13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

thank you so much!
:)

Yes, it most certainly is. You can buy them at craft stores for dried floral arrangements.

I understand exactly 'Sunny' re being 'bored' by it. I have two stands of two PT in two different gardens and sometimes after seeing those blooms for two months off and on (mostly on) I have thought "enough already"!

It's so interesting to hear other gardeners's reaction in such circumstances, Rouge.

You realize, it's not just me.

When I grew Nike in a pot, I watered with aluminum sulphate 3 times a year.1/3 cup to a gallon of water. Now I'm growing in the ground and can't seem to get the right amount on to get blue flowers. I have extremely alkaline soil-around an 8. I put sulphur on every fall, and the other in spring. We also have alkaline water.

It is virtually impossible to make substanial or permanent changes to soil pH. Soils have a tendency to buffer against these changes and so will eventually return to existing pH. And sooner rather than later.

If you have alkaline soil you will always have issues attempting to get any kind of Hydrangea macrophylla blue. Combine that with alkaline water and you are facing a losing battle! Under these conditions, it would be best to grow your macrophylla in a container or raised bed/planter where you can more easily modify the soil chemistry and monitor it. And be sure to acidify your irrigation water as well - a couple of tablespoons of household vinegar in the watering can will do. Or use the aluminum sulfate.

Do a Search here on the GardenWeb for...the toothpick technique. I have over the years done a few postings about this little known propagating method which should be done now, in September-October. It is easy. Works well. May be the only method that does work on difficult to root plants/shrubs/trees. I first learned of it from several top horticulturists at the Arnold Arboretum back in the 1970's who developed the idea and then just decided not to publicize it for whatever reasons. Since my first posting here on GW about The Toothpick Technique I have received numerous 'thank you's' from propagators across the country and England. Check it out.

Here it is - link below

Sounds interesting, but caryopteris are kind of known for being really easy to root.

Here is a link that might be useful: toothpick technique

Lisanti thanks for the ID.

Ken,

In general these aren't doing that great. They don't look as good as even some of the mediocre photos I've seen online.

I don't fertilize them frequently and when I do it's usually with Plant Tone (5-3-3). Next year I'm going to also be using either Flower-Tone (3-4-6) or Garden-Tone (3-4-4) for the flowering plants. I'll probably put down some shortly and again in the spring. In the future I won't fertilize as much but this bed has been neglected a bit. Sounds good?

The picture above was taken before applying fertilizer. The foliage grew quite a bit after fertilizer. It's about 2' tall now. The others are shorter and have worse PM.

I'm doing some work on the lawn and was planning to widen that bed a bit in a couple of weeks.

What's a pip?

The pips are the buds for next year's growth; take a look at the first picture in the link below - the little pink/red things are the pips, and they should be just barely below ground level.

Peonies are heavy feeders, and should be fed a couple of times during the year; I like Plant-Tone myself, but every so often I give mine a shot of non-organic 10-10-10.

Here is a link that might be useful: look at first picture

Hi ctopher

My plant does look very compact and is about 10 years old.
Should I divide it now or wait till the Spring?

It wouldn't make sense for it to be an exposure issue if it bloomed fine in previous years in the same location. Something else has to be causing the stress such as nutrient deficiency or excess, soil too dry, etc. Or maybe it is going to bloom, but later than usual. This can happen in dry summers.

I take the dried seedpods and shake them all over the place (I live in a clearing in the woods). The plants self seed, too, and grow where they are comfortable, usually at the edge of the woods or a building/wall, facing a light area. I pull out the ones that I don't want...very easy to do. I love the pink color in spring when not much else is blooming. Lovely.

Plant the seeds now, I don't know if they will get big enough to bloom next year but sometimes even very small seedllings of money plant will flower come springtime. You can wait until winter or spring and they will sprout fine then, but theres no chance they will bloom that year and they'll just sit there taking up space till next spring.

They won't get the variegation until next year but they should seed true as long as there aren't any plain green ones nearby to cross with.

i thought air also ...

with the caveat.. that you ALWAYS do a full fall cleanup with such plants..

which means.. not leaving any of the mildewed leaves to winter-over.. on top of the soil ...

but i am too lazy to google it this afternoon

ken

My understanding is that it's the mildew (fungi) themselves that overwinter on plant material, whether the plant material is not cut back, left lying on the surface or allowed to get into the soil.
It's not their spores.

As Ken says then, it's plant hygiene which is relevant; namely, in a garden, cut down and remove dead plant material in the fall, or before.

Good to hear! I did a little digging and it seems folks are fairly happy with this plant.

That is good to know. I posted earlier this season asking about lime green or chartreuse varieties that could withstand full sun. I had Miracle which could not handle it, and I have been leery about replacing it. But this Heuchera Marmalade looks like a color that could also work.

In full sun, doing well, I also have Obsidian and Stormy Seas.

Now having had "Golden Arrow" for a couple of seasons its good performance in pretty significant shade was something I wasn't expecting and so does open up lots of potential areas for planting this particular persicaria. Having said this it is not readily available for purchase.

The 'peachy' one is an annual...a "Fusion Gold Exotic Impatiens".

The clem flower is one of not very many remaining from a nearby "Polish Spirit".

Here is a link that might be useful: cool impatiens

Take an iPad or cell phone with browsing capacity so that you can look things up when you are at the nursery rather than relying on the tags. For shrubs I also have an app from Michael Dirr who is a shrub guru, formerly a prof at U of GA. Having the references available helps keep me from buying too much that is impractical.

Have a great time!

SunnyBorders -- You'll just have to come to Annapolis for breakfast. Poached eggs over softshell crabs on cornbread. And then we'll head to the nursery.

And nhbabs recommends we go with ipad in hand. I've got us covered!

All are welcome! To bad we can't do a virtual fieldtrip with the ability to taste (the softshells) and smell the roses.

Fantastic! I have two areas that might work. Decisions, decisions. As I get all these plants in the ground, the gardens are feeling smaller and smaller. And it is making me far more particular about what goes in. But Wolf Eyes looks like a real beauty.

I have a Hedgerow Gold in such a location and it is spectacular, lights up the area in the summer and beautiful structure after leaf drop. Al