13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Just sorting garden pictures from last year.
Get a lot of mileage from columbines.
Another plain pink one.
Below May 30, 2013.
From my records, seems to be at least four years old and should be either a Winky or a Biedermeier; currently suspecting the latter.
I'm thinking of getting these this year. I'm trying to create a bee garden, and every year I see these and want them and never get them. I tried I think it was called "Icicle" veronica and it got really nasty looking. There wasn't much sign of life, so we got rid of it. We are going to put some clay breaker down because there is some clay in that area. Hopefully that will help some of the drainage.
"Icicle" is still on my evaluation list. I've had it for a couple of years and like it, but it has a tendency to flop terribly for me from the center outwards. It also hasn't been a very good rebloomer after the first flush of flowers. I'm going to try pinching it back earlier in the season this year to see if I can reduce it's height a bit and hopefully control the flopping.
Kevin
christinmk, you can trim them to keep the size down. I think its hardy in your zone. We see them a lot around here and lately the city has been planting them by the droves in street medians and along highways because they are so indestructible and drought tolerant. Its quite a sight in summer. They can get very large for sure and will completely dominate an area if left to grow untrimmed.
-Susan, is LI considered a z5, or higher? It sounds incredible.
There was a GW member in z5 that posted a pic of her glorious Vitex. I seem to recall she said it died back to the ground each year and then got around six feet by the time it bloomed.
I regret not looking for one at the sale, although there really isn't any space for it (not that that has ever stopped me from buying a plant before mind you, LOL!)
CMK
Again, thanks for all the help. The two websites were great. As much as I look at Wikipedia, I didn't think of looking there for plant information.
I will enjoy the plant and flowers for now, plant it in the spring if still alive and see what happens. It wouldn't be the first time I killed a plant - always feel a little guilty, though. :)
Happy New Year!
The plant may not look alive in spring if it has already entered dormancy. After flowering the leaves will begin to wither .. don't think you've failed it, this is natural. Just make sure, whether planting indoors or out, that it is in a well-drained area. Excess moisture during dormancy can cause rotting of the corm.
I know the stuff you are talking about. Here is what I have done...now is the best time to start over.
I did not cut mine down/trim them. If you do that now, you will be cutting off buds that are already forming.
Remove all leaves once frost has killed them. (Does frost kills your leaves?)
When the leaves start coming in the spring, spray with the stuff I linked to below. Do it every 7-10 days for the rest of the season. It is a bit tedious, but it helps a lot! It will not get rid of/prevent all of it, but it slows it down tremendously. Mine looked great until I slacked off...then the cercospora returned.
Try to not water overhead...it spreads the spores onto other leaves. Try to water closer to the ground.
My understanding is that this stuff is pretty much always present....it is just a matter of trying to control it. My understanding is that it also will not kill. It sure looks unsightly, though.
Far as other plants.....I am not sure if this exact same thing can spread or not. I have noticed similar things on random plants, but I cannot decide if it is the Salem thing or a similar fungus.
Hope this helps!
Here is a link that might be useful: Spectracide
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hydra/msg082241474892.html
Ken,
I'm so sorry I dropped out for awhile. Here's the link to the other thread, if you still want it. I don't know the exact hydrangea I have, but it's some kind of ES. They're everywhere here. Thanks for your input.
Carolina, I think I'll try the spectracide. I don't want to use a lot of chemicals (mostly I just want to spend my money on plants, really :), but that seems very affordable compared to some things and every week or so doesn't bother me at all. Its depressing to think I'll never be completely rid of it though.
My only question is, then, I wonder why the Daconil didn't work? I sprayed it with that religiously. It still looked completely zapped. Part of me thinks I should rip it out, let that spot sit empty for a year, and plant a new one after that. But it was here before I came and I would hate to do that.
It has frosted here a few times, but there weren't any leaves left to pick off honestly :( I'll never stop being amazed at what's still green in the ground here in December, though! A few petunias and random annuals leftover from the summer that somehow survived the few freezes, some confused bulbs that have popped up already, foliage left over from summer bulbs that I wish would just die back already!, some volunteer seedlings... Virginia is nothing like Ohio where I'm originally from!
You're an awfully quiet bunch! Nice to hear a little of the other side to you posters.... Once or twice I would post to an idyll thread, but mostly just enjoyed the photos when things were quiet in the winter.
So don't worry, I won't talk anyone's ear off! I'm mid 40's, male (sorry to crash the party.... Or am I not the only guy?) wife, two kids, girl into kindergarten this fall, boy into second.... Located between Scranton and Wilkes barre PA. That's about two hours north of Philadelphia in case you're not up on your smaller Pennsylvania cities.
I've gardened all my life, even in college I had a houseplant or two suffering along in my dorm room. This house that I'm in now has been my first permanent property since leaving mom and dad, and I'm finally able to try lots of the stuff I always wanted to!
So greetings to all, hello marquest my fellow Pennsylvanian, and a2zmom how are those color themed borders going? Im trying to make my plant collection look a little more "designed" but so far all I have to show for it is a red border that's just a mess of weeds and almost every color other than red! Lol
Be good folks!
Frank
I don't trust Zone 5s anywhere. Last year a hosta survived in a half whiskey barrel, but that doesn't mean it will survive this year. If I thought I might have some Z6 in my yard, as some maps indicate, I might feel better about it, but 5 is fickle and might as well be Zone 4 for all I care. Zone 5 just sucks.
Pat
I own a greenhouse and Garden centre which is a zone 3a in a good year with snow cover and a zone 2b when we have no snow. All our perennials here are grown and propagated in raised bed. All perennials hardy to zone 3/4 will survive here in raised beds. The zone fours are those that must be planted against a building to survive our hardest winters and so they are planted the same way, either closest to a structure or in the center of the bed. Any plant that is hardy to your zone will survive in a raised bed..IF it is watered sufficiently before freeze up and watered again if it thaws.
kato
When I planted my Buddleia 'Blue Heaven' this past spring, it was a small plant in a 3 1/2 inch pot and I was absolutely blown away by how fast it grew. I'm so used to shrubs not doing much the first season or two, so to have a very respectable blooming sized Buddleia the first season from such a small pot size sold me on the idea of ordering more small plants this spring.
Sugar sprinkles: Be warned! It's kind of an addictive process. Once you discover how easy it is to do, it's hard to stop with a few basic colors.
Kevin
One year, maybe two or three years ago, I noticed about 20 self-sowed Buddleia growing in my beds. I have never noticed any before and none since. I think there may have been heavy late-summer rain that year.
I notice some growing wild, not so many to seem problematic.
My garden contains 4 mature Buddleia. My soil is rich loam and mildly acid.
Some combination of conditions allows for self sowing. I just can't figure out which ones!
eric_oh - thanks for sharing. I went walkabout my garden beds a couple of days ago and noted I've got Hellebore/Lenten rose buds on at least one of my plants so am excitedly looking forward to them blooming when February/March rolls around. Doesn't appear to be the spectacular show they put on this year but it might be a bit early to give up on them.
Sorry JJ, don't have a close-up.
I know photos and light can both appear to "lie" about colour, but that picture's probably a fair representation.
To me definitely blue.
There is that business of "tetrachromacy" in some human females: namely, they appear to have a fourth colour receptive pigment in the retina of the eye.
My wife and I frequently disagree about purple and blue, with her describing a flower as purple and me as blue.
I don't think, however, we'd disagree on gentian blue.
I might be wrong, but I tend to see the species, Gentiana dahurica (see below) more truly (for me) blue ("Oxford blue", where I was brought up) than the cultivar, G. dahurica 'Nikita'.
I noticed Robins still here the other day after reading this thread. We had a lot of berries this year on the Grey Dogwood shrub and a couple of hollies in the corner near it. I saw three robins eating the berries on both the other day. I'm surprised that they didn't strip the shrub, but they left some and the squirrels were making a daily trek to the shrub and eating the berries too. It has been funny to watch because a lot of the branches are thin and light and the berries are on the tips of them, so the squirrels have to do all kinds of aerial feats to get at them. lol
Gladys is amazing and Midnight Train to Georgia is one of my all time favorites. Now that song will be linked to birds flying south in the fall. Cute. (g)
i never saw the pips sans Gladys ... hilarious ...
anyone actually know.. how far south robins go .... do they actually go as far as GA ... on migration i mean ...
from MI .... they probably only need to get south of OH .... to be in z7 .... or maybe they like red clay ...
ken
That is amazing, Rouge21! I guess the stake is what is holding it up with all that ice on it. It's very pretty. I'm imagining a whole bed of those on either side of a walkway covered with ice. It would look like a real fantasy landscape. :-) You also did a great job with that stake because you could hardly notice it when it was in bloom and if it weren't taller than the plant now, you might think it was part of the plant.
Jeanome, (although all of the plants pictured are frost-tender perennials,) when they sell flats of annuals, the New Guinea Impatiens usually appear at the same time, but sold individually in 4 inch pots or larger. Also often part of a mixed display already assembled in a larger pot. Probably around March 1 where you are.
Flora, TY! The more I learn about Begonias, the more I realize I don't know much. They are such a huge and complicated bunch.
Kevin,
I planted 3 of these plants in 2012 and two returned in 2013. (I did replace the one that didn't make it).
I was very pleased with their performance last year. They were very floriterous with the bloom color a deep magenta.
As well they continued to bloom well into the fall.
The variegated foliage was good further highlighting the color of the flower. There was some reversion on some branches but not excessive.
I saw no evidence of self-seeding.
I only hope that my 3 plants make it through this too trying winter.
(The pic, below shows one of these plants from this past year in our garden)
Here is a link that might be useful: More on T&L
This post was edited by rouge21 on Fri, Jan 3, 14 at 15:18
rouge
Thank you for the update. Those really are nice looking plants. I love magenta flowers especially with variegated foliage like that.
"trying winter" is an understatement. The thought of it being even worse next week is really difficult for me to believe, but I guess it's going to happen. Thank goodness we have some snow cover this year - as if that's going to make a difference with this stupid cold.
Kevin