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....
