need help IDing some garden flowers (grow, plants, pond, shade)

[kcam213]

I think this is what I is the bush I have been looking at all summer. And this is the Joe Pye Weed.

Thank you for helping me.

[kcam213]

wow, reading more about the Joe Pye... it seems really big.

I am beginning to think this is not what I was looking for.

I don't doubt that the picture I have posted is Joe Pye... but I think I may have taken a picture of a plant similiar looking to the compact bush I have been looking at all summer.

I will take new pics and post on the thread tomorrow.

thanks for the help with the other flowers.

[Art123]

Originally Posted by kcam213

I think this is what I is the bush I have been looking at all summer. And this is the Joe Pye Weed.

Thank you for helping me.

It's not a bush. It's a perennial flower, meaning it dies back to the ground in the winter. There are varieties that get 15 feet, and ones that stay short. And it can spread like a wildfire.

[kcam213]

^ More clues..

thanks... then I am pretty sure that I took a pic of the wrong plant. the ones I am thinking of are definitely a bush. In commerical landscaping and loses it's leaves in the fall. My subdvision has a planting of these in the entrance... so I will photograph in the AM and post on this thread tomorrow afternoon.

[Luvvarkansas]

No, those bushes are not Joe Pye Weed....they are spirea.

#1 is verbena, both the purple and the white.

#2 and #3 are lobelia.

#4, the large one, is a zinnia. These are easily grown from seed. The smaller ones in the background are more verbena.

#5 - already said above - spirea.

#6 and #7 - some variety of salvia. Kinda looks like 'May Night'.

[Luvvarkansas]

If you will look closely at the flower heads on your first picture of the bushes, and the second picture you posted on pg. 2 that you said was Joe Pye Weed, you will notice that the first ones are more flat, sort of "flying saucer" shaped, and the Joe Pye weed is not. This is how you know it is spirea and not JP weed.

[J&Em]

LuvvArkansas has ID'd them pretty well. I've got all of those plants but not all the same variety.


Picture 1... 2 colors of verbena (I have both) in my zone some are perennial and others are annual.

Picture 2 and 3 Annual Lobelia, similar to "crystal palace" variety I have both white and blue in my deck pots.

picture 3 orange flower is a zinnia, judging by the leaves that are visible

picture 4 agree with LuvvArkansas on this too I have a mounding spirea that has a very neat habit and remains a neat bush with very little work.

picture 5 and 6 sage (aka perennial salvia) I have both a dwarf version and a tall one with different flowers.

[TXNGL]

Haven't read through all the posts yet, but the bushy things are some sort of perennial. My neighbor across the street has them and I've been meaning to ask her about them because they've been blooming a ton and I love them! other plants are zinnias (the only annual I'll plant because they love my climate and go crazy the hotter it gets), verbenas (have those too), and some sort of salvias. I plant tons of salvia. In fact, except for a couple of pics, you'd think you were photographing my backyard!

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by kcam213

I think this is what I is the bush I have been looking at all summer. And this is the Joe Pye Weed.

Thank you for helping me.

OK, that's not the perennial my neighbor has.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Luvvarkansas

If you will look closely at the flower heads on your first picture of the bushes, and the second picture you posted on pg. 2 that you said was Joe Pye Weed, you will notice that the first ones are more flat, sort of "flying saucer" shaped, and the Joe Pye weed is not. This is how you know it is spirea and not JP weed.

Good eye, I can barely tell them apart in pictures.
Is Lobelia a fussy plant? I've tried red cardinalflower, which I guess is related, and never had any luck with it. I was wondering if this was any easier to grow? Anyone know?