I buy mums every year to decorate for the fall. Last year, instead of throwing them out, I planted them in the ground. They came back strongly and have been blooming since spring. Their blooms cover up the whole plant, then they dry out then another wave of buds and blooms starts again. Mums don’t need good soil and a deep hole. I could barely dig a hole in our front yard to put them in because the soil is so poor, rocky and full of tree roots. I covered the mum’s roots up with mulch to keep weeds and grass out and also help retain water. Talking about water, mums don’t need much water. I water them only when we have weeks of no rainfall. I can see different performance levels between the mums in the full sun and the ones in light shade. I put one mum underneath a crape myrtle where it has brief morning sun and indirect sunlight all day. I has been growing very well making a good block of green. However, it is not blooming even though there are lots of tiny buds. I am not sure it’s going to bloom in the fall. I noticed the same thing with my neighbor’s mums. Hers has good afternoon sun but is not blooming either. I think I’ll move that mum to a better lighted spot.
The sunray tickseeds I put in the front yard where they get mostly full sun but afternoon shade perform very well. They have been blooming since late spring and put on a stunning show of hundreds of bright yellow flowers. They multiply a lot as well so I cut off the leggy parts and kept the core. I think I will move them down to the sloppy side and split them up so that I will have a mass of sunray right in the front of my house. Their blooming has slowed down now but I bet they will put on another show before the cold hits. They attract lots of bees and little butterflies or winged insects. I tried to plant the cuttings with some little roots to see if they would grow. I have been watering them well so hopefully they will survive. The dried seeds fell on the ground I hope will sprout in the spring as well. Let us wait and see.
I love purple coneflowers. Last year I put one under the other side of the crape myrtle where it gets medium sunlight. It has grown so big and given lots of flowers. Goldfinches love to eat the dried seeds on the flower head so I left the spent flowers as is. This year, about a month ago, in the middle of summer, I got some purple coneflowers for free so I tried planting them on the side of my house facing south. They receive full sun here with lots of heat. I had to water them every day for about two weeks. They were already blooming when I planted them which was not a good time for planting. However they survived and are blooming still. The old stalks are wobbly and the flowers are small and not showy. I bet they will establish and come back strong next year. Then I’ll have lots of goldfinches in my garden.
In companion with the coneflowers I have stella d’oro daylilies. I may see my master ideas here. I want to build a native garden with plants that are drought tolerant, heat tolerant, and require little feeding. Daylily is one of those perennials you plant once then let them do their job. They have been flowering since early spring and has slowed down now. I see that some people cut down the foliage to force them renew leaves and bloom again. I enjoy their foliage so I won’t cut them back this year. I bought some plants from a mail order company. It sounds like a good deal but they sent you pieces of dry root. I was skeptical but planted those roots anyways. They all survive but grow slowly and poorly. I could have split a one-gallon container of daylilies into dozens of those pieces of root. So I think I will split the big bunches of daylilies next year.
The butterfly bush I planted last year is growing strongly and blooming beautifully. It doesn’t have full sun and is crammed between a fence and a crapemyrtle. It could have been bigger if it was standing by itself but I like to control its size so it works out perfectly. It attracts some butterflies, few monarchs however, I expect to see more butterflies next year. A blanket flower was put right next to it thus receive very little sunlight. It blooms on and off and has become leggy. I need to move it to a full sun spot this fall.
I also planted some sedums and bearded irises. The irises didn’t bloom this year but hopefully next summer they will. The sedums are starting to bloom right now. They were eaten by some critter in the spring when weather was cool and wet. Some leaves and young stalks went missing however they look strong now. There could have been more blooms hadn’t it had the damage.
My shade garden is my pride this year. Those plants do so well after the first year. The Roxanne geranium has been blooming and crawling since spring and doesn’t show any sign of stopping. The hostas bloomed once since early summer. I should have removed the flower stalks right after flowers were spent so that they would bloom again. I hope they will do anyways before winter. The Japanese anemone has beautiful foliage and posture and started to have pink blooms now. The fern I picked up from the edge of a fence and put in a container doesn’t seem to be able to survive the heat and drought. I know they prefer moisture. I was negligent in watering and it now looks horrible. I’ll see how it deals with winter.
Two other plants just showed up in my garden this year, a snapdragon and a Queen Anne Lace flower. The snapdragon I transplanted into a barrel and it bloomed and bearing seeds now. I am collecting those seeds to start again next spring. The lace flower plant was a surprise. It looks like weed, the kind that some consider weed some consider a wild flower. I take it as a wild flower. I am going to collect its seeds and put it into my natural native flower garden.
The two astilbes I put in the shaded area, one bloomed, one didn’t. I started some columbines in the spring and they didn’t bloom but hopefully they will next year and reseed themselves. I have two square foot of parsley and I have been cutting lots of them for use and give-away. Onion looks good as well. I have used some as green onions and some I move to mix with other plants. They seem to do well in the heat and dry soil once established. The thyme I started as seeds in containers and in a shady area looks good as well. I grew basil successfully for the first time and have been using fresh basil leaves. I have a lot to give away as well. Strawberries, a rosemary in a clay pot don’t perform well because it gets dry so easily. I have to water everyday to keep them up and lush-looking. I may move them out of that pot. The crape myrtle after getting heavily trimmed still blooms nicely and shoots up lots of suckers that I have to cut every couples of weeks. It’s really a pain but I haven’t found the solution to stop the suckers from peaking up.
For annuals, I planted white petunias in the front and side flower beds and some pots. They barely survive in the pots, growing modestly on the side, and spreading well in the front. I think it has something to do with soil quality and watering. Last year, I had impatiens and they did well. Many of their off-springs came up this year. The pansies I put in last fall survived until early summer. I just noticed that all of them dried out by now but hopefully we’ll have more sprouts when it gets cooler. I bought some liatris bulbs and planted them in a shadier area instead of full sun. That was a big mistake. I should have done my research before putting them in the ground. They barely survive but those who survive I’ll move to the sunny area. Celesia first time I planted turned out well. Some of them got chopped back by deer. Those who didn’t die came back with more branches, that translates more blooms.
No comments:
Post a Comment