13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Babs,
The trellis idea is a fantastic suggestion, especially to grow edibles on it. The area is really shaded until 2 or 3, but then its super heated. Would beans and squash produce alright? Would the vines get burnt by the bricks as the grow up the trellis? I guess as the vines matured they would shade the brick enough to keep from gettin burnt, but i worry about new growth. I could always try it i suppose and it would free up space in the veggie garden. The area is definitely too small for sunchokes and the like. Im really thinkin the trellis is my best bet. Clemantis would loose their leaves in our winters, but then leaf out from previous growth next season right?
Almost too many possibilities!
I grow clematis on black iron and rusty steel trellises, so if that doesn't burn the vines, the heat from the bricks won't. Type 3 pruning clematis are your best bet. They do fine in the southeast as well as colder and less humid areas, and the pruning is easy - just cut the stems down to 1 or 2 buds each in winter and they will regrow quickly when the growing season starts.
I've grown scarlet runner beans in an area that was shaded by a building until just after noon, so you should be fine with slightly later sun, as long as the morning shade is reasonably bright. There are lots of other edibles that do fine growing on trellises, like cukes, melons, and squash, but they may need more sun.
This is my front yard water feature. Last summer. The Chamaecyparis by the front door is now gone. DH fell on it and broke it putting up the Christmas lights. There are four ponds will no filters nor fish. I do have a fish pond in the backyard.
Yeah, I already re-planted my iris in the spot behind the mums. Ive also been keeping busy helping friends plant gardens with my leftovers :)
Come spring, do you think these chrysanthemums need to be divided? How does the plant look overall to you guys?
I tried one from High Country Gardens, but it didn't survive the winter. We had a strange winter last year without our usual deep snow, so I may try again at some point. I am on the cold side of zone 5, so my area might just be too cold for it. Mine is on a well-drained slope that should be dry enough for it, along with some western penstemmons and agastaches.
My Arizona Sun is much, much taller this year than in previous years, and it also is flopping on the outside stems. As a matter of fact, almost all my perennials look like they are on stilts this year-I have no idea why. Perhaps the mild winter had something to do with it. My AS is finishing up its first flush of bloom and I'm going to dead head and perhaps cut it back a bit. Normally this plant blooms until the frost kills the flowers, so cutting it back won't keep it from later reblooming. I love this plant for the front of the border.
Linda
I'm guessing the repairs, etc. are overwith. I'd replant them now thinking they have a better chance in the ground than drying out in a bag in the garage for a few months.
I imagine it's hot in New Jersey, but I'd prepare the space, put them in and water well to get them restarted. Iris rhizomes and lily bulbs are pretty resiliant self-contained little units - at least for the short haul.
I do expect someone to offer a different perspective. :-)
For iris, you aren't all that far off from when they should be dug and divided. If you don't already know, research how it should be done, keep the rhizomes in a (relatively) cool place, and do it. No rush, but peak dividing time is late July/early August, so plan on getting it done.
The lilies are going to be more problematic. Their dormant time is winter. I'd get them back in ASAP, water well, and hope for the best.
a hateful acanthus - Mr Camps had 'insisted' on this and I put up with its hugely vicious and graceless habit for several years - long enough for it to become a rampaging thug, leaning over and threatening a delicate small leafed philadelphus. Had to get my boys in to help so I made use of their youth and vigour and ordered the destruction of a horrid phormium (Mr.bloody Camps again - supposedly one of the much smaller P.cookianum, but still massive - lurking mealybugs and snails made great use of the indestructible leaves ).Heaps and heaps of valerian (but I will guarantee there will be a hidden smidgeon, waiting to blow around the allotment. Numerous verbascums (there was a mini-craze for these a few years ago, in the UK) - gets chomped by mullein moth and totally falls over every year. Note, all these plants so far have also had socking great root systems so I am not expecting this to be a one-off job - I have been yanking a lurid Beauty of Livermere oriental poppy for the past 4 years. The two gigantic clumps of daylilies (common old H.fulva) are really counted as weeding, along with a zillion verbena bonariensis but the removal of the sad and stunted balloon flowers - never got any taller than 9 inches and just looked ridiculous with oversized blooms - that was a yanking moment. Unfond farewells to lobelia cardinalis, knautia macedonica (1 is quite enough) nepeta Walker's Low - I know it's invaluable but it smells horrible and finally, the last of the bearded iris - such a faff for less than a week then nothing to disguise the hideous leaves for the rest of the summer.
too hot... too dry... I'm trying to get a darn gardenia established here and while I don't mind watering it, I'd rather mother nature did her part too. If I water too much, root rot. If I water too little she's fried. and given the dryness of the surrounding soil and the ever thirsty silver maple...
and I'm sick and tired of the huge number of robins who've stripped my goumi, cherries, serviceberries, and blueberries before things even had a chance to ripen to edibility....
~Chills
In my area of western PA, we are in a drought. I don't remember ever having a June this dry. Last week, the local newspaper said that we have had less than 2 inches of rain for the month of June. The grass in our front lawn has gone dormant already, looking like it does sometimes in August. Frankly, I don't remember the last really good rain that we had this month. It had to be weeks ago, perhaps it was at the end of May. We are watering constantly, using a sprinkler, and starting at one side of the house and moving it around, and putting it on beds not next to the house, finishing up, waiting a couple of days and starting again. I had dug some volunteer echinaceas for the neighbors and the dirt an inch down is like powder. Most of the beds are mulched but even that hasn't helped much. I've watched rain/storms go above, below and around us. Not much we can do, I guess, but continue to water until Mother Nature kicks in some much needed rain.
Linda
Mine have been in clay soil for years so don't get any wider than two feet across. I have drainage problems too but they thrive somehow. I use mine as a border against a shed. Have six in a row and they do fine besides the occassional flattening by the groundhog.
I have one in a flower bed with Agastache and other perennials like Echinaceas, Coreopsis, and Hesperaloe 'Brakelights'. It is a nice contrast for purples and reds. Ornamental Grasses and Roses look good with it too.
I also have 3 in big urn planters with Sedums and Delospermas around them. They don't get 4 feet wide unless you let the offshoot pups stay and grow there. I usually separate mine and put them in other places. They root and separate really easily.
I was thinking delosperma too, but like I said it's been years since I grew this plant. I may have had some moss rose in this bed at one point, but again - it's been at least 10 years since I've had that around.
This bed is one of my hardest - SW location and on the dry side since there are a lot of tree roots around. The odd thing is that I wanted to try delosperma again, but since it's not readily available around here, I never got any. I had made a mental note to put it on my list for ordering next year. Maybe I don't have too now.
Kevin
Boy, June seems really late to be dividing grasses, but maybe your climate is very different from mine. If I don't get it done by late April or the first week of May I don't do it. For one thing, I like dividing them when they are only a few inches tall. If I allow them to get too big, it just gets so messy and the plants look too ratty for too long. When I do it very early, the plants seem to recover quickly although they won't grow to their ultimate height the first year. They still look good however.
Kevin
I have plain Echinops ritro growing directly under a greengage plum tree, right up to the trunk, so probably you'd call it dappled shade. It is a reliable hardy perennial here. Mine is pretty old, at least 7 years I should say and probably more. Must be to do with the climate. It increases slowly in width but has not self sown. Surprisingly the centre has not deteriorated and remains vigorous. Much enjoyed by bees.
Basically, Echinops are long-lived, but:
1)they drown easily in winter
2)they are susceptible to some kind of fungus at the base of the stems or even in the crown itself, causing wilting even in the middle of the summer. I have learned that I can save such a plant by digging the crown up, and the plant will usually return from the roots.