13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
my fall back is 10% bleach for cleaning ...
i doubt you will discolor it.. but if so... consider it tie dye.. lol ...
i would scrub it out.. then scrub with bleach... and let it dry in sun ...
by fall back to lazy... i would flush it out with the hose.. and leave it be...
really now... why does it need to be sterilized??? ... its an outdoor pot isnt it ...
i think you are in 'overthinkitmode'
ken
-Doug, sure thing. I really wish I would pay more attention to exact bloom times, but always forget/am too busy! I did a quick search of past garden pics from '12 and it looks like it didn't start blooming until late June. Mine bloomed for about 2-3 weeks or so.
It really does add a lovely frothy texture. Somehow the little petals remind me of 'Diamond Frost' Euphorbia...
Mine is planted on the east side, where it gets some sun until noon or so, depending on time of the year. It gets a bit more shade than that now I think- since the neighbor's shrubs shade a good deal.
I think it would likely even do better in a bit more sun, as my plant tends to lean toward the sun and needs staking. The thing would probably be bulkier and better able to support itself with more sunlight. It is around three feet or a smidge more.
CMK
I think RF is kind of pinky-purply-reddish. Not really striking. The one that I bought was a non-blooming rosette which I selected on purpose at the greenhouse from among all the ones that already had bloom stalks in the pot. My thought was that if it was biennial, I wanted it to establish in my garden first, and then bloom the next year. I hoped it might be bigger that way.
I did more scrabbling around and found a research paper with a picture of amoenum in its native habitat and it is called "oxtongue" throughout the paper and has a redder color in the photo than that particular common name would suggest. So I don't think amoenum is blue.
Since I have only had my plant for two years, I really don't know if it is biennial or not. I suspect so from what I have read, so I am hoping to collect some seeds, and shake some around where it is growing.
It's probably one of two things -- dried up foliage from the heat and dry weather we had earlier -- or fungus from the wet we've had recently. I've had all sorts of aster in Chicago, and the same ones now in Kansas, and they just don't do as well in Kansas. But they do better if you shear them back two or three times (by about a third) before mid-July. then they don't flop and expose the center and two feet of ugly leafless brown stems.
If you could post a picture, that would help, but there is no point keeping moldy or dried plant parts, so cut them off.
Thanks for the info!
Im newish to lillies but I would have to say they are some of my favorite!
I actual took a horticulture class but I focused more on the floral design aspect. I wish I had payed more attention to the actual growing lol!
I actual got one more I would love the name to, thesr are my favorite, and Im actually wondering how to propagate these if anyone knows =)
That's one of the Asiatic lilies - could be known by any of the common names for the varieties.
Can't advise much on the propagation aside from eventually digging up any clump and separating the bulbs. That one looks to be growing from only one bulb at this point. Each bulb throws up one stem - multiple stems will be your guide.
Aside from eventual bulb separation - and if this type doesn't produce the little bulbils between the stem and leaf axils like the tigers - one of the real experts here would have to weigh in on any other propagation methods.
I'm going to be contrary here.
I've not a fan of Royal Candles. I always disliked the fact that the stalk turned an ugly brown color. Half way through a bloom cycle, I'd have these pretty deep blue-violet flowers on top and an ugly brown stalk on bottom.
I now grow the Veronica 'Eveline' and I love it.
a2 - You're right about that now that I think about it. The flowers do get a bit ugly as they age, however when something is past it's prime, I simply remove it even if it isn't totally done blooming. New flowers form so quickly it doesn't really bother me.
Kevin
One of my favorite all time scents is the sweet William . I wonder ... could you let the color you like reseed and dead head the less favorable color ? I have done this with bachelor buttons and for yrs. had only purple ones in my garden .
In my zone 5 Iowa garden they definitely work as spring/early summer bloomers. I don't get good flowering throughout the summer. The ones that are reblooming currently look pretty pathetic now that I've gone to take a good look. I made several bouquets for an event in early July and already I had no sweet Williams suitable for cutting. I imagine there are ways to manipulate bloom times. I think there are some that bloom first year from seed so maybe those would flower during the summer if started from seed in the spring. Or maybe it depends in the amount if heat? Campanula, do your summers stay pretty mild?
Here's a single plant I deadheaded and it is now just a pleasant bit of glossy green foliage. This is a full sun garden but the sweet will is shaded by other plants. I've noticed some just die out by now. As grdenweed mentioned above, they are generally biennial or short lived perennials.
They are one of my all time favorites. The fragrance is one of the best flower scents, IMO. I find some fragrances overwhelming, but not sweet William. I have never grown the carnation (d. caryophyllus mentioned) as I thought they were fussy. Hmmm...I will have to revisit them! :)
I saved seeds from a low growing pink one as Sammy mentioned. I am hoping the offspring will resemble those plants.
One can buy single color varieties from a place like Geoseed. For example, they have 11 colors of the Barbarini series available, single color packets, or mix, $3.30 for a packet if 100 seeds. Swallowtail seeds also has two red varieties for sale. If you like buying open pollinated seeds though, I think you are more likely to end up with mixes.
This post was edited by trovesoftrilliums on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 12:10
a2zmom - I have bleeding heart/Dicentra spectabilis, both 'Alba' (white) & the common pink form growing in my garden. The pink plants grow here (& self seed) no matter what the conditions, in everything from full-sun to full-shade so I'd guess they're tough as nails. My DIL has one in full shade that's closer to the size of a mature rhododendron than a medium-size perennial.
My own D. spectabilis 'Alba' is growing in full shade in my hosta bed, surrounded by Carex/Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance' as well as hosta, Japanese painted fern, Tricyrtis hirta/toad lily, columbine, hellebore, Cimicifuga racemosa/black snakeroot, astilbe & other shade lovers. Once the BH goes dormant, there are lots of other things that conceal the dying foliage.
happygardener_2006 - I've never bothered to cut back the foliage on my BH plants since it dies back naturally on its own. If you need to move the plant, just do it later in the season when conditions aren't so hot/dry. Spring & fall are generally the best times to move things--those that bloom in spring should be moved in fall so they have time to acclimate to their new location before bloom season rolls around again.
Ditto your first comment, Judyhi
Am very fond of Helenium
I also never cut them back for lower blooms.
Some of the smaller ones certainly don't need it,
but I like height in August and September.
I do, however, stake all the taller and medium sized ones including Mardi Gras. They don't need real attention to staking as plants like peonies may.
Below a patch which just has a stake or two and twine around it.
You may know that without replanting and upgrading the soil, ever few years, Helenium (at least in my experience), gets shorter and peters out over a couple of years.
Did you discover anything under the scope? Or did dinner win out after all ?lol
We had a strong late frost this spring and I was amazed by the number of flowers stunted and damaged as the weeks unfolded. Most were distorted and stunted, I don't recall much browning....
DH brought home pizza and then we both spent some time fiddling with the microscope but we weren't able to see anything. This is an old University surplus scope--good quality but it has a few issues. Plus, I really need to make slides for better viewing. I know we have slide supplies somewhere so I might still work on this. I did find a lot if interesting pictures online. I am going to try to find a plant pathology textbook because I am finding looking at plsnts under the microscope quite fascinating.
About the lilies: these are some monster lilies; seems they are the ones referred to as 'tree lilies'. Last year almost every plant had 16+ buds. this year they have fewer buds but are taller than last year with most 6-7 ft tall (except the darker pink ones). In other threads people have mentioned recent lily varieties petering out on them, perhaps these are types that lack in long term vigor. I plan to dig a few up later this year and see how the bulbs look.
I don't mind the idea of cutting off the mite infested blooms IF I could be sure it was mites. What concerns me is the similarity between mites and early aster yellows. I'm also concerned that by cutting off all the funky looking buds, I won't recognize the signs of aster yellows until much later.
I had written off the odd looking cones on my White Swans as mite damage until one of them began producing the witches broom from one of the cones.
As to what to use in place of coneflowers, that is the million dollar question for me.
TotallyConfused
Whatever people decide to do with their echs with mites, just be sure you don't spray something like Sevin on them, as my understanding is that it is an insecticide, but not a miticide. Actually something in it is a growth hormone for mites. I would think the cutting and destroying of the affected flowers would be a good treatment.
Aster yellows was easy for me to identify since half the plant was stunted.