13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
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.
Here's the link to that thread.
Also, if you go up into the top bar where it says 'Search in Gardenweb', type in Echinacea (the scientific name for coneflower) and wait a second, one of the options that pops up is to search for the term in the perennials forum only. Try that and you will get a lot of threads. One issue that comes up frequently is that many of the recently released varieties, except for most of those in the pink and white color range, may not be particularly winter hardy, so if you mostly have yellow and orange types, they may have succumbed.
They really do not get any water, and they really do live in barely altered limestone rubble over limestone marl. I imagine it like the limestone hills of greece. But those soils have been ( I imagine) fertilized by some fairly historic volcanic plumes.
Gaillardia, Rudbeckia (not BES varieties), platycodon are all losers for me. The first two I plant as annuals (if I plant them at all), the last one is a lost cause. A recent disappointment for me has been two tall veronicas I lost from the winter. Not sure what the deal with that is.
yes, I thought I was congratulating someone else, not Nancy Ondra. If I were to write a warning it would be ¨No, you probably cannot this design on the first try!"or ¨Beware delusions of grandeur¨ ör ¨Cannot be duplicated if you hold a full time job¨
The garden I inherited was filled with oxeye daisies. I used to love them but now I loathe them. They have no boundaries and grow right over other young perennials and if I don't dig them up they overpower them. Such a hassle to remove. I have been working on this garden for over 2 years and I am still fighting them constantly. I honestly wouldn't go there unless you are going to let things run wild and don't care about growing much else.
My shasta daisies are much better behaved, and just as pretty. Granted more expensive.
Plants are living organisms and as such, they are subject to various issues which can affect their appearance. The key is in knowing when this not typical appearance is something to be concerned about. I diagnose plant issues daily as part of my job and the leaves of this bleeding heart would not cause me any concern. It is not a magnesium deficiency - this would show up on the lower leaves first and show as a pale coloring and interveinal chlorosis.
This just looks like some slight damage on the emerging foliage - it could be environmental (frost or other cold weather), mechanical or perhaps insects, like the aphids referred to above.
Annette, I hear ya on the landscape cloth! Previous homeowners had it everywhere and while I'm sure it did work for a year or two, it just becomes a tangled, torn up mess after a few years. Like you said, all the roots get tangled up in it and it becomes difficult to remove (while no longer blocking weeds whatsoever!).
I find 'Chocolate Chip' does a pretty good job at suppressing weeds and think it will work well for you in the azalea bed. I like that it seems to do well in varying amounts of light. The only weed that I have issues with 'Chocolate Chip' is ground ivy (Glenchoma hederacea) because it manages to work its way into the clump. But that is mostly my fault for not edging the beds.
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.