13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Difficult question.
Depends on which you're talking about.
Confusion with the new names.
There's attractive annual Callistephus (Aster) chinensis (China aster).
Earlier blooming low asters include Aster alpinus (alpine aster), which is spring blooming. Aster tongolensis (East Indies aster) is mid/late summer.
Symphyotrichium (Aster) divaricata (white wood's aster) is quite low and begins blooming in mid/late summer. Picture below is Sept 2, 2010.
The earliest taller aster (find it always needs staking) I know of is Aster x frikartii (e.g. 'Mönch'), starts blooming in late summer.
The big Symphyotrichium (Aster), S. novae-angliae (New England asters) and S. novi-belgii (New York asters) and hybrids are all fall blooming.
This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Mon, Sep 16, 13 at 17:03
I love your dark pink "child" hibiscus, woody. My hibiscus include a white with red eye, a dark burgundy, and a white all grown from traded seed and a Plum Crazy. Also planted a deep red, Fireball, this spring. Surprising I don't have any pink. There is a Pink Swirl that I have my eye on at a local nursery. May pick it up if it is still there in another week or two when they have their fall close out sale.
'Fireball' is my favorite red one now - the petals seem to be thicker than on others and I think that helps make the color more intense and saturated. It's been the one that gets the most comments from people walking by.
LOL re the song.... :-)
If you trim the Sedum back in June or July, it makes it shorter and bushier and will help with flopping (blooms may be a little smaller). Or grow in a super lean dry location.
My peony foliage looks pretty good except for Duchess de Nemours. She gets brown foliage and looks crappy while the ones growing 4 feet away are fine!
Asters are just coming in, and Alma Potschke has lots of buds this year, but the lower foliage looks terrible. Aster cordifolius has the nicest foliage of all my asters.
Many hostas look good. Geranium Rozanne is a workhorse. Blooms and foliage still look great. What a long bloomer.
PG79, it's a fast growing New England aster, of medium height, called 'Alma Pötschke', the cultivar name.
Agree with you. It's my favourite aster and one of my favourite perennials!
The full cultivar name could be taken as 'Andenken an Alma Pötschke' (Royal Horticultural Society). That translates from German as "Memory of Alma Pötschke".
As you point out Terrene, when a property owner doesn't realize the plants potential to travel and doesn't keep it under control it can be a problem. I have had this plant under a large Maple for over 20 years and have nothing but good things to say about it. It was here when we moved in. But it is in an area that limits it's ability to travel. Bordered on one side by the street, a second side by the driveway and a third side by a fence, and the fourth side has a rock edge with another 15 ft of mulch on the other side of it. It takes very little effort to keep it out of trouble. It looks good all year and provides a low maintenance area under a Maple that I've been adding tiarella, ferns, hosta and epimedium to the existing spring display of crocus.
I didn't realize it's potential to travel until I tried to take some from that area and plant it in a sunnier area of the back garden, where it quickly developed from 3 small plants to a 6ft patch in one season. So it was removed after one season there. I didn't find it much harder to remove than any other plant. We pulled it all by hand and I haven't had regrowth since. I have a weedy plant in the yard that may be a Campanula that gives me much more trouble than this plant did. One I have pulled and pulled and pulled and it always returns. And nowhere near as bad as Witchgrass, which caused me to shut down my vegetable garden for 2 years because I was so sick of dealing with it.
Thanks for posting those pictures, woodyoak. I'm really over wimpy plants and things that need to be babied.
For now, I've put Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) in the spots. The leaf size and color worked well, and I had some I could move there, so I can give it a try for free and decide if I'd prefer something else.
Yikes Woody, I've been pining away over 'My Monet' and have never been able to find it locally. Maybe it's for the best..plants that get crispy or stay small in places with summer rain are definitely to be avoided here where summers are dry.
ruth--I agree with Thyme, I cut my Symphytum (Axminster Gold) back multiple times during the season and fresh new growth is forthcoming.
Kathy in Napa
Gardening isn't for wussies. It's been heavy rain here non-stop all season, to the point that after years of waiting, back in July I finally called my son and told him to come fix my leaky gutter NOW before the window frame rotted out!! My cellar has been flooded since May but he fixed the gutter so at least it hasn't been inundated since. I haven't even checked my rain gauge--it's been full since May. Numbers won't make it less.
Flash flood warnings have been frequent all season. I don't live near any large rivers but have seen the damage that extreme precipitation can wreak on my town. Not too long ago every road in town was closed due to storm damage & power was knocked out for 12 days.
Ginormous weeds have come up through more than a foot of mulch spread over two layers of corrugated cardboard. Hostas that normally grow to a modest size were twice that size this year and easily crowded other shade lovers growing in the same bed. So far there don't appear to be a significant number of casualties.
Those of you who're wishing for more rain, be careful what you wish for. The garden fairy just might grant your wish.
gardenweed - I'm one of those who wished for rain. We've been hit by the same storms that have deluged Colorado, though not to the same extent. We had 2" of rain since yesterday, most of it falling overnight. We live in a desert, with average annual rainfall normally below 10" a year. This past week it's been pouring. Our water storage tanks have been overflowing, even with the pumps running nonstop to try to keep the level down.
As a result of the abnormal rain, everything has turned green instead of the normal drab dusty brown. I discovered that the open space, normally a barren area of cactus, rock and sage, is actually a prairie! Native grasses (little bluestem, sideoats, Indian rice) are sprouting everywhere. The rabbits are in heaven. I spent most of today digging out the silverleaf nightshade which I only discovered this week is a very poisonous invasive weed. But I'm so happy for the rain I don't care about the weeds.
Cheryl
Now I'm glad I picked up 3 this year. I stumbled upon them in a nursery I had never been to before and they were only ten bucks each. Sound like I've done OK with placement based on what you've all said about sun.
Steve, would love to see a photo of the area you describe.
GG, pretty cool to get a pic in a catalog!
i potted the cuttings that i got yesterday. i'm shameless about begging cuttings or seeds when i spot something that i like. i originally wanted the darker varitey because honey bees seemed more attracted to it. being a beeker i'm always looking for plants that they like.
mulch mama ( or anyone else )- i'd gladly send you some postage for cuttings if you ever cut yours back.
a small lesson in nomenclature .... naming rules ...
sedum 'autumn joy' is a named culitvar..
there should be no variation in the plants ... other than perhaps size due to cultural conditions .... [hyper-fertilization being the root evil]
so ... according to nomenclature rules... there are no other varieties ... of autumn joy ....
so your question.. more properly.. is .. what if any other cultivars.. CULTIvated VARietieS .... are there ....
so when you say: i've seen autumn glory grow to different heights & bloom in different colors
the correct response is that you have NOT seen various colors of AUTUMN JOY ... because autumn joy only has one color ... [and i am a little more than confused at someone saying its brilliant pink flowers are dusty .. makes me wonder if the plant that mom has had for 50 years is mislabeled] ..
so we are now offering you other named culitvars... in a spectrum of colors... for you to track down.. because you know the PROPER NAMES of them ...
but alas.. they are not autumn joy ....
you will go far in the garden world.. if you start learning the proper .. full.. latin names.. because that is how you communicate with us.. and the nursery guy .... you dont go in.. and say i want the yellow autumn joy ... because his head wills start spinning .. lol ... oh.. he will take your money.. but who knows what you will get .... but it will not be AJ ....
i hope you enjoyed the learnin.. now back to our normally scheduled program ..
ken
ps: i know exactly what you were trying to ask ....
Perhaps we will see next year. My neighbor now says that she doesn't think she planted it - thinks it might have come from seeds from birds, which she feeds. I think that is unlikely because she is always weeding her beds.
But, hopefully it will bloom next year and then I can post the flower for an ID!
Linda
Perhaps we will see next year. My neighbor now says that she doesn't think she planted it - thinks it might have come from seeds from birds, which she feeds. I think that is unlikely because she is always weeding her beds.
But, hopefully it will bloom next year and then I can post the flower for an ID!
Linda
And Hi to you, prariemoon
Talk about inspiration! Your use of the pots and saucers is ingenious; I would never have thought of it. With your permission, I'm going to borrow your idea; I have some similar pots (no matching saucers but I'll rig up something).
Birdbaths I've used in the past (which the birds actually used for bathing!) seemed too deep for the little ones. So I cleaned up some rocks and placed them strategically in the birdbath; gave them something to land on without fear of falling in deep water.
i keep the traditional hanging feeders filled with black oil sunflower seed and safflower seed, assuming only the cardinals would be attracted. As a special treat, I'll sometimes add some peanut hearts and shelled sunflowers. The feeders designed for woodpeckers are filled with a mix specifically designed for them. (This is the one premixed product I do buy and the woodpeckers love it.) I usually add some crushed peanuts to it. Of course, the titmice, chickadees, mockingbird and blue jays get their turns at it too. For the sparrows, I put white millet in the platform feeders. Finally, I have a thistle seed sock hanging out for the goldfinches.
Unfortunately, it seems no one has informed the various birds what they 'like' and 'should' be eating. My cardinals often gorge on the millet while the sparrows and goldfinches can be found more often than not at the platform feeders! As imposing as the grackles appear, they're usually well mannered, allowing the smaller birds equal time at the platform feeders. And occasionally, a cute little wren will venture to a feeder, take a few pecks, realize that the millet is not insects and quickly leave.
And then, there are the doves. Ah yes... They will eat anything. As big as they are, a few have impossibly turned into acrobats, hanging nearly upside down to get at one of the hanging feeders. And they're the only bird that has shown any aggression, always at other doves..
The hummers are the true acrobats; have seen three at the same time and assuming that's all there are... hope I'll attract more next year.
Apologies for being long winded ...can't seem to learn any other way.
gary
Hi Gary,
I canâÂÂt take credit for the upturned pot, I canâÂÂt remember where I got the idea, but it wasnâÂÂt my own invention, but feel free to borrow that idea, I think you will enjoy it. The saucer on the top is more shallow and the small birds use it the most.
Rocks work too, good idea.
We use black oil sunflower and safflower too. I put the safflower in the one feeder we have that is not squirrel proof, because they seem to be much less interested in safflower. Once in awhile we will add thistle. Doves are one of our favorites but because of the squirrels I donâÂÂt have a platform feeder. I used to get a lot, when I had corn on the ground, but I stopped doing that, out of caution about bringing rodents into the yard. We still see a pair or two of doves over the seasons and they manage to pick up enough under the feeders.
No hummers here yet, but I will try again in the spring to put out a feeder. Sounds like you have a lot of fun watching all the birds. I wonder if you ever do the bird count that the Audubon Society organizes every year? I would be curious how many birds your Spa attracts.
No apologies needed, I usually have more than enough to say too. (g)
As with all other plants it could be a right plant for a right place
When withered foliage of spring bulbs is gone Aurea provide nice ground cover for otherwisw would be bare spot. Of course, area is contained.
Don't have picture handy, but 100% agree that it's a great addition to containers.
I planted creeping jenny - the golden one - with some pavers. 3 years later - it hasn't even filled in at all. and it doesn't look golden either - got more dark greenish.
Not sure what I'm doing wrong - but it is about the same size as when I planted it, about 12 plugs along 15'
I have had L. sprengerii for a number of years, and divided the clump two years ago. The divisions have yet to bloom, but the main clump goes on. This Lycoris is unbelievably spectacular--cobalt blue flowers that slide into pinks and oranges. Gorgeous, gorgeous, but slow to enlarge.
Oh....now I'm following what you meant by 'surplus'. I have never tried that potting mix for containers, because I was not able to find the ingredients. I decided after awhile, that I would stick to what I normally do for containers, because it was just too much trouble. (g) I guess if I used a lot of containers I'd feel different about it. Sorry I couldn't be more help. :-)
I've heard the turface makes an excellent soil conditioner for all kinds of plants especially bulbs, just work it in. I think it was the Missouri botanical garden that recommended it... Not sure though. I'm trying to find a source but my fall plant budget is already shot and I'll have to wait for next year :(
I do. I love my tumblers. I got one off of craigslist for a great price. The second one was found by the side of the road - can you believe it?! - by a friend of mine, who drove home to get some bungee cords to bring it home. I told her I would have stood next to it and called for help, lol. No way I would have left that spot. But she came back and it was still there, and she took it home and tried it for a year and didn't like it, so gave it to me. This one is even better than the first.
The first one I have is an older model - the basic drum high up on a stand that is cube-shaped, if you know what I mean. The second sits on two triangular shaped legs, which makes it much lower - the top of the tumbler is about waist level, as opposed to over my head with the older model. The newer one also has bars inside it, which help break things up when tumbling. And the turning mechanism is easier as well. It's a smaller gear inside a larger one - I think of spirograph even time I turn it, lol, which probably just dated me, lol - but it is easier to turn.
Anyway, neither of these came with a manual, and I don't use them to "get compost in two weeks!" like the ads say. I just like them because they are enclosed, are easy to turn, and keep things on the tidy side. I don't have open piles to begin with, composting in a few black bins and a few converted garbage cans, so the tumblers are much easier to turn and unload than the cans and bins.
They are slow, but that's okay (and yet they are faster than the cans and bins). Someday I'd love to have a three-bin system, with nice big bays, etc. I sometimes drool over photos on the soil & compost forum, lol, but for now, the bins, cans, and tumblers work well for me. Especially since I use a large amount of the compost before it's completely finished.
Sorry, bonniejean, didn't mean to get so far off topic, but maybe this has been of some help to you as well.
:)
Dee
Thanks Dee for your experiences with the tumblers. I hadn't thought of looking on Craig's List either. Yes, sorry if we have gotten off topic. :-)