13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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 ...
Well, technically, the blooms haven't opened yet, so it is possible that it was mislabeled, but doubtful. There was a lot of them together and they all had the same growth habit, a reputable nursery that I have bought many things from and nothing has ever been mislabeled. I think it is more likely that b/c it is a relatively new hybrid, then there is just disinformation out there and this grower just passed on the disinformation. I did notice online that the estimates were all over the place, but nothing near what mine is growing like. It's funny b/c my clay soil usually affords me smaller plants than the estimate, not the opposite!
I've done this a number of times... and still do... the biggest one lately has been (last fall) putting daffodil bulbs in front of bergenia... When I look at it I just wonder what was I thinking? I also put valerian in front of an echinacea and black eyed susan... ha! In my defense, I figured the valerian wouldn't get as tall as it did. It was about 8" high last year, very low growing, so I figured it wont get past 2 feet this year.... Now at about 5 feet tall, the ech is doing fine but poor susan can't get any sun so she'll get dug up and moved to a container until I can rearrange in the fall
I enjoy a combo of commercial cultivars and seed-grown plants in the gardens.
Been starting plants from seed since 1986, but with the "discovery" of winter-sowing, that has increased exponentially. I do most of it outside now via winter or direct sowing instead of inside under lights. I love to watch seeds germinate and little baby plants grow up, enjoy the genetic diversity of seedlings, and get a little thrill to discover self-sown seedlings in the gardens. I'm also doing a little plant breeding of my own, dreaming about cultivating an interesting, perhaps even commercially viable plant.
I've got a lot of patience for growing from seed, but still get a rush going to the nursery and buying a few plants for instant gratification! However, I am more cautious. After having lost many nursery and mail order perennials over the years, heck some of them didn't even make it ONE YEAR, I prefer cultivars that are more durable.
When I did a lot of seed starting under lights, I did it mainly because I enjoyed the process and the daily work of caring for all the seedlings was kind of a nice distraction from winter. I really didn't do it to save money. Maybe I did, but then electric rates really started to skyrocket and I couldn't stand the monthly bills. I also simply grew tired of it and really have no desire to go back to doing it.
I guess the only exception, like mxk, is growing veggies from seed, but almost everything is direct sown in the garden except for the tomatoes. Those I start inside. Also like mxk, I save my seeds from year to year, so a packet of beans or whatever lasts me for years. It's pretty gratifying knowing that patch of beans which feeds for me most the summer probably cost me 25 cents if that. I get a kick out of that.
I was recently at a garden center where they were selling plastic pots full of green bean plants already in bloom with some sort of trellis to support the growing plants. The whole thing cost an absolute fortune and I kept thinking who in the word would be dumb enough to spend that kind of money on a few bean plants you could grow yourself - from seed - for a couple of pennies? I'm sure someone bought them though.
Kevin
When I think of big plant I think of Ligularia Marie Britt or Hosta Sum and Substance, or a big Yucca. I do not understand big plants as a perennial that has a lot of one single stem plant. If that is what is needed for the area I guess you need tall plants for the back of a garden.
Really Big plant is a statement plant in my mind.
I really haven't had any problems with overwintering Heucheras, but this spring the majority of them looked like absolute crap. I thought maybe this was the winter that did them in, but I was amazed at how fast and lush they grow and fill in once the weather warms up.
I did have 2 casualties however. 2 green leaved, no name varieties I've had for years. Both were seed raised from a T&M seed packet mix.
Kevin
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!!
I'd suggest fall division. They take a long time to recover well. And,yes, full sun here too.