Relatively complicated ? about ES size, die back, flower color

16 years ago

Hi =)

I bought a 5g ES this spring before it had really leafed out. Normally I wouldn't buy something like that so early but I didn't want to risk the GC being out of stock in the large size when it was leafed out.

I planted it in between 2 shrubs (Miss Kim & QuickFire) figuring there was plenty of room and knowing that macrophylla generally dies down to the ground here. It has been a strange season, and everything in my garden has grown MUCH more than I expected this soon (I wonder if messenger had anything to do with it). I can see that by next season if ES doesn't lose a lot of its growth to die back, all 3 shrubs will be touching.

So my first question is, how much size do you lose to die back? If a plant is 3 feet heading into winter, will it possibly emerge in spring as an 8" shrub? Or will it catch up with its pre-winter size & keep growing? If the plant is going to stay small, it works perfectly where it is. If it's going to get much larger, it's too big for that spot.

So here's the thing. If I need to move it, I want to move it sooner than later. This little diva is too thirsty in its first year in the garden (I must water it every other day and sometimes every day). I can put up with that in its first year, but I'm not planning on dealing w/that in its 2nd year, unless I move it and then have to start all over again with the daily watering. *sigh*

Also, from what I've read here, its flowers are pink most likely because it's settling in. My Nikko is a nice blue with no soil manipulation. This is pretty acidic soil. If I move it next spring, I'll have to put up with washed out lavender flowers another year. So because of this, I'm thinking it's probably best to move it sooner than later. Conventional wisdom says to wait to see what it does next spring, but the extra watering & lavender flowers are making me not want to start all over.

What do you guys think? What would you do? (sorry so long)

~MH

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

ego45
16 years ago
Can't comment on anything else, but this assumption 'This is pretty acidic soil. If I move it next spring, I'll have to put up with washed out lavender flowers another year.' is not exactly correct.
Doesn't matter when you move it, now or next spring it's going to take some time no matter what (unless you'll completely wash out original potting medium) untill that neutral medium will dissolve naturaly in your native acidic soil. In a mean time, now it's not wasting its time, but doing exactly this thing. Heavy watering at the base might speed the process.
Even if your other concerns will be addressed not to your satisfaction, I'd still go with conventional wisdom.
jackz411
16 years ago
I'm in zone 4b VT and my ES die right back to the ground in winter. The following spring they develop more effective and mature roots and the plant grows very rapidly, faster than a Nikko. So next year you should have a larger diameter spread than it currently does. Your plant should be larger. The size of my ES has doubled in just 1 year in the ground.

I will need to move some of mine since they are now taking up more real estate and I will probably do it very early next spring, like mid-April.

Not sure of best time to move a plant in other areas though, Ciao, JK
Related Discussions
Disappointing Heuchera die-offs
Q
Comments (66)
No one has mentioned acidity. I have similar mixed success here in zone 5a in Maine. My soils are pretty acid, but I have some planted in a shady well drained humus/sandy woods, some in a sunny bed (these are growing the most, and are standing up well to some invasive neighbors), and some in the shaded trashy soil beside my house. Something (maybe my cat) dug up some of the new ones, others are doing OK. I plan to do a bit of dividing--what I have is mostly from divisions I rescued from an overgrown bed so I'm not sure the varieties. One is small green with intense red flowers; one is marbled/mottled red and green, one is deep purple. I adore all of them. I had one of the ginger-colored ones, peach melba I think, which didn't make it. If I have something that I think comes from a more alkaline area (the default assumption here where most of the soil was peat bog a few centuries ago) I throw in some marble chips, sprinkle randomly with wood ashes, etc. Especially western plants tend to want a much more alkaline soil. Ph is always my first suspect when things don't thrive. So, what pH do these puppies prefer? And do preferences differ across the varieties?
...See More
Please tell me all you know about Blushing Bride
Q
Comments (38)
Boy half a zone difference make you guys so far ahead ~ just as George (ego45) reminded me! BB just flashed her virginal gown yesterday ~ 1 so far! QF opened tons on Pops' Day ~ so thrilled & tho both Orig ES did each a quick one, our gloomy/rainy/storm days interrupted the momentum ~ got everyone in a napsy mood & clusters are still just that! Today sun did show up ~ hopefully shake everyone up! Oh but Blue Frost Serrata even in his *dip 'n dot* stage is already giving hints on the trio of colors ~ blue, lavender, pinks & loaded! T&S1 ~ that came frost bitten, is the most advanced w/ all sorts of new canes & clusters - ready to flash soon ~ in the most ideal site, the hole I prep'd last Fall. I clipped all the blooms she came in to speed up these new ones! T&S2 & T&S3 are doing fine w/ new canes & new cluster finials tho nowhere close to T&S1's #s Luis - to answer our musings on extra sun exposure ~ definitely affects bloom colors IMO based on observations on these 3 T&S planted in 3 diff exposures ~ then again I'm also considering soil diff in their 3 sites! Sorry ~ for long chit-chat! Follow ups later. OK?!
...See More
did my hydrangeas die?
Q
Comments (12)
Ben, you have nothing to lose but to try. I would deep water it frequently. My three ES would wilt every day when I first planted them - and they were not even small plants when they were put in the ground! They were 2-3 gallon plants then. Even at that size, they were wilting daily. I had to water them deeply every day. 3 years later, they are strong and beautiful and don't wilt anymore! There have been other threads on deep watering here. Some people suggested a very good method here - find a gallon container (milk etc.), make a couple of pin holes at the bottom, place the container with water next to the plant and let it soak through. That would provide deep watering for the roots. My neighbor just sprinkled my Forever & Ever hydrangeas for me a couple of weeks ago. They were planted last fall. Oh dear! They wilted like crazy. After some deep watering, they came back as if nothing happened. Try it and let us know how it goes! Good luck.
...See More
Did any of your plants die in the storm?
Q
Comments (39)
This freeze has separated the hardy from the tender of the Southern Hemisphere stuff as well. I'm looking mostly at my container stock that didn't make it into the greenhouse, whose damage to their upper parts is still instructive regardless of the state of the root system. My best Callistemon by far is C. viridiflorus (that's the real C. viridiflorus, not the Youngblood Nursery mislabeled one showing up in Seattle area retail nurseries lately).... easily hardier than others including 'Woodlanders Hardy'. Corokias are all pretty much tender.... none really did that great but C. cotoneaster was the best. Cassinia x Ozothamnus is impressively hardy, as is Brachyglottis monroi, Olearia x haastii and O. paniculata. Pittosporum colensoi is my best NZ Pittosporum. Araucaria angustifolia (100+ of them) has burned leaf tips but growing points are still fine. Astelia... forget it, dead. Eucalyptus are mostly dead but I'm really impressed with a couple forms of E. rubida and E. camphora which I'm surprised to see unharmed. I'll do a full report later but I want to wait just a little bit longer so that my information will be as accurate as possible. The lowest temperature here was 13F, which was reached in both the morning and the evening of the coldest day. I'm planning a better organized eucalyptus test garden to trial some of the best provenances of the hardiest species. With good documentation this time and a more limited, deliberate selection of plants, I hope it will prove to be an instructive test. I'll probably skip E. scoparia; I just don't think it is that hardy although it continues to persist in Olympia. I hope I can get this project underway this year.
...See More
ostrich
16 years ago
mehearty, my ES are now 3 years old. They were bought as 2-3 gallon plants then. They are now each about 4' wide and tall. My friends have similar ES that they planted the year after mine, and they are in a similar geographical location (several blocks away) but theirs are no where near the size of mine! I guess I have a location that has morning sun and is pretty protected from the wintry elements. The wood did not completely die back even during the zone 5 winter here and they always come back a good size!

Anyway, I guess my point is, it's quite unpredictable how large your ES will get. I guess it depends on whether you have a good location or not, with protection from the elements etc.

BTW, I really did baby mine during the first 2 years, watering them deeply daily. I guess that did help to establish a strong root system so they have grown well.
mehearty
Original Author
16 years ago
OK thanks everyone! That helps a lot.

~MH

Relatively complicated ? about ES size, die back, flower color

Comments (4)

ego45

jackz411

Related Discussions

ostrich

mehearty
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Relatively complicated ? about ES size, die back, flower color

Comments (4)

ego45

jackz411

Related Discussions

ostrich

meheartyOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

mehearty
Original Author