13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials

Plenty of sunshine, maybe too much fert.

Mine have been blooming for months. All are in full, hot sun, with the exception of one and it is not blooming nearly as much as the others.

I have some volunteers too from a plant that didn't winter over. I tried moving a couple in late spring & they died after a few days so I left the rest, the roots weren't big because they were babies. Now they are fair sized plants that would look like a 4" pot size if I was buying them so still small enough to move. I'm leaning toward trying again in late winter/early spring right before they start growing. They start waking up early I've noticed in the past. Since I have more than one, I'm going to move one this fall to place I'd like to have it growing. They really don't like Oklahoma so I expect only a season or two. We treat them like short lived perennials down here.

Thanks for the comments. I guess I'll try to move them in the next several weeks, so they have the moist, cool months of fall to get acclimated. Now to decide where to put them. Hmmmmm.

I should have added on my earlier post that I did find one new one this year. It is called "Cleopatra" and is quite striking.

Pics won't load....frustrating!

Do you cut your delphiniums back after blooming in the spring? Mine are cut back the end of June/ first of July and rebloom in the fall.

I'm also in NJ and last year, for the very first time, I planted a Delphinum elatum. It bloomed late June just like yours (and is just about to bloom again.)

My guess - many nurseries dose plant with various chemicals to get them to bloom early because otherwise they won't sell. It's not unusual for me to go to one of my favorite nurseries and see a lot of things blooming that have no business blooming at that particular time.

I've grown what I believe is Lucifer for years. I got it from another local garden where it had been for even more years. So it has proven itself hardy here. However, it seems to be unique in hardiness.

I have Lucifer and Emily McKenzie, the E.M. has been hardy for me for at least 6 years, including the past 2 rather severe winters that hit -15 and prolonged very cold stretches, without unusual care (I do throw chopped leaves on all my beds in the fall). My only problem was when they started to get too much shade from an adjacent dogwood bush. My yard is very wet in later winter/early spring so they are in a raised bed amended with sand and compost etc. My gladiolus are also hardy here and reproducing under the same care/conditions.

Your plant looks pretty healthy to me! I have never added lime before so I can not say, I grow mine in a mixture with peat so it does add to the acidity and I have found they like that just fine! I have added bone meal and liquid seaweed in the springtime although I added it to them all, so if it did anything I did not have a 'control' group to see any difference! They just need moisture but well-drained soil!

OK thanks. I need to be patient. They are building roots.

Mulch will help with the weeds that arrive by seed, but in a thickly planted garden those usually aren't bad. I have some older, more established gardens that rarely get mulched because they don't need it for weeds. The plants themselves do a decent job of covering the ground and suppressing weeds.

Personally, I have never dealt with evening primrose, or bishop's weed, so I don't know just how bad they are to get rid of. The nuclear option is to pull all the other perennials out of the bed, cover the shrubs, and douse the whole thing with Round Up. Then you wait a couple of weeks for more weeds to appear and do it again, and repeat this all summer. This is what most people in this thread think you should do. It isn't easy, and is more disruptive than you want, but it does tend to work. (I have dealt with a bulbed weed that took two summers to get rid of, but you don't need to know that) A less disruptive option is to carefully apply RU to the leaves of the offending plants with a foam paintbrush, Ken's mustard bottle or some other kind of controlled applicator. This should kill the root structures, and all the offsets from those roots with fairly little collateral damage. This should be done while the weeds are actively growing, and isn't going to be a one-shot deal. It is going to be part of your normal weeding process for at least a year.

I don't think you've told us how big this garden is, or if the problem weeds are concentrated in one part, or spread throughout it. If they are in one area, then of course just pulling everything from that area is an option.

There really isn't a quick fix for a problem like this, and it isn't an off-season job. The weeds have to be tackled while they are growing, and that is when everything else is growing also.

Here are 2 photos to give you an idea of how dense this gets. I am looking forward to taking this on at the end of the gardening season so I don't lose my fancy annuals (datura, lisianthus), and yet address this while the weeds are still active. Thanks for that great idea about the foam brush/squirt bottle

I'm still still too lazy to do that seed-o-promise. I'm zone 7, maybe I will just start writing it in. I used to do that early on, I had put it up there with my name each time when I remembered to do it back in the old days.

Peren.all - you've convinced me - I will look for that campanula! :-)

I was able to take a close look at the flowers on my helenium this afternoon. The petals are definitely not tubular - although they do curl up in a U - so it's not the 'Loysder Wieck'. My guess then would be it's a seedling either from the Loysder I had, or from a neighbour across the street's plants - I'll have to take a look at what she's got growing there now....

Where are you located? I would love to take a road trip for a shade tolerant sunflower. Within reason, of course.

Martha

mmm, I fancy trying it with asters.

i am sorry.. it reads like i offended you .. i hope not ... i was just joking around..

forgive me ...

worry away .. everyone needs somewhere to vent ... we will help you work thru anything .. except the wedding.. lol .. good luck with that ...

sorry

ken

No, no. I was just going to edit my post cause of that. you did not offend me, Been here too long for that. "know you" too well for that. I actually appreciated your observation, I've deleted my worry paragraph. Feel free to delete your unnecessary but gracious apology.

Marie

Sun for morning and afternoon, shade in evening (so, sun).

Started with 3 plants, they filled out nicely, although they were good-sized plants to begin with

Thanks, mxk!

If you can stand an annual coreopsis, I've been growing Coreopsis tinctoria for years. I have two types of seed. One is a yellow with maroon center and the other is the reverse. The red is really a deep rich color, so if you are looking for a bright, hot splash, this won't do it for you. I mix the two in my garden. I'll see if I have a picture.These all self seeded this year, but that is the first time that ever happened. We had an unusually wet spring. The picture is pretty accurate as far as color goes, though it doesn't seem as vibrant as in real life.

Martha

Martha, that looks good. I like the colors together. Don't you wish they self-seeded every year?

In my pic above I managed to plant those zinnias into the garden, but usually I don't get enough annuals planted except for pots on the decks and maybe a row in front of the vegetable garden.

I want to get better about adding annuals, but I'm ashamed to say that this year I still have marigolds in their winter sowing containers. Poor things. :-/

one problem.. might be.. that dividing now ... for sale now.. might result in ugly severely stressed plants... that a gardener might see the potential of.. but others might not ...

many peeps in the trade ... divide now.. into a nursery bed... and pot next early spring ... so they have vibrant, healthy plants.. that call to peeps ....

in other words... you might attract more of the lesser gardeners ...

but you will end up with leftovers.. so plan ahead... and have that nursery ready ... and un pot and replant the divisions.. for next springs sale ... presuming you find the effort worthwhile...

ken

I go to an annual plant swap. Preparation is similar. You don't make any money, but sometimes it's good to make room in the garden and know the plants went to a good home. Because I'm not selling them, I don't feel too badly if the plant does not meet expectations. I label everything with a name and brief description (I type up labels, print out, and staple to a popsicle stick) : but some who bring things don't even do that.

..I can relate to that rouge.... in my last garden I took on a strip of land adjoining mine, which belonged to a neighbour but they didn't want to do anything with it.... had old trees and shrubs removed and planted it all up the way I wanted.... non gardeners think we're mad.... they're probably right... you did a great job anyway...

rouge - you planted it, you take credit for it! your land or theirs :)