13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Yes the maple seedlings are a pain but what I really, really, really hate are the buckthorn seedlings the birds plant. They dine on them at my neighbors and then do the fly and drop leaving me with a gazillion of the #### things and they grow in dense shade too. Should I tell you now how I really feel?
The happiest day of my life was the day the City chopped down the nearly century old American Elm on the Blvd next to my house. I hated that tree! When the seeds fell, they fell like snow - covering every square inch of my yard and garden with tissue thin round seeds to a depth of almost an inch. They stuck to your shoes, they blew into the house every time you opened the door and every single one of them sprouted in the garden. Each year I could count on pulling thousands of Elm seedlings until the snow once again returned. They sprouted in the middle of perennial clumps. They sprouted in every crevice between bricks and stones. They covered the surface of the pond. And they fell for weeks.
The Dutch Elm beetle is my hero.
Kevin
It looks very similar to my Penstemon pinifolius 'Magdalena Sunshine'. According to High Country gardens Penstemon pinifolius 'Magdalena Sunshine' is 'slightly more compact than 'Mersae Yellow' and is a bit more floriferous'. You may be able to find 'Magdalena Sunshine' locally.
I'm jealous. I wish I had a good spot on the south side of my house to try it but there's a concrete patio there.
I'm curious whether you and your friend mulch your lantanas over winter.
I suspect, being in the midwest, even though your temps occasionally drop down below zero in the winter, it probably doesn't stay there very long. So if you have a protected spot, you may have good luck with zone 7 or even zone 8 perennials. It's fun to try. Just don't spend big bucks on them.
Lantana 'Miss Huff' is supposed to be a hardier variety and I've read of some people getting it to winter over in zone 7, not sure about zone 6 though.
Yes, my friend and I both mulch our lantanas during the winter. I think that could be another reason why they do so well, but I really think that a combination of the south facing structure that protects from the north wind, the mulch, being so close to zone 7 (the reason for the mild winters), and the fact that our sandy loam soil drains extremely fast is what does it.
I have never detected any fragrance from mine. I don't see that as a defect though- these are fantastic bulbs. I've had my Brodiaea/Triteleia laxa 'Queen Fabiola' bulbs for three years now and love them. They require zero care, are not fussy about dry conditions, and add a nice pop of blue to the summer garden. I think mine are even starting to multiply some. I like them so much that I want to find some other cultivars this year...
CMK
In spite of our dog using it as a 'cushion', Herman's Pride (Yellow Archangel, Lamiastrum galeobdolon) returned this Spring and has doubled in size!
It's under huge Tulip Poplar's with Hellebores and Sweet Woodruff, and it's super shady and dry as a bone there (unless I remember to water them).
Love the bright yellow Spring flowers and the silvery veining on the leaves. Never thought it would survive and return this year.
I have found after trying heucheras unsucessfully in the past, that they love lots of compost and morning or filtered sun, and now they grow well for me. Pulmonarias like pretty much the same thing and they grow well side by side in the same bed in my zone 7a garden
Heucherellas like a bit more shade, it's the tiarella in them but still lots of good organic woodland soil.
Sandy
Get some red Gaillardia. They will seed around nicely. They bloom such a very long time. The monarda is a good idea too since you can easily propagate it by ripping a piece out and sticking in the ground.
Also try 'Brakelights' Red Yucca. It is a new variety with red stems and flowers. I have it. It's easily propagated by division. I got one and made 3 out of it. It blooms all summer and hummingbirds love it.
Try some red hollyhocks too. They are easy from seeds and you can save seeds and plant more each year. Red Columbines would do the same.
I overwinter at least 100 pots in my garage each winter, (at one time had 243) although the number is dwindling (but not as fast as I want it to!). They range from pots that are 24 inches in diameter to 4-inch pots to lily crates. My garage is unheated, and quite cold. I cover the windows to keep out the sun (which isn't a big deal as the windows face north and east), and I water the plants well before bringing them in, with maybe one watering (or shoveling of snow on them, if there is any snow) before bringing them out.
IMO, the tricky thing is knowing when to bring them in, and when to bring them out! You want to make sure they are dormant when you bring them in. This winter, honestly, most of the pots didn't make it in the garage. It was warm out until late-January, and at that point I didn't really bother, although I have in the past brought them in in January. This year the garage was too messy and I was too lazy, lol.
If you want to keep things outside in pots, for winter interest (evergreens, etc.) then I would go for something at least a full zone hardier, if not two. I did that one year with some red twig dogwoods and other small shrubs and it was nice to have them on my back patio.
Experiment with some hardier perennials if you want to try it first before committing to a lot of stuff. Daylilies, peonies, daisies, echinacea, hostas - these always come through with flying colors for me here in zone 6.
Good luck!
Dee
Veggie bed is a bad idea. There are way too many garden pest.
==>> are you missing the point.. or irritating me on purpose.. lol .. either is approved ...
you have a DEDICATED AREA ... for healing in plants in the fall ...
the veggie idea.. is just an alternate season use ...
i used to have an area behind the garage at the old house ... for just such winter healing ...
it was only about 6 by 4 feet.. you can stick a lot of stuff in a very small area.. since you intend to repot in spring .. before growth starts ... [and you might want to lay some hardware cloth over it to protect from vermin ..]
ken
If this weather pattern continues to hold, I think watering will become essential since there was no snow cover to melt, sink down and moisten the earth. We've also had the same strong, drying winds here every day, day after day. Whenever I check the 5-day forecast, it shows sun & clouds. This time last year I was pumping water out of my cellar.
miclino - my hydrangeas look the same as yours. That hard freeze week before last zapped them even though I tried to cover them as best I could with the wind blowing a gale.
The majority of my new perennials were grown from seed via winter sowing so their roots are deep & healthy but even so, they still need moisture to thrive. I've got just under 200 winter sown milk jugs sitting on my breezeway that are beginning to dry out. I use shallow plastic storage bins for bottom watering. Methinks I need to buy several more. The first two years I winter sowed, we had heavy spring rains and I actually carried a couple hundred jugs inside my garage so they could dry out!
your soil should be damp .. either it is.. or you make it so ...
but with cold nights.. once the soil is damp .. you do not need to water them every day.. like you might in august ... dont drown them ...
make sense???
bottom line.. INSERT FINGER AND FIND OUT.. no guessing ...
ken
Echinacea 'Hot Summer' is not a seed variety. You will not get this plant from any seeds. Thompson Morgan has a seed variety with a similar name but it is a dud. None of the blooms were any color other than pink out of two packets I tried.
I would try Gaillardias if you have trouble with these hybrid Echinaceas. There are seed varieties of those that give a similar look and they bloom longer and fuller. I'm planting yellow, tangerine and red this year. You can't go wrong with those!
Cyn that lilac colored aster is facing East. In the second photo you can see the morning sun hitting it and if you notice the tree branch in the upper right hand corner, that is where the sun will stop shining by late morning. So it doesn't get more than 3-4hrs of sun a day.
I saw that you're in 5b. I gardened in 5b in Ohio for decades. Coleus don't seem to care where they are, as long as it's warm. If you're shopping at a place where they actually know a thing or two, ask them which coleus would do better for you. They might have access to plants that aren't on display. I've been able to get plants that way, but did have to buy a whole flat since they were ordering just for me.
If you like the idea of white phlox, but think 'David' might bloom too late for you, there is a rare found one called 'Midsummer White' that supposedly starts blooming earlier than any other white Phlox paniculata and is impervious to mildew as well as highly fragrant. Perennial Pleasures in Vermont sells it. The owner states that it starts blooming by the end of June in northern Vermont.
I have a few ordered for delivery at the end of this month, so hopefully it will be a good one! :-)
In case you are still searching/undecided....My shasta daisy 'snow cap' according to several pictures I have taken over 3 summers were beginning to bloom in the third week of June, at full bloom by July 1 and still attractive around July 10th. My shasta 'silver princess' blooms about 10 days later than the snow cap. You are a zone warmer, so bloom time may be a little earlier.
nurseries that have watering systems
==>>> presuming you do not have a misting or watering system ...
i think your prime consideration should be how many times a day you need to water ...
i would bet those little quarter inch plug trays.. need to be watered a couple times a day ...
what potting up does.. in ONE SENSE ... is introduce fresh media ... if you put a seedling into a larger pot.. and leave it there for 3 to 6 months.. the media simply MIGHT get old ... and not drain nor perform to expectation .. the way you wish .. or accumulate salts [fert] .. which in the long run can be a problem ...
if i were you.. i would try MANY methods.. and see which fails.. and which performs..
the thought that you personally can ID and perform with ONE SYSTEM.. might end in disaster ...
finally.. germination is NOT variable ... its what you do with them after ...
ken
ps: are you working in a greenhouse.. or will ambient humidity be a variable also??
Ken, thank you for responding. I just have been germinating and setting out perennials for years in the manner described in the initial post. I've never kept them in pots past a point where they are *just* large enough to be set out, although they needed to be shaded and coddled for a while. No greenhouse or watering system in place other than me checking status daily. I'm trying to avoid anything super finicky as far as germination goes or with a very slow growth rate.
I guess I'm asking if there is *any* benefit for the non professional to utilize these other types of flats and/or if one wants to grow a decent sized perennial "plug" to pot on only once, what the recommended size of the plug cell would be for good rooting start.