Of course I wasn't complaining about crowded daffodils foliage when they were in bloom lol... I guess I could cut the leaves back also;at this point they probably aren't doing much to feed the bulb.
I'm. Really impressed by how well the bare root phlox and astilbe from adr are doing... potted them in trade gallons and they're ready to plant out... astilbes are even starting to bloom. And they were so cheap! Not tempted by ones at HD or nursery.. I'll wait to order more next spring! Plants from north creek ars doing well also but not as big yet from plugs as from those bare root divisions.
PLANT ADDICT'S CHAT #1
I brought home a couple "rescue" Lavender of some sort (Some time of English Lav.) yesterday, will get those installed today. Was doing some cleaning up of the back tables and greenhouse and asked Bossman about those; he said I have to promise just ONE thing when I want to take something home: ACTUALLY TAKE IT HOME, don't leave it sitting behind the counter on the bookshelf for days and days! LOL!!! We promptly walked out to my truck and plopped 'em in there! =) (oh yeah, and a Wave Petunia rescue as well.. I think my hanging basket needs a little sprucing up!) :)
Speedie, sounds like a fun job 'rescuing' plants--LOL! :-) Gita, that HD is lucky to have you helping them be 'tops'! :-)
Critter, my daff foliage still looks intact enough to almost pass for an 'ornamental grass' of some kind from a distance--LOL! But maybe it's time for me to start thinking about what else to plant there!! :-)
Here is a photo of my daff foliage trying to pass as ornamental grass. ;-)
It's in a part of my garden that is still relatively bare. The huge azaleas that I gave to Happy were there last year, and then I planted all the daff bulbs there in the fall. You can see the Japanese maple and a few baby shrubs and small perennials against the fence. One of the last 'great frontiers' of my garden beds... I wonder what I should put there? It would have to be something that could co-exist with all the spring daffs...
That's a lot of daff foliage Cat! My daffs have held are still holding on this year too. I have seen people bunching them together and tying them in a knot. Does that still allow all the leaves to properly photosynthesize? I feel like the leaves in the middle of the knot wouldn't get any sun and not get enough energy to the bulb. Any thoughts?
My NC plants are also doing well although the meehania cordata is starting to get some leaf change from green to maroonish. The Bevan's variety Geranium is doing well and some of the plants are flowering. One thing I noticed though is some plants have a light pink flower and others have a dark pink flower. Also the packera aurea is performing nicely too and I did get few blooms from that, which I let go to seed. I'd like that to spread about some.
Holly ate our entire crop of blueberries in one sitting, all 6 of them.LOL They were just planted last fall so I guess any fruit set means they're off to a good start. Still picking strawberries, about 2 qts. yesterday, since things are drying out I also irrigated them. I'm so glad I added the drip hose when I installed that bed.
American Plant is having a 30% off sale this weekend. Yipee my debit card is just a itch'n
I figure bunched & tied daffodil leaves do more for the bulb than if you just cut them off... but once they start turning yellow, they've probably done about all they're going to do anyway. Any braiding I'm doing is just to get the leaves out of my way but still let me see where the daff clumps are... once those leaves are entirely gone, it's hard to figure out where to put my shovel!
Check out the traffic report before heading out to American Plant this weekend!
Tiger Woods is playing in Bethesda, which means the Beltway and River Rd are going to be awful.
thanks for the tip, SSG! Are you planning to go to the sale?
Boy that is a mess of daff foliage bet that is just beautiful in the spring. Daff foliage is a huge issue for me. When I just can't stand it any more I cut it off. There is still some in a few beds that where it isn't a problem but the bed with the biggest display was cut back about a week or more ago.
Yep those BB were just delicious, Ric lies I didn't eat them all. I left one on the bush that wasn't quite ripe (got to go and see if it is ready) and I offered him one, pretty generous of me considering there were only 5 of them.
LOL Holly! My raspberries have been just delicious this year. I'm getting just a small strawberry crop since it's their first year, but they're the sweetest strawberries I've ever tasted.
Catmint, I've already gotten stuck in this golf traffic, so I'm going to try my best to avoid it this weekend!
Holly, it was beautiful in the spring! I'm still not sure what to do with the space after the daff foliage is cut back. It needs to be something that can coexist peacefully with all the daff bulbs. Any suggestions? What do others plant in their daff beds?
You're probably right about the traffic, SSG! Well, my pocketbook says I don't need to go anyway! ;-)
Cat, if your daff bulbs are at the proper planting depth (5-6") you should be fine with planting annuals over top once you cut the foliage back.
Ahh an annual bed! :-) so many possibilities!
I don't have a daff be, most of my thick clumps are under trees and when they go, it is 'bare ground' under trees. But daylilies along the front or back of the daffs would hide that very well. Eventually, both are going to need dividing.
A few daffs in front I planted in a group of three, so there is a small space right in the middle, I could plant an annual right in as soon as the daff leaves get limp.
I think most of my daffs hit their "leaves the leaves at least six weeks ' mark around June 1st.
Daylilies--great idea Sally! :-)
Cat---
You can plant the Coreopsis in those bare spots IF there is sun.
The package should arrive today. There's 3 plants in there. LMK how they made it.
Annuals are still available in most stores. Vincas would look nice too.
Petunias?
Many pots are clearanced now at my HD. It is getting to be clean-up time.
Consolidation of all plants on the front of the harden gate (The "apron")
is to be completed by July 15th. Crunch time......clearancing time.....
G.
Yes I think sales are starting now--good time to be getting annuals!
I will never again order anything from SpringHillnursery. I ordered some things online and have been very disappointed with every order. One order of 'blue/pink' day lilies (3), 1 died, 1 didn't bloom, 1 bloomed all pink and tiny. I especially wanted the blue. Also on this order (early spring), I ordered the every blooming lilacs. I have yet to get them. Now they say September!!!!
Incredible.
That sure is a bummer on the lilac. The daylilies however won't necessarily bloom the first year. If you're planting a bare root daylily, it needs time to grow and establish its root system before blooming. I can't speak to the one that didn't grow at all but usually daylilies are fairly successful from bare root. Most plants are not. Why not cancel your lilac order and then go to a local nursery and buy a lilac?
They've gone downhill these past few years; I think they were part of some corporate consolidation. To the best of my knowledge, there are no blue daylilies.
Perennials that die back in winter (like DLs but also many others) combine well with daffs... The idea is that as the daffodil foliage dies back, the other plants are sprouting up. Main issue I had this year is the weeds grew well with all the rain, and the daffodil foliage made it hard to get at them.
Suzy, a DGer who's obsessed with daffodils, overseeds her competition daffodil beds with annuals, many of which are self-sowing. Lots of color, lots of fresh bouquets, and a feast for the bees & butterflies!
Well, Behnke's in Potomac is now 40% off, for those of you who want to brave the golf traffic!
Please don't be angry with me Y'all but Good Earth is having a sale. 20-50% off hanging baskets, anuals and perennials
Does anyone who has Conoclinium coelestinum grow it in the shade?
Gita, I think he's talking about your tall blue ageratum.. does it grow in part shade or shade for you?
Yeah, Hardy Ageratum. I got a bunch from Happy and Muddy at the swap. I planted it in full sun and part shade but wondered if it could also do full (bright) shade.
Jill--
I have not had my tall Ageratum growing for years now...all gone...
They used to always come up in my little, round, front bed where my KK Hibiscus is.
It has been ages!
I did get some seeds from karen--and 2 of the seedlings made it. I WS them.
Now I forget where I put them??? So--I cannot even say if they are growing...
Sorry! g.
Hey--Jeff.....speeka-da-Inglish....please!
Seq- It's related to Eupatorium which I have all over, I'm gonna say it will grow but size and blooming may vary in full shade.
Really helpful, huh, not. haha
I got my hardy ageratum as babies from Happy at the spring swap. I planted them under the hibiscus which is a fairly shaded area, thinking this would keep them relatively more contained. All I can say is they are growing quite well there.
The six plants I ordered from the Santa Rosa half price sale came today. They look great. I ordered 3 agastache and 3 echinacea. The echniacea were actually in bloom - really cute 'Raspberry Truffle'.
oh, I'd love to see photos of your new 'Raspberry Truffle', Aspen! What kind of agastache did you get?
The agastache is 'Purple Haze'. Happy really likes that one so I thought I'd try it. I'll try to get a picture of the 'Raspberry Truffle' tomorrow.
I love Purple Haze, too. I'd say of my several Agastache plants, it's my favorite--very robust bloomer.
I got my SR plants last week and thought they were decent specimens. The echinacea I got was Tiki Torch but it doesn't look like it'll bloom this year. I'm going to try shoehorning them in somewhere this weekend.
Yehudith, I've never heard of Good Earth nursery before. I guess I should check it out at some point. ;)
Seq, I have Conoclinium coelestinum (hardy Ageratum) planted in a bed that only gets morning sun, and it blooms very well. I haven't tried it in shade, but like Sally says, it'll grow but might not bloom as much. Why not try it and let us know how it works?
Cat, you could pull that daffodil foliage out now. I try to let mine get yellow - it depends on my patience level - but as soon as I can yank out the leaves without pulling out the bulb, I do.
You can plant any perennials you want on top of daffodils. When I first planted my daffs, I put the bulbs 8" deep because I read they wouldn't multiply as fast that way. It made it easy to plant perennials on top.
Aspenhill, I looked up the 'Raspberry Truffle' boy is it really pretty.
The blood root I ordered from SH came and was planted, but was a no show. I will put the pots by the bench in the drive and see if I just got them so late they remained dormant, I was not peased with the order though.
I went back to Lowes for more dwarf Asiatics and they had dried them up pretty bad, but they had reduced them to $1. Some were in nice 8" sq. planters worth more than a buck. So I bought 9 more that still had good green on them. Since the dwarfs bloom weeks ahead of the tall varieties, they add color at a transitional time.
Maybe I'll give it a try Muddy, I do have a few more left from Happy.
Here's my Echinacea Raspberry Truffle this morning:
