13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Yep, mine grows up, then arches over. If I do prune, then it is a not very careful hackabout with shears - it is very suited to squeeze between taller shrubs and fountain over the tops of perennials. I would never really consider it as a lone specimen planting. I only ever tip the long ends (anytime over winter) and don't do any thinning or faffing. I have seen it growing on and over fences where it looks wonderful - mine tends to be a bit bare-leggedy so it is a rose to grow with many companions.
I was wondering what had defoliated most of my columbine this year, now I know. Never seen this problem before. The miners yes, those are a given. Glad to know the plants will grow new leaves. They look silly blooming with no leaves, just green twigs.
Karen
I was out in the garden yesterday and found lots of new growth on my columbines. Hopefully a combination of heavy rains and the end of Saw fly season. I planted yet another batch of wintersown columbine seedlings, in various places around my garden. Maybe someday they'll really take off. Columbine are one of the only native plants I can find that bloom in May. Oh, except Trillium. But they take forever to spread and multiply. Oh, and Jacob's Ladder and Virginia Bluebells. I guess I'm not doing so badly. I just need to keep collecting seeds and growing more plants. Spring takes too long to get going around here, for my taste.
Martha
Thanks. The insects may indeed have been Carpenter Bees - they were flying between me and the sun so were just silhouettes to me without any details visible....! I guess we'd better keep our eyes open for suspicious holes in wood things! Post a picture of your wisteria arch....? Are you going for the look of the wisteria arches in some of the famous Japanese wisteria gardens? It took both my wisterias five years to bloom in the spring, although the Chinese one started putting out summer flowers at recent pruning sites by the second summer. My Japanese one has never produced any summer flowers. How old is yours and what kind is it?
After seeing these clematis photos I kind of regret passing on some I saw on sale last week! I know I will never work our a proper support, so maybe it's for the best!
The wisteria are putting on a great show, glad the winter didn't freeze off all the flower buds. Mine lost about half but there were still plenty to put on a show.
I just skimmed past the pic, assuming the ID was correct and went right to addressing whether or not it was a weed. Some of the leaves look like they could be O. laciniata, but the flower doesn't.
You could narrow down the search for a Ludwigia by looking at those known to be present in your state:
http://plants.usda.gov/checklist.html
Thanks, everyone, for all your input! It has been a big help.
Tiffany, yeah, the flower picture that you first see for O. laciniata at the USDA site doesn't look the same as mine, but they have some additional pictures of it on their website that do look similar to mine (although I thought the leaves were a bit too regular in shape). But I came across this wildflower article about a little yellow flower found in Bethel Acres, Oklahoma, which mystified the writer at first. Its eventual conclusion was that it was an Oenothera laciniata. Link is here: https://npsot.org/wp/wilco/2013/04/29/stalking-the-wild-lyf/
MK thanks and yes it is very cold! A 30 degree drop is shocking to the body...luckily it is going to warm up soon.
# 5 is a tiger eye sumac. It's actually in a large pot. I planted two in the ground, and later found out that they sucker terribly. So I dug them up and threw them in my burn pile. A few days later I decided to pot them up and then try to overwinter in my garage. I read that they wouldn't survive....but to my surprise they did! Tough little trees.
#7 is a coreopsis Zagreb, soon to bloom.
Cat...mulch does wonders ;0)
Scents are very changeable in atmospheric conditions - when the humidity and stillness are absolutely right, scent will be at its most pervasive - hence one of the virtues of a small enclosed garden. Moreover, blooms are predisposed to produce scent at specific times of day - evening, for example for those night-time pollinators such as moths, while others will be at their best in the first hours of dawn - again, it is often dependent on the required pollinators...which does lead me to think you are on to something, Pamela, since a plant has its moments of optimum fertility (as will any organism capable of sexual reproduction)...and it is entirely feasible that a plant will over-produce a lure (scent, colours, opening petals, guidelines only visible to insect eyes) at the time of peak success (for spreading the genetic load).
Finally, scent is utterly subjective specific molecules of perfume must fit into the exact receptors in our nasal passages...and, like a lock and key, this varies from individual to individual.
Two of mine definitely didn't make it. The guy at the nursery I buy plants at said that these past few winters have been more like zone 5 than 6 (which is where I am in PA). So I bought two replacements...I don't give up easily. He said that EVERYone has been complaining about butterfly bushes of late. Just another victim of climate change most likely....
I've never had much luck with them surviving for me but the one I have, Black Knight, has come back the past two winters (planted in 2013). The top growth dies back completely but it grows new from the roots. Hasn't gotten very big, probably would if it didn't die back every winter. It's planted near the house on the west side, so the foundation probably has protected it somewhat by keeping the soil there slightly warmer than out further away. Helps we've had good snow cover the past two winters, but that didn't help the growth above ground to survive.
Karen
Thanks for the info on fertilizer. I had fertilized them once this season already, but will get some of the Neptune's on your recommendation and give that a try. We grind all our oak leaves in fall, so I'll remember to save some for the Delphs in spring.
Oddly, the leaves have started to look better as of yesterday? It's all quite puzzling. That being said, there are many odd things going on in the garden this spring, especially with shrubs and trees. We had a lot of snow, but nothing we haven't had before. Lots of puzzles in my garden this year!
Thanks for the info!
Many odd things going on here this growing season, too. Feels like the usual rhythm of growth is being affected by some unknown energy beyond weather conditions. Somehow comforting to hear it's not just local to this garden! Really like the Neptune's Harvest liquid - haven't tried the other variations - and pick it up locally. Last year's 18 ounce bottle cost $15. Others seem to like it, too. You're welcome & here's a link for the reviews: http://tinyurl.com/pqxbh78
How can you not want to feed this beauty?
And look this little birdie has to hang out with the metal ones. When you give them a feeder they can socialize with real birds. LOL
I do get it about the fruit though. We are lucky enough to have lots of hawthorn and choke cherry for the birds. They don't currently seem to clean out our fruit trees, but if they become a problem I'll just get bird netting.
My god, some of you guys not only BUY stuff for them, you actually prepare (cook?) things for them (and I am not thinking of suet balls here but far nastier things lurking in basements). I was persuaded to try this ruse at the allotment, as a kind of lure away from my fruit - but the buggers just increased in number and still ate everything. I had 6 consecutive pea sowings one year before I managed to raise a tiny crop of uneaten peas (although tbf, it wasn't just the birds that ate them).