13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
That one is more tropical than the E. herbacea. There are red E. Herbacea (who is one parent of the X bidwidii (sp?)). But you would be on the edge and having a sand y soil and not wet feet in winter might be a necessity there. Texas Ranger has added huge amounts of sand to her clay and totally changed the character of her soil. But that is a bunch of work. One needs to add about 1 part sand , and one part gravel and one part compost mixed into the 1part native clay soil. She said it did wonders to her heavy gumbo soil .
Actually, we dumped the sand right on top of the clay about 3" deep more or less, some places are much deeper. We covered it all in river rock gravel with larger round rocks lining the edges. When I dug a hole I'd scrape away the gravel & use a $1.99 bag of top soil to mix in each time I planted special things, I got about two to three plants per bag. I've built it up and added plants so gradually, it wasn't that hard to do. For grasses, I just dug down and mixed the base clay and sand by turning it over a few times.
The sand was very cheap, a dump truck load doesn't cost much but buying bags of play sand or concrete sand at Home Depot is expensive.
The volunteer plants just come up and root through the sand down to the cruddy soil below. Water soaks in real fast and it stays moist longer and its easy to edit since the plants dig and pull right out of it with clean roots practically. Its real easy to work in. I have read in many places this is a bad practice but its worked like a charm here for growing native plants. My clay isn't the kind thats sticky, its hard dirt thats heavy in clay content but the gradual downhill slope makes the drainage not an issue.
I guess you could call this the Cheap Lazy Man's Method.
Its hard to tell but that slope in the photo looks steeper so anything added on top looks like it might run right off.
My Baptisia has been great this year, although I'd love to see more blooms. It is currently setting seed pods. It does sit on the northwest side of the house and probably only gets 2-3 hours of afternoon sun. But I'm very happy with its shape... in fact, I'll be forced to move a Sarah Bernhardt peony because it's getting pushed out by the Baptisia. Oh, it is the Purple Smoke variety.
My 10 year old clump flowered okay... Though much less then years prior. The newer variety I planted just last year bloomed great... So who knows.
As a side note on flopping... I gave up the peony rings years ago and just remove the seed pods.... Thick stems included... After flowering. The plant hasn't flopped since. You give up the neat look of the black seed pods, but it's worth it to me plus I don't get a ton of seedlings popping up everywhere in the spring like before.
Needs lean soil with very good drainage, much like lavender. Doesn't care about acidic soil - I have that, too. It is a front of the border or edging plant......low and spreading, similar to a groundcover but without the vigorous spread. I like it along dry stream beds or in a rock garden/top of a rock wall.
And the red leafed form is a regular here in nurseries as are many other types. But then it is native to this area, which might explain why it does so well :-))
You can transplant at any time. But the hotter the weather and the more the plant is growing, the bigger root ball you need to dig up. The idea is that the plant shouldn't really know its been moved. And watering in some low nitrogen high P and K will help (like 2-6-6).
I've moved a lot of plants when I "shouldn't have", and that seems to work best.
more info on eriophyid mites from never
Here is a link that might be useful: more wisdom from never
Sometimes I only learn about diseases or problems with plants by reading posts like this. My coneflowers are nearing 15 years old and have never had any problems. They mostly just keep on keeping on where they are. Some years, I find a volunteer.
But it is good to know of possible problems. Next year could be different.
I wish you the best with yours.
Ruth - the picture in the link you gave looks like the R. podophylla in the Missouri Botanical Garden link below. See the RHS picture of R. aesculifolia at:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/15918/Rodgersia-aesculifolia/Details
to see that it doesn't have those extra lobes at the ends of the leaflets like the R. podophylla does. I like the look of that extra lobe detail, which is why I'm now looking for one! (I see it listed in the catalog of the same nursery that had the huge Astilboides by the irrigation pond - I'll have to go check it out someday soon....!) The R. podophylla is also supposed to be bronze in the spring while R. aesculifolia is green (although, for mine, the initial shoots emerging from the ground are browinsh but they unfurl to green right away). Are the leaves on yours green or bronze in spring?
Here is a link that might be useful: R. podophylla
Are you just removing the roses altogether, or will you be replacing them with something? Maybe something tall and eye-catching but somewhat narrow, like rudbeckia Herbstonne, or a bit shorter, like rudbeckia Henry Eilers or heliopsis Summer Nights (sorry, I can only seem to recall yellow flowers at the moment!). Or some tall lilies, if you don't have a problem with red lily leaf beetle. Although lilies do truly have a narrow window of interest, I suppose; I love them but on second thought would not have them as a single aesthetic element.
I have to say, I'm still thinking of some other kind of evergreen for winter interest....
I also wanted to say that I really love my deutzia, and just posted about it recently. I think you'll like it if you go with one!
Dee
Dee I will be moving them...to where..I'm not sure yet. I usually plant some kind of a tall grass with annuals in the pots behind the hostas for some height. This year I just put in my (surprisingly) over wintered Bougainvillea. They are getting ready to bloom soon :)
I would really like to get a few deutzia, my beds are pretty much full now but I'm sure I could find a spot for them.
Thanks!