Ideas for bog plants

[Garden Manager]

I am currently in the process of creating a small bog area in my garden (approx 1.5m x 1.5m). I have a couple of plant types already  to plant in ther (Hosta and Astilbe), but i am looking for some other suitable plants for the new bog.  Basically nothing that gets huge (so no Gunneras please!), likes alkaline soil and has a long(ish) season of interest.

Many thanks

[undercarriage plan]

Drumstick primulas, Lobellia "Queen Victoria", some of the Iris, a dwarf Philadelphus might enjoy it, they like it boggy!! Mosses would look lovely. Though I do love a Gunnera!!  Happy planting  Lottie 

[Garden Manager]

Drumstick primulas, Lobellia "Queen Victoria", some of the Iris, a dwarf Philadelphus might enjoy it, they like it boggy!! Mosses would look lovely. Though I do love a Gunnera!!  Happy planting  Lottie 

Mmm sounds nice. Not sure about philadelphus though.  I like gunneras too, trouble is if I had one there wouldnt be room for anything else! My bog garden woud become a Gunnera container.

Thanks for reply.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Gunnera's nice, there's a place on the coastal footpath in West Cornwall where it runs (or did last time Iwas along there) across a little valley carpeted with the stuff. walking under all these giant rhubarb leaves feels really wierd.

[undercarriage plan]

I'd love to see that! I have one in the garden, it's just a baby, but still already about 5ft across!! They're very ancient plants aren't they?  Lottie 

[Piglottie]

You could try an Arum lily - leaves look lovely and flowers are gorgeous. 

[dibberxxx]

i have 2 bog gardens and love moisture loving plants, one of my favorites is meadow sweet here is a list of some but please read up as some grow huge and are very invasive

peltiphyllum peltatum(umbrella plant)
polygonum bistorta(snake weed)
ligularia dentata (and the rocket)
osmunda regalis royal fern
rodgersia
lysichiton americanus( skunk cabbage, bog arum)
brunnera macrophylla( siberian bugloss)

this is just a few of my favorites and seem to grow very well for me

[Roy Bham UK]

I'd love to see that! I have one in the garden, it's just a baby, but still already about 5ft across!! They're very ancient plants aren't they?  Lottie 

Any excuse for a piccy They do get rather large especially in Cornwall.

[mark_h]

You could try your luck with a couple of native sundews,

Mark

[undercarriage plan]

Wow, Roy!! Fantastic, more than jealous now!! Can't wait for my baby to grow, will send pic of me sitting under it next year!! With glass of wine and plastic dinosaur!!! Lottie 

[dibberxxx]

wow roy mines not quite that big yet , nice pic

ps lottie when u have finshed with your plastic dinosaur perhaps i could borrow it for under my gunnera 

[jennym]

I dwarfed my gunnera by planting it in a sturdy plastic bag and then the soil - it only gets to about a metre high, which is enough for my tiny back garden.
Do wish I had room for one as big as Roy's though...  )

[Roy Bham UK]

  A slight misunderstanding, the piccy was taken somewhere in Cornwall, not in my garden, but this one was

[jennym]

Wow. Very impressive.

[Garden Manager]

Er Roy thats almost as big as the one in cornwall!  You should have taken and posted a pic of yourself under that one. We wouldn't have noticed the difference!

(SIGH) I wish i had room for one of those. Trouble is my new bog is in the lowest/flatest part of the garden that has soil. That area is pretty small. Somehow i dont think a bog garden would look quite right on a steep slope!

[Doris_Pinks]

My Gertie Gunnera is planted into a pot which I have sunk into the soil, she seems happy enough and not too huge after 5 years!

In my bog garden I have arum lillies, Geum (can't remember what type) Hostas, ligularia, and other plants who's names escape me!

[return of the mac]

Carnivorous plants favour bogs, and there are north american varieties that will tolerate our climate.

[Roy Bham UK]

Believe it or not, my gunnera is in a crock pot and has been there for several years, it is not as big as last year but it will get there as there's plenty of summer growing time left yet.

My garden is postage stamp size

[dibberxxx]

Yours is nearly as big Roy , seems to be thriving

[Debs]

Astilbe also does well in a bog garden - I have on in my bog area.

Debs