cast and long-lasting flowers. It looked particularly nice with a frothing of deadnettle at its feet.

And then the other day I was doing my normal poking around and what did I see? This.


None of the reading I've done on this cultivar mentioned that it was a late riser or that it behaved differently than other Polemoniums. So as a public service I'm letting you know you shouldn't give up too quickly on this baby. It remains to be seen if it will come back as strong as last year. If it doesn't, I'll conclude that it's only borderline hardy in this zone, and make sure I mulch it well next winter.

For now, I am happy to see that it is coming back at all. There are a few residents of my garden that are missing in action or a bit worse for wear. But I'll tell the sob stories later. For the time being I am looking at my bleeding heart with a real sense of awe. A square metre they said it needed. Piffle! This thing is more than a metre across in its third year and the poor grape-leaved anemone behind it is feeling a bit crowded. Not for nothing that all its new shoots have sprouted further away from its rather overbearing neighbour. But I love it all the same.



Technorati tag: Jacob's ladder

Liberal bleeding heart!

They bloom liberally, they grow liberally, they reseed liberally, ya just gotta love 'em!

The reseeding liberally part I don't know from personal experience; I'm an incurable deadheader. But the picture at right of the same bleeding heart in 2005 gives ample evidence of the growing liberally part. It was such a pretty little miss, but she's definitely put on weight. Next year, she will be a monster. And I will love every little bit of her!

In recent years, I have not had much difficulty with the foliage dying down early, although I really can't tell you why. It's been staying green for me well into autumn, so I haven't had to devise strategies for hiding it or filling in gaps. When I had one in a somewhat sunny location, I seeded cosmos around it, and they would get big just about the time the bleeding heart was getting ratty and screened it very effectively. Hmm, maybe a less sunny location has something to do with the foliage lasting longer.

I've also been known to pop one of my larger planters into the garden to fill in the hole. A mature Dicentra spectabilis takes up a good square metre, which makes for pretty big shoes to fill. Some people don't think she's worth the effort, but I am definitely too smitten to care.