13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I'm a big fan of Neem oil. I've never seen mildew on my coneflowers, but our winter was so mild this year, I've been seeing it elsewhere for the last month already. Neem oil is primarily used as an insecticide/miticide, but it also has fungicidal properties. It's pretty much the only garden "chemical" I use because it's so effective against a broad spectrum of common garden issues-- plus it's organic.
You can find pre-mixed bottles of neem oil spray at just about any garden center, but they're a bit pricey. I use so much of it, I buy the pure oil and mix it myself-- 2Tbsp oil with 1Tbsp of old-school Dawn dish liquid in a one gallon pump sprayer. I say try a bottle of pre-mix, and if it works for you look into buying some pure oil. I buy it by the gallon from a website called organeem.com. One gallon usually lasts me at least a season, but it's the best price+shipping cost I could find.
I would plant something you don't dare plant elsewhere - like bishops weed - a green and white variegated ground cover that is an aggressive spreader. Maybe Sedum Autumn Joy would work but you might have to work at the maintenance. You need something that will hold up under the baking reflected heat of the cement and splashing chlorine pool water. Maybe an idea is a decorative border of some cool tiles or mosaics and be done with it.
Marguerite daisies (Anthemis punctata) have done well for me in my "hell strip" areas. They love crappy soil, lots of sun and don't need a lot of water. My clumps are usually around 6-8" tall when not in bloom. The leaves are a good contrast to most other garden plants-- very delicate, finely cut and greyish-green. The blooms are 2" pale yellow, and make good cut flowers. It normally flowers here (Richmond VA) in early summer, but mine looks like it'll bloom within the next month thanks to our crazy winter weather. My gardening encyclopedia says it will rebloom if given enough sun and cut back hard after the initial flowering. I may have to try that this year.
They are, if in the ground but not in a pot in our zone. I also overwintered a mum in one of those plastic pots but I kept in the garage. It put a green shoot when it started to get warmer. I would give it until the end of the month to see if there is any growth.
Rule of thumb for over-wintering plants/perennials in pots/containers is the plant has to be hardy to two zones colder than yours. Generally it would need to be Z3 hardy to over-winter in a container outdoors in Z5 but the extremely mild non-winter that just ended may have given your mum a better shot than it might have had spending several months out in a normal Z5 winter.
I grow perennials, trees, shrubs, etc. from seed via winter sowing and normally see only a handful of seed types germinate in March. In past years, most have sprouted in April. This year 45 perennial seed types sprouted in March.
In answer to what they look like when they die....picture a dead spider plant, only much fuller....lol. The stems do eventually fall off, but the foliage turns yellow and just stays there until you cut it down (or have to pull it all off by hand if you're like me and don't get around to it before they start growing again...lol).
Personally I don't think it's a good look in a garden, but on a bank...who knows? And I think the 'grasses' idea is excellent !! Think it would help offset the dead lily foliage since they have the same 'structure'. Green "grass" foliage plus yellow (dead) lily foliage would probably look nice. Like yellow mounds of ornamental grass, maybe??
Just one afterthought -- if I did plant grasses, I'd make sure there was enough room in between them so that you could just mow down the lily foliage (or weedwhack) versus having to hand pull it off.
Because in my experience (and anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) my dead stuff never just falls off by itself. It stays attached in the ground, no matter how 'dead' it is, so it's time consuming doing it by hand if you have a lot to do.
Just something to bear in mind, depending on how much area you'd have to tend. I can't see your post right now so forgot your exact planting situation...sorry.
I have a bank of old-fashioned orange daylilies, but mine is along the back of the house where no one goes in winter (unless I am skiing in the field beyond it and then it's snowcovered.) I have it mulched, and the daylily foliage just dies back and dries quickly at the first frost - I don't usually bother to clear it away. I find the foliage is less trouble than more modern daylilies that I grow. You may want to remove stems after blooming, however.
I have planted a couple of shrubs (viburnum) just above the base of the slope to add interest as well as a small dogwood at the edge of the field near the base. These help provide interest when the daylilies aren't up and break up the look of a 50 foot long bed of essentially all the same plants. I'm just now starting to add a few other plants to see if I can make it a bit more interesting.
Personally, I love frothy white with the orange (kind of Creamsickle-ish) so you might want to think about elderberry bushes or Limelight hydrangeas if the area is moist at the slope's bottom.
Hey...thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of it and being that I'm right on the VA coast and think I'm 7b but could never tell since I'm in a little tiny transitional spot on that darn tiny map (LOL), then I may have changed.
Am trying to find a map that I can zoom in on with my tablet but not yet, so can't tell.
However, when I googled it, did find various links to other maps that you CAN zoom in on, however it's quite blurry. But also links to specific states, sometimes via a local paper, such as NJ, WS, oh....and now I just found VA. I goggled the subject but added "for VA".
I'm still 7b but that's still very important info !!!
So many factors that goes into play when you play something. As an example, stuff I planted the first year died because I planted them in the wrong spot. Generally, the plants are in the right place, their roots will grow and they will be bigger next year. The best example of this is the butterfly weed and woodland poppy that I planted. Both were tiny and didn't even flower the first year. The second year, the leaves and the plants were larger. If they are not coming back bigger, there may be an issue (root competition, soil defficiency, etc).
Paul
gotta love feed stores.. lol ..
you can also get generic fertilizers.. in 50 pounds sacks for under 20 bucks .... why in the world you need a brand name is beyond me.. but then peeps pay for lexus.. when any old car with a working motor and 4 tires.. will get you where you want to go ...
ken
HI
Reporting back, I found generic corn gluten meal at a local feed store for $26 for a 50 # bag. - they had brought in a couple bags from somebody's request. I also found a bunch of online sources but the prices plus shipping were out of this world - like up to 10x as expensive including shipping. Sears carries one brand in stock that is cheaper than Espoma that you can ship to the store for free and pick up, and a bunch in their online storefront.
( I never knew Sears hosted a storefront for other companies) So my next question is when is it safe to put this over lawn that has been seeded? I suppose as soon as the seed germinates this would have no effect. This bag is marked 60% protein so from other posts on Gardenweb about lawn application I got the good stuff. I'm really hopeful I've found a good organic lawn fertilizer. I had thought about using Milorganite as I have a friend who used it completely through extensive amazing ornamental gardens, but never could get myself to pull the trigger on the thought of human waste in my lawn.
PS about using corn meal for foliage diseases - I experimented and got an effect from store bought corn meal sprinkled over hellebores and Euro ginger that had black spot - it worked for about half the season. It reduced azalea gall a little, however, you're right, it is not a solution to disease that is carried on the wood. The bother is you have to keep applying it.
Yesterday's Fine Gardening newsletter carried an article about soil amendments. Same old story - they recommend greensand and other amendments that no garden store has ever heard of. How come they aren't reading the same articles!?
Calamagrostis/feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster' grows to 5 ft. tall but is upright and has a very small footprint. Mine is 5 years old and is just about 12 inches in diameter at the base. It's a very elegant grass, low/no maintenance. My plant is growing in full sun and gets no supplemental water. I've linked a photo below.
Pennisetum alopecuroides/dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln' is gorgeous but it has an arching, mounded habit that doesn't match your stated requirements. I do leave the plumes/seed heads on my grasses through the winter as food for the birds. Each spring I cut down the prior year's growth.
Here is a link that might be useful: Google image Calamagrostis Karl Foerster
I put 4 of them in my garden last August. Two of them bloomed very nicely even this late in the season. Unlike some other variegated plants the blooms of Shockwave do not clash with their leaf colour.
As well I like that Shockwave are less tall than many other phlox.
(I notice that all 4 have survived their first winter)
I have several Walker's Low catmint and 30" is about the size mine get to each year. They are several years old. I live in New Mexico and they recieve intense sun and heat all day with no problem. I do give them supplemental water. I am in zone 7b and they bloom all summer long, right up until it freezes, at which point they die down to the ground. They are one of the first things to pop up in the spring and have been blooming for about 2 weeks.
Yes, we have hanging baskets on our pergola hooked up with a Dripworks system that we bought at Home Depot a few years ago.
Love it.
Also have our only food gardening space all hooked up. Going to expand...
Ditto the comment above re baskets...If you do pots on a deck or hanging baskets, the drip irrigation is a godsend!
Beth
Z5 northern MI