13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

The pix have been removed :'-( -- boo hoo hoo!

too bad they removed the pics. i remember them and they were stunning. whatever happened to David? i don't see his posts anymore.

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

I agree

Thank you all.

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..

Thanks, Ken, for the chuckle.

I never got info on my phlox problem last year. Do you leaves look like this? I never got a bloom and I was so disappointed. Hope you have a different issue. Lesley

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 read up on German nursery web sites. It seems to grow slightly smaller than the average Bergwnia, flowers are said to be a deep magenta pink which IMO looks great, much better than the pinkish flowers of older types

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".

I solved that 'no electricity' problem by buying a 2000 watt inverter. On both my tractor and my pickup I installed plugins and a mount for the inverter. On my six acres of hill and woods there is no place I do not have electricity. Al

Thanks for the insight! I will leave it alone and then cut back a bit after the first bloom is done.
I will look up that video, Molie, videos help tremendously in helping me learn about pruning.

Thanks again everyone!

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.

Yes they are - usually - I had one that came back a few years in a row, but for the most part don't count on it.

Kevin

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

Woody, understand the point about bold curves (actually also one of David's past lecture themes).

I suspect that designing (even maintaining) a mixed perennial garden for a larger area is much easier (relatively speaking) than doing it for a smaller area.

Will certainly be in touch about Merlin's Hollow, Woody.
Nice and bright here, but wish it would warm up a bit more. But at least the lungworts and the primulas seem to be handling it. They're just beginning to flower in the sunniest locations.

Lovely garden. I too am always amazed by the sudden spring transformation in our area. The garden equivalent of jumping out of oilskins into bikinis.

Like most have said, its really hit or miss. Last year they lily bulbs bag, the ones that have 3 or 5 to a bag for a dollar. I got 3 or 4 bags. As far as the plants go, I rarely buy plants there anymore. With Lowes, Ace Westlake hardware store, farmer market, Kaw valley and Grass pad, I can better deals than Walmart. They have a wide selection and much better customer service.

One of the problems we run in to here is plants come into the Big Boxes and garden centers - even the good ones - too early for optimal planting conditions. And even some of the very reputable places will be glad to sell you zone inappropriate or iffy stock - not exclusively a WM trait. In past seasons, I've notices many of WM's garden center plants come from no farther away than Michigan, Wisconsin and southern Minnesota. After an extended and extremely harsh winter like the one we're slowly emerging from, people are anxious to buy and get their hands in the dirt.

Here it is, May 7, still snow piles here and there and the air temp is only36 o. I could buy early, house things in the garage and by Memorial Day or the week after have all kinds of stressed out and root bound things. This is a part of the country where the calendar isn't your best guide.

I was imagining a foot of hardwood mulch. I sure would not just stick a bulb or perennial in that. Possibly amend the existing soil with it, but not just plant in it.

No, this is a foot of black-dyed shredded wood mulch. I can't imagine planting perennials in it.

My husband had knee surgery in January and is not up to the task.

Planting tulips deeply keeps them from dividing and weakening, and they are more perennial. I planted a lot of bulbs both ways and got a better return rate with the deeply planted ones.

I am in Z5a and my delphiniums have been up for about 2 weeks - they are currently from one to four feet tall so yours should at least be poking through.

I agree with Ken - that wonderful deep snow cover that lasted from Nov. through March was great protection for everything. I had some winter damage to my Junipers but nothing else. In fact, I have lots of mum plants that are coming back like gang-busters. First time for that!

My agastache is springing up in one area but very slow to start in another (shadier).
In that same shadier area I have gaura mariposa (midnight pink) and they haven't shown any sign of life. I did move them a little last fall and they didn't quite seem to perk back up to normal. I need to drive around the neighborhood - one of my neighbors has a HUGE mass of gaura in the front of their house that I'm just envious of.

Best of luck - my fingers are crossed for you!

I have many herbs - catmint included growing in gravel along my pathways. That, thyme, dill and peppermint seem to not even need soil! Also they are very drought- tolerant.

I've got Catmint growing the edge of my "xeric" garden, which is a dry bed in the southwest corner of the yard and close to the sidewalk. It is partly-mostly sunny and the soil is somewhat lean. This bed rarely gets watered, only if I recently planted something, or seedlings, or we have a serious drought and just to keep plants alive. The catmint does really well under such conditions, so I save the more fertile beds for perennials that don't (which would be most of them).

Just checked that bed out today and the 'Junior Walker' is blooming a little!