13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I'm leaning towards using the area as a native flower/pollinator garden in the summer and a spring bulb garden in the spring, if that makes sense.
In theory bee balm should be perfect for the area but it doesn't look healthy. Daffs don't seem to spread much in this area. The nodding onion and echinacea seem to be doing best.
Is it too early to divide an aster or echinacea planted last fall? When would I do it? Gardengal48, if I want reseeding what variety would be good to buy to reseed/interbreed with the regular purple echinacea? If it doesn't grow true to form, does the "natural" form still look good? I have purple echinacea I planted last year and a small struggling orange one I purchased late this year.
Rudbeckia goldstrum is a good thought. I tried to plant some before, but they didn't take. I'll have to try that again. One problem I have is that I planted repeating, regular rows of several types of plants, but only a couple of each type of plant "took", so it looks rather messy and irregular.
This post was edited by edlincoln on Wed, Oct 1, 14 at 14:58
Dividing late blooming perennials - the asters and echinacea - is usually recommended for spring. And I've included a link that has an excellent discussion on propagating echinacea. The species forms (like Echinacea purpurea) would likely make the best seed source as the modern hybrids - those with the bright, flashy colors, like red, yellow and orange - are often sterile. And you can choose any of the popular varieties of purple cone flowers to mix and match. Or you can try some E. paradoxa and develop your own hybrids.
Here is a link that might be useful: all about echinaceas - scroll down to propagation
Need cool and bright conditions for mums. Garden varieties in bloom outdoors now will bloom until their season is over and not continue on through the winter, regardless of the growing conditions provided. Some kinds might be induced to throw additional flushes on new growth made in a suitable greenhouse environment (not an ordinary household interior) but will probably not be likely to produce another full display until the their main season comes around again.
go ahead and do it ... and when they get infested with bugs.. and fail due to lack of light .. etc .. just get rid of them ...
i doubt you will succeed ... but you dont tell us where you are.. or what you mean by indoors ... etc ...
but you dont need others permission to do what you want ...
i dont know why you didnt start a new post ... as my suggestions are clearly covered in the 6 year old post ...
ken
The series of roses hybridized by Griffith Buck at Iowa State are worth looking into. In addition to good winter hardiness, some are markedly fragrant.
Rugosas have been rock-hardy for me.
By the way, unless you live in the far northeast or northwest corner of Iowa, you're now in zone 5, so roses should automatically be a bit hardier. :)
This post was edited by eric_oh on Wed, Oct 1, 14 at 8:26
Garden Harvest Supply--They ship live plants and have a really big selection of Mums. I've had extremely good luck with them. Their plants come in larger pots and have well-established root systems. They also have wholesale-priced trays. :)
Here is a link that might be useful: GHS-place for mums
Green_go- yes, I love those! I think they will look great with the little lime. I think I will have to wait until next spring to find them though.
laceyvail- I am rethinking (maybe a little buyers remorse?) the clethra. I already bought 3 of each so I need to find a place for them somewhere...but I am becoming concerned about the overall space they might need width wise in my bed. I don't want to crowd out the Viburnum Winterthul I am spotlighting in a large corner of the bed (7 x 7 area). So I will probably move the clethra out of that bed altogether (nothing is planted yet I am just playing with them in their pots right now).Thanks for your insights on the growing conditions!
If the plants are showing new growth at the base going into winter and you add a couple inches of mulch, they have a decent shot of overwintering.
Most times, mums are pushed into maximal bloom for late summer/fall sales, apparently are exhausted by the end of the season and doubtful winter survivors.
I would treat all late-planted mums as annuals and take even minimal overwintering as a plus.
By the way, it's probably not a good idea to place new plantings in a pure soil amendment product if the surrounding soil isn't good (i.e. dense and clayey). The planting spot will wind up being a moisture sink and the roots will likely stay in that spot without spreading out into surrounding soil, thus limiting hardiness.
I was told in another thread that mulching the base of roses can cause stem canker.
These mums were bought at a nursery and not a big box store, but they seem pretty standard to me.
I didn't know that about soil amendment... I just thought I was giving them the best possible soil to grow in. Well, I guess we'll find out in the spring if they make it! :)
Campanula, try slashing and then letting it rot on the ground. It is messy for a few years but it is great for the soil and wildlife. I slash and leave it. It stops the run off. I leave it in berms and some all over. One rancher says he will go back in 5 years and burn what is left. We have a lot of grade change in our land and torrential rains and dirt that flows easily ( caliche). So leaving branches and leafy twigs is important to catch the dirt. They are much better at catching the wind driven leaves in the fall. I was back in the gorge and saw snakes chasing frogs through the twiggy berms that I left. where the berms are is where I have trees sprouting. AND there was 4 inches of dirt behind the berms.. I use the slash to protect the seedlings from the deer.
Today I was burning stuff that was close to the buildings that are by the more "formal (misnomer) garden". My husband does not like the mess that I leave for the retention berms. He likes things looking very 'park like". So around the buildings , we do it his way.
Yep I will be pretty smoky smelling all week. I did get a massage from a traveling masseuse too so I was a pile of jello at the end of the day.
While weeding yesterday, I found three Verbena bonariensis seedlings. I originally took it out of the beds because it reseeded so profusely! They've been dormant for years and years as I, in a moment of weakness, just put a new plant in this Spring quite a distance away that hasn't set seed yet! I have two friends that want them.
Lucky you to live in a zone where Salvia guaranitica can overwinter. I LOVE Salvia B&B. It is one of my favorite plants. The hummers go crazy over it too.
Salvia B&B is not hardy here, so for the past few years I have dug it up in the fall and overwinter it in the garage in pots. Give it some water about 1x per month. Last winter I had 8 plants in the garage. I might lose one each winter for whatever reason, but the rest get planted back out in the Spring and they have done well with this treatment.
I fell in love with Achilleas this year. I had never grown them, but had a hot, dry, difficult area that needed something, so when I came across some 'Summer Pastels' cheap, I thought I would give them a try. Boy am I happy I bought them.
I don't remember the exact order of the change in color succession, but I think the flowers changed from dark red to gold to paler yellow and finally peach. With new blooms developing constantly, all these colors appeared at the same time on all the plants. The plants were in flower from late June until about a week ago when I finally chopped off the last of the flowers.
I don't know how well behaved these are going to be because they really didn't expand outward much this first year. Quite frankly, I hope they take over the bed they're planted in. Otherwise I'm going to need to buy more of them next year.
Kevin
I have âÂÂtastefulâ admirers too - plenty of them, especially near my vegetable garden.
This one found my peppers patch very âÂÂtastefulâÂÂ:
And those ones just wrapped up a Tomato-tasting tour in my vegetable garden:
Hello All --
I stumbled upon some amazing photos of a 50s bathroom redo with MY tile -- grey and burgundy, and now i can't find it. If anyone knows or can direct me, i'm new here.
i loved that makeover, the cabinet was an espresso color wood and the countertop was granite. looking for a beautiful needle in a haystack! thanks for your help. Nalyn - aka Ben's mom
If anybody would need help with a bathroom re-model that would be done extremely quickly, many times in just a weekend please contact us at Rebath of Austin.
Here is a link that might be useful: Rebath of Austin
It's "Herbstonne" season:
I cut this one back by half or so in July.
R. triloba is still going strong.
This post was edited by eric_oh on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 12:45
Throughout the summer I would curse the deer seeing the young triloba often getting snacked on, thinking we wouldnt see those wonderful late summer blooms.
But there was a sliver lining...these same plants are in full bloom now and very much shorter (between 18" and 24")...a little bit different