Care of your Perennial and Annual Plants Blog
August 21, 2009
As the trees on my property grow larger and larger each year, I am gradually replacing sun loving plants with shade lovers. The most difficult areas are those directly under large trees, spots that tend to stay pretty dry. It takes a lot of rain to penetrate the canopy of large shade trees enough to drip down to ground level. A light rainfall generally will not provide enough moisture to wet the surface of the bark mulch there, let alone soak into the soil. However, my passion for growing things tells me that there's a plant for every situation, and there are many perennials that can grow and thrive in dry shade. Of course, you will have to help them out for a few months after you plant them (just to get them to establish vigorous roots), but once they have rooted into place they will reward you with year after year of performance, without the maintenance that other, less drought tolerant plants require. Try a number of these beautiful, drought and shade tolerant perennials in...more
August 17, 2009
There is a place for at least one Clematis vine in almost every landscape (I just purchased my third!). Sunshine is the only limiting factor, as they need several hours of direct sunlight daily in order to flower well. If your landscape is small, what better way to maximize its potential than by using the vertical space a climbing vine provides? If your landscape is large, so much the better, you can have lots of vines trained to climb trellises, pergolas, arbors, fences and posts. You can even allow them to sprawl on a low support or shrub and create a unique flowering specimen! Selection is a real challenge with clematis. There are few plant groups that offer such a wide variety of flower styles, colors, sizes and textures. Bloom time is also widely variable and, to make matters worse (or better!), there are repeat bloomers available as well. We used to advise people not to disturb their clematis vines once they were well established. Now we recommend pruning some types,...more
July 23, 2009
On July 18, at the Johnson's Nursery 50th Anniversary Open House, I led a garden walk through our display gardens to highlight my Top 20 favorite plants. Narrowing the list to only 20 plants was challenging, but I resisted the urge to up the ante, knowing that I only had an hour and a half for the walk. In choosing plants for my favorites list, I used the following criteria: Hardy and adaptable to growing conditions in southeast Wisconsin.At least three remarkable characteristicsEasy, carefree maintenanceRelatively few insect or disease problemsFor those of you who couldn't make it that day, here is my Top 20 list: TreesLindens (Tilia spp.) Zone 3-4 H: 40-60’ S: 25-40’ Classic pyramidal shape Medium to fast growth rate T. cordata (littleleaf) varieties are great for smaller landscapes Fragrant creamy-yellow flower clusters in June Excellent shade or street trees Firebird® Crabapple (Malus sargentii ‘Select A’ PP 12621) Zone 4 H: 5’ S: 8’ TOP GRAFT H:8’ S: 12’ Johnso...more
February 13, 2009
Everyone wants the best, and why not? We work hard (most of us), we play by the rules (some of us), and doggone it, WE DESERVE IT (all of us)! If you want the “best” perennial plants, here are two great plants that have been designated 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year by two different organizations: First, from the Perennial Plant Association, a professional trade association dedicated to improving the perennial plant industry by providing education to enhance the production, promotion and utilization of perennial plants: Golden Hakone Grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’) Zone 5 Height: 12-18 inches Spread: 18-24 inches Hakone Grass offers vivid highlights in shade and part-shade gardens, where it is prized for its graceful movement in breezes, offering a cascading, wavy look. Individual blades are ½-inch wide and bright yellow in color with very thin green stripes, creating a bright lime green color splash. When the cooler days of autumn arrive, the foliage becomes...more
January 2, 2009
I have made my share of New Year’s Resolutions. Let’s see, last year I vowed to lose 25 pounds by spring (I actually gained 6 by March 1). How about 1997 – the year I resolved to put myself on a budget, spend far less than I earned, and bank the excess money. Spring rolled around and I renovated the backyard landscaping – budget blown in less than 4 months! No, you certainly can’t call me an overachiever when it comes to New Years Resolutions. I have come to the conclusion that, in order to be successful at them, you have to follow a few simple rules: Aim low. One of the resolutions I actually kept was to eat more fruit. I know, that sounds stupid, but I thought I could be healthier if I added more fruit to my diet. I resolved to eat 2-3 helpings each day and, by summer it had become a habit. The idea was to replace the sugary, fattening foods I was eating with fruit and, even though it didn’t work out that way (I now eat lots of fruit in addition to the fattening stuff), you...more
November 12, 2008
Today we woke up to our frostiest morning yet this fall. Overnight temps dipped down into the low 20’s and we had our first area-wide freeze of the year. Many perennials that had been hanging on, refusing to give up for the year, have finally succumbed to Mother Nature’s “go to bed!” order. There is one plant in our display garden that always seems to defy the odds and continues to look beautiful until the very end of fall. It’s an Aromatic Aster (Aster oblongifolius) called Raydon’s Favorite. Raydon starts blooming quite late (around mid-October) – a profusion of bluish-purple, daisy-like flowers with contrasting yellow centers. Once Raydon’s Favorite starts blooming, she continues until the soil begins to freeze. A Zone 3 perennial, this plant can get up to 3 feet tall, but pinching the foliage back in late May or early June will result in shorter, bushier plants. It's an outstanding plant to use in front of plants that tend to lose lower leaves (Phlox, Monarda, or Clematis for...more
November 20, 2007
In springtime we experience an absolute riot of color produced by the vast array of blooming plants in our Midwest gardens. Forsythias give way to azaleas and rhododendrons, followed by lilacs, Viburnums, flowering crabapples, Weigelas and others. There seems to be so much color going on that we really notice its absence once summer sets in and we don’t see quite the variety in our landscapes to which we have grown accustomed. At that point in time we begin getting requests from our clients for some suggestions for adding lots of color to their gardens. Those who are fortunate enough to own property that can support large planting beds and gardens can incorporate such a wide variety of plants into their landscape that there will always be at least two or three plants blooming at any given time throughout the growing season. But some of us (myself included) own more modest yards and need to really think about which plants are going to give us the most return on our investment...more
November 6, 2007
You may have seen evergreen boughs or straw used to protect plants during the winter months. This is a great way to protect sensitive plants from severe winter weather. Not all plants need this type of maintenance, but if you have evergreen perennials, less hardy perennials, or perennials that were planted in mid- to late fall, extra mulching will help you to bring your plants through our tough Wisconsin winters successfully. In general, if you are using 3 to 4 inches of bark mulch on top of the soil in your planting beds, the majority of landscape plants will not need additional mulch during the winter, provided they are hardy for the zone in which you are planting. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. To give tender plants the extra protection they need, an additional mulch layer applied after the ground begins to freeze (usually in November or December) is in order. Layers of straw or evergreen boughs shade the soil around the plants and act as an insulator...more
July 18, 2006
Daylilies are one of the most popular perennial plants grown in the United States. They are tough plants, strong multipliers, long lived and available in a wide array of flower colors. Native to China, Japan, Korea, and eastern Siberia, where they have been cultivated for over 2,500 years, the plants made their way to Europe during the 16th century, and by the 17th century had arrived in North America. For early American settlers, who were much more interested in daily survival issues than in horticulture, the daylily yielded pretty flowers every year with little to no maintenance. They are quite prolific and hybridize freely, so they escaped into the wild and found a permanent home in American countrysides. The botanical name for daylily is Hemerocallis, which comes from the Greek meaning “beautiful for a day”. The blooms generally last for only a day, although some varieties can last up to 36 hours. They are not true lilies, but were so named because of the resemblance...more
June 23, 2006
It is now late June and perennial plants are off to a good start after all of the spring rain and warmer temperatures. This is the time of the year that most of us realize that there are some established plants that are overgrowing their spaces. Many of the potted perennials here at the nursery seem to be overflowing their pots and look like they could be split into 3 or 4 plants. The most frequently asked question right now from my clients is “Can I divide my perennials now?” The answer is “Probably not, but maybe.” The majority of perennial plants should only be divided in early spring, just as the new growth begins to push up and out of the soil. At that point in time there is not much leafy growth that must be sustained by the root - moisture loss from the leaves is at a minimum. Dividing at that time will still cause some transplant shock (resulting in smaller, fewer leaves for that season), but the root will most likely be able to cope with it and the plant will produce new...more
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