13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Wow - nice pictures and you have to feel satisfied at having lots of stuff done. BUT --- I sure would love to have your 'clean-up' for my compost bin.
I have a hoop house made of pvc with rebar going through that used to be a chicken house. We covered it with wire mesh and it is now my compost bin. Varmints keep eating through the wire mesh but I really don't care any more --- they have to eat too. It feels good to have a place to put all of our food waste. Right now is canning time for me so I have lots of tomato/fruit peelings, etc.
Funny, I was thinking of your question the other day when I was cutting back all my FLOPPED pitcher sages! Either I forgot to cut them all back, or they just grew like weeds after I cut them. One thing is certain, they don't branch out from the cut stems. I have a couple that just stayed shorter and bloomed, but none responded the way mums, asters or sedums would.
To answer your question. I began cutting them back when they were about a foot tall and then one more time before mid-July. We're warmer here than you are, so I don't know how that would affect timing. Since they bloom in August here, I give them at least a month to set their buds.
Ahhh! Thanks so much MulchMama. Interesting that they don't side-branch. I was thinking they would act like mums when you pinch them back. Guess I will do a bit of experimenting next year with them and see what works best. Thanks much..
CMK
Carolinaflowerlover,
Now is a perfect time to toss down seed if you are direct sowing into the ground. Autumn rains, snow, and spring freeze/thaw cycles will work the seed into the ground and break down the seed coat and germination will happen according to Mother Nature's calendar. Direct sowing is by far the easiest way to grow new plants, but many seeds are lost to animals feeding or are washed away in heavy rains, or do not have the ideal moisture levels when they are very small. Wintersowing is an excellent method which takes advantage of Mother Nature, but protects the seeds.
Martha
Nah, I don't have to have blueberries, I just saw yet another article singing their praises. I don't want too much fuss and bother, and whatever I plant has to be ornamental most of the year, since that bed is right in front of the picture window. I'm sure I can come up with some other part-shade shrubs that are low in height, no biggie. I saw some gorgeous blue-needled evergreens that actually would look terrific, I'm going to revisit that idea this weekend (hoping they will be marked down even further...)
My blueberries are in a raised bed and produced a decent fruit crop the past couple of years. I haven't been very diligent about soil pH (just got around to adding a slow-release acid fertilizer product a few months ago) but the plants are still doing well.
Nice....
You're getting a lot more of a response from your SO than I ever get.... She seems to think all my gardening questions are rhetorical, or just the ignore it and maybe it will go away kind of statement.
I know I'm in trouble with chrysanthemums... Keep checking out online sources and looking up more info. I hope this passes once fall is over.
I think, if I do buy online, I'll just trust the supplier has sent the correct amount. The last thing I need is letting 1000 lady bugs loose in the house... Especially after the later conversation where I was asked "how can you guarantee the ladybugs don't just fly away?" My response was that I had read to do it at night, water the area previously and "you can put them in the fridge for a short time to cool them down. It slows them down and....". "YOU ARE NOT PUTTING LADY BUGS IN THE FRIDGE!!!!"
.... fine, be that way ;-)
I'm going to yank up by the roots a good number of Rudbeckia and Echinaecias instead of digging. Hope that will work. Then in the spring, I will thin as they come up. Those two are taking over one of my gardens. I don't even remember half of what I had planted in that one. I used to have a nice patch of Lupin which have disappeared and Veronica --- I will have plenty of space in the spring for my jugs full of winter-sown seedlings.
I don't bother with much of anything very short or that spreads, like ground covers, stuff that needs staking, and plain green lumps and bumps of foliage that make flowers for a very short time. More into shrubs, nectar plants, and having a lot of blank area after frost for adding tons of leaves/compost, where annuals/edibles go again in spring.
I agree on wildflowers when possible for large areas. I have a very large deer resistant garden and am in the process of downsizing because it's gotten to be too much after eight years.
I've ordered from Swallowtail Gardens every year. Yes, they are dependable and safe and I'm pretty sure my shasta seeds came from them. I am currently cutting back for my fall clean up and had to cut off the tall, straight stems of Alaska. Here in my zone, the base foliage is evergreen.
For wildflower seeds, take a look at Gardens North.
@gardenweed - you forgot the last thing about perennials - the fourth year they are taking over your neighbor's yard :)
Mine don't. I'm on good terms with my neighbors--the guy next door mows my VERY LARGE lawn every summer--so I'm really careful about what I plant. My garden beds were designed on paper long before I stuck a spade in the dirt or set a plant in a hole. One day when I told my neighbor I wanted to plant a slope that is actually on HIS side of the property line He told me, "Mark where you want holes. I'll dig 'em." He did & I planted.
I garden for bees, butterflies & hummingbirds so I'm not overly concerned with curb appeal. I do concern myself with those perennials that provide nectar sources as well as color and interesting flower form.
My garden beds get only whatever rain/water Ma Nature doles out, be it a dry (2010) or wet (2013) season. I'm guessing most of the plants will either survive whatever growing conditions that occur or not. Those that do are appreciated. Those that didn't are soon forgotten. So far regrets (plants that didn't come back) are running behind those that did.
A word of caution--plants with taproots are much more likely to give over than others. Some shade garden plants resent being transplanted.
Best of luck to you!
Have you considered hellebore/Lenten rose? They're slow-growing and don't get very large although I wouldn't describe them as a ground cover. Another slow grower is Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie.' Hellebore is hardy to Z9; Daphne is hardy to Z8 so both should grow well where you are so long as your soil is to their liking. These are growing in sandy loam in my garden. In my experience Daphne does best when grown on a slope for better drainage.
Both of these are currently growing in my garden and after several years I've observed that neither is bothered by any indigenous pests and are care/maintenance-free.
Pachysandra terminalis might be a good choice for low/slow-growing groundcover.
I just added 18 Circus coral bells into my garden. I tucked them under roses and in open spaces. The bright lime green color seemed to brighten up the garden and the repeat seemed to add to the design. I know you will get many excellent suggestions. Lesley
Excellent 'thyme'!
You know me well echinaceamaniac. I have been singing the praises of this persicaria for a couple of years.
Here are two plants from last season.
Martha, it can not take dry shade in anyway. And it has been my experience that it does best with a few hours of morning sun. With much more sun it would need much more moisture.
Here is one of my 5 that I had to put in significant shade (ran out of other places). The light you see here is probably the most it gets all day.
(It is my opinion that "Painters Palette" would thrive better than "Golden Arrows" in deep shade.)
This post was edited by rouge21 on Sun, Aug 18, 13 at 20:02
UPDATED Picture:
Now almost October and this same young GA (pictured on August 18th above) still looks wonderful. It has been in bloom for over 6 weeks! It will take a frost to bring it down.
This post was edited by rouge21 on Mon, Sep 30, 13 at 16:53
In Z5, I chop off about 3" of my Autumn Joy Sedum and then poke those little choppings into the ground anywhere I want a 'hedge' or mowing barrier. I poke the little 'choppings' into the ground three at a time. Sometimes I water them in -- other times I don't. The next year I have my little Autumn Joy Sedum hedge. BTW - I am working with acres so I can never have enough little hedges.
So simple and care free. I have tried other sedums that have a better look early in the season (the variagated one) or color in the fall, but for increasing and making that cute 'hedge', Autumn Joy' is the best!
It may be all that compost and fertilizer that is making them flop. Sedums usually prefer a leaner soil, I believe.
I would still cut them back, but I wonder if you might want to stop fertilizing as much...?
Dee