13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

If the tree is near enough to the sensitive plant for its leaves to fall on it, the growth can be stunted. For example I have three double file viburnum all planted at the same time 10 years ago. The one near a black walnut (although it is at least 10 feet outside its drip line) is sbout half the size of the other two. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the info! I am investigating this further!

arbo,

We've had a couple conversations, the last I know of was as recently as Oct 12 about plant sales & SRG (Santa Rosa Gardens). HGC (High Country Gardens) is another online place that came up the other day along with SRG (again) in the "backlit plants' thread. I guess we all just know these names and figure everyone is in on it since this was so recent and we are probably lazy with our typing IYCR&I (if you can relate and imagine). The spring and fall sales at SRG always get threads on GW about people ordering and loosing their self control. I was joking just the other day here about being an SRG addict in need of therapy.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/peren/msg0922170716914.html?28

Thanks texasranger :-)

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' .... on this small portion I count a dozen bees. Happy bees!

I've heard the worse you treat them the better they do....unfortunately mine must be too prissy for that, because over the last months i've transplanted them, snipped & cut them, put them deeper in the ground, taken rootings and so far everything just flops...even the rootings taken from straight-ish stems have decided to corkscrew..LOL. I do love the idea of the tomato cage..think I might try that next year with some smaller plants and see what they come out like..

so odd how some people have theirs standing upright and others have floppy-no-mater-what plants.....seems like there's no real rhyme or reason to it. =P

logixSTI ... I haven't found many seedlings from this type in comparison to my other dianthus varieties that give plenty and some turning out to be very interesting. I'm surprised that your plants have grown so very short, do you have them planted in the ground or in a container?

they were in containers until a few days ago..but they are only just past the seeding stage...i forgot I had the seeds a friend had given me last year, once I found them I decided to just start them since I wasn't sure they'd do anything if I waited until next year....even though it was around mid-late august when I started them they came up pretty nice and now that I finally know they have a chance to make it through the winter I put them in the ground, otherwise I was probably just going to let them live out the rest of their short time on earth in the little seed starter trays (in hindsight it's pretty silly I even bothered to start them not knowing if they would make it through the winter and figuring I would just let them die if they weren't winter hardy. I wonder what goes through my brain when I make decisions like that... haha)

Our Labrador Retriever wanted to help with the tomato harvest. I guess the big ripe tomatoes looked like his ball that we throw for him to retrieve. (Color blind I guess) He "picked" almost every large tomato and lined them up in a straight line along one edge of the garden. When I found the row of tomatoes I was at a loss as to who could have done it... until I saw that each and every tomato had puncture marks from large canine teeth.

When we lived in pa we had a chain link fence and a pretty close neighbor. Our dogs ( his boxer and our bulldog) would run the fence line till it was bare and muddy chasing each other. My solution ? I'll put a flower bed there !
I probably wasted 200$ , lots of labor . I did a fantastic job . If it had filled out it could have been beautiful . Even with one of those wire fence borders , it did not stand a chance to my bulldog! He was determined . He also destroyed a batch of bare root roses I had soaking in a bucket . In no time at all ! I had no idea he would be interested in them , and left them on the porch , and him outside unattended. Oy.

Since you plan two very big borders, I would like to suggest that you visit the Winter Sowing forum and the Winter Sowing FAQ and learn to get a large number of plants the most economical way.

You can start collecting recyclable containers such as plastic milk jugs, cake containers, bulk salad containers and watch for seed offers on the Winter Sowing exchange forum and other exchange forums. Buy a few bags of good potting soil now and start sowing seeds in mid December.

You won't regret it.
Have fun gardening.

I'll add my voice to the suggestion of winter sowing if you have the opportunity. I designed, planned, and dug my garden beds in 2007. In 2009 I discovered winter sowing. I grew perennials & shrubs (from seed) and started planting out in 2010. My garden beds were filled in 2011. It's fast, inexpensive and just about the most garden fun you can have in winter.

I supplemented my winter sown perennials with a few nursery-grown plants that offered either color or textural contrasts. I've let go of biennials and prefer perennials that perform year after year so all I have to do is enjoy them.

The link below takes you to the home page of Wintersown.org. There's very little recent activity on the GardenWeb Winter Sowing forum.

Check out the GW Seed Exchange for seeds.

Buy a few bags of good potting soil now and start sowing seeds in mid December.

Oh, yeah. If you're serious about winter sowing, buy your growers mix NOW. Picture someone trying to thaw a frozen 3 cu. ft. bale of growers mix with a hair dryer.

And yes, botanical (Latin) plant names will help you avoid mistakes/confusion.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wintersown.org website

Thanks, Camp! I've had disappointments in the past and just figured they took more fussing than I was willing/able to give! Now, throwing seeds on the ground, I can do!

I tend to buy one plant, grow it for a while, then divide it if I am happy with it. Little seedlings tend to get trampled in my garden.

I cut off and trimmed about 30 pieces and replanted them. Hopefully they will make it. If not, I still have the original plant.

These roots are very common on my phlox. This is a good thing! It's a clear sign that you can cut these off and increase your supply of these plants. If it looks like a root, it probably is a root! Seedlings of phlox usually will not be true to the parent plant, but divisions like this always will be.

Thank you both for your responses.

Good luck, Ed. I used to have a couple and they dropped all their leaves when they were moved (to inside or out), so don't fret if they do, but I didn't have enough sunlight inside to keep them healthy in the winter. My MIL had a bay window that was perfect and hers bloomed all year round (grumble, grumble).

Yes. I have had a faux bois bench sitting on a cement pad(brutal western exposure) for about 8 years. A 20 ft high sweetbay magnolia grows just behind the bench. The bench has had no winter protection, and it is fine so far.

I have always intended to buy a cover from the vendor. They do sell them. (I forget the vendor's name.)

Interestingly. Faux bois disintegrates over time in salt air. I've seen benches in nursery gardens on the east coast of FL with the iron frame partially exposed. The nursery told me that that happens in salt air.

You might try calling the vendor once you find a bench that you like and ask them your question.

I really really like the look of my faux bois bench.

lethean

great to hear, lethean. Does yours come from this Currey line?:
mindy

http://www.neenaslighting.com/product/0304-13-00024/?utm_source=GoogleShopping&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=GoogleShopping&FR=1&optionid=300510&gclid=CKTo49LDsMECFaIF7AodlC4AmA

copied from reply in native forum (dimwit, that I am)

Ah yes, we have summat similar (called roottrainers, they are basically long plugs with little internal flanges to encourage downward growth)....but, given a deep enough container, roots will always grow down (they are sensitive to gravity) so I have used newspaper or cardboard, rolled in a tube, sitting in 24cell tray modules, but only for station sowing largeish seeds. Mostly, I use large deep pots and just upend them to separate the seedlings. I usually only sow a couple of thousand seeds over a season but have ramped it up considerably so will have to much more sowing in situ in nursery beds.
I find sowing in plugs or modules to be fairly stressful and largely abandonned it because it was easier to keep the soil uniformly moist (or dry) with larger pots....but if I was sowing, say 100 sweet peas, a set-up like that, Tex, is just the ticket.

I often use 5 litre, 10inch deep pots, plant 100 seeds in each and when I come to turn the pot out, the roots grow all the way to the bottom and generally fill the pot, but they separate really easily, leaving long roots - I use a bulb-planter (for crocus and snowdrops, so only 1inch diameter tube) - I am not keen on dibbers because I think they compact the soil. I can race through planting 100 plugs in no time - almost a bit of a swizz after all that time nurturing the little seedlings in pots.

True, Greenheart - how lucky am I?

Yes GH, I will wait! It'll be difficult, though. I want to plant something else there!

Camp, your land is pretty! Thanks for sharing!

The roots I'm referring to are underground and not particularly big around, just plentiful in places.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I am not sure how long it has been in bloom but it looks beautiful right now...lots of pollenators on it also....a very happy looking plant.

Given that it is in full bloom in mid October, I can imagine years when it might have fallen to an early October frost :(.

Mine continues to bloom through light frosts without any damage. I cut the blooms off before they fully go to the fluffy seed stage to keep reseeding to a minimum but leave the foliage which turns light yellow. There are several plants in the clump with some blooming a bit later making for a long bloom display.

thank you everyone for your responses.
i'm planting my plants for sure!

You should have plenty of time, but you never know with Momma Nature. :) I would mulch well around all of them and make sure to cut your hostas and daylilies down to the ground after the first frost, moving the mulch over the top of the plant. For the shrubs, if it appears you will have ice or really frigid, drying wind, I would make sure to have some plant covers on hand. (I always keep some handy, but make sure to take them off when you have sunny, less frigid days again) Snow, of course, will insulate, but new shrubs are susceptible to winter kill with hard frosts, ice and really cold temperatures without the snow. Have fun! I love planting this time of year!

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant covers for your shrubs