13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Not only have I never seen Buddleia reseeding around waste places/roadsides in this area, I can't even get it to survive in my garden, so I don't see invasiveness as an issue locally.
I am highly dubious about the proposition that non-native plants supply no nourishment to native insect/animal species. Clearly chickadees and lots of other birds/animals have adapted to using these plants. There was an article in the Sunday New York Times last week from a garden writer emphasizing this (and recommending that people plant a wide variety of native and non-native plants to nourish the local wildlife)*.
*this writer's recommendations probably should be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as how his article was primarily about gardening with climate change (he seems to think that a single colder than normal winter is good evidence of climate change, which actually is documented not by single seasonal variation but changes occurring over many years).
Here is a link that might be useful: gardening for climate change
This post was edited by eric_oh on Sat, May 10, 14 at 11:14
"Potentially" means maybe. I think it is a little overzealous to wish to ban every "potentially" invasive plant. People have been growing butterfly bush for a hundred years on the East Coast and they are not invasive. They are not even completely hardy here in many cases.
I have 3 nice clumps of LQ, let its stalks stay over winter for the last 2 years and never had seedlings.
I found one plant which looked like a reverted version, brown center and yellow petals, but that had just 3 stalks very near to the original, so I rather thought it was some kind of mutation- not a seedling. It was just as tall as the pale yellow flowering stalks, so I labeled it and removed it in fall.
My Helianthus LQ does reseed lightly. Only a few seedlings, which resemble the parent closely, but nothing out of hand. However it IS a rampant spreader for me, and it runs roughshod over the other perennials and grasses nearby.
3 years ago the voles did a number on the patch. They probably ate 90% of it, along with the Baptisia, some Hostas, Eupatorium, etc. That was one instance where I was kind of glad that the voles had eaten them back. 2 years later you wouldn't even know the voles had touched them, whereas it is taking the other perennials much longer to rebound from extensive vole damage.
I have a red one and a gorgeous yellow one (about 20 years) and have never pruned. I DID have to move the yellow one because of construction and I will GUESS that these shrubs do not like to be moved because it took probably 3/4 years for it to recover. I think they are fabulous in bloom and I love their leaves when not >.
My pruning is exactly like mxk's. Right after blooming, or while blooming if you want to bring the bloom in the house for a few days. I am pruning for the shape of the tree, sometimes leaving NO foliage, but new growth breaks out immediately. Al
lets us know if the hardware Gods come up with a cheap alternative ...
ken
ps: i once stopped the local plumber [we bump into each other at events in our small town] .. and asked him.. offhand.. if he knew which brand kitchen faucet .... had the little plastic red/blue button on the spigot ... he looked at me like i was insane ... and said.. that its the hot/cold indicator ... i have approached him many times over the years.. to remind him.. that it was the stupidest question i ever asked anyone... lol .. and trust me.. i have asked a lot of stupid questions.. lol .. congrats on the knee..
No, my leaves do not look like yours, although they are beginning to get a black spot or two. One of the afflicted phlox is in a plot where a couple of years ago my Victoria salvia got a strange ailment. With that in mind I'm going to take a stem to the extension agent to check about a virus. Thanks. In the meantime a nursery man said that it could be pesticide drift - not from my yard, but from the neighborhood.
I have had Bressingham Ruby bergenia for 8-10 years. The foliage does turn a beautiful burgundy that lasts all winter. It has never bloomed much, but I think its main attraction is as a foliage plant. At the end of this winter, deer chewed it to the ground and I thought it was a goner. Instead, it is rejuvenated with the biggest, shiniest leaves it has ever had!
I used to call my self Madame Poulane But that little tree shark about shook my wrists into carpal tunnel hell for 6 months, so I am now a Styhl Easy Start girl myself. I clear up under brush and small trees on 1.7 acres every winter. A good tool will save on doctor bills.I can say that having two chainsaws really put a new edge on my marriage.
I love "reductive gardening".
Late:
Great advice above.
Use/have used lots of salvias, especially 'Mainacht', 'Ostfriesland', 'Marcus' and 'Caradonna'.
Great plants for deadheading for a second bloom.
Also find they're hardy and long-lived here.
I'm under the impression that though upgrading soil by periodically digging in organic matter (we have clay soil) is important to promote growth, it is not necessary, nor desirable, to use chemical fertilizers on garden perennials.
Ken, above, emphasizes the same point.
There are annual, biannuals and some short lived perennial hollyhocks and they usually dont last long in places that are too wet but i had them in a well drained locations and they were all seedlings when I planted them in fall so they should've survived. I never saw one flower from them lol just my luck...
~michael
heavenlyfarm
Only one I have ever had success with is Arendsii
As said above, the night temps and high humidity here just kill off most of the others.
They are always good for that late summer shot of electric blue
Of course I agree Campanula. The flowers are the most amazing shade of blue. (Here is some flowers from a couple of falls ago).
They are one of the first perennials to show life each spring.
(Below are my two plants as of today; very vigorous).
But it has been my experience that the stalks can flop if there is an extended dry spell.
I did a bit of an experiment last season and for one of the two clumps I have I did a "Chelsea Chop". It did still bloom and of course was less tall overall.