13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

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

No problem. Glad you found something. I've had the short shastas in years past, they're such cheerful plants :0)

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 planted one last year. It is coming up nicely so far. I will try to post a pic shortly.

I just picked up two of these at the nursery the other day.

I too am unsure where to place it re its sun requirements. Now that many of you have experience with it...how much shade can it take?

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

Okay, you guys, I've had enough of all you good gardeners! I'm going over to the "lazy is good" thread - that's much more up my alley, lol!

;)
Dee

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

I have had Echinops 'Veitch's Blue' for a few years. I cut some flowers for inside the house and deadhead faded flowers, though not necessarily right after the flowers fade. I have never had a problem with self-seeding.

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

My favorite orange, but it is an annual, and I'm not sure how it keeps as a cut flower, is calendula.

Geum 'Boris'; Rudbeckia

Thanks! I have begun, again, on a list of zone 6 deer resistant perenials. Too bad about the Tricyrtis.

My tiarella are in planters on my patio. The deer visit the patio to munch a few things and haven't touched the tiarella.

I once blamed the deer for eating my geranium 'Rozanne' so I moved it inside the cottage garden fence. Turns out, it was rabbits eating it.

On my blog you can see my list of plants that have worked in my unfenced deer resistant garden. Deer herds can vary in what they will eat, but this is based on my personal experience. I have had 'deer resistant' labeled plants devoured (such as hibiscus 'Blue Satin' and helianthus angustifolius 'First Light').

In addition to the page that I'm linking to, there is a label on my blog side bar for "deer resistant" so you can read more about the plants.

Hope this is helpful.

Cameron

Here is a link that might be useful: plants that I've tried

Gee, terrene....there is green there, but the plant does not look healthy. I wonder why? I hope you are requesting a new plant or refund from Santa Rosa. You need a new large gorgeous plant!

Thanks PM2, for the 2nd opinion. I thought they were pretty pathetic, and will email them, as the Sedum died over the winter too.

Small plants of Perovskia might be better planted in the Spring in the cold zones. I would not plant a Buddleia in the fall either, not enough time to get well-established for the winter.

I would think this type should be similar.. but that is only if there aren't any other varieties near by to "mess" things up for you. You can always grow them out a bit and see what you get.

Thank you for the input on Kim's Knee High not being a hybrid, but a cultivar off Euchinacea purpurea, gardengal48. Very interesting. I'll let the seedlings grow and see how they turn out. Thanks to all who wrote back with your garden knowledge. I've been gardening for more than 20 years, but seldom leave this website without learning something useful.

Happy summer gardening folks!