13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

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 was in a nursery garden and overheard another customer loudly ask her friend "is that a PEAR-a-NIGH-al?" It actually took me a minute to realize she was just saying "perennial" and I wasn't about to discover some cool new plant.

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.

Floral_uk, you are correct....wow, I misread that as Ken attacking the design of the garden.

My apologies Ken :( Was too early in the morning to post I guess.

Beautiful garden!!!

I've seen canals filled with it in Nebraska, beautiful but vile.

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.

Yes I have and now I'm thinking I've overdone it.

And dead heading?

IDK Ken, I have definitely reduced the aphids in my greenhouse by trapping the ants. I have also reduced aphids dramatically by putting plants that aphids love in a place where the ants have a harder time reaching them (by suspending windowboxes from chains). So my observations tell me that ants do make aphid problems worse.

I frankly (for no reason other than instinct) believe that ants transport aphids to plants as much as sheep farmers transport sheep to new pastures.
Other articles on the web support this..I'll link one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Col State, ants and aphids

I've never cut mine back to the ground, but I cut off the flower stems when it's through blooming, and it looks a lot neater. Since it's a fairly early bloomer, it always amazes me that it does nothing after being cut back but sit there and look the same the rest of the summer. Mine is Penstemon 'Dark Towers' but has much darker foliage than yours.

My first thought when I saw the picture earlier today was penstemon but since I grow 'Mystica' the green foliage made me question if that was what it was. 'Mystica' foliage is darker green with dark red edges.

I do nothing to my many penstemons since I often harvest seeds once they're ripe. If you don't plan to grow more plants from seed, it's okay to cut the flower stems off for a tidier garden look. All my plants have been reliably hardy for the past 6 years.

Nevermore: Am I glad you posted this! Some of my echs have also bud centers that are twisted. Not all of the plant is affected, but I'm thinking if it's a virus the whole plant needs to go. Argh! What about the soil it was grown in?? I have to read about this. Thank you.

Do you have an opinion about all the seedlings I've been getting? And about the fact that the flowers are so much smaller and more pale? I've read that hybridized plants don't reseed true to form and wonder if that's true with Red Cone Flower too . . .

I planted those same two coneflowers and have many healthy seedlings all over the garden. I never could tell Magnus from Rubenstern, and to me all the seedlings look like the parents. Which is to say, they look strong, colorful, and vibrant. I love them.

So I'm not sure what's going on with your seedlings, but I might yank out the weak ones and see if you get some better ones down the road.

Cleome... smells like skunk. I suppose this is why the deer leave it alone :)

Duplicate post.

This post was edited by Perennial2014 on Mon, Aug 4, 14 at 2:58

I always cut the spent bloom stalks on my Stella D'Oros, mainly to keep them tidy. If you want more plants, the easiest/quickest way is to divide the plant rather than futzing around with the seeds. Just lift it up and cut it in half or in as any divisions as wanted.

With balloon flowers, leave some spent blooms at the end of the season - the seed pods will dry hard and holes will open at the top like a salt shaker. Easy to scatter although I don't know about the actual germination rate - some gardeners get many new plants, others few. I must get some since I've got plants in places at a distance from the main clumps.

Cutting the "candelabra" off Asiatic lilies insures that all the energy goes back to the bulb - and not into seed production - for next season's growth and bloom.

Though I've never looked into it, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden book is highly regarded.

This post was edited by duluthinbloomz4 on Sun, Aug 3, 14 at 20:45

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I will be looking up the books and sites mentioned to reference in the future. For now, I think it's safe to say after reading your comments, that I haven't done anything detrimental to my new very much loved plants.

What a cool mix of plants, I like how the tropicals are mixed in with perennials. I bet this bed only gets better until frost!
Red and purple is one of my favorite combos and I can't resist a variegated plant, so I really like your mix.

Really great variety of colors and textures! You grow so many tall plants and must have great soil and sun.

Molie