13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
If the water is in the top 2 in. of soil, then that is where the poplar roots are. I don't know what your plans are for grass removal, but it might not be too hard to get rid of the poplar roots as well. Then if the garden is edged, the poplar roots would cease to be a problem, and you could plant what ever you wanted, and still have less mowing and something nice to look at. I still would go with more xeric plants, like Agastache cana or rupestris or one of the various hybrids that there are, salvias, penstemons at least for the sunny spots. Does your soil drain well? Or some ornamental grasses. You have a lot of good choices there. Harder to think of are things for dry, hot shade. I think back to when I lived in CA and there was a lot of PIttosporum bushes, lantana, StellaD'Oro and Agapanthus. But I was in San Diego.
Some of the large roots are above ground. When I try to mow, the mower blade hits the roots. As far as the grass, right now I am spraying it with Roundup to kill it. This fall, when the weather cools, I will plant the area, then probably cover the dead grass with mulch.
I like the idea of xeroscaping, I also like the ornamental grasses so will incorporate them, as well as some other colorful plants. I don't know about hydrangea, I like it but it may not do too well there. If I can find a small one, I may experiment. I love lantana, and have had good success with agastache (in my former home which had different growing conditions).
I had no idea ferns come in colors, will have to check them out. Lots of good ideas here, thank you all.
Cheryl
Asclepias tuberosa can tolerate lots of sun and no water. Long lasting yellow or orange blooms that attract Monarchs and other butterflies and hummingbirds. Easy to start from seed or get established plants from many online sources. Disease resistant and doesn't reseed the way some natives can.
Martha
that must be some great soil.. to be able to use a spade bare foot .. whats that all about ...
i tend to just tear them apart ... they break at NATURAL weak spots...
it was suggested to me once.. that in general ...[not iris] ... that large cuts can rot faster .. comparatively speaking...
and do fan them for sure...
i dug out about 100 in the last week... and gave them all away ... actually.. lol.. i dug out 20.. and ended up with 100 ... lol ...
go for it peony.. this is a foolproof plant to work with.. and because all the pieces are so big.. you can really learn a lot ...
ken
Did you ever check out the FAQ on the iris forum? They have a good explanation of how to divide.
Here is a link that might be useful: iris FAQ page
Mary max where do you live? If you are in the western half of North America, and have a semi-wild area that the milkweed can grow and spread then yes definintely.
I have winter-sown A. speciosa, got a couple seedlings and planted them in a fairly sunny, well-drained location and it barely survives. I don't think it likes the generally wet climate we have in the northeast US.
I've attempted to grow other western natives and overall this has not worked very well. One exception would be Cal poppies which grow okay along a dry lean sunny edge of the driveway.
This post was edited by terrene on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 20:57
I have been growing several Luzula nivea for 3 years in partial shade in improved well drained soil here in SE UK..
Plenty of soil improver (composted bark) but no fertiliser or manure.
It grows well, flowers profusely then lays itself down from midsummer onwards.
I reluctantly cut it down and threw stems and flowers out. I wonder if the location is maybe too dry although there are no signs of crisping of the leaves.?
marquest, I'm curious which online vendors you used. I'd say at least half of my plants come from Bluestone in the days when they had that fantastic June sale.
Apart from that though, there are cultivars I'm interested in that most wholesalers don't carry. If the wholesaler doesn't have them, your nusery can't order them. So I turn to online nurseries. I've gotten some great plants that way.
Adam, mine reseed without any help from me as long as I leave them for a little while after they have bloomed to let the seeds ripen. I don't save the seeds, just let some of them drop for next year's flowers. They are an old-fashioned single that's a deep red-marroon and are in an area that isn't mulched. I do have problems with rust most years, and those years I just rip them out, though this year they are perfectly clean and have been really nice. The seeds must be long-lived since I have ripped out the small plants due to rust for the last 4 years, but a few came up each year anyway despite no flowers for several years.
Thanks for the info Sandy. I wish that there were a nonchemical method of preventing rust since I'm not willing to do annual applications of a systematic.
I forgot to mention this. I've noticed especially in drought years, squirrels will go after my lilies late in the season. They simply chew the stems to shreds. I don't know if they're looking for moisture or the carbohydrates in the stems or what, but they leave them alone all summer and then they attack. Like I said, I've observed this behavior very often during droughts, but sometimes they do it in good years too.
Kevin
I wondered if it wasn't something like park rules keeping you in the box. These things happen, and you have to work with what you have. Well, vary the height and leaf shapes of the plantings, keeping in mind that the box at the base is kind of small for some tall perennials. I liked the idea of grasses, too. So help bluebird with her coneflowers! Whatever tall perennials you plant will have to be divided often due to the smaller space that you have. Do the boxes have bottoms, or can the roots get into the soil beneath? I like the idea of getting a taller trellis for the clematis, and using the pegs or flag holders or whatever they are for vines as well.
Can you plant outside the box? I was just thinking that if you varied the plantings in the box for height and foliage, etc., and then maybe planted some low-growing stuff in the ground around it,even just another "row" and around the sides if possible, it would give the bed that two-dimensional look height-wise. Might make up for the lack of depth.
Just a thought....
Dee
Count me in as another lover of Brent and Becky's.
Although this year I never got a chance to do so, most years I buy a few dahlias from them (I am just too lazy to dig them up at the end of the season.) I've bought other things from them over the years, always extremely healthy.
Two years ago I bought some Kniphofia 'Alcazar' from them and left them in my garage for two weeks during a heat wave completely forgetting that Kniphofia is not a bulb. When I finally planted them, the plants drooped for a while but eventually settled in and are now gorgeous plants. Now that's impressive and a testament to the size and health of what they sent.
Hi trovesoftrilliums,
Sorry for not replying sooner, I'm using an Achla Lattice Trellis, which is okay for right now, but isnt that sturdy and is only a placeholder until I can find something larger and sturdier.
April
Here is a link that might be useful: Achla Lattice Trellis
molie, I am sorry I missed your question. The daylily does not have a name. On another garden forum a lady sales her seedlings that she has hybridized hopping to get something to register. So it is a mix of other lilies to make this one.
She has sent me some pretty different looking daylilies. I think they are better than what I have purchased with names.
I have loads of these Red Milkweed Beetles and their eggs, all over both varieties of my swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata, pink and white varieties). They eat the living daylights out of the leaves every year, and some of the leaves are discolored and blackened like yours, but I don't think that's because of the beetle. The plants have been hardy and come back fuller each year, so I doubt they're harming them all that much. Besides, the bees love the flowers, so I leave it all as is and let nature do its thing. Cheers!
Here is a link that might be useful: NickiGreenwood.com
I get swarms of milkweed bugs every year and I never touch them. Milkweeds are seed producing factories imo, so if the bugs want to eat a few of the zillion seeds produces, have it.
At this point, I dead head that plant religiously anyway. I have two nice stands so I don't need any more.
I had a clematis last year I thought was dead. It sent up a vine or two and crisped up promptly after that. When I gave two other clematis away I gave them the "crispy" one, too and said best of luck to ya but I promise nothing. Well, this year its growing! I guess not as much as the others but its giving it its all.
Depending on the nurseries in your area (and I'm even going to say Lowes and HD) you should definitely go look in the fall. I went last year around mid september and bought boxwoods for like 70% off and limelight hydrangea for like $5 and ech. ruby star for $3 all from lowes. I went to a local nursery and came back with a few russian sages, sage meadow salvias, creeping sedums and it probably only cost me around$10-12. And, for me at least, it seems like everything I planted last fall is miles ahead of things I planted last spring!
listen...
i said.. told you .. what i do ...
what i do.. on 5 acres.. is move things.. and forget.. lol ... remembering and caring for 95% of them.. and then next spring.. i find the dead stubs of the others... lol...
and you can NOT forget such.. in july/august... as just a day or two with no water is a killer ...
so the default... and the easy way.. are you listening newbies... is simply not to do it this time of year ....
but if you can insure sublime perfect aftercare... you can do just about anything... anytime..
if you are going to be there.. every day for a week or two.. dig up the clem..and find out what is going on underground .... its really hard to guess....
ken
I had purchased a Crazy Daisy 5 years ago and it never really grew well for me. The flowers did not all open, some buds browned and dried up before they opened. Many of the buds that did open produced flowers that were mis-shapen and small. The plant decreased in size every year and just looked sickly. There was just a small piece left this spring and I dug it out and gave it to my neighbor to see if it would do better in another place.
I received Esther Reed in trade last year. It bloomed late in the summer and this year it has put on quite a show. Every bud has opened and I'm pleased with the shape and size of the flowers. It is just now finished blooming and I would say that it has been in bloom for 2 months. I need to dead head it to see if I will get more flowers and I plan on doing that tomorrow, if it doesn't rain here.
Linda
Esther Reed is a beauty! It's apparently been around for a while, which likely means very hardy.