13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I think Ken is being serious, and I think its a possibility but its not a border plant and those on the border are not affected at all so seems unlikely. Nevertheless, I did wash the plant down for several minutes. I doubt the roots are rotting, its a dryish spot with root competition from a crimson sentry maple tree. Bugs and fungus I have not ruled out completely, will do more digging in the morning.
I have grown Incarvillea in the past, but only I. delavayii seems to show up in the nurseries, and then only very rarely. (I may see only one plant every three years, or so.) I looked up the other species you mentioned, and they look nice. I will have to check out if they will grow in our climate, and debate with myself about going the mail order route.
I love rehmannia and they grow well here. It is one of those never-too-many plants that I encourage to grow everywhere throughout the yard. I made some new beds recently by removing some concrete, and went shopping for 5 1 gal. rehmannias to plant. But both nurseries were out. They are offered off and on throughout the year, so I will wait or move some starts.
I have a gasplant that would start out neat but splay out as the season wore on. I inverted an old tomato cage (they are useless for tomatoes anyway), cut off the pointy ends and bent them into "U" shapes and used them to anchor the cage to the ground. Works with sedums too, so I imagine salvias could benefit from being "caged".
My patio stones and the area around my vegetable garden are filled with various creeping thymes, and when they are in flower the humming of the bees is nearly deafening. The bees are so drunk with pollen that they pay no attention at all to people. In all the years I have walked through these areas, i have never been stung. I wouldn't walk through barefoot, however, though I do walk in sandals.
Yep - a number of my neighbors and I are all growing them in full sun with no supplemental water and they perform well year in and year out. I now have several winter sown cultivars that bloom white making a lovely contrast with the species blue/purple. Have at it, Neil!!
Understanding its life cycle and the "seed bank" it establishes is very important. I didn't have time to read coolplantsguy's post, but I'll bet that's the point of the article. You have to have an intentional three year plan and accept you'll be chasing it around the garden the rest of your gardening life.
I took it very seriously when it showed up in my perennial beds the first time two years ago. I'm on a search and destroy mission on the borders of my property, and when I see it on my neighbor's property I'll grab it there too.
Idabean
Of note in the summary of the article is that hand cutting the stems (using a weedwacker) and spraying roundup are the most effective routes of containment of large investation.
If you've received a lot rain recently, it is a good time to tackle garlic mustard removal, because the plants will be putting out flowers = seed.
It is well worth reading the entire article. It is sobering, but good control can be had for those who are persistent and understand the plant's life cycle.
If you pinch them now, you'll diminish the number of blooms you'll have to enjoy this season.
Deadheading Shasta daisies (as with most perennials in my experience), all you need do is snap off the spent blooms at the base of the flower. There's no need to cut the stems.
Personally, I leave the spent flowers on the stems so I can harvest the abundant seeds at season's end. These are easily grown from seed via winter sowing which spells more free plants & blooms for my garden in following years.
I agree some white, silver or variegated foliage would be good to add. When you move the Japanese maple further out you might look at taller things to put behind it that will help it stand out. There might be some narrow evergreens in your area that would work. As far as perennials, there are taller grasses that are narrow.
How bout a dwarf weeping cherry tree in the place of the maple. For full sun I would recommend lavender. I prefer the angustifolias (hidcote, munstead) to the intermedias because they seem to last longer and not die out in the middle so fast (turn into ugly donuts). They can be found fairly economically.
There is a nice variegated Iris which looks great out of bloom, and it's blooms are sweetly fragrant (can smell from some feet away)
maybe some october daphne sedum for the front and late bloom. The foliage is great even out of bloom.
there's also Salvia, and agastache, Caradonna Salvia makes a nice showy clump with it's wine colored stems.
I also recommend grass. Blue Oat Grass or Elijah blue Sedge.
I highly recommend doing a google search for landscape design /perennial beds photos and see if there are any designs that catch your eye and copy them. Sometimes it's easier than reinventing the wheel for yourself.
I moved to where I am 8 years ago and have continued to battle the invasives my parents + their neighbors planted (not knowing they were invasives) 30 years ago. It was a hard lesson after moving here but the rule of thumb I've learned to live by is that anything that goes in the ground must be identified by botanical name before even a hole is dug to plant it. That has stood me in good stead but hasn't eliminated the problems that existed prior to my occupation.
It eases my conscience that I haven't knowingly introduced anything to my little green acre that's considered invasive and that I continue to eradicate things that were, however inadvertently, introduced by the previous generation.
Since you've learned your lesson, albeit the hard way, rather than burn the money, why not burn the suspect plants? Just another lesson learned the hard way. Altho' I haven't personally made that particular garden mistake in the past, I've made plenty of others for which I've either forgiven myself or blissfully forgotten.
Good on you that you checked prior to planting so pat yourself on the back for that if nothing else.
Hi neighbor :) Someone must've hated me b/c they gifted me w/ Pinellia pedatisecta many years ago. I cannot find the fonts to adequately express my hatred for this plant It is EVERYWHERE - it reseeds like the devil. lol SO glad you didn't plant it
Grab that compost and mulch! You can never have too much of that stuff. Leaves, especially aged and crushed, are great, and grass clippings, so long as there aren't tons of weed seeds and it isn't super-fresh, is also good.
I also love swaps. I've gotten some of my favorite plants at them -- and also some things I'm still pulling out :). And I've met a lot of wonderful gardeners.
I worry about the weeds and am thinking about putting cardboard down and then mulch on top.
You go with that idea but expect to replace it a year or two down the road. It's worked for me for the most part but it isn't the be-all and end-all of gardening--there are some weeds that will grow right up through the cardboard and mulch (ask me how I know this to be true). Still, it's been effective more than it hasn't in several of my garden beds.
I understand putting the taller ones in back and making sure that everything is spaced properly.
Don't lose sight of the truth that whatever you're going for is right for you but may not be right for another gardener (or what you're planting). I like the look of space between my perennials because that's the look that pleases my eye. What pleases your eye is what pleases your eye & you get to decide that on your own but the plants themselves will ultimately determine the look of your garden.
Generally speaking, garden designs adhere to certain standard designs or patterns but they're not guidelines that are carved in stone. I took a huge, rectangular garden that existed before I moved here, divided it in half diagonally, stuck a granite garden bench in the center, curved the edges and laid a granite patio in front of the bench. Not the look the bed had prior to me having my way with it but to my eye it looks a lot more appealing than it did before.
Did I buy a garden design book? Yep--bought several and while they gave me ideas, none of the formal gardens worked for my property. I ended up with what worked for me so I'll suggest you sit down with a drawing pad & sketch what you see in your mind. I don't regret doing that and am vastly satisfied with what I've achieved.
Don't forget you'll have failures along with the successes. It's been the lesson I've had the most difficulty learning but the successes have mitigated the failures. There's SO much enjoyment when things return reliably year after year I'm reassured the plants I've worked to set in the ground truly are perennials and those that have disappeared are few and far between.
Absolutely, Nina. Not sure which you have, pretty sure ours is A. canadense. It can't grow as fast as we can eat it. Inside the scapes can be flower buds or bulbils (baby bulbs.) Any part that isn't too tough, (like the stalks holding up the blooms and bulbils,) is excellent for eating, including the bulbils, leaves, in-ground bulb parts.
Seriously - I am done with all the big stuff, but like rouge now comes the season for tweaking and routine maintenance. I guess that kind of work never ends, but it I find it much more relaxing and not so chaotic. You know - I don't think about it while trying to go to sleep like the other stuff.
I did move a phlox division today. I planted it a couple of weeks ago, but decided it would look better a couple of feet to the right. Time for a break. I'm exhausted.
Kevin
Hi, campanula. Mine do not have a scent, so you are probably right. I'm going to deadhead them and try!
How low should I trim? Just the tips? Or a bit lower down? I like to do it with large shears because doing it by hand is kind if a pain. Is that ok?
Thanks!!
Several years ago, I planted some perennial dianthus seed (the small, about 1/2" flowers), and bought some annual plants (the "typical" 1-1/2, flat flowers). -- sorry, I can't remember the botanical names anymore.
Most of the annuals I still have, and they bloom on & off all year long. I ruthlessly dig them up to move them around whenever I feel like it. Sometimes I shear them way back, which I'm really NOT supposed to do, according to what I've read, but I find the foliage gets a little sad looking a few times a year. I recently dug up about 8 or 9 of the worse looking plants, and potted them, leaving the two best in my rearranged bed. Most of the ones in pots seem to be very pleased with the move, and are growing like crazy.
None of the "perennial" came back after the first year, during which they never really performed well.
I bought two perennial plants (the scented varieties) a couple months ago, one died after about 3 weeks, the other is not reblooming, even thought it's been cut back.
Thank you all. This really helped. I'm going to watch for sales and see if I can grab a new one. I might move this to a different area and just see how it does. Doesn't cost anything.
Will try to remember to follow up with you.
Thanks again!
Yes, the conditions are identical.
==>> no they are not ... one is in mid-wall ... one is on a corner ...
ponder winter winds.. and try to explain to us... how that might make its winter conditions different ...
if this does in fact matter.. a replacement.. over time... will probably do the same thing ...
perhaps it is time for something different on that corner ...
it would be a MICRO CLIMATE issue ... and 10 feet can be a whole other world ...
ken
ps: if not winter wind.. what about winter sun ... reflected sun on warm winter days[off of one of those divergent walls] .. reeks havoc on plants whose roots are frozen solid.. or completely dormant ... [its a stinky havoc.. lol]
pps: and dont get all wrapped up in this whole notion of needing a grouping of three ... two will be just fine ...
I would say 'yes' - give them a careful trim. I have been deadheading mine. They don't need a trim yet. Cutting Back in the Spring
Cut back the tips of the stems of your purple verbena in the spring to encourage branching. You'll have stockier, bushier plants with more blooms as a result. Water the plant thoroughly and apply fertilizer to further encourage growth and blooms.
Cutting Back to Stimulate Blooming
Cut back purple verbena if blooming wanes in midsummer. Trim a quarter of the height and width of the plant using grass cutters or scissors. Then, water the purple verbena thoroughly, and apply liquid fertilizer diluted to half the strength recommended by the manufacturer for standard use.
Here is a link that might be useful: Do You Cut Back Purple Verbena?