13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
The unique texture and colour of these plants make it a very worthwhile addition to anyone's sun garden. Here are a couple of my "Big Blue" Sea Holly from last summer. (This particular variety are self-supporting. They do grow tall but are 'airy' and don't spread much so you can usually find space for them in your garden),
Nevermore44, Echinops tienschanicum is described as only hardy to zone 6
Here is a link that might be useful: Echinops tienschanicum
I'm not a big fan of daylilies either, but I'm in the process of moving mine to the back of our property. I am using their growth habit as a substitute for mulch. Their leaves keep the weeds down, and DH and I don't kill ourselves trying to cart the mulch all the way to the back of the yard.
I'm using red hot pokers the same way.
Michelle - yes, that big pot thing would definitely only suit a limited range of situations! The modernish black one though I think would fit in more places. Because it's black, it would not stand out too much - in the right conditions - until you are close to it. The unexpectedness of the 'modern' lines would add to its impact. For instance, if there was a convenient way to get water to it, I could see putting that beside the path going under the pines to the north of my shed. There is a spot where the shade/shadows are pierced by a bright shaft of sun on sunny days. I could see placing that fountain where most of it is in shade but where the shaft of sunlight would hit that silver ball. The sound of water running would draw people along the path, looking for the source and, on sunny days, finding the source would be a quite dramatic event I think. As soon as I saw that fountain, that's the picture I saw in my head :-)
Is that the hated Buckthorn I see there in the left? Even if it isn't, you could easily remove some that under growth over there to provide some sun. Now, for some fun stuff in the wet spot:
Joe Pye weed, Queen-of-the-Prairie, Boltonia, New England Aster, Blue Flag Iris, Rudbeckia triloba/subtomentosa/maxima/fulgida/, Hibiscus+++, Cup Plant, Button Bush, (and probably more).
All of these(except Queen-of-the-Prairie) can be grown from seed very easily. Check around on the Seed swap forum for seeds from members. Or help out the folks trying to make a living on seeds and buy some.
Hi, I don't know if it's a buckthorn. I thought those things were not that large. In any case, it is not on my property so I can't do anything to it. I just cut stuff when it reaches into my property.
Oddly, I planted Queen of the Prairie last year, but it flooded and killed off the plant. Joe Pye weed is a bit too tall :-). Thanks for the suggestion. I'll see if I can research those plants and where to find the seeds.
Paul
I do understand that FROST is not equivalent to frozen ground so I am pleased to know that my perennials planted yesterday still have time to root but I am also wondering if national weather services have historical data for "frozen ground"....as you said frozen to 8" deep?
Looking back I can bet there are years (more recent rather than earlier) that the ground *isn't* solid until into January (in my zone 5).
In certain areas in Zone 5 the ground won't freeze more than 1-2 inches deep at all, especially near the house, under mulch, in sunny areas, and around rocks and dense objects that absorb the sun's warmth during the day and radiate it at night.
Finally, if there is snow piled on the ground before it gets really cold, the soil will probably not freeze at all. You may be able to pile snow on the area when you shovel your walk or driveway, in order to insulate the ground and prevent a deep freeze there.
In the shade, in areas that are not mulched, and in elevated or hilled areas, the soil will be more exposed to deep freezes and freeze deeper or sooner in the year.
In any case mulching makes a big difference when it comes to frost heave... and you have lots of time to water. Water deep (slow and keep the hose/sprinklers there for a long time) and do not water again until the soil is dry on the surface, because you want to stimulate the deepest roots to drive most of the growth.
Also know that the big box stores actually purchase their bulbs up front.. so if they don't sell by end of the season.. the just pitch them. SO usually once they go on sale, you can ask the garden manager if they will take even more off then what is marked. And of course if you buy a few, they will be more willing to bend. Last year i was able to get a ton of allium for $1 per package.
So it works differently than the live plants that are all priced by the outside nurseries.
rouge21, by all means pinch twice or thrice. I lose count, I pinch so much on some of them - LOL. Mid-July is probably the cutoff date (zone 5) for pinching. A little later is still do-able, but bloomtime will be later -- which can be a good thing too.
Let us know if your Matchstick comes back in the spring. I just planted mine and I think the rootball looked great. Not a typical roadside 'hardy mum' rootball at all. It had the rootball of a well grown nursery perennial -- not too much, not too little. Up close I could even see the crown spreading wider.
I bought this mum four years ago. All yellow.
Each year since I have one branch of bronze.
This year the end of June I "pinched" the ends. I stuck them into rootone and planted eight of them next to mama. We had lots of rain this year. Six of them rooted. I even have two bronze.
I have five colors growing in the last several years. This is this years prize. This car gets good gas mileage. I bought it at a yard sale eight years ago for $2.00.
Don
ACK!!
I'd be p*ssed about the hydrangea. Oakleafs aren't quick growers like other types of hydrangea, so while eventually she'll fill in and the shape will even itself out, it might take a couple seasons.
Similar thing happened to me a couple falls ago - a gust of wind sent my wheelbarrow flying into a winterberry holly, cracked off a huge piece of one side. Thankfully the damage wasn't that noticeable after the foliage filled in the following spring (although, of course, *I* knew it was lopsided and it bugged me...), and now you'd never even know it, I swear it's fuller than ever - that's the effect pruning can have, whether said pruning is intentional or not.
Perhaps next season you should move the grill out of the path of the wind, or chain the legs to something that isn't going anywhere.
Paul if I'm reading right you are zone 5, so sun in winter is really not an issue. and 4 hours of noon to afternoon sun will be more intense than morning sun. My experience with balloon flower is that it would be fine with that amount of sun, many geraniums as well.
I regularly have tall snapdragons overwinter - not every plant makes it... (at least I don;t think so... but since I just scatter them throughout perennial beds, I have no count of number that don;t vs. do...)
I assume that in winters where we have a decent snow cover when the weather is really cold that I get better success rate... but cannot say this is the case.
I never plan for them to overwinter - just view it as serendipity when they do.
If you want more, just try buying some 6-packs of any snap variety that appeals to you in the spring - if they like the spot they're in, some will likely make it.
Beth
Z5 northern Michigan (near Traverse City)
I was on a private garden tour and this lady had many different areas. Each one had a laminated sign and started with "The herb garden is my favorite garden because I like to cook and ....." "The shade garden is my favorite garden because I can cool off on a summer day and ...." "the perennial garden is my favorite garden because of the riotous color and ...."
It amused me that they were all her "favorites".
I didn't get any pictures of these boxes, but meant to mention that at Chanticleer they had plant lists for each particular border. The lists were held in cute boxes in each garden.
Here is a link that might be useful: Plant list boxes
How about varigated or solid green Liriope? Cute purple flowers in the fall, it gets 'ratty' looking and you take a mower to it.
We moved some to a very shady part of the backyard along the fence (last August when it was still in the 90's here!)and it never missed a beat. Very little supplemental water, even after we moved it. (To tell the truth, I forgot all about it). It's one tough plant.
Aren't these plants great? So cool. So dramatic. So different. LOVE them! I got my original plants from BluestonePerennials.com years ago and I really do enjoy them. I find they're very easy to divide, but I recently found a trick in dividing them that makes a huge difference in the health of the divisions as well as the original plant.
I use a Reciprocating Saw. It's really easy to use and it really makes a huge difference in dividing plants that tend to grow into a large, thick clump like ornamental grasses and hostas and Kniphofia because it cuts through the clump like buttah. ;)
And, it allows you to cut the plant into nice, neat, un-butchered sections without having to dig the whole plant out of the ground. I usually cut the plant into pie sections and then dig out each division separately. The whole process is SOOOOO much easier than using a shovel and/or knife. It's actually kind of fun.
If you're borrowing a saw, be sure to have the owner give you an old blade to use that they won't mind cutting through dirt and possibly hitting a few stones along the way.
I've divided Red Hot Pokers in both Spring and Fall and I've found that the less damage you do to the division and/or original planting, the more likely you are to have flowers in the Spring/Early Summer. Therefore, this technique really makes a HUGE difference. But, either season has worked great for me.
Since the plants are so tough and quick to recover in general, I'm going to go ahead and divide one of my monster clumps this weekend, since it just finished it's bloom. We'll see how it goes.
I'm especially interested in trying some of the smaller statured Kniphofias that I've been reading about lately. Digging Dog Nursery and Lazy SS Farm both have a good variety of Knophofias.
Best of luck!
I found the Flamenco RH Poker recently. 2 plants to start and I've gotta say they're bold and beautiful. I never was an orange fan of anything perennial. Now a few yards away are the May Night Salvia -- I say bingo: -nice companions. With the purple in front of the Red Hots. I'll move them beside each other.
One author writes that the RH Poker is very sensitive to cold winter temps so we all need to cover them up with leaves.