13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Marie, you have GREAT bones! That garden bed has a great start and I can imagine how nice it will look when you're done. I always thought it looked good to begin with, but I know what you mean when youre ready for a change. Do you think you'll mass perennials in groups? I would take the bed in sections kind of in-between the bones. If you have 6x6 area between 2 shrubs, then what do you want in that space to complement them? A couple smaller shrubs? A handful of perennials. The same? All different? Do you want some extra room for annuals for a riot of summer color? Those are some of the questions I pose to myself when I'm looking at an area. I always try to break down larger beds into smaller workable (for my brain) areas. i have a hard time figuring out a really large area all at once. I do usually jot down a few notes with thoughts about plant material for a particular section and then what might complement the next area of the bed and so on and so on.
And, the other question is, how much maintenance do you want going forward in that whole area.
I'll bring my felcos down in the spring and we can have a pruning party! I prune shrubs any time the mood strikes even if its the "wrong" time to prune, so if you want to do it this fall, count me in!! Just remember those mint brownies! LOL!
mad-g: I don't think they are planted too close together. some of them have been in 18 years.Everything except the smaargs have been pruned periodically, but I think the size crept upward and my sense of perspective and size just got used to 'large' and mislaid 'proportional.'And the mature size of a couple of things is bigger than I expected. I expected the chamy obtusa nana to be small-nana (like 7 feet tall and 4 feet wide) but is large-nana, more like 10 x 6. But it is beautiful and while I might be more assertive about pruning it, I would not discard it.
Each year for the last several I've gotten more aggressive about cutting back the smoke bush, advancing from a timid few inches to two feet last year. I'm working my way up to "chop" and "lop" for next spring to arrive at "coppice". I know if I have a drink I'll get up the nerve to just wack it back to a few feet.
As Ken would say, what's the worst that can happen? It could die and I'd have space for something else that would be easier in a mixed border.
Thanks, Susan.
I took pictures on my crummy cell phone today. I'll see what I can do to transfer them to photo bucket and up load them here.Then the fun will really begin!
Woody!! For some reason I thought you were all the way out in PNW? Toronto? Heck, that's a hop, skip and a jump!
Marie, that could be another stop for our trip. Maybe we should skip going south to Mobot and head north to Woody's instead. Hmmmmm.....now the wheels (on the flowered bus) are really turning!
Karin, don't think I won't be on your doorstep someday too!!
How about we start a new thread about "Your fantasy garden tour", and people can not only talk about tour content, but your fantasy garden outfits, must bring items, tips for sneaking cuttings out of the tour garden, how to compliment and insult the hosts, and how to pack plant pots purchased efficiently for the ride home....oh yes, just who would you hate to have as a seat mate!
don't answer here....that would be adding a hijack to my hijack.
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I've had my Pink Poodle for a couple years now and I love it, but I noticed it is now starting to look similar to the above photo. No yellow leaves at all, and flowered beautifully this year, didn't notice deformed flowers out of the ordinary (it never blooms perfectly double, it's always a bit off). Never had problems w/rotting in years previous, so I doubt that's it. I guess I should dig it up to see if anything is making a meal out of the roots or crown. Sigh...
Karin - I was wondering if you ever did this. Happy to hear it went well for you. I think you just have to do it once to figure out a system that works well for you. I didn't do it this spring, but I have a few peonies to get rid of this fall, so I'll put 'em up. That should bring in a nice hunk of change to put towards my spring plant order.
molie - You know, I think you're correct about the type of people you meet selling plants. From my experience, they really are a different breed - a nice breed. That being said, I've sold so much stuff on CL - non plant stuff - and have yet to have a bad experience. If you have some common sense, you really can weed out anyone who seems insincere or just not who they say they are. I think it also depends on what you're trying to sell. Selling a rare coin collection for instance probably wouldn't be a good idea. Selling some patio furniture, no big deal. Just my opinion based on a lot of experience.
Kevin
I have never tried selling on Craig's list, but for too many years to count, I dig excess plants from my many beds and advertise a two day sale. The wonderful gardening friends I have met make it a joy, not a chore. I dig and pot according to the size of the plant and mark each with info about it. The reward is in sharing for at a fair price and then having the dollars to buy more of the expensive plants I would otherwise not afford. Though it is a bit labor intensive and ads, potting soil,etc.take a little off one's profit. The reward is meeting these gardening folks who look forward to the sale each year. Have only had to purchase pots one year and most return them each year. Usually dig between 6 00 and 700 plants each year and try to introduce a couple new ones. One year I tried the dig your own approach which didn't work out for me. Good luck with selling on Craig's list. Will be anxious to see how that works out for you. Mary
'Lemon Queen' is fully perennial. I would consider it very tedious to deadhead a large 'LQ' and have not seen seedlings from letting seeds form.
Most importantly, the seeds are LOVED by goldfinches, and will provide a sort of second season of color by their numbers when they show up and feed heartily on the seeds.
Thanks for the continuing feedback but I have now planted both "Chicago Apache" and "Earlybird Cardinal" day-lilies. I am hoping that with EBC flowering early and CA blooming later there will be color for much of the summer in this section of the garden.
Even today "Apache" gives a hint at hopefully future floriferousness with this one bloom.
(The Crocosmia suggestion was interesting but the place I had in mind was not full sun and being in a z4 I think they might have difficulty overwintering)..
This post was edited by rouge21 on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 17:18
If you really MEAN BRIGHT RED, then I would suggest All American Chief daylily instead. It is the only one I've seen that I would call bright red, the rest are just red-wannabes. What's more, it actually grows and blooms!, unlike many other daylilies here. One of the few, who actually deserves its Silver Stout Medal.
Ok, please don't get offended by my negativity, but although I generally love variegated plants, there's something to this one that always makes me think it looks weedy.... And I have more than my share of weedy plants that I love.... But not this one.
It seems bulletproof though, and it does lighten up the hedge behind very nicely. I think when pruning, your best bet will be to cut older stems out from the base in late winter. That should help with the size and keep the graceful airy look.
'kato', there is no need to apologize! Most of us are stimulated by honest and varied points of view re. plants and gardens.
As you say it is bullet proof in that it can easily handle dry shade.
It will soon do (far more quickly than I had thought) what I wanted it to do when I planned the purchase i.e. (quickly) cover the very back corner.
Interesting suggestion re an "airy look" as I had always thought I wanted it to be essentially impenetrable to any view behind it but you have got me thinking.
This post was edited by rouge21 on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 15:10
Lathyrus latifolius is the perennial sweet pea, and the annual is Lathyrus odoratus. The perennial doesn't have the lovely scent of the annual, and here the perennial sweet pea is a real problem. I am still removing random seedlings more than 10 years after deciding that they were a bit too enthusiastic for me, but happily their spread was limited by the drive and walkway. I sometimes pass a field of a couple acres that has been totally taken over, so hopefully yours will be more restrained.
You should be able to grow more of your own easily when the seed ripens. Fortunately I think that's the only way they spread (no runners or suckers as far as I know). It spreads a bit here too. Comes in pure white also as well as shades of pink, something to keep in mind!
Iris may be rotting from too much water. Bearded iris are NOT like normal plants and have their own agenda and needs. For one thing, they do need to get back in the ground ASAP not because they are going to dry out (these are plants that people have forgotten in car trunks for months during the summer and lived) but because they need to get their roots established before winter comes so they can manage snowmelt without rotting.
I made a brief mention of the background yards in my comments on the 12th, but with the hostile posts towards differing opinions and comments about neighbors' yards in the Perennials forum threads growing like powdery mildew, I chose not to say more. Not a shocker, is it?
I had to move 400+ plants this spring from Ohio to Michigan, and started the project in March as soon as the soil was workable. I dug out new beds every possible day I could and it took me a couple of months to do it, weather permitting. Then I had to make two trips down to Ohio and back in two days to get all that I wanted (and not everything came, which saddened me but I had lots of big beds and not enough space in the Michigan yard for it all), mainly the hostas and daylilies, and it took me two weeks to get it all in the ground. That was being outside every day all day and getting quite crispy in the process. I still have hostas in pots that I have no room for in the ground due to lack of shade, so I'll have to over winter them in the garage and upgrade them into bigger pots as they grow. I'm still working on this yard but I'm nearing the end of planting things. I'm getting quite burned out.
Karen
Oddly, I was having itchy thoughts about my perennial bed.It has degenerated in "onesies" and "dots" and it wouldn't know a mass or a swath from large patch of weeds.
It has never been the "same" for the 18 years, but however long this iteration has been, it is too long.
I think I'll start a new thread.
hijack away. i know quite a few plants that the bees love but i'm always looking for more.
delete post
This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 1:56