13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Definitely agreeing with the above!
Kevin, I would have never even imagined raccoons going after pond fish! Learn something new everyday. What size tank do you keep them in indoors?
Karin, my aunt keeps talking about how we should grow and can some vegetables. I've never done it because I just know I would forget something with so many steps! Glad you were able to retrieve them without hurting themselves!
I think a lot will depend on its flowering condition :-)) Mums sold for fall color tend to be very heavily budded - best to purchase them in bud rather than bloom as the flowers tend to go over rapidly. But the development of the buds into flowers is certainly stimulated by sunlight. Excessive shade may very well stunt or abort the flowering.
So you've got this choice to make - a heavily budded plant that may not fully develop its flowering potential in that much shade or one already into its flowering cycle that may not produce for as long as you like (IME, a ready-to-go mum lasts about 2-3 weeks max in bloom).
if they are selling them at the stores for october planting...
one might surmise... that you can do it...
yes.. it would be better if they werent green.. but if you dont do it now.. lets be honest.... will it ever get done.. lol ...
i would leave the green attached.. so i replanted at the same depth.. and cut it off in a few weeks when it browns..
or if you leave them.. it will remind you in spring.. where you put them.. so you dont plant annuals over them.. been there.. done that.. lol
ken
You are so right. Wasps, not bees.
As wrong as it is, I call anything that has a stinger a bee.
If I get lucky enough to get a honey bee which is rare, I brag that I saw a honey bee. Again that is probably the wrong word, but I am too old to care.
Now when one of the many bumble bees that are around here in the spring landed on my wife's pants leg and then she bought it in the house (unknowingly) and then she sat on it and the stinger shot into her leg.... Well, she called that bee by a different name, which I can't print here. :-)
Here is a link that might be useful: Bee clothing
So many things eat the milkweed in my garden that I am lucky if the Butterflies can have enough leaves to support them. Hasn't happened, yet.
Yes, milkweed does seem to attract a panoply of insects - not to mention the occasional critter that chomps it down. This is why I regularly patrol mine and either squish or banish all insects. The lady bugs and occasional spider get tossed into another garden, but most get squished. I like insects, but since my property is a Monarch waystation, I raise and tag Monarchs (didn't see any this year unfortunately), and I collect seed, I want the foliage and seedpods to be healthy. The Monarchs are welcome, but the other bugs not so welcome.
Edited to add: this doesn't include flowers! all pollinators are welcome on those.
This post was edited by terrene on Wed, Sep 25, 13 at 18:57
They are a gorgeous shot of red and easy to grow. I put mine in full sun in a non-irrigated, non-fertilized garden with good drainage. No problem with overwintering or blooming, but the plant is only a year old in the garden, so I'm not sure how long it blooms once mature. They bloom easily in pots and would likely be good container plants.
In the meantime, what is BBS?
or... move it from the base of a maple ...
or build a proper bed for plants...
why is there grass right up to the trunk of a maple with a fern in the middle of it..
in defense of hubby... sounds like a bed would have stopped him ...
and i apologize if there is a bed.. and he still couldnt help himself ...
ken
According to my notes, where I am B. australis normally blooms sometime in May rather than later in the growing season.
I would love to add plenty more Baptisia in my garden but thanks to winter sowing, my beds are pretty much chock-a-block full of perennials I grew from seed.
The blue baptisia australis I have blooms in April/early May. Maybe I've got some kind of new cross :) Last year when it bloomed so very late, I thought it was just because it was 1st year's bloom, & it had been a crazy hot June. When it behaved the same way this year, I decided it must be the norm for the plant.
I can't really tell about the reseeding as I planted mine this spring. But the bloom color is so rich and the plant as a whole is so striking, that it becomes the focal point and effectively the rest of the flower bed becomes support for the plant. Between that and the palm leaves of the castor bean next door, it's tropical.
I almost hear the tinkle of "Pearly Shells"
Now someone on here mentioned pinching the plant back, to produce more stems, which I'll do next year. Should increase the number of blooms.
mxk, I've been hoping someone responds. I did buy this a year or two back from Bluestone, and really loved it. I never got it planted out, though, and lost it over the winter in its little two-inch pot. I've been debating whether to try it again, so I was hoping someone with more experience with it woud chime in.
It was a beautiful, crisp white bloom, with nice green centers, and the petals seemed to be more rigid than White Swan. I really did like it, and may give it another shot.
Sorry I can't be of more help!
Dee
Wow. I never realized they were so tough! Thanks everyone for your comments. Next year I'll be mowing them off when they start looking bad. I guess I'm really lucky to have them where they are completely contained. In the spring breezes they perfume the air with memories of childhood at my grandma's house.
UPDATE:
Here is our "Woods Purple" a year later (its first full season in the garden).
The bloom color is incredible but the large splay in the middle is for sure distracting :(.
(And it isn't as if it is tall either so I am not sure why it is like it is)
Hmm, guess I'd better get moving on tilling up & amending soil then! I just finished putting in a corner bed yesterday, though, so I'm having an "armchair gardener" day today :) Maybe next week end...
Glad to hear your H's made it through the drought! We, too, have finally gotten some much-needed rain and cooler weather over the past week after a long, hot, dry summer (typical TX), which does renew the urge to get out and play in the dirt :)
Do you happen to know if fall is also the right time to plant other shade plants, like brunnera, pulmonaria, and beauty berry?
I grew species Baptisia australis from seed via the winter sowing method in 2011 but although they had a good germination rate, none have yet flowered. My guess would be they need a few years to mature before flowering. IMO they're worth waiting for.
Winter sowing taught me to be patient and be grateful for things that bloom when they're meant to rather than when I'd prefer them to do so.
As you say, they're lovely, large perennials that require zero care/maintenance and are not bothered by deer--what's not to love? I have nearly a half dozen mature nursery-grown plants growing in full sun in my butterfly beds. I consider them elegant and maintenance-free perennials. They're a much-appreciated addition to the early season garden.
Pretty, Gardenweed!
Gardenmom, if your seeds just germinated, then your seedlings will be pretty small to go through the winter. I've got a couple Twilight Prairie Blues plants and this year there is one self-sown seedling out in the garden. I also collected seed this year to sow next winter. I'm curious what color the seedlings will be.
Starting Baptisia from seed is an exercise is patience. They take years to bloom. I started some Baptisia leucantha in 2008 and am still waiting on blooms. They are getting pretty good sized, so they'll probably bloom next Spring. They spent the first couple years in pots, so they probably would have bloomed by now otherwise.
Btw, deer may not like the foliage, but voles love Baptisia roots!
RyseRyse_2004 - prior to the most recent adjustment to USDA hardiness zones I was Z5 and my hellebores were already planted in my garden beds when I took this picture a couple of winters ago where my hellebores were growing:
That's my front lawn. I'm guessing all that snow melted & made my hellebores really happy because they've more than doubled in size since. I'm also guessing they might have been in bloom under the snow but chances are they didn't really bloom until most of that melted. I could be wrong but am guessing it's a preference thing--I love anything that blooms so having these blooms so early in the season is a welcome sight.
amy1717 - thanks for the tip about the free photo site. I'll be sure to check it out.
I sailed aboard the schooner 'Nathaniel Bowditch' every summer for 30 years (check out the link). The ship was built in East Boothbay, Maine in 1922. Also sailed with her for Sail Boston 2000 and again in 2007. Fell in love with sailing after doing a couple Outward Bound sailing challenges in Maine.
Would enjoy a pic of your boat if you have one. Some friends I met aboard the Bowditch have a 50 ft. boat down on the Chesapeake.
Sorry I'm not yet on Facebook.
I could sure give you hosta divisions if we were closer--had to divide quite a few of my designer plants when they were close to a decade growing where I planted them. We've had so much rain this season they're most of them twice their normal size. Ye gods!!!
Would be happy to give you divisions once the weather cools if you're willing to pay the shipping.
Here is a link that might be useful: Schooner Nathaniel Bowditch
gardenweed - First off, WOW, that's a lot of snow! Hard to imagine anything blooming under all that, but who would know? Glad to see some of your photos -- they're beautiful! What lovely color in that bloom.
Too bad you're not on FB yet -- don't want to go off on a sailing tangent here, but will post the link to our online blog from the 2007 trip, which has probably more photos of us & our boat than anyone cares to see. Ours looks like a dinghy compared to the Bowditch!! I'll have to show that one to my other half, good inspiration for our next great adventure :)
Out of curiosity, what part of CT are you in? My aunt & uncle live there, near Willimantic, and Mom did for some years before coming back to TX, so I got to spend a few vacations up there in the '90s. Beautiful area -- I loved discovering Indian Pipes and all the wild ferns in the woodlands behind her house.
Might take you up on those divisions -- do they ship well? Let me know when that's a possibility!
This post was edited by amy1717 on Fri, Oct 4, 13 at 0:31