Hi I'm new to the forum. I live in Kelowna so gardening for the conditions are the reason I have joined the forum. I have lots to learn as I have only been seriously gardening for about 4 years. Of particular interest to me are plants/bulbs others have had success with here in Kelowna that are low water users. Additionally I would like to know about plants and bulbs that will survive living under a large well established Maple. I don't know what kind of maple other to decribe that it has small leaves and very shallow roots that go everywhere. I live in Zone 5B according to my neighbour and have soil could be described as decent and would hold alot more moisture if we did not have such drying winds. I use alot of mulch in my beds but there never seems to be enough moisture even when watering at night. I am in the Rutland Waterworks region of Kelowna and have very strict rules and regulations about watering. I am looking forward to replies. Thanks, sweetpea
Hi Sweetpea, I live in the West Kootenays and have two mature silver maples (Acer saccharinum) in my front yard, one of which is 16 feet in circumference, the other a close second. A lot of roots, lots of shade and pretty dry on a slight west facing slope. The good news is that you can grow a lot of things under these, especially bulbs that liked to be baked or dry in the summer. Right up against the trunk I have snow crocuses, winter aconites, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, iris reticulata, iris danfordiae, erythroniums, scillas, anemone blanda, species tulips (batalini, sylvestris, tarda, urumiensis, linifolia, wilsoni, gregii, etc.), glory of the snow, Jetfire and Jenny, Tete a Tete daffodils, bluebells, etc. I love my bulbs and it makes March and April sooo much better. There are lots of spring bloomers that bloom with the bulbs before the trees leaf out, pulmonaria and brunnera macrophylla (I especially like B.Jack Frost, its leaves look great right up til the snow covers them long after the hostas have turned yellow and gone spotty. Arabis, phlox subulata, aurbretia, saponaria are others. I have sweet violets as a ground cover with hardy geraniums, Hosta Elegans and Paul's Glory, solomon's seal, columbines, bleeding heart (spectabilis, formosa and dicentra), epimedium, campanulas (peachleaved, rotundifolia, muralis, serbian), lady's mantle, lemon lilies (a fragrant early blooming daylily), masterwort, anemone sylvestris, japanese anemones, summer phlox, aconites, cimicifuga, hepatica, shasta daisies, tree peonies, herbaceous peonies, spirea Vanhouttei, Japanese maples and vine maple, caraganas, mock orange, weigelia, rudbeckias, ferns, cimicifugia, siberian iris, clematis (alpina, macropetala, jackmanii, Helen Hunt, Pink Champagne, Minuet, etc.) So you can see, lots of things to try. Have fun.
thankyou johnnyjumpup, Some of the perrienals that you mentioned I have planted and are doing well as long as they are farther from the tree. I have found the closer some of my hosta's are to the trunk the less well they do. Perhaps I just need to add more compost as the year progresses. My hardy geriunium does not really thrive so I'm going to move it farther. Thanks for sharing the success you have had with bulbs. I can order some bulbs this year knowing that I'm not going to be spending money on something that won't survive the stress of living under maple. I think something that might different from your climate and mine is we get considerbly less snowfall than say a place like Nakusp. I lived in Nakusp for a while and can atest that there is quite abit more than we get here in Kelowna.
Hi Sweetpea, Yes we get a lot more snow here. Good thing as we are usually on water restrictions in the summer. Bulbs are great. I do have a hosta Elegans planted about 8 inches from the trunk on the north side of the tree. Took longer to establish but a nice big one now. The bigroot geranium (G. macrorrhizom) does well here, one is even growing out of the crotch in the tree - bird sown, I guess. Also the euphorbia polychroma and martagon lilies like it under the tree as well.
Hi Sweetpea (I am blushing calling you this): :) I live in Penticton, which is generally reputed to be windier than Kelowna, at least by sail boarders. Before almost all of my landscaped areas were covered tightly with ground covers I used a lot of peat moss. It lessens the drying impact of the sun and seals the moisture in (just to a degree of course). It is now available at Canadian Tires here for just $5.97 per 3.8 cf bail and I presume the price is the same in Kelowna. I have spread one bail in spring and one in fall for each 3 to 400 sf. It generated over a couple of years a very soft loose surface, which made weeding very easy. Do not worry about the wind blowing it away. Once it has hit the ground it sticks surprisingly well. If you want additional reassurance, spread it just before watering. Good luck! Olaf
Thanks. That sounds like a practical and cheap solution to my problems. Seemed like I suddenly reallized yesterday alittle jem I had repeated many times but had not taken to heart. "Right plant for the right place" I moved a perrienal babies breath this sping to the front gardend that gets intense heat and does not compete with the Maple and low and below it loves it new position. Even when you can see the ground get parched around it it does not look like it's suffering.
