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My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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Posted by
rouge21 5b (
My Page) on
Mon, Sep 3, 12 at 23:49
| I have two "Sweet Joanne" that went into the ground late last fall and grew and flowered just fine this season but for the past few weeks each have stems which are withering. It is almost as if it is a lack of water but that isn't the case. Parts of the plant have shiny healthy foliage and then a stem or two have leaves starting to curl. (I hope you can make out in the picture below the affected section on the right side of the plant).
I have already trimmed away one or two affected stems in the past month but slowly but surely more of the plant begins to curl and wither.
Anyone seen similarly?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| I have this one as well, and do not have this problem. It could be a rot disease, in which case you should treat with a fungicide. Or, it could be just a branch or two that are being broken on a regular basis (I see a stepping stone). |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| It is not due to injury as my other "SJ" had the same issue in another location. I will try a fungicide. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| well yep, but do check that the plants are not being knocked against anything - my dogs wagging tail causes horrendous damage to my smaller penstemons (and shrubby salvias) they get woody and fragile, really easily - one of my really dainty ones is down to its last third. I have also concluded that they are just too miffy for the hurly-burly of my small garden so will not be replacing. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| Find penstemons very attractive perennials, but over twenty years, I've found they generally do very poorly in our garden, lasting no more than a few years. Must have tried to grow well over two dozen different types (species and hybrids). The few that did survive and that are still doing well, after five or more years are: Penstemon barbatus 'Coccineus', P. digitalis 'Husker Red', P. hirsutus 'Pygmaeus', P. pinifolius and P. strictus. I've put my general lack of success with penstemons down to our alkaline soil. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| With the return of more moderate temperatures and a modicum of rain, my last two remaining plants started to perk up, producing both active growth and new flowers. However, one of them started dying last week due to the mysterious wilt disease and is now completely dead. The second now has wilted stem tips on a couple of branches. Hmmmph. I am done with this cultivar. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| Yes this does sound like what has and is happening to my remaining `Sweet Joanne`. I recently sprayed with a fungicide. It is to early to tell if that will have any effect. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| I bought this particular Penstemon because of GW member echinaceamaniac`s rave review. I bought two very late last fall. They both overwintered just fine and the one remaining has given lots of flowers from July onwards but stem by stem it is wilting. The other one but the dust sooner. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| UPDATE: I did spray a few times with a fungicide and coincidentally or not no more stems succumbed to the 'wilt'. In fact here is a picture taken just this afternoon of the plant in question and even after one heavy frost on Friday night it looks fine (it is floppy due to heavy rain today) and still has a few flowers. |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| How much are you watering and what is your soil like? Penstemon in general like very well drained soil and want average moisture to somewhat dry conditions and not a whole lot of nutrient load. If you take a look at the list of varieties that SunnyBorders has had success with, those are varieties that are more tolerant of heavier soils with more nutrients. 'Sweet Joanne' is a x mexicali hybrid, which I've found handle more nutrient load than some other penstemon but still need well drained soil to do really well. The Plant Geek
www.confessionsofaplantgeek.com
www.botanophilia.com |
RE: My Penstemon is slowly...dying?
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| This SJ has gotten very little supplemental watering (with the seasons being warmer and drier each year I like that). But it is true that it is in a bed which is heavily amended ie lots of compost...very rich for the top 6". It has already made it through its first winter in its present location so I can surmise that drainage is just fine |
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