13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
It's still a bit early to give up on them entirely. Neither my established fountain grass clumps nor feather reed grass are showing signs of new growth thus far but since they're mature plants that have come back reliably the past 5+ years, I have no doubt they'll reappear when they're ready. My Japanese sedge/Carex 'Ice Dance' clumps are thriving just as they have every season since they were planted.
in late july '12 i planted five 'Morning Lights' that were given to me as a gift and i have three more in pots that have yet to find a home. i placed those remaining three in the garage over the winter. only one that i planted is showing any growth. all others still dormant... i hope. i do have three 'Huron Stars' that are thriving, though.
absolutely - some of the creamy pale yellows are gorgeous 'Primrose', Elan, Hyde Hall and Randall's White - not so keen on the greens or the variagated foliage but they are really worth seeking out......along with hepaticas, another gorgeous genus.
Thank you all for the kind words. I have to admit that I did very little of all that work. I did, however, lend much moral support as my better half labored away. I delivered nice cold drinks, brownies and popsicles throughout his 3 1/2 days of hard labor. I love the sharp edging, but it is impossible to keep that look over the whole growing season. As all gardeners know, in the blink of an eye it seems, growing things will get ahead of one's good intentions. Good thing that we have a little less that an acre to work against us here. At least 2 of the larger island beds are in need of redoing and those hostas in the first picture need to be removed. They are suffering from too much sun since a very large American elm died and had to be cut down 2 years ago. The elm was replaced with a tulip tree, but it will be years for it's shade to be of any help.
blue princess is sold by Plant Delights. I purchased some of those this year and they are doing quite well. any of the verbenas on Plant Delights are all hardy in zone 7, so you can be sure that any of those would do well for you. I'll see if I can get a pic for you today. let me know if I can help further.
Noooo, don't say unkind things about sweet woodruff!
When it comes to groundcovers, the closest to "well-behaved" is "won't strangle your other perennials & you don't need a flamethrower to control it". Sweet woodruff is positively demure for a groundcover. If you don't like sweet woodruff you may want to reconsider & switch to mulch.
Why do you let them turn yellow and slimy?
In my beds above I have roses, ornamental small bushes and daylilies. When the BB are done blooming they are cut down. I also have a lot of daffodils, tulips and other Spring bulbs.
The daylily, roses and ornamental shrubs take their place and the beds are mulched at that time. It is the beginning of my Summer clean up for the Summer flowering plant show.
I cannot cut the other spring bulb leaves but the BB do not need their leaves. Cut them down do some weeding, put down some much and you end your slimy ugly mess.
Trust me, that isn't as bad as it could have been. Each year Steve Bender of Southern Living has a competition for the best (worst) "crepe murder" of the year. This isn't even close to being as bad as his "winners."
This is not too bad of a prune job...probably could have left a little more branching structure. You may get some droopy limbs this year, but it should be fine.
It looks like it's already been butchered in the past. I see those big 'knuckles ' near the bottom of the frame.
Looks like this poor tree will require lots of pruning from now on. In my opinion, it has outlived its usefulness for this particular location. If you were my client, I'd strongly suggest that you have this damaged tree removed and that you plant a nice specimen far away from the utility lines.
Foxglove can be spectacular. Last year I had a couple nice patches, started from seed the year before. This year, only a handful of plants made it through the winter, lost most of last year's seedlings to crown rot.
Digitalis 'Excelsior hybrids' & 'Camelot Cream' -
Lovely! So yes, it is foxglove. It seems like I have two types of flower buds. One developed normally. The other is open that whole time and the petal just grows outward while open. Attached is a more developed photo of the process. The ones which have turned colors were the ones originally photographed. Then you can see one which is developing normally which hasn't developed color yet. Thanks you guys for all your help!
Well I was wrong. The 'Cosmic Eye' out front did survive. It has doubled in size, so is about 4in wide now?? LOL. The bugger was hiding behind a salvia ;-)
The 'Moonbeam' a GW trader sent me last year has come up without a hitch btw.
CMK
Molly, your mom won't be disappointed with tree peonies in Z5b NH. I have a small area of my garden pretty much devoted to a bunch of tree peonies and shade perennials. The tree peony I have planted in full sun is much larger than the others in shade. In the shade the flowers hold on longer and don't tend to fade as much as the one I have in full sun. Just a couple of things for her to think about as she chooses the planting site.
Here is a pic of one of the peonies in a shadier spot:
One of my all-time favorite plants in the spring even if the flowers are at times fleeting. The foliage is great all season long, no pests, no fuss......
They are reliable bloomers but may be slow to reach maturity and bloom the first time. I think the foliage is attractive even without a bloom. For me the bloom is spread out over the season and not a lot at one time. I find the seed pods attractive and would probably get more bloom if I removed them. Al
A seek after posting this question, my Glaucium / Horned Poppy is forming flower buds. Most poppies bloom here in March and april, so I assumed these would too if they were going to bloom. Now. is there anyway to divide this multi-stem plant? It appears that the stems meet well above the soil line and do not have any roots. My book only mentions propagation by seed.
Woody plants are usually referred to as shrubs.