I’m sharing 8 plants that are new or notable to me that I’m growing this year plus 4 plants that I’m on a break with.
Share what you’re excited to be growing or what you’re nixing this year in the comments.
00:51 Columnar apples
2:15 Astrantia
2:58 Astilbe ‘Dark Side of the Moon’
3:34 Brazilian fern tree
4:28 Asarina
5:29 A fabulous new Colocasia
6:15 Parthenium integrifolia
7:10 Climbing zucchini
7:49 ‘Alnwick’ roses
10:46 Hardy hibiscus
12:49 Ginger and turmeric
13:44 Serviceberry
My name is Erin and I love sharing inspiration and information with real-life gardeners. I live and garden in southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5b.
If you liked this video give it a thumbs up and if you loved it, please subscribe and click the bell so you never miss a new video! Thank you for your support.
🌿Blog: https://www.theimpatientgardener.com
🌿Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/impatientgardener
🌿Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/impatientgardener
📩 erin@theimpatientgardener.com
🌿 My favorite potting soil (Organic Mechanics peat-free Container blend): https://bit.ly/containerblend
🌿 My favorite soil amendment: https://bit.ly/biocharblend
🌿 Garden products I buy on repeat: https://liketk.it/3FIyl
Some affiliate links may appear. I may make a small commission if you purchase through these links. Thanks for your support. You can see all my favorite products on my Amazon storefront at https://www.amazon.com/shop/impatientgardener
Music in my videos from: http://bit.ly/39wBm5f
Mail to:
USPS: The Impatient Gardener
P.O. Box 99
Belgium, WI 53004
UPS/FedEx: The Impatient Gardener
125 E. Main St.
Port Washington, WI 53074
49 Comments
I’ve never heard of Astrantia. Looks beautiful! Going to try it! Thanks for the inspiration!
Astrantia! I found one lone one last year. It didn’t grow at all or flower, but I have my fingers crossed! And I will go earlier this year to see if they have them again!
Oh those hibiscus! Mine is so gorgeous….when it finally blooms….but I too am thinking about moving it since it means my main front bed is half empty all summer!
Service berry- that is a bummer to hear as I was hoping to use that as the red color in our woods that is all yellow. In fall. I look forward to the video you mentioned about native trees/plantings. I am near you and need ideas for our woods and I want to stick with natives (dead ash are now falling and buckthorn is taking advantage of that added light….grrr.)
My veggies struggled last year, so I am going to try more flowers in their space this year. Dahlias! Do you know any local place that sells Crichton Honey?
Uh, yeah. No roses for me. NC/NE Kansas. Too much 🔥 wind. Have 0lenty of other options. I too have great so8l. Goes way down too. Like the bind weed I also have. 😢
You can ship it to me 🙋♀️ love your content, and can't wait to see your garden this year 🤩😉
Amazing fantastic🤘😝🤘🤘😝🤘
We have similar tastes, apparently! I've tried varieties of the vine you mentioned. No luck with starting it from seed. Fell in love with the alocasia you mentioned. Hope to find it. I've tried bare root astrantia a couple of times & no luck. I'd like to find a live plant. Need to keep watch on your videos this year to check the progress you have.
Great video! I also hope to find the Royal Hawaiian Waikiki…looks very cool, and also want to add Astrantia. Tried it once and didn't find the sweet spot, will try again. I have a Hawthorn tree affected by the rust, that I battle every year, never see the beautiful berries, they all drop, would like to replace that.
I live in southern vt which is also 5A. I am digging out my hardy hibiscus, because it blooms too late and seems to attract sand flies and Japanese beetles. I now get two large tropical hibiscus from a big box store, which I plant in containers and winter over indoors , they are continuous bloomers all summer. I also have 2 rose of Sharon shrubs which have a similar flower form. Two perennials I have been able able to winter over heavily mulched are bears breech and my two gas plants(dictamnus albums) I love them both.
I’ve ordered so many David Austin roses and now hate them! The Japanese Beetles destroy the blooms and our winters kill the canes in my 5b garden. I’m taking them out.
I follow each garden channel for a different reason… Erin, you are always growing thee most unique plants. I love it! I am growing astrantia (?) for the first time this year too. I think it’s so whimsical and cottagy.
Sad to see you shovel prune those Alnwicks but I feel you. Roses can be persnickety! I have a suggestion for the next time you buy… give Olivia or Eustacia Vye a try. They are supposed to be some of the best disease resistant and most floriferous DA roses. I personally LOVE my Olivia. I’m in Ohio, zone 6a.
I probably won't grow Dahlias. I love them, but by the time mine bloom it is close to frost. I do love them in bouquets with hydrangeas for late season, but so hard in my garden IL 5b. Funny but my hardy Hibiscus does bloom all August, must be in just the right spot.
It's hard deciding not to grow favorite plants (like your serviceberry). I'm in zone 6b and recently discovered borers in the branches of all four of my fully mature limelight hydrangeas while pruning them. According to what information I could find on line, there is no way to treat the plants other than to cut out infected branches. And sadly, there are a lot of those. Like your decision about the serviceberry, I probably won't replace the hydrangeas (although I love them) since the problem seems to be ongoing. If anyone has some suggestions on how to treat borers in hydrangeas, I'd really welcome them.
Oh shoot I have crabapples and serviceberry and also cedars (or juniper or some sort of conifer) that absolutely have cedar apple rust (orange slimy alien looking things appear all over them about once a year)… I have noticed spots on the leaves of the crab apples but no other effects yet, my serviceberry has only been in the ground since fall, I hope it will be ok.
I'm so glad I watched today's video. I'm in NW WI and it's been snowing since Sat. We got 5 new inches of snow in mid March and have snowbanks that are over 5 ft tall. Spring seems so far off. I was looking at David Austin roses on their website and had 2 climbing roses in my cart, but I just couldn't get myself to finish the purchase. Laura@GardenAnswer has beautiful climbing roses. I'm so envious and would love to grow them. BUT, we have a terrible Japanese beetle problem here. And, we don't get the production that Laura gets. Now I remember why I shouldn't invest in expensive rose plants.
More plants to add to my bucket list! I was also super interested in what you had to say about service berry. I was planning to add those to my hurricane-ravaged woodland area as part of our reforestation project. A local tree nursery suggested these could tolerate my harsh Atlantic coastal conditions. We don’t have juniper in close proximity, but I am wondering if I might be setting myself up for more heartbreak.
One tip to I learned growing tropicals here in northeast pa is to bring the alocasia and elephant ear types inside after the first frost and pot them up under grow lights for the winter. Keeps them awake and ready for the next season. Also if your growing Dahilas this season jump start them with a old aquarium with a light on top.
I also deal with Japanese beetles but love the rose. I now have criteria for buying. Buy a zone colder than my 5. Own root so if harsh winter takes it down, it has more chance to return from root. Shiny leaves as they say more disease resistant. And most important, continuous bloomer so the beetles take their perceived share, but i get a share after the beetles have past. Thanks for the vids as they help get through these indoor months.
Well, you did it again. You introduced me to another plant I just had to have🤦♀️. I’ve grown Colocasia before, but this Royal Hawaiian Wikikki will take center stage on a floating planter in my pond. I’ve had it sent to me here in Florida to give it a head start, before returning to Wisconsin.
I live in Hockley,Texas and all of the very old Azaleas have galls all over them. I looked it up and it seems to be a fungus. It’s really heavy on all the plants. I’m going to have to cut them down and it’s going to look really bare. I have such trouble with azaleas. I’m pretty much done with them.
You made my day! You can come after me , but not my soil!!! LOL
I get the “enough is enough” state of mind. I too, last year, pulled out 2 hibiscus. They never ever bloomed for me. I also have two holly shrubs that have been around for over 10 years and have grown a total of 2 feet tall. And then there’s the large architectural evergreen at the front of my house that has completely outgrown its spot. That one will hurt but it’s just an opportunity to do something new.
Love you and your content.
Roses are tough…..gorgeous, but time consuming and a lot of work. Laura of GA has some that bloom all season and don’t need dead heading, but zone 6 high dessert and Wisconsin are very different climates. Perhaps there’s something out there….or in development….that will work out for you. I gave up on roses. Just have 3 climbers…2 were here when I bought the house 40 years ago, the other a gift. They just keep going and don’t require as much attention. 💖😊
No more daffodils! Armadillos ate mine!
I'll take your David Austin roses!!
Hi Erin, I'm in the PNW and was told the flavor on those columnar apple varieties are not that great. But get someone else opinion. I have to worry about Pear trellis rust with the hosts Juniper and pear. Can't wait to see your banana and Colocasia. I also love Astrantia and Amelancier . I thankfully don't have those Japanese beetles. I love my David Austin roses, just ordered 3 more this season.
I planted " Wild Quninine " last year . Pollinator magnet for all sorts of bees and I have lots of seeds that I collected to winter sow this year!!!
I love learning things from your videos! I'm a new gardener and still trying to figure out what will work in my limited condo space (which is mostly partly shady). So I'm intrigued by astrantia (which I've never heard of). Do you grow it from seed or buy plants?
We have a lot of rose rosette in my neighborhood, so I've watched neighbors go through the heartbreak of losing roses that, in some cases, had been there for decades. So no more roses for me than the one I inherited with the property. I'm trying Nicotiana this year, in large part thanks to your enthusiasm. Hoping they do well!
I love wild quinine!!
Oh, phlox, the powdery mildew fight is one I'm tapping out on.
If you like wild quinine, you might also try pale Indian plantain. Similar look but taller.
Thanks for giving me the courage to get rid of my roses. They bloom beautifully for me but they already have black spot. Plus I selected two varieties with vicious thorns in a bed that needs weeding and fertilizing. I am hanging on to my Winchester Cathedral and I will probably regret it as I foolishly try to redesign a bed around it. It seems less susceptible to black spot, blooms like crazy, and smells great. But it’s a thug. It probably grows 5’ in a year and sends up many new canes. I just can’t say goodbye. I used to have a spot at a previous home that I called the “widows and orphans”bed. Plants could hang out there until I found someone to give them to. I need that again.
👍🏼🙏🥰
I’m the same with roses…I just don’t feel like there is enough return for the work, especially battling Black Spot!
I agree with you on the hibiscus, I also took mine out last year I am in New Hampshire and it take a long time to see them bloom and I put something else in that spot, I am happy to say I don’t regret taken them out.
I've done roses by the book and still failed. They are too much time and money for what you get. I've got two climbing one that I've let grow but they have never thrived in the years I've had them.
Cedar rust is quite bad where I'm at, as we have lots of Eastern Red Cedars. Last year, I planted a variety of quince and three apples that are said to be very disease resistant, and they all got hit with it. The apples only got it on their leaves during spring, but the poor quince was covered in it; leaves, stems and fruit alike. I planted a Chinese haw (Big Golden Star) at the same time, and surprisingly it had no issues with rust, though I believe hawthorns can also get it. I'm hoping the trees will be a bit more resilient now that they've had a year to establish, but honestly I'm not very optimistic. Good luck with your fruit trees! I'd love to know what methods you use to protect your eating apples 🙂
Hey Erin, so glad to hear your sensible and healthy approach to some undignified comments. You do you! Love your authenticity. Keep it up and focus on the bigger proportion of good comments! Thanks for garden goals for this year.
I ordered, just last week, bare root columnar apple trees. Scarlet Sentinel Columnar Apple and Golden Sentinel Columnar Apple Tree. First time ever growing fruit for me.
Four plants that I started by seed that will start on my annual list
Salvia ‘Big Blue’
Ornamental Basil ‘Cardinal’
Alternanthera 'Purple Prince'
Dichondra ‘Emerald Falls’
Last year I’ll be trying Purple Bell vine by seed.
Wow Erin. You hit on a number of things applying to my garden. I'm across the lake from you in Michigan zone 5. Sadly, after the city planted serviceberries in our neighborhood and I noticed they were diseased, mine succumbed to the cedar apple plague😢. I don't dare replace it. You'll like the wild quinine, though, because the blossoms last forever. I hope yours blossoms sooner than mine. It took three years, but I also didn't pamper it in the hot dry location. Ditto on hardy hibiscus for me except for an old variety that came back in a spot partly shady after being dormant for 25 years. Go figure. I had to give up on roses and raspberries due to Japanese beetles attracted by a well-watered golf course near us. I'm trying three native New Jersey Tea shrubs this year for a tough spot and astrantia is on my list too. ???Question though about any tips about fighting blister beetles that were terrible last year. I'm digging out my ligularia which attracts them and will try to be vigilant about controlling grasshoppers which I understand they feed on the eggs. I don't really want to use any pesticides. HELP! I love watching your helpful suggestions and experiences we can learn from. Our friend who is third generation orchard farmer says best results for apples is two trees rather than crabapples. I wish you success on the columnar apple trees. Our friend said the columnar ones just don't seem to produce like the pictures show. Please keep us up-to-date because I would love to try them too since space is at a premium in my small city lot.
I’m going all in on Darkside of the moon also. I ordered 15 of them. 8 for the rail planters and 7 for the Hosta bed. Some in the ground some in containers. That foliage I think is going to be chefs kiss in containers.
I wish you could trade me the roses and hibiscus I’ve been looking for both of those in my area😂
Hi no we aren't covered in snow but we just had a week of very warm temps now headed to freezing for the next three nights. I think you are right there are simply certain plants where the struggle is too great. I feel that way about peonys. Some have luck with them in zone 8A but I haven't. So no more. Our climate is just too hot! Thanks
Broke my heart about the serviceberries! I’m adding two more to my garden. Going with autumn brilliance which is supposed to be more resistant
I love hibiscus because they do so well in my wet yard but you’re right about the short bloom time – it stinks! If anybody has a wet yard, I’d love to hear what else does well for you!
Hey Erin. I decided last year that don't care for the hardy hibiscus so much. I find the plant looks "messy" because the beautiful flowers only look good for one day then get limp and unattractive and have to be plucked off to keep the plant looking good. Too much work.
My roses will all soon be GONE as well. They are such a chore. I hate it but … like you, just the work to them.
If it does not bring you joy, take it out! I am in SC, you can send the roses and hibiscus my way!
Astrantia, yes! WHERE DID YOU FIND YOURS?? I hunted for seed for a long time.What a great list!! I am trying a few of these this year as well.