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Simply Gardening
by Doug Green
Bogged Down... and Loving It!
Part 2

If you remember, I was listing some of my favourite perennial plants for the bog garden. Now, before we go any further, I want to make it quite clear that most of these perennial plants are not traditionally those we'd call bog plants. I haven't listed any of the Carex, Pitcher Plants or other wonderful truly bog plant. These are for the collectors amongst us. The plants I'm listing are mostly those traditional perennial plants that will do well in a wet or boggy spot – whether you've planned it in your garden or it just exists. Not only that, but you'll be able to find every one of these plants in better garden centres or mail order catalogues. Last week I got to the G's. This week I'm going to get the L's and finish off next week.

No garden would be complete without Daylilies or Hemerocallis. Blooming in mid-summer for us here in zone 4, (and evergreen and longer blooming in warmer climates) these hardy plants will grow anywhere. It's a good thing too because they're going to form the backbone of my new backyard pond and garden design. 'Stella d'Oro' is a good everblooming variety in warmer areas than ours, here you only get one bloom unless it's a long and warm season. You can obtain collections of older varieties for a few dollars apiece while the newer hybrids will set you back a bank loan. Look for the fragrant forms like the old H. flava (Lemon Lily) – you might as well enjoy the fragrance while you're swooning over the abundance of blossoms.

I bet you didn't know that hardy Hibiscus make wonderful wet garden plants. I've grown these in wet areas, damp areas and bone-dry gardens and the best flowers are always in the wetter gardens. A common name for the Hibiscus moscheutos (the one you'll find in garden centres) is Swamp Rose Mallow. Now, it doesn't take too much thinking to figure where to put this plant in the garden. There are other species Hibiscus that you might find seed for in specialty catalogues. Try them all, they'll all appreciate the damp.

Hosta thrives in the damp, shady garden. You wouldn't think it (I'd figure they'd rot) but if you give these guys a lot of water, they grow like weeds. While the green and white common form (H. undulata 'Medio-Variegata) always grows quickly, giving water to the likes of 'Sum and Substance', 'Elegans' and H. tokudama 'Aureo Nebulosa' will speed up their relatively slow growth. Not only that, but when Hosta are given all the water they want, their leaves become even larger than those you see in catalogues. A situation sure to bring delight to the average gardener.

Inula do very well in damp spots. These daisy flowers live in drier gardens without complaining, but to really see them thrive, give them a damp garden. There are quite a few species of Inula available through specialty plant sources. My personal favourite is Inula royleana – a wonderful stiff stalked plants that holds its 4 inch wide yellow daisy flowers at 24 inches high.

Iris are another wonderful wet garden plant. The beautiful Japanese iris demand constant moisture if they are going to thrive and the bog garden is the best place for them. I'll never forget the first time I successfully grew these in a bog garden, they were the highlight of the summer. There are quite a few other Iris that thrive in the damp garden, from the Siberian Iris to dwarf I. cristata. Grow them all.

If you are a bit adventurous, you might want to search out Kirengeshoma. This Japanese native has delightful yellow bell flowers in mid summer. It grows 2 to 4 feet tall and will be a central showpiece in the garden. It is not easily found and must be grown in damp soils to survive. Well worth it if you can find it from a specialty gardening source.

Perennial Sweet Pea or Lathyrus latifolia does quite well in damp ground. This is not surprising as it normally seems to be found growing in ditches when it escapes from local gardens. This last sentence should give you a bit of a clue; it self sows and can be a bit weedy once it is established.

You need damp soils to grow Ligularia and you should grow them. Their yellow spikes make a wonderful accent to the damp garden and I'd install a damp garden just to grow this plant family. I have tried to grow Ligularia in regular soils but they wilt so badly during the summer heat it is hardly worth the effort. Build a bog just for them.

Lilies such as L. canadense thrive in damp gardens. Nobody ever seems to mention this in gardening magazines but try installing a few of these next to your pond and create a show-stopping display for mid-summer.

Lobelia cardinalis is one of my personal favourite bog plants. Its cardinal-red flowers are one of the truly red flowers in the mid-summer garden. There are some bronze leaved forms that are not hardy here and some new cultivars that are really annuals (being sold as perennials) so be careful that you get the green leaved form and that it is truly the species. Gardens that are warmer than mine may be able to overwinter the bronze form or the annuals. I've grown Lobelia syphilitica in both bog and desert-dry conditions. It does better in the bog although it will live in dry garden areas.

One word of warning. Some nurseries will sell you plants of Lysimachia as bog plants. Don't let them near your garden! Any plant that has Lysimachia as its first name is a spreading, garden thug. You've been warned and even if the flowers beguile you and the salesman tells you that you can control it - resist.

Next week, I'll finish off listing my personal favourite damp garden plants. Or, at least those that will fit into the column will get mentioned. I never grew a plant that wasn't my favourite.

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