13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

I hope you'll post pictures when it blooms...would love to see them.

In a way it makes me shutter (abnormal growth), but on the flowering side, it's fantastic!

Pam - I'm sure there must be some less expensive places down there - any avid gardeners in your neighbourhood who could tell you where they are? That's how I heard about Northland years ago. How much space do you have there? Niagara is an attractive area to consider moving to - but I worry about water quality given the relatively high use of agricultural chemicals on fruit trees and grape vines. Are you on a well? If so, did you test for water quality? I'd do that before buying any property there. I really like the little town of Jordan. If we ever considered Niagara as a place to live, that's probably where I'd start looking.

Woody, I drool whenever I go to Jordan. Jordan Station is where you can see the salmon jumping around. It's a gorgeous area. We're way down in Fort Erie just across from Buffalo. I had the water tested (for drinking) and it passed with flying colours..

Yes I'll certainly try and make the effort to look at the local greenhouses. I know they're also suppliers for a lot of S. Ont nurseries so it only makes sense. I should be doing nothing but drinking wine, eating peaches and growing vast amounts of flowers...

I'd just put them right back in. I think we usually plant daffs in the fall because that is when they are available here to plant. If I was receive some in a trade, I'd plant them anytime as soon as I received them.

Linda

i would also just stick them right back in ...

every time i dug them up myself by mistake.. if i put them right back in ... they were there in spring ...

if i dried them out.. and put them in a potato sacks in the garage... i found them years later ... lol.. too many times ..

frankly... they are planted in fall.. because they are sold in fall ... you probably could NOT find one now to buy.. if your life depended on it ... of course.. they sell them in fall.. because that is a better planting time.. but its not that imperative... IMHO ...

if you consider it from the producer side... they wanted to dig them while there was still dried greenery on them.. so they would know where to dig ... and they just dried them.. and stored them for fall sale with tulips and all the other bulbs... and.. its much easier to transport dried bulbs ... in big volumes... i am sure we have all found a rotted onion in a sack ... perhaps that onion didnt dry properly ... for storage in a big warehouse ...

either way.. i dont think its that big a deal ...

ken

Coral Reef acts the same as Cecily's Raspberry Wine here. Bees still visit the spent flowers after the petals fall, so usually don't deadhead, and doesn't seem to slow down blooming. Consider it optional & the spent heads are still decorative. Finches love the seeds & I love watching their swaying sideways antics, so no seedlings in the several years it's been here. Looks like yours is sending up new buds, Sparky. Remember the variety? Totally agree with LOTS of water even in this muggy climate, to sidestep mildew & stimulate growth & flowering.

get rid of the crabgrass .. MIs july harvest.. lol .. i am in adrian ...

i am hoping there is not landscape fabric under the mulch ... which might mean a watering issue

snip off flowers.. and see what happens ...

sometime new plants.. dont quite perform to standard... but there is always next year ... as it looks happy enough ....

straight down pic are tough ... how tall is it??? are the new green shoots significantly outgrowing the old part of the plant... that might indicate its finally getting ESTABLISHED ... as you know.. we had a very extended cold spring in MI .. i have plants that were 4 to 6 weeks late .... and perhaps.. on some level.. yours is also behind the normal curve ...

it otherwise looks happy.. just keep it properly watered in july/august ...

ken

I was going to say heliopsis, too. These are what some of my heliopsis seedlings look like. No sure on the exact variety.

Well imagine my surprise!!

I'm not a yellow lover and just recently put in a few yellows...for a pop of color here and there.

Evidently last year I thought I needed more lol. And from what I've read I will have LOTS more as I planted 4.

Thank you all and especially you David for the pic....I'm no longer in denial ;0)

Common terms for Phlox paniculata include summer phlox, garden phlox and tall phlox.

One major recent and current trend in summer phlox breeding has been/is selection for shorter cultivars; namely, "tall phlox" have become, are becoming, shorter.

Personally, I don't see how summer phlox can be used to full effect in mixed perennial beds by just including the recent and current shorter "tall phlox".

For instance, the Flame series phlox are almost all in the height range of 12 to 18 inches. The The Jan Verschoor phlox (including members of the Cocktail series) I mentioned above are almost all 18 to 24 inches tall. The First Edition Collection (series), mentioned above, are all 18 to 22 inches tall.

To me, using numbers of only these shorter "tall phlox" sounds like bedding annuals. Garden phlox can make an enormous contribution to mixed perennial beds in summer. A mixed perennial bed, when it reaches summer, needs "tall phlox" of varying heights. In addition, many other perennials, in summer, have reached a height which restricts the use of shorter "tall phlox" to the front of mixed perennial beds.

You can read the Chicago Botanic Garden's results of its phlox field trials on line. Someone may have the link handy or try something like c...b...g...phlox trials
It won't have the latest releases but it addresses the all important issue of mildew resistence.
Personally, I don't see the charm of the new shorter phlox.
But I think I am peculiar; I am the only one I know of who doesn't like phlox David. I think it is a big clumpy white blob. All muscle, no charm.
"Bright Eyes" is an excellent phlox. No mildew, long lived, cheerful. Miss Lingard . Franz Shubert .
idabean/Marie

Lovely planting!

I quite enjoy the lavender plants I have. Attractive when in bloom and nice grayish foliage when not in bloom.

I like it too.The bed has a great rhythm to it in the shape of the bed, the repetition of plants, and the nice mulch and accent rocks. It all works for me. And I think it's the classiest use of that scalloped concrete edging I've even seen! :)

Lol Cat!

Don't forget all the seedling too.

Mmm, I consider 'beautiful' to have utility and vigor. A plant, any plant, which is well grown and appropriate (as this is), always looks beautiful to me... right plant, right place is a gardening truism, yet it took me years to break a habit of growing totally random (unsuitable) plants

Forgot Rodgersias and Kirengeshoma.

Another good choice might be Alchemilla mollis (lady's mantle). Lovely foliage and frothy chartreuse flowers in late spring/early summer.

All of my Buddleias made it through the winter but they definitely were set back.
They all came back from the base.

I have an established âÂÂAdonis Blueâ that is doing the best, but itâÂÂs short and sparse. Just forming flower buds. I think I should have pinched it back when it was smaller. I will start deadheading soon and that should help.

I planted small pots of âÂÂPink Delightâ and âÂÂBlack Knightâ in the fall. PD is doing better than BK. BK is the one I almost lost. And now it is not only small, but it is the only Buddleia in the yard that has severe insect damage. Oddly no other plants around it have been bothered. The PD is about 3 ft away.

I have a âÂÂPeacockâ that is still in too little sun but itâÂÂs hanging in there.

I have a similar question about butterfly bushes so I hope it's okay that I ask it here! I have a bicolor butterfly bush that I planted in May and I just love it. Has bloomed once for me and has grown quite well already. I really don't want to lose this so I'm already worrying about winter.

I am wondering what kind of winter protection you guys in zone 5 and colder give yours? It's very heavily mulched and in a very large corner garden that is protected by the house. Any one have any suggestions for how I can protect this BB so it survives our awful winters?

Michaela

Usually when the green thumb comment is thrown out there its followed by "I have a brown thumb". In my experience, it starts out with the green thumb comment and ends up with the brown thumb comment. I've talked to people who tried gardening "I bought a few plants one summer and they died and...."

If these died or did badly the assumption is "I just have a brown thumb" and they throw in the towel. You can usually tell in 5 minutes if the person is actually interested in gardening. Usually not.

Its the same thing with drawing. You need lots of practice and hard work perseverance to learn to do this --- and desire. Its a matter of time & effort in both cases. Same thing in playing a piano, a person needs to learn scales and years of practice.

The assumption some people make seems to be that some lucky people, by way of cosmic justice vs cosmic injustice, just plunk stuff in the ground and somehow it just easily grows for them while for other people, this is not the case.

If the finished results or the glamor are the only thing a person wants, they will usually be disappointed and often they give up. On the other hand, if its the occupation itself and the work they enjoy, the final results are just the finished byproduct of that effort and they will usually achieve success. This is true in any endeavor. Talent is not a magic thing, its just enhances certain people in the process and results, its still about hard work and time. There is no easy.

"The people who claim others have a green thumb and they don't are simply trying to justify-away the fact they really don't want to invest the time and energy which is necessary to grow plants.

That's pretty much it. There's no mysterious innate ability involved. When you enjoy gardening, learn what works (and what doesn't) and spend the time needed to get good results, your thumb magically turns green.

Was just rereading the posts and I second the Rugosa Rose suggestion. I have 3 - Blanc Double de Coubert, Hansa, and Crimson King, the last one was purchased in a small box at Aldi, of all places. They are tough as nails, do not like to be over fertilized, can be sheared back or left to do their own thing. They are very fragrant - I can smell Hansa from all over the yard when she is in full bloom. I have one near the main road and it is not bothered by the road salt - another plus. I'm looking up the Purple Pavement mentioned above now.

Linda

This is a fantastic resource! Thank you to all the contributors.

I have a rugosa rose (not sure which one) and it is made of steel. It even withstood the Japanese beetles.

I LOVE dwarf fothergilla but don't have any at this house (yet!)

Shrub-like herbaceous plants that have done well by me are peonies and hydrangeas... just planted a few Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' and am hopeful they will do well.

Typically doesn't return in spring might be the better wording.

Perhaps OS does better in very dry climates like ours? We never had a problem with it not coming back! I would guess from the masses of OS roots that we dug up when we took it out, that it likes having dry feet. So it may be more controlled for Lin if you have wetter conditions. BTW the flowers are simply gorgeous. Nurseries sell this by the hundreds here every spring.

The CP is completely neglected but it has grown along the walk and in the crack between steps and a patio. I'm encouraging it to edge a bed but we will have to put in a border to stop it invading.

I had a clump in a flower bed where it was starting to expand too vigorously so I ripped it out and stuck it into the ground under the sycamore. That was about 6 weeks ago. It's settled down nicely and started to flower. The tree base is circled by driveway and a walk so it can't go far.

Cheryl

I would not give up on locating more mature Clematis. Bluestone will definitely not give you the size Clematis you need. I've ordered from them. I have considered buying more mature Clematis, and found that one local nursery does stock them. So keep looking. Ask about this on the Clematis forum and someone might have a mail order source too.

I would agree that if you have not grown Clematis before and you have this situation where the vines are going to be planted below a deck, I would definitely try to start off with well established vines.

One consideration for your cut out size is how will your vines get enough water? You really don't want to set yourself up to have to water constantly. If the cut outs are too small and the spacing on your boards are too narrow to provide enough rainfall year round to get enough water to the ground.

If the cut outs are large enough to collect enough water on their own, maybe 26" X 26", I kind of like the bottomless plexi glass sleeve idea filled even with the deck with good soil tilled into the original soil so the roots can penetrate and spread out. That way no leaves build up in the cut outs.

That would also solve the other problem I see with the small cutout idea if the ground is 10 inches below the deck and the cut outs have no lips. If something falls and rolls off the edge into the hole, how will you fish something out of the hole?

You have to think about how the trellis in each cutout will be held in place so that winter snowstorms or summer thunderstorms don't blow them over. It will take strong fastening. They also need to be made out of no maintenance materials. You could use these strong trellises to hold containers of annual vines like morning glories (I grow morning glories and moonflowers on my deck every summer in containers) to fill in in until the clematis vines get larger. Since the winter cold will kill the annual vines and they are in containers not the ground, they shouldn't interfere.