13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
'Gateway' planted in the open ground is always pokey to appear in my cold zone 3, though has been very reliable. I recall one winter with scant snow cover and temps that had plummeted to -40 F and I had thought I had lost good ole Joe, as all eyes near the surface had been killed and the plant had needed to flush out from deeper below. He was slow and not at all vigorous that summer, though was back to his normal self the following year.
I WISH there was a variegated 'Gateway' !!!
Thanks for all of the feedback. The ones I planted were good-sized and weren't end-of-season clearance plants, but were still planted after mid-summer so probably didn't have time to establish well.
I won't give up hope on those that haven't sprouted yet, and for those that have just a couple tiny stems, I'll hope for a better year next year!
good luck
the problem i had ... in crossing things.. not glads in particular...
is the year or 3 for the seed to develop the corm.. to actually end up flowering ... especially if you ant to keep track of your crosses ... [that equates to whether i would have a 2 or 3 year attention span.. lol]
on the other hand.. if you just want to dedicate a small section of garden.. and just throw seeds there... just have fun ...
ken
I've also solarized a large section of my yard that was about 25x25ft. I had just about given up fighting witch grass that had ruined my vegetable garden. We had leftover plastic from a backyard skating rink and we put one huge piece of clear 3ml thick plastic covering the whole area, weighed down with bricks for an entire year. That took care of about 95% of the witch grass and we reclaimed the area. The only thing that survived it was a small fringe of witch grass that was under the drip line of a tree, so I assume the stronger sun in the rest of the area made a big difference.
Thank you so much. I am going to put it down right away. I remember years ago when I noticed my neighbors ground cover came under our fence and took root in our yard. I pulled it out but it just kept coming. After many attempts to eliminate it, I finally put dark plastic, weighted down with brick, over it and left it all summer till the next year. It was gone and never came back.,
If the Aralia creates berries, it will probably seed all over. I have Aralia Racemosa and get babies in quite a few places. It's important to move the babies right away if they grow where you do not want them. With Aralia, make sure you put it where you want it. They have tap roots and I have yet been able to MOVE an aralia by shoveling it out...they always come back. Last year, someone accidentally "killed" my Aralia with Roundup. It looked dead by fall, but it is up and in full swing, very large again already. A gorgeous plant, just make sure you put it where you want it.
I hear ya. I have some shade areas too. Here is what I have had luck with thats easy from seed you could try. They do better in full sun but they will bloom in shade and stay upright. You name it, I've tried it. These are all easy to grow wild flowers about 2ft tall. You can dead head them in fall or let them naturalize which they will very easily. These are all easy to find in seed packets.
Annual gaillardia--comes up super easy, grows fast blooms non stop all summer until frost.
Mealycup sage--native perennial that blooms well and stays upright in shady spots, very easy from seed.
Purple coneflower--need to sow seed in fall for cold stratification. Takes a season to develop into a blooming sized plant.
Lanceleaf Coreopsis--super easy from seed, plant can be practically pulled out of ground and transplanted elsewhere if you want, they fill in fast and make a good filler until other plants fill in. Blooms in spring only but makes a nice green ground cover. They will carpet an area if you don't thin them but its easy to pull unwanted ones out.
Purple Winecups--they are blooming right now on the sides of the roads here, impossible to miss, you can buy seeds or collect from wild. There are also White Winecups.
Black Eyed Susans--- I have Rudbeckia 'hirta' which is a biennial out there blooming like crazy in a shady spot. Plant now and next year they will be fabulous.
I've purchased those mixed wildflower packets before, very disappointing and usually they only have a brief bloom time, I did two packs this year and said never again, waste of money. My description is "puny". These I listed are good, reliable and have presence.
Oh and I do have a "wild-scape"--maybe not what you visualize when I say wild, Its 95% natives here, very natural but still a garden. Ha ha, just had to throw that in.
This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Wed, Jun 4, 14 at 1:03
I think I had some gaillardia, Lanceleaf Coreopsis and coneflower in the seed mix. Some of the plants look like it anyway so I will let them live and move them later on. I figured they needed plenty of sun too.
I do have a purple coneflower growing in mostly sun that is in its second year. I could collect seed in fall and then sow them in the other area.
I've not seen any Purple Winecups on roadsides here. Yellow flowers bloom everywhere on roadsides now. I'm near Anderson, SC.
Mealycup sage looks like a great plant. It will go on my list.
Thank you for putting so much thought and effort into your replies.
No more "puny" plants from seed for me lol.
Notice I didn't say anything about taking action against a jerk of a neighbor, what I was talking about was putting having taking the action in writing where it can act as evidence.
As anyone who reads the Mid-Atlantic Gardening Forum knows I have been dealing with the A**h*le neighbor for years now. Every time they do something really over the line like cutting down their tree from my property and trampling all of my ferns in the process, they always claim they have the right to do it. But I always know the county laws better than they do (I used to be a reporter and I know how to use the Internet). So I usually let the County fix their butts with a warning letter and more recently a ticket for various violations. Have I ever taken direct action against their property? Dangedest coincidents I've ever seen.
Gorgeous!. When the seed pods start to dry out and twist, grab some of the seeds and tuck into the soil around your planting area...or save the seeds and start a tray in feb-march....you will get a better percentage of baby 'starts'...a bit better than nature does.
Of course i'm speaking of the wild variety but have had success with both...
Van Engelen, John Scheepers and Brent&Becky's accept orders already. I just placed an order this weekend.....I had told myself I would nor order anything...guess what? I lied. I asked John Scheepers to ship the bulbs in October so I can plant them before we go away on vacation in November.
I ordered fall crocus from B&B. They should arrive early for this fall blooming.
BTW, I have been waiting to see what the landscapers would do to those a few year old Allium Globemaster in Millennium Park in Chicago. They had removed old, worn out plants weeks ago leaving the beds messed up and the Alliums looking forlorn. This morning, all of them were piled up by the beds next to trays of annuals ready to be planted. So I asked one of the landscapers for the Alliums. They said yes! I stuffed the largest bulbs in my bag.
Lessons learned: always be on a lookout for landscapers and always keep a bag on you wherever you go. :-D
I've given a name on the Name That Plant Forum.
Here is a link that might be useful: Campanula glomerata 'Caroline'
Thank you. Good idea.
Kevin
I think James Kelway is worth growing even if it flops. Just get a hoop support for them or something. Think about all those fancy red echinaceas that have so many problems. JK just might be shorter, but better.