Here are the bulk of my seedlings from 2007 season, put to bed for the winter!
Sad sight, eh?!!!
Brenda B
Winter Landscape
Brenda
Looks like my yard at the moment! When is Spring?? :) And just to tease you!
Mike
Arrgh, Mike- Ya better be send me some seed from this one, for being so ornnery!!!
Brenda B
Yeah Mike, you have just reminded me of this datura. Did any seeds mature on this one?
Janice
Wow... I did not know you could leave the "trunks" above the ground! I cut mine to the ground and muiched. If they will sprout out from the trunks they would be much bigger next year. Wish I had known...
That is beautiful Mike, which one is that?
Boy Brenda, my yard looks like that and I didn't have to cut a thing. Of course I can't leave anything in the ground like you. And if I did the horses would try to eat it. lol
Hey, Mike... I want to be on your seed list for that one too! I saw you post when it first bloomed...
Brenda, what plant hardiness zone are you in? I'd read that the tops will freeze down to the ground if not mulched. Do you protect them in any way?
Mike, is that datura as pink as it looks? I didn't know there were any double pinks!
Okey, no shoving or pushing ........................and the line starts behind me! LOL!
Betty, you're right! Everything above the ground is dead now, even under the mulch. But the ground under the mulch, where the roots are, will not freeze and the new growth will come back from this protected rootball. I can get away with doing this in zone 7.
Here is what I was told and why my seedling bed looks like this.
I was told, and accepted this in utter faith, that you cut the stumps high like that because during the winter, rain or snow water can run down inside the stump and eventually make its way into the inside of the rootball and result in rot or freezing and rot. So you leave it long to keep the water from reaching the rootball.
Since it made sense to me (what do I know!!!!), I have done it for the last two years. This also marks my plants for me, just in case a pesky squirrel gets energetic with my plant labels. I can still where they are and I know what they are from my garden maps.
Anyone want to comment on this; is it necessary or not? For some of you, above zone 7, this is not an issue.
Brenda
So the stumps do not sprout growth? So do you cut them off in the spring when the new growth appears?
Yes, I may cut them off but ................................ they are handy as a ready-to-go plant stake!!! (lol, sorry, I couldn't resist!) Usually, I just let them sit there and they rot at the base sometime in the spring or summer and I just bend them over and they pop off.
Brenda
Most of mine are hardy to 8a which is where I am, but everything above ground still dies. Last year I only had 2 and they both were done the same way. One came back and the other didn't. The one that didn't was an unknown so I don't know if it had a higher zone requirement or not. This year I have about 50. I don't expect then all to come back because I know that some are hardy to 9 & 10. I am rooting cuttings for back up for any that don't come back.
I wondered about the issue of water getting into a dead stem but if it is dead it will go hollow so to me it wouldn't matter how long it was... but maybe it does. I think the best plan would be to seal the cuts, which I may try to do on a nice day....LOL
yardqueen, be careful that you are not sealing something bad, fungi, bacteria, etc. in the cutting. The current recommendation by the Cooperative Extension Service, with one exception, is not to seal cuts because of the danger of creating more trouble than you are trying to prevent. That one exception concerns sealing pruned live oak trees outside of the suggested pruning dates because the insects that spread Oak Wilt are attracted to wet open wounds during that time.
From what I remember of something I read, the stem goes hollow but it seals itself up at the base. It seems to me the longer the stem the farther the water will have to travel, therrefore it will soak into the hollow stem more before it reaches the base roots.
Just my opinion, and I know this works for some plants here in zone 6. So I guess I would go with what Brenda does. Too bad I can't do that here, instead of hauling them into the garage and covering them with a sheet.
I am a cut sealer. LOL In a humid area not sealing causes nothing but problems. I 2 step my stuff. 1 with systemic fungicide and 2. seal once dry. Where it freezes it does not matter, the plant is dead from exposure. The only problem that could be from hollowed out stems all the way to the root. Mike it appears you have a one of a kind dat. This is my 1st year with them and it was a late start but I am liking them more everyday. Mine just keep blooming and making seed pods. I do believe they could be invasive here. LOL What a problem to have.......
JIm