13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

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!

if thats the free range weed i have with those colors.. i have found it 2 acres away from momma ....'

i did bring the original 3 inch piece ... i just dont understand how it is getting all over the yard ...

ken

These also break easily. They take root where ever they land.

One thing not mentioned is some plants are called annuals due to their use, rather than their actual life cycle.

By that I mean whether some gardeners will habitually rip up a plant to make way for the upcoming season's blooms rather then letting it keep growing as a non-flowering plant and bloom again next year.

This sort of thing is done in commercial establishments that have landscapers take care of their plant needs thus pansies will appear one day and disappear completely later on. It likely didn't die, but was dug up and thrown out to make way for the new plants even though pansies will live longer than that.

And of course stores would love it if we treated all plants as annuals and bought a new crop every year. To encourage this, many perennial plants are called annuals.

Also provides them some cover as many people are totally unfamiliar with the nature of perennials, and if it's labeled "annual" when it dies they think nothing of it, not realizing it should live for years.

Also climate is a reason.

Many plants can't survive above or below a certain temperature and will die completely including roots, BUT can live for part of a year in inappropriate climate when the weather doesn't exceed either fatal extreme.

Many perennials like this are sold as annuals when they cannot survive the winter of or the summer of a certain climate zone.

I have both "annual" Dianthus (deep pink) - the kind NOT with the still bluish leaves. This came back with no special treatment, and it was in a patio pot. This year it's in the ground and hopefully it will overwinter.

I also have Sweet William in it's second year and finally blooming ;). I am wondering if it will come back next year or reseed, we'll see.

As far as I know, Toto is an annual, so most likely that is not what you have. But other than that, I can't be of much help. I'm supposing you don't have the tag any longer?

I did a quick google search on dwarf perennial rudbeckias and did not get many hits. Even the ones that came up said they grew about 14 inches, so that leaves out your plant! (By the way, I did see a perennial Toto Rustic, so I guess there is a perennial version of Toto - but taller than yours anyway!)

Do yours bloom, and how big are the flowers, and what color?

Dee

All gloriosa daisies are perennial, albeit somewhat short-lived ones. The varieties like 'Toto' that they promote as "annual" are advertised as such because they bloom rapidly from seed and can be grown as annuals. But, they overwinter as well as any other varieties if your climate is conducive.

I would say, yes, the OP probably got one of the dwarf bedding types.

The prices don't look half off to me. Do they discount in the shopping cart?

Deanna

Yes Deanna, as soon as you put something in the cart, it comes up half off.
Remy

I am two years late on this - but mine is also flopping big time (WL).

It IS getting more water this year inadvertently since I started some new plants near it and am watering those until they get established.

So, now that is HAS decidedly flopped all over and is kinda bare in center, and besides that is in BLOOM, one of the few things in my border that is this early...

What to do? Can I cut it was back and will it likely rebloom when it recovers? Or will it go on looking tattered and flopped and I'll have cut off all the good parts for nothing..

I can try rings, but I'd rather trim it once or twice a year if any one has had success with that instead.

And here's a photo for those who asked.

Let me know what you all think!

N

Usually some time in June, I go through the gardens and give many plants a haircut, using a pair of smaller hedge clippers. This includes Helianthus, Solidago, Asters, some phlox, Monarda, etc. Trimming or shearing back works pretty well, and makes the plants bushier and shorter, and delays the bloom somewhat. Nevertheless, there always seems to be a floppy plant here and there and I have to use some supports.

It looks like 'Walker's Low' might be a good candidate for this. I think I have the "Junior Walker", because it only gets about 6-8 inches tall and stays that way. I would like to get the taller one.

I was just thinking today that some of the plants are already ready for a haircut, since everything is about 2-3 weeks ahead this year.