13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

LOL. I'm wanting more shade. I have Heuchera addiction.

So, if I sow them in August in Chicago, would it have enough time to develop roots for next season?

Official First day of fall is September 22nd.

How many days does it need after germination to develop roots for next year bloom?

Thanks everyone for the input. I've grown quite a few foxgloves, but have never planted them this late. I have a ton of them, so if even half make it, I'd be thrilled. I'll probably forgo the fertilizer, unless I try in on a few for experimenting's sake.

Campanula, I grew Polkadot Princess in 2011, so they bloomed in 2012 and again this year. Their first blooms of 2012 were decent...the spires weren't as tall as excelsior, but they still looked nice. The later blooms were much shorter, and didn't do much for me where they were planted.

This year, even their first blooms were much shorter. For where I want to grow digitalis, they don't work, and most have already been yanked. I'll start excelsior seeds this winter, but am thrilled to have a bunch of these Camelots and Apricots to (hopefully) look forward to next spring.

unless I try in on a few for experimenting's sake.

==>>> DO IT!!! ...

make a real experiment over it..

give a couple a teaspoon full ..

a few other a tablespoon ..

and a few other a handful ...

and if you have any time release.. dose a few others with that ...

THIS IS HOW I LEARNED ... back before www ...

you said you have so many ... why not.. just mark them somehow ... so you can report back...

but i would bet a nickle.. they will all live.. since you have many for cheap ...

had you paid $100 for one... one speck of fert would kill it.. if it didnt commit suicide on the way home.. lol ...

ken

#2 is not a ground cherry. I am positive it's a noxious weed, I just don't know the name of it.

Did you post here at the plant id forum? How about the other site whose name cannot be mentioned?

2 is a Ground Cherry imo. Physalis subglabrata.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ground Cherry

Mine was grass and iris but the grass got too big by the time fall rolled around.

This year I took out the grass, thinned the iris and popped in a few canna. The fennel and agastache love the space and spread out into the hole left by the grass.

Still needs work though. The fennel is covered with pollinators and I trimmed it back away from the mailbox so the mailman has a nice safe zone.

Helenium likes water. The bottom leaves will go crispy without enough of it. They are pretty tough plants and so I'd imagine this one will be okay. It may do better come next year once it has settled in for a season. After flowering they grow new foliage around the base of the plant which remains through the winter. That will be next year's growth.

Karen

I'll give it another week, and water them plenty, see what happens. In the mean time I ordered some more from Bluestone. Should I deadhead them or remove the dried out stuff or just let it be. Many thanks for your time.

How about Monkshood for blue or white? It's a tall perennial that tolerates partial shade. I was in Vancouver recently and saw an amazing stand of Acanthus near Stanley Park. I wished I could grow that plant in my zone, it was spectacular.

Jacob's Ladder does well in shade and is blueish.

Woody - glad to see you around, and thanks for helping me with planting decisions! Seems I'm not gonna plant Krengeshoma after all, my growing conditions appear to be almost identical to yours... I do have a "plant suggestions" kind of post coming up soon...

I just planted a small one this spring in slightly alkaline sandy loam. It has not grown much yet; it was and still is a sparse two stem wonder about 15 inches tall. It is currently forming nice fat flower buds. I suspect this is a "sleep, creep, leap" perennial and I have high hopes for it in future gardening seasons.

Hello, thanks for the answers! It's now blooming with small yellow flowers, and seems to be doing ok in the spot that I placed it on our porch. We'll see if it does ok there long term.

I have solidago 'Fireworks' growing in mid-afternoon shade. It stays shorter than those in full sun but blooms well. This is not a spring bloomer. It blooms in the fall, September/October for me.

Keep in mind that store plants are often forced into early bloom.

Karin, I'm not surprised to hear that the tour was a success. I'm sure visitors took home many ideas that they could use --- or wish that they could replicate. I'm curious, though --- what organization sponsored this tour? Whoever was in charge of setting it up will probably ask you to open your gardens again next year.

Add me to the long list of those who enjoyed all the photos of your beautiful property. I absolutely love the stone bench you created in the corner of your wall and the stone slab that serves as a hose holder.

Thank you so much for your warm comments. Reading them is the ideal way to wind down after all the hubbub.

A2Z, the key roadside plants are 'Nearly Wild' rose, penstemon, shasta daisies, catmint, thyme, salvia, scabiosa, catanache (Cupid's Dart), 'Pawnee Buttes' sand cherry, and echinacea. There are also some oriental poppies and Siberian irises. I am adding more shrubs such as a groundcover honeysuckle, dogwoods, 'Summerwine' ninebark and 'Drift' roses. Next year I will also try some rugosa roses or something along those lines. The garden really is a mishmash collection that allows survival of the fittest. I am certainly not attached to any particular plant out there, and the whole thing just evolves over time. I would like it to be more shrubs and fewer perennials though, because deadheading it and cutting it back are daunting tasks. Next year I will sink some time into adding shrubs. (There are more photos of this garden in the first 'combination pics' thread from June).

The clematis on the arch are 'Perle d'Azur' (2005) and 'Comtesse de Bouchard' (2007). I selected them for their later bloom so that things would be interesting in late summer. The arch is metal and was from one of those junky-type antique stores. Yes, I think it's 5' wide. Some day relatively soon it's going to collapse. You should see it sway in the wind. I have to cut back the clematises in order to preserve the opening in the archway. Otherwise they would join hands and seal the whole thing off! It's very pretty in the winter too - I cut about 2/3 of the clematis vines off but leave enough for some winter interest. We put sunflower heads on it so the birds have an easy place to eat (away from the cats).

Mollie, the tour was organized by a local arts center. We were on the tour in 2007 and they had been asking me again for a few years now. I hope they don't ask again anytime soon. I need a enough years to pass so that I can forget about how stressful this was! I think I'd rather help out by being on the selection committee or contributing in some other way.

I did learn things! The coolest thing I learned was all the types of native bees that live here. That was the highlight. I also learned that I need to use my compost, particularly in the greenhouse which is ailing this year. So yesterday I put down a 4" layer of compost throughout the whole greenhouse. Another visitor suggested I use straw as mulch in the raised beds, and I'm definitely going to do that. I hate spending money on mulch so straw is perfect and cheap. Oh, and back to the bees, I learned to use sunflower stalks as wintering habitat for them.

DH did once consider making the sculptures as a profession. But the idea didn't resonate with him, I think because the sculptures don't have a function. The bicycles are a much better fit for him and use all the same skills. But thank you for the vote of confidence!

Thanks again for being by my side (virtually) through the whole thing. I am still looking forward to regaining all my energy and it's great to have an 'empty' to-do list!

now now- GWeed, I don't think I was referring to cutting back perennials to keep them smaller, but to the distinctly non-organic fiddling about with growth hormones to keep plants smaller, against their natural inclinations to stretch....(a practice widely done on platycodon but most heinously, on chrysanthemums and osteospermums).......alongside the deliberate breeding of tall plants to turn them into dumpy (and pitiful) shadows of themselves (the aforementioned campanula). The Chelsea Chop (as we call it here) is widely practiced (and I am certain that I would be doing a bit of whacking too, if my balloon flowers grew as tall as me).

campanula - Thanks--I very much appreciate the clarification. I didn't realize & will confess my ignorance of the extreme tactics being undertaken to control plant growth/size habits and am equally appalled at the lengths growers will reach to increase sales. I learned organic gardening at my grandfather's knee 60+ years ago and have continued to adhere to his precepts my entire life. I'm proud that both my children continue the commitment & tradition. In my garden beds, whacking is okay; chemicals are uninvited.

Sorry if I offended you but appreciate you responding.

I have coral flame which seems like it falls into the height range you are looking for, but I suspect you want a deeper red.
I don't know if all the flame series are the same height... I just bought light pink flame and it seems slightly taller in the pot. I hope I stays that way but the label does read 18 inches so I'll have to wait and see.
Lord Clayton is on my list. I might already have it as an unlabeled plant but maybe having another would confirm that :)
I'm into red lately.

Rouge, the second was Kirchenfurst, but there was a possible explanaition(drowning). In the case of Red Flame there was no flooding.

I leave them to self-sow in my native gardens. I have never cut them down or handled them in any way. Mine stay upright. They are in full sun and have never had extra irrigation. They self sow to abundance.
Leaner soil and less water should keep them upright.

Given the number of yellow, daisy type things out there, I'd replace them with something that is going to be naturally shorter. Heliopsis maybe. Keeping these at 3 ft sounds like it is going to be a challenge.

delete

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Mon, Aug 12, 13 at 3:42

Drama! Yeah I like that! So much nicer seing it online than hearing it out of the mouth of a five year old :)
Color might be a good thread, how about a post on orange being unacceptable for the flower beds of all decent persons!?

August and January.... The two antsy months for northern gardeners...

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

Many of us have holding beds to place perennials we buy on sale or start from seed and need to hold over until spring. I use my vegetable beds to hold plants over the winter. In my zone I mulch them well to help over-winter. They generally do well. Some actually spend two years in a holding bed while I am deciding where to place them.

Plant them either in or out of their pots and keep them watered. No need to hurry through your bed preparation to get them in this fall.