13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Is the issue that you want to remove the JP because it's too tall, too many bees, or both. I have to agree that it gets loaded with bees but I deadhead plants all around anything covered in bees and they really are quite docile. My taller JP was driving me crazy becuase I had to stake it from flopping over each year. So, a number of years ago I decided to start whacking back the taller late-summer fall bloomers like JP weed, ironweed, tall rudbeckias, etc...It works quite well. I'm not even careful about it. I just take shears and cut it down to about 2 1/2'. I'm not very scientific about it. I've found it works great to control the height. My JP that would normally be 8-9 feet gets to about 5'. Maybe next year you could experiment and try cutting it back early in the season to try to control the height? If it's a bee thing, then that's a whole other story. But I don't think there really is a substitute for joe pye's habit.
I don't know what causes it but my Asclepias tuberosa looks like that too! It hasn't been a good year for this plant because it doesn't usually look this bad. I have trimmed back some of the plants to see if there will be new growth. The pregnant Monarch females seem to prefer the tender fresh growth tips any, and I routine clip back other species of Asclepias.
This year, I have NO A. incarnata (swamp milkweed) at all - I didn't start any from seed in the spring and the slugs or something ate the older plants right down to nubs.
Asclepias isn't the easiest genus to grow but I keep trying because I love to raise Monarch butterflies.
Ken, I wasn't figuring on spraying. Too many bees and butterflies enjoy it for me to endanger them.
terrene, I bought three small starts of Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow' back in 2005. One died, the other two took two years to get really established. I now have a big stand of them. I love them and I normally get two bloom cycles.
You can cut back daylilies whenever you wish and they will grow new leaves (unlike daffodils). You can shear them to an inch or two or leave more if there is already new growth at the bottom of the plant. However, they need to stay moist in order to regrow and some compost would help it to generate that fresh growth.
The same goes for irises, though they look rather unsightly after being trimmed and the only reason to do so is if the leaves look unsightly already due to disease or leaf death. DiSabato-Aust (pruning guru) recommends cutting them down completely after a killing frost but leaving them be until then.
or one could say: "That's different"
I'm generally not a huge believer in these home remedies like dog hair. Maybe my squirrels are just really paranoid or had a bad experience in their youth or whatever. Squirrel populations in other parts of the country may be more mentally stable or just plain smarter. I'll keep using it because it isn't hurting anything and does add a bit of nitrogen to the soil as it decomposes.
I did try the bowls of water around my tomatoes last year and the squirrels ignored them. Plus my tomatoes are located about 15 feet from my pond, so there was plenty of water available.
Kevin
Catmint doesn't seem to care. There are things that have to be cut back in the fall, and things that shouldn't be cut back in the fall. It isn't in either of those categories. If I get everything that has to be done, finished, and get to it - great. If I don't, no harm done. I usually get about a third of them done.
I know what you mean about dividing dianthus. Sometimes the plant makes a big wide mat and there are not too many obvious stems going down into the ground. If a nice piece comes off I will plant it separately, but most of the time I propagate it by moving the little seedlings around.
And I do the same thing with moving plants around. I don't have any shady places that are also near water, so it's a bit of a hassle to keep things happy in pots for very long.
Funny, I see a range of zones from 4-7 as the minimum, so who really knows. I say just try it and see. The Dave's Garden site reports that people in Zone 6 have had limited success with it making it through the winter. Apparently, it appreciates some shade too. Good luck.
I think the reason mine flopped, and so many other plants, is because before I planted them last year as babies, I had the entire bed amended with horse manure while my boyfriend till it up, so perhaps the soil was too rich for the plants and they all grew too quickly and flopped. They are in a full sun situation, well, full sun from about ten in the morning until about four or five in the afternoon for most of the summer. So it isn't lack of sun, I do think the reason is the horse manure.
Karen
Any sharp scissors will do, not only kitchen. It is enough to cut the head off, then more of the slimy stuff will stay inside. I have noticed, that when the corpses are dried up by the sun, some of my chickens will eat them. They do not eat them while they are slimy.
gardengal48 wrote: You want irrigation water to penetrate down the full depth of the root zone - 8+ inches for the vast majority of plants - that's where the recommendation for low and slow and infrequent watering comes into play.
I need to work on this i.e. I admit I water too frequently and not deep enough. This is in part because I have too many plants which cant be reached with a hose so I am forced to water using a good old watering 'can'.
Wow, it appears I missed something - "if the peat moss has been properly hydrated." Oops.
I only mixed it with soil in my wheelbarrow dry - I never hydrated it. I did water like crazy after backfilling - does that count as proper hydration? If not, is there a way to properly hydrate once the deed is done? What's the best way to hydrate BEFORE I incorporate into the soil? So many questions.
BTW, on my astilbe. Since I bought three of them this spring, I thought I'd try an experiment. Last night I watered just one of the wilting Astilbes, and kept going with the watering can four times. That's 8 gallons of water for one plant. The soil just kept sucking the water in, in small batches, never slowing down. I think I could have even kept going. This morning it looks a little better, standing up straighter. The others continue to look wilted. I wish I had eyes that could see what was going on under there ...
"low and slow and infrequent" - very interesting way to think about it. I am trying to tune in to what my garden is saying - it's looking better every year. Some plants are easier to read than others.
-jwt
Once it is established do you provide supplemental water?
No. This is a very drought tolerant plant and should need no irrigation after establishment. Especially in areas that "normally" receive decent summer rainfall. I live in a recurring summer drought area - we receive less than a 10th of our annual rainfall during the summer months - and even under our normally very dry summer conditions lavender needs no supplemental watering.
Different types of lavenders bloom at different times - the Spanish or L. stoechas is the earliest (begins in April in my area), followed by English or common lavender (L. angustifolia - starting in mid to late June) and wrapped up by the hybrids or xintermedia cultivars like 'Provence' or 'Grosso' in July (all timing is appropriate for my area only). 'Blue Cushion' is a cultivar of English lavender. The bloom period for any type is extensive, lasting most of the summer and in some areas, well into fall and can be increased by shearing or deadheading.
A very nice collection of colors and leaf forms. I especially like the Russian sage/Rose combo.
Really nice. Thanks for sharing! I appreciate how tidy and well-planned it is. I'm envious of that. You've done a beautiful job and the gardens work especially well with your home. Bravo!