Need perennial that like lots of water

 Hi All,

I have an ellipse at the edge of my lawn where I
intend to grow perennial flowers.  I love Hollyhocks,
but the one in the front of the ellipse always die on
me from all the water that soaks over from the lawn.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a perennial flower that:

    1) likes lots and lots of water,
    2) tolerates hot, dry high desert air (Norther Nevada),
    3) does not mind lots of sunlight, and
    4) will survive the winter (we sometimes get down to 0F)

Many thanks,
-T

 Todd wrote:

How about lobelia cardinalis?

-Bob

 On 11/13/2010 09:50 PM, zxcvbob wrote:

Looked it up on the web and I think you pegged
it.  I will love the red flowers too.

How do you think it will survive our freezing winters?

Some of the references said "short lived".  I wonder
how a "perennial" is short lived?  I wonder what they
are talking about?

Many thanks,
-T

 
Time is relative of course but all perennials have an expected life
time; a peach tree may live 30 years, a beechnut tree has a life
expectancy of some 300 years, a gingko is expected to live 1,000+.
With many perennial flowers what you actually see are new plants, the
original parent plant may have kept reproducing for a few years and
then dies.

 Todd said:

Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
These all come in white cultivars in addition to the more common
pink/purple shades.  The Asclepias has a lovely soft vanilla fragrance.

Aconite Buttercup (Ranunculus aconitifolius)
White flowered.  There are other species of buttercups with yellow
flowers that will also tolerate moist/sunny conditions

Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
White flowers (buds sometimes blushed pink), sort of sweet smelling
but a short blooming period, however the foliage out to bloom can be
rather attractive (fern-like).

Astilbe is usually considered a shade plant, but will do well in full
sun if the site really is consistantly moist -- I had them growing in
at my old house, in a very slightly raised bed in the low part of my
yard where the water table was high enough that we originally had
crayfish burrows showing up in the lawn.


--
Pat in Plymouth MI
    
"Vegetables are like bombs packed tight with all kinds of important
nutrients..."     --Largo Potter, Valkyria  Chronicles
 
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