Horticulture Report: Creeping Thyme

Posted on August 16, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

Plant Name: Thymus praecox
Common name: Creeping Thyme
Plant Type: Groundcover
Plant Height: 1” – 4”
Plant Width: 6” – 18”
Bloom Time: May – August
Flower Color: Pink White, Purple
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Average, Dry – Medium, Well-Drained; Tolerates Rocky or Poor Soil.
Water Need: Drought Tolerant Once Established
Fire Resistant: YES. Plant 30’+ from house.
Attributes: Leaves in Shades of Light to Dark Green Yellow, or Variegated; Deer Resistant; Attracts Bees/Butterflies.
Uses: Rock Walls; Between Pavers; Rock Garden; Path Edging.
Note: Cut Back Stems to Maintain Plant Appearance; Susceptible to Root Rot in Poor Draining Soils.
Native to: SW & Central Europe; Greenland; Turkey
Oregon Native: NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 4 – 10

Report by: Viki Ashford, AGC Member

Photo Credit: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Horticulture Report: Veronica Ground Covers

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

Plant Name: Veronica species
Common name: Speedwell
Plant Type: Perennial Groundcover
Plant Height: 4” – 8”
Plant Width: 18” – 24”
Bloom Time: May/June
Flower Color: Blue, Pink, White
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil Requirements: Moist, Well-Drained
Water Needs: Drought Resistant; For Best Bloom Water Moderately About 1” a Week.
Fire Resistant: YES; Plant 30’+ from House.
Attributes: Attracts Butterflies/Hummingbirds; Deer Resistant. NOTE: Veronica tends to be deer-resistant, though extreme conditions deer with graze on plants they otherwise wouldn’t eat.
Uses: Rock Gardens; Flower Bouquets; Perennial Border.
Note: Showy in Full Bloom; Cut Back for Overwintering; Deadhead to Extend Bloom.
Native to: Northern Europe; Asia
Oregon Native: NO
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 8

Veronica species

Blue Woolly Speedwell (Veronica pectinata)
Turkish Veronica (Veronica liwanensis)
Thyme Leaf Speedwell (Veronica oltensis)
Snowmass® Blue-Eyed Speedwell (Veronica Snowmass P018S)
Veronica filiformis (Creeping Speedwell)
Veronica peduncularis or umbrosa ‘ George Blue’
Veronica Repens

Today in the Garden

Posted on August 8, 2021 by Ashland Garden Club

Madia elegans: Elegant tar weed. This is blooming right now. It is a sun-loving native annual that self-sows widely. Drought and deer tolerant. Blooms morning and evening, but closes up during the middle of the day. See the bumble bee getting pollen off the flowers. The plant is about 3′ high and 1 1/2′ high.

Epilobium canum, or California Fuchsia. It used to be called Zauschneria californica. It is a later blooming perennial. It is drought and deer resistant. This one is right near an alley and a driveway, and is fine with hot, dry soil. Hummingbirds love it. I plant it with dark blue Bachelors’ Buttons, annuals which seed around.

Gaillardia , or Blanket Flower. It is a long-blooming perennial with interesting round seed heads. If some of the seed heads are left on, it will self-sow. This particular plant is probably a hybrid, called Gaillardia x grandlora ‘Goblin’, which is a more compact cultivar. The native is Gaillardia aristata. It is drought tolerant and deer resistant.

Praying Mantis on Verbena, previously seen eating a bee from the head down. After crawling up on this bloom, she crawled down on the stem and basically disappeared, lurking until another insect came along.