I'm not sure if you have the book The Well Tended Perennial Garden, but the writer recommends cutting back a lot of floppy perennials generally before blooms form and usually cutting back by a third to a half. It delays bloom, but makes for sturdier (and shorter) plants and blooms. I have some Fleabane that is a real heavy bloomer and flops every year. Every year I promise myself that the next year I'll cut it back before blooms form but somehow always miss the opportunity and next thing you know the buds are formed (like now!) and then I don't want to cut it back. I use cut down tomato cages on a lot of other floppies in the yard.

I'm surprised that Veronica is flopping for you. It stays upright in my garden. I have many others though, fleabane, centaurea montana, catmint, to name of few. The trouble is they always look like such nice mounds in the spring, I forget about them, then the first heavy rain and splat. Then it's too late to do anything. I really like those round grid supports; you can just leave them in place. But I only have a few of those.

Here's my 2 cents. For peonies what I tried this year, was putting chickenwire pieces over the shoots in early spring. The shoots then grow up taking the chickenwire with it as support. Even with a peony ring, Honey Gold would always flop over, but last night even dh had mentioned how much better it looked this year. Here's a pic,
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So I wonder if this wouldn't work for other plants. I realize that veronica is shorter, but if you bent the edges down by about 5" to form a kind of a box, then the plant should be supported well. What do ya think?

Laurie

Pudge, your suggestion is a good one, but, like you, i'd never remember! Right now, it's such a blue mass of flowers, and there's no way i'd want to cut it down.

North53, my centaurea stays upright - go figure! LOL Actually, it's not far from the veronica and there are blue irises behind it, so there's kind of a blue flow right now that looks nice.

Laurie, if i remember next year, the chicken wire, or something similar might be what to try. Remind me, okay? LOL

Thanks for all your suggestions!

Marcia, you wouldn't be talking about Veronica austriaca ssp. teucrium 'Royal Blue' would you? Mine too has a big hole in the middle, beautiful delicate little plant except for that big darn hole! I'll have to try the chicken wire tip next year. My other Veronicas are ok.

Sharon

Yes, the 'austriaca' part sounds familiar, Sharon. It's about a foot and a half high (if that), and a couple of feet across.

I found a tag (faded) for some WSed veronicas from last year (Darwin's Blue) and they just look like tall, straight plants now.

I think i need to invest in some chicken wire and wire cutters. :)

Here's my floppy Veronica Marica, is it the same one?

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I camouflaged the photo so that you couldnÂt see the hole. LOL

Sharon

The veronica you have there sure looks like Veronica austriaca subsp. teucrium 'Crater Lake Blue'. I have many clumps of these in my flowerbeds and love them. I don't worry that they flop and divide in the center.That's just what these plants do. All of them in part sun do so each year as they mature. The ones in full sun do not divide and flop until later.

As I googled the 'royal blue' each site mentioned that it is a Zone 6 plant. Are you sure you are growing it in your zone2b garden, Sharon?

Brenda

That's pretty much the same as mine. I know mine isn't 'Royal Blue', though - i may still be able to find a tag somewhere in that mess. :)

If that's what this plant does, then so be it. I just thought there might be something wrong. It's too pretty to worry about floppiness. Right now, the fence is corralling it, and it looks fine (better than the stakes and string i had last year!

Brenda, me tag says 'Royal Blue', nope, still don't like the gaping hole in the middle, so for sure I'll be making some kind of chicken wire dome like device come late Fall.

Again, another plant that is much hardier than some catalogs, website, books, tags, would have you believe ;)

I lied. :> Yesterday as i was typing "I know mine isn't 'Royal Blue', though", i thought to myself, "I shouldn't be saying that i know it isn't, but that i think it isn't." Because, it is! LOL Found the tag buried under the plant.

Sharon, you probably have chicken wire because you have chickens, eh? Maybe i'll have to use minnow mesh! LOL