Perennials

Leucanthemum leaf drop

john333 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:17:27 GMT

This year I planted two Leucanthemum 'Snow Lady' & 'GoldRush'.One i divided into small segments and planted, the ofther i planted whole. Both plants then subsequently lost all there leaves with just the stems remaining. New growth has appeared from the base. I wondered if anyone knows the reason this has happened and will they flower develop successfully next year?

Thanks John

Trailing Geraniums

Arrem — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:01:21 GMT

I bought some Trailing Geraniums this year which have put on a beautiful display in one of my hayracks. The growers notes stated I was not allowed to take cuttings of them. So I am now left wondering if I can overwinter them. I dont have a greenhouse or a particularly suitable windowsill.

Can I (for example) wrap the whole basket in fleece? it is sort of sheltered against a West facing wall of my house. Any advice appreciated.

New border

Gertroid — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:08:31 GMT

I'm about to create a new border from an area which has been overgrown for decades (brambles for many years - now almost entirely nettles), which also contains large amounts of bricks and rubble. Also some garden dumps, which will contain some amounts of good stuff on the bottom, hopefully. All presumably based on London clay.

I know that, after clearing it, I will need to dig in all the composted vegetable matter I can find, but what I need to know is whether I should incorporate anything else if I want to give the best chance for a largely perennial border. In other words, how positively should I take the fact that nettlles are growing there prolifically? Can I assume that, despite the rubbble and rubbish and if I don't hit solid clay after a spade's depth or so, that the area is growable?

It's a large area, so I will need to do it bit by bit. And I'd like to start off properly.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

canna seedling, what to do first winter?

kai — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:22:59 GMT

hi i'm new to this forum. my name is kai and living in ireland. cant really say i'm in to gardening, yet. because i havent laid out the garden, still in the process of building the house. anyway have built a "temporary 8 by 8" greenhouse on site. where i'm propagating plants, raising plants from seed, messing about and having fun. have managed to get up 1 canna this year, and dont have clue how to manage it over winter by the way its potted on in a 4" pot. have no heating in the greenhouse, and the temperature will go below freezing over the winter

Plants dying

Julie — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:17:35 GMT

Just got back from the garden centre and it annoys me to see beautiful new Veronica Royal Candles for £7.49 when I bought 3 last year and they appear to have died. They are cosseted and fed like mad, look great in the garden centre and then die in a real garden - and cost so much! Has anyone had success with these? I also bought a Veronica Red Fox which also died. I hate spending money on perennials when they behave like annuals. Any suggestions? thanks

Chettle Charm Campanula...fully blue flowers

tomharry2 — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:05:21 GMT

My Campanula Chettle charm (bell flowers) used to be usually white with blue tinge. This year I have 3-4 plants with fully blue flowers, no hint of white anywhere. Is this a new hybrid. Has anyone see a fully blue chettle charm?

Delphinium 'our deb'

debsinthegarden — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:18:44 GMT

Hi, I am looking for a website where I can buy this plant, I have previously had one from Rougham Hall Nurseries but they don't seem to sell it any longer. Any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks

Bergenia

eileen mc gonigle — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:31:02 GMT

Has anyone raised Bergenia from seed? Is it easy / or a long process to maturity ? - I have a large area that I wish to cover & hense raising from seed. .

sempervivium

Girty Fergal — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:56:45 GMT

Hi My semperviviums have gone crazy flowering this year what I'd like to know is should I remove the flowers once they are done.

Thanks

begonia

Girty Fergal — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:34:00 GMT

What do I do to store my corms over winter and when do I chop them off.??

Agapanthus

Girty Fergal — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:27:52 GMT

Hi There

I have a dwarf agapanthus which simply refuses to flower. It's been in three years now and to be honest I a bit sick of waiting for it. I had to move it this year and I was really hopeful because the roots were huge. Should I wait another year or just discard it. Someone did tell me it might do better in a pot .....What do you think?

Tree lily

Girty Fergal — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:08:04 GMT

Hi I bought a bulb of the internet about a month ago. I duly planted it and nothing happened...should I be watering it ? keeping it dry?..... is there every chance it's dead by now. Please someone tell me it will be OK I pent a lot of money. Because I love them

White foxglove

Girty Fergal — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:40:06 GMT

Hi there a few months ago I bought some white foxgloves from B&Q and all I've got is enormous furry leaves. Someone told me to be patient and they will come next year. My question is will the leaves remain green over winter or should I cut them down when they're finished.

Thanks

Perennials

Chris M — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:43:44 GMT

the book by the RHS is good. It has what we all need the updated names and classifications. Well done .

Lupins

Virgoboy — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:00:25 GMT

Can Anyone tell me what i can do with the lupin pods that are left after it has flowered?

Problem Area

Celtic Heart — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:50:26 GMT

I have one problem area border and would like any advice on suitable plants. I've tried the RHS and various other plants for places with no suitable success because of the size constraints and because of lack of availability of suggested plants in my locality. So, I'm open to more suggestions if anyone would be kind enough to help me.

The area in question is a 24' long border that is no more than a yard deep. It is north facing and is backed by a 6' high wall and on the other side are some sort of evergreen (possibly leylandii) that are kept to about 8' high all year around. The border is on a slight slope, the top end is fairly normal drainage, the bottom end is quite boggy most of the year, but does sometimes dry out. I think there is a soakaway there, but next door has put in a concrete slab on thier side of this which makes my side more boggy than normal now. The current planting is sparse and spasmodic to say the best. There are two camellias, one on more or less each end and the removal of these is non-negotiable (I would chop them down). There is an established peony by one, and the boggy end is full of self-seeded native ferns and aquilegia. The middle has some geraniums (suggested by various sites as suitable) but they are getting very leggy, so I think perhaps the shade is deeper than I originally considered.

What I want is to disguise the wall, preferebly with plants not paint, and get some things in there that give some height (not over 6') and a splash of colour as it is the first thing people see in my garden as they come around the corner. Most of the suggestions I've had are generally way too tall and don't offer any colour interest. I have a few cyclamen but they will only work during the winter, I'm thinking about letting the alchemilla mollis loose there, and hostas are just out of the question as I have a burgeoning slug and snail population. I'd love to put a rambling rose and some honeysuckle there, but am afraid there is too much shade.

I'm beginning to think I am expecting too much and that I should be more flexible in my approach, but I want something I like and that I can live with. Any help gratefully accepted.

Which perrenials?

Rflcopter — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:26:42 GMT

I have 3 large borders in my garden. They are nearly empty and full of weeds so they need some planting this summer. Can anyone here advise some shrubs or perrenials to fill up the borders.

What to put with old fashioned bush roses

Magnolia — Sat, 03 May 2008 08:21:39 GMT

I have 8 box par terres with 3 old fashioned bush roses in each ( Tuscany Superb, Charles de Mille etc) which only flower once for a relatively short period. I have also planted Astrantia in the beds but I need something which will be tall enough not to be dwarfed by the roses but will look colourful when the roses have finished. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is the main part of my garden and for most of the year it doesn't have colour. I have tried Salvia Sylvestris Mainacht and Campanula Persicifolia but neither of them lasted more than a year.

Pruning Buddleia Davidii

Gary_b — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:15:42 GMT

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice regarding pruning my buddleia. I have not cut it back for a while and it is now about 3m high x 2.5/3m wide. The plant was already fairly big when I moved into the house, but it needs see to. I understand you can be quite harsh with buddleia davidii, but am I too late to cut it back?

To be honest it is more of a tree now, the trunk is around 75-100mm thick, and it has several more smaller 'trunks'. I quite like. It has started to grow new leaves, so I'm assuming, I'll have to wait till next year before I do anything about it.

Thanks in advance.

Gary :)

Crocosmia........ Its nearly time.

Mr_Crocosmia — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:40:02 GMT

Well, at last we nearly have all my Crocosmia sorted out and ready for the big bloom in July/August......... I love this time of year when all the plants start shooting, but the wait for the flowers seems to go on and on.

Is there anyone else on here that loves Crocosmia......????

I am the NCCPG National Collection Holder of Crocosmia...

Crocosmia 'Elegance'

Mark

Winter damage

Sho — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:41:00 GMT

I know now what I should have done before the winter, but please can anyone tell me what to do now with my Agapanthus, which is looking quite unhappy after the cold temperatures we've had this year? It isn't dead, the base is quite firm, just that most of the leaves are partly damaged.

Allium Bulbs

yvonnec — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:22:25 GMT

I have over a lot of Allium bulbs which did not get planted in November. They are to be planted into a chalky soil which is very wet at the moment. Should 1. I plant them now in very wet ground and possibly frozen at time or 2. Leave the bulbs to plant in Spring, which would mean they would probably not flower this year. 3. Guess if they were left in the bags they would start sprooting and may be ruined so would it be a good idea to plant into pots now and replant into final positions in Spring or any other ideas welcomed. Thank you Yvonne

Perennials with berries?

Phot's-Moll — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:34:57 GMT

I'm trying to think of perennial plants that have berries, fruit or hips (or seeds that look like berries etc). I have Arum Italicum and Iris Foetidissima.

Acanthus, Actaea rubra (and alba), Myrrhis odorata and Phytolacca americana were all suggested by Sue.

Can anyone think of any more? No shrubs; that would be too easy.

Angels Fishing Rods

Pagan Rose — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:33:02 GMT

Does anyone know if this beautiful plant can be grown from seed? If so, does anything complicated have to be done to the seed to make it germinate, eg put in the fridge, burn etc? My plants have many seeds on, and apart from looking attractive and acting as a cat-toy (for batting with paws) I wondered if I could actually sow them....?

Oriental Poppy Propagation

Foxnfirefly — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:14:05 GMT

Last summer I grew some Oriental poppies for the first time, and they surprised me by quickly dying back after flowering, leaving nothing of a trace that they had been there. I read that you can propagate by root division in the Fall, but that means I will have to find them somehow and do this. If I do find the roots, is there a certain rule of thumb to follow in where to cut? I have not seen the roots, so I don't know what I'm to look for. I'm thinking you would do this before the foliage disappears, as it is risky digging blind-sided. Any advice? Thanks!