Ed Snodgrass, the very cool green-roof guy in Street, Md., I wrote about almost a year ago, grows sedums and ice plant (Delosperma) for his environmentally correct roofs. T'm not too familiar with ice plant, but I've come to really enjoy sedums. Now I'm thinking they might be a smart choice for that sunny border I mentioned in the previous post. (See "Panic attack"). You can visit Ed's website at www.greenroofplants.com.
Sedums are succulents. They have shallow roots, store water in their leaves and can survive the harshest, hottest conditions there are. The way I see it, if they can survive on a rooftop, as I know they can, I'm pretty confident they can take the heat of a Philadelphia summer. Yes, even that!
I've mostly used portulaca or moss rose in this space, two different varieties, without great success. One variety did better than another, but last year was the worst. I watered and watered and the stupid things barely perked up. Bought reinforcements late in the summer and they barely made it to fall. I decided that was it for portulaca, even though I know other gardeners who grow the stuff between rocks, on walls, in bright sunshine. NIMBY. Not in my back yard.
Problem areas in the garden can be frustrating, but there is a solution to almost all of them. People have found a way to garden on rocks and in deep shade. What's a little sun? What's a lot of sun, is more like it.
But every garden is so different, which is worth bearing in mind when we're pumping other gardeners for information. We're really on our own here.
Given how expensive this problem-solving can be, I'm determined this year to solve it once and for all with a perennial groundcover that will tolerate drought as well as its catalogue or web blurb says it will. And I figure, Ed Snodgrass, a fifth generation farmer who now makes a good living selling drought-tolerant plants for green roofs, knows what he's talking about.
Even in MBY.
Comments (1)
I think the less-drought tolerant portulaca are the more recent over breed variety. They're breed for looks.
The old looking portulaca are the kind that grow in sidewalk cracks. If you see a really old fashioned one, that's the one you're looking for. Plus, they don't like the roots to have extreme heat, so a plastic pot in a thick ceramic pot with a non-porous dish for water should be enough to hold them between summer rains with some water. But if you can fry and egg on your sidewalk or wall, they'll never make it. I go out in the dead of noon and check to see if the pots are too hot to touch. If so, the Portulaca will not bloom as well, or at all. We all need better designed, insulated pots, such as foam core in a nice outer pot. Can you do an article on heat resistant pots and window boxes?
Posted by Anonymous | January 18, 2008 1:51 AM
Posted on January 18, 2008 01:51