13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Thanks for the responses! I will sow some now and if they are too small by the time my current container plants die out, I will purchase some. The pansies I purchased last fall bloomed through winter and spring so sown plants should have plenty of time if they decide to grow.
I think it's best to use the 'baggy method' .Moisten a coffee filter & place seeds & all in the baggy, seed side up. They take about 8-10 days at about 70 degrees , with exposure to indirect sunlight near a window. Once rootlet is about 1/4 inch long, transplant using a toothpick into seed trays & avoid allowing the fragile seedlings to become too dry, don't yet expose to direct mid-day sun while tiny & avoid exposure to high temperatures. Use dilute fertilizer, to help speed up growth. I have read that seeds older than 9 months, generally won't germinate, or if so, quite poorly. I've bought from 2bseeds.com , with great results & they offer one of my favorites, the old fashioned ruffled & penciled, ''Super Chalon' variety.
According to the Missouri Botanical Garden, P. 'Laura' grows 3-4 ft. tall. See link below for more detailed plant/growing information. My tall phlox all took 3-4 years to get established. Most were planted in 2011; they were splendid this year.
Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox paniculata 'Laura'
Perhaps there's some confusion between 'Laura' and 'Little Laura', latter is said to be 18 to 24 inches tall.
Have used both for a good few years. They are very hardy and long-lived here.
The other thing is that factors related to location in the garden may affect garden phlox height attained in any one year (soil fertility, sun, etc.).
Taking time to reach their potential height and (later) requiring division are both potential factors.
I am loving this thread! Such pretty photos!
And I am ever so envious of those of you who have so many of those that I'd like to acquire. But I can't find them anywhere for sale. Forest Farm doesn't have any I want, Digging Dog is out of two that I do want, Bluestone has become ridiculously expensive and only has one listed I want anyway......
Hopefully there will be more sources next spring
Bobbie, love the combinations in your beds and look at those tomatoes, looks like you had a good year. We had tomatoes and cucs coming out our ears this year, considering the year we've had weatherwise, leaves me scratching my head on how come they did so well when other things didn't LOL.
tak2w, great pics, looks like you have quite a few beauties in your garden.
Annette
Thanks, Annette. We also have had a great year for tomatoes and cucumbers and beans. Too many at this point!
Thanks, tak2w, looked up the Chaste Tree. Very pretty tree but not hardy here. Probably a red luna hibisicus as they are very commonly sold.
well rouge, it looks like my style of planting is what you might want for your aralia to stay small, because mine has survived but def NOT become big. I have it in open shade (no direct sun) and growing up through a ground cover of yellow and green euonymus. yours is robust for sure. i alrdy grow quite a few yellow leaved woodies, but we will be picking up many more this month from Broken Arrow. The aralia sun king reminds me a little of the yellow leaved philadelphus, though the mock orange has smaller leaves.
UPDATE:
This is the same plant from last year. It has splayed out completely from the center with almost all stems horizontal. I was thinking of replacing it with something more upright like "Ashai" Sunflower but with such unique blooms and the plant in a very wild area of the garden, we have decided to let things lie ;).
eupatorium is one of my fav plants. love the dusty mauve color that goes so well to balance all our boldly colored yellow, and blue, conifers and woodies. i even grow Little Jo at the front edge of one mixed border- just for some height variety, next to a red dissected J maple and a daphne carol mackie. Only 2 beds where i have it- have moist soil. Maybe that's why ours do NOT seed around (boy i wish they would.) I have a pretty white and green variegated eupatorium but it hasn't flowered yet, and it is only 2.5'H.
I will never forget seeing Gateway in a PNW garden where it was 10-12'H!! I had to ask 'what's that?'; it so fooled me!!
(That's often the case w/ plants in the PNW.It's all due to their secret laboratories where they breed their plants with Wilt Chamberlain DNA.)
The original poster's sundrops look like Oenothera fruticosa. I have a couple patches of it which I transplanted from my father's garden years ago, so it has sentimental value for me too.
I generally cut it back after flowering. The new basal foliage rosettes are not unattractive.
If you're looking for ugly - there's an Oenothera I grow that towers to nearly 5 feet in height, decorative during its long blooming season (the flowers open in time-lapse fashion in the evening, which is fun to watch), but an eyesore while the seed is ripening. I like to have some resow, so I put up with the derelict appearance until the seeds are ripe.
What kind of rootballs do they have? I don't use the top/visible growth as my guide for seedlings, but use how extensive the young root systems are.
I'm in zone 5 and perennials hardy to my zone or below, sown in July survive over winter for me very well. They are often only a couple of inches tall by the first frost.
Hope your seedling do well next year !