13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Kevin:

RE: "I should add more. I mean to every year. But I don't." Same problem
I always had, but here's my solution.

Right now, while the bulb season is still fresh in my mind, I go online
to my favorite supplier (see below) and RESERVE all my bulbs. . .this way
you're guaranteed they won't be out of things you want, IF you remember to order in the Fall - and they do NOT charge your card until they actually ship
the order at the proper planting ltime. It's worked like a charm the last two
years for me. . .give it a try!

Carl

Here is a link that might be useful: John Scheepers, Inc.

ah clems - well I have had them (many) and finally, I am just fed up with the fragile dead-looking stems which must not be cut back (all pruning group2), am fed upwith either rampant bindweed like behaviour (and the horrible untangling of a Polish Spirit for example) at the end of the year. I have been known to lose my rag and go for the vicious pulling method but frequently end up dragging my roses off the wall too. Then there are C.montanas - eat a church in 2 weeks. The ongoing attempt with smaller integrifolias (to scramble gently through the perennials - they don't, they all rush in the same direction and it is always in the hardest place to get to. For a while, I thought viticellas were going to be my saviour, I dunno, I just got bored really, They fade, they get wilt, they are stingy bloomers (texensis). Anyway, I am down to just a couple - a rampant V.purpurea plena elegans which scrambles through New Dawn - I definately do the brutal tugging and shearing...but I do it with both of them or ND would take over my minute garden. Also, I have 1 really garish Fireworks (my daughter gave it me) which is exiled to the lurid corner and does sterling duty on a chainlink so in an ugliness contest between galvanised wire or dead wood, the dead wood becomes pleasantly rustic (as opposed to industrial nihilist style (my allotment looks out on a factory and a building site)
I guess it is clear that I have plant obsessions, regardless of their utility or suitability for my climate or conditions - it has taken me YEARS to break this habit although all that has changed is having a bit more nous about what is likely to work, given the limitations on soil, climate, space and time - the obsessions still remain....in fact, I feel a post coming on about my latest..... (sometimes these things are very fleeting (dieramas, geums), sometimes last for years(tulips, amazingly, they have turned about to be something which loves my crappy sandy soil, dry east anglian winds), sometimes come and go (roses) So many plants, so many epic fails!

Chipmunks are digging in my veggie garden, and have eaten up some of the seed I planted. I have it fenced in (6 ft chain link) but of course they can go right through the fence space. I didn't mind sharing a few seeds with them, they are so cute but I am concerned they might eat my beans and eat holes in my peppers and tomatoes to get at the seeds. Can we live in peace, or do I have to find some way to get them out of there? Whenever possible, I try to coexist peacefully (except with the woodchucks)

We also have many chipmunks and they can get into our vegetable garden. They generally do little damage, except they will eat low hanging tomatoes. I have not yet figured out a great way to keep this from happening. Probably putting netting around each plant would work. Let us know if you figure out something.

It's good to be cautious, carrieb - I've never seen so much as a seedling here, but have heard it's invasive in warmer zones!

Monkshood -- gives you the color, though the bloom doesn't come until late in the season. Super poisonous plant though, so be careful if you have kids and/or pets.

Foxgloves -- maybe too much sun but they have plenty of height.

Heliopsis -- sunflowers, will be plenty tall.

Hollyhocks -- plenty of height but biennial.

Delphinium -- can give you a nice blue/purple and some height.

Lilium

Lupines

Verbascum -- plenty of color options.

Filipendula -- probably the tallest of them all. Sort of like 6' tall astilbe.

Monarda -- 5' height, attractive flowers, loves sun.

why is that HUGE plant.. in that tiny pot???

and notice that ALL the newer leaves are not affected ...

plant it .. even if you have to move it in fall to a permanent place ... you are torturing the heck out of it .. and in stressing it so.. it becomes attack-able.. by all kinds of problems..

at a min.. put it in a one gallon pot.. and keep it in shade.. until sept.. so it has some new soil.. and then plant it ... i am usually very leery of planting mid june thru august.. as i usually forget.. and end up forgetting to water a few hundred degree days in a row ... hence potting.. and 'holding over' until the next good planting season ...

i guess i am saying.. you have root problems ...

ken

Yeah that is the pot it came in. It will be planted today, but I've left it in there because I was trying to rid it of the disease before I transplant it (figured it might stress it out and kill it if it's already sick).

Do you think transplanting it will be enough? Or will I need antifungal as well?

I had no idea those cactus could live up there, never saw any when I lived in Columbus. The ones with the yellow flowers are everywhere down here though, and I had no idea the flowers came in diff colors. Thanks!

I was shocked too purple. I learned they were hardy in my zone from people at GW about 10 years ago. They look dead in the winter. They lay down flat as soon as it warms up in the Spring they sit up plump up and look beautiful. It is amazing. I think they are hardy to zone 4 or 5.

It would be nice to be able to edit a post, but overall I don't mind the format here at GW. Communication is easy, and the lack of continual format "upgrades" for the sake of change is refreshing. (One easy "fix" would be returning the gardening homepage to Spike's subclassification of forums by category, instead of the current anarchy).

As for missing posts through inability to check all the different forums dealing with perennials on a daily basis - that's the price we pay for the proliferation of specialty forums dealing with one genus of plants. Lots of people felt deprived if their favorite didn't have its very own forum, so as a result, many will miss out on interesting posts unless they make a habit of checking multiple different forums frequently (I rarely bother with the specialty perennial forums). Somehow I doubt that having one's e-mail box cluttered up with replies is the solution. Of course, the gardeners who are only interested in one genus of plants are less liable to miss out - they can stick to Daylilies, Hosta etc.

As to posting requests in the Suggestions forum, the lack of feedback there suggests that GW does not have the staff or inclination to respond in a timely manner.

Woo hoooo! Anybody else notice the "Image file to upload" feature that GW has added??

Way to go GW! This will make it so much easier for people to post photos.

Thanks! I water 2-3 times a week, but I can up it to see if that helps. (The soil doesn't get super dry, but it doesn't stay super moist, either.) Thanks for the help!

Guess I had to get down on my knees...I found sprouts when pulling out some other plants!

Funny, none of my four o'clocks are opening EXCEPT the yellow one.

I don't think it's genetics. Last year I had some deep pink ones and white ones opening, and this year they are not (but the yellow ones are). I ordered three different types and planted them in another spot--and none of them are opening, though they are covered with blooms.

I'm hoping they will all start opening. Or maybe I should pull them all out except for the yellow ones . . .

I would like to solve this mystery!

Bill

IME with them in different places, they just like to wait until they cool off, although others have testimonials in direct contradiction. This same question comes up every few years. Maybe some plants just have off-years? Starting to think so and castorp's plants seem to support that. But there's absolutely no reason to keep a plant you don't like. I try to give them away over killing them, though.

Sweet Joanne looks to be a real beauty. I'd love to see a pic when it's in its full glory.

Until mine are photo ready I know that frequent GW poster echinaceamaniac has some superb flowering 'Sweet Joanne'.

Orienpet Lilies are wonderful. Personally, I hate this 'tree lily' term invented by Breck's and affiliated companies that do not use scientific names on their sites.

I remember a great story Chris Hallson (the owner of Hallson Garden) told me:

About the lily tree... I had a customer stop by asking for them. She said that one of the picture tags looked like one of them, but all we had were lilies and she wanted a tree. Said it was the latest breakthrough from Spring Hill. To me that is plain false and misleading advertising. Oh well...

He made my day then. the latest breakthrough from Spring Hill...

you mean a flowering conifer.. lol ...

lol do you think I could get big bucs on ebay. There is a fool born every second.

alina that is funny "the latest breakthrough from Spring Hill.."

This one does not have any fragrance the others I are almost ready to bloom are very fragrant. They do have very large stems and have the appearance of a tree after growing for about 4 years. That was one of the reasons I decided to bring them with me. I did not want to start over. The bulbs were huge.

They could overwinter in zones 8-11. Most of Western Washington is Zone 8.

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb.

I've never seen a flower like that! Wow that's cool!

They're pretty reliable here, but the coldest part of winter is usually pretty dry. Too much moisture could be a problem some winters, from what little I know about WA, maybe just a wrong stereotype.

If you'd like to do so, you can find your zone here by typing your ZIP code in the box, hit enter. If you include it in your profile info, it will show up next to your name when you post on these forums. You can add it to WA, like mine says 8b AL. Plants are given a zone rating based on temperatures they can withstand and knowing what zone you are in allows people to give you more specific and accurate advice.

Yes, Aquilegia and leafminers belong together. You can also expect leafminers on Thalictrum and many other plants.

in my garden.. wherein the goal is ANYTHING BUT GREEN ...

i consider the miner work.. to be variegation .. lol ...

if you keep denuding it of its leaves.. the plant will go into decline.. as you are removing its food making machines.. its leaves ...

ignore it.. and convince yourself.. its an added show of mother nature ...

they are short lived perennials.. i think of them as biennial at best ... do let it go to seed so that you will generate babes for the coming years

ken

I read somewhere that it spreads 1 foot a year in all directions if it's in a place it likes. Mine were a bit slow to establish, but should have a good show this year. I think they look like cotton candy and stay in bloom for awhile during our dry summer weather.

Corrine

I have Queen of the prairie for several years and mine has never spread. I thought last year heatwave might have done it in but it looks healthy and is blooming. Its not even close to what terrene looks like. I don't think it gets that tall in my area.