We all have them. Yup, you know what I am talking about, the knees. They are unsightly and annoying to look at! We need to try to cover them up some how. It is going to take something really drastic though. I know-more plants, not pants mind you. Oh, you didn't think I was talking about your knees did you? Gee, I hope not as I am most certain I've not seen your knees. I am talking about the 'knees' of plants. You didn't know plants have knees? Well, I shall tell you what they are and then you'll understand. Likening plants to people (okay I might be taking it a bit far but follow along now okay?) it would make sense they have an upper part, a middle part, and a lower part. For us humans our upper part would be the head, the middle part would be the torso, then the lower part would be the legs. In plants the upper part is the bloom and stems, the middle part will be the bulk of the plant, and the lower part will be the area where the plant rises above the ground and begins branching out. The knees would be the area of the plant right about where the crown comes out of the ground and the plant spreads out in its branching habit. It is usually a knobby, ugly, area we don't want to see in the garden. Not all plants have knees mind you. Daylilies don't have knees. They look good from the ground up. It is the same with many plants but there are a special few that do have knees and this is an area we do not want to see in the garden. Enter companion planting and walah, we have a solution. It might be likened to putting on a pair of long pants for humans who have knobby knees. In this case we'll plant a plant in front of the offending plant so as to hide the plant's knees.
I noticed my 'Sunny Border Blue' veronica has knees in a bad way. These plants are in the front foundation bed and are very visible to everyone coming and going, especially me. I knew I needed a plant to hide those unsightly knees but was not sure which one. The plant would have to fit in front of the veronica and look good all the time. It had to hide those brown stems lower down on the veronica and go well with the blue bloom. Enter 'Going Bananas' daylilies. 'Going Bananas' is a reblooming daylily that is fairly short as far as daylilies go. Its sunny yellow color complements the blue of the sunny border blue veronica and most of all, the foliage hides sunny's knees. Problem solved.
Many plants are notorious for ugly 'knees's in the garden. Some that come to mind are sunflowers, helenium, and goldenrod. Many low growers work well to hide knees. Some that I like in addition to the daylilies are: 'May Night' salvia, marigolds, santolina, and coreopsis. Has anyone else ever seen 'knees' on plants? And what are your solutions?
in the garden....
I thought you were going to talk about Bald Cypress Knees! That is the only knee I have ever heard of concerning a plant. How funny to know the middle is the bulk. Urmph,I hide my bulk and knobby knees under capri pants and floppy tee shirts in the summer. hee hee...
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Everyone have a great weekend!
Hi Tina, interesting -never thought of them that way but certainly makes sense:) First day of school --and Skeeter have lots of fun:0) Ciao!
ReplyDeleteYES ! The kees problem .. and this morning I shuddered at the lack of supports I have for that height.
ReplyDeleteMy Dutchman's Pipe as some ugly knees but hopefully the Fire Mountain Pieris will eventually fill that in if it makes it through our winters .. then all those echinacea .. oops .. a a certain goldenrod I have noticed ..
Tina girl you have given me another problem to sort out !!LOL
I pack them in so they are full...with hope there will be no 'knees' visible. Interesting thought on having 'knees'.
ReplyDeleteI think if you cut back the plant partway through the summer and let it regrow you can avoid the "knees." Unfortunately I didn't do that!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot...now there is something else to worry with in the garden..LOL..seriously, never thought of plant knees before!
ReplyDeleteGood topic, Tina. Roses are one of the worst. Ugly little shrub but beautiful blooms. I like lambs ear, Rozanne geranium, Moonbeam coreopsis, and a variety of annuals at the base of the taller plants. I haven't seen Going Bananas but it sounds like a good combination for any blue plants.
ReplyDeleteMarnie
Well, we are just starting underplanting so I'm more of a learner than a suggester.:-)--Randy
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh! I do have some ugly "knees" in my garden, I am noticing now! I like your idea of underplanting. Right now, I would have to say My Maltese cross is the worst offender.
Rosey
I've never noticed weird knees on my Helenium, but my ballon flowers have them. Mostly I have other plants hiding them, but, heck, we all have knees and they don't bother me too much... I'm pretty laid back. Heck, I also leave the hose unrolled up ont he lawn (please tell me that was you who asked about that some time ago!). :)
ReplyDeleteMy solution is definitely capri pants, the best fashion to make a comeback in a long time. Oh, you weren't talking about MY knees...:) I don't think I've ever thought about this in quite this way, Tina. But I keep cramming plants into each of my flowerbeds so that I don't have many "knees" visible. I'm also a fan of plants with mounding habits like nepeta, daylilies, and heucheras. And I often use a border of annuals in the front as well. I had so many late-flowering bulbs this spring that for a long time my main concern was hiding their dying foliage more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely noticed knees before!
ReplyDeleteI like to use the beardless irises, daylilies, spiderworts, small hibiscus like Luna Blush and Pineland Hibiscus, Aromatic Aster, Plumago, Euphorbia corollata, Verbena and Pennisetum.
Threadleaf coreopsis, Catmint and Calamintha nepeta too.
ReplyDeleteI never thought of that before! I like Dave's idea, cut them down at the knees!
ReplyDeleteA whole new way to see things! I will now be noticing the knees in my garden...funny post.
ReplyDeleteGood morning all! I know, knees in the garden-what will I think of next?
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, Capris work great! Have a great day!
Anonymous, Jimmy was up at like 4:30 this morning and gone. Sniff Sniff. Good thing it's only half a day. They'll be home soon!
Joy, I know, more problems to contend with but don't worry, we'll get thru it together:)
Janet, I've seen the idea of knees in a garden magazine so I know I am not too far off base but really even in packed in beds if you have a tall plant they can get ugly underneath-don't look too close!
Dave, Cutting back can help but once the plant gets so mature you can't cut it down far enough. Hence the dreaded ole knees. My helenium is driving me crazy right now!
Darla, Hang tough! You Joy and I will work thru it don't you worry;)
Marnie, Yes indeed you are so right! Roses have those ugly knees for sure. I've heard lavender and other gray plants like lambs ears help hide them. All great suggestions! I think I need to go move some of these plants you suggested around my garden to hide the rest of the knees I did not show:)
Jamie and Randy, You are fast learners so I suspect you won't have any unsightly knees showing in your gardens!
Rosey, You are very welcomed! We all need a good laugh in the morning and in the garden... I can see Maltese Cross having bad knees-better go hide them now!
Monica, Ah yes-the balloon flowers are guilty too! Shame on them! Good thing their gardener is laid back so no capris-ur ah-underplanting needed:)
Rose, Capris are the word of the day! The best for hiding knees for sure. I have a whole wardrobe full of them-they also help to hide those hips-oops not the ones on the roses:) but we won't go there today. Bulbs can be a pain to hid but I've found hostas and daylilies are excellent foils for them. Mounders great for all other unsightly things we must hide!
Sweetbay, All great hiders of those knees! Super great suggestions and I'll be moving some of them around too I can see it now. Gonna be a busy day:)
Dawn, Cutting down can help but for those tall plants it might not work. Gotta get the capris out:)
Kathy, Glad you enjoyed it and hopefully got a smile. I am obviously in a playful mood. The son is in school, the other sun is shining and life is good! All have a good day! Watch out for those knees!
HA! I just went out and looked at my Helenium, and you're right: they have knees. I'd never noticed in three years of having them! Now I don't like these knees....
ReplyDeleteMonica, They do tend to sneak up on you-better go get some carpris....:)
ReplyDeleteMonica, I forgot to say it was Skeeter who asked about the hoses-good memory!
ReplyDeleteFunny post but oh so true with many plants.
ReplyDeleteYour sister and I are taking your grandson to the Gray Animal Farm today so it will be a fun day for us. Wish you were here.
Funny. I know what you mean. I think I avoid plants with knees all together. Probably why I've never been a fan of roses. Talk about knees, roses are full of em.
ReplyDeleteNever! Ha. If I do, I quickly fill in with more plants. :-) but like you, I stuff my garden with so many different plants, it's hardly a problem.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the leaves, some asters have bad knees. I usually try to fill in with some low growers like you suggested. I really want to try some short reblooming daylilies, I think they would be great.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new thing for me! Never thought about it before! Loved the post!
ReplyDeleteOK more to work on in my gardens. Actually I have been trying to layer forward so uggy parts don't show - guess now I know that would be 'knees.' Dang I've lived a life with horrible knees and now it's in my flowers too.
ReplyDeleteMy problem isn't so much knees as backsides. Since much of my gardening is done in containers, my solution is simply to rotate pots as they tend to lean into the sun. Potted plants are also portable enough to move into the actual garden to fill empty spots or block unsightly knees and other anatomical parts of my plants.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about hiding those plant's knees.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little tricky...I'm still working on it.
When my garden becomes perfect I'll tell you how I did it. ha ha
Very interesting post. Never had called them knees, but certainly knew what you were talking about. No solutions.
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Tina...Good point about the knees...some plants and people aren't not to be showing them! Likle Dave I keep forgetting to cut plants back...I did find a marigold that looks very like a small zinnia and it covers the knees pretty nicely. gail
ReplyDeleteHmm, a part of plant anatomy that I've never considered! My grape vine definitley has knees. I guess the only way to hide them is to plant "kneeless" ones in front of it.
ReplyDelete