Hi
Gardeners
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| Ninebark flowers |
It’s a warm and humid day here in Michigan but not as
hot as yesterday, when we had temperatures in the low 90’s. Here in the thumb we are getting a north wind
off the Saginaw bay, which has cooled temps to the mid 80’s but is also keeping
any rain away, which we need. All my
plants are getting covered in dust blown off our gravel road. I’ve had to water everyday which subtracts
from my weeding time.
I actually don’t mind weeding that much. It’s kind of therapy for me. I like to work in the evenings; I’m not a
morning person. I’ll stay out and work
until dark some days. But around here
there’s always someplace that needs weeding, when you get that last bed weeded
and edged it’s time to start over. Right
now the strawberry bed is calling to me.
I’ll probably work on it tonight, after I finish watering. I think I should find some ripe berries among
the weeds.
Despite the heat and dryness things are still pretty
around here. Peonies and roses are in
full bloom. The clematis’s are in bloom. Along with the ninebark (article below) which
is so pretty and loaded with bees, bristly locust, spirea, mock orange and
weigelia are blooming. Some of the
cosmos, while still small, are beginning to bloom. The earliest true lilies,
the martagons, have begun to bloom.
These are tiny, dainty lilies that I like to tuck in sunny or partly
sunny spots in my front yard among the hostas.
I still have only one small, early, heirloom daylily in
bloom (Gold Dust), but the rest will be blooming soon as will some of the
Asiatic lilies. Interestingly my Empress
Wu hosta which is easily 4 feet high this year has big buds showing. It bloomed several weeks later last year.
The sweet corn didn’t germinate evenly; there are gaps
in the rows. But the vine crops have
taken off in the heat and I even have some tomatoes starting to color up on the
Early Girl plant. We are harvesting
lettuce and green onions, although I’m afraid the lettuce will soon bolt and
become bitter in the heat.
Mystery
pot solved
Last week I commented on a mystery pot of plants that I
have. Well I know people read this blog
because one of my long time readers reminded me that I planted some peacock
orchids (Gladiolus Acidanthera) last
year. And yes, I went back and looked at
some pictures from last year and sure enough there was the pot with peacock
orchids in it. They aren’t hardy here so
when frost killed the tops I picked it up and carried it inside to store. It sat in a corner and almost got dumped this
spring because it looked like an empty pot of soil. (Thank You Debby from
Lapeer for jogging my memory.)
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| Peacock orchid |
When I noticed a shoot I sat the pot outside and
watered it and there are a number of shoots now. I repotted it into a slightly larger pot and
labeled it. I should have flowers for a second year. I have a bunch of tender
bulbs in pots this year, just to see what the flowers are like. I’ll have to remember to carefully label the
pots when I bring them in for storage.
The hardy gloxinias (Incarvillea delavayi) I planted in the ground are now blooming.
They are one of my bulb experiments this spring, although the root system
looked like a dahlia tuber rather than a bulb. There are white flowered ones as
well as the pink flowered variety I had bloom in a pot. I sure hope these beauties are hardy here and
return to bloom again. Some references say hardy to zone 5 but others say zone
6 so it will be touch and go. I’ll save
the potted one inside. These are a nice
edition to a partly shaded bed.
Remember
to keep feeding the birds
My bird feeders are going through two cakes of suet a
day. I sometimes don’t have a refill on
hand but I try to keep enough suet cakes so they don’t have to go too long
before one or the other feeder has suet.
Suet seems to be the preferred food for a whole lot of baby birds. The parents bring them near the feeders where
I can watch their begging. And then I
watch their clumsy attempts to get their own suet. The jelly feeder is also popular now.
If you don’t keep food out for the birds in summer you
are missing out on some good bird watching.
Many species are around in summer that aren’t here in the winter. Helping parent birds feed their young helps
keep the bird population flourishing.
Don’t worry that the birds won’t learn how to find their own food in the
wild. Bird feeders are basically
supplements to most bird diets, but they are an important supplement to young
birds that help get them off to a good start.
I keep sunflower seed, suet blocks, jelly and sugar
water for the hummingbirds out all summer.
Not all bird species visit feeders but many do and it’s a great way to
photograph them. I don’t keep water out
all the time, my one bird bath is basically decorative and I fill it if I am
watering plants near it. But my property
has several natural watering places. If
your area doesn’t have natural ponds or other water sources a bird bath is also
a good way to see birds and very helpful to their survival.
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| Downy woodpecker and friend |
Orphan
baby birds and bird nests
While we are talking birds I am also going to mention
baby birds that fall out of nests or nests that get dislodged for some
reason. If you accidently knock or cut a
nest out of a tree and the babies or even eggs are ok, then simply try to put
the nest back as close to the old location as possible as quickly as
possible. The birds will generally go
back to the nest, especially if there are young in it, if they can find
it. Baby birds will make noise if they
sense the parents are near which help the parents find the nest. The birds won’t care if you touched the nest
or babies.
I have known people to wire/tie branches they cut out
that had nests on or in them back to the tree or shrub they pruned and the
birds return to them. Yes the branches
will die, but baby birds mature quickly and two to three weeks is generally all
that’s needed to get them out of the nest.
If the nest falls out because of a storm and you don’t
even know where it came from or it’s too high to reach you can still try to
replace it in the tree or shrub it was found near. Nests with eggs can just be discarded in this
case; the eggs probably wouldn’t hatch if they fell very far, even if not
cracked. The bird will build a new nest
and lay more eggs.
But if the nest had baby birds and they don’t seem
injured try putting the nest back as high as possible in the tree or shrub, in
a way that it won’t easily be dislodged again.
You may need to use twist ties or wire, just make sure it doesn’t
prevent the bird from sitting on the nest or feeding the babies. If the birds hear or see the babies they will
probably continue to care for them.
If you see a ground nesting birds nest when you are
mowing or clearing brush just leave it alone.
Leave a bit of cover around the nest and in just a couple weeks or less
the eggs will hatch and the birds will be gone.
If the cover around the nest is gone, maybe a teepee of brush or stalks
of some kind could offer enough cover.
Most ground nesting birds have babies that move around and feed
themselves shortly after hatching, like baby chickens. If you see these babies just leave them
alone. Take or chase cats and dogs away
for a while, that’s all that’s generally needed. Some birds like wild turkeys may attack you
if you bother their babies.
It’s an old wives tale that if you handle a baby bird
the parents won’t care for it. They will
take it back even if the dog picks it up in its mouth. If you see a tiny baby
bird and can see where came from try to put it back in the nest. Birds have no way to carry a baby back to the
nest but if you can get it back they will care for it. This applies to tiny birds which are
featherless or have only a few feathers.
If a baby bird has most of its feathers and you find it
out of the nest it’s probably fledged, which means mom and dad want it out of
the nest. They’ll continue to care for
it even if someone touches it. If it’s
in danger where it is, you can move it to a tree limb. They can flutter and hop higher into the
tree. The parents may be frantically
buzzing your head or they may be unseen but they are probably around. Once the baby is up high and safe, leave the
area or observe from a good distance.
If you take a baby bird away from a cat or find one
that is injured it’s probably best to humanely kill it. Birds that have been bitten or even scratched
by a cat almost always die from infection.
Even vets may not be able to save them.
An animal rescue organization may or may not accept injured birds.
While handling a baby bird won’t make the parents
desert it, it doesn’t mean it should be handled more than absolutely
necessary. That’s especially true of
small children handling the bird. Don’t
let them keep it for a few hours or try to feed it. They need frequent feeding
by their parents to remain healthy. The
wrong food or food placed in their mouths the wrong way will kill them. Small hands have a tendency to squeeze too
tightly and it doesn’t take much to kill a baby bird. Dropping baby birds is also quite
harmful. Make sure children wash their
hands very well after handling a wild bird as they carry many diseases. Never let them kiss them or put them against
their faces.
You shouldn’t try feeding a baby bird unless it’s a
last resort either. More baby birds are
killed by inexperienced people feeding them than are helped by it. If you are sure the baby is abandoned try to
find a wildlife rescue organization that will take the bird. Call a nature center, a vet, or your animal
control department to find a place to take the baby. Keeping some species of baby birds may even
be illegal in your area. A pet store may
know someone who hand feeds domestic baby birds and that person may also be
able to help you.
If you must feed the baby do not use pieces of worm,
bread crumbs, dogfood or birdseed. First
you must determine what species of baby bird you have, as different species
have different needs. You can then look
up on line what type of food to mix up or buy for it. Use information from a wildlife rescue,
nature center, or experienced bird breeder not just random people recounting
experiences or something they heard.
In a pinch little pieces of hard boiled or scrambled
egg would be a good thing to try until you get a proper formula for your type
of bird. Pet stores sell powdered baby
bird formulas for feeding domestic birds and one of the formulas may work for
your orphan, but I warn you they aren’t cheap.
Taking on the feeding of a baby bird is a big
commitment, at least for a few weeks.
Tiny babies need hourly feeding and larger ones need feeding every 2
hours from sun up to dark. You have to
be very careful not to stuff the baby and block its breathing or get the crop,
the pouch that holds food before it goes to the stomach in birds, impacted. As
they get bigger you have to know how to transition them to eating natural
foods.
I know everyone has heard stories about someone who
raised a baby robin on earthworms or a sparrow on bread crumbs but those are
exceptions. More than 90% of wild baby
birds that untrained people try to feed die.
Try to resist the urge to keep the baby bird you find and find an
experienced person to care for it. The
cuteness and novelty wear off quickly.
Ninebark
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| Ninebark Summer Wine |
Ninebark, Physocarpus
opulifolius, is everything most gardeners could want in a shrub. It’s native to central and eastern North
America, has beautiful fragrant flowers in spring that bees and butterflies
adore, seeds that birds like, good fall color and interesting exfoliating bark
for winter interest. Many cultivated
varieties also have colorful summer foliage.
Ninebark is a shrub, the native species is about 10
feet high by 10 feet wide but more compact and shorter varieties have been
developed so almost any gardener can fit one in somewhere and they are well
worth including in the garden. Native
wild type ninebark is hardy from zones 2-8 and while they like full sun in the
north will grow in partial shade further south.
Ninebark is drought tolerant once established and will grow in almost
any kind of well-drained soil.
Ninebark is tough and fast growing, blooming when 2-3
years old. It has few pests or disease
problems; powdery mildew sometimes hits the wild form and some cultivars but
doesn’t seriously harm the plant. Many
cultivated varieties have good powdery mildew resistance. Some nurseries and garden writers list
ninebark as deer proof but in my garden deer did prune the plants somewhat for
me, although they only ate the branch tips.
Ninebark will also grow close to black walnut trees.
Ninebark generally forms a multi-stemmed, rounded,
somewhat arching or weeping shrub. Older
stems will have bark that peels in strips, revealing layers of different
colored bark, which is where the name ninebark is supposed to come from. The bark is visible in winter. Ninebark sometimes suckers, but is not
considered to be an aggressive spreader.
Ninebark has oval, 3-5 lobed leaves, which are thick
and somewhat rough, with toothed edges.
Many cultivated varieties have finer foliage. The species has plain green leaves that turn
yellow in fall. But there are many
cultivated varieties with maroon, purple, or golden foliage that is pretty in
summer and has lovely fall color.
The flowers of ninebark are beautiful as well as
fragrant. Some writers describe them as
spirea- like, but I see nothing spirea about them, except that they bloom close
to the same time. The shrub is covered
in late spring- early summer with rounded clusters of small five petaled
flowers. The clusters range from golf
ball to tennis ball size.
In the species and golden leaved varieties the buds are
light pink and the open flowers white.
In dark leaved varieties buds are darker pink and the open flowers are
white flushed with pink. In newly opened
flowers the cluster of stamens in the center have red tips, which darken as
they age. Bees and butterflies flock to
ninebark in bloom, attracted by the light sweet scent and abundant nectar the
plant produces. If you pull the petals
from a flower you’ll see drops of nectar in the cup of the remaining sepals.
The flowers turn into reddish inflated seed pods in
dangling clusters. Songbirds enjoy
eating the seeds and the capsules themselves provide some winter interest until
the birds eat them.
Varieties
of ninebark
‘Dart's Golden’ ninebark is a variety with golden
yellow spring foliage fading to lime or chartreuse in summer, which becomes
golden tinged with orange in the fall.
It’s a bit more compact than the species at 6 feet tall and wide. It’s
hardy in zones 3-8.
'Nugget' Ninebark is a compact variety, growing 5 to 6 feet high
and wide. The leaves are a bit more finely-textured than the species, golden
yellow in the spring maturing to lime green foliage. Zones 3-8
‘Amber Jubilee’ or 'Jefam' Ninebark is also a compact
variety, 5 to 6 feet high and 3 to 4 feet wide. Spring growth is yellow orange, summer color
lime green and fall color is purple.
Zones 3-7.
‘Center Glow’ ninebark has purple foliage with a gold
center in spring, fall color is purple red.
It’s a full sized ninebark- 8 or more feet high and wide. Hardy in zones 3-7.
‘Coppertina’ ninebark is a full sized ninebark with
coppery purple spring foliage, purple summer foliage and red-purple fall
foliage. Hardy in zones 3-7.
‘Diabolo’ or ‘Monlo’ ninebark is a large ninebark with
deep burgundy purple foliage all year.
It has some mildew resistance.
Zones 3-8.
‘Little Devil’ or'Donna May' ninebark is a dwarf
selection of Diablo, with fine textured very deep purple foliage all year. It grows 4 feet tall and wide and is mildew
resistant. Zones 3-7.
‘Summer Wine’ or 'SWPOTWG' ninebark is compact , growing about
5 feet tall and wide. It has good purple
foliage all year, pink tinged flowers and is quite resistant to mildew. Zones 3-7.
Tiny Wine® is one of the newer and smaller varieties at
only 3-4 feet high and wide. It has fine-textured,
deep purple leaves and is mildew
resistant, and would be excellent for smaller gardens. Zones 3-7.
Planting
and care of ninebark
Ninebark is usually purchased as a plant, especially if
you want a cultivated variety. These are
generally started from cuttings. Seed
from ninebark is relatively easy to grow but you probably won’t get seed grown
plants that look like their parent unless you are using the seed from wildtype
plants. Plant seeds in pots in the fall
after they ripen and leave the pots outside through the winter for best
germination. Ninebark suckers can be dug
up and transplanted.
In planting zones 2-6 I would try to place your
ninebark in full sun. In higher zones they will do well in partial shade. They need well drained soil but aren’t fussy
about soil type. Don’t amend the soil in the hole when planting. Back fill with the soil you removed, no
matter how poor you think that soil is.
One application of a general purpose fertilizer for shrubs should be
given at planting and then once a year in early spring. Don’t over fertilize.
Keep the ninebark watered during the first year as it
establishes itself. After that they rarely need supplemental water unless it’s
very dry for long periods. Ninebark
doesn’t do well in wet soil areas.
Ninebark can be pruned to shape it and control height
but it must be pruned immediately after flowering, no later than July 1, if you
want flowers the next spring. If you
have a badly overgrown and wild looking ninebark you can prune it back to a
foot from the ground but expect it to take two years before it blooms again.
Powdery mildew can be avoided by placing plants where
they get good air flow and planting resistant varieties.
Medicinal
and other uses of ninebark
The inner bark of ninebark is powdered and used as a laxative
tea. Indigenous people used a cooled tea
as a vaginal douche, said to cure infertility, delayed menstruation (which
suggests it may be an abortifacient) and infections. All plant parts are toxic and only
experienced herbal practitioners should use it.
Ninebark bark was mixed with cedar bark and used as a brown dye.
Ninebark is a great shrub for a blooming and colorful
hedge. You could alternate plants with
different color foliage. Smaller
cultivars look good in butterfly and bee beds or mixed perennial plantings. One of the nicely colored cultivars could be
used as a specimen plant or garden focal point.
Putting
an edge on it
One of the pieces of advice I used to give people whose
wildflower or pollinator garden plots were drawing the ire of neighbors because
they looked messy was to put a nice edge/border on the garden. Putting a neat border around even a weedy
looking patch suddenly improves the looks and says “yes this is a garden.” Unless your garden is surrounded by pavement it
will look better if it is edged, no matter what type of plants it holds.
Edges define a garden and set it off from lawn
areas. They are pleasing to the eye and
provide that finishing touch many gardens need. And edges that are maintained
help keep grass and weeds out of the garden.
The width of the edge should be determined by the width of the flower
bed, the height of plants in the bed and what appeals to you. In general wide beds need wider edges and
taller plant material also looks better with wider edges.
My gardens tend to be messy and crowded. I use natural things for edging, old timbers,
stones or a simple bare strip of ground.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money buying edging for your garden but
if you like a more formal garden with plants discreetly placed rather than
jumbled together you may want a more formal type of edging material also.
The simplest type of edging is the trench edge or bare
strip. This is one of the oldest methods
of putting an edge on a garden. A trench
provides an air barrier from spreading grass roots. A bare edge can accommodate a lawn mower
wheel and keeps weed whackers from getting too close to plants.
Start your edge a couple inches from the base of plants
in the bed. Extend it beyond the spread of mature plants
to your desired width. If you are
uncertain about how wide to make the edge make it narrow and then enlarge it if
needed. Stand back a bit from the garden
and eyeball it to see if it looks in proportion to the bed size. You’ll want the outer side of the edge to be
straight and even or follow a curved bed in an even manner.
Start by removing a strip of sod the width of your
desired edge. Simply push a shovel in
the ground at the outer edge to cut the sod.
Then slide the shovel under the root system of the sod toward the
garden. You may have to wiggle and shove
it to cut under the sod. Lift off pieces
of sod like pieces of carpet and discard them in the compost pile.
If you want a trench cut down with the shovel in a V
shape about 6 inches deep and 6 inches wide at the top. Make sure trenches won’t cut into plant roots
by placing trenches at the edge of your cleared space. Mound the soil you
remove on the garden side of the trench and smooth it out a little.
If you simply want a bare strip just remove the
sod. You want to make the bare strip is wide
enough so that the wheel of the lawn mower can roll on it, without the mower
hitting plants, and the mower blades will keep the edge of the strip neat. Bare strips will probably need to be wider
than a trench to keep grass out of the garden.
Other
types of edges
If you don’t like the looks of a bare soil edge around
your garden you can use woodchips or shredded bark on that bare edge around the
garden. Resist the urge to lay down
layers of newspaper, cardboard, carpet or landscape fabric under the
mulch. I used to recommend that too, to
help keep weeds down, but research has shown its not good for the soil, and
educated professionals are discouraging the practice. Mulch helps preserve water but it also needs
to be replenished from time to time.
In my area, because there are lots of stony farm fields,
many people surround gardens with stones.
This can look very nice if you take care to place rocks with their size
in proportion to your plants and bed width. Bigger plants and wider beds need
larger rocks to look right. The drawback
to rocks is that weeds and grass will grow among them. This can be tricky to weed. Some people place a weed barrier strip under
the rocks. Rocks tend to settle in the
ground each year and will sometimes need excavating and resetting.
I don’t recommend white gravel or any kind of gravel as
edging or mulch. It looks nice at first
but litter quickly collects in rocks and it starts looking messy. You can use a leaf blower to blow out debris
but it’s an extra step to take with a gas polluting engine. Gravel also gets into lawn areas and becomes
projectiles when mowers pass over them.
Many weeds will grow through gravel also.
Lawn timbers, railroad ties, or small straight logs can
be used as edging. You won’t want to use
treated lumber as an edge for edible plants but for ornamental plants its
fine. These items can be hard to fit around
curved or circular beds. I find that
when I have used logs around beds, which slowly decompose, I get a lot of ant
colonies setting up near and under the logs. They can make things quite
miserable when you are down there weeding.
Paving stones and concrete edgers look good in more
formal garden settings but they can be expensive. There are all kinds of ways you can make a
border with these items, laying them flat, stacking them, turning them on edge
and so on. Recycled rubber and plastic
edgers are available, some look nice, and some are cheap and flimsy.
How about plastic edging, the kind you bury with just
the rolled lip above ground? This might
keep grass out but it just doesn’t look nice.
It might work on the outer edge of a strip covered with mulch. And what about low fencing? This can look nice at the outer edge of a
bare or mulched strip but that fencing can be a pain to weed around. It’s good for areas that people might be
tempted to walk on.
Whatever you choose to edge your garden with, do give
it an edge. The right edge or border
puts the finishing touch on your garden.
Rose
chafer
In my zone 5b-6a garden rose chafer beetles are
beginning to show up. Some of you may
already be experiencing rose or other plant damage from them. They feed on a wide variety of plants
including grapes. You can read more about them and how to control them here.
How
long does a perennial actually live?
If you are a gardener that shops for plants that are
perennial because you want to plant them once and have them forever, you may be
wondering why some plants sold as perennials fail to return after a few years
in a garden. You may blame a hard
winter, the nursery that sold you the plants or bad luck for the plants death
when in truth it may just have lived out its normal life span.
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| Phlox and coneflowers |
When gardeners begin to take an interest in plants as
something other than decorating material they learn that plants have various
lifespan categories, assigned by botanists as perennial, biannual (biennial) or
annual. Annuals are those plants that
live one season; they bloom and produce seed in their first year of life, then
die. Biennials make some foliage growth
in their first year, bloom the second year and then die. Perennials are plants that live more than two
years.
The problem is that some perennial plants barely make
it past the two year mark, and some of them are common garden plants. There are just some species of plants whose
lifespan is short, even though they are classified as perennial. While they may give you a good show for a
year or two they will need to replaced far more often than other types of
garden plants. Gardeners need to be
aware that not all perennial plants will last for a long time in the garden.
Culture
and conditions contribute to plant longevity
While the normal lifespan is indeed a factor in how
long a plant lives other things can also affect a plants lifespan. Plants that are at the edge of their
tolerance range for cold or heat will probably live a shorter life than those
that are in an ideal climate. Make sure
to check the planting zone rating for the perennial you are considering. While most plant tags or descriptions will
give you the cold tolerance rating very few list heat tolerance ratings for
plants. A few nurseries now list heat
tolerance but in general if you live in an area that gets very hot for long
periods each summer you’ll want to look up heat tolerance ratings for
non-native plants. Some plants won’t
bloom without a certain number of cold days also. Tulips and daffodils are examples.
And don’t just check the zone for the species in
general. Some cultivars or varieties of
common garden plants may be less hardy than others. For example buddleias and lavender each have
varieties that are quite hardy, surviving in Zones 5 or less, but they also
have varieties that need warmer zones to thrive. Sometimes perennials or varieties of
perennials that are not in the right zone will live for a year or two but then
die when there is a colder winter or warmer, more humid summer.
Some climate factors other than temperature may have to
be considered also. Plants who originate
in regions that have dry winters may suffer and have a shorter life in wet
snowy winter areas. Many plants that come from the Mediterranean areas, like
rosemary, and some bulbs, like tulips, don’t like wet winters. Plants can also have varying tolerances for
windy areas or long periods of drought.
When garden plants are hybrids of several species that
have different lifespans in the wild or come from vastly different climates,
some of those hybrids may have a shorter or longer life in the garden or
perform better and last longer in some places than others. An example of this was the red coreopsis that
was being offered several years ago.
These hybrids rarely lasted more than the first season in the
garden. It can take several years after
a new hybrid of an old garden favorite is put on the market for its hardiness
and longevity to be established.
Light requirements can be crucial to longevity
too. If you plant a shade lover in full
sun or vice versa you will probably shorten the plants lifespan. Soil type and soil pH (acidity or alkalinity)
are also factors. A plant that likes
acidic soil for example, may survive in alkaline soil for a few years but it
probably isn’t a healthy, happy plant and will be more susceptible to disease
or insects or just disappearing from the garden. The old adage of right plant in the right
place gives each plant the greatest potential to reach its normal lifespan.
How long a plant takes to reach maturity and how it
handles competition from other plants may also affect its lifespan. In general a plant that is slow to reach
maturity will live a long time when it does manage to reach that stage. But these plants may take a little extra care
in getting them established or they will die out early. These plants will need to have more rampantly
growing species around them kept from overtaking them or competing for light
and water until they are large enough or well established enough to fend for
themselves.
Plants
that fool you
Sometimes plants that have been in your garden a long
time are not the original plants you planted.
But they are so successful in spreading or seeding themselves that the
lifespan of the individual plant is less important. Hollyhocks for example, are biannual plants,
but they reseed so freely that once established in the garden you almost always
have them. Plants that reseed freely
such as comfrey and columbine may not have long lived individuals but persist
in the garden. Even some annual plants
may reseed and seem to be perennial in the garden.
In general plants that spread quickly through rhizomes
or tillers (underground stems) are short lived individually but long lived as a
species in the garden. Bearded iris put
out new rhizomes each year but the old rhizomes die after blooming. A bed of irises may persist 50 years or
more. Plants that produce “daughter”
plants around the original plant and make large clumps of plants, such as
hosta, are also long lived, sometimes as individual plants or sometimes as a
“family” or colony.
Plants that have woody or semi-woody stems are also
longer lived than plants that die to the ground each winter. Plants that remain evergreen (retain leaves)
in the winter are generally longer lived than other types of plants.
So
which plants live the longest in the garden?
When plants have everything they need to thrive and
excellent care from you some will still live longer than others. There is a natural lifespan for each species,
hamsters have shorter lifespans than dogs, coreopsis has a shorter lifespan
than hosta. A perennial is considered
short lived if it lives 2 to 4 years on average. It is medium in lifespan if it lives 5 to 8 years
and long lived if it lives on average 9 years or more. Some plants, like peonies, may live longer
than 50 years if they are in the right spot.
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| Peony |
Long
lived perennials (averages more than 8 years in the right conditions)
These
lists are for non-woody perennials.
Acanthus mollis- (Bears
Breeches)
Aconitum spp.(Monkshood )
Alchemilla mollis (Lady's
Mantle )
Amsonia orientalis(Blue
Star)
Anaphalis triplinervis (Pearly Everlasting)
Aruncus dioicus
(Goatsbeard )
Asclepias tuberosa
(Butterfly Weed )
Baptisia australis (False
Blue Indigo)
Centaurea montana
Chelone oblique- Turtleshead)
Cimicifuga racemosa
(Snakeroot)
Crosmia spp.
Dictamnus albus (Gas
Plant)
Ferns (various species)
Filipendula rubra (
Meadowsweet)
Geranium spp.(Hardy
Geraniums)
Helleborus spp.(
Hellebore)
Helenium autumnale (
Sneezeweed)
Hemerocallis spp (Daylily)
Hosta spp
Iris sibirica (Siberian
Iris)
Liatris spp (Blazing Star)
Lunaria rediviva (Money
Plant, Honesty)
Narcissus spp (Daffodil,
narcissus)
Nepata x faasenii ( Cat
mint)
Ornamental Grasses (most
perennial species)
Paeonia spp (Peony)
Papaver orientale ( Oriental
poppy)
Platycodon grandiflorus
(Balloon Flower)
Pulmonaria spp (Lungwort)
Rudbeckia fulgida
(Black-eyed Susan)
Sedum spp ( Stonecrop )
Veronicastrum virginicum (
Culvers Root)
Short
lived perennials (3-5 years)
Aquilegia spp (Columbine )
Coreopsis grandiflora
(Tickseed)
Delphinium spp (Delphinium
)
Dianthus spp (Pinks)
Echinacea spp.(
Coneflowers)
Gaillardia x grandiflora
(Blanket Flower)
Gypsophila paniculata
(Baby's Breath)
Heuchera spp (Coral Bells
)
Hyacinthus orientalis
(Hyacinth )
Leucanthemum spp.(Shasta
Daisy)
Linum perenne (Perennial
Flax )
Lupinus hybrids (Lupine )
Lychnis chalcedonica
(Maltese Cross )
Monarda spp. (Bee Balm)
Papaver nudicaule (Iceland
Poppy)
Scabiosa spp.(Pincushion
Flower )
Tanacetum coccineum
(Painted Daisy )
Tulipa spp (Hybrid Tulips
)
You’ll notice that some popular garden plants are
relatively short lived. (Some reseed or
sucker though.) Remember this if you are
spending large sums of money on a new variety of one of these species. Some common garden plants aren’t listed
because they fall somewhere in between long and short lived or that they have
so many varieties and hybrids with different life spans. Roses for example can be very long lived in
some species or hybrids and short lived in others.
 |
| Echinacea, short lived but pretty |
This doesn’t mean that you should avoid certain
perennials, just that you will need to replant some varieties if you want the
same display in your garden each year. Some short lived perennials are popular
because they are great performers in the garden while they last.
So if a plant has disappeared over the winter don’t
assume it was killed by disease or something you did. It could just have
reached its natural lifespan. Plant another one and garden on.
Strawberry
shortcake waffles
One of the best ways to use up some of those great
strawberries from your garden or from a wonderful farm market is to make
strawberry shortcake. Another great way
is to put strawberries on waffles. So
why not combine the two? Break out that
waffle maker and don’t worry about heating up the oven on a warm summer day,
your waffle maker can make shortcakes quickly while you stay cool. If you don’t have a waffle maker this batter
can be cooked like pancakes too.
First prepare the strawberries. They need to sit at least an hour, overnight
is better. Wash the berries and remove
the leafy caps. Slice or half the
strawberries. For every 2 cups of sliced
strawberries add a half cup of sugar and toss the berries in it. Refrigerate until ready to use. This will make a light syrup as the sugar
draws out the strawberry fluid. If you
like your strawberries sweeter you can add a little more sugar. Two cups of sliced berries is enough for 3-4
small waffles. For the recipe below you
may need 4-5 cups of sliced berries to cover all the shortcake waffles.
Next you’ll need to prepare your shortcake-waffle
batter. Actually you can use any recipe
for plain waffles, the results will be fine.
But this shortcake batter with a touch of lemon is delightful.
Ingredients
2 cups of baking mix, such as Bisquick® or Krustav®
1 lightly beaten egg
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1/8 teaspoon- (few drops) lemon extract
4-5 cups sliced strawberries in syrup
pan spray or melted butter for waffle maker
Read your waffle maker instructions again if you don’t
remember how to use it! Then blend all
the ingredients, adding milk gradually, add just enough milk until the mixture
is thin enough to pour easily. Spray or
coat the waffle maker with oil or butter and add batter. A gravy ladle makes a great batter
spoon. Smooth batter evenly in waffle
imprints. Just barely cover the bumps
in the waffle maker with batter, don’t overfill.
It generally takes just a minute or two to cook a
waffle. Your waffle maker may have
lights or other signals to tell you when the shortcake-waffle is done. Otherwise cook until lightly brown. Re-coat the waffle maker with pan spray or
melted butter for each batch of waffles.
Remove shortcake-waffles to a plate and top with
strawberries and then a dab of whipped cream or ice cream. Depending on shortcake-waffle size this
recipe makes 6-10 shortcake-waffles. You can also freeze unused waffles for quick
snacks or breakfasts later.
Frozen, thawed fruit can be used when the local fresh
fruit is gone.
June
is like a beautiful girl on the cusp of womanhood
Kim Willis
“He who has a garden and
a library wants for nothing” ― Cicero
© Kim Willis - no parts of this newsletter may be used
without permission.
And
So On….
Do you have plants or seeds you would like to swap or share? Post them here by emailing me. You can also
ask me to post garden related events. Kimwillis151@gmail.com
Join the
LAPEER AREA HORTICULTURE SOCIETY on our 35th
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, JUNE 19th at 6 P.M., SUNCREST DISPLAY GARDENS, behind
the Lapeer County Medical Care facility, 1455 Suncrest Drive, Lapeer, Mi.
All Past, Present, and Prospective members are invited to attend
this special event. This will be a special time to meet old friends and share
some of our memories of the activities of this group.
Guests are welcome.
Displays will be set up showing past activities, as well as old
newsletters of the group. Refreshments provided.
For more information contact:
Dave Klaffer at 810-656-7770 or 664-8912
Find
Michigan garden events/classes here:
(This is the Lapeer County Gardeners
facebook page)
An
interesting Plant Id page you can join on Facebook
Here’s a
seed/plant sharing group you can join on Facebook
Newsletter/blog
information
If you would like to
pass along a notice about an educational event or a volunteer opportunity
please send me an email before Tuesday of each week and I will print it. Also
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what I want. Contact me at KimWillis151@gmail.com
I write this because I
love to share with other gardeners some of the things I come across in my
research each week. It keeps me engaged with people and horticulture. It’s a
hobby, basically. I hope you enjoy it. If you are on my mailing list and at any
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