13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

I agree with Flora. The roots would be much cooler in the ground.

If you don't want to take it out of the pot, plant the pot completely in the ground. I have done this many times to save the plant. When I dig up the pot later some have rooted into the soil, and you will sacrifice those roots, but save the plant. Al

Yes, you can cut back before bloom - they will be shorter, bloom a little later, and flower clusters will be smaller, but perhaps more of them.

I have too much experience with the deer choosing to 'cut back' for me - they sometimes chomp off the top tender growth before buds form... maybe sometime in June?
they're in full, glorious bloom now... can't help with the 'how much to cut back'... think you can make many things work - ditto with the timing... just keep them 'happy' with some watering, and fertilize if needed...

Beth Z5 Northern Michigan

I got this advice from my daughter who lives in Wy. I had given her a clump of White Admiral-which I consider the best phlox I've ever grown. She told me not to deadhead as the flowerhead would bloom again!! I was amazed when it did. I never deadhead this one anymore.

You may also wish to consider that lavender are most comfortable when slightly root-bound. Planting them in such a large container increases water retention around the roots. I would start them in a much smaller container (only a couple inches larger than the root ball), then gradually move them up to those pictured as the plant grows. It does not necessarily indicate overwatering if water runs out of the bottom -- in fact, it should do so pretty quickly if the soil is well-drained.

As you may have gathered, lavender are somewhat fussy plants. However, the PNW climate (as I understand it, though I know there is a lot of variation from the west to east) has some Mediterranean characteristics (namely, relatively dry summers) so you may have more luck than us poor souls who deal with ridiculous humidity on the east coast.

If I have to transplant anything in mid summer I cut down all flowers. Right now the plant is putting energy into bloom & seed instead of establishing roots.

& yes, you are watering it too much.

If anyone thinks lavenders are fussy then you've never grown Munsteads. They are pretty much bulletproof.

I dig the entire plant, evaluate how large it is and what the root system looks like and then cut into sections. I rarely cut a plant into more than 4 divisions unless it's really huge.

Kevin

For some reason I have never had luck in dividing or moving this grass. I have one plant that I know has been in the same spot well over 10 years. Do tell...what is the secret.

Thoroughly enjoyed my virtual visit, thanks so much!

An old tale from Quarryhill: (quote) The first time that I collected seed of Magnolia wilsonii was in the fall of 1992 on Niba Shan in western Sichuan. Hans Fliegner and Martin Staniforth from Kew, and Charles Howick and I were on our way to Muli in southwestern Sichuan. Our guide from the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had told us that it occurred on Niba Shan, so we stopped on our way to take a look. We hunted for hours through dense forest and finally came upon one good sized 10 meter high tree. After a thorough search of the tree, we found only one fruit with six good seeds. We divided these three ways and found out later that Kew successfully germinated one seed, Howick one, and Quarryhill only one. I went over the same mountain two years later in the fall of 1994, this time with Charles Erskine and Hans Fliegner from Kew, and Charles Howick. We were all shocked to see the area where we had found the magnolia two years previously completely denuded and being planted with a monoculture of spruce. We did manage to make a seed collection of Magnolia wilsonii later during that expedition in 1994. On our return to Chengdu, we decided to stop at Luoji Shan. Unlike my recent visit there, this time we were on the other side of the picturesque range. This was long before Luoji Shan was made a Nature Reserve. Now there is a cable car and stone steps bringing thousands of tourists up into this botanical paradise. I first visited Luoji Shan with Charles Howick in 1990 and hadn't noticed any magnolias then. On that first visit we had started from a small Yi village and climbed for days with porters and horses carrying our gear over the rugged steep mountains. However, on our second visit, despite torrential rain, we spotted an area that we had overlooked before just above the village. Here, there were several Magnolia wilsonii, though few had seed. Our frustration with the lack of seeds was further exacerbated by their failure afterward to germinate. That one seed that germinated from our 1992 expedition is now a healthy three meter high tree at Quarryhill, as wide as it is tall. Growing in Sonoma Valley in our rocky acidic soil, in mostly sun with a little light shade from a Toona sinensis, it flowers heavily and consistently year after year. I frequently bring visitors to see it, not just for its beauty and delightful fragrance, but more importantly to tell the story of how it is disappearing from the wild.

For the life of me I cannot figure out how to put pictures into my message. Other than the one I can upload using the browse button on the message form here. I took some pictures of my affected coneflowers. I really hope I don't have to destroy them, as it seems that ALL my coneflowers are affected.
Why is it that my friend about 20 miles away has coneflowers in abundance, she is constantly thinning them out and giving them away. While I have to struggle and fight to keep mine alive, THEN when I finally have some nice looking plants, all of a sudden they look like this.....
I added a link to my flicker site showing the pictures I took.

Jenny p

Here is a link that might be useful: Echinecea photos

The tell-tell sign your plant has asters yellow is the deformed double flower. You are best to take the plant out immediately.

linlily, he was right about them moving to the next house. My neighbor had not had her house inspected or treated after she purchased it 30 years ago. She was in front of her fridge and her foot went through the floor.

She called me for my exterminator's number. That cost her a couple thou for extermination and floor replacement. I know we will always have a problem because of the woods. I get all the trees that fall down cut up and removed immediately. Anytime I find a log and break it open it is filled with termite. I have a big, big, big problem.

hudsonriverbug: Fire ants in Virginia? Say it ain't so! What part of the state are you in?

Would be nice to see an update on how these survived for everyone.

My SC and CE did survive the winter. Here is a recent picture of....one of them i.e. I am not sure which.

It is in much less than full sun and so it is a bit leggy but is a worthwhile member of this area of the garden.

Let any pile of dirt/compost/manure sit and weeds will grow on top and roots will grow into it as well..

Its a friable medium with nutrients.. hence why you want it in your garden. Its not like any manure has to age for two years or something to use it.. I find 5-6 months works just as well.

Ive used about 40 truckloads of horse manure here.. most of it was less then a year old when placed in the gardens..

Of course, Ive used about the same # of compost as well, both are great.

a2zmom - I plant through the cardboard after it has gotten wet, so you can either water the bed well and then cut an X into the cardboard and tuck the flaps under, or most often I just wait a few days or weeks (depending on weather) until the cardboard softens enough to tear with my hands and then plant.

My "Splendide" is over 6 feet tall in its first year and for sure needs staking so surrounding plants that might aid in its support would need to be quite tall. I am hoping that in subsequent years my "Thalictrum" might be a stronger plant and may not need support (a 6 foot tall bamboo pole) but I doubt it.

No, it will keep flopping over. I've had this plant growing in my garden for many years, and no matter how big the base gets, the flower stalks still flop. I just let them go, and trim them back if they're in the way.

Of course anyone has the right to use whatever terminology they prefer but mistascott is correct - ALL fertilizers, organic or not, synthetically fabricated or not, are chemical-based. We might want to check our definitions, but anything listed on the periodic table is a chemical element and the standard definition of 'chemical' is "of or relating to chemistry or of or relating to the properties or actions of chemicals." There is nothing in this definition that limits this to synthetically derived fertilizers.

Heck, since humans are carbon life forms (and carbon is a chemical element), not to mention containing some 60 other chemical elements, we are pretty much walking chemical compounds! To disparage this terminology or to unnecessarily restrict it to synthesized or manufactured materials is to ignore an entire aspect of our scientific make-up, namely organic chemistry.

And I really object to calling fertilizers plant food! It tends to anthropomorphize plants and gardening, which is totally inappropriate (hear, hear, Ken!) as well as misleads one about the actual botanical processes involved with how plants grow. Plants make their own food - it is called autotrophism and is the purpose behind photosynthesis. All fertilizers do is provide access to nutrients that may be deficient or missing in the soil. Outside of container gardening, they are never a requirement and as noted, with a good organic mulch, can often be eliminated from use altogether.

Aside from this semantic clarification, I tend to agree with the majority of the posters. We tend to get brainwashed by the big fert manufacturers into believing we cannot garden successfuly without frequent applications of their latest and greatest. That is simply not so. Most plants established in the landscape are able to draw all the nutrients they need for healthy growth from the soil. There can be limits however and this where the advantage of soil testing comes into play. But generally, replenishing your soil with organic matter via mulch/compost is all the "fertilizer" you will ever need.

ninamarie, a chemical is defined as "a substance with a distinct molecular composition that is produced by or used in a chemical process." Oxygen has a distinct molecular composition and it is produced by or used in chemical processes. It is a chemical element. The word "chemical" in this context is an adjective meaning it describes the type of element. Therefore, oxygen is indeed a chemical. It is a specific type of chemical -- the simplest type -- a chemical element. A chemical compound (perhaps what you think of as a chemical) is formed when atoms of more than one chemical element combine.