13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I am really enjoying this thread, but I need deer tolerant plants. I have heard that deer don't like the red KO roses, but I that sounds too good to be true. Can anyone tell me which of the fall bloomers to plant that deer will hate? I have Russian Sage, yarrow, and a newly planted dwarf butterfly bush.
Deer will browse just about anything, so there really aren't many safe options. Aconitums are highly poisonous, so those should be ok. They avoid Asters in my yard, too, and also Coreopsis tripteris, Eupatorium, and Salvias. Don't even try Japanese anemones-- deer chow down on them big time.
Well ken it sounds like Botrytis paeoniae. They will usually come back next year but in a weakened condition. Good sanitary practice, removing all foliage to the city dump every fall. I would spray the ground now after removing all the dead plant material, with Bordeaux mixture to try and prevent the disease living over to next year. Al
Calistoga; I had a couple of my peonies look horrible this spring/early summer. Bare stems or partial leaves. I wondered what in the world it was.. plants around them- roses- looked fine. Don't know too much about peony problems. We had Festiva Maxima, a pink, and a red one growing up and never any problems w/ them. Here, it is too hot for many, so I have only ordered those listed as "early". "Primavera" has done well for me so far. Any ideas as to what happened to my peonies? Peonies are one of my favorite flowers. Thanks, Brandy
Thanks for all the great ideas. What a good resource for beginning gardeners! It is helpful to have tags in place are you're learning to ID plants in & out of season. I've also written when I've divided the plant on the tag. Ideally record that in a notebook, but when in the garden with mucky gloves you just get the job done and a pencil in the pocket, tool belt, or tool bucket is handy.
Remember to be careful if raking or spreading mulch to not catch and remove the above ground tag.
Plus teach your young garden visitors to not touch & collect the tags.
Keep a few colored tags to mark a plant to move or divide later. Use sharp scissors to cut them from colored plastic containers.
Thank you for all your wonderful ideas - so creative! I didn't realize that the writing on the label if kept underground would be preserved pretty well. Might be what I'm going to try next for X marks the spot purposes. Also the digital pictures is a good idea for general reference but I think the markers in the ground when I'm staring at something wondering whether or not I put it there is key!
Thanks again,
Amna
Wow firespinner is really impressive!
I have Lavender Ice and another more dark purple one can't remember the name. Last year I didn't have a single bloom. Mine started out the same size as yours and this year the 6 plants I had in the ground created a carpet covering the entire ground stretching at least 8 feet long. They bloomed profusely this spring but then we had about 2 weeks of rain and have only had a handful of flowers show up here and there since then. Either way I love the way it creates a thick, interesting, groundcover. Really does prefer dry conditions though.
Give it some time and next year I am sure you will be very impressed.
Dianthus do like moist but well-drained soil. What do you mean by "none doing well"? Are they dying, not blooming, leaves brown? I would try to solve the horticultural issue before abandoning the plant genus altogether, but that is just me.
Alternatives might be something like Armeria maritima, but they have pretty much the same cultural requirements as dianthus and perhaps require/desire less moisture than dianthus. But, it is a good substitute looks-wise.
Glad it helped Mindy :)
Next spring, pinch back all new growth (above the first leaf nodes). Each stem will throw two new shoots from these nodes. You can pinch these new shoots too - that will help to form a nice bushy Clemmie, not a 1 or 2 vine wonder. It will also stimulate the roots and maybe some new vines from the crown. If it is type 3 Clematis, do this each spring. Many type 2 Clematis response well to hard pruning too.
You are an experienced gardener and you know that you have to keep it watered well until it is established :o)
alina, i am following your lead in all things clematis!Yes, the watering, we're on it. You know alina, i think we'll be up to 60 or so varieties after we plant all these. I've kept to the smaller flowered ones about 70% because we are growing them up conifers and shrubs mostly; many obelisks and 2 trellises for the large flowered ones. I don't know if we will be successful w/ their happiness because 80% of the time, we are squeezing them into their spaces; our gardens are so packed (you can see on the website what i mean>> See No Evil= See No Dirt for us!)But we are trying to give them peach basket sized holes w/ manure and lime added. I think the ones we have lost over the years have died because of drought or lack of fertilizer, so i really want to keep on the water and monthly fertilizing programs.
As for cutting back, the really helpful woman at Donahue's, a few yrs ago, told me that ALL clems do well w/ cutting back to ground. As I have been doing the opposite these 6 yrs. since we started w/ clems, (no cutting at all!),I hope to be able to follow her advice next spring.Do you do that?
Since I'm turning this post into a Clem Overview, i will add that of my orders this yr from Garden Crossings(Midwest),Brushwood(GA), Joy Creek(OR), and Plant Delights(NC), I found GC to send the most perfect specimens (like fake they were so perfect!with about 12" of greenery on them) and brilliantly packed in a box w/ built-in cardboard cells. Brushwood was very good, and the latter 2 were just O.K. I think all of the clems had good and comparable root systems, so I'm just talking their tops here. I bought the largest number from JC because Br was sold out of most things. I know JC has a number of diff growers and maybe that accounts for the ugly/ all cut back tops. But they certainly do have a great big selection, esp of smaller flowered clems. JC, because we're in boston area, has the highest shipping costs(or, i should say, UPS has the highest shipping, from there)and GC shipping was surprisingly low for being in the midwest. Where are you alina? What's your vendor experience w clems? Oh, I have to say- the other plants i ordered from GC- carex banana boat, some agastache-- were all wicked healthy hunka plants.They really did impress me.(Oh, and they shipped almost immediately too, where the others were 1-2 wks behind them.)
thnx so much for all your helpful advice.
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/
I allerted the *respectable nursery* I've been dealing for many years ~ the response wass * as long as they are available from their supplier - should still be ok*. I did suggest that they should make info from the DNR available to gardeners, if they are indeed a respectable nursery & wish to protect our prairies!
FWIW
BTW Mnwsgal this is for you & anyone growing *Herman's Pride* since replacing YAL & succeeding in near 100% elimination, HP has not improved in size of clump ~ it's been over a year now! What do I do ~ he has a good size site to enjoy!!!
Your thoughts & experiences please? TIA
Phlox can also get Phlox Bugs, a tiny orange sucking insect that can cause mottled and curled leaves. They're bigger than aphids but still hard to see unless you look for them. They scurry around and will hide under the leaves or drop to the ground when you touch the plants.
Phlox bugs overwinter in the egg stage in dead phlox stems so if you do have them, cut back the foliage this fall and put it in the garbage, then hopefully the problem won't return next year. That's my plan. I've been squishing and have sprayed a couple times with some kind of organic stuff but I'm still finding a few.
I thought my phlox just had frost damage this spring so I didn't catch the problem very early. I have one patch that looks awful and not blooming like my others.
Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox Bugs
@ Ken, you're right, AY causes odd looking blossoms on coneflowers, and leaf disfigurement too, but I wasn't sure if it acts the same way in other plants as well. I have a couple of possibilities now anyway and that's what is so great about the forums
Christie, thanks for the link too, I'll be inspecting!
Deb
When I have my 'freaking phone' with my while I am gardening it
so excited.. you sent that 3 times
No...just more evidence this forum's lack of even basic customizability (I know this isnt a real word). So obvious that one should be able to delete multiple identical posts.
Yep, I guess I gave myself away as a new gardener! : ) I don't remember it going dormant last year, but it's been quite a bit hotter this summer (100+ last week, which is unheard of in the mountains). Well, I'm glad it's not sick! Thanks for the help.
The hotter, sunnier or the dryer the weather gets, the earlier celendine poppy (or wood poppy) will yellow up and go dormant. If you keep their soil moist and it doesn't hit triple digits, they may even stay green all summer in a shady spot.
This summer has been so hot and dry so early in my Maryland garden, even the wood poppies in my shadiest spots are already yellowing up.
Also, if you deadhead religously, they will continue to bloom until they go dormant.
While prolific spreaders, they are easy to rip out or move when they show up in the wrong place like the middle of a path.
KimKa
I planted Zagreb back in 2005. I've divided it once since then. The plant starts to bloom in early July and keeps blooming until frost with deadheading.
As far as deadheading goes, sinc there are literally hundreds of flowers on the plant, I find that trying to deadhead each flower individually is sheer insanity. Instead, I wait until 80-85% of the blooms are done, then I take a pruner and clip the entire plant back. Much easier.
Good drainage is the most important factor for success I've found with these plants.
Look around for tracks..my guess it is deer. We have good luck with Liquid Fence, and spray it every few days unless we see deer roaming. You do have to reapply after a rain. There is a lady that lives in a court behind us, she has the most beautiful flower gardens..hostas are the size of a tire on an 18 wheeler..absolutely breathtaking. She sprays with Liquid Fence every day she tells me and doesn't have anything eaten.
Just anecdotal but I live in a deer frequented area and I have two large stands of the wonderful "Lemon Queen" right in the thick of things and neither has ever been touched by deer. (Of course other plants around it have often been munched :( )