13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

the link ... first one.. says hardy to st louis..

are you north or south of such ..

that may be the defining issue ...

z5 is simply too broad a stroke to guess .. or be definitive ..

zone info is basically JUST minimum winter temp ...

but in my z5 MI .. the ground can freeze over a foot deep .. wherein i will bet.. magical st louis does not have that kind of cold penetration.. though they have the same min temp ... see the difference???

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

We are in SE Iowa. We have had a couple of milder winters with snapdragons and gladiolus overwintering, but we are prone to ridiculously lows any given winter as well.

I hadn't thought of lifting them though. I lift a couple of dahlias and a ton of glads, surely I can make room for some hardy begonias too. :)

Thanks for the replies.

This post was edited by trovesoftrilliums on Tue, May 7, 13 at 15:24

The only reason I keep trying is that a family near here has huge mounds of mums around the house foundation that come back every year and just keep getting bigger. They have had these same mums for many years.

They pinch them back until the end of June and do absolutely nothing else.

Those sound worth taking cuttings, if you are permitted to do so. Sounds like those old plants aren't the prima donnas they sell now, haven't had the toughness bred out of them.

Around the foundation would indicate a possible micro-climate. If they're under an eave, the added dryness may be helpful also.

Well I usually see A syriaca growing in good soil in the wild. And I've got 3 small patches that planted themselves in this yard, and they are all in medium soil. They are drought tolerant once established although I'm not 100% sure of their nutrient requirement.

The potting soil or mix in containers will get depleted of nutrients quickly, so you generally need to fertilize. So I usually use a weak liquid fertilizer in containers (in the ground I use mostly compost, occasionally an organic granule type fert.).

Thanks for the info. They are in a pretty deep pot, well it's a 5 gallon bucket actually... The stems seem much thicker this year. Last year I had 4 stalks and it looks like there are about a dozen this year. I think I'll keep giving it the attention you all recommend and not cut any of the stalks as they seem thicker. It may be that they are in a sunnier spot than last year too.
Fingers crossed, waiting for Monarchs (we have gotten them to stop by before)
Happy Gardening everyone!

I planted an Eryngium 'Big Blue' Sea Holly last year and it did bloom the first year. It was a beauty in the garden all summer. Sadly, Hurricane Sandy did it in. We live along a tidal river and had quite a bit of flooding in the bottom half of the garden. (Glub! Glub!)

We just replaced it today with a new plant from the same local source. This time we'll put it higher up in the yard.
Molie

Thanks for letting me know! And ugh, Molie, that's awful. Hope everything's back together for you.

I just bought 'obsidian'. Saw it at a local nursery and immediately fell in love and had to have it. Such dark purple color.... amazing

FYI when this post started GW did not have a Heuchera Forum. There is one now if anyone wants to look at what some are finding now.

They have made so many improvements to make these plants hardy. Unlike the one year expensive annuals they use to be.

Here is a link that might be useful: HEUCHERA FORUM

Is it possible to correct my title in the first post, so that people are not misled?

Sooo pretty! :)

You've moved that plant a lot, but it looks happy now. That's a pretty one. I have a couple that I hope put out that many flowers. They go well with hostas, but the snails and slugs like them too much.

Yes Sandy it was a plant on the move. I have never had a plant that had such a death wish in my garden. If I put it in the sun it was trying to die at one point it was one leaf. If I put it in my shade garden it did grow two leaves. It seemed to be very particular where it wanted to grow.

Hi, again. Wanted to respond to all of your suggestions.

Really wanted an "all summer" bloomer to contrast with the other colors in this bed, so a spring bloomer like aurinia, even though pretty would not work. We already have a lot of geum in several other beds, and I enjoy its wonderful color, but again it is an early bloomer.

We have about 60 beds all told and my husband is particular about what goes where. He doesn't like most sedum. [Does like a couple of varieties that we have out front].

Gaillardia is out because it gets out of hand too fast.

I am afraid that the potentilla would be too much of a bush type plant for what he wants for these beds.

We have had coreopsis and he really didn't like it [although it is still trying to come up around a lamppost and I think it would be good there so am trying to "encourage" it.âºâº]

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to try to help me out.

I wish the potentilla would work as it looks like a very pretty plant. Although might not be the best anyway as we have very rich soil and it looks like it would do better in a somewhat sandy soil.

The Penstemon looks pretty to me, but might be too airy for my husband - he also seems to like fuller leaves. We did have a reddish pink variety of penstemon once in another bed that did not do well under similar light and soil conditions.

I love the look of the Doronicum orientale Little Leo, but it is only a spring bloomer. Even so, I am going to show it to my husband. It would be a really pretty contrast to the husker red that is in the space near it. Thank you for that idea.

Nice ones Rouge! Those are very pretty and hopefully they will thrive in your shady border. FWIW, the flowers and pretty foliage look nice in a springtime bouquet, mixed with late tulips for example.

I'm looking forward to getting a few more of these for some spots that have turned nicely shady over the past few years. I love their woodland look

What heuchera are you leaning toward? I could see Red Fountain getting along well with some of the burgundy/silvery types.

Actually 'karin' the two heuchera I "need" ;) not only will be near these "Red Fountain but will also be be placed close to a new "Misty Blue" Actaea.

My Russian Sage is just starting to show signs of life at the bases on the Little Spires, nothing yet on the bigger ones (two different beds). My columbines have been up for a while now-most of mine are from one plant I bought ages ago that self seeded elsewhere in my garden at my old house. I moved those seedlings to the new place and I think they all came back. I don't deadhead mine so I usually get a volunteer here and there every year.

Most of my perennials are up and growing nicely. I'm surprised as how good most of my plants look this year. We did have a mild winter and that may contribute to how nice things look. That being said, I did lose, or at least they are not showing any sign of being alive, a few plants that I'm surprised about.

One is a Pink Double Delight Echinacea. It was a nice sized plant that was growing and blooming in a large pot during the summer and then planted in the veggie garden - best soil in the yard- for the winter. This spring I had planned on putting it in it's permanent spot. So far, I don't see any sign that it's alive. All of my other Echies are up and growing.

The second surprise demise seems to be an 8 year old perennial Blue Flax. I had moved this plant in 2006 from our old house when we moved here in August of that year. It has thrived and even produced seedlings that I've shared with neighbors and friends. This year there is no sign of the main plant. It did leave two seedlings that are growing a few feet away and that I'm happy to have since the main plant looks like it's not coming back.

I also lost an Icelandic Poppy that bloomed for weeks after planting last spring and then in the heat and drought of last June, it just seem to disappear. I've grown other poppies before, so I thought it may have just been going dormant in the heat. Looks like in this case dormant = dead. There is no sign of it. I do want to replace it since I got so much enjoyment from it last year.

All of these losses are something that I had not expected.

Linda

Thanks for the vote of confidence Kevin, but all credit goes to DH, he's the smart one around here. But I do the digging, so at the end of the day we balance out. :)

I like the idea of spin out bags to allow hostas to survive in beds that are planted under trees, so thanks for that suggestion, mxk. I will take that on maybe next year. I imagine that digging under a tree to install them is no easy task.

We purchased this house as new construction in 1999 with nary a tree in sight. Boy were those early years windy and barren. We are just so appreciative of having trees and shade so I am perfectly willing to deal with the consequences of having trees in the gardens. A photo is attached, showing one of the willows limbed up to make a graceful arc over the walkway, which I really love. The raised beds in question are in the background, with another willow to the left of them.

Karin, those willow leaves look so beautiful, so delicate against the blue mountains! The fact that you have a windy spot means you must also get to "hear" the branches rustling in the breezes. I think the sound of them is what I miss most about the willow I remember as a child---- that and running through the long, sweeping branches that almost touched the ground.

Molie

All those scary wisteria stories usually involve the rampant Chinese wisteria, W.sinensis. The Japanese variety, not only has much longer racemes of flowers, it is also considerably better behaved - W.floribunda.

For the OP (if he is still reading his....),

A large space is necessary to accommodate the roots and prevent any damage to the homes foundation and any other structures. Wisteria roots can reach around 100' NEVER give the plant fertilizer with nitrogen. It will sacrifice bloom for very rapid growth, and it already grows fast. Wisteria can create their own nitrogen. To help promote flowering; Some suggest to prune the roots every year by taking a shovel and splitting the shallow roots near the base. Also, to give it a fertilizer of 0-20-20.

A nice, far less aggressive (considered not aggressive at all by some), and at times reblooming alternative is wisteria frutescens. Otherwise known as American wisteria. The blooms are not nearly as fragrant or showy, but can rebloom. In my opinion, I would keep the wisteria potted, and train it up a stake to give it a tree like form.

**Avoid sinensis (Chinese). These are the most aggressive and probably the ones that self sow the easiest. Floribunda (Japanese), as campanula said, is far better but the vines and roots are still aggressive, but not as bad.

Another little tidbit...in the fall you might hear loud pops if the wisteria is close to your house. These are seed pods blowing apart and spreading their seeds a far distance. It's kind of fun, but like me if you didn't know at fist....very scary. I'll link a vid.

I hope this helps :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Wisteria blowing up.