13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Very pretty pic Ech! And a pretty Echinacea. What is that red spikey plant in the background?

That is Agastache hybrida 'Acapulco Trio'. I got them at Lowes last year for a dollar on the clearance rack. There are 3 colors together...orange, red, and a light purple color. They are one of my favorites. They root from cuttings very easily.

Just placed an order. There is alot left to choose from. :)

For ONCE I had all the plants I wanted to pick up in the Bluestone sale ready in my wishlist so ordering was a breeze.
Got them yesterday and it's gonna be 90+ for a week.
They may just stay in their little pots in the shade until this hot spell passes on next week.

Definitely a shurub, I think. Unless this is a perennial-only garden. Clethra makes a nice native shrub choice for part shade. Otherwise, you need tall wildflowers. Aconitum napellus if you dare...it is very poisonous but looks great in late summer.

thalictrum. Esp if astilbe is real tall, like ostrich plume or ....can't remember the other one....
But it really depends on the astilbe....some are only a foot high and have bronze foliage....the gold hakone grasses are gorgeous with those; so is trollius gold queen; some have red foliage, some are 3 feet tall....no one size fits all.

Here is a photo from 2009 of the Baptisia in afternoon sun only with a peony ring around the bottom and not high enough up to keep it from flopping somewhat. Just to let you know what you get with the peony ring....

We've had wind in the range of 20-40 mph for 3 continuous days and evenings now. It's been horrible! Today I noticed all my Heuchera which were blooming are tipped completely on their sides - foliage and everything. Had I not staked the Baptisia, I can only imagine what I would be facing.

Kevin

Thanks for your reply Cameron. It is beautiful and I will enjoy it while it is around. I will take measures to help it overwinter but will hold no expectations for its return next year.

Kim (Winston-Salem)

That ginger goes completely dormant. I let them dry out, dig them up, and winter them in a plastic grocery bag, with the handles tied loosely, not sealed or it can rot (I overwinter many things this way). It will take up about as much space as a large apple, and requires exactly NO care until spring. I store the bag in an 18 gal. rubbermaid tub with no lid on it. I can fit fifty or sixty large plant rhizomes in that tub in this fashion. Probably too late for your poor plant, but FYI for the future.

I like the way it looks but have heard it is invasive. Does this one make runners like 'Fireworks'?

maniac, i've had it 2 yrs. not invasive for me; had no idea it was.
best,
mindy

ken,thx much for that note,
for the 1st time in 30 yrs, i actually lost interest in the garden for the past while.hence no posting. go figure.
it's coming back now, but a bit sedated.in the increased heat of july and august, i will not be out ; can't handle it unfortunately. so glad all of you generous and helpful posters are still out there being your good ol' helpful selves! GWers are so lucky to have you!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: cotton-arbo retum

Hand-weeding is how I really get to see how everything is doing - are the roses sending up basal breaks? Do the brown snakes still live under the hydrangeas? How dry is it under the big hostas? Then I bundle up most of the weeds and put them in the compost bin and feel very virtuous.

Because that article dealt only with agricultural crops, I don't know what impact these super weeds might have on we the home gardener. I guess it would be interesting to hear if anyone who uses a lot of Roundup or whatever is seeing some of the same results. Companies like Monsanto kind of drive me crazy, but that's too political for this forum.

I don't mind weeding at all mainly because weeds aren't that big of a problem. It really is true if you stay on top of them, you see less and less as the years go by. Weeding also helps me 'get in the zone' so-to-speak. If I'm having one of those days, where I just don't know what to do first, I start weeding. It calms me down, it centers me, it helps me focus.

Kevin

Yeah, quack grass is the scurge...sure feels good when you can dig up a huge piece that's a foot or two long, though.

I've been digging out golden raspberries from the edge of my flower bed. Years ago, I gave it a spot in my garden because it managed to overwinter in the pot (forgot to plant it). I was rewarding it for its tenacity; little did I know it would overstay its welcome. :)

I guess it's true about the saying, a weed is just a plant growing where it's not wanted.

That's a good point. It's not just what kind of weeds you get, it's the health of them too. I really hate pulling spindly tough weeds, the lush tender ones in good soil seem to be much easier to pull. I'm seeing a little of that as the soil improves but I still have plenty of bad soil areas.

This spring I had lettuce sprouting in a couple flower beds and in the cracks of the driveway. I forgot I let a plant go to seed last year! Also hosta seedlings are all over one of the beds on the side of the house.... I don't consider them weeds since I will try to find homes for them, but they sure are a nicer surprise than say quackgrass.

I have another Excel document that I start annually, and I label it with the year and SPRING. It should really be called Garden Journal, but for some odd reason I started it off with that title and have kept it that way. I just checked and I apparently started it in 2005. That is my most used document. I start it on the first day that I do anything for the next gardening season. For instance, if I make an order for seed in January that is when I start the garden journal for the year and end the previous year. I keep it very simple and use one column for one day and write down any information garden related. I like this format, because it keeps all my information in one place. Orders I make, items in a catalog I am thinking of buying along with photos, what is blooming, any ideas or plans I have, telephone numbers of local nurseries, where I bought mulch that year, to do lists, and on and on. I review the garden at the end of every growing season here. I always record full names, prices and where I purchased plants here first and later it gets added to the Inventory document. So I have a back up of that information. What I like about it again, is that it is searchable and there is one for every growing season.

I keep a master list of everything on my property.
If I am shopping for daylilies I might not want to duplicate cultivars and having a list of what I have handy is the only way I know to keep up as I am OLD and cannot remember anything any more.

I also keep rough sketches (very rough) of every section of the yard with plant names written in as I easily forget which orange is which, etc. and I am a bit OCD about knowing the complete name of everything.

I would love to get a spreadsheet together but for me that is one of those projects you save for when you break your leg.
aka I haven't the time!

Yes, it sounds like it, prairiemoon2. Florence fennel behaves like a larger version celery with regard to slicing and cooking, although it tastes different. (Same family though)

Thanks flora!

the peeps at the link.. know how to edge..

it involves a shovel.. and a lot of work ... the straight edge at the grass line is about 4 inches straight down.. which is basically.. below the roots of the grass..

it should be done once a year.. in spring.. and a little cleanup in fall ...

if you cant find a utube on it.. i would be surprised ....

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Hi Jan, my wife thinks the grass under the girl statue is called "Ribbon Grass".

As far as the lawn invading the Dianthus, yes, it certainly did. I have to take the full blame. The lawn really did creep in. If I was edging everything, don't think it would have happened. These planting have been in since 2004. We hired a local man last year to "clean it up". Then realized how neglected some it it was. And how nice the design is.

Thanks again for the all help!

..'this area was tilled last year'... A lot of weather has happened since last year. Preparation is never wasted in gardening, as in home decorating. Get the bed right first before you spend money on new plants. And in my opinion that includes deep digging and incorporating organic matter into the whole area (not just the planting holes). It really is such a small space it would take you no time at all to do it really well by hand and give your replacements a great start in life.

So.....I went to look at the Gallardia when I got home....to my amazement one of the two plants actually looked.....better!
Unfortunately some type of animal dug up the other plant for some reason....racoons maybe?
So now I'm curious why the perk up in the one plant? The difference today....no sun, and cooler temps. Very cloudy today and only in the low-mid 70s. Could this be why the plant perked up? I put my finger in the soil up to about my first nuckle, and it felt moist, but not saturated. I think I am going to skip watering tonight.
If the cloudy weather and cooler temps came into play today with perking up the plant....what should I do to keep it going? Should I shade the plants somehow? With what?

Also, the Ajuga soil felt sufficiently moist to me too when I put my finger in the soil. I think I will skip watering tonight on that too. It too seemed more perky....could the cloudiness be helping them too?

I am worried going into later this week though as temps are supposed to hit 94! And it's not even June yet!