13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

The only ones I have with browning near the bottom are the ones that weren't getting enough water. I found out that some of my darn rainbirds don't always move back and forth, letting some areas dry out too much. The asters with enough water are all green, but sprawling over walkways like crazy. But the bees are going crazy for them all.

Think renovating beds maintains the wider distribution of locations in which New England asters thrive in gardens.

Example (re above comments): I periodically hack out the nasty (superficial) roots of the neighbouring silver maples that invade our front flower beds. Have lots of healthy 'Alma Pötschke' in the front.

I'd consider adequate watering, when necessary, part of the the general maintenance of mixed perennial beds.

Find I have to stake all of our New England aster, except 'Purple Dome'.

Would be interesting to know what annual maintenance was done to maintain a Michaelmas daisy (fall) "room" in large Sissinghurst type gardens.

This post was edited by SunnyBorders on Sat, Sep 14, 13 at 10:23

As PM2 says:

I went out into our garden and couldn't see any phlox leaves that looked very like this. The brown (necrotic parts: yes), overall no.

There are other fungal diseases of phlox besides powdery mildew.

For a garden centre, take the leaf in a sealed clear plastic bag!

I'm just guessing here --- scale, perhaps?

Good advice to go to a garden center with a large sample in a plastic bag as Pm2 and SB said. That's what I'd do, and have done, whenever I'm not sure. Go to a full service place with a horticultural staff; they'll be able to identify the problem with a quick look.

Molie

Any excess winter sown perennials used to get set down in trenches that I then filled in with garden soil so the plants sort of simulated being planted for the winter. I never lost any that road. Winter sown shrubs/trees just get planted in large containers and spend the winter on my east/west facing breezeway. Most are winter hardy and all have survived since 2010. Heads up--many mail order/nursery-grown plants don't make it, I'm guessing because they're grown in greenhouses. Winter sown plants are much more hardy.

I usually leave plants waiting to be planted along a section of fence that leaves them in shade most of the day and keep them watered until I can get them in the ground. If I still haven't got them in the ground by Fall, I have dug them into the raised vegetable beds, pots and all and covered with chopped leaves for the winter. This has worked surprisingly well. I don't have the room for a bed dedicated to holding plants either, and I'd rather plant them where they are going for the most part and just give them extra care in that placement.

sumner, I think I will have to pass on that ivy. Its already growing right in there amongst the other solid green border of green loveliness and its high on my top 10 list of hated plants. Green on green with green under green. The contrast is just amazing! And, he doesn't have to do a lick of work at all to keep it all going and going and growing strong by just letting nature take its course.

You just need some good invasive volunteer hackberry forest tree roots lining that side where your rudebeckias are. That'll whittle them down to scale. My stuff stays real short, the stuff that will grow at all, thanks to Mr. Green.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Fri, Sep 13, 13 at 18:24

echinaceamaniac, Before you throw in the towel on Salvias for having short bloom times, have you tried any of the Salvia greggii bush types? I don't grow the low bedding types but I have lots of these as they will take varying amounts of shade and are not picky about soil and are very drought hardy. With extra water they will bloom throughout summer with very heavy blooming in both spring and fall. They go great with Russian Sage.

Another salvia with an unbelievably long period of bloom is Salvia penstemenoides which is also called 'Big Red Texas Sage'. Its a native once thought extinct in the wild until rediscovered a few years back growing in a small area. Seed is commercially available and germinates easily. This salvia attracts more hummingbirds and hawkmoths than any other plant in my entire garden and blooms heavily on tall stems, each tall stem having endless deep reddish/purple flowers for weeks and weeks. It makes my courtyard very active and it smells good too, sort of like an antique cabinet. The leaves are very interesting and pretty too. Unlike any other salvia I have ever grown.

Here is a photo of one growing in the wild from the Ladybird Johnson Wildlife Center website.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Sat, Sep 14, 13 at 1:42

Here is a link to the previous post about this plant.

Here is a link that might be useful: Previous post

I have no help with identification. I have the plant. It appears at the edge of my pond in early September. It grows at the North end where it faces south and has full sun in its face. It grows at the South end where it is in almost full shade. It does not grow on the east or west side of the pond. I look for it but don't even see it until it blooms. Probably because of all the Iris pseudorochis (sp?) foliage in the way.

I have trouble thinking of it as a helianthus because it is so much smaller in scale. Lovely, isn't it.

Aseedisapromise,
You probably took that picture with your phone or I-Pad or something and had the device turned in some direction other than the "traditional" way the device thinks pictures should be taken. The device then orients the picture the way it thinks it should be and that gets translated here. So, the only way to guarantee that your pictures show up with the correct orientation is to find out how your device is designed to be held while taking a picture, and always hold it that way. Some devices can correct for that shift in orientation. Your picture looks fine to me. It's just one of those technology things.

Martha

For tallest I second the rudbeckia and miscanthus. Widest for me would be an enormous bleeding heart in spring.

Hi there,
I think the foliage looks wrong for a garden variety sunflower, aka Helianthus annuus). Goin by the small lanceolate foliage I would guess it is some perennial Helianthus (no clue, are there native annual sunflowers over there?...). That it grows at the water's edge is somewhat unusual. Is it a creek or rather pond? Sometimes Jerusalem Artichokes get washed downstream, or rather bits of their rhizomes.

Well, curious, let's see what pops up,

Bye, Lin

Maybe it's a Swamp Sunflower (Angustifolius).
They are native to Georgia. The leaves look similar and yours is by a pond.
It's pretty and probably good forage.

Gee, daniel26july, get them out somehow would be my advice! I'm attaching a link to the Ornamental Grass Forum where some folks suggested solutions to removing huge grasses.

Getting rid of such large grasses is backbreaking work so if you can afford it, maybe you could hire someone to dig up the plants PLUS all of their roots. I don't know if the other suggestions (round up/advertising free dig-your-own grasses) would work for you.

We have a Miscanthus sinensis 'Caberet' that is magnificent but getting too big. Every year my DH spends a day hacking part of it out. His comment last year was --- "I'm getting too old for this!" --- and he's in his early 60s.

Good luck!
Molie

Here is a link that might be useful: Removing Ornamental Grass

Some types of panicum are prone to flopping. You didn't mention what type you have? 'Dallas Blues' and 'Cloud Nine' are two I know of. I have read about this a lot online as well.

If you want a very nice upright type, I suggest Panicum 'Northwind'. It looks like its been spray starched and it is the most well behaved. The growth is very stiff and vertical. I hate cutting it down each spring because it still looks so ornamental. This is one of the prettiest grasses I grow and I wouldn't be without it.

Too much water and/or soil that is too rich will definitely cause flopping. Staking would look awful in my opinion, it would be better to find a replacement that works for the spot.

I have dug out many clumps. Its hard work but if a 'girl' can do it........ Shrubs are much much worse to dig out. Most clumping grasses will start to die out in the center. If left long enough they will form a donut. If a clump is doing this, it is definitely time to dig it out and divide it. Or, you can take a saws-all to the center during your spring cutting back, cut it out dirt and all, like an apple core and replace the soil with some good soil. The grass with then be able to fill in.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Fri, Sep 13, 13 at 15:19

An update on 'Mercury Rising'. The sprawl turned into dense plants. At present, I didn't deadhead over the last few weeks but there are buds aplenty. Prior to that with some deadheading, it bloomed continuously for two months. Overall, an excellent plant, as advertised. Even if there were overwintering issues, I would buy it again.

Luv seeing updates on plants. Thanks boday.

I felt the same way about coreopsis "Cosmic Eye" ie basically treating it as an annual if necessary but two of these plants have survived two winters for me.

Thanks for that Zinnia study, kato. I've had a lot of bees this year too. Not as many wasps, thankfully, so maybe I had fewer caterpillars. I think I saw one lonely Monarch all season.

Terrene, it's a wonder I grow anything, I have two mature Silver Maples in two neighbor's yards, within 5ft of my lot line and a third neighbor who backs up to the back of my lot, that has three more and a fourth neighbor to my north with a line of 6 Spruce, a London Plane Tree and a Pine all within 5ft of my lot line. And my lot is only a 1/4 acre, so you can imagine how dense that is. And two regular Maples in my own yard and a third regular Maple again within 5ft of my lot line in the front neighbor's yard. (g) I do appreciate trees (although Silver Maples not so much) and it does give us a lot of privacy, but by Fall, there's always something looking pretty fried despite moving the sprinkler around. I love a good soaking rain!

Thanks for the photo of your zinnias and Monarchs, yes, I see the central cone you are talking about. For a minute I thought the pink flowers were Echinacea.

Sedum "Autumn Fire" appears to be as attractive to bees as S. "Autumn Joy" (which is good, since "Autumn Fire" is much more ornamental). What with a large clump of African blue basil and Salvias planted nearby (the heavily blooming basil is irresistible), the garden is humming with bees and other pollinators.

Sharon, you can buy Thalictrum 'Splendide' at Avant Gardens, Romence Gardens and Plant Delights. It is truly gorgeous!!

Thank you for the welcoming to this forum. It's such a pleasure to meet and chat. While I was thinking the mystery plant was a columbine, I was soon to learn from members that it is thalictrum splendid or possibly one of the other varieties. Yes, the photos submitted do attest to why I was so awe struck from the get go. And, thank you Roxanna for the retailer info. I've already checked them out and will be contacting them in spring. I live in NE Mn.zone 4. We've not had frost yet which is not typical but is in the forecast. I want these plants for next spring at our summer cabin. Now I'm thinking spring....daahhh.

Sounds like a powdery mildew fungus.

Spores from the fungi can overwinter in plant debris on/in the soil and as you say inoculate next years phlox with the fungal spores. Hence more powdery mildew.

We love phlox and have many in a relatively confined space.

I take it that it's absolutely necessary to cut garden phlox down to ground level and remove all plant debris, in fall, to limit the inoculation (at least here).

Re blooming and other phlox health/hygiene variables: I'd say garden phlox do best with regular division, thinning out, soil upgarding, enough sun and watering when necessary.

Of course, the cultivar and local conditions are important considerations.

Below powdery mildew starting(?) on an older No Name phlox on Sept 6, 2013. I would have cut it down by then, but we were having guests and we didn't want to cut any colour out of the garden.

I grow Phlox paniculata/tall garden phlox for the pollinators who don't seem to care if the leaves aren't attractive so I've pretty much left my dozen or so plants alone the past several years. They come up & bloom every season...I don't ask much more of my perennials than that to be honest. Did some of them get powdery mildew? Sure. Did I treat it? Nope. Are my plants blooming their heads off this year? Yes. Granted we've had an excess of rain this season but they've all bloomed/are blooming prolifically.

Your plants may just need a season or two to settle into your garden beds before blooming. Gardening isn't a season; it's a journey. Enjoy the scenery.

I was dividing some dwarf iris earlier this year. I kept about 25%, and was going to toss the rest. A 'friend' said that she would take a lot. I could not give her the junk, but she got about 80% of what I was going to toss. I used to have that gardener's guilt about never, ever tossing anything, but I have learned that there is only so much space in the yard.

That is a difficult thing to learn with most gardeners. Keep the goods and toss the not-so-goods!

Jim

My rock garden was a mess, and I took out the valued plants into pots, killed everything. Bought and arranged as big a sized rocks I could carry and tried to make the rocks look natural. I planted my valued plants back and added others. Never sorry. Still never fail to see faults or things to tweak but it was the best approach. Before, during and after photos are a source of satisfaction, also.
Has always bothered me that people would let sad looking plants hang on and on, when they should be trashed.