Shauna,

Welcome to Colorado, and to the Rocky Mountain forum!!! We moved to Colorado in 2000, and yeah you're right about that altitude and baking thing, LOL!

Our last house had a peony already planted when we moved in, which needed one of those metal hoop supports (which they sell at Walmart, etc) or the blooms would get so heavy they would just flop over. I planted one when we moved to our new home last year, and it died back early in the fall, so I wasn't sure if it was going to come back at all. When I was walking around the flower beds earlier today, I saw a tiny shoot peaking through the dirt, so I am excited that it survived. I have heard that they don't like their roots disturbed, so when you plant it, make sure it is in the place you want it to stay. That's about all I know about them. Maybe someone else can give you advice about when and how to best plant it.

Good luck with your garden, and keep us posted with your progress!

Bonnie

Hi Shauna,

When youre planting your peony roots, the most important thing is to get them at the right depth. The "eyes" should be 1-2" below the surface. And be sure you put them in an area where theyÂll have lots of room. ItÂll take a few years, but theyÂll eventually wind up being up to 3 feet in diameter. Just in case youÂre not sure, the "eyes" will look the same as when you have some old potatoes that start growing, except theyÂll be pink looking. So thatÂs what you want to get at the right depth. HereÂs a link to a pretty good site with peony information. DonÂt be disappointed when they donÂt bloom this year, because they wonÂt. Next year you might get a flower or two, and after that they should start looking pretty good, so donÂt give up! ItÂs going to take a while! Oh! One more thing! Put them in as much sun as you possibly canÂall day if possible. If theyÂre not getting enough sun, youÂll probably never be really happy with themÂand they wonÂt be happy either! If youÂre planting now, be sure to consider the shade from any deciduous trees after they leaf out.

Have fun planting,
Skybird

Thanks! This is great info! Is it too soon to put them in the ground now? Or is it too late? Or is it the Goldilocks effect and it's just right?
Cheers!

ok, I have a few more questions. What are the rules of thumb when it comes to dead heading and cutting back? I know nothing about either of these areas, but have heard the terms often. So, what, where, when, how? I think I may have just been overzealous with some herbs this morning. I cut a bunch of stuff I started growing last fall. I cut almost to the ground. I have a feeling that was a wrong move. My intention was to clean the bed and get it ready for growing. What do I do now? What should I cut and what should I leave? When I cut, how much needs to go? Is there a method for cutting and when is the best time to do this? Man, am I lost! It's been a dream of mine for years and years to be a gardener. Don't know if I'm off to such a good start. Yikes!
Cheers!

Hi Shauna,

This is a GREAT time to be planting peonies, so go for it! Just be sure the "eyes" are pointing up when you do. (I don't know how much rain you got yesterday, but be sure the soil isn't too wet to be working in it. If you dig some up, it should crumble in your hand fairly easily---then it's ok to work in it. If you get something that looks like you should be using it on a potter's wheel, it's too wet. :-)

General rule of thumb for deadheading is to cut the flower stem as far down as you can when its breathed its last! But thats for plants that only have one flower on a stem. Other things can be done differently, so Id say its best to ask about individual plants as you get to that point. And you might want to consider keeping a few notes since youre just getting started. Thatll give you something to refer to when the same situation comes up again next year and you go, Now What!

With cutting back, its pretty much the same situation! Depends on which particular plant. Some will look good for the rest of the summer if you just deadhead the flowers, and some will look really ratty all over when theyre done blooming, and you can cut down all the foliage and everythingand theyll grow back new foliage to look good again. Ask about individual plants for help. When youre buyingor getting plants from whereverbe sure you get the name and label them somehowor keep a little map of whats where. Its really important to know what it is you need information about.

With the herbs, what kind were they, and were they ones growing in the ground outside? If so, the roots are the important part, and theyll probably be just fine and come back better than ever. Most hardy herbs are pretty hard to get rid of once they get going.

Ok! So you answer my questionsand well all answer yours!

Isnt it BEAUTIFUL out! Have to get back outside!

Skybird

Shauna, I'm not much of a botanist but can take a shot at answering some general questions. And, you probably did no damage to those herbs.

Perennials are either woody or herbaceous. Herbs, which may be annual, biennial or perennial plants are generally herbaceous hence the similarity of the words. Herbaceous perennials usually die back to the ground each Winter. The crown and roots of the plant resume growing in the Spring. If yours are perennial herbs that didn't quite die back to the ground, you probably did no harm removing the above-ground part of the plant. The plant may even make healthier growth without the frost-weakened, disease-prone parts you pruned off.

"Deadheading" isn't much different from cutting fresh flowers, something I've done for hours, days, years and years. With deadheading, you are cutting dead flowers thereby making the plant more attractive while keeping it from putting its energy into making seed - so it usually goes back to making flowers.

If your plant is a rose, chrysanthemum, dahlia, etc. and there is still good growing weather sufficient for another bud to "break" and grow - you'll have another flower and maybe another and another. Tiny lateral buds grow along the side of a stem, hidden where a leaf attaches to the stem. Usually, if the leaf is large and healthy, a healthy bud resides at the base (petiole) of that leaf. By cutting down to this healthy leaf (while not damaging the bud) you are encouraging rapid growth of the bud and a new stem and flower!

One little trick is not to leave so many leaves and buds on the stem that the next crop of flowers are too many, too small and too short. Conversely, if you cut too low on the stem - the remaining bud may only have a weak leaf to support it and be very immature. It could take a long time to start to grow.

When you are cutting flowers you are pruning the plant. You should be gentle - allowing sufficient leaves for the support of the plant, trying to maintain some balance, etc. At the end of the season, you may wish to "cut back" the plants as they go into dormancy. That may be rather dramatic since you are planning for new growth after some months time not a few days or weeks.

In a greenhouse, roses are cut back during the Summer months rather than at the time of the important flower holidays - Thanksgiving, Xmas, Valentine's, Mother's and Memorial Days. Outdoors, cut back may occur in 2 stages - just before Winter dormancy and just before Spring growth.

Steve

This info is so incredibly helpful! I can not thank you enough!!
So, Skybird, my herbs that I cut back: in a raised bed I have thyme (which I didn't cut back. It is still going strong) Spearmint, Bee Balm, Lemon Balm, Cinnamon Basil, Italian Basil, Sage, Purple Sage & Rosemary. In a few pots I have Curry, Chocolate Mint, Sweet Marjoram & Spanish Lavendar. I don't believe the potted fellas made it. The soil is dry and crumbly and nothing looked very healthy when I cut it back. Yikes. I never do well with things in pots. How do I change that?
You folks are wonderful! I amthrilled to have found you!! Again, thank you!
Cheers!

Hi Shaunab,

More questions! LOL

Is your thyme, creeping thyme? (There are some short upright ones too!) If so, you shouldnt need to ever do much to itexcept to control it to keep it from going all over the place. To do that, just pull or dig it out around the edges where you dont want it to go! If you want more, either transplant them elsewhere, or you can put it in pots to give away to friends, neighborsstrangers on the street! lol Sometimes the creeping thymes will look better if you shear the dead flowers off the top when its done blooming. Just wait and decide when the time comes.

Spearmint and bee balmanything in the mint family (you can tell by feeling the stems; anything in the mint family will have a square stemyou can actually feel it and see itthe bigger the stem is the easier it is) is virtually indestructible! I recommend cutting them down to within an inch of the soil. Theyll come back thicker and better than ever. You DEFINITELY did not hurt them! Anything in the mint family is also going to spread EVERYWHERE, so either plant them somewhere where they can happily take over the area, or be prepared to control them from the very beginning. They spread underground, so theyre harder to control than the thyme.

The lemon balm, Im not sure about! I dont believe that ones in the mint family, but you still shouldnt have hurt it by cutting it down. I think its another one you can cut all the way down. How far DID you cut these things down?

Basil (all kinds) and rosemary arent hardy, and if they were outside all winter, theyre dead! RIP Basil, by the way, is VERY easy to start from seed, so if you want more, just start a few inside in small pots now and put them out after danger of frost. If you do, get seed for red basil too! Its pretty to grow (purple leaves and lavender flowers), and can be used for cooking too!

Your sage should be fine too! Sage, btw, is really a salviaSalvia officinalis. How far did you cut it down? It should have been at least partly evergreen, so were you cutting off (not dried up) leaves, or just bare stems? I just cut mine down yesterdaya couple inches above the ground. If you look closely, you should be able to see the little leaf buds getting ready to grow. I have golden and tricolor. Go to this link, scroll down, and click on the links to those 2 to see pictures. Bet youll want them too. Golden and tricolor are sometimes considered not quite as hardy as the regular purple, so I tend to not cut them all the way down over winter. Also, since theyre usually evergreen, it adds interest to the garden over winter.

http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/salofficinalisgarden.htm

Were your pots inside or outside over winter? Things in pots outside can be difficult to overwinter because they tend to freeze and thaw over and over, and that can fairly easily kill things. Its not the cold that kills them, it's the temperature fluctuations. Because of all the snow and the fairly consistent temps, this would have been a better winter than most for things in pots. Its also more difficult to control the moisture in pots outside in winter. You cant leave them dry out all the way, but with the cold temps, its pretty easy to keep them TOO wet too. Your chocolate mint should be ok almost no matter what you do to it! Again, its mint! Put it in a sunny place, keep it wet, and give it a couple weeks. I bet itll be ok.

There are a couple different things called "curry," so I dont know what you haveand I bet you dont eitherlolbut as far as I know, none of them are hardy, so if it was outside, youve probably lost it.

And sweet marjoram is a "tender" perennial, so its probably gone!

And Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas really isnt reliably hardy around here either, so its probably a gonnereven if it had been in the ground. Replace it with English lavender this year, Lavandula angustifolia. Munstead and Hidcote are two good varieties. Smaller flowers than Spanish, but at leat it'll come back for you---and reseed all over the place too!

I think I got everything! Let me know if I missed something. And, just think, for the things that died, now youve got more room to put something else!

Have fun,
Skybird