I have looked at gauras and something always stops me. Convince me to get one, or pat me in the back for resisting, lol.
I once saw a pink gaura at a friends and it was totally out of control. well, all her yard needed some serious attention. Anyway, I think that's what sorta scared me away from gaura.
Pleas tell me the good, the bad and the ugly about Gauras
Of course, I'm in a very different zone where I have never seen it a problem, but I LOVE gaura. I've had several, lost some to hard winters but I continue to buy them. I love the way they sway in the breeze.
Vossner, go get a guara! I wasn't too sure about them either, so I bought 3 last year and clumped them together in a spot in my big circular front bed. They survived even this past years hard freeze when I lost quite a few plants, including all my pentas. They've never stopped blooming. I have them with East Friesland Salvia, Coreopsis, Kangaroo Paws, Dianthus and Porterweed. They look especially good with the salvia and coreopsis. I love the blue/pink/yellow color combination though. They've been really trouble free. I wonder if they can be rooted from a cutting or if they have to be divided from the roots???
I have some Gaura too, I will try potting some cuttings and see if it works.
Will let you know later.
Since they grow wild by RR tracks, I was going to go dig some up & take them home. I was told to take my longest shovel & some muscle. Seems they have very long tap roots & that is why they can survive cold winters down here. They will re-seed some but in my opinion, they could not over seed. They are so awesome when you have several in a planting. They just look like little white or pink BFs swaying in the wind. I LIKE!!!
The native perennial ones grow from a tuber as do most of the ones at the nurseries that are cultivars. I have had 2 cultivars for a few years. My husband bought me a dying one form Lowe's for a quarter and it started doing well after I planted it. The butterfly and moth cats have eaten most of the leaves from them, but I think that they will bounce back. These cultivars have not proven to be invasive (yet). The native ones are listed as invasive. They prolifically produce seeds. They grow from a tuber and you can divide the clumps in spring to start new plants being careful to not injure the tubers. Since they grow from tubers, I don't think if you can propagate them from cuttings.
They are easy to start from seeds. The flowers need to mature on the stems. So, do not pinch off the old flowers as well as do not remove the stems after blooming is finished. Small green football shaped protusions along the stem are the developing fruit which contain the seeds. They will become a dark greyish-brown when they are ripe. The fruit do not open to release the seeds. The fruit ripen at a staggered interval due to the blooms opening in a staggered interval. So you need to check the plant often so that they don't fall from the plant before you collect them. Surface sow on a peaty compost and keep compost slightly moist. You should sow seeds from February to July. Seed germination usually takes 21-60 days.
This message was edited May 25, 2007 10:50 PM
thanks everybody. It looks like I will be getting some. But Hazel, isn't it too late to start from seed? also, would I be able to transplant inground this season? I was considering buying qt size plants.
I will be making a trip to Lowe's to see what I can find. Ck out my thread on the Memorial Day bargains to be had at lowe's.
From what I read, the seeds can be sown until July. I have never grown them from seed. Of course, the plants will be small. They should be planted in the ground where they can form their winter rosette. The plants would be small of course. If you want large plants now, then you would need to buy them and quart sizes are best because the tubers are larger and they will produce more stems resulting in more blooms. Also, usually the quart sizes have more than one tuber in them.
voss...actally i had 2 ...i think i loved one of them too much and it died....now i am learning tough love (less water) and it is doing quite nicely but my flower bed is now out of balance...one side has one and the other doesnt...hmmmm i might have to buy another??
Funny you started this thread, I was just looking for gaura today. I've had my eye on it as well but never bough it. Funny, when I'm looking for it, I can't find it. Guess it just means a trip to my favorite nursery. Oh well....gotta do what ya gotta do.
I have several gauras ( white and Pink). They are beautiful and can easily be divided from the root ball. The only problem I have is spider mites. Am I the only one???
My experience with Gaura lindheimeri is that once you have it, you will have lots more. It reseeds freely, and even after I took it all out last year because it was just too wild looking for its spot in the front yard, and didn't respect its alloted space, seedlings continue to come up this year. I can't imagine having to propagate it by cuttings, etc. It is always covered with aphids, but that makes a terrific nursery for beneficial insects that thrive on aphids. I haven't had any luck at all with the other gauras - they just don't thrive in my garden.