13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
Dave - I'd rather have spring spread out across April and May! But, indeed, spring largely compressed into May is the usual situation here.
SB - inland actually often tends to warm up earlier/faster than it does close to the lake. It takes a lot of heat to moderate the cold the water absorbed over winter. Interestingly, the 'cooler by the lake' zone is quite narrow. Walking up our street away from the lake, about halfway up the street from one step to another you can feel the abrupt rise in temperature as you move out of the cool lake zone into the warmer inland zone - and vice versa walking down the street towards the lake. I'll have to check on a map but we're probably less than 1000 feet from the lake. In the fall there's a reverse effect - i.e. that inland cools down faster - and the 'warmer by the lake' in fall is a much wider zone of influence than the cool zone is in spring. In late fall it can be raining here while it's snowing a couple of km. inland. The lake has a huge impact on the growing - and working - conditions in our garden so I pay a lot of attention to it!
June is indeed peony season! I fell in love with single peonies a few years ago and have been adding more each year. I'm not sure if I'll go to the RBG plant sale this week or not - but if I do, the main thing on my shopping list is single peonies :-)
I think many of them do, Catkin (especially spring bloomers), but tulips originated on high, baked middle-eastern foothills and plains. Given similar growing conditions, they have proved to be as perennial as narcissi, crocus et al...but the widespread use of spring bulbs under deciduous trees and shrubs has led to many tulips being planted in similar circumstances...and this they will not stand for - not even Darwins or species types...apart from the latest blooming tulip - the elusive t.sprengeri...which will actually grow in a woodland clearing or dappled shade.
Thanks lisanti. I simply posted to a current thread on hardy hibiscus and didn't even look at the group name. I guess I got my answer though....I did see conflicting information on my google searches but it seems that the consensus is just as you describe. I will cut them back to near ground level once the new shoots come up. Last year, that was the last week in May here. And so far, this is a very unseasonably warm spring, so maybe a little earlier this year if the pattern holds. But we need rain bad.
I also don't grow Tutti Frutti, but have other Agastaches and haven't had the voles do any damage beyond occasionally exposing roots as they tunnel, but they don't seem to eat or enjoy the Agastaches. I think the real threat to A. Tutti Frutti is winter wet. I've come to terms with the fact that while I love the Agastaches that are western species and hybrids, I can't be sure that they will winter over, even when they are supposed to be hardy. I plant them in sandy soil on a slope (or a raised mound), don't cut them back until I start to see growth in the spring, hope for the best, and sometimes have to replace them. So enjoy it this summer, but if it doesn't survive, it is likely to be the fault of the weather and cold wet soil rather than you. I don't know if growing this as a container plant in well-drained media will work or not, but I've done that with some of the not quite hardy western Salvias with success, bringing the pot into a bright cool area (sunporch) for the winter.
hi Ilovemy trees, I am in 5b too (Central IL) and I have gardened for years and just started having a very little bit of rabbit trouble (They disappeared two good sized petunia plants in full bloom) last summer. But over the winter the voles cleared out almost the whole flower bed along the garage: obedience plants, a mass of probably 4x2 that I have had for 10 years (5 teensy plants remaining), 1/2 of a really nice geranium that was probably at least a foot wide at the bass, several helianthus, a lot of bee balm, who knows what else. Another smaller bed they "took out" a beautiful napeta, completely imploded it, two teensy sprigs sticking out of the mound of soil, surprisingly left alone a 2 foot mass of white iris...too early to tell if they got my Henry Eilers BES, and the Double Trouble sneezeweed. Durn rascals! My brother had excellent luck with mousetraps baited with slightly chewed tootsie rolls, but I have a nosey dog and can't do traps. Guess it'll be annuals in those beds this year. Boo hoo. So much of gardening is trial and error...plus what works this year backfires next year. It seems like I have a run of daisies one year, and then next year it's the bee balm that shines. The voles nibbled the bark off my yew bushes on one side of the house! But they are staying green and healthy looking so far! So don't put all your eggs in one basket!
Not sure I would (say it was a delph)...but mainly because the stems of delphs always appear well-formed and visible with that amount of foliage...and that fat, pale stem would be the decider, to my mind. Of course, we are looking at a foreshortened image and, in truth, I would really only put money on something from the ranunculaceae family without further evidence.
Best place would be a plant nursery. Even on-line (a good way of buying ferns as they are easily packed and posted). I am extremely sceptical when seeing bare-root ferns that these have not been simply dug up from the wild. Possibly not such a crime in the US but in the UK, this sort of thing is heinous behaviour - and is, in fact, quite illegal.
No disrespect to you, Linnea - the likes of Walmart are not renowned for their ethics though.
I am of the view that healthy soil produces healthy plants and so don't fertilize per se. I add a lot of organic matter and turn it into the entire bed before I plant anything. Once a bed has plants in it, I top dress with compost and add a layer of hardwood chips to the surface every few years. This adds nutrients slowly as the organic matter breaks down, keeps the weeds down, and helps keep moisture even in the beds. The worms and other soil critters mix the soil as they eat and digest the organic matter, and I find I don't spend much time weeding mulched beds.
Keep an eye on soil moisture and water appropriately for the plants you have, which in my area most years is never since we usually get regular rain. Some plants like it drier and some damper, so know what your particular plants like. When you do water, it should be long and slow to let the water sink in deeply and encourage deeper roots. Hand held watering is almost never adequate, both because some plants don't appreciate wet leaves and splashing can spread disease, but also because watering tends not to be even or enough when done by hand. If you are in an area that needs watering most years, you might want to invest in drip irrigation which uses the water more efficiently. New plants will need regular water either from rain or from you until they develop enough roots. For most plants this is a good chunk (if not all) of their first growing season.
You might want to put zone and location information after your name in all your posts as some advice will vary according to where you are. To do this
Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.
Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.
Garden Ho, I have about 15 hostas there, from 5 years old to transplanted from elsewhere last year. About 4 astilbe.
Campanula, a shovel like you describe would be useful. I’ve been wearing rigid molded arch supports inside my shoes. That helps with a day of standing on my feet, but seems to do nothing for the shoveling problem. I’ll have to find me a welder!
Ken, no suitable teenagers around, burly or otherwise. Kids around here have no need or desire to work, or would rather work in a way they find more socially acceptable, like the girl down the street who’s a hostess at a nice restaurant. Neighborhood is also on its second wave …incoming families have babies and children.
The chain link is attached to a narrow plank, which is screwed into the eaves of the garage. The one closest to the door holds a sweet autumn clematis and a climbing rose, so needs to be sturdy. The one on front has two jackmanii, doesn't need to be quite so sturdy, but has to match the other.
I guess it's hard to make that step from just loving to grow lilies to actually cutting and exhibiting them. I bet if more people knew about the benefits of getting involved in a society more people would give it a try.
I've had the experience that people are so excited to get their hands on a new member they nearly throw free plants at you at a meeting, it's a lot of fun but your garden fills up fast as a result!
I've only entered the show once. But have been growing lilies with ever increasing abandon for around 10 years. I had the idea a stem of lilies had to be absolutely perfect before it would be worth entering. But I found out, they are judged against each other as far as condition is concerned. A bad year for lilies for you (like it was when I last entered) is going to be a bad year for everyone's. So "less than perfect" can still be worth showing.
My chief interest is enjoying them in my garden. I seldom cut any. But I appreciate them in a more complete way now.
Good to know! Thanks for the info :)
It is called tickseed because the seeds look (kind of) like unengorged ticks. Nothing should stick to their fur. :)