13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
"Hameln" fountain grass reseeds rather heavily for me. Chasmanthium (aka wild oats) is horrible in terms of reseeding - don't even think about it if you don't want to deal with that (I love the plant form, so I put up with it).
No, Gold Bar doesn't ring a bell. I looked up the grass I have in the catalog from the local nursery, and it is Porcupine grass, not Zebra grass. They look the same to me (green with yellow bars) but the Porcupine grass is between 3-4' tall, while the Zebra grass is at least 7', if not a bit taller, and the blades of the Porcupine grass arch whereas the Zebra grass is stiffly upright.
Here are some pics as a comparison. They are older pics, but the grasses were mature at the time (and are still there):
Porcupine grass: Note the Endless Summer hydrangea to the left and the air conditioning unit next to the grass/behind the hydrangea as points of comparison (I put the grass here originally to hide the AC unit)
Another shot of the Porcupine grass. Different year, the BB bush wasn't in the bed during this particular year but you can seen a Caryopteris right next to it as a height comparison.
Zebra grass: These were put here to screen our patio from passerby on the street, as we don't have fences in our neighborhood. Because it is so tall and dense, it does the intended job beautifully.
View from the patio side. As a height comparison, the rugosa rose next to the grass is a mature Wildberry Breeze.
I don't know why I have never tried the blue oat grass, I really need to give that one a try since the blue fescue I have right now dies out, or grows lopsided, or plain old dies if it gets a little competition or doesn't get divided frequently.
I see the difference between the porcupine and zebra. They seem to fit in perfectly where they are and nice pictures! I wonder if they're not switched though, seems the porcupine grass would be the spikier upright one.... God bar is a porcupine type, just shorter at 3-4 feet.
I shovel pruned my fountain grass (pennesitum) last spring due to reseeding. I think the real dwarf ones don't seed as much (like little bunny) but the bigger ones are awful even though I love the look. 'Moudry' is one I would never plant again.
One pennesitum that is sterile is "Karley Rose". Real nice, around three feet, but a little floppy when wet. Mine made it through last winter just fine (-10low) which surprised me since it's less hardy than the other ones.
Works great for me. I used it on roses for years successfully, doesn't wash off in rain but you do have to watch for those growth spurts and make sure new foliage and buds are protected. Remembering to respray the day after deer have visited doesn't help.
I didn't bring roses with me but have much heavier deer pressure in this new location. Still good results with the Bobbex. Our deer aren't particularly starving with little to no winter snow cover, but they are here every day year round and right now the fawns are learning their tastes and will sample just about anything. They will leave the plants alone that I've sprayed, I wouldn't be without it.
The scent to our noses dissipates in a couple of hours - don't spray into the wind though ;).
In zone 6 mine always come back, but this last winter was the test and they did come back. It took mine several years to get big so I think keeping them is better than buying new. Have you tried chopping them down and covering with a deep pile of straw?
I noticed the strangest thing. Around 4th of July they made their annual appearance, right around the time they usually do. I made a note for myself to start eliminating them (the soapy water method), but never got around to it - too busy with other things. So I'm moseying around outside the other day, and NO BEETLES! They are normally all over one rugosa rose in particular, it's like home base for them, but they were all gone. They weren't on any other plants, either.
No clue what went on there, but I have never seen that happen, they're usually orgying it up well into August, sometimes even a bit later.
Wonder if it's a sign it will be another harsh winter - ?. Or maybe I just had a lot of hungry birds hanging around the yard this year :0)
I haven't seen a single one this year. I did get rid of my only rose which was the only plant they munched for me, so maybe that's part of the reason. The squirrels this year haven't been doing any damage either, so all in all, I have no complaints.
(We do need rain which is hard to believe after the drenching this spring, so I guess I can complain about that.)
Kevin
It will grow into an area. multiplying at the base, stoloniferously.. It is slow where I am but things are rough here. It might be different in Englandâ¦Ogrose, is in Dallas and they have clay based soils that are richer.. I would give it shade with some sun, more sun than shade in England. That is a guess made in reaction to your temporate temperatures.. It will be plenty hardy there. Mine has not bloomed yet this year. Strange. The red is blooming in town , but they have not formed seed yet. I have had my eye on clumps to gather some seed for you. They should grow easily. They are very tolerant and flexible plants, growing across different soil types and rain changes. They grow from Central Texas across east Texas, Louisiana and into Florida but I think they are less the further east one goes. They are happier with a bit more water and a deeper soil than I have. They grew fast and bug when I lived in town on clay.
Hi, my goal here is to share pictures. The red turkscap is at a local historical house where my Master Gardener group does volunteer work. Please take advice from others who actually grow it in their yards and know more about its culture.
Planted some years ago by the Master Gardener group the turkscap is a HUGE mass beloved by hummingbirds and admired by tourists.
Pictures taken Aug 5, 2014 at Kent House (1796), Alexandria, Louisiana, z8b, heat zone 9, central Louisiana. As ogrose notes above: morning sun, afternoon shade. This location also has many shadows and is near 2 fig trees. As wantonamara notes turkscap is a native plant in Louisiana.
NOT MY HOUSE!
Another picture, Folsom Native Plant Society, near Covington, Louisiana
House furnished with beautiful period antiques, outbuildings with extensive displays of various molds and farming tools:
Visit Kent House (1796) and learn about life in a French Creole family in the early 1800âÂÂs
This post was edited by river_crossroads on Wed, Aug 6, 14 at 13:46
Forgot that I also shovel pruned many of my evergreen shrubs. We had a terrible winter when it came to evergreens. So many around town are dead. Between the harsh winter and deer, I've just decided to tell myself that winter interest is overrated. Sad to see them go, but sadder to look forward to them in the winter only to have them buried under snow, eaten by deer, or dead come spring.
Oh no, not the hallowed evergreen shrubs, bummer!
This evening I dispatched with 2 Johnson's Blue geraniums that look floppy, straggly and all-around lame by August. Buh-bye! Also pulled out yet another overcrowded daylily clump and the millionth blue saliva that established itself without my premission. Crazy how much I am pulling out and I'm probably not even halfway done. Phew!
Thanks pitimpinai. I will look into triloba. My space is very limited, and not "officially" full sun, though most of the full-sun plants I have do reasonably well. My most fortunate find a couple of years ago was Rudbeckia fulgida var. speciosa Viette's Little Suzy, which grows 12-16" high. Perfect size for my little space and which allows me a little more variety that the full-size Rudibeckia's take up. I'm slowly phasing out my few big ones for this little beauty.
Rudbeckia triloba is a denizen of the moist shady areas...they like sun, but usually don't grow in more than half sun.
I also heartily recommend it as a workhorse...though you must readjust your mind..the flowers are small, but many.
In great native habitat, triloba sometimes reaches 6 1/2 feet, but more avg is 2 1/2 or so.
Um.........is it November already? LOL! I'm still going strong with purchases for this gardening season. I have a VERY fat, healthy woodchuck devouring my garden, but he doesn't touch the daylilies. Found a guy right around the block from me who sells daylilies from fields behind his house for a great price. I moved some things around and added about 40 daylilies over the last couple of weekends. I know some folks think they get all yellow and nasty after flowering, but I don't find that to be the case in my garden. They stay green and fresh for a very long time. Plus at least I have blooms now since the woodchuck has eaten every other July/August flowering plant.
Went to a new (to me) nursery a couple weekends ago and picked up some nice shrubs. 2 new viburnums because I can never have enough of those, and a nice looking sedge and then also a really large variegated fiveleaf aralia, aka eleuthrococcus, aka acanthopanax. He had a bunch of other really nice shrubs and perennials, but I suppose I should pace myself and my checkbook!
I wouldn't bet a nickle on this being your last purchase
Wow, you have special powers Ken.
Today I bought these 2 huge Bobos (each container about 4 gallons) + a couple of days ago I unexpectedly came across the previously hard to source "Sunshine Daydream" Helianthus.
(With these 2 Bobos, I now have 8 in total on our property)
This post was edited by rouge21 on Tue, Aug 5, 14 at 16:43
I just got it, Ruth.
Funny!
Even if a lot of non-gardeners can pronounce "perennials", so many of them are quite misinformed as to what they are.
The various myths include, among others, that perennials are maintenance free and that perennials don't die.
Interesting, the apparent lack of a need for substantiation of the claim that purple loosestrife cultivars, actually located in typical garden situations, can lose their self-incompatability (viz the inability to self-fertilize).
The Manitoba study involved experimentally planting 'Morden Pink' along natural waterways. In other words, it indicates, but doesn't prove that purple loosestrife cultivars planted in garden situations can be prone to this problem.
Below; actual proof.
Picture; Nov 7, 2011.
The garden is in King City, Ontario.
The cultivar ('Rosy Gem') has been cut down, prior to removal.
You can see the line of purple loosestrife seedlings below the edge of the lawn.
So far, I've only seen this in gardens with sprinkler systems or which were otherwise kept well watered; matches the waterways bit.
That Liatris spicata or it's cultivars are a match for the show put on by (or I'd say the beauty of) various purple loosestrife cultivars is, as far as I'm concerned, a joke.
On the other hand, garden-generated evidence for avoiding the use of horticultural purple loosestrife (where legal) is in.
Sorry bees.
Maybe I am wrong. Based on this posting from the University of Alabama at Huntsville - this is not a Chinese Parasol. Is there more than one variety?
http://www.uah.edu/facilities-and-operations/facilities/grounds/trees/deciduous/157-facilities-operations/2391-grounds-trees-chinese-parasol-tree
Here is a link that might be useful: University of Huntsville at Ala Chinese Parasol
I don't see any information at that link which militates against the tree being Firmiana simplex. What is it that has put doubt in your mind?