13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
No, the compost pile got them as soon as the snow melted in the middle of May.
I know for those in warm climates, similar to their natural habitat, they can be planted in the gardens and become beautiful specimens. For me the storing and gauging light and dark cycles, trying to coax a rebloom etc. etc. is just too much trouble... especially for an inexpensive plant, fresh and readily available just about anywhere beginning in December.
Yours looks good - already being late July.
Oh another thought- Utzy if your plants are all new nursery plants, they will need some time to settle in to your garden. Their growth pattern in a container will not be the same as when they're established themselves in your garden soil. Plus the nursery may have been over-fertlizing them. Next year they will no doubt have a better appearance!
Re: milkweed, well I manage mine closely! Ma nature knows what she's doing, but her beautiful order has been terribly disrupted by mankind, so the Monarchs need all the help they can get. I patrol them milkweed plants regularly for insects, many of which are predators of the Monarch larvae, or degrade the quality of the foliage.
I also regularly pinch and sometimes cut back the Common milkweed by half or so, because this prompts them to send up tender fresh new shoots, which are much more palatable for small Monarch caterpillars (they have a hard time chewing through the tough big leaves).
Now I just need some Monarch mamas to come through!
Pea sticks look more natural than wire, plastic, velcro etc and are hidden as the plants grow. They need to be put in before the plants get too tall.
Here is a link that might be useful: Supporting perennials
I agree with those whose strong advice is don't use them in mixed perennial borders.
However, walls and concrete or (deep) gravel paths can stop them dead.
Planting next to other thuggy plants and also poor growing conditions help.
In my experience runners are much worse, in mixed perennial borders, than seeders. Seedlings tend to get shaded out by taller plants and deadheading, to extent bloom time and enhance flower attractiveness, is a big help.
It's the runners that scare me. I have a small garden and not a lot of places to put a thug. The only two plants that are considered aggressive are vinca and lamium. That's about it. The lamium is in a 4ft wide alley between my house and the garage and has stayed put. The vinca is under my front Maple that is bordered by the street on one side, the driveway on another, a fence line on the other and the fourth side is a rock edging that has about 15ft of mulch on the other side of the rocks. I haven't had any trouble with it going anywhere.
I naturalized thousands of bulbs when I lived in Iowa, and did the same on a smaller scale in Massachusetts. It's probably because I don't care about having a neat lawn but I liked seeing narcissus, scilla, species tulips and snowdrops in early spring. I wanted a show starting around March. The foliage looked ratty as grass was beginning to grow. For about a month, I had too-long grass, but by late May, I could mow the bulb foliage down.
I have seen the banks of daffs in England in spring as flora mentions. This was my inspiration. After a long dreary winter, spring flowers lifted my spirits.
Cheryl
I don't know anything about that particular Coreopsis, but feverfew needs to be deadheaded religiously or you'll have it everywhere. Mine grows in unirrigated areas like the gravel driveway, but I also get fairly regular rain most years. I also think that feverfew works best as a biennial since the plant doesn't look very good after blooming IME. In general the Coreopsis (mostly thread-leafed and lanceolata varieties) I've grown have been much easier and more decorative.
I was growing it by accident for 2 years or so(survived 2 very mild winters). It was mixed in some other bulbs. What was most amazing about it was, that with me it was leafing out in the late autumn and the foliage survived.I never understood what was going on.
Molie, it's not just lavenders, of course. Well Sweep sells close to 2000 different perennials, the vast majority they propagate themselves. It's a family owned and run business; the third generation now works there - I spent some time talking to their grandson who just graduated with a degree in plant biology.
Truly a plant lover's dream nursery.
Kevin, I meant it sounded good. In my mother's native language (Polish) it rhymes with a lot of words: brama(gate), dama(lady), szrama(scar), lama(lama), jama(burrow), ta sama (the same), pidzama (pyjamas), rama(frame), panorama, fama (fame, gossip), plama(stain), reklama(advert), Jokohama(Yokohama), Fudzijama and Dalajlama (Dalai Lama)
This post was edited by wieslaw59 on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 18:30
You are so right. The foliage of the 4 daylilies that I have in full to nearly full shade is looking great. Three of them bloom heavily. The two darker reds benefit from little direct sun on the petals. The white 'Joan Senior' in 7 years of full shade has put up far fewer blooms. The foliage of all those planted in full to nearly full sun started looking tired even before full bloom. One called Ruby Stella blooms it's heart out from early July to late August, but even before the flowers appear, the foliage has begun to deteriorate.
This post was edited by gazania on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 9:47
Crunchpa, true about the tired looking foliage in bright sun. Not only do my daylilies seem to look fresher in part shade, and often bloom more readily, but the color is also better. I find that there is more fading of color in full sun, especially with my red or whites, which really come out as creamy pinks in stronger sun.
Of course, this terrible heat has not helped with the general look of many of my plants and who can afford (or want) to water every day? I wonder if this very hot summer will affect the general bloom time of mine? Last year I slacked off on my record keeping but seem to remember that some of mine actually bloomed very late.
But isnt that the problem a2zmom...you are looking for a penstemon which might be able to put up with a bit more wetness than is traditionally the case with these plants?
(Btw, I was under the assumption that this "Riding Hood" line-up of penstemons were a relatively new introduction...when did you have yours?)
I grew it just a few years ago. And it does put up with more adverse conditions than most penstemons. Its fairly short, so I wouldn't mind trying to find one a bit taller.
The winter I lost it, I lost many, many plants - all my Agastache, my Gaillardia, a whole host of other plants. I'm still in the midst of filling in the holes.
Yep, it's definitely perennial as well as persistent--it came up this year in the same spots I found it coming up last year, even in beds with 3-4 inches of bark mulch layered over corrugated cardboard.
Keep in mind that folk who aren't susceptible to it may suddenly get the rash from it without warning--for more than 55 years I didn't have a problem with PI until a half-dozen years ago when I got the rash for the first time in my life. Since I've always been a gardener as well as a hiker, it came as a surprise to suddenly be driven half-insane by the itching rash. I keep lots of vinegar on hand to kill it.
I got PI this year probably from attempting to dig out some horse manure from a nearby stable. It wasn't as bad as it could have been since I happen to already be on prednsone.
I also used Technu - that stuff is a fortune but worth every penny. It really works to stop the rash.
GrreatPlains1, your response is very helpful and appreciated by those of us having the same problems. Thank you for taking time to share your gardening experience.
Pat
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This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 5:12