I'm looking for colorful hardy plants that would look nice in a medicine wheel garden. Any suggestions/ideas welcomed.
I live in Connecticut and the medicine wheel already has mint and oregano growing inside but want to add something different. I've had lavender, parsley and basil growing in there in the past.
Stuart Robinson
Favorite Answer
If you're trying to keep the medicine wheel pure (ie. herbs for medicinal purposes) you might want to include bergamot, borage, yarrow, purple sage and chamomile. All of these are colourful and still keep your wheel medicinal.
oli
As a general rule, when you look at plants, they will tell you what they need for light.
Plants with gray or silver leaves, (like lavender and lambs ears), tend to tolerate a lot of sunlight.
Also plants with small leaves, like thyme, rosemary, russian sage (perovskia), etc. also like sunlight.
Your question does not mention geographic location, and that is pretty important when selecting plants...for hardiness.
So I am answering this in a general way.
Herbs make sense in a medicine wheel garden.
Lavendula, (lavender munstead, hidcote, annual french l)
Thyme
tarragon
marjoram
chives
Sage, (regular and perovskia)
Nepeta, (cat mint), six hills giant is large, some smaller
Mentha, (the mints, chocolate, pineapple, orange, etc)
*be careful with mint, it is invasive and should be contained
Rosemary, (annual in some parts of the country)
Parsley, (annual in most parts)
Basil, (the purple is very attractive with silvery plants)
Artemesia, (silver mound, and "wormwood")
Fennel
Savory
and other herbs:
sweet cicely (needs moisture, but not too much nitrogen)
bay
lemon verbena
lemon balm
lovage
angelica
winter savory
bergamot (monarda)
hyssop
papaver (poppies, for seeds on bread etc)
iceplant (can be used in salads or cooked like spinach/chard
most chile peppers
Other (perennials) for decoration:
Cerastium tomentosum (silver leaved snow-in-summer)
Iberis (candy tuft)
Stachys, (lambs ears)
Echeveria, (hens and chicks)
Sedum, (some very nice low and high varieties)
If you are looking for shrubs, the same idea applies....lighter leaves and smaller leaves. If you are in the west/south west, then you have many shrubs to choose from and might check out Michael Dirr's books on trees and shrubs. He is an excellent resource for woody plants.
raspberries
The book "Perennials for American Gardens" Clausen/Ekstrom is a good resource for perennials.
Glenn J
Cactii always do well in high sunlight.
The key with any garden is always what temperate zone you are in. The sunlight is only a factor, and the water, humidity and change in weather can be others.
Common plants for medicine wheel gardens include muskrat root, blueberry shrubs, moccasin flower, cardinal flower, yellow dock, blue cohosh.
I think the color of the flowers is not as much a part of the enthno-cultural use of a medicine wheel garden, as they are used both for harvesting healing herbs and for meditation, but since this seems to be for an aesthetic use primarily, here are some good, common hardy flowers for north american climes:
Sunflowers
Adenophora Remotiflora
Giant Blue Hyssop (Agastache Foeniculum)
Alcea rosea (Fringed Petticoat Hollyhock)
Roundheaded Leek
Mount Atlas Daisy
Bluebonnets
Indian Paintbrush
Lavender
Yarrows
Daylillies
These are suggestions for various climes and soil conditions in north america, but this website might give some guidance:
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/design/handbooks/sunnyborder/2.html
Knowing your climate zone is vital when planning a garden of any kind.
Plant Lady
Lantana( there is yellow ,red, radiation,orange, white, confetti,purple lantana and more colors) Lillies, Gold Star Esperanza, Sage, Lavendula, Butterfly Bush, Luna Hibiscus
BAGO6
butterfly bush they are beautiful and esy to grow but get about 8 ft tall and two-three feet wide