lavender

Do you think cutting them back when they reach their full growth  would work? To get that bushel basket shape on mums and asters they do prune them back. I suppose this might deplete them after a few years but I've been cutting back a number of perennials severely after they bloom because they look so messy. It hasn't killed anything so far.

Odds are though nothing is going to work. Your weather is just too warm for them to bloom later.

To overwinter in our area it is very important that mums have good drainage. I can't overwinter them in my clay soil but they come through the winter just fine on the bank that was built to raise my green house. It is mostly fill. I'm in a cold pocket here being at the foot of a hill.

The mums in the garden across from Harley Davidson have come through year after year but only the ones at the top of the garden. The ones I put in last year at the foot did not do as well. Only one out of 6 or 7 made it through the winter. Better drainage on the slope or just more protected at the top? Who knows?

Before it leafs out in the spring is the best time. Next best is after it goes dormant in the fall. I'd mulch it heavily (after the ground freezes) if you do that to prevent heaving. Actually you can do it anytime that the tree is dormant and the ground isn't frozen.

That's the way it usually is, if you don't like it it grows but if you really want it to grow it won't.

My poppies are the old fashioned red ones. My husband brought them home as a bag of dried up roots. I put them in the ground just to humor him. They were off and running within weeks and come up every year. They are pretty for a week and that is the end of them for the rest of the summer. A good hard rain beats them down to the ground. They aren't the best of plants other than nothing seems to kill them and nothing eats them.

The seeds may have been prechilled before they were packaged. There are also poppies that don't need prechilling but most of them do. Some seeds like the angel's trumpet seem to need prechilling only if they are stored seed.

See, every time you make a pronouncement about a plant or seed it makes a liar of you. ;D

You won't exactly get baby cannas but the tuber will continue to grow. As it grows it will develop more "eyes". Each eye will put up leaves and is a new plant if you choose to divide the tuber. You should leave 2-4 eyes on each plant if you want a good sized clump. Remember that you will have to dig the clumps and store them after the first frost.

The best way to sow poppy seeds it to toss them on the last snow of the spring. They need a chilling period before they will germinate. What you have done will work but they will not germinate until spring.

They grow right up until frost. I think the tropical stuff doesn't gear down the way our native plants do. They aren't expecting the cold because they are genetically geared to warmer climates.

And I lied. I was outside this afternoon (first time in a week with the rain) and the toad lilies I put in 2 years ago are blooming. I probably am going to pick up another one. The temptation is too great.

I carved out another section and put in 30 ferns. I'm covered with mosquito bites.

Your toad lilies are way ahead of mine! They have a new one at Lowe's. If I remember correctly it is "Blue Horizon" and looks to be a midsized one.

Actually your canna is way ahead of the ones on the embankment and they usually bloom early. I start the tubers in pots around April.

You dig the tuber and leave the dirt intact. Put them in a plastic bag with the top open especially if they are really wet. Store them in a cool area. I have a friend that thinks the area should have at least some light. I've never watered them but my basement is damp. You don't want them the shrivel.

I see no reason why they can't be overwintered in a big pot as long as you keep an eye on it and make sure the tubers don't get so dry they shrivel.

You get more and more tubers each year. You pull them in the fall and then in the spring you divide them. Usually you leave more than one eye in each clump but each one will make a plant.

I've dug clumps in the fall that I could hardly lift. When they started out they were 2 or three gallon pots.

The things multiply like crazy.

Now I want to go back over and buy more plants. I got one of those baby cannas earlier in the season for the middle of a pot ($5.98). I never did get to see it bloom but I was told it was a beautiful flower. I put it in the ground so there will be more next year.

I love the carpet roses, you can't go wrong with them. They bloom all summer. Also got a Knock-out rose over there for a dollar. They are carefree roses, too.

The $10 pot was a steal!

Ain't Lowe's grand! What did you get? I swore I'd quit buying their $1 plants because I don't have time to plant any more. I still have some of the 30 ferns I bought when they were 3 for a $1.

The heavy rain broke 4 of her flowers off last night... :'(

Ah! :'(

I hate it when it gets the irises and the peonies.

Did any of you see the prices of these at Lowe's? YIKES!

After a few years there are so many of them you won't know what to do with them all. Last year we gave them away at Community Days.

We overwinter perennials by heeling them in for the winter. We take the pots and bury them in late fall. They continue to grow until the first frost and then die back naturally. In the spring we dig them up after they sprout. Almost all of the plants in the garden club's first sale in May have been overwintered this way. If a plant is hardy we get close to 100% survival.

I wouldn't leave it out. Generally they are only hardy to zone 7.

We dig them up after the frost gets the tops. Cut off the tops and put them, dirt and all, in a big plastic bag. Leave the bag open and store at about 55 degrees. You shouldn't have to do anything to them but if they seem to be shriveling, sprinkle with some water.

You will have more than you know what to do with in a couple of years.

Anything that smells bad will keep animals out of the garden to a certain extent, mothballs, bleach, ammonia, etc. Their noses are much more sensitive than ours and they aren't happy with strong odors. Somebody told me that his dog got a whiff of the ammonia that he was using to keep groundhogs out and the poor dog took off in a hurry.

This is going to sound weird but I suspect squirrels. They can be very destructive. We have white pine trees and they are constantly cutting off the smaller branches. I've also had plants near the trees that have had the tops cut off. They don't eat them they just cut them off. They, I think, use the cages or the plant itself to reach the tops.

Waiting with bated breath!

The everbearers do get a fall crop but ours get only a handful. Maybe growing them indoors makes them bear better in the fall. Never heard of growing raspberries inside though.

Snelma, I just read your original post. You will not be getting raspberries in September/October. My raspberries are just ripening now. Don't know why no one picked up on this. Grapes and raspberries definitely do not ripen at the same time.

Hot banana or sweet banana? The sweet banana is my favorite pepper for cooking. They make much better stuffed peppers than the green peppers.