13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Thanks for the replies!

What did you do to over winter yours?

Just good snow cover(not a problem here!) I had my doubts it would survive by what I had heard about its hardiness so I was presently surprised.

I don't know about GB specifically, but C montana doesn't like to be too wet. I've learned that when I buy perennials in pots to remove most of the soil they came with so I can have some say over the soil they are in when I put them in the ground. Maybe you know this too, but it's just something that comes to mind when someone says that a plant that is hardy in their zone doesn't come back, or doesn't grow. The peat just kind of collapses and collects water all winter to the detriment of a lot of plants. Also, if it isn't deadheaded it could sort of die back, or rest anyway, in the heat of summer, and then will grow back a new rosette in the fall if you don't get impatient with it and replace it. Anyway, heat and wet might be more of an issue than cold for this plant. This isn't a plant that will look good in August, at least not here.

I've planted the regular/boring variety in the same place as gold bullion, and they've taken off quite well. It will be interesting to see if they over-winter.....

Excellent point about the tree roots, can't top experience.

As to fall sales, there's always some scruffy gems that are overlooked and often a large number of them in one flat. It's like panning for gold.

Hi

How about cotoneaster? Many of them grow close to the ground. Scarlet leader is good, but can spread as a ground cover. Cranberry cotoneaster is also nice. What do you others think?
Hey Ken, thanks for the info about digging holes to invite existing roots!

Silver Brocade goes all over the place; you would have to prune it quite often if you are interested in a more sculptured look. I think the Silver Mound is a bit tidier but as some else mentioned, when it gets older, it tends to splay out and look messy. There are some really nice annual Dusty Millers that would look good in your design. I wonder if starting from seed would make it affordable to get so many plants?

hi donna

thanks for your reply. Dusty Miller is really what i wanted to begin with. unfortunately Dusty Miller seems to not be a very common plant here in the Netherlands and the only thing I can find is seeds which so happen to be sold out. I have not place to start so many plants to grow them. I already considered that. As of recently we have decided against the artemisia at this time and are considering heuchera instead. It seems like every day I learn something new about the plants I am considering that causes me to change my mind and consider something else and then the following day it happens all over again. This gaden planning stuff is hard!

I've never grown Stoke's aster. thanks for the rec, gardenweed, I'll give them a try. I do have Love-in-a-Mist (nigellas) and they freely reseed. Next year's crop is already up and carpeting some ornamental beds. I need to go out and thin them.

Bachelor's Button seeds are so cheap, and once you plant them, they will reseed copiously. I would be hesitant if it's the perennial cornflower...not a lot of flowering for so much foliage and very tough to get rid of once it's entrenched in your garden.

Good picture Kevin.

Unusual flowers. It is now on my "to buy list of 2014".

(I see there are a few varieties Uvularia besides grandiflora i.e. "sessilifolia", and "sessilifolia" Cobbleswood Gold)

Uvularia sessilifolia grows wild in the woods around here, and a seed or two came along as a hitchhiker with a swap plant some years back and is now popping up in a woodland garden in the back yard. Pretty little thing.

U. grandiflora is a plant I covet and want to have it some day!

Even in my zone 5, I usually get most of my snaps to over winter. The plants that return bloom much earlier than the new seedlings. I agree with the others that you can trim them back and move them where ever.

Martha

go figure...

learn something new everyday ....

just dont like peaking out this early in the morning.. lol ...

when moving something like this.. the bigger clump of soil you take.. the higher the odds that plant never knows ...

ken

It's nature.......live with it......don't fight it......

Some of those 'flies' may be hover flies. Many species are voracious predators of pests in their season. Not everything which looks like a fly is the sort which spreads diseases and frequents unpleasant substances.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hover flies

I have used unscented castor oil for 2 years now, both CVS and HomeHealth brands, and it works great. I have sometimes added urine and sometimes not, and it still worked great. Can't speak for any other formulas but I am interested in trying adding a little dish soap (although this is soil based formula, so not sure what it accomplishes).

Ryse, I didn't have vole problems for the first 5 years gardening here either, nor at the previous house for 15 years. Couldn't understand what people were talking about - huh voles?? At the time, I had another cat that was a great little hunter. Then she died, and we got clobbered with a horrible winter in 2011 with persistent, deep snow cover in the area of 2-3 feet.

In the Spring I discovered vole carnage in my front yard gardens! Baptisia, Echinacea, Sedum, Hosta, Asters, Liatris, helianthus, bulbs, etc. Many of my favorite native perennials were either wiped out or left with skeletal root systems. Some are recovering.

Some pics to ponder. Vole eaten Hosta -

The meager root system and skimpy shoots leftover from 2 formerly huge Baptisia 'Twilight Prairie Blues' -

Oh yeh, got 'em here too. I have two planter boxes made out of railroad ties on either side of my driveway. Both had pretty purple irises in the center...they'd gotten to be a mass about 20-24 inches in diameter so I knew I was going to have to dig/split. In Mar. I noticed that the one mass was sort of falling into the dirt...imploding??? The dirt was sorta building up around it and the whole mass disappeared except for about 6 strands of leaves. Amazing. The voles also got my big white weigela right next to the planter box, ate all the roots, so I now have this big bare leafless bush with 3 live branches on it. This spring I planted annuals in the planter boxes, and some of them did well, some not so good. I'm waiting for them to eat the oak tree nearby....... I do need some kitty cats here, but the coyotes are death on cats here in farm country.

Ooops. My fault... here it is again
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: cyclamen

An interesting thing I learned just today...the silver mottling/variegation on cyclamen is called Reflective or Blister variegation because of a layer of air beneath the epidermis/surface of the leaf that causes a reflection that gives the illusion of silver coloration. Kinda' cool....
CMK

I don't think that you have enough sun for Penstemon. How about a gold hosta or variegated Solomon's seal or Japanese forest grass? Checkmate Rhododendron is about 2 1/2' in my garden and is essentially a very short form of PJM.

astelia, bupleurum longifolia (esp.Bronze beauty), polemoniums (esp.Lambrooke Mauve a sterile, therefore long-flowering shade lover), chaerophyllum roseum, various campanulas, acteae misty blue, epimediums, omphalodes, saxifrage urbium or S.umbrosa, gillenia, herbaceous clems. esp. the small integrifolias such as Pangbourne Pink, meconopsis cambrica

i swear i spent 20 minutes typing you an answer.. where is it???

did you post this elsewhere??

that or someone is very confused at the answer i gave them.. lol ...

ken

Definately try digging the roots too! It's fun to find the potatoes and see how many you get ! I've never had luck with the cuttings over winter, they seem to just hate the cool windowsills around here and end up dying a slow death. Even the roots seem to like warmer drier storage conditions than other root type things, definately a hot weather plant.