Pruning newly divided beardtongue penstemon
Comments (8)
rosaprimula
15 days agolast modified: 15 days agoJason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC thanked rosaprimulaRelated Discussions
how can i stop the flop?
Comments (28)"the well tended perennial garden" by tracy disabota-aust has some great photos of pruned and un-pruned flowers and bushes well worth the read i disbud most all my plants take off the first bud of the season this will make the plant start making more buds around the original stem, i also use for some tall coneflowers a 2 tier/ 3 tier plate rack the kind you use for setting out on your table when entertaining, it looks like a peony ring but it's made out of a heavier metal or iron, i pick these up at yard sales and goodwills stores for a 1. they never have fell over or broken like a tomato cage, but i've been seeing some shorter tomato cages, but i would disbud or even whack the tops off, but this will give you a hedge like appearance. holly Here is a link that might be useful: well tended garden book amazon...See Moreto stratify or not that is the question
Comments (22)I lookup the stratification requirements when I am making up my plant tags. Then I write on the tag "ws" for wintersow and "ss" for spring sow. If it is something that may need multiple warm cold warm cycles I also write on it "slow" and the date sown. That way if it isn't sprouted by summer I know to keep watering it and move it to a shady spot over the summer so it won't completely dry out before next winter. I file my seed packets I plan to sow and prepared labels in a tub with sections for sowing early winter, late winter/spring, and tender-only sow after frost. This is just to make sure I get the things that NEED cold out first. Then I can take my time doing the things that might need a bit of cold or fluctuating temps or at last can handle cold. The tender things can wait, some of them get done in my "wintersowing containers" and some get direct sown. That decision depends on how many of the seed I have, where it is going, how quickly it germinates, and of course how much potting mix I have left! I always end up underestimating how much I am going to do each year. So, there are still reasons why some of us research the seed's needs, but it is definitely not required for a successful experience. If you like researching that info - do it, if not skip it altogether or maybe just do it for those very special seeds. You will also learn what works best for you over the years and tweak the routine to suit your needs....See MoreHow many hunks do I get? tehee
Comments (8)Pippi, are you thinking of dividing for different kinds of seeds? If so, they might sprout at different times, need transplant at different times. I stick to one kind/jug. If you're thinking of dividing just to have natural smaller hunks, roots grow together anyway. Just flip the whole jug of soil/seedlings out into a flat, cut with a knife as Tiffy suggested. I do that all the time. It works well. Karen...See MoreFuture plant swaps, discussions
Comments (48)Having both attended a spring swap and hosted one last spring, I wanted to post a few thoughts as well. Though I think that elaborate plans for day long swaps and weekend events can be a wonderful idea, I'm concerned about how overwhelming that may be to new gardeners and to those who would only want to attend a few hours of plant swapping and in turn have no place to attend. I agree with Asarum (we missed you at the spring swap), that the more elaborate and lengthy a swap is the fewer people will be able to attend. Weather becomes an issue as it did last spring. I had a rain date for the following week and then some health issues got in the way and we ended up just postsponing the swap by one day. That ended up having a few people not come because of the change and if I remember correctly it rained on the rain date as well. The eastern mass spring swap was larger than the fall swap, which may be do to just having more plants for swapping in the spring, new people coming that had no plants to swap and where looking for plants to start a new garden and where more than welcome to come, and just the fact that it was in the spring. It seems that more people are interested in spring swaps than fall swaps. I myself am unable to attend fall swaps because of business commitments that I have on the weekends, and prior to that, when my kids where in school, my weekends where full of their sport games that we attended. Many times hubby and I had to take turns going to games as both kids would be playing at the same time. I personally prefer the simple, relaxed plant swap with no formal additions added to it. Everyone brings what they have to swap, or comes without and brings a goodies for all, and we just swap plants, visit, talk and have a good time. I'm planning on hosting a spring swap again this coming spring, with the same simplicity that I had last year and I know the fall swap had as well. I've had several requests to host it again and think all had a good relaxing time, and we lucked out with no rain. To those that where at the swap last year, my back if fine, surgery was a complete success and I'm out working in my gardens putting them to bed for the winter and planning my seed stash for wintersowing this winter. Yes there will be tons of wintersown babies needing good homes again this year as well. In no means do I mean to put a damper on a more elaborate type of swap, it's just that many of us are not able to attend anything that is elaborate, costly and might even last a weekend, and would want a swap that lasts a few hours. Fran...See More
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
15 days agorosaprimula
15 days agolast modified: 15 days agoprairiemoon2 z6b MA
15 days agolast modified: 15 days agoRosaprimula, The penstemon I started with was a hybrid. ‘Dark Towers’ I believe, which I really enjoy. It reseeds a lot and the seedlings are rarely dark like the original. I do enjoy the different versions of it though and really love any that are dark. I love the seedheads and the color of the foliage in the fall and winter.
I don’t know how you hold so much detail in your head...and how you’ve become so familiar with so many species or where you get your seed.I definitely understand the preference for cuttings over division and all that digging. I’ve just not cultivated the skills to raise new plants from cuttings and I find it challenging to find the time to grow everything from seed. And something about division is satisfying to me. But the older I get the harder it is to do a lot of the digging. My problem is my priority is always keeping the property looking the way it should, according to me…lol. And I rarely am able to keep up with all the maintenance to do that. I can honestly say, I haven’t done that in any one season since I started gardening. So seed starting and propagating are lower priorities that I never get to. I did do Winter Sowing for 3 years and that was a lot of fun, but I was just starting out with perennials and needed a lot of plants.
I go to a local plant sale each spring and it is a collection of gardeners who prepare divisions or raise seedlings for the sale. They do make some money in one weekend, that I’m sure helps support their gardening. I wish I had the time and energy to do that. It’s called the 3 sisters sale, because 3 sisters who had established gardens and didn’t know what to do with all the divisions etc. started selling them on Mother’s Day weekend every spring. I think it’s been over 15 years now they’ve been doing it.
Is that something you might consider doing? You sound like a really great candidate for it. If we lived near each other, I’d buy some of your seedlings and plants.
mazerolm_3a
14 days agoprairiemoon2 z6b MA
14 days agorosaprimula
14 days ago
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NCOriginal Author