13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

You can prune it too.

Thanks everyone! I will give it a try. I will loosen around the plant with a fork and then divide with a shovel down the center and plant the half lifted out some place else. Well that is how we learn. Elizabeth

I have seen them too. Mixed messages concerning hardiness and whether the plants are really perenial. No information whether the seeds germinated 'normally' or developed in a laboratory. They are marketed as Rudbeckias: Berlin, Dublin, Peking.

wieslaw, I've seen those too and they look like just regular R. hirta type strains, at least to me. The Echinacea x Rudbeckia plants that I saw were very different.

I agree. It's a really bad neighbor.... Spent much of a summer doing nothing but trying to dig these up. Didn't work.

Similar to ken, I now cut them back to about 2 inches above ground, and then hack them with a knife, through the middle, at least with a cross-cut, if not three, depending on size. And then drizzle roundup. For the really large ones, a piece of rerod stuck down through the pith, and then circled around some, leaves a good cavity for pouring in the round-up.

There will still be sprouts that come up in the vicinity of the plant, from the side roots. Zap them, too.

And, Ken, the 'food' references on this one come from the fact that the earliest sprouts of this plant in the spring can be eaten, when cooked. And in areas and times when *any* fresh edible in spring is gold, they were worth it. When the plant is more than a sprout, it becomes less and less edible. And the roots aren't.

Doesn't mean we want it growing, and spreading by seed and by root, in our gardens.

The poop of the birds eating the berries is the same colour as the berries, and can make a real mess if it hits your laundry.

Hops can also be deadly to dogs, just in case you have a furry friend.

It's a very good question :-) I always try to keep in mind both the growth habits and any pruning requirements before combining vines. As a rule, I will not combine any very aggressive vine with a less aggressive one....the more aggressive one always wins, usually to the detriment of the lesser. I'd consider hops to be on the upper end of aggressiveness.....any vine that can grow 30' or more in a single season wins my prize for aggressive behavior! Not to mention battling with root spread and associated shoots. Plus, its a scratchy devil to try and prune back in season.

I also will only combine clematis with other clematis with similar pruning requirements. It just simplifies things so much.

AFA hops being dangerous to dogs, that has only been established with certain breeds (namely greyhounds) and only if a reasonable quantity is ingested. In fact, extract of hops is a common ingredient in a joint pain relief medication used by veterinarians so can't be all that toxic. A golden hop vine and a previous pet Cocker spaniel did not get along well however.....the raspy and amazingly fast growing vine stems would grab at her soft coat and tangle her up so that she couldn't make her way back inside. I'd have to go out with my shears and rescue her -- THAT'S when I decided to get rid of my hop vine!

Thanks for all the ideas! I just wanted to have a permanent mark showing where the bulbs are planted so I don't dig them up. I'm always digging and moving things around. I dug up a bulb this week while digging. I have dug into a bulb before and damaged it. It would be nice to have something saying, "Don't Dig Me!!!" LOL.

Mindy -

The muscari marker is sheer genius ! Since I don't need to know WHAT
bulbs are planted in any given spot - I'll recognize them when they show
up - the muscari provide the added bonus of random spots of Spring
color. And, if you really NEEDED to know where a particular group of
bulbs were located, you could always identify them with "color-coded"
muscari - blue, purple, white, pink, yellow - just remember to take notes
so you will know what each color represents !

Carl

Be aware that deer will snack on the new growth in spring. That works for me, because I always cut the new spring growth back by about 1/2 when it has reached about 14 to 18 inches. Bambi helps. I just need to even it up. Bambi lets it alone when the new spring growth matures. I do like the deep green leathery leaves that, as said above, are attractive all the growing season. It is not evergreen however. The plant becomes woody with age, but covers it's legs well with foliage in early spring. Mine is not showing any sign of budding up yet, but it is still early.

It does reseed some and I have moved these seedlings to other places and they do well in my somewhat ammended clay soil.

I've seen these for sale locally. I was under the impression that they bloomed late enough so that heavy frost could stop the show prematurely in upper zone 6 and further north. I'd still take the chance except that after a good season of Shasta daisies, I'm not sure I need a lesser show of similar white daisies in fall.

'Pardon Me' is too susceptible to rust IMO. Has anyone tried Earlybird Cardinal ('Endless Heart') yet?

Ruby Stella is more of a burgundy (ruby) color than a true red. The flowers are fairly small. However, it does bloom for a long time, about late mid-season. I have two plants and like them. Red Hot Returns is another "redder" rebloomer. It blooms earlier than Ruby Stella.

Well, as far as cold hardiness goes, I'm not sure about the color thing. In the past, I always dug and stored my Crocosmia overwinter. A few years ago, I got tired of that and just left them in the ground thinking they wouldn't make it. They did make it and have been coming back each year. None of mine were red, they were all the yellow varieties. Babylon was one of them. I don't mulch for winter and my zone is technically zone 4, but IMO at least has been behaving more like zone 5 for a good number of years.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin for suggesting another hardier-than-usual Crocosmia (besides Lucifer, that is). I have tried half a dozen varieties over the years, but the only one that has survived for me more than 2 yr. is Lucifer. I think I will try Babylon, just to have another colour to go with my Lucifer.

Up here in the Northeast I've had mixed results. I usually have to buy new ones every other year. They are lovely and I must have some in my garden. I would agree starting seed now is too late. Do it in the spring. I deadhead the flowers and they will rebloom for you throughout summer.

Here in the mid-atlantic zone 6, I've had good luck with delphinium belladonna. This one is Cliveden Beauty, and it's survived about 7 winters so far.

it does not look like it is dieing, it is dead. i'm in st louis mo. we did have a bad heat wave & a partial drought but i did water regularly. i have had areas where i had no luck growing ajuga & other ares where it became invasive. this patch was invasive. it did not brown out this past winter. it shrank & shriveled but retained it's color. by adequate water i mean enough to keep things alive & not enough to rot roots. everything else in this bed ( cosmos, spireas, creeping phlox, blackberry lilies, & day lilies ) are fine. it could be the severe summer. my vegetable patch was terrible this year.

It could be crown rot from Southern Blight, caused by the fungus Sclerotium rolfsii. Sclerotium develops during hot weather when the soil surface is moist and it will start in one small patch and works its way out. The base will die and the plants can be easily pulled out at soil level. Look carefully and you can often see little mustard seed looking spores but if it is in some sun then the fungus sometimes dries up quickly after the ajuga dies off and you might not notice it as easily as you would with hostas or other plants.

This is a very common and one of the only real problems with ajuga. Spraying with a fungicide to control Southern Blight is highly recommended to stop it. To prevent it in the future it is best to not water when temps get above 90 though a preventive fungicide spray next summer is also a good idea. The combination of heat and moisture triggers the dormant spores so spray now and again next summer before it gets hot. Ajuga can come back from drought but not from this fungus.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Those are fantastic!!! Lol. That must be such fun
I liked the chicken soup and "cheap" hotel, especially. :)

Delightful! i think my faves were chicken soup and Chickacide though all were clever.