13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Wow! Thanks for the invite! One of my favorite plants, even though not all of them live.

I think the heuchera forum is getting more traffic right now than the perennials forum.

Karen

thought a lot of them were sterile although I do know there are seed grown petunias.

"Laura Bush" reseeded a bit here.

I suspect that at least some petunia varieties are only temporary annuals in Houston and start petering out when consistent summer heat arrives (late May on average), so letting them go to seed when the decline becomes obvious sounds like a good idea.

yep, cut it back, not just the blooms. This is known as the 'Chelsea Chop' because it is done in late May, the time of the Chelsea Flower show (ranting as usual on the antiques rose forum, I loathe Chelsea) and is often used to cut back tall, late blooming perennials such as heleniums, asters, rudbeckias. The plants will grow bushier, flower a bit later (they WILL flower again) and not grow so tall that they need staking.

Unless the vegetative growth is sparse or looking unhealthy, I'd enjoy the flowers and cut the flowering stems off when they're spent to prevent seeding.

The plant will probably bloom at the normal time next year.

This thread has reminded me I need to pot on a bunch of Helenium seedlings I started a couple of months ago.

dig a foundation footing , fill with a 6:1 mix of sand to cement and lay the first layer of top of the wet concrete - Pond liner (butyl rubber) will work a bit but grass will creep underneath for a surprisingly long way. You need to get down to a decent depth (30cm) as rhizomatous grasses will simply go undergroun and emerge in the light but they are relatively shallow rooted, unlike bindweed). Main downside is the permanence of such structures.

At my old house I had a common lawn with a neighbor and had to put a barrier down 18 inches to keep her grass out of my property. Al

When you trap them and more appear, do you think it's new ground hogs moving in or babies of the ones that you've trapped? If new groundhogs keep being attracted to your yard, maybe you can try to reduce hiding places for them like tall grass/weeds, brush piles, etc. that they're said to like hiding in.
Did you see the recent thread about the systemic repellant that has been newly developed? It might be another option.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about new systemic pellets

I have a shed that they live under, also a forsythia hedge that despite my cutting it back, grows prolifically and I think it lives in there. There is also a vacant, overgrown lot next to us where I think a lot of them live. Also, bordering the back of the property, a protected woodlands. So, lots of nice places for them to live. I've resigned myself to the fact that every year there will be more but it is still frustrating. Eventually, they do venture into the trap, but it takes some time and in the meantime, they are gobbling up everything in sight. My veggie garden is fine, due to a 6 foot chain link fence. But my flower beds are not fenced. I prefer them unfenced, but I am beginning to see this is not practical. I do have several digitalis, planted just because they are poisonous and they haven't been touched. They just walk right by the digitalis and head for the delphs. I would like to get some monkshood, but haven't seen it locally or in any of the websites I usually purchase from. In past years, I've planted flowers that I know for sure they won't eat, but the list is limited and I got tired of my choices being dictated by a rodent!

I'd let it bloom. I've had mums do the same thing and I've tried to both ways. Every time I try to pinch it the plant just keeps trying to bloom until I leave it alone. The ones I have left alone will bloom and look nice and then often bloom again (although not as much) in the fall. Either way, it won't act normally until next year so I figure you might as well see what blooms you can get.

One question, two conflicting answers!! My inclination is to remove the blooms and maybe some of the stems primarily because the flowers are looking kind of shabby after a few days of rain. I have never seen Mums forced, but now I guess it must be for the Mother's Day sales. I will trim it, let it recover for a little while and then put it in the ground and see what happens. I am still waiting for my Sheffield Pink to 'awake'. Thank you both.

marquest...not even close. Here is Ruby Stella

Thank you for posting a pic. You are right it really is red.

I also got quack grass in my flower bed,my daughter clean it up alot and then she used roundup protecting my lilies after they bloom we will move the bulbs and do more spraying and hope to get rid of it., Good Luck to us both

When overlapping cardboard is utilized under mulch to keep down the weeds, how does water percolate down to the roots of the plants? WOuldn't you have to really keep the area well wetted to get the cardboard to break down enough to let water through?

My Crater Lake Blue Veronica blooms heavily, though not for a long time (like noted by the above posters). I seem to recall mine didn't bloom much the first couple years either. Now several years later this is what I get:

It is very useful in the spot I have it in, a small section wedged inbetween the rock lined pathway and an evergreen. A spot that is often stepped on by accident, lol. I could totally undersand not keeping it if space was limited and you wanted something with longer bloom time though.
CMK

Christinmk, that's beautiful! I actually have mine next to the same kind of geranium as the one in your picture (got it at the farmer's market and I don't know the name). So now at least I know that if the veronica ever blooms, it will be a good color combination. Mine also doesn't look that bushy. It's more of a trailer.

Prariemoon & wieslaw, I just read somewhere that veronicas almost never need feeding. I think I'll give it one one more year, with no more alpaca poop, and if it doesn't get better out it goes. Thanks for your input, everybody.