A little while back, I had the honor of being interviewed by Dave Ledoux for his entertaining and educational BackToMyGarden podcast show.
In case you'd like to hear the dulcet tones of my mellifluous voice, here's a link to episode #61: Growing the Garden of Aaron.
Logging you in...
Beth @ PlantPostings · 536 weeks ago
Aaron Dalton 90p · 536 weeks ago
ddonabella 50p · 535 weeks ago
Aaron Dalton 90p · 535 weeks ago
Don't worry -- I won't let the (mild) fame go to my head ;-)
Happy Holidays!
deborahelliott 55p · 535 weeks ago
I have enjoyed your own blog very much, and I look forward to you posts in 2015. Happy New Year and happy gardening! Deb
Aaron Dalton 90p · 534 weeks ago
Here's hoping that 2015 is kind to us all.
deborahelliott 55p · 534 weeks ago
Aaron Dalton 90p · 534 weeks ago
And that I could be your conduit to fame, fortune etc.
I did use Skype. It was no big deal as I'm used to using it to videochat with friends and family, although my Skype interview with Dave was audio only.
Casa Mariposa · 534 weeks ago
Aaron Dalton 90p · 534 weeks ago
LOL.
Thanks for the congrats. I'll try not to let this modicum of fame go to my head! :)
Alain · 530 weeks ago
I enjoyed the interview. I just found your blog while looking for information on creeping raspberry. I just got a cutting of it. It might not make it in my garden (zone 5). But since I have Agapanthus surviving, it is worth a try.
Thank you for the info on Rubus pentalobus - very informative blog.
Aaron Dalton 90p · 529 weeks ago
I'm happy you found my blog useful!
I'm not sure I would recommend Creeping Raspberry for you in zone 5. Well, it *might* survive, but it's going to look pretty dreadful from late fall to mid-spring. My creeping raspberry was killed to the ground last year when our lowest temperatures were in the zone 6b range. I was hoping it would look better this year (our lowest temp has been around 4 degrees so far, but most nights we've had lows in the 20s or 30s). Unfortunately, while some parts look fine (purplish foliage) other stems look blasted and dead.
So...I'm reluctant to keep a spreading, woody GC that has such dieback and doesn't offer much ecosystem value (I've seen a grand total of one flower and no fruit so far on three patches of creeping raspberry) while it's green and growing. Oh and at least some weeds can sneak through creeping raspberry, perhaps because the leaves are rather small. I have Love in a Mist seedlings coming up right through the cover of last year's creeping raspberry.
How about Lamb's Ear 'Helene von Stein'? It'll look awfully ragged in winter too, but the old leaves decompose to form its own mulch (no trimming required) and it should be eminently hardy in your zone. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinde... (Helene rarely flowers - mine never has. But then lots of people don't like lambs ear flowers, plus perhaps the flowering ones can self sow? But if you're looking for a plant with wildlife value, I believe that bees do like Lamb's Ear flowers.)
Other potential groundcover options I'm liking better than creeping raspberry (although jury is still out a bit on some of these) include Epimedium 'Frohnleiten', Creeping Dianthus 'Firewtich', prostrate speedwell 'Georgia Blue', Teucrium chamaedrys (wall germander), Ajuga genevensis (denser and a bit less rampant than A. reptans), Erigeron pulchellus var. pulchellus ‘Lynnhaven Carpet’, Alchemilla mollis, Cranesbill geraniums (Rozanne, Biokovo, sanguineum), etc.
I think almost any one of those would be more cold hardy and a better choice for you. Of course, none of them is necessarily perfect, but I think they all make better garden plants in zone 6/7 than creeping raspberry, so I'm pretty sure they'd all be better choices in zone 5.
Of course, if you have a cutting already, why not give it a try? What do you have to lose? :)
(I've heard that Creeping Raspberry is a better groundcover in zone 8 and I can believe it would certainly be more attractive there, but I'd worry about it being a lot of work to control in zone 8 to keep it contained...)