13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I join in the suggestion of Rudbeckia Herbstone one of my favorite plants. Over the years the clump gets a bit wider but it is basically a tall vertical plant 5 to 7 ft tall. It does not need staking. It blooms for me from late July into November with a bit of deadheading, lovely yellow reflexed daisies. Normally no pests or diseases.
Except for flora, no one from a mild climate responded. I had it in a front garden in a rental on the Monterey bay in California. As a last resort I removed all the bedding plants and set up a screen with 1/2 inch hardware cloth and with a shovel ran all the soil through it. I still did not get all the small bulblets, but most of them. By watching very closely in the next two years I was finely through with them. If you want to know if they are aggressive, the answer is yes. Al
Blue Sea Holly has to be the worst plant ever!!!!
we sold it last year and and as soon as it went on to the pernnial table every fly in the world came buy to hang out with these plants. it got to the point where we had to move it to its own table.
i think i rather sell cat poop on a stick!!! then that plant again...
I have grown them all, except maritimum, which belongs to sand dunes. After many years I've found out the only one worth growing is a hybrid with a name Forncett Ultra(from UK). It is reliably perennial, practically indestructable, unless the roots are eaten by something. Eryngium alpinum is very easy to propagate from seeds if you allow it, but big clumps are more succeptible to winter rot than young plants. So they are never really old to make a very big impact, unless you're lucky. Erygnium planum is a terrible flopper, don't waste your time on it(though there is a dwarf cultivar, don't remember the name), it is rather short-lived.
Warning though: after many years Forncett Ultra can send some short runners.
As far as the ornamental value of the flowers is concerned, none can beat really blue individuals of E.alpinum.
It was a mixed blessing Dee--the storm also knocked out power for 10 hours so no lights, no supper, no A/C or fans, no water or facilities that whole time. The storm hit just as I got home from work too so there wasn't even time to fill a kettle with water or grab a flashlight.
Not so good here in IL, one night I got 7 inches of rainfall in a few hours. This caused the ground to saturate so much that the sump pump weren't able to keep up, so the basement got slightly wet near the sump pump. We were fortunate, our neighbor's basement flooded. Some of the plants got flooded and died.
Paul
Beautiful Lupines! What a lush patch, with a lovely mix of colors. Phonegirl, if you'e around, how did you sow all those plants? Do you find that the colors seed true? Or is that just big mix of seed?
Sorry for all the Q's, I would just love to know how you grew them!
I have tried to grow lupines, this year I had three that were doing very well, but after a few weeks of 99 degree weather 2 died, I dug up the last one and put it in a pot and brought it into the house, I don't think it's going to make it, what can I do? I love lupines and the pictures are BEAUTIFUL OF THE LUPINES!!!
Cameron - Thanks for the advice. Mine are just lying on the ground. I even have a trellis in front of one to prop it up. I will post a photo tomorrow. I wonder if it would be ok to prune them now.
Sorry my rant was so negative yesterday. I just had a bad garden day.
Sometimes we all get tired of certain plants and if it doesn't work for you, by all means rip it out. I've done that with plants that I'm tired of fussing over.
For me, it's the drought-tolerance, deer and rabbit resistance and the fact that it is the greenest foliage in my perennial garden this time of year (as we hit 104 degrees today).
When cutting back amsonia, wear gloves as the sap can be irritating to the skin. I just slope the sides and mound the shape to keep it upright.
The main one that I trim is also supported by ground cover of eupatorium 'Wayside' that is lush and blooming those cute misty blue flowers right now. That amsonia is also hiding the knees of monarda 'Raspberry Wine' on the slope above it and is flanked on one side by persicaria 'fire tail' in front of eupatorium 'chocolate'. The other side are native Joe Pye and solidago. Just pack those plants in there around it. Since amsonia blooms so early, i shape it before the companions get up around it.
Cameron
I planted shasta daisies from seed indoors this past winter, set out the plants in a sunny composted enriched garden this Spring (zone 7). It is now July 29th and I have plenty of foliage but no flower buds. All the zinnias, asters, and sunflowers are doing just fine. Why no bloom? Should I yank these plants at the end of summer or hope for bloom in the second year?
mandorsk - many perennials, including Shasta daisies, won't bloom the first year from seed. I grew them via winter sowing last year and they're blooming this year for the first time. Same with ladybells, lobelia, columbine, blackberry lily, beardtongue, globeflower, carnations and blanket flower. All were grown from seed via winter sowing last year, grew into healthy plants that went dormant in the fall, came up again this year and bloomed.
Revert is not a correct term here. Revert means go to a previous state. Mutation would be a better word here, as it can go both ways: back and to something new. Happens a lot in chrysanthemums. I have a yellow chrysanthemum Nantyderry Sunshine which itself is a sport(mutation) of Bronze Elegance(brown). Some shoots mutated to pink, making it identical to Mei-kyo.
The typical reaction from the readers of such posts is a 'seedling-in-the-pot-version', as if the poster of the question is a child or something. Mutations and reversions actually happen.
If 'Peppermint Twist' returns to its original state which would be 'Candy Floss', reversion would be the proper term. Some mutations/sports have a tendency to not be completely stable and do revert back to their original state. This is often seen with variegated plants. You need to cull out the original non-variegated part because it will over take the sport and you will be left with nothing but the original version. 'Peppermint Twist' being a variegated flower sport could easily be doing that.
Now some sports being genetically unstable will throw off more new sports as with the chrysanthemum example above (I've seen this with roses also) that are not like the original cultivar. Then the term reversion would not be proper.
Remy
Remy
I don't know exactly what happened to her Cotinus.
If helps here's a pic of ours right now...
I had pruned out the largest stem to the ground early spring as suggested by the nursery when I purchased it last fall at 80% off in good health in a 20 gal pot.
The part I cut was 1 1/2 thick" & 3' tall. The remaining part was only 1/2" thick, so younger growth & I decided to leave it. I planted the bed quite dense with perennials & also included annuals like snapdragons, lunaria, & bachelor buttons. I won't need those next year.
My notes on the smoke bush (don't remember from whom):
To get the best foliage color out of a purple-leaved smokebush. Early each spring, cut the shrub back to within a foot of the ground. The technique -- called stooling -- may seem drastic, but the payoff is nearly immediate: lush and large-leaved four-foot pillars of deep wine reds or chocolate purples, depending on the cultivar you buy.
Of course, if you do whack back the shrub, forget about the smoke. By removing the current season's woody growth, you've nuked the flowers (and therefore the silklike hairs on the spent floral plumes that give the plant its common name). For a smoking bush, just let it grow.
And, might I add, grow. The shrub resents pruning (as opposed to stooling) and will develop gangly, whiplike stems to spite you if you try to keep it small.
Coppicing or partial coppicing yields a fresh, graceful, manageable plant, while heading back the entire plant partway will produce a congested mass.
Here is a link that might be useful: pruning guide