13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I've always lugged all of my pots back inside into the basement for the winter (about 25) just to see what will survive and come back. The spikes come back to life with careful fist exposure in the spring (I've burned a few), and my 7 foot oleander tree does fine with no care or water and low light from my tiny baement window. Never had luck storing bulbs and tubers, so I left the cannas in the pots to die on their own...What a surprise to have them come back to life when I brought them back outside and started watering them! I also had a heliotrope come back to life after a winter with no care. This year I invested in a datura and cestrum nocturnum and want to put them in the basement (I have no room upstairs for these large pots). Do they need water or will they go dorment? I will take cuttings of the cestrum to be safe but would like to save the plant as it is a good size (2ft) and will be much larger come October. My basement gets fairly cold as I am in zone 5 in Massachusetts, so I'm afraid if I use artificial light and provide water they will just die as they are tropicals...Has anyone overwintered these in a cold basement?
I've always lugged all of my pots back inside into the basement for the winter (about 25) just to see what will survive and come back. The spikes come back to life with careful fist exposure in the spring (I've burned a few), and my 7 foot oleander tree does fine with no care or water and low light from my tiny baement window. Never had luck storing bulbs and tubers, so I left the cannas in the pots to die on their own...What a surprise to have them come back to life when I brought them back outside and started watering them! I also had a heliotrope come back to life after a winter with no care. This year I invested in a datura and cestrum nocturnum and want to put them in the basement (I have no room upstairs for these large pots). Do they need water or will they go dorment? I will take cuttings of the cestrum to be safe but would like to save the plant as it is a good size (2ft) and will be much larger come October. My basement gets fairly cold as I am in zone 5 in Massachusetts, so I'm afraid if I use artificial light and provide water they will just die as they are tropicals...Has anyone overwintered these in a cold basement?
I pot up many seedlings, but usually do this in the Spring. Sometimes I pot up the winter-sown seedlings to let them put on some size before planting in the garden. This seems to increase their chance of survival. I just planted out some nice 6 inch Foxgloves yesterday and the day before, that I had potted as tiny seedlings and let grow on for 4-6 weeks.
I think you can pot up some Rudbeckia seedlings now if you want. If they are growing in a crowded littIe bunch they are probably competing for resources and won't grow optimally anyway. I would keep them some place easy to tend, where they only get a half day of sun (so they don't fry), and keep them well watered. Use a diluted liquid fertlizer about once a week.
Or you could thin them out in the patch, pamper a little, and transplant in fall.
I do it all summer long. If I see and recognize a seedling that I'd like elsewhere, I'll pot it up and stick it in the shade for a few days. Most of the time, they rebound just fine.
I yanked up 2 common milkweed sprouts that were in a bad spot & stuck them in a pot. They sulked for about 10 days, but finally started adjusting and started standing tall. And they HATE to be moved...
There is a lot of good information, If you google plants affected by asters yellow it will give you university sites. Good reliable information written in easily understood language. Many other of our garden plants, vegetables and crops are affected by aster yellows. Theirs no current effective control for the leaf hopper that spreads AY.
Hope I say this right, all of the plants we grow are susceptible to viruses and deadly bacteria's. Some can be spread by our hands such as hosta virus x. Some spread by thrips,ect. The point I'm getting to is it could happen that your plants become infected and it may never happen. So relax there are worse viruses out there. For an eye opener google Wisconsin Pest Survey you'll see plants with viruses that you probably never heard of before. Doom and gloom is not my intent. It is that I love to garden and plant diseases or not I'll still garden. The best I can do is to recognize a sick plant as soon as I can and get rid of it ASAP!
There's a large area the width of the house located on the north side that gets full shade. I designed the garden on paper before ever pushing a spade into the soil. There are the following now planted & thriving in it:
Hosta 'Krossa Regal,' 'Regal Splendor,' 'Dream Weaver,' 'Queen of the Seas,' 'Revolution' & 'Frances Williams.'
Cimicifuga racemosa/black snakeroot
Tricyrtis hirta/toad lily
Alchemilla mollis/lady's mantle
Carex/Japanese sedge 'Ice Dance'
Heuchera/coral bells
Hellebore/Lenten rose
Perennial geranium
Aquilegia/columbine
Astilbe
Brunnera/Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost'
Polemonium/Jacob's ladder
Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'/white bleeding heart
Pulmonaria/lungwort
Mertensia virginica/Virginia bluebells
Athyrium/ferns (Japanese painted + one other)
The bed itself is 24 ft. wide & 4 ft. deep at its widest points (I curved the edge & laid a walkway). This photo was taken early in the season before things reached their full size.
Sorry it's not from exactly the same angle but here's how it looked later in the growing season:
I have LOTS of shade, and the plants I have are hostas (of course!), foxgloves, hydrangeas, astilbes, azaleas, columbines, heucheras, lily of the valley, monkshood, carex, bleeding hearts, and tiarellas.
Iin areas that are more shady than sunny, the following do quite well: phlox, daylilies, geraniums, toad lilies, chrysanthemums, campanula, lilies, platycodon, annual rudbeckias, coreopsis, fothergilla, pulmonaria, feverfew, echinacea, daisies, penstemon, dahlias, itea, hollies, clethra, boxwood, viburnum. If you have spring sun you can plant bulbs as well, which would theoretically bloom before the shade took over.
I even have a few roses in half sun/half shade that do fairly well - probably would do better in sun but not bad in shade - Darlow's Enigma, Zephrine Drouin, and Lyda Rose.
Sorry, I don't really have any pictures to share. My gardens are so messy they might discourage you anyway, lol.
Good luck!
Dee
It's been my observation and experience that Mertensia virginica/Virginia bluebells, Brunnera/Siberian bugloss, Polemonium/Jacob's ladder, perennial geranium, Aquilegia/columbine & Dianthus/carnation bloom between daffs and daylilies. In part shade, these have performed well where I am one zone warmer. There are likely others but these are plants I'm growing for the bees, butterflies & hummingbirds.
there are many non-flopping oriental poppies developed here in Europe in recent years. They are beautiful, but the blooming season is shorter than anything else, so I regret I bought so many. All from Paris-series are non-flopping(a.o. Place Pigalle, Clochard), Karine and others.
I have geranium wallichianum Buxton's Blue. It usually doesn't bloom until late summer, and has the best blue color under cooler conditions. It tends to be more lavender-ish in hot weather. Mine doesn't bloom heavily, but I like it anyway, since it blooms after all the other hardy geraniums have quit.
For me, Stylophorum diphyllum is very well behaved. It does set a good number of curiously ornamental pods filled with copious amounts of seed which is carried off almost instantly by ants who are attracted to the elaiosomes. I have not noticed any seedlings yet, and there are no seedlings to be found around my neighbors' more established plantings either.
I do wish mine would multiply, so this year I have been intercepting the pods as they start to turn yellow, right before bursting open. I have been scratching the fresh seed into the soil where I hope some will germinate in the spring.
I have read that even the small seedlings are easy to identify and remove. This plant will not regrow from root fragments left behind once pulled up.
There are many other plants called wood poppy or celandine that can be invasive. The most notorious are Chelidonium majus--a European import that can look shockingly like Stylophorum diphyllum--and Ranunculus ficaria.
Here is a link that might be useful: Confusion over Celandine--Scott Arboretum
rouge - it's not that the property is big but that the spot the mukdenia is in is damp (LOTS of mosquitoes!) and there are roots of a pussy willow tree that I tend to trip over when trying to get down there! We bought the mukdenia at the RBG plant sale in early May. I was still in a cast at that point so I told DH where to plant it - I wasn't entirely sure he fully understood where to put it.... I haven't wanted to risk tripping over the tree roots so I've not gone down to see what's happened to the mukdenia. I just sent DH down to take a picture of it for me. He had trouble finding it at first since he planted it too close to a hosta and it was hidden under the hosta leaves! Clearly it'll need to be moved next spring. But it seems to be doing OK:
Veronica Romiley Purple and Sunny Border Blue would both do well there for a spiked plant. Both would stay more compact and upright than Salvia or catmint. Both do well for me with some sun or full sun. Excellent plants and other colors to choose from.
For some reason, they liked to get powdery mildew, where I lived before. Now I'm closer to the beach, but maybe there is a bit more air movement and there isn't a swimming pool next door, either.
I've Eva Cullem, Blue Paradise, Red= Starfire(?) White , probably David and seedling from it that looks just like the lavender form of it. Orange Perfection, which I would not have purchased had I not seen it in person. But there is Dusterlohe, which goes by another American name, I've forgotten, or otherwise its sometimes just listed as 'Purple'' by inexpensive mail order. I really preferred Mt Fuji, or Fujiyama, to David. The flower heads were larger and had a yellowish eye. But in heavy rain, the panicles might flop, when in full bloom.
Blue Paradise is spectacular colors in the early morning and/or at sunset, welll at least shade in either start or end of the day, for better enjoyment,
Trying a new 'Tiara'or double white, but maybe due to being underfed (?), it had small flowers and wasn't double florets, in any case. Possibly too young, might be reason for that. Not sure.
But newer ones seemed to all have smaller flowers, and shorter. Not sure if they 'Volcano series, or what. Not certain how to avoid fungus, other than possibly divide the plants, for better circulation, or remove lower leaves and then don't place them as close to the edge of the border.
I love border phlox, especially when it is highly fragrant *and* mildew free. I know of three resources to find out more about which cultivars are likely to do well in hot, humid conditions:
1. Plant Delights Nursery. If they grow and sell it, it is likely to do well in hot, humid conditions without mildew.
2. Niche Gardens. The same comments above apply here, too.
3. Perennial Pleasures Nursery. Although located in northern Vermont, the owner is a phlox collector and has years of experience. She could probably recommend which of her plants are likely to do well in your conditions. Almost all of my phlox has come from this nursery. I highly recommend it!
Hope this helps,
Ispahan
Here is a link that might be useful: Perennial Pleasures Nursery
The furry guy is a hummingbird moth. That Bee Balm pretty much fills an 8 foot round bed. Put 3 plants in 4 years ago and let it spread. I love it for color and for all the creatures that love it for food.
Japanese beetles are here but not nearly as many as the past couple years. The only plant that they have swarmed on is a particular geranium leaving other geraniums next to it untouched.
I love that hummingbird moth. Aptly named, too, because I was looking at it and at first I thought it was a hummingbird...but then not. I've never seen one of those around here in the PNW, although we might have them. Certainly none in my garden.
I haven't seen any Japanese Beetles this year either. There's a little black beetle that's giving me fits, though. That and I seem to have earwig issues this year.