13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Does not look like any sort of disease to me.......much more like a typical end-of-season appearance.
FWIW, container grown plants that receive sometimes uneven watering or fertilization can often develop foliar tip burn or browning. NBD.
Just to make it worse, this is a great site for dwarf conifers with pics and descriptions
Here is a link that might be useful: Coniferkingdom
So you are planning on moving some of them later on. I asked because I would love to squeeze some in like that, but when they're small my perennials will shade them too much. When they grow bigger, I don't have enough room. I can only have a few, so I'll live vicariously through your gardens. Thx for the pics.
I've read that, Ispahan, that Goldenrod is the most popular plant with most pollinators. I have a couple of asters but they were only in bloom for about 10 days, and I don't have goldenrods. I have bought mostly double Mums, which I love the look of, but, I'm going to try to add more Fall plants for pollinators in the spring.
Michael,
I need to know if you are still interested in all or some of the Begonias mentioned in the post at the bottom. Please contact me and/or post again on that thread.
Sorry to post here, but I can't find a way to contact you otherwise.
Here is a link that might be useful: Begonia luxurians post
Ispahan, you make a good point. I will try again in the spring. Ken, thanks for the good wishes. I will keep these plants on my "want" list until I find them. It just surprises me that these particular plants are so hard to come by, at least in this area.
Call the large garden centers in your area.
Ask if they sell Japanese Anemones during the year.
If yes, ask when.
Then ask if they will have the cultivar you want.
If they say "No," ask if they will order for you.
If they say "Yes," ask if they will hold one (or more?) for you.
If they say "No," ask "When will the Japanese Anemones arrive?"
Then be there.
Ever tried any shade tolerant Hakonechloa grasses? I love the 'Albostriata' and the 'Aureola'. 'All Gold' is nice too and 'Ben Kaze' I'm told has pink hues in the fall. They do like moist soils as well as shade.
Hellebores have nice foliage for most of the season and have baby seedlings if you choose a good spot for them. I prune back their foliage at bloom time though for a fresh bunch of leaves in spring.
Ferns are lovely as well....Once you get started on them it becomes a disease though. So many beauties!
For bigger leaves, lungwort varieties work too...or even lady's mantle.
Thank you Gardenweed! I like to spend as many hours working in my gardens a day as I can. I love spring flowers so I really have done a number!!! I lost count after 300 or 400 bulbs! I grow them to brighten up my house. I love creating arrangements and I find it very sincere to cut flowers out of my own yard for my family and friends. The $ tree is a great place for vases as give aways!!! :) KEN,,,,it is the hyacinths that I'm seeing! Keep on gardening.....:) Erin
Sorry! Went right from the sale to another things, was too tired to update after. Meant to come here Monday morning and bump it, but you beat me to it! I did not bring my camera...its malfunctioning.
It was a good sale. Started slow but the cumulative was good. The least expensive bulbs (mostly asiatics) sold out, mostly on Saturday before I got there myself on Sunday.
I meant to buy only a couple myself, but fell for some more exotic trumpets and Orienpets. I also got some miniature daffodils from the Daffodil Society people, and some unusual apples from the Fruit people. I have not even cleaned up the garden yet, now I need to plant bulbs and hostas!
I do not know if you can find them now but anything I want to over winter they are planted in Styrofoam coolers. I pick them up at the dollar store. Punch drainage holes, stack up the leaves and set the coolers on the leaves. Plant and stuff the leaves around the coolers.
I have never lost a plant with this amount of insulation.
We had hardy cactus growing near a tree in our front yard in SD when I was a kid. We spent the summer barefoot as much as possible and got many of those hairy spines in our feet. I vowed never to have those buggers in my yard or garden. Also never saw them bloom.
If you have the space I think they are a wonderful addition to a gardening experience. I get more comments and questions about this garden than any other. But I have 4 acres and the space to designate the space. But.........
At my old house I had a small suburban garden. I had the yellow blooming cactus at the edge of the yard around the mail box with a yellow rosebush, spring bulbs, iris, and daylily Stella. It was my yellow flower blooming mailbox design. I had people stop and take pics of that garden.
I had blooms all seasons. Yellow spring bulbs, yellow spring blooming iris, yellow rose, yellow cactus, yellow daylily.
I say this to say that it can be done in a large or small area but it depends on what is appealing to the gardener. I like something different and nothing is more different than people that do not realize that cactus can be grown in a zone that get a foot of snow or more in the winter.
I became a landmark on my street. They told people they lived 3 houses up from the yellow cactus garden. lol
Joe Pye weed is a great plant in the right place, beautifully suited to swamps and wetlands. It is a very large plant with a robust presence. It has an appealing scent. I don't think it would be well-suited to a small English garden - it's a space eater.
I don't care if people don't like the plants I grow or the way I garden. Because our gardens are public, we see the gamut of visitors. Most are kind. Occasionally, there is a gardening snob wandering through, but I have learned to ignore them. But everybody's garden is different and their experience of any given plant is bound to reflect that difference.
I didn't invent any of the plants I grow, so I cannot take it personally if anyone dislikes a particular plant. Also, my own tastes change. Plants I loved 15 years ago may now be banned from the garden, or they just might be working their way back into my own top 10 list.
I love my Joe Pyeweed. However, though I bought a dwarf variety from a reputable source it grew well over 6 feet (and boy did that look silly in the middle of my garden bed). I've moved it to the back and next year am going to try the advice I received of cutting the stems back by half (to just above a whorl of leaves) in June.
UPDATE
These 2 "Blue Cushions" easily survived the problematic winter and spring 2013. I moved them in late April and all was fine for this past summer. Although they were healthy they were probably not as floriferous as they could be due to a less than full sun location. I will give them one more season in this same spot just to be sure.
My lavender did beautifully this summer. I separated some of the seedlings and moved them to empty spots. All have survived and are flourishing. I do have quite sandy soil, so they certainly have excellent drainage. I hand water in times of drought and to help new plants get established, but generally skip over the lavender. They get only rain and whatever water happens to reach them from their neighbors. I never do soil tests, I just grow what seems to be happy. I do mulch with shredded leaves, mostly to dispose of the leaves. The lavender is in total sun from sun up to sun down, unless the mailbox throws any shade. Maybe sun exposure is more important than we've discussed. I have always grown lavender where it never has any shadow thrown anywhere close to it, so it gets every possible ray of sunshine.
Martha
Of course wonderful color.
I was blown away by a2zmom's stand of Kniphofia "Alcazar" she picture posted in August 2012 (see link below).
I went out and bought two of them late in the season but neither of them made it through this past winter :(.
(Earlier this summer I planted a Kniphofia "First Sunrise"; no flowers but it seems healthy and so I have my fingers crossed that it will make it through this winter).
Here is a link that might be useful: Torch Lily from last year
Hi monben, congratulations on your new home! It sounds like you have some gardening experience and a plan. I think you are on the right track. YouâÂÂve already identified those you want to keep, and those you want to move and add. YouâÂÂve decided to amend the soil. I would guess that any major amending would create a problem with your drip water system and so maybe you are trying to amend in just the areas where you are adding new plants which wouldnâÂÂt disturb the soil level. I think if I had two roses that were doing well, I wouldnâÂÂt want to dig them out and move them either.
If you are wanting to add agastaches, penstemons, lavender and ice plants and depending on how much clay soil you have there, it is important to make sure you have the right conditions for those plants. I have loamy clay soil and I have always thought it drains well, and I also mounded the soil in the bed but when I added agastaches and penstemons etc, they did okay but do not really thrive and lots of them have petered out over time. They really do need well draining soil, especially over winter in zone 4/5. IâÂÂve had trouble with agastaches and penstemons that didnâÂÂt come back in the spring and IâÂÂm in zone 6.
If you really want to not have to come back and make corrections, you might think about taking a soil test this fall. See if there are any amendments that are better off being added now. I would think it is too late in zone 4/5 to dig up and move existing plants. Even here in zone 6, I stopped moving plants awhile ago. I do plant potted plants even through November as long as I can dig in the soil.
If you want to improve your soil and give a little added protection over the winter, you could add a layer of chopped leaves and grass clippings on the surface of the bed and water them in and leave them until the spring. You will find an increase in earthworms for your trouble.
I would wait for spring to move the Peony and Geraniums. And just prepare the hole where it is going, and take as much soil with it as possible when you move it, water it in well and give it some shade for 3-7 days and it should work fine. I donâÂÂt grow Peonies, but if they are supposed to be in full sun, IâÂÂd make sure you give them that in the new location.
Sounds like a lot of fun, good luck!
