13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
When the flower heads dry out enough that you are able to pull the seeds off, collect them. I scatter mine in November. I suppose you could scratch the ground up a little bit before broadcasting seeds, but I do not think it is critical. These are all started from seed as a holding area to use on other parts of the property. Total cost, zero.
terrene. I do have voles. So that could be the problem. Thanks for the suggestion to deadhead plants that I plan to transfer. If I want to divide them do I just put a shovel down the middle of the plant? I've had terrible luck with winter sowing....not much comes up. This year I think I started too late though.
Thanks for your input MulchMama.
crunchpa. I may try sprinkling a few seeds in an area and see what happens. Do you have to put the seeds in the fridge first? (stratification) If I sprinkle them in a weeded place in the back of my property will the weeds choke out the coneflowers? Are yours in a bed in this photo? I have a very large weedy area that I would love to put perennials (especially butterfly ones) in but I think the weeds would choke them out.
IME, these are not a long lived plant. Three or four years seems about normal. They definitely prefer a limy soil. One of those plants that if you have the conditions they like, they are quite easy, but if you don't, forget about it.
That's a nice one, Woody. I really like how your 2 pics show how layered your garden is with perennials, shrubs and trees. I'm losing my bearings a little in the first photo, but is that the heptacodium behind the butterfly bush. And what is that purple leaved tree?
thyme - yes the heptacodium is behind the butterfly bush in that picture - but the camera 'flattens' the depth. The heptacodium tree is 15' or more away from the BB but you can't see that in the viewing angle of the photo. Similarly, the purple tree is the neighbour's beech tree - and that tree is probably 60' away! But it fits nicely as a 'borrowed view' for my garden :-)
Ken - I do find it very useful to print garden photos in black and white when I'm thinking about making changes to an area. Taking the distraction of color out of the pictures makes you see things differently, so it can help suggest things you might not otherwise have thought of. The link below shows how I used B&W to help sort out what I wanted to do when making the 'moat bed' back in 2009.
Here is a link that might be useful: B&W in planning 'moat bed' in 2009
Pippi-I didn't save any seeds from last season, so I don't know how the seeds do in producing plants that are true to the original. My garden center had a whole bunch of the Pow Wow Wildberry plants just last week. You may check at your garden center and see if they have any left.
I have to say - I am *very* impressed with Pow Wow White. Since I originally posted on 7/20/13, they have turned into little blooming machines! They are right in front of my picture window, and I couldn't be more pleased. The bees and insects are enjoying them, too :0)
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.