13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Lowes has Aubrieta for sale around here right now.
I have a sort of cascade (beds beside steps) of aubrieta about ready to bloom.
I am ambivalent about this plant. It puts out an amazing bloom for a few weeks in spring that gets lots of compliments- then it looks bad ugly and needs a haircut to cut off all the flower stalks and seed pods.
It is prone to some kind of VERY Thick white fungus that if you disturb the plant it billows like smoke. YuK!
and I had a big section up and die this last winter so I am torn about regrowing it.
The local park grows a wall of alternating colors (mine is a really nice bold violet color) with some other creepers and it looks great.
nothing to lose roxy ....
but my bet would be 90% leaves.. and maybe one weirdo who might flower ...
but they should be in sync for the following spring.. all else OK
they need a cold period to set the bloom.. so if they were in a cold garage.. and didnt dry too much.. well.. maybe..
but if they were in the house.. and no chill period... no flower ....
ken
Thanks everyone! I hadn't thought about adding anything else to the bed - I was worried about damaging the flowers that are already there. Bulbs might not be a bad idea. I will have to look into some that bloom a little later so I will have some flowers in the late spring/summer.
It gets confusing, but nurseries and growers have taken to calling this (Phlox subulata) "Creeping Phlox" when historically it was known as "Moss Phlox" and Phlox stolonifera was "Creeping Phlox" (basically, a shade species of phlox).
Anyway, neither here nor there, but interesting.
Catmint does not behave like other mints for me. I love it in my garden and it took a couple of years to really grow and its one of my favorites! I have it growing the front of the bed where it cascades onto the walkway. I put coffee grinds etc around it but it does well without.
Obviously Ken has never even grown a Nepeta. That's like saying "Devil's Apple" has the word apple in in, so it must be the same as your grocery store apple.
As other's have said, composting is not really needed. The more x-erscape type catmints are good to go, but I do tend to give my Nepeta subsessilis some compost once in a blue moon. Unlike the other types it tends to look more robust with the occasional feeding and not overly dry conditions....
Guessing you have one of the others though, like 'Walker's Low' ;-)
CMK
This post was edited by christinmk on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 12:50
They are really billed as high-shade/moisture plants here because the tendency is for them to dry up in summer -- they really need constant moisture and that necessitates a shady spot. Not sure if that explains why people have had trouble with their longevity or not. I think the ideal location is under deciduous tree cover where they get plenty of initial sun before the trees leaf-out so they can bloom well and are eventually protected from the hot/drying summer sun by the tree cover.
This post was edited by mistascott on Sun, Apr 21, 13 at 17:06
I have about thirty total mixed Callunas and Ericas.
I shear all of them every year after they are done blooming and they all stay compact without splaying out or dead centers.
Shearing is particularly important with Callunas...
You know, I have a friend who has a VERY wet garden - I'm talking standing water in parts of it. Before we redid it to include water-loving plants, she had (and still has - if it ain't broke don't fix it!) a gorgeous peony in there that throve and bloomed and is just beautiful. Granted, it was not in the part with standing water, but it is indeed very wet throughout most of the year. ('m talking so wet I lost a shoe in there! Sucked right off my foot when I lifted it to walk!) I left it right where it was (the peony not the shoe!) since it seemed to like the spot.
So perhaps your peonies will be okay. Obviously yours probably got more water, at least all at once, than my friends do, but you never know. Let's hope for the best!
Dee
I love the trend of grower's working on smaller and dwarf shrubs. They mix into perennial borders much better and with smaller gardens they are better too. With plants such as Forsythia which really only have one season of interest, a smaller plant is easier to mix in the rest of the year too though I have seen one with very interesting variegated foliage but it was too big of a grower for me.
Well, just dig up whichever ones you don't and then pull up the seedlings as they occur. The seedlings have a very distinctive appearance - they are two-leaved (before the true leaves emerge) and usually red in colour. I thought I had a photo but unfortunately I don't... (and I haven't done it in so long that I can't remember how to post photos here anyway!) The seeds are ejected some distance from the parent plant but I'm sure you'll soon come to recognize the seedlings.
And nhbabs' warning about the sap is absolutely correct - wear gloves for handling plants in this genus. (I can get away with bare hands for pulling seedlings, but not for any work that might mean coming in contact with the sap - I have caused myself blisters from contact!)
Kevin, I think maybe it's not the cost per plant per se, but a few other things. One, we used to get three plants for that same price! Okay, maybe we were spoiled, but that's the way it was and we got used to it.
Secondly, the price for the-now-one-plant is for one plant of the same size as one of the three plants. (wow, that was an awkward sentence! Let me try to rephrase!). Not only are we paying, say, $12 for one plant instead of 3, but that one plant is really no larger than it was before, when it was one of a trio. Bluestone advertises that the single plant is larger, but I really see no difference. The POT is bigger, yes, but the plant? Honestly to me it just seems like a plant from the three-pack transplanted to a bigger pot.
Add in shipping, etc., and the price is way more per plant than it used to be.
I too hate shopping in general, and don't even really like nursery shopping. While I have some reputable nurseries near me, they cater to Fairfield County clients with mega-bucks to spend on their landscapes, clients who don't even usually do their own shopping (their landscape designers go to the nurseries to shop) and I find the plants to be expensive, not always in the best shape, and the nurseries have nowhere near the guarantee and customer service that Bluestone offers. So I would much rather continue to shop at a great place like Bluestone.
But if I have to pay $9 for a coneflower, I'd rather zip over to the nursery three miles away and buy a decent-sized plant in a good-sized pot, than order it on-line, pay for shipping, and have it arrive as a three-inch plant in a four-inch pot.
Yes, with coupons and sales you can get better deals, and that is what I now do, but I used to order plants at the drop of a hat with Bluestone throughout the season. Now I check out the local nurseries and limit my Bluestone purchases to sale time.
Some here may think that is better, as it supports local nurseries. To be honest, I'd rather support Bluestone, after all the years of great service and great plants (both better than the local places, IMO) and I hope the company continues to do well. I just can't justify spending the money for the new return there, and will limit my spending to sales.
Sorry to ramble!
:)
Dee
Have to add one thing. I got my Bluestone order this afternoon, and while the plants were small, as expected, they look very good. AND... an astilbe I ordered was huge by Bluestone standards! I think this is one of the biggest plants I've ever gotten from them. If they are going to start sending plants this size, it would, IMO, be worth it to continue to order. But I am hedging my enthusiasm - the other half dozen plants were the usual Bluestone size.
I'll just have to order something from the next sale to see about sizing!
Dee
torajima - I planted liatris several years ago for the butterflies but ultimately decided I didn't like them. Dug them up, gave away as many as I could find homes for and threw the rest over the hill behind my garage. When they came back even after such rough treatment, I decided to give them a second chance. I still don't like them but since the butterflies do, they're here to stay.
Fingers crossed my woodland phlox returns--I just planted it in May of 2011.
Usually peonies are moved and planted in the fall, though if they aren't bare root, they can be moved early spring. If you need to move it this spring, take lots of soil with it and don't damage the one leaf stalk.
Here's a page from the U of RI, so relatively close to you, about care of peonies.
Here is a link that might be useful: URI peony care fact sheet
JoyBee, you don't indicate what climate zone you're in, and it could make all the difference. If you are in a warmer zone, say zone 9 or 10, then it would be my guess that your local garden center is right in putting heucheras into the shade. Here in southern California, morning sun/afternoon shade is about as far as we can push the envelope, and dappled sun is even better.
Kay
and since most of us grow them as annuals.. you would find the post in that forum at the link .. by our own GW expert ...
ken
Here is a link that might be useful: link
Dumb mistake on my part, Ken. . .I actually DO know the difference between perennials and annuals :>)
Thanks for pointing that out!
Carl