Mid-Atlantic Gardening: FIRST FLOWERS OF SUMMER!! AUGUST Edition :), 2 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
Monkshoods bloom really late in the season--like October....

In my garden--for some odd reasons--the Monkshood never really thrives.
It grows nice and green and tall--all lush--and then, around August--the leaves,
from the bottom up, start drying up until there is only the top part left.
By then--there will be some late, puny blooms--but they are gorgeous.
David thought that they were getting too much water where I had them--
from rain runoff from my shed roof. He said his never get watered....
Maybe--I need to treat them with some kind of Fungicide to stop this
dying off of the leaves. I want to, just once, see all these in healthy bloom!
I DID spray the stems and soil earlier in the season.

So-I moved them to this small bed which is shared by my white Peony,
my Proteus Clematis, and a bunch of annuals. There is a big, old Azalea
at the end, but this is not exactly IN the bed...

I have moved this plant to different locations twice now-- same thing...
I have given starts to other people (David and donner) and they have NO problems.
That makes me "crazy".....

Here's what i can do--
I will dig up the two in the small bed and sink them, immediately, in a pot.
They are tall--about 2 1/2' +. Will stake them. Hope this would not mess
them up too much for the fall blooming...
Jeff--I am sure you will want one? Terri--will you take the other one? LMK.

The Monkshood has roots made up of many easily separable corms,
much like the roots on a Liatris. Then a couple of you can have a start.
I still will have a big pot of these, which is sunk into my Kitchen Side bed, right against
the house foundation, behind my big Endless Summer Hydrangea and a Hellebore.

1--Here is a picture from May 2013. You can see how nicely they are growing
on either side of the Clematis. Wish they stayed that way......:o

2 &3--here they are in Oct.--see what I mean? blooming--but otherwise--shot.