Northeast Gardening: Failures, Disappointments & Lessons, 1 by alyrics

alyrics wrote:
Seandor - if you are ordering from Bluestone they have hellebores and they were healthy when I bought there a few years ago. Hellebores like a loose rich soil a lot and will set seed all over if the soil is right. I have a Mantis tiller and I till in a lot of organics - leaf mold, bagged composted cow manure, my own compost, Sweet Peat, peat moss, etc. to make beds for hellebores.
The delphiniums are sometimes hard to winter over - esp if they stayed wet or their crowns were covered - they really like a raised bed I have found, but I've never had them last more than 2 yrs - just my luck maybe. Valerian ( a totally underused plant I think- nothing else smells that heavenly in the spring) you ought to be able to grow from seed, and the irises - I'd check to see if they are planted too deep. I had a sunshine-yellow one that never would bloom till last yr I read that you almost lay them on top of the soil and hill up around them so I replanted it and hit it with some Bulbtone and voila - its blooming for the first time in 4 years wtih 5 buds on the stem.