13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
True that leaving old foliage may offer some protection to a perennial, but we live north of Toronto (as per glmtoronto) and I invariably cut back (almost to ground level) our own, and any other mixed local perennial garden I do, by the previous late fall.
On the other hand, that's what perennials do; namely, die back leaving no living part above ground in winter. Perhaps if plants are close to the limit of their hardiness range, for the location, the protection might be desirable.
I usually cut back in the fall, and I imagine my climate isn't too different from yours. The exceptions would be the western Agastaches like A. rupestris, woody herbs such as sage and lavender, or anything that's particularly borderline as to hardiness. I make sure to cut back plants that might carry over disease such as peonies and phlox near the beginning of my tidying process since I never know when we might have an unexpectedly early snowfall. If I am not able to finish before snow buries the gardens, I try to do it early enough in the spring that the soil in the gardens is still frozen. I try not to step on the beds, but if they are still frozen and I accidentally step on a bed, it won't compact the soil the way stepping on sodden ground will.
SB - could they have been trying to grow/flower while still under a crust of snow that was blocking light? "It'll be interesting to see if the leaves green up now that they are exposed to full light. I thought the ones in my picture above were also looking a bit anemic and I assumed that was due to them only recently escaping snow cover.
Don't worry about the snowdrops, they'll green up fine over the next few days. Often when spring comes suddenly they come up yellow first and then the chlorophyll takes a little longer to develop. The inside of the blooms might stay yellow , its a nice effect I think.
I should have taken a pic of everything I did to protect it over the winter from the temps and from critters. NHBabs I'll try something stronger this year; I remember spraying the area with liquid fence late fall. I wrapped the back and large area of the front tightly and flush to the ground with 20 or 25 yr landscape fabric and around the actual plant with half inch wire mesh.
Hey ken I normally wouldn't bother to protect a clematis either but for this cultivar the base is hardy to our lower Z5 temps but the upper growth is a lot less likely to make it. I never heard that about the wood though.
I don't think my question was very clear. I was asking if there's something anyone knows of that I can apply to the actual remaining stem that the chipmunk nibbled the bark off but it still looks like the cambium layer is left intact. I'm hoping that the rest of the stem is alive and i will see some flowers off it.
Thank you so much for all your help. I was reading that chrysanthemums require so many hours of daylight and sunlight. Unfortunately for me, I live in a park where they keep the lights on all night. Will this be detrimental to my mums? I've posted a couple of photos of my mum still in the pot from last fall. The pot is about 12" diameter.
Thanks again.
I grow mums in a sunny spot. They are survivors from a group I bought 15 years ago! Over the years, they've been moved half a dozen times. They were once in an area that got more light than they do now and what I noticed is that the flower color was deeper in the sunshine; the leaves appear to be the same. What I do in zone 7b: prune with kitchen shears on Memorial Day weekend and again on 4th of July weekend, taking about a third of the growth off (pinching is nice but they grow fast, both in height and width, so clipping is better and the plant doesn't seem to mind) (my mums are not in a location where anyone would notice the 'haircuts' like they might notice a potted plant) -- fertilize at half strength once a month from April thru September -- cut stems off to about 2" above the ground when they stop blooming or over Thanksgiving weekend (whichever comes first).
In iffy winter's it's so important to leave the old flower heads on hydrangeas all winter, it's a little extra protection for those tender tips. In March last year I cut an old hydrangea back hard to renew and thin, grew back beautifully, no flowers but that was expected. We had an early freeze, in fact it was the only one we had the beginning of November, looks like there will be no or very few flowers this year :(. The hydrangea a few feet away is fine, still has the old flower heads on, probably nip them off today.
Annette
Losing hellebore blooms sounds extremely disapointing. Thank you for the tip Annette! That makes alot of sense. Next time, I will leave the old flower heads on. I will definitely cover them next spring. At least we didn't lose the wisteria in that area.
-mag, I don't know how the Anemones would feel about gravel. My experience is that they like a good soil that is loose and rich in organic matter. They are so shallowly rooted that I feel the layer of gravel would impede them on their slow bulking-up process.
I think the Geranium is a much better choice...a very tough and dependable plant.
CMK
"Working around cactus and agaves" is guaranteed to trigger a lot of bad language as I impale soft body parts on spikes and needles.
I mentioned needing body armor to plant agaves when I was at the nursery recently. The cashier told me that homeowners didn't buy or plant these, they hired landscapers to do it. Now she tells me....
Cheryl
This post was edited by jadeite on Thu, Sep 4, 14 at 21:55
"The Fan Sheng-chih Shu (the first agricultural extension book) describes the use of buried clay pot irrigation in China more than 2,000 years ago. It is likely buried clay pot irrigation had been used for many decades or centuries before this description was published. Current practices remain much the same."http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1043&context=david_a_bainbridge
This paper has some interesting information on starting seedlings in the desert. (p 7) Ollas work nicely to start trees but you would probably need to blast a hole to get the olla into the caliche. I hope you were able to get some things established while we had some rain this Winter. Praying for more...
AM, thanks for that! The drainage may be an issue but I'm willing to try. So many plants I'd like to have but can never find.
Wanton--LOL! Yes, it's a double-edged sword! I save them to remember WTH I bought/planted and also to remind myself not to go on a Fall mail-order frenzy if the majority of the plants I planted don't reappear this Spring. I'm not going to be happy if that happens. I see the Penstemons are toast...I'm now officially done with them. Too wet, I spose.
The campanula with astrantia; very nice AM.
I've found Campanula 'Kent Belle' a flopper too. Among the tall Campanulas, I've found Campanula latifolia 'Brantwood' (below: June 23, 2014) a much better choice from that point of view. Nevertheless, even then, I still do some staking to keep a clump compact (usually one stake and twine put once around the whole plant).
The hollow metal stakes with a green plastic covering are so much nicer than the bamboo stakes. Apart from not rotting, if strategically placed, they can even be difficult to see.
A little OT but...I don't pay the big bucks for fancy plant supports anymore, I went and bought a roll of wire and some rebar, cut the rebar and wire to whatever lengths needed, cut and twist the wire around the rebar and make a hook on each end. Push the rebar in at the back of the plant, circle the wire around the plant and hook the ends together. The whole thing disappears into the foliage, you'll never know it's there.
If you make the loop around the rebar a little looser you can slide it up and down to whatever height needed, use whatever's handy to hold it in place, I've even used a clothespin ;).
Annette
Many of these bulbs are rotted from planting in the garden without roots before the soil has warmed. mxk3 has given excellent advice, roots make all the difference. I don't suggest planting an unrooted bulb in the ground until the soil is warm enough to plant your beans. Al
I divided my old (~15 years) clumps of Siberian Iris and not only was it not easy, the divisions were just eh - not really very vigorous and spotty flowering. I hit an end-of-season clearance and replaced those divisions with new clumps in fall 2013, which grew beautifully last summer. So, frankly, for the amount of labor required and less than great results, I say just ditch them and buy new plants if they aren't looking good anymore.
Thanks, everyone. We're selling the house and moving in mid-May, so with everything else I have to do, I think that I will tell the new owners that they need to divide them in the fall. :) They're young and a lot more energetic that I am, and I do remember that this is a long process (I think that there are about 16 huge plants...)