13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Dawn, I'll suggest a great solution for you and your orchard. It's a product called Surround WP. It's a spray consisting of kaolin clay and some additives to allow it to be in water and applied with your sprayer.

The clay dries on the foliage and fruit, forming a barrier that beetles, weevils, caterpillars, and a host of other pests don't like to feed on or even lay their eggs on.

A couple of coatings will probably do it for the JB season; it wears off in time but the beetles don't stick around very long.

I don't recommend Surround for ornamentals because the coating is....well, kaolin clay! It's ugly. Looks pretty awful on our ornamental plants, but I sure use it in my veggie garden on leafy stuff, squash stems, and vegetables themselves.

It's used in commercial orchards, by the way. So if you feel overwhelmed, then there's one more useful tool for you.

there is a very active fruit forum ... and besides rhiz ... they do things a lot differently than us non-orchard peeps ...

never know where you will find your muse ...

ken

It did bloom for me. I planted it late so I got only a few blooms. Most of the blooms I had were lavender rather than the orange color that was advertised. This probably was because the weather was cool by the time it started blooming.

Here are the two photos I have of mine from last year. I was quite impressed with how much it grew from a dormant little ball of dried roots I received from Gurneys. It was a little more purple than the photos let on but I loved the blooms. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

The word "phlox" led to free associated thoughts about their own problems with phlox. I don't understand why 9 year old posts would be high enough on the search engine list (not the corrrect term, I'm sure) that someone would be inclined to look at it and respond. I really think people aren't looking at the dates. I know that with houzz Gardenweb I have frequently gotten half way down a thread when it occurs to me to look at the original post. 2008, 2010 whatever. OLD.

Here's how it happens. You google a question about phlox tips, and the Gardenweb thread comes up. I hang out on Gardenweb/houzz anyway, and so I go to that thread because it is likely to have relevant information even if not the exact answer to my question. And to preserve that information It makes more sense to tack my question on the same general subject rather than start a new thread. I guess I don't get what your problem with that is..

The good news is that young clematis actually benefit from a good pruning, so no harm done. They will put out new stems from below ground and end up bushier in the end. For my wire mesh rings I overlap ends about an inch and sew them together with wire, but my issue is voles (which eat the roots and growing stems) and moles (which just tunnel around the roots, exposing them to air), so I am using 1/4" hardware cloth to 5" below and 3" above ground.

It was just a bummer to happen halfway through the growing season. Thankfully the two stems that were lopped off were the smaller of the 4 and didn't have any buds yet. I ended up cutting a new ring about 2 ft tall out of hardware mesh and secured the overlapped ends with twist tie to the trellis (thanks for all the advice). So hopefully they leave it alone now! It rewarded me with a little bloom this morning.

One would speculate that ((unless she has a second plant somewhere)) it is a hermaphrodite form of Rue. it is doubtful just having a male plant would produce seedlings ;-)

If you were to post a picture here when it blooms we may be able to help identify the variety.

Love dem' rues! ;-)
CMK

Thank you so much!

when do you cut the old leaves back?

other than that the only thing that really has an effect on mine is giving them enough water the summer before.

my seedlings usually bloom the year after i transplant them so i don't think age is a factor.

Sure looks healthy enough to me:

I use it to feed the roots and leaves. I just drench the plant...as much or maybe a little more than if I was normally watering it.

NHBabs(4b-5aNH), we just sent our soil samples off today to the state soil testing service - glad to know we're moving in the right direction!

Thank you for your helpful comments. They confirm what I've read. I will plant them under my maple and watch them grow and spread.

This is the one plant - aside from English ivy - which will thrive under a low deck. You know, the ones that are only a couple steps down to grade (shorter than head height) that just accumulate either junk or weeds........this is one plant that will actually flourish under these conditions and smother out weed growth. The junk ya gotta find another place for :-)

Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is a great plant! Fully evergreen in my climate and with a very long bloom season. IMO, a much better choice than the phlox.

and btw - I'll bet your zone 5 has a much hotter summer than I do in my zone :-) Higher zones do not necessarily equate with summer heat.

Well, this may be a trial and error thing but I think I'm gonna order some Veronica from Bluestone Perennials and see how it does. Thanks all, as always!

Marie - I was thinking about digging out the whole area and trying to fix the soil issue. Given that my whole backyard is garden and I work a ton of hours, I was hoping for a simpler solution. But I was also "doing the math" and thinking it would probably save time in the long run.

Appreciate all of the insights on lamium too!

I appreciate the conundrum. Want more of what a garden provides (flowers, foliage) but no time to create the conditions and trying to sustain struggling plants is, in the long run, a waste of time if their basic requirements aren't being met.

I see you have a few choices:

Hire someone to dig out the area and either you or they put in new soil Don't need a mow and blow outfit for that: a teenager or someone who wants a small job. Pay fairly and you'll get the job done. Sometimes you really have to figure out what your own time is worth.

Just cover it with mulch until you have the time to deal with it. But it sounds like that would just look like a blank spot and you don't want that.

Having no picture I'm just throwing out an idea: a big pot with colorful plants ? Raise it up on bricks or blocks and make a unexpected focal point of your weakest spot? Mulch around it.

Add a couple of inches of compost and throw in some annuals or annual vines. That buys you a season. This fall or next year the spot can be your priority for soil removal/amendents. Also gives you a chance to experiment with leaf textures before you purchase perennials.

Planted another one yesterday.

My Little Henry came through the winter nicely but so far has not flowers. I will have to go out and check for buds. I'm anxiously waiting to see him bloom!

Linda

Njitgrad, it was a playful way of saying I take a shovel and drive it down through the middle of the plant, effectively cutting it in half. Works well in spring as it starts to grow or late summer after I've given it a good shearing.

My other perennials are starting to fill in nicely around the Catmint. Best photos are taken just after a rainstorm. Don't know why the Hydrangea is showing yellowing on the leaves....

I'm here. But I have no idea what isn't available in the US so I'm not much help either. Plus I don't actually buy many seeds or plants myself. My garden is probably smaller than your living room Ken. Campanula and Malorena probably know much more about this than I do as they are both big growers from seed.

I looked up the Touchwood woman. She is not selling overseas because she has got downy mildew and doesn't want to be responsible for exporting it. So maybe you shouldn't buy from her if you are taking seeds out of the country.

I can only recommend browsing the racks at any garden centres you pass and seeing what is there. Mail order offers a greater selection but how would you do that if you're travelling?

What countries are you visiting?

Thanks for the replies.

Floral, my intent was to visit and purchase at the local garden centers but am being told I have to have on the permit the names of the seeds I plan on purchasing...and that needs to be done at least 2 weeks before I leave the USA. ive scouted quite a few of the England based seed companies ( Thompson and Morgan etc) so have sorta an idea what's out there... Was hoping someone would have some 'must buy' suggestions from the awesome pics that find their way onto this forum. Sigh... I'll be a week each at Scotland , England , France , then Germany . .