I am culling the herd like I have never done before and it feels fantastic (I can't wait until next winter when I can start the new selection process). Anything that just doesn't make me go "wow" is going or gone already.

I can't give you a complete list, but some of the highlights:

A lot of dayliles were gone this spring, but I've already commented on that topic.

Heucheras - I'm finally going through my collection with a critical eye and eliminating the older ones that are either too similar or just not that great later in the season.

That big Baptisia is going. Maybe on Monday.

Astilbe Purple Lance - I had a huge patch of this and it's nice for a later blooming astilbe and nice as a 3 footer, but the color just doesn't do it for me any longer. I'll stick with my low growing pumila.

Some unknown, fern-leafed peony. I really don't know if it was species or a hybrid and I almost drove myself crazy trying to ID it. Anyway, the single, red flowers were delightful in spring, but they only lasted a few days and then the foliage got terrible mildew and flopped from the center outward. I tried it in a couple of locations with the same results each time, so it got composted last week. That left a really big hole in the garden which will be fun to fill next year.

Any finally - not a perennial - but my huge, old Clivia minata. This plant was at least 20 years old, had never been divided and was spectacular when in bloom. I just hated hauling that thing outside for the summer and back inside for the winter. I dreaded it every year, so it got chopped to bits and tossed in the compost pile last week. Not all is lost however, a few years ago I collected some seeds from the plant, started a whole bunch of seedlings (sold most of them), but kept one for myself.

Kevin

Almost forgot. My last really tall, really large flowered bearded iris were taken out. We had one of those terrible weather events normally referred to as a moderate breeze and all the stems and flowers came crashing down (didn't stake in time). I still like iris, but only the smaller growing ones.

This post was edited by aachenelf on Sat, Jul 20, 13 at 18:39

"...We had one of those terrible weather events normally referred to as a moderate breeze..."

OMG, that is too funny! Kevin, you made me laugh out loud, especially because I was beginning to agree with you, sitting here nodding my head, thinking you were going to mention the heavy downpours we got earlier in the spring. Caught me by surprise, lol!

:)
Dee

I have a low quince (Chaenomeles x superba Jet Trail) that is still too large for its spot, and I haven't decided whether I will move a piece of it to a less apparent spot of just remove the entire thing. It won't happen until the weather cools some, though.

In previous years I have removed all the perennials that are enthusiasic self-seeders (except the tall phlox that DH likes) or spread through overly vigorous rooting. I don't have currently have any perennials that don't work where they are, at least to my satisfaction, and space isn't an issue, so I am not planning to shovel prune any perennials at this point.

I already gave up on many of the things mentioned above other than daylilies. I have so many mostly 20+ year-old clumps that are too large for me to divide and I don't necessarily consider them ugly once they finish blooming--personal preference I assume.

Have to admit the Chelone/turtlehead isn't as robust as I could wish but since it has diminished in size since last year, I've decided to just let it be and replace it with something else if/when it completely disappears. I did enjoy seeing this its first year however:

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I chose medium-size black heucheras for the color contrast with so much green foliage in my beds and after 5 years can't say I'm unhappy with my decision.

Apparently I actually no longer have much of anything growing in my beds to remove or eliminate and am finally content with how they look. I might still have a problem with the bearded iris--I only have one plant so even if it turns out to be a total dud, it shouldn't be too much effort to remove it.

I removed Rudbeckia Herbstsonne. I finally realized, that it was too massive for my garden. Replaced it with a smaller variety- Starcadia Razzle Dazzle.

Aster sedifolius nanus - was absolutely not nanus. Double the height than "promised" and falling all around the place.

1 giant old hosta , that looked infected with something

Dwarf iris- too short blooming time

Flopping delphinium seedlings

Too many seedlings of Campanula latifolia- reduced substantially.

Waiting in line: some daylilies never blooming.

Part of the garden had the review this morning. A number of plants I'm thinking of eliminating.

Three year old patch of California Poppy which comes back every year from reseeding. It allows a lot of weeds to come up through it and when it finishes blooming it has a lot of seed pods all over it that I'm just not crazy about. I decided I don't really have the conditions to use this.

Dianthus - I have Siberian Blue and it's just too messy looking even when it is in bloom.

Alyssum - which has been messy and not ver fragrant two years running, so I'm moving on to something else.

Not really perennials though.

Salvia 'Purple Rain' just doesn't fit my garden any more. It's had neighbors flopping over it and so it's not getting the sun it once was, doing a lot of flopping open and needing a lot of deadheading.

Already shovel pruned Rudbeckia long ago. Spread way too much for me. And I'm finding that shade of yellow a little too jarring. I'm leaning more toward soft yellows right now.

Echinacea are going to have to be thinned. I can't figure out how I went from too few to too many in like one season.

Callirhoe, was fun for a few years, but it gets messy and I keep getting yellowing leaves which I have no idea what they are from and I'm tired of picking them out. It should be a great plant for someone who can keep it in check with scissors. I've seen it perform better for other gardeners.

I am considering replacing my one David Austin Rose with another variety of rose.

That's it for today.

Oh yes, another one: Dianthus knappii

I fell for this one from the descriptions in catalogs and bought into all the hype about it being the only yellow dianthus and all that. I think I've grown it for at least 10 years and have waiting for it to "wow" me. It never has, but I just kept waiting thinking "Maybe next year something spectacular will happen".

I don't miss it in the slightest. It's nice to finally face reality.

Kevin

Kevin composted a 20-year-old Clivia? Murderer!

I can understand getting tired of hauling huge plants out of and back into the house every season (there are a few big Brugmansias that are ripe for culling). Don't have the heart to give up on my foundation Clivia, even if it doesn't flower every year - it's my oldest plant (had it for nearly 30 years) and divisions have been given away (my brother's plant bloomed like crazy this year, go figure). Something will need to give eventually, since I have a parade of seedlings from various crosses and they're bound to take up a lot of space one day.

I wish I could finally shovel-prune Filipendula ulmaria, Queen of the Reseeders, which is tough to hand-pull and likes insinuating itself into other perennials such as my Louisiana irises. I rue the day I first planted it.

Whatever coneflowers I have left at the end of this season will be going. I've already lost 4 to suspected aster yellows. I figure the rest will probably get it as well, and even if they don't, I'm tired of worrying about it and trying to distinguish it from mite damage. I don't need plants that cause me anxiety.

Rudbeckia Goldsturm gets leaf spot every year. I'm tired of looking at that mess, so it will be leaving.

Two Raspberry Pixie daylilies. I'm not wild about the color or the small flowers, plus I never get to see more than maybe a dozen blooms, thanks to the deer snacking on them.

Kolbold liatris. Every year I plant it and every year it either dies by the end of the summer or doesn't come back in the spring. I need to quit beating my head against that one and accept that it isn't happy in my garden. Probably my clay soil.

Baja daylily is still being debated. I like the blooms enough to tolerate the ratty foliage, but the deer often eat most of the blooms.

I've been talking for years about removing my bleeding hearts. They smother everything in their path and then die back, leaving me with two 4 foot expanses of bare mulch for the rest of the summer. It's hard to give up those flowers though.

TotallyConfused

I've been trying to get rid of a helianthus for years...it just keeps popping up. And as others have said, the echs are just reproducing too much. I pulled out a ton this year, same with rudbeckia. Early this spring I shovel pruned a LOT of David phlox and Becky shastas...all doing fine but I wanted room for other things. I planted new things there and keep having phlox show up again and again...guess I didn't shovel well enough.
This fall after its color I plan to pull up a huge amsonia. It is just too big. It self seeded so I will still have another one in a slightly better place.

Of course sometimes relocating your problem child to a different area in the yard will sometimes solve its perceived shortcomings. I have better luck with Rudbeckia Goldsturm in a little more shade. Of course people on this forum are from all over, with varied conditions which can make giving any advice on plants a little tough. If you are cutting the seed heads off when they are done bloomind, how are you having such an awful time containing Echs and Goldsturm?

I just shovel pruned an old Russian sage. Well, more like crunched it down and dug up what sparse root I could, lol. It was in too much shade and flopped, plus was old and very woody. I replaced it with a variegated Arundo donax, which should look nice against the purple smoke bush in back of it.

I moved out a peony from that area too. No clue where it will go though...

Think a few daylilies might be next.
CMK

I shovel pruned a couple Siberian iris, didn't really have the guts to get rid of them completely since they are so pretty, but after a bloom season of what seemed like 6 days I realized the clumps were taking up too much space.
I tend to throw out most of a clump but save a piece somewhere. I admit I find it hard to completely eliminate a plant from my garden.
But.... I bought some brand new achilleas last fall and was totally underwhelmed by their short, quickly fading, no reblooming performance. It goes completely against my give it a couple years to settle in philosophy but I may just let them get swallowed up by the tidal wave of other plants that want more room.

SP'd the hostas this spring. They are so beautiful, but I got tired of sharing them with the slugs or whatever was eating them (maybe earwigs).

Tried to SP a Tropicana rose bush which is a horrid mildew magnet. Got it down to a big stump and could not get it out of the ground. Left it to just rot in the ground, but the bush grew back and looks much better. When I see a mildewy cane, I just whack it off. Boy, have I abused that bush. Grows well in spite of me.

Japanese anemone. Love the flowers but it was taking over a 4 foot space. I dug it all out but it's near impossible to get rid of. Keeps popping up new leaves everyday.

A wild prunella that I let flower...gorgeous! But didn't want it to spread. It did its time nicely...grew 2 feet wide in one season.

Hybrid roses that always get diseases. I'll stick to rugosa roses that smell heavenly and are tough.

...don't know official name, but the black-eyed susans...the *flower* itself is pretty...but, ugh, the nasty spotted crappy foliage!

I have a hard time getting rid of any plants. I have ambitious plans this fall to redo and expand my main sunny garden bed, so I have been thinking about potential SP candidates though.

Red Hot Poker lily. Started from seed. Very short bloom period and the rest of the year has long, floppy, unattractive leaves. I might just move to a less visible spot though. Kind of my solution for every under performing plant.

Sweet Intoxication Roses (two!). Boy , these things are just pitiful. But even their piddly, disease ridden, japanese beetle infested flowers smell great. I am going to give them one more year.

Considering NOT growing annual snapdragon, cleome or nasturtiums anymore. I love these flowers, but they all have problems here. Snapdragons are apparently favored by four lined plant bug which does horrendous foliar damage in the spring. Cleomes and flea beetles, ugh! And my nasturtiums...I think my soil is just too high in clay for them.

I have a tradescantia with bright pink flowers that gets red spider mites every year. Tradscantia Sweet kate doesn't have this same problem. I already SP one clump of the pink flowering one and the second clump will probably go soon too.

A clump of orange/marooon asiatic lilies. These are prolific multipliers, but they fade quickly and aren't all that attractive.

My biggest SP candidate is a crab apple tree planted by the previous owners far too close to the foundation. Beautiful spring display...but has to be cut back every year to avoid scraping our roof plus this year is has started to grow in front of our living room window. With all the cutting back needed on it, a painful to look at contorted silhouette has developed. Also the japanese beeltes love it. The front yard needs a big redo IMO anyways as it relies heavily on spirea which are currently covered in crispy brown flower heads. But, I probably won't actually tackle this project until spring or next fall.

Candidates for removal this fall when the weather is cooler:
spirea 'Golden Elf'. Looked great for the first two seasons and now experiences significant die back every winter and looks pitiful all summer. I am also considering removing some daylilies with short scapes that bloom in the foliage. Not the best look.