13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I have hardy fall mums for many years. I live in zone 6. We have had two successive years of below normal winter temps and much cold wind. I usually cut my mums back to about eight inches every fall. I then let leaves blow into the stems and get stuck there. It causes a loose, protective mulch over winter. Sorry, it may look messy but it works.
In spring when I think that the cold is over, usually late March, I will remove the stems and leaves. Underneath are tiny green shoots, even this year after a severe winter. If a cold blast comes, it would be advisable to cover these tiny shoots for a day or two.
Trim back the foliage in spring once it reaches 6" or so. Then trim another time or two as necessary to keep shorter. Stop trimming in early July and just wait to enjoy many blooms. Of course fertilize in spring. I like Osmocote because it keeps feeding for months every time you water or it rains. Wishing you success.
I've got one that needs digging out, so far I've just stared at it contemplating the job with dread, makes me tired to even think of it but I need to trim it back first to get to the trunk. Its a three year old Yucca rostrata 'Sapphire Sky' that was a good size ($40) when I planted it and the reason it needs to go is red spiders, persistent and thick. Its already covered in them and its only mid March, not even humid yet. I fought the buggers all last summer in vain which is not surprising because in my experience red spiders are next to impossible to get rid of. The poor thing is deformed due to damage from red spiders. its too bad because as yuccas go, this one is quite ornamental and has flexible leaves that aren't too sharp.
I've dug out small types before which aren't too bad really, shrubs can be worse. The big guys are a different matter because there is as much underground as you see above ground so its all relative. The problem is its not a root, its a tuber. You can't kill tubers like you can roots because its a big energy storage unit down there whose function is to feed, create and replicate yucca above ground like a gigantic potato.
oh dear! there are so many of us!! I am notorious for going to sit with my DH, on the deck or the front porch to enjoy the lovely evening......for about 5 minutes, then I quickly proceed to get up, wander off toward happily growing weeds, deadheading that is crying for my attention and on and on......all the while, my DH is trying to carry on a conversation with me as I wander across the yard. I need to focus!!
I will never forget one consultation I went to where the entire front yard was overrun with donkeytail spurge. So I say be very afraid :-) And it is on our state's noxious weed list if you need further justification. If you want a similar look, opt for Euphorbia rigida. A well behaved choice.
I love hardy euphorbias but I seriously dislike those that seed themselves around willy-nilly. And E. myrsinites fits that bill.
greenhearted in our zone at least for me F. r. does not attain thug status. It does not form a tight clump but roams within reasonable parameters in a large garden. Does your clay tend to hold plants in check? Mine are in good loam.
linnea56 Filipendula purpurea 'Elegans' is not a thug at all. The flowers are white, however the stamens are reddish giving the flowers a pink look. Maybe not nearly as pink as some images though lol! It is a terrific plant that I hope you really enjoy, I know I do.
peren.all, thanks for the additional info. I live in farmland territory (surrounded by cornfields) and the ground here is pretty fertile, though it is on the alkaline side which binds up some nutrients (hello, iron chlorosis). My experience is that if a plant can survive the heavy, somewhat slow to drain soil then it tends to take off after its established. But I generally don't try and plant things that require different conditions than what I have.
Pest trees? Can you eat my variety? I have many fruiting mulberries...soooo messy. Stepping on the ripe mulberries and tracking the purple juice all over. And they keep coming up everywhere. Then there's the poplars (cottonwoods) which have roots taking over my lawn and impossible to grow anything in the ground within 30 feet. And there's the 6 cherry plum trees planting long ago along the driveway dropping plums as we speak and the birds continuing to plant new ones. Also the amazing liquidamber. Huge tree dumping spiky balls so I had to finally give up the lawn underneath as mowing was a real hassle. Aaaand, the "wonderful" ailanthis trees along my east border...I've devoted this year to killing them, spray the suckers weekly, after having had the trees cut last fall. They are relentless.
I have two very nice fruitless mulberry trees, good shade, no falling fruit.
Note: I did not plant any of these. A prior homeowner is guilty.
Thinking of Wieslaw and his great mixed herbaceous perennial gardening.
Personally. I still hate the neighbour's and the township's silver maples.
Another really bad one here is introduced (invasive) common buckthorn which is spread around via birds. No I don't want to get rid of the birds!
There was a large buckthorn thicket in our neighbour's ill-kept garden. However, (luckily?) he was quite happy to have us pay to remove it. He's also been quite happy to have us pay to remove branches from his silver maple which overhang our property.
Not sure whether our diffidence should extent first to our neighbour or to his trees. Still the neighbour's not all bad, certainly not as bad as his gang of trees.
Camp, I do love it although I just about took it out after we had a high windstorm one day and snapped the top off, since then I've let several branches grow outward and keep the new sucker growth cut out, a sort of pseudo palm tree shape now to go in my pseudo courtyard, or maybe more like the tilt a whirl ride at the amusement park :). This is just outside our dining room window, in the fall when the leaves turn color and the pink berries, lushous. Again not a great pic but here's what the top looks like now, pic taken from our dining room window, each year the shape is getting to look a little bit better.
Annette
Glad they are replacing your plants......you obviously didn't get what you were wanting the first time :-)
Yes, lithodora will spill over the rocks very nicely. And flowers really are that electric blue color. Rather striking. Unlike Malorena's experience, lithodora in my climate is a spring bloomer. A long bloom season to be sure - late March to early June - but once that main flush is over, just a very sporadic rebloom with a few flowers here and there through the rest of the season. And not a sign of a flower thriough the winter months :-)
Thanks so much for all your help Gardengal. I knew we'd get this all sorted out. I just love Garden Web Forum and all the people like you who have helped me to become a gardener over the years. I still have a lot to learn but I sure know a lot more than I did a few years ago. Thanks again!!
They don't seem to be fussy about soil, and will grow in acid sand (what I have), but are native to areas with neutral to basic soils (OK and AR) that are much more clay-y in texture. Patience . . . you bought little bare root plants, which IME unless they were handled quite well at the nursery will grow slower the first year than ones that weren't bare-rooted. They will bloom when they are ready.
Oriental poppies are perennial.
Oriental poppies can not take some southern climates. In Texas , the summer burns them up.... So it matters where you are, how one answers this question. I plant poppies by mixing them with sand and then tossing them around and walking on the ground. I plant them in late November along with my larkspurs..