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| I couldn't find a better forum for this, and it mainly deals with perennials anyway, so here I go...
The end of winter is approaching, and I'm eager to get out there and start cleaning up. Everything looks terrible now, and I'm tired of it. Besides, several plants have broken their dormancy and keep teasing me to get the tools out and begin. I plan to relocate several plants this year for aesthetics and to maximize space. Several plants have already started budding - daylily, clematis, knock out roses, astilbe, sedum, and one variety of hibiscus. Based on last year's growth, some will not break dormancy until late May/early June - brugmansia, datura, ginger lilies, lantana, and perhaps elephant ears. Many plants seem to have either survived winter or never went dormant - gazania and gerbera daisies (which both kept sending up green despite being killed back by the cold winds), butterfly bushes, mums, passion flowers, columbine, heuchera, salvia, and maybe (still seeing if it dies back) one type of osteospermum. I'm still waiting on the geraniums, begonias, hostas, milkweed, and a few others. I'm afraid that if I let them grow out before digging up that it might stress them too much. We have terrible fudgy clay soil (surprisingly, several plants seem to like it and survive winter in it) that I'll end up aerating later since it's already somewhat compact and never froze this winter, so I'm not too worried about compacting it now... plus, everything is getting moved regardless. Should I start moving things around now? Or should I clean the beds now and wait for everything to grow a bit and then transplant? Right now, my plan is to start in a week or two, about the time suggested (on the package) to plant glads. I usually trim back the dead growth on things such as lantana and hibiscus in mid to late February. I haven't done so yet, but I'm wondering if I should. Would now be a good time to cut back perennials? Here's something that's been bothering me... What should be done with chrysanthemums? Mine didn't die back this winter and kept growing. One tripled in width and another is already 6-7 inches tall. They're getting thick and bushy already. I couldn't resist and cut the dead, miserable looking stems before the green covered them up only to find that they were either green at their base or had new growth on them. Is this common for mums to sprout new growth off previous year's woody stems? When is a good time to divide them? Sorry for the overly long post, but there are just so many things to do and so many questions to ask! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gottagarden z5 western NY (My Page) on Fri, Mar 9, 12 at 11:38
| This has just been discussed this week, page down for NEWBIES stay out of the garden |
Here is a link that might be useful: NEWBIES stay out of the garden
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 9, 12 at 12:26
| hi jeff.. when there are so many shotgunned questions.. i tend to get lazy and just not bother .. and that is why i prefer specific topics.. with searchable subject lines... so that if i am going to take the time to respond.. someone else might be able to find it thru the search function ... as to the mums.. there are all kind.. so we should start by ID'ing them ... most of the fall mums.. are VERY EASILY rooted.. to make many many plants ... to insure they dont flop in late summer.. they must be repeatedly cut back .. so as to form a nice bush ... etc ... but i tend not want to go further.. until i know if we are talking about the same plant... post a pic .. maybe we can ID it here.. or in the NAME THAT PLANT forum ... and then we go from there ... your excitement is cool .. lets work with it ... ken |
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| The mums are: Yoder - "Zesty Victoria", "Lindsay Coral", "Tabitha Scarlet", and "Wilma White" The rest are chrysanthemum x morifolium purchased from a home improvement store in the colors red, white, yellow, and purple. These seem to grow slower and are much smaller than the Yoders. I noticed the older thread but passed over it since it was so old. I'll move over to that thread with my next question. Thanks! |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Fri, Mar 9, 12 at 15:59
| noooo.. stay here.. take a few 4 inch mum cuttings.. and stick them in a glass of water.. and i bet within a week they will root .. and as soon as you see roots.. put them in a pot with potting soil ....experiment .... what i dont know.. is z7 .. so though i would whack them down to just about the first bud out of the ground.. i dont know if that is proper for your zone ... or when to do it ... in my cold zone.. i am loath to cut things down.. until i see what starts growing.. always fearing that i cut off the ONLY live bud ... so as soon as you start seeing active growth.. that is when you can feel secure in cutting.. knowing the whole wont die .... does that make sense??? ken |
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| That makes sense. I always thought mums were difficult to grow and prone to all sorts of issues. These are doing great (compared to what I expected) and I'm always breaking branches off, so I'll give propagation a try. I think I'll wait for them to get a bit larger before I start pinching. Do you know if mums need good air flow in their centers? These are a bit dense already and I'm wondering if pinching now would make them more dense. |
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| Jeff, I want to address your lantana. Here in my zone lantana is one of the last things to return to life usually towards the end of May. I can't tell you the number of good lantana I pulled out thinking it was dead before I learned to wait. We don't cut it back until after we're _sure_ to not get any more freezes. If you cut it now and you have a wet freeze all those cuts you've made will wick the moisture in and cause the crown to rot. I'm so tempted to cut mine back too but so far have resisted. I've cut back just about everything else except for the vitex, and the roses. My roses never went dormant. They've been green and growing all winter. I've already cut blooms from them. I'll cut them back after the spring flush is done and the high heat of summer starts taking its toll on them. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sat, Mar 10, 12 at 13:47
| the way they sell little mounds of mums.. so clogged. and shaped into domes.. i doubt air circulation is an issue ... but i suppose VA could be different.. some parts redefine humidity.. dont they.. lol ken |
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| Lantana makes me a bit nervous. Last year I dug up a nice red/orange one that I didn't think had made it through the winter. Potted it up instead of tossing it out and it only put off a single bud before it died. I knew I should've left it in the ground! Last year I cut the lantana back to about 6 inches somewhere in the late Feb/early March range. I think I got lucky because the dead growth did look a bit... bleh. Still waiting to cut back hibiscus. Our roses lost half their leaves, except the "Dr. Huey" that kept trying to put on new growth only to have it nipped by the cold... now it has a bunch of scraggly reddish growth on it that I'm afraid might be rose rosette or damage. Hmm. Maybe I should leave the mums alone. Better safe than sorry. I could just add them to my spray regime in case they develop something. Thanks for the help! |
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