13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Thank you everyone - still learning and I thought they needed to get into ground ASAP after digging up (see I had no clue that might not always be the best idea lol) thanks again I hope they live and look gorge!!

its how we all learned ...

you dig when you have to dig.. project .. gift.. etc ...

but you plant when it should be done..

so then its just down to what to do with them in the mean time ...

ken

Rouge, I misread your comment as "yours is shaped like a tree" as though it grew like that without pruning. In any case I know you know from herbaceous. ....

Sorry for the confusion 'Marie'.

Clearly T2d's specimen is able to get so large that she has the option of pruning it to look tree like.

(A couple of weeks ago I impulsively pruned ours with power trimmers to get it uniformly ball like. It looks stupid and I have left it alone to now grow itself out more randomly...live and learn.)

Woody--absolutely lovely!

Thanks for the tour, a visual treat, I'm loving your Veronicastrum.

Annette

Have you tried 'Britt Marie Crawford'?

After seeing posts in this thread I picked up a BMC! (Who knows when I will plant it given this hot dry weather).

I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread, so many beautiful Ligs, I need a bigger garden sigh....

Annette

It's an aster. It depends on which on and what you want to do with it. They are pretty but can become weedy. In my area I know many wild ones are bi-annual and are prolific seed producers. If I am not mistaken those seeds can live for decades.

I vote for a weed also.

That's crazy, Purp! Most of my houseplants are in moisture control and they seem to love it! They're all thriving and growing like crazy. But maybe it's because I don't water, per se, but rather mist heavily only sporadically with water from my dehumidifier, then once in a while, i water them thoroughly. I dont know, bit i do know that I dont wAyer them nearly as much as I mist them. I also add miracle grow plant food.

Thanks for the advice! I can't get any perlite right now, maybe next week, but I did move the plants outside in the sun. I gave them a spot for now that only gets about an hour of full direct sun per day and I'll move them to another place that gets more full sun in a few days to acclimate them. Hopefully moving them won't upset them!

Summering house plants outdoors does generally help revive them and produce new growth, if they're introduced to full sun gradually (even an hour a day without conditioning could cause leaf burn, so best to put them in shade at first).

Eventually the plant will have to come back inside (unless you're in a frost-free area) and then it will need at least bright light (some sun would be good), high humidity and location away from marauding children/animals. Crotons are difficult at best as house plants because their favored conditions are hard to produce.

Although I have Annabelle rather than Invincibelle Spirit, my experience with Hydrangea arborescens is that it is not a full sun plant and does best with morning sun only as GG48 said along with plenty of water.

Bluestone probably said that because Proven Winners says that (?!) but the developer's website says 4 hours of sun give or take depending on the climate.

It seems to depend on where you read the specifics about both plants - either Annabelle and/or Invincibelle Spirit. I'm not a novice gardener, and this type of thing drives me nuts because I try to put my plants in the right spot.

Some sites say that H. arborescens can take full sun but need a lot of water to do so. Rather than replant to a shadier location right now while its still regrowing leaves - not that I have much shade anywhere here but I'll do my best to find a spot it might like better -I'll keep an careful eye as to its moisture requirement and move it in the spring. IF it makes it through the winter.

I paid $40 for the plant, and I NEVER pay that much for any plant, other than the ones the landscaper put in when he took out the 40 year old yews and put in our paved walk. I felt confident I was getting the right plant for this spot. Looks like I didn't.

Thank you all for your help. The next time I purchase a plant that I don't have a lot of experience with, I'll ask you guys first and buy second!

Linda

I've read that the Gillenias will grow underneath trees with thick roots. I want to get some for myself; pretty flowers in the spring, great fall color, and best of all, they're native.

Karen

Here is a link that might be useful: Gillenia trifoliata

Skip all of the above advise, especially the vinca. If you want nice plants - shrub size - like hydrangea's, think outside of the rooting system. Get yourself a child's swimming pool. Place on top the roots of the tree or fight the tree roots with a shovel and reclaim some soil - fill the pool with soil. Drill holes in the side of the swimming pool, not the bottom - the tree will find a way through holes in the bottom. Place your plant in the pool in the dirt - it's own home with no invaders! Next frame the outside of the pool with rocks, if you don't bury the pool. This looks amazing when complete. I have both hydrangea's, astilbe and hybrid hostas growing under the shade of my silver maple - looks marvelous.

I also have plenty of early mums this year. It's mostly the newer varieties I added last spring so maybe they will just need a good shearing next year to slow them down.

The garden only now seems to be starting full force. I add plenty of dahlias and cannas each year, but the grasses, self sown annuals, hydrangeas, hibiscus and phlox are still to come!

I planted some expensive zinnia seeds with a large central cone, hoping for a broad landing site for butterflies and bumble bees in my pollinator garden. We've had such a cloudy, rainy, cool summer that their growth has been slower than molasses in January. Even now I don't see any buds forming. I just hope they bloom in time for me to save some seed. I know they might not look like the parent plant, but I can pick and choose the characteristics I like.

Martha

Have you ever had it self sow?

Maybe katob. But if so not much...nothing like our other triloba.

Nice plant.

Even with limited sun and excess rain so far this summer, our regular R. trilobas have started to flower (despite having been cut back heavily in June).

Groundhogs do more damage than you can imagine. When we finally caught the one who was chewing our front windowsills (and stopped long enough to pose for a picture) there was also an end to the mysterious chopping down of my daisies a couple of inches off the ground with nothing eaten, just chopped down. Good luck.

In all the answers no one mentioned cutworm. Cutworm will cut off a plant just above the ground and then it feeds on the roots. Dig down where the plant is cut off and see if there's a fat grub. Dig it out and step on it. If it is cutworm he won't have moved far because he'll be dining on your plants roots. Cutworm is always a loner so if you get it you've solved the problem unless the cutworm moth has laid more eggs

You mean, Ken, you would like pictures? ?there aren't any here, and I would also love to see what grew.

Yes I enjoyed the experiment. I Checked every day to see what flowers had opened and how they grew. I would certainly do it again. Sorry I'm not a photographer but I did get out my camera. The batteries in my camera are dead. Not surprising since I haven't used it in 2 years. I will see what I can do about getting new batteries and taking some photos

Sedum (not sure which):

Center Glow Ninebark:

the roots seemed healthy and of two different kinds, seemingly inseparable. white, straight, and succulent---yellowish and threadier, finer. what's up with that? i never examined their roots before...

The roots are enormous!