13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Oak trees - or any other plants - do not make soil acidic. Soil acidity is dependent on the underlying soil minerals and the amount of annual rainfall. Plants will only grow in that location because the soil conditions and climate are already to their liking. If you have questions about your soil pH, which can affect nutrient uptake, test - don't assume.

FWIW, lilacs generally never require fertilization. In fact, fertilizers can inhibit good flowering with this shrub.

Sorry, I don't have any advice because I also never fertilize... not even my roses. If the ground they've been planted in is optimum and well prepared, they'll do fine.

raehelen - That may be the problem. There are some online lists of plants which will not tolerate the toxic affects of walnuts, but I couldn't find corydalis listed as one, but I'm sure these lists are not comprehensive.

I did find this however:

"The black walnut stump will still be creating a toxic environment for all plants that are not tolerant of the chemical (juglone) they introduce to the soil. The toxicity extends well past the year of the treeâÂÂs death and if the stump is allowed to remain, the toxin will still be released into the soil from the degrading root system."

Kevin

While it lived I was prepared to live with it -- what else could I do? -- Robinia pseudoacacia is supposed to be toxic as well to other plants, and I was rejoicing because our new Chinese neighbors took theirs down (the birds plant them in the back yards hereabouts) in a frenzy of remodeling. But the big stump is still there -- a few feet from the property line, encased in concrete. I suppose the toxic roots are also still all over my yard. I have been weeding away suckers from the darn thing for years.

I do worry that without lots of greenery we won't have so many birds. Years ago there were many many more different kinds, including indigo buntings and goldfinches. Alas. Thank God for Green-wood Cemetery, a bird elysium not too distant from here. Well, happily the locusts don't affect corydalis -- to bring things back to the thread -- nor dicentra which romps alongside its smaller cousin (I suppose they are relatives they seem to have so many affinities).

Here is a link that might be useful: Green-wood

The bagged stuff is not going to hurt your plants but its to late for it to be any good for the bulbs. Most use a liquid feed for those or nothing at all. Can't answer the rhubarb question as I don't grow food plants.

I bet you could dump the whole bag around the rhubarb and it would only just start to feel happy. Rhubarb loves a rich soil.
I would avoid getting it on the crowns of your plants, but it's for the same reasons I wouldn't just dump dirt on the crowns. Putting it around the plants now is the perfect time, I'm sure they'll like it... And the worms too!

I think it's fine to move them at this point IF the soil is not too wet. If the soil is still quite wet, you could dig them and hold them in pots until the ground is workable. I wouldn't re-plant in soil that is too wet.

Well, no, never too early as long as the ground is not frozen, which it was a week ago. [g]

And it's going to rain tonightâ¦.good point. I think I'm going to have to hold off on digging and moving them. I'm holding bareroot roses, so I don't feel right to wait any more, I'm just going to pot up the roses instead to hold them until the bed is ready for them.

I would have remembered when I saw the rain, but thanks for the reminder ahead of time, mxk3. :-)

This post was edited by prairiemoon2 on Sat, Apr 5, 14 at 2:26

Green Mountain Transplants out of Vermont then Maine used to be the closest thing to a company that sold to the public the way a wholesaler sell to nurseries. They would let you order a 72 cell or a 32 cell flat filled with a mix of perennials and annuals from their list ( a min. of three of a kind) The prices were great.

But the people who ran it just weren't organized enough and It went under some time back. It was supposed to be coming back in 2012, I think. But I never heard of it getting set up again. Too bad. It was a great was to get a bunch of stuff if you didn't have the patience or greenhouse to start the tiny seeds or the money for the seed starting setup.

Anybody know of any other companies?

Try Northcreek Nurseries http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/

That's pretty.
I'm still waiting to see if mine made it through its first winter. The snow is finally almost gone, but it's still to wet to walk around out there. I can see the leafless twigs through the window, but that doesn't tell me much. To top it off, maybe 10 inches of snow tomorrow, so it will once again disappear for a while.

Kevin

Hope yours made it through the winter.
Here's a picture from this morning

Mine is a hot median between a sidewalk & the street. Its probably a bit less than 5' wide and goes the whole length of the front yard. Its filled with various heat loving plants but not planted in a crowded way. One Russian Sage is plenty.

I think a planting of all or mostly R.S. looks dull myself. I chose various color blooms & heights, the plants all have the same growing requirements.

Great idea, TR. I am considering the something similar. I am thinking Russian Sage, Torch Lilly, and Black Eyed Susans...

lacyvail - I was wondering if Sunny borders was confusing Colchicums with true Autumn crocuses too. They are often (miscalled) crocuses but are not in the same genus. And they are very poisonous, as you say.

BTW, the OP's plant is O nutans, not umbellatum.
Not all Ornithogalums are poisonous. One, O pyrenaicum, is a foraged food in some areas of the UK, eaten like Asparagus. It used to be sold in markets in the spring.

This post was edited by floral_uk on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 13:48

"Autumn crocus", general usage here, is taken to refer to Colchicum autumnale.

The genus Crocus (crocuses, hence you can say "true crocuses") belongs in the family Iridaceae (irises). A number of the Crocus species and selections are fall flowering.

The genus Colchicum belongs in the family Colchicaceae. The various common/trivial names, autumn crocus, meadow saffron, naked lady, refer to the genus Colchicum itself and to many of the species it contains.

This is an argument in favour of using correct botanical nomenclature rather than "common" names.

Laceyvail, as above, the fall blooming members of the Genus Crocus don't contain the very toxic colchicine.

It is O. nutans. I should have said the green stripe is on the back. It's the one we have and the voles don't eat it.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Thu, Apr 3, 14 at 9:37

I'm in zone 7a. Well the first 3 fireworks have new growth. The others have nothing. I think I planted them too late, but I will see what happens with them in the up coming weeks. I'm optimistic, but prepared for a loss haha.

I finally dug some of the cocos up, and I really should have left the coco alone lol. They had roots coming out the sides and everything, but I decided to take the coco off.

I forgot I planted obedient plants with the coco, and I'm glad I took off the coco for these. There weren't any kind of roots, but I was glad to see some green on them. I had a bad feeling when I planted them because the plants were so tiny and weren't the best. I kind of got them at the end of the season, so I took a chance with them. Hopefully they will survive.

IâÂÂm tempted to go back for more of them.

==>>>> you got the fever bad.. eh .. lol ...

chris is about 30 miles west of me ... probably directly between you and i ... brilliant plantsman .. if i say so myself ... especially when he agrees with me ... lol ...

here is how it works...

mass producer harvests his stock in late fall.. after dormancy ... most likely.. i large bins ... and put them in a refridge warehouse ...

over winter.. when there is nothing else to do ... they are bagged into lots ... some are bagged as you got them ... some in lots of say 25 ...

nearing spring... small bags to bigboxstore ... larger lots to nurseries.. WHO POT THEM JUST LIKE YOU ARE DOING... though a few weeks back.. to force them into growth to sell them at a profit ...

its all the same stock.. is my point ... you just arent paying for the pot.. media ... greenhouse.. etc ...

but the real key... is getting them out of the bigboxstore before they die ... i love these peeps who buy them in late june.. for a penny.. then wonder why they died... lol ..

on your timing here... you should be all set ..

buy more??? ... bargain is a bargain.. how many pots can you cope with... lol ... if the stock looks good.. why not ..????

ken

I have pots! I have a garage! I have potting soil! Both cheap stuff and expensive Miracle Grow with water saver stuff whose name I canâÂÂt recall.

The only thing IâÂÂm tempted to get is the bleeding heart, since I want a lot of them. I bought potted twice and the price was really high. I would love white, but all they had was the standard pink and Luxuriant pink.

If IâÂÂm tempted, itâÂÂs really displacement activity. I am supposed to be getting ready to teach a metals workshop this weekend. Creative procrastination.

Great technical advice, above.

I've not tried to hybridize columbines but recall that when growing some varieties from seed at my first house, they all reverted back, as Ken said. I'm sure that part of my problem was the fact that my mother gave me some of her columbines that she had grown for over 40 years. In time, all my columbines looked like my mom's original plant.

And my experience makes me wonder ... do you have a greenhouse where you can propagate these, rather than doing it in the garden?

Molie

thanks for the info.

I have been learning to breed my own zinnias. they are easy and fun to breed. columbines and zinnias are my fave flowers, I wanted to breed columbines too.

I will just cross them all and collect seed and see what happens, he he :)

I can't remember any excessive rain last spring, although I can barely remember what the weather was like last month, let alone last year:) We did put in a new drip irrigation system and it's possible we were watering too much in the summer months. I'll have to keep that in mind this year, thanks for the tip TR.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get them to perform better this year?

According to my perennial "bible:" "Most rudbeckias hail from dry meadows and do best in similar conditions--well-drained, dry, not too overly rich soil in full sun." That suggests that in some years your clay soil may retain more moisture than suits them, either from rain or your irrigation system.

If you enjoy them so much, you may just have to put up with them when seasonal conditions (i.e., excess rain) don't favor their growth habit. Pinching or cutting back involves more effort than I'm willing to expend--if it's perennial in my garden beds, I pretty much take myself out of the equation whenever possible.

For many years my attitude toward rudbeckias has been plant 'em, enjoy 'em, neglect 'em. It's been pretty successful since 2006. Experience has taught me not to expect EVERY perennial to perform well every season, especially when growing conditions don't suit their needs, weather being so fickle and all. Some years things do well; some years they don't.

Case in point: last year my Hellebore/Lenten rose was covered in dozens of buds & bloomed heavily; this year it has fewer than a half dozen blooms. Still, it's tough and I'll enjoy what blooms it has while hoping for more next year.

I hadn't heard of those fish, but they are really kind of beautiful. Cool.

One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen was in Mexico, by the ocean, at night. The water was filled with bioluminescent creatures of some kind - I never did find out what. I was utterly transfixed by the sight of this ever changing wave of light moving through the water.

K

As a semi-dissenting voice, I can see apps for such plants provided:
1) Such plants do not prove poisonous or otherwise hazardous to wildlife or people.
2) The plants are not likely to become invasive weeds. (This would be one of the most difficult criteria to meet, I suspect.)
3) That the lit emitted proves to be strong enough to be truly useful -- for example, bright enough to read by.

In many impoverished areas of the world, having light indoors at night is not possible or poses very real fire hazards. A glowing plant could prove useful.

As the world population continues its exorbitant increase, the reality is that other energy sources will become necessary. In impoverished regions, especially, it is unrealistic to assume that sources like solar power and such will be able to supply all the needed energy nor that those areas will be able to afford the technology. (And it is obvious that humanity does not have the intelligence to curb its own population growth.)

While I agree that just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done, I do want to say that the glowing Sarracenia would be sweet! Same for many other carnivorous plants. Think of all the nighttime pests they might catch. heh