Do the Liatris branch out after being snipped or not. My big problem with stock photos is that they take a picture of something beautiful from nature and contaminate it with their own likeness. Who wants to visit a pristine rain forest and see human names on every plant?

Jay, I tried to describe it but I guess I wasn't clear.

They girdle the stem killing the top portion of it. It doesn't matter if its snipped or not, the remaining stem, which is still alive, branches out. I only pull the tops off because they look ratty.

When I said stock photos, I meant photos pulled off-line as opposed to photos people take of their own yards and plants.

It depends on the liatris species to me whether it produces noticeable branching if the primary is damaged.

Oh my seeds shipped at 3:50 pm today (which is one hour ago). 15-20 days to get them I would expect...right around Christmas.

Sounds interesting and complicated. I've only ever grown spicata. There's others I'd like to try. I never wanted to start them from seed because I didn't want to wait. How many years does it take for most of them to flower?

I've seen both spicata and pycnostachys not branch. For pycnostachys, probably three years (but maybe four).

Each of my plants have several stems, I've got as many as 15 or more on a couple of plants, the two plants will fill a paper sack when I cut back the long stalks. The only time they have a single branch is when they are young. When a branch gets eaten off by the bugs, it will form about 4 or more new stems that branch out awkwardly and bloom instead of the long single graceful stem.

I've never been sure what kind mine are, I got them in Kansas along the roadside by a farm of a friend of my sister, up around Wellington which is close to the KS/OK border mid state. The leaves are olive in color, very thin, stiff and rough and the florets are packed tight forming about 12 to 15 inches of purple on tough stalks with massive amounts of very viable seeds by the time I trim them all back.

They tend to snake if the soil is not right, I never know which ones will.

A seedling will often form a single blooming branch the second year. I have to cut mine back in early fall before the really shatter, otherwise I have them coming up thick as grass. Its too bad because I really like the way the fuzzy stalks look but I learned my lesson. The 'Prairie Guy with the blog in Plano Texas trims his back too, same reason.

As it is, I still always get a lot of volunteers. They are easy to pull the first year, then forget it, you'd have to dig and on a big plant, you'd really have to dig deep and even then I don't think you'd get it all.

I think you have punctata var mucronata TR.

Probably right, the picture looked the same but then the pictures all look so similar to me except for that one with the spaced out florets which I can't think of the name right now. I picked up some seeds of some early blooming, greener, fatter plumper leaf variety last year at the HM (type?). It blooms way early in summer. I ought to sow them. It doesn't look as 'wild'.

Barron,

You got me in the mood to sow seeds indoors and I'm tempted to order some seeds too. I'm doing my usual yearly seed test with damp coffee filters in a ziplock bag. I enjoy testing the seeds in a small space and I can see any development through the damp filters and bag without the hassle and space of sowing in pots, I code them by number. Anything that sprouts gets pricked out with a toothpick and planted in a pot to grow in my big sunny window under the ceiling fan. This has worked well for me for years and gets me through winter.

This year ---

1. Big Red Texas Sage
2. Azure Sage to replace a too large lantana on the Hell Strip
3. Unknown cone flower from last year (surprise me)
4. Giant Coneflower
5. Desert Marigold in case the direct sowed ones don't come up
6. More Greyheaded Coneflowers
7. Unknown type of Goldenrod that looked fairly tame and not too tall. Seeds are very tiny.
8. Seeds I gathered the other day and already forgot, I'm still wracking my brain, backtracking my steps that day.
9. Those gorgeous asters I collected that I think are Aromatic Aster but if not, I don't care, the parent plants were very nice.
10. Ephedra --second attempt; nicked seeds came up easy but the plants died last year due to a rainy week, pots on the porch.

The Giant Coneflower seeds are exactly like the regular purple coneflower seeds except 10 times bigger. The mystery coneflower seeds look like them too except tiny but they might be rudbeckia, I don't know. I dropped a plastic container of seeds behind the dryer and when I looked for them, there were three mystery 'cones' in the dust and thought, what the heck, I'm planting them. I had to coax them out with the end of a broom, wasn't easy.

If the asters don't germinate after a couple, three weeks or so, I'll put some in the fridge for a chill. The rest will be WS outside in pots. Its the one I want the most.

Sounds like a plan TR and makes sense.

I've never met the goldenrod that was tame, except the ones that die on me.

I suspect you'll have luck with your germination.

The last reply was a fail. Don't want to mess with messaging now.

Ditto!

I said I apologise for not following closely. I won't lose any sleep because of snapdragons. I will study what was said! ;) later :) BUMP!

It's ok Jay, I didn't put my glasses on this morning while making breakfast and I managed to have some gravy with my main helping of black pepper (used wrong slot and dumped pepper vs sprinkling). We all make mistakes, especially as we get older. Lol. And this is a long thread to read through.

Biscuits and gravy. How southern! :)

Barron, I plan to go back and read the ID label on those goldenrod plants and then look it up. There were three varieties out there. The plants in question were smallish, a neat clump that looked harmless. Based on the extensive numbers of them growing for miles along the roadsides, I've shied away from goldenrod's in the past except I did order the cute little 'Lemon' one from SRG two years ago.

When you say tame, do you mean roots or are you talking about volunteer seedlings? I've got a silver ironweed that I hope I don't live to regret planting. Sally Wasowski wrote that it appears tame for a couple/three years and then you discover that its very aggressive underground, starts sending up new plants long distances from the original and that is when you discover why they call it 'iron'weed. Farmers say the roots are as tough as iron; like re-barb underground which makes plowing very difficult.

Lol, yes, that's why it's called ironweed :)

Yeah, I either lose goldenrod or regret planting them, but maybe there are some tame ones out there that would also live.

Solidago speciosa and ptarmicoides both departed (multiple times) from my garden. Whereas canadensis was an unwelcome guest in my prairie in Oklahoma.

S. canadensis is very weedy around here, so nobody really wants it in their gardens. The canadensis is probably the reason why a lot of people shy away from planting any Solidagos. I grow the stiff goldenrod and I like it a lot. The fuzzy leaves, and the fact that it's not agressive. My clump is getting too big though and needs to be divided. I try to grow the ones that are more clump forming. I'm trying out S. caesia, and S. odora. Barron, are you still planning on sowing seeds???

No Jay, I just ordered them..and I will now put them in the garbage and not sow them. What do you think ? :)

Well, like, you had so many days to change your mind, and so many people were trying to change your mind, and I'm questioning whether you were ever in your right mind when you made the order to begin with. I also fancy little frilly things like collector asparagi , sweet peas and primulas (God knows I'd never grow them lol), but I guess I could take or leave those plants, they aren't worth searching world wide for, to me anyway. The poppy was a bad choice. There's so many poppies you have to choose from that would work in Ark. I'm interested to know if you kept the Impatien. It's an ok Impatien. I just thought now that you were already planning on sowing seeds that you might have started adding more things. On the other hand I considered you might have been so wrecked from not being able to grow Ronmeya that you abandoned the whole seed idea and went back to just ordering choice plants. " adding more things" See I did it. Nobody else has to lol. 1684 seedlings

If you can really succeed at growing that heat tolerant primula I'll grow it. It seems almost to good to be true. I can't even grow English daisies here with our heat and humidity. I hate when the top falls off the pepper.

Actually the only poppy I've ever had success with (limited) is the oriental. I *did* give what I threw out of the basket up above.

I had kisoana once before in Oklahoma, and had it a year and a half I think. I want to try again.

I picture you with Oriental poppies. White ones and those bright red/orange ones. I do really like them except for the fact that they're not native. I grew one once. The dormancy period is something you need to plan and plant around. I'm not at all familiar with kisoana. Must be another of those southern species I've never been exposed to. I mean, I love poppies too. I try to always have some members of the family around. First thing in spring there's the Styllophorum, and the bloodroots with their poppy like blooms. And the fumitories D. spectabilis, D. culcullata. In summer I have the California poppies as annuals and next year I'm adding Argemone, prickly poppy and P. somniferum, so you can still get your fill of poppies. You should grow Meconopsis lol. I'd love to pull that one off, and the big nursery here tempts me with it. I'd love to grow it next to some blue Impatiens nabchabarwensis. Now wouldn't that be special! I would have taken the nabrida. You didn't have to throw them in the garbage. They're probably floating in coffee grounds and cold, peppery gravy lol.

The kisoana is from Japan. It should stay there. There must be some native that would fill that niche!.

Yes, there is a preponderance for Chinese and Japanese things to be invasive. If I felt that was the case, I wouldn't order/plant it though.

There is nothing invasive about that primula!! Yes, it spreads a bit but slowly and manageably.....in much the same way epimediums do. And it is a Great Plant Pick for the PNW, meaning it is a well-behaved and very desirable inclusion for PNW gardens. Good for a moist and shady area......a woodand garden?

That was of course my plan, GG. Lets hope the plan comes to fruition (and the darn things sprout). And it likes the Upper South too.

You know i have primrose envy.....of the North.

I knew when I recommended the Meconopsis gardengal's ears would perk lol. Hostas aren't invasive, just sterile and boring. It's a pretty primula. Grow it if it makes you feel good. I really have no room to talk about growing non natives. I'm very wrapped up in natives now but there's still a list of tropicals and exotics that I grow, mostly as summer annuals. I confess I got European vetch seeds as a butterfly host plant, and I grow the European Nepeta cataria to get my cats high and calm them down. Get that primula. I want pictures, but please do try to stay a little native minded :) .

I have a very thorough planting of natives. I'll happily watch them grow, propagate them, and supplement with non-natives. The fun is in the growing and watching grow.

I thought it was kind of strange that so much Canada goldenrod was down there by you. I just realized I choose new goldenrods by how much they DON!T resemble the Canada. It's pretty much the only goldenrod I see around here, if there are other species they get drowned in the yellow. The couple other very common fall plants are Ageratina and boneset. I don't know what's common there... frostflower? I have extra cow pen daisy seeds :)

Boneset was everywhere in my Oklahoma prairie. Also, would you take some of our Canadian geese ? :) They make permanent (non-migratory) homes here.

I was wondering where all our geese went. You don't get the redwing blackbirds too. Speaking of redwing. I've winter sowed 60 variegata seeds. Now, minus the slugs and the bugs, and a freak flash freeze, do you think my chances of raising a few are good, or should I order more seeds? I really am serious!

Oh, and I thought you'd be happy to know that I just shipped off a ton of cow pen daisy seeds to all 4 corners of the country.....study up! :)

I'm only interested in your final decisions becuase I think you are a facinating gardener and native plant enthusiast. I like keeping tabs on your current evolution. Well, as best I can through all the mystery. Oh, and you are an excellent plant identifier!!! There, I said it lol.

J

The seeds are here and for the second year in a row they gave me a 'gift' of orthrosanthus polystachyus, which is hardy to z9. Good lord, am I doomed to grow these in a pot...I never planted the ones from last year, but after getting a second packet, should I ? :)

I guess I need to go buy some potting soil, I used up the last yesterday potting up an alocasia that I'm overwintering. I should have potted up to a larger pot a year ago, so it jumped from a trade gallon to an 10 inch...lots of potting mix consumed.

I always get gifts that I can't use too. I get gifts of temperate col summer loving moisture lovers.

Lol, gotta love it. Got anything to swap Mara? :) Or do you have three pots of Orthosanthus already ? :)

They gave you the same freebee twice? What happened to the first ones? It's a cooler gift than partridge peas and Monarda fistulosa that Prairiie Moon sends. It's that I have more of those plants than I need already. You could trade them for something that's as unusual, and that is better suited to your climate. There's still the blue eyed grass that gives the same effect, though on a smaller scale. So what are you sowing? SLAP! :) i don't follow every word but I'm very interested in what plants you drool over. for perspective sake and 'final' choices for seeds and plants can be flippant and fleeting. Life would be much simpler if we all owned conservatories!

Hmmm, I have a clump of orthrosanthus laxa which I am sure came from Plantworld seeds as a freebie...a decade ago. They appear every year - a modest little plant which is easily overlooked (at least by me). I think they were easy to grow, quick to germinate - seed to flower in a couple of years. As you say, Jay, the not dissimilar sisyrinchiums were later additions, while tulbaghia came and went. I think I have had at least 2 attempts to grow pasithea caerulea and some truly surreal leucocorynes...while the loveliest blue of all - the elusive tecophilea is still only on my ever-increasing wish list.

If I had another couple of greenhouses, bulbs and geophytes could become a completely out of control craze (after alpines).

I think seeds won't need an obvious stratification. Though paeonia will probably not send up above ground shoot till Spring 2020.

Lathyrus vernus may or may not require vernalization, recommendation is to try it and if not sprouts in 3-5 week, put it outside and see if spring brings out sprouts.

Otherwise, looks like cool to warm sowing indoors or outside later. I may try to get the impatiens going in mid January, since they grow cool best.

So I might as well get the peonies in a small pot or two and start waiting (outside). That and the lathyrus started indoors tomorrow.

OMG! An update, and a plan. Outstanding! After soaking the Calotropis seeds for 10 hours I saw little white roots and some green bits and I think THEIR ALIVE!!! what have i done?

OMG! He has an update, and a plan! After a 10 hour soaking my Calotropis procera seeds had little white roots and green bits peeking out. THEIR ALIVE! what have i done? :)

A plan will surely be needed, hey? I know nothing about these exotics...in fact the apocynaceae family is rarely encountered in my gardens, but looking up info, I was most amused to see calotropis procera referred to as 'Apple of Sodom'!

Most certainly, this may be a short-lived plant in shivery Chicago...unless involving heaps of fuss with lights.

Here to the T5 and then to a 600 watt metal halide full spectrum, with mylar. I have experience with indoor lights. I was only going to grow it as an annual and save cuttings, but you can cut them to a stump and they'll still leaf out. I need a heated greenhouse. Apple of Sodom? Well, if they were eating them that would explain their rude behavior. It would be worse than eating artichoke silk.They do really use the sap for poison arrows. No fire and brimstone wilt come nigh my house! Here's a log of a member growing Calotropis from seed. She has since mysteriously dissapeared. And she's from Arkansas! It's good you kept the Impatiens.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/4453958/growing-calotropis-procera-from-seed

Oh, those posts from Mary. She's a nice lady.

Dan, I already sent them off to Canadian BC

Hee, if that FAR north, I'd probably have no luck either :)

What happened to her? I didn't sleep again and I thought I was talkiing to you before but it was Camps. Had I known......

Mary Littlerocker is an angel. She's showed me the way. Try to save a few scabrida ? seeds. :) Camps, steer clear of milkweeds. Ascepiadoideae is total insanity!!!

No, Asclepiads are ok, it's just JAY that's total insanity.

Well, true. They won't make you insane, but studying them will turn your brain into scrambled eggs.