13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
All depends on your soil. If you can cut it with your shovel in the way that it does not fall apart after being lifted, then you can move it whenever you want, as long as the plant does not notice it. Just dig the 'destination-hole' first, then cut 'the cubic with the plant from all 4 sides' and relocate it.
No real mentor at all. In fact did not really care that much about gardening having grown up having to dig up bermuda grass out of the backyard, again and again. No fun when you rather be playing!!
But maybe my interest was stimulated by visits to local garden shops looking for landscaping plants for my parents yard and seeing all the potted plants.
This eventually lead to trying to grow various native coastal dune plants and seeds I had collected, back in the early 1960s, as potted plants. Maybe it was the success of getting seed of Convolvulus soldanella (now called Calystegia soldanella to germinate and grow.
What is weird to me is now the area that I visited as a child and young adult has become commercialized as a nature preserve and the nearby local community is betting on its exploitation for financial gain! Sadly in seeing the video in the link below I can recall lots and lots of shore birds compared to the single one shown!!!
I guess I could say it was Mother Nature that was my mentor.
Here is a link that might be useful: The dunes complex at the mouth of the Santa Maria River
Wow! Is that your 'Peppermint Twist'? I love it! It did grow up to be quite a robust beauty in your garden. Mine is so petite in comparison.
As for the kniphofia, I say go ahead and plant it as soon as you can. It will probably enjoy the extra shade from surrounding plants while it settles in and begins to send out new roots.
I usually have had excellent luck with fall planting. I planted a lot of perennials through November last year and all of them survived, although it was a warm fall. Still, I say go for it! If the kniphofia lives it will be much larger and more floriferous than a spring planted specimen.
cut them down.. when bloom is spent ... i surely wouldnt waste that show ... unless only to start cutting them to bring them in the house ... a few fronds at a time ...
if you want to avoid worrying about late plantings.. just add some loose mulch around the plantings.. at the last possible minute.. before your mulch freezes solid.. been there.. lol ..
i used to chop all the fallen leaves into fingernail size pieces ... and leave a big pile until around thxgvg ... and then apply it 4 to 6 inches deep on my soil. in my zone.. by spring it will settle to 3 to 4 inches.. and by june/july.. be nearly gone ....
its a blanket in cold zones.. so that once the soil freezes.. or nearly ... that sun doesnt hit it directly ...
my old fall back.. is GET IT DORMANT ... KEEP IT DORMANT ...
and by maintaining a dormant soil ... the plants will remain dormant ...
and the mulch will diffuse winter sun hitting the black soil.. and letting the soil thaw and freeze.. over and over .... thats where heave happens ....
do not cover the plant itself.. as you might suffocate it ... and that is the real key to small particle pieces on the mulch .. it allows water and air to move freely ... unlike intact maple leaves.. which can cause an anaerobic conditions.. where no air gets to the soil.. and you can suffocate roots ... [dont that too..lol]
then come spring.. the mulch ... slows soil thaw.. so the plants stay dormant a bit longer.. sometimes missing some of those frost/freezes and killing the plants ... and in doing such.. avoids the potential for the plants heaving out of the soil ...
ken
rogue21: Your link shows the straight species. It isn't too general; that is just the original plant that occurs in nature. All of the others, such as 'Sentimental Blue' and 'Astra Double Blue' are cultivars (cultivated varieties) of the original Platycodon grandiflorus species meaning that they were developed through selective breeding of P. grandiflorus. This is probably more detail than you care for, but I hope it helps.
there are no controls ... there are preventatives ...
at this time.. you plan on full fall cleanup.. get rid of all fallen leaves.. etc..
and perhaps spray everything down with a proper spray ...
and then in spring.. you prevent.. before it appears. ...
do you spray your plants down after work every night ... if so.. you are the problem.. get a breaker bar ... and water the soil.. and keep the plants dry going into dark ...
and if you can thin out the garden a bit .. so there is air movement.. that will help..
i used to do it all the time.. and when i quit watering the leaves.. 90% of the problem went away ... and the other 10%.. i jsut got rid of the plants ...
also look for PM resistant varieties ...
i have friends in the cleveland area.. you should not be having this problem any greater than anywhere else ... unless something is going on in your particular garden.. which is aggravating it ...
and no.. its ugly... but usually not harmful ....
and like any other garden plague.. we have bad years.. and good years ...
the simplest preventative is baking soda and water ...
ken
Jake, do us a favor and google powdery mildew images and let us know if that's what appears to be on your plants....or not.
The one thing that bothers me about your description is the mention of two or more different kinds of plants. PMs are very species specific; the strain that affects spirea (for example) can't also infect weigela...or anything else but other spirea.
If it is PM it can be one of the easiest of the fungal disorders to prevent and cure (if the infection is not too severe) . Minor problems can simply be sprayed away with plain water. This particular disease does not need water to germinate as do other fungi. Humidity, but not free water.
Neem oil is an excellent product to both protect and cure PM problems and is something I readily recommend for this purpose.
There are also a number of commercial fungicides labeled for this disease, but I've never found them necessary.
As others have mentioned, plain old housekeeping chores are really important...so after you determine for sure that this is the disease that's pestering your plants and then let us help.
campanula - that description doesn't sound like M moschata to me. I consider it a very pretty wild flower and in its white form a nice garden plant. I don't recognise the 'grey flowers' and 'big greyish felty leaves' at all. Are we talking about the same plant? Felty leaves sounds more like Marsh Mallow.
Oh yep, you are absolutely right, Flora - am confusing musk mallow (M.moschata) with marshmallow (althea officianalis). I have had them both but they were banished in favour of their more floriferous relatives (Sphaeralcea, Sidalcea, Malvastrum et al) And therein lies the clue to my dissatisfaction since I absolutely LOVE the mallow shape but was just disenchanted with the quantity of leafage to flower (and a slightly anaemic pink) and a horrid feeling that I was inviting more of the dreadful M.sylvestris anywhere near my allotment (my slacker neighbours are infested with it and it really has become my most hated weed by a long, long way).
Rouge, I have a long handled bulb planter (I use it for potatoes too). I usually corrall my oldest son (and keenest gardener) and we do it in pairs - one of us uses the bulb-planter while the other one places the bulbs in the nice deep hole. I emphasise here - it MUST be a long handled planter with good foot treads, a bit like a decent spade (what you guys refer to as a shovel, I think). A good tool is absolutely top tip for any gardening efforts, I think, and a decent bulbplanter will get into quite small spaces without wrecking existing planting.
Also, Rouge, I have planted between perennials many times and you are right, it is exhausting - the tulips are usually planted in the veggie beds (deep because I plant veggies on top of them when the leaves have gone over) or around the edges of beds. This year, I replaced a row of redcurrants on cordons so there is a space for a couple of hundred tulips along the cordon edge. Also, there are many between the autumn raspberries and between the roses - you get the picture - I tend to plant where there is enough space to do a whole drift without much effort.
Last year, I also renewed a lot of narcissus and I have to say, that exercise was a lot more tiring since they were planted in clumps between existing perennials...so I fully sympathise. Tulips are planted late here (November or even December) when much of the autumn clearance has been done so again, it is an easy job to tackle.
Don't be disheartened though, bulbs are the gardeners friends - so reliable, cheap and effective.
I'm the type of gardener that sees something I like, and plants it everywhere!
I received some Laura Bush petunia seeds a few yrs ago and poof! My yard is purple lol.
I still love the LB petunias but they attack my other plants.
this is a planter my daughter filled with snap dragons, lobelia, marigolds sweetpeas and one tiny LB petunia. I cut it back once to give the other plants a chance but she grew right back.
campanula, it is 'Canary Feathers' (yellow flower) I am interested in saving. And from what I understand this particular Corydalis is *not* a spreader.
(I have a couple Corydalis 'Wildside' as my blue Corydalis. I was hoping that it wouldnt go dormant this summer but it did. It is only now when things have cooled off and we have got more rain that it is looking perkier and likely to bloom again.)
Here is a link that might be useful: Canary Feathers
I hope you can see a couple of maybe 3 of my 'Lutea' against the fence on the right side in our corner garden. They provide eye catching colour in a very shady area of this garden and seem to look good when wedged in next to other plants eg columbine and heuchera and hosta.
Hi Joe and welcome to the gardenweb. I note you are a brand new member. To respond to your post it would help to know where you are gardening, Here in hot and dry northern California, Lantana are one of the most dependable plants. I do plan on replacing both Lantana and Lavender about every five years. The plants get too woody and lack the vitality of younger plants. I have never had a white fly problem in the garden, too hot and dry, I think, as I do occasionally have them in the greenhouse. Al
@calastoga....thank you for the welcome and for your response. I am located in Gilbert, AZ which is just a few miles SE of Phoenix. All the Lantana are going on 12 years old, both the purple flower and the yellow. every couple years I cut back all the branches to within inches of the ground due to frost damage. In the past both yellow and purple responded with beautiful new growth and more blossoms than years I don't prune them back so heavy. I have just noticed that I am able to post pictures here as well. I will try to get a couple pictures to post to show more clearly what I am dealing with.
any ideas would be appreciated!