13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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.
Daisy- beautiful butterfly pictures!
If I don't put down mulch I have a sea of verbena coming up, but most perennials will outcompete them so they're not a problem for me. They only seem to do well in disturbed soils (but we do have fairly cold winters here)
I have them as fillers wherever there's still a bare spot.
Mine reseeded with a vengence this year. One bed is a complete mess with it, and powdery mildew, but the bees and butterflies love it. One year I had hardly a reseed and it was a major bummer, so I will NEVER complain about it's rampant reseeding again. It's easy enough to rip out any unwanteds anyway ;)
Absolutely loved my caryopteris. Unfortunately I lost my last 2 this past winter. One of them had been in my garden for about 8 years. I had standing water for the first time where it was planted. Stupid freeze thaw got it alonf with the water. Still thinking about getting one in a different spot. Mine WERE spectacular.
Sherry
i have two versions ...
sometimes they die back.. other times they dont..
some peeps cut then to the ground ... every spring ... i usually dont.. and just spend some time cutting out dead wood in spring... unlike this year.. when i didnt even bother to do that ...
and i was rather surprised... this horrible MI winter.. didnt knock them back ...
come to think of it.. all that dead wood on one of them.. is whats left of it dieing to the ground.. lol ... so one does.. one doesnt ... lol ...
any help??? .. doubt it.. but its such a grey day.. i dont want to go look at the tags ... if the dogs i didnt want.. havent destroyed such.. like they have.. the rest of the back yard ....
ken
IME moles can be problem with plants, not because they have interest in the plants, but because in their seach for grubs, etc. they tunnel under roots, leaving them exposed to air.
Why do you ask? When I had snow in summer in my garden, it always looked fairly bad at this time of year due to foliage diseases perhaps; tthe main reason I stopped growing it was its ratty summer appearance though it also seeded around too much for me.
rouge, thought you might enjoy seeing a shot of Monique's (CT) LQ in one of her mixed borders. What a successful design, eh?!
I love LQ; once or twice over the summer,i whack it back HARD( down to 2-3' H) to keep her in line (She really covets that 'Tallest Perennial' trophy every year.) So she is really just starting to flower now. I do love my Rudbeckia Herbstsonne(w/which i ditto the whacking) , but i much prefer LQ's yellow myself.
Here is a link that might be useful: Monique's CT use of Lemon Queen
The issue is not that people do not understand your question. It's that calling R. hirta a perennial is troublesome in itself. Since R. hirta is not a perennial, even though the tag says otherwise, no matter what you do, mulch or no mulch, it is not going to live very long, especially in Canada.
What determines a plant's longivity? Genetics? Climate? Growing conditions? Who knows?
Try R. 'Goldsturm' or R. fulgida. They are perennials if you want long lived Rudbeckia. R. hirta is not going to live long. Period.
I checked the Tom Clothier database and found R. hirta listed as a perennial. Assuming that was accurate (at some point) & a reliable resource, I grew several varieties from seed in 2010, planted them out and enjoyed them. I still get the occasional volunteer but they were definitely short-lived.
Swallowtail Garden Seeds website lists R. hirta on their Annuals page. Whatever they are, annual or perennial, I welcome their generous self-seeding habit & bright faces whenever and wherever they show up in my garden.
Yes, I mulch heavily over recycled corrugated cardboard. I offer no supplemental
water--they get whatever Mother Nature dishes out. Soil is slightly acid, sandy loam. I don't fertilize anything.
I know this is a very late reply, but maybe it will help for next year! I have a couple of ideas. If those are petunias, you must deadhead them-that is, pinch off the flowers when they start to wilt/fade. If you don't, the plant will go to seed rather than keep blooming. I tend to water my pots every morning until the water runs out the bottom unless it rained during the night or if I have shaded pots. I live outside DC, so summers are hot and humid. Other conditions may require slightly less watering. You have to walk a fine line between overwatering (worse than underwatering) and letting your plants get too dry. Also, it is possible to use too much fertilizer. You will burn the roots if you do that, so maybe add the Miracle-Gro every third or fourth watering or use the miracle-gro potting soil and don't worry about the liquid form.
It looks as if you have pretty good light. Petunias like full sun-at least six hours, but I have been able to get by with about five hours of sun on our deck.
I've had some damage to my Solomon Seal that looks similar that was caused by the Lily beetle. Another pest to consider.
I have it too, but not throughout the entire plant. I would say the bottom 1/3 of the plants are most affected. It's been wet here this year, so I vote slug damage.
Kevin