I purchased a Jacob's Ladder from a local greenhouse this year & planted it in an area with bright/dappled shade, good soil (well-drained, sandy/loamy), and mulched it. The hostas thrive in this area, if that tells you anything.
So, I noticed a few weeks ago that the old leaves were browning, but it was putting up new leaves, so I figured it was initial shock. Now, I notice that it's doing the same thing, only the remaining leaves are diminishing. Any idea what's going on? Is it just because it's already flowered? I'm not very familiar with JL, so that's why I'm asking.
What's wfong with my Jacob's Ladder?
How much rain recently?
Doug
There was almost daily rain for about a month after I planted it. Now, it's settled to normal... almost dry, maybe.
Could it be too dry? Browning of the leaf edges could indicate not enough moisture.
Polemonium don't much care for summer heat and dryness. I cut them back by about half after they finish blooming because they tend to start looking ratty in the summer. You might fare better if you keep it moist (about an inch of water per week), and then you also might get away with leaving it taller...but I've never had much success with that.
My suggestion: cut it back to the basal foliage, don't forget to water if it gets too dry, and wait for it to perk up again next spring. If you want some reseeding, you might want to let a few seedheads mature.
This message was edited Aug 19, 2009 11:13 AM
We have the same problem with our JL here - absolutely gorgeous in the spring but once the summer heat kicks in they just wither away :( We have tried giving them a haircut as KaylyRed suggests but they usually don't perk up until the cooler weather comes back in the fall. If you can still feel hard "knubs" at the crown of the plant at the soil level all is not lost and it will probably spring back to life next year! I treat them the same way I do my Bleeding Hearts, try to plant something around them which will fill in when they wither away to "disguise" the bare spot they leave by mid summer.
Interestingly, it's been quite a cool, damp summer, so it doesn't seem that the plant would be fatigued. But like you said, when I bought it, it had just finished blooming, so it might just be the nature of the plant. I haven't grown it before, so maybe I'm just being impatient!
I think it's just the nature of the plant, to be honest. Like I said, I've never had much luck with trying to keep mine looking decent by supplying adequate moisture...I just thought it might be worth a shot.
Our temps here have been cool, too, if not overly damp. My polemonium looks better than it did last year at this time, but not by much. The basal foliage still looks okay. I've yet to trim it back because it's not in annoying me yet, but I have cut it back all previous years.
My thought is that you'll probably just have to learn to love your Jacob's ladder in the spring when it's growing and flowering, and forgive it for how rough it looks by summer. :)
One of mine is doing same thing I think its just the nature of the beast they go dormant during hot part of summer to return in the spring...I just cut it back so it isn't quite as noticeable.