13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Sympathies, Raestr.
I'm not a lover of spiderwort, in part, for the reason Nevermore says. Still I too have, in the past, planted several spiderwort cultivars which did not seed around at all. It's a native plant, but I'm assuming some of the cultivars have been selected as sterile or non seed-producing.
As said, we had a problem with a neighbour and his buckthorn tree (prolific seed production and distribution (latter by birds)). Of course, he was unaware of any problem at all. Still he was quite happy to allow us to pay to have his buckthorn tree removed.
Thank you all for the comments. I actually do not know how deep the soil is although I'd be surprised if its too deep. I've only transplanted small annuals before so I'm not really sure. I could always add more soil. I added black eyed Susan at a different location and something is eating them to death! Maybe it isn't deer but even the deer spray doesn't seem to work too well. Bottom line is I am frustrated and not overly pleased with the perennial choices I have around me. Maybe this fall when the nurseries have a big sale I can see what they have then. Like I said this year the vinca did really well but that's a lot of flats every year for all that I have to plant.
If this is a summer house then you want tough plants, because presumably you may not be there to water them. I like echinacea for easy summer blooms. Baptista Australis likes rocky soil, although it is a spring bloomer. Also liked the liatris suggestions,
Received this spring from Canning Perennials, the plant was healthy, though very slow to kick into gear and opened its first bloom about three weeks ago. It is only about 12 inches high, though is now throwing new and taller stems. Shall see what next year brings in regards to the early flowering aspect. I like it very much whatever the case.
I enjoyed looking at your garden. I have not been able to achieve what I want having reduced my water schedule, but I am working on it. Phlox and dalias have suffered the most, but other plants seem to be ok.
You have done a very good job with your yard.
Sammy
Hibiscus just started. Anemone robustissima is getting going, but the other anemones seem to always be much later. I whacked back a bunch of ironweed so that is still yet to bloom, as well as the 'Iron Butterflies' shorter ironweed. Can't wait for the sweet autumn clematis and bugbane. I know many people say bugbane smells awful. I have a couple varieties and one of the purple ones, probably atropupurea smells exactly like sweet autumn clematis. The flowers are soooooo long and bendy and huge. I love it! Caryopteris don't even look close to bloom. Mums, tricytris, asters still waiting. Regular joe pye has been blooming a while. Purple Joe not ready yet. And hoping with fingers crossed for a second bloom of delphinium this fall. Time will tell. And as Woodyoak knows, my favorite tree/shrub heptacodium is getting ready. Also have a tree that I planted a handful of years ago that I hope will finally bloom this fall. Each year it has a few buds but doesn't seem to be able to support them. It's a Tetradium, otherwise known as Bee Bee tree due to its late bloom like the heptacodium. Gotta keep those insects happy later in the season! The sweet autumn clematis is my absolute favorite though as it just swarms with honeybees. It is SO loud!
Hibiscus moscheutos 'Pink Elephant' (even though this isn't my very last bloomer, it's my "grand finale" plant. I love it, and it blooms not long after the Limelights behind it peak. Last year it was blooming by now, but it's a little behind this year.)
Hibiscus moscheutos 'Brandy Punch' (two are blooming; a few haven't started)
Aconitum carmichaelii
Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' - didn't think you could kill this plant if you tried, and I usually have to dig a lot to keep it under control, but it's really sparse this year.
Eupatorium Chocolate
All of my chelone drifts are blooming already, except where the deer nibbled. I still don't want to believe it's mid-August!!!
I organize every fall. In the winter the garage which gets little active use other than driving the car in and stowing snow shovels and birdseed and stays very orderly until spring. From spring through fall it becomes a jumble of pots, bags of mix, bags of weeds, pails, fencing, folding lawn chairs, etc. Tools get put away each day though. Occasionally I sweep it out and straighten up a bit but the well used look remains until that fall cleanup.
Yes, the two plants and cutting I had taken had wintered and are only now just beginning to bloom. They hadn't appreciated being transplanted and nor had they enjoyed the very dry spring and summer that has rendered the region an agricultural disaster ... so, you know what I've been doing this summer .... watering, watering, watering!
Transplanting in August wouldn't make a difference with yucca, its best to do it when its dry so you didn't choose a bad time. Think of it like a tuber or bulb. As long as you got enough of the tuber its got the energy needed to re-establish as long as its well healed where you broke it loose from the original plant and it doesn't rot at the cut end. The tuber will store fine out of the ground, rather like storing sweet potatoes.
I'd store them dry over winter if I lived up north rather than transplant, that is, if you have an early wet fall/winter. You could then set them out next year. Down here we have warm dry weather that extends into October or early November so it would be safer to plant in late summer.
It really depends on the type of Yucca. I know that Y. rupicola has sensitive roots and likes transplanting when it is COLD and dry. These are not Y. rupicicola. Possibly Y. gloriousa or Y recurvifolia. Both are more moisture tolerant than others but callousing the roots is always a good idea with Yuccas and increasing drainage into the structure of the soil is good..( I always love it when people from NY say it is hot. I bet y'all laugh at us texans when we do the BRRRR act)). I am always struck by the problems that people have in your neck of the woods in getting rid of them when they no longer want them. It sounds like a huge struggle. They do not do that here where they are at home. True we have a Yucca weave that comes in and kills them every once and awhile . Hard to be grateful for a bug that kills, but maybe I should.. The plants up there must think that they have gone to heaven not having these critters around.. This variety is a clumper and sends out side shoots and makes itself at home. I also give Yuccas a week after planting before I water them.
UPDATE:
My experience with this annual in the summer of 2014 was nothing special (as I wrote above).
To make a long story shorter I purchased another and this has done very well this season.
Here it is today:
What has your experience been with it this summer?
The tiny root offset from mine has grown incredibly slowly, but, in its favor, survived this year's cycle of incredibly wet followed by very hot and dry. That would have killed some plants. So it seems at least to inherent the humidity tolerance of Digitalis: for comparison the Canary Echiums cannot survive here in summer. (I suspect the spectacular ones at Longwood are bulked up for winter display in their special air-conditioned conservatory, not the normal production ones which of course would be quite humid in summer. Alternately, they are raised in a cool summer climate by a wholesaler and shipped here for a single season of specialized finishing off and display, as is the case with Longwood's annual Meconopsis show. They are grown in Alaska and then tricked into late winter growth by HID lighting.)
I will try to keep it happy over winter and hope for a re-bloom next summer. I wonder how they are propagated.
Salvias that are marginal and are best planted with time to settle in. Don't cut them back till the new growth shows in the spring. The hollow stems can carry rot into their crown. I would protect the S. black and blue this winter. take some cuttings for insurance and root them in perlite.
I agree with gardengal, why on EARTH would you just decide to cut back arbitratily? If you're cutting to prevent certain plants from seed set, that might be a reason...otherwise, they've survived on the planet for thousands if not millions of years, without humans trying to tell them when to go dormant.
The best advise for most house plants applies here, plant it and leave it alone a bit. Don't fuss. Water if and when you must.
