deadhead Jacob's Ladder for continual flowers?
Lynn Nevins
5 years ago
Hi there. I'm not so savvy when it comes to deadheading, but I'd like to have SOME of this plant continue to put out flowers for a bit more weeks. Mind you, it's in a pot, so I've no need/interest in it self-sowing more, for next year. Anyway, if you look at the photo you'll see little 'buds' but they've looked like this for at least a few weeks now. I already have flowers maybe 6 weeks ago. Can I assume that what I'm seeing now are in fact seed pods...these aren't going to open up and flower again this year? And if so, what would happen if I cut some of the stems back, and subsequently cut off these 'buds' or seed pods? Would I possibly get more flowers this year?
Tx!
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dbarron
5 years ago
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Continuity in the garden
Comments (14)You just need to start with three different plants - the actual number of those plants will depend on the impact you are trying to make. You might decide to use three or five of each if you wish to make a statement in large area or just single plants if in a smaller area. And how you build on those combos is up to you. You can take the carex and add the Green Spice heuchera and a dark leaved ligularia (like 'Britt Marie Crawford) which will accent the burgundy veining of the heuchera. It doesn't have to be a formulaic approach of one spikey, one ferny and one large leaf plant - just three plants offering complimentary/contrasting colors and textures that look good in combination. And repeating the same plant down the line aways will help to tie things together even more. As an example, in my semi-shady woodland garden, I start at one end with a grouping of Dicentra 'Goldheart', Hakonechloa 'Aureola' and hellebore 'Wester Flisk'; I use the hellebore as the anchor for the next sequence which includes a purple leaved daphne and Lysimachia 'Golden Alexander'; 'Golden Alexander', the hakone again and Ligularia 'Othello' make the next grouping, then ligularia, Cornus 'Hedgerow's Gold' and Hosta 'Golden Tiara', etc. These are actually all more towards the front of the border, as I use larger, more shruby plants in the back. Often these larger plants will repeat some element of the smaller combinations but often that element is very subtle - a burgundy stem color perhaps, or a pink flower that blooms at the same time as the dicentra. And sometimes it is not 3 separate plants that make the combination but 4 or 5, but they are all plants that combine well together, repeating growth habits/form, foliage texture and colors that provide the continuity. It is much the same principle as designing a successful container combination, just enlarged to incorporate an entire planting area....See Moredeadheading - do we have to?
Comments (3)Suzy, are you reading my mind? Yesterday I was deadheading Mons Tiller with clippers that make it easier to snip-snip than to snap-snap, wondering if it was OK to leave them on the ground. Until this year I was an unhygienic gardener. I just dropped everything, but this year with the discovery of thrips and that other fungus that turns flowers into balls of gray fuzz (ah-ha, botrytis) I started deadheading with a bag in hand (or tied to my waist a la cottonpickers. However, yesterday I had no bag and my huge debris bag was full and too far away to throw to, so to the ground they fell. I hope this single act did not ruin the "perfection" of my garden - ha ha. The subject of deadheading annuals/perennials is a dark cave for me and a big duh. I never know whether snapping is sufficient or how far down the stem to cut. Right now I have a 6-foot tall verbena bonariensis that needs to be brought into smaller bounds, hopefully to continue blooming. I know it self sows, but can it be trimmed and still continue blooming? And petunias...I gave them "haircuts" by lopping off the ends. Will they rebloom or has the heat done them in? Your question re the "tipping point" of going to seed or not is good. I await the answer. I don't know if my pink Marguerite went to seed and didn't rebloom because I waited too long to deadhead or because it doesn't rebloom. The yellow one bloomed again after her haircut. Sherry...See MoreDeadheading
Comments (11)Well, while I will obviously defer to the experts in roses, I must jump in and say that this is a slightly simplified explanation and there are other factors to be considered, at least regarding woody growth generally. Although I am a dimwit regarding rose pruning (I admit, I only do it if a plant is falling over), I do know that loosely speaking , growth always follows the knife.....so while a prune, especially a hard prune, will keep a plant fairly compact, this is a short lived effect and the plant will almost certainly react by pushing out insanely vigorous (but functionally impaired) growth - ie.blind shoots, water stems and so on. I do a lot of tree pruning and it always feel utterly counter-intuitive that when attempting to rebalance a tree which has grown lopsided, it is necessary to actually cut even more from the diminished side. leaving it looking really iffy. Of course, there are many considerations such as innate vigour (genetics), climate conditions, timing of reduction and so on......but I have observed roses really ramp into growth after a sharp cutback - but not producing flowering canes....See MoreNeed help with selecting flowers for flower bed
Comments (64)You'll need to remove the mulch in order to direct sow seeds (annual or perennial) or the mulch will prevent germination or growth and you'll need to keep the mulch off until stuff is big enough. I had to do this last year...such a pain and things were looking patchy for a while. You can also sow one type of seed in an area so you'll know what they are but keep in mind rain will wash things to other places and then transplant elsewhere...which is pretty easy to do and the little plants bounce back really quick. I would not mix annuals and perennials just because perennials are really slow to grow and really won't look like much for year 1. Annuals grow like crazy and you can sow them in a tray (even now) and transplant out in a few weeks so you don't have to remove the mulch and they will get big by late june and flower for the rest of the summer. I like salvia victoria blue, cosmos, alyssum, california poppies, and bachelor buttons. Post a pic when you can, would love to see the result....See MoreLynn Nevins
5 years agolaceyvail 6A, WV
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years agodbarron
5 years agoUser
5 years agoUser
5 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years agodbarron
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
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