13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
hey campy ... lin is in chicago.. more attuned to my winter ... we are talking ground freeze ...
late fall summer/fall sowing will get you nothing but spring hatch .. depending on how late ... and that is fine for the two plants asked about ...
cat.. i used to weed ... back in suburbia... on a small lot ...
ken
the other trick ... since they need to contact soil .. rather than be spread on top of mulch ...
is to clear a one foot circle ... and so when 20 of them pop up.. in that circle.. odds are.. they will be what you planted ... and the circle will tell you you did plant something there...
they can be moved at the first true leaf or two ... dig a new hole.. pop the whole little plant out with a hand trowel ... insert in new hole ... do it on a cold rainy day .. in spring ... the idea being.. you get the whole tiny root with it.. and it never know you did it ...
you cant wait until its large .. no real sense of humor about that..
ken
Yeah, I wondered about that, too. I thought it might be an arkwrightii at first, except the absence of purple leaves doesn't fit. But my daughter has an 'orange gnome' that was pictured in the catalog as having purple-bronze tints to the leaves, but hers has never had much purple in the leaves at all. I believe the purple foliage is mainly in the spring(?). Maybe this year's crazy weather patterns has something to do with it. Or has it had all green foliage in previous years, too? Still, whether arkwrightii or another variety, it surely is a lychnis of some sort.
rouge - that is the Wolf Eyes dogwood - I thought it was dead this spring but it has leafed out on the top. There is a lot of deadwood that needs pruning out. Since that one is under the shelter of the pines, I thought it was well-protected, but obviously not! It had a fair bit of winterkill last year too, so I wonder if it is a weak tree - or maybe it doesn't like being protected! Maybe I need to try another one in a more open location...
green_go - up there you are obviously not subject to 'the lake effect' :-) But it's surprising that your redbuds did better than ours here - we obvious had a really abnormally cold winter here!
When you plant things, they aren't full size. Look up what width they can get to and plan your spacing from that. As I mentioned above, if you plant too closely with your humidity, you may have disease issues, especially on plants with delicate leaves like coleus, so you will have to decide if you want to chance that or not. Regardless, since the plants aren't full sized when you plant, mulch well right after planting, and then the plants will grow to mostly or entirely cover the mulch. Avoid colored mulch since you don't want it as the feature but to disappear into the background.
I think it might be mugwort... not delphinium :(
If you rub the leaves and it has a spicy smell its probably a definite on mugwort. Rip it out if possible, brush on that stuff if you want, but cutting it off at the bottom won't be enough since it's an aggressive spreader by root.
Thanks so much, Katob. I think you have it nailed. I looked up mugwort and your hunch seems sound. I just now read that even the smallest bit of root will be enough for a plant to come forth. Tomorrow I will take a spade and lift up the entire plant combination. I'll try to separate out the good, remove it from the soil, wash and replant it. Then I' toss the mugwort and soil into the trash bin. I don't need another pesky invasive weed in my gardens.
Katob, I'm sorry, I meant to mention that I put ONE stake near a clump and tied the biggest stem to it. Then I tied other stems from the clump to the big stem, etc.....so within one delphinium clump stalks are tied to each other using either one bamboo stake or one spiral stake. Even the stalks tied further away still held up ok in heavy rains.
Thyme- do you ever thin the clumps? I suppose I could justify staking if there were fewer bloom stalks to stake.
I came across this photo from last year. There are so many great garden photos on gardenweb I sometimes feel like I should stand up for the brown thumbs out there!
It looks like a fungal infection. I had one much the same attack my mini rose. I had some sulpher based fungicide and sprinkled it with that and it did the trick. I'd take as much of the infected leaves off as you can. Do not leave them laying on the ground. Put them in the garbage. When you water don't wet the plant. Water the ground around it. A plant fungus will spread with water carrying the spores from leaf to leaf
Thanks for the ID on the grass. I've only seen it in pots at the nursery, where its potential obviously does not show. I like the arcing form.
I've only been to England once but that was in March. I knew I had missed a lot but this confirms it. I need to go back. I will have to see if I can find a garden tour.
linnea... that will be something for you to look forward to... I do hope you manage the trip at some point..
Campanula... I have the 'Tatra Gold' Deschampsia, and I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it... but I find it has a fault which spoils it somewhat.... it gets flattened in rain and takes time to recover... it's not a pretty sight at such times...
Festuca's and Stipa's seem more resilient and quickly spring back...
Rereading your first post, een13. Under the eaves isn't the best place for them unless you are watering as you are doing. I only recently learned that astilbe are sun tolerant if adequately watered. But there's full sun in New England and full sun i n Arizona!
If your Amethyst seem to be shrinking or are smaller next spring that would suggest to me they are not happy under the eaves.
Another plus of several varieties is the repetition of the form through out the garden but with variation in the color and texture of the leaves.
Thanks, Marie! I'm happy to put in the effort of dividing them... once I learn how, that is!
I realize the placement isn't ideal. Unfortunately, we have a long walkway under that 10' eave I mentioned where we just need some green. We've tried garden ornaments and even fake flowers (gasp!), but nothing compares to real living plants. So I'm willing to water them regularly for the joy of seeing something growing there. The leaves are thriving... if those keep up and the blooms don't, I'll still be a happy camper!
i wouldnt waste time nor money on treating LOV ...
crikey.. you cant kill the stuff if you wanted to ...
any chance you had any hail .. to cause leaf damage ... if so ... treating some later problem... wont help the initial insult ...
if this stuff dies.. from lack of treatment.. i can send you a dump truck full ..
i wouldnt do anything..
ken
Heh, I am not as concerned that the colony will die, it will probably come back the first spring after a nuclear attack ;) But right now it looks pretty ugly, and it's right at the driveway entrance, so is pretty visible. Not a great expense either as it's only probably ~10sqft. Plus, it's good to know if something more valuable develops the same symptoms.
Don't think we had hail this year, but there was certainly plenty of rain.