13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Rotting roots are obvious on most of the plants. Just dig one up and see what is going on. If the roots are more or less fine, replant it another place(roots need air to thrive. If you fill all available space with water, they will suffocate). You can also shorten the shoots a little to see if it helps for the habit.
Well, if you remove the flower heads before the seeds mature, it cuts down on self-sowing. At least that works with my Donkey Spurge.
One thing I learned from personal experience -- be EXTREMELY careful not to get the milky sap in your mouth, nose, and especially eyes. It burns badly -- bad enough that you would probably end up in the emergency room to get some relief. I didn't actually end up going to the ER, just rinsing my eye out for a long, long time and using OTC products, but believe me, had I had better insurance that would have paid for it, I would have.
I just cut my polychroma back by half this morning. I don't make an effort to cut it back before it goes to seed. Self sowing has not been an issue with the several clumps of it I have. In fact I love the spring show it gives and would welcome a little self sowing.
Cutting back keeps it from flopping later and makes it a nice soft attractive clump of bluish green in the summer garden.
Yes it is unusual when the soil is too rich or moist to grow something well! It sounds like their native habitat is lean and sandy.
I do have Lupines growing reasonably well in the xeric garden, but there are only 3 little Lupinus perennis seedlings and I don't want them to get lost out there amongst the big perennials.
A friend was over the other day and she saw my lupines blooming - volunteers from a planted seedling 5 years ago. She mentioned that hers are from a wildflower seed mix that she planted some time ago. She has very lean, fast draining soil. Her dirt looks like it fine, shale rock in it. And these wild lupines do well for her.
Linda
I think it can depend on the cultivar for these. My regular ones emerged early this year with the warm spring we were having, whereas the 'Regal Red' I added last year were much slower to emerge. You're also in a cooler region, so that may also explain some of the difference.
Thanks again to all for the great suggestions! The winner for my garden was the shasta daisy. They work perfectly.
On a different note, I didn't realize that writing in caps was considered "yelling". This was not my intention. I work in caps on my computer at work, so it's just a habit. Hope no one was offended.
Once again, thanks for all of the help!!!
Bill
I don't have advice, but just wanted to say I feel for you. My three year old daughter is autistic and deadheads ALL of my flowers for me. It's usually roses she goes after, because she likes the way the petals fall to the ground. Oh well. :) Everytime she grabs hold of a flower, I just tell the plant "better luck next time." lol
Thank you everyone for your responses.
she didn't get to the corm. I imaging there is 3-5" of stem above the corm still intact. I'm glad to hear there is still hope :)
These particular glads had directions to plant at 8" deep into the ground. My other package required only six. I know some planting directions are generic but since I have little experience I found it safe to follow directions.
Yes autism is difficult & challenging at times but she thought she was helping in this case. once she pulled the fourth one up, corm & all she realized she made a mistake & left the others alone. I only wish she had just come to me instead of having to unravel the mystery myself.
Sounds like everything will work out, thanks again!
I was hoping I didn't come across as some smug jerk. Happy to see everyone has a good sense of humor.
ngraham - I'm not saying a word. I certainly wouldn't say: I TOLD YOU SO!! (snicker, snicker) What you described is exactly what I usually go through most years and I really wanted to avoid it this year. In addition, when that plant flops, it shades it's neighbors too much which becomes a huge problem.
gardenweed - Isn't it nice? I don't support my peonies because that's a job I really hate. Instead I make sure to pick everything in bloom if it's going to rain hard. It's a great excuse to have the flowers inside where I almost get high on the fragrance. I look forward to this every year.
prairiemoon - I completely agree. We are weeks and weeks ahead this year. I kind of wonder what that will do to the rest of the summer and fall season?
Yesterday was one of those almost perfect gardening days. It was hot, but I still managed to get everything done I wanted to. When the rain finally came last night, it came in buckets and the iris and baptisia are still very upright this morning.
Kevin
I don't know when lazy became such a bad word.... The lazy days of summer will never be bad in my book.
I was a little offended when the roses and other shrubs in my parents yard grew and flowered much better after I moved away. I was doing everything by the book! Now I don't sweat all the details so much. I don't think of it as laziness, more like "efficiency" and "waiting for maximum returns".
I do like the surprises of self sown seedlings but mulching is one of the best ways to avoid more work later. My lazy tip is to leave all the small annual weeds there and throw the mulch on top. Most will smother and die. Even foot tall crabgrass in your neglected veggie garden can be smothered if you mulch it with enough grass clippings... And the squash plants love it.
Don't skimp on staking. Floppy plants will always come through and flop in the first wind storm. They never look good on the ground either.
i never stake anything .... and if it cant hold itself up.. and it doenst look good laying on the ground .... i spray it with roundup ... who needs to fool around with staking ...
what you will probably find.. is that the stuff on old wood.. will eventually lean.. and collapse to the ground.. and then you will prune it then ... and it will rebud lower..
its sorta like trimming a lilac at height.. instead of rejuvenation pruning at the ground.. the theory is the same ... except the lilac will take years to lean over. and an annual/perennial might do it in one season ...
live and learn... life's to short to be a slave to your garden ... nothing will die.. from lack of early pruning ...
ken
Echinops did well for me except that the deer ate it! So, I no longer grow it. Mine was planted behind a nepeta to hide the lower foliage.
I urge gardeners looking for an architectural plant to consider rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium). The foliage is lovely in my garden year-round (7b). The "globes" are white instead of blue.
My plants are young (planted last year), but they bloomed in 2011. This year the basal foliage is already knee-high, so I'm hoping for taller stems and bigger blooms.
I saw this plant at the US Botanic Gardens and The Battery Gardens and had to have it.
Cameron
Here is a link that might be useful: Battery Gardens profile picture/info
wonbyherwits wrote: Right now, my geranium 'Rosanne' is blooming
I do like reading about bloom time in different plant zones for the same plants I have in my garden. For example my 'Rozanne' is a bloom machine (like everyone else's) but I wont see its first flower for at least 3 more weeks. (Last year it first flowered right around July 1st but that spring was quite cool...unlike this year).
I sorted through the answers and think I am going to do the following plants:
Balloon flowers Sentimental Blue
Heuchera "Obsidian" or something similar
gaillardia
Catmint
The problem is I am having some problems arranging this. The blue and yellow go together well enough, but where to fit the heuchera?
Paul
I've also had problems with floppy Yarrow until I moved it into a spot in the garden that had leaner/sandier/dryer soil and most importantly, more sun. Problems solved. The spreading issues decreased, too. Also, since I have such limited space I find that a Yarrow like Moonshine that doesn't spread and is a great clumper works best for me. I'm going to experiment this year with Schwellenburg which is also supposed to be a good yellow non-spreading form.
lacyvail is the first person to mention different types of Yarrow. Are we talking Achillea millefolium or A filipendulina? Paprika is a millefolium. Gold Plate is filipendulina. They have very different habits. FWIW I've not noticed either flopping here. A few pea will sticks sort that out any way.
wieslaw59 - I am sure you don't really mean 'garbage bin.' Surely it's the compost heap they go to in green Denmark.