13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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.
Sunnyborders: your garden is making me drool.
And I love those trilliums. I think I will have to plant some of those.
My goal is to plant my orchard with poppies. I want to see lots of color between my trees. The orchard was started last summer and I planted daffodil bulbs (~200) to cheer it up until the trees flower. I want to seed the area with poppies for continuing color.
I also have a tree list (if trees count):
catalpa
european mountain ash
tulip poplar
magnolia
mimosa
I doubt I will put all of the above in next spring, but it gives me something to think about.
I agree with the above...if you plant hubrichtii, plant it for the foliage and plant it somewhere where it gets pretty much full sun and leaner conditions.
If you want an impressive bloom machine (for an amsonia) plant tabernaemontana or illustris (I prefer illustris). Mine in a moist prairie loam in Oklahoma looked like a shrub, attaining a height of 4 feet and easily that broad.
I wanted to touch on the local vs on-line purchasing issue again. I think it is very reasonable for those who have time and high quality nurseries nearby to save money and choose exactly the plants they want by shopping locally. However, the mail order companies do a wonderful job of packing and mailing excellent quality products. And they survive or fail depending on their customer service. If you receive anything you consider subpar they will replace it with no questions asked. There are organizations that track people's opinions of the various mail order companies, so you can check their reputation before you purchase anything. If we want to encourage other gardeners to plant a wider variety of plants, we have to display them in our gardens first. The extra cost of shipping is just the price we can choose to pay for something unusual or extra special. Also, once you have one of those special plants, you can save seed or take cuttings to propagate that plant and make the investment even more valuable. To each his own, but I've been very pleased by my on-line purchases. But, I don't have time to search the local nurseries. It's much easier for me to peruse the on-line catalogues at midnight and arrive home from work to find a carefully packed box on my door step. Good luck to everyone and enjoy your gardens.
Martha
Tags go into my 4-ring binders (punch holes in tags) along with a sheet of notebook paper where I note when and where the plant was bought and the cost. Included in the binders are perennials and unusual annuals started from seed.
Each year I page through the binders making notes about the growth and/or bloom of the plant that year. Very short notes:
"good bloom"; move, needs more sun; prune next spring after bloom; good growth; add contrasting companion next year; etc."
I also have detailed maps of each garden area which are updated in the winter from notes collected over the growing season and put in a file folder.
And notes on planters and pots for the deck and other areas with the plant selection and what I might do differently the next year or what I want to repeat.
I have removed some tags of plants that were removed either intentionally or due to natural decline but also keep some of those tags to remind me not to try that plant again as it didn't work.
I find that nowadays most of the plant tags that I add come from sale plants in the fall.
My beds are full and I am running out of space for new beds.
I'm thinking of ripping most of the plants out and starting again with something new but hesitating as which plants would I miss the least.
Maybe it would be easier to move!
hopeless, changes continually, cannot remember names and places (but I do get lots of surprises) - its all a bit of a mess. I think there may have been a 'plan' some time ago but now its just the willy-nilly method. As there are many veggies, I content myself with this as a reason it often looks insanely chaotic. When I run out of space, I poke plants in around the neighbourhood.
It's 27F tonight and we've had nearly four inches of snow, but the temp is 41 in the coldframe and my late season salad and root crops are still hanging in there.
The soil heating cables are doing the trick for now. We'll see how things go next week (when nighttime temps are expected to sink into single digits).
Of course, the indoor light garden is in fine shape, particularly the large-flowered Thai hybrid crown of thorns plants. These really should be more readily available in stores for the holidays - long-lasting blooms, easy culture and years of enjoyment compared to grow-it-and-throw-it poinsettias.
Of course, it's a lot easier for growers and nurseries to profit from plants that have to be replaced every year.
Ken, the opposite is also true. Many things that are perennials in cooler climates, we must grow as annuals here in the deep south. Of course, it only works with plants that bloom the first year, otherwise they rot in our hot, humid summers before they can bloom.
My Rudbeckias and Echinaceas produced bountiful see their first season with me (this past spring) and their tags said "Perennial", so we shall see if t hey return.
But, being like a hoarder of other "things", I have collected many, many seed pods and have lots of bottles and bags, Rudbeckia and Echinacea included. Both are incredibly spiky, so I use a pliers in the right hand and a sturdy glove to hold the spiky pod in the other. I can also now (sometimes) differentiate amongst R, E and Meixican Sunflower seeds. The Mexican sunflowers are SPECTACULAR; I highly recommend them and then collecting their pods. (Let all seed pods dry for about a month before dissecting.) And Marigolds? I have, I kid you not, at least 25,000 seeds in bags and bottles. (Christmas presents from us poor church/synagogue mice.)
No, I won't hate them - I've wanted one for a long time, now I have two! I got them on super-duper clearance (but I didn't have to walk them home from the nursery like that tree LOL!).
I put one right in front of the big picture window in the living room and the other one on the diagonal not to far away from it, close to the laceleaf Japanese maple.
I wouldn't say 90% of our days are not blue skies - maybe 90% of our winter days, but spring through fall Michigan is glorious! Even winter can be enjoyed in its serenity. But gardening is all about winter interest up here - the bright red berries on my winterberry hollies, what a pretty sight against the white snow the other day, or the sun lighting up ice-covered branches the morning after an ice storm - wow!
You do not need to water an already rooted and potted plant with rooting hormone. And every other day is way too much to water; you will drown it.
Cut off bloom stalks, plant it outside and it will either rest until spring or put out new shoots from below ground. These are the shoots from which you will take your cuttings. Go online for full instructions. Good luck.
The original poster says he's in zone 11, so probably he can put the viable-looking plant outdoors (in filtered light/shade at first).
Whether or not whatever type of mum he has will do well in his climate is another question.
And yes, cuttings that turn brown and look dead are dead about 99,999999999% of the time. Toss 'em.
No, it is a perennial. The flower part and the foliage become dried and brown after the bloom finishes.
I don't know the name of this plant, I got the seeds in trade several years ago. The bloom is lilac and beautiful. Kinda luminescent. No way I'm going to get rid of it.
hmm.. odd that all your dianthus have nice foliage...
anyway thanks for the feed-back.
(Yes, I cross-posted to annual forum, bec. I don't have a preference for annual or perennial for this purpose. Hope I didn't violate some cardinal rule. lol.)
Have you tried cutting the pinks back when they brown out? Or strippig off the leaves by running your fingers gently down (not up) the stems while holding the top end with your other hand? Have a variety of pinks here in Zone 7a central Virginia, and a few respond to either treatment when they go brown like that in some years when the weather gets very hot. I contine to water them along with their neighbors as needed, and they've always regrown & often rebloomed. Bought a Kahori dianthus this year & left it in its pot to learn its nature before planting, It browned over entirely after its first bloom. Left it alone, kept it watered & it regrew from the roots right through the dead tuft on top that I gently lifted right off when the regrowth was noticed. Sometimes violas here do the same. I just cut them down to the soil & they regrow & rebloom when the weather cools as long as the roots are consistently watered. Worth a try.
You're right to protect a potted Cuphea from frost.
However, Cuphea "David Verity" (a commonly available form) makes a good hardy perennial in zone 8b on south. I'd just make sure it was planted early enough in the season to establish well before cold weather.
As for taking cuttings of Cupheas - they are very susceptible to whitefly infestation indoors, so spray well before bringing them in and keep an eye on them to avoid problems.
Posted by SunnyBorders 5A (My Page) on Fri, Dec 13, 13 at 12:08
Wow, that is a lovely blue-flowering plant. Do you have close-up pictures of the flowers? Are they blue or purple?
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'.