Category: Perennial

Leaping into Spring: Revisiting ‘Dividing Perennials’

On By durhammastergardenersIn Gardening information, Perennial

If you’ve noticed a plethora of perennials in your garden this spring, take advantage of this beautiful spring weather. It’s not too early to divide your plants – just follow the steps Andrea Laine described in this post from 2020. Go ahead, expand your garden, or maybe share your perennials with your neighbors so that you can make room for new Backyard Treasures from the Master Gardeners’ plant sale on April 8th!

by Andrea Laine EMGV

There’s a saying among gardeners: Sleep, creep, leap.

The first year that an ornamental plant is in the ground, it sleeps. Above ground it looks like nothing is happening. All the action is underground where it is creating strong roots. A quality root system is essential for absorbing water and nutrients to deliver to the rest of the plant.

The following year, the plant creeps. We may notice new leaf buds, an elongated stem, and we are content (or relieved) that the plant is still living.

Then, finally, in its third or fourth year, the plant really starts to get showy. It leaps! There are new leaves and bold flowers. The plant is noticeably taller and/or wider and we gardeners are filled with pride and joy and our enthusiasm for gardening probably leaps, too.  

Stokesia ‘Blue Danube.’ Photo by A. Laine.

This is so true of herbaceous perennials! Before you know it, it is time to divide the perennial into smaller plants. Division can control a plant’s size and invigorate the original plant, assuring that it continues to flower abundantly. (If your perennial no longer flowers very well, that is a sure sign that it is crowded and needs to be divided.) Another benefit is that you will have new plants to place in another part of the garden or share with a friend or neighbor.

Time of year
The best time to divide herbaceous perennials is early spring, however bearded iris and Asiatic lilies prefer later summer to early fall and some plants like black-eyed Susan are so resilient they’ll accept division in spring or fall. Choose a cool or cloudy spring day or an early fall day. Dividing or planting most perennials during a hot and/or humid day, such as we tend to have during a Durham summer, is generally not advised. Also, do not divide or dig around plants the same day they have been watered.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1.  Prepare by putting in place everything you may need to complete the task: a long-handled spade or digging pitchfork, a sharp knife (I use an old steak knife from the kitchen), a full watering can or hose, and newly dug holes in the ground. If you intend to gift your divisions to other gardeners, then also have containers, a small spade and potting soil by your side.

Step 2.  Survey your plant(s). From afar, it looked like I had two giant clumps of Stokes Aster (Stokesia ‘Peachies Pink’). See photos below. They had  been in the ground four years. But upon closer inspection, notice that there are actually multiple small clumps growing close together.

Two Stokes aster in foreground. Photo by A. Laine

Step 3. Dig and separate the plant. Use the spade or fork to dig deep on all four sides of the plant. In the case of these asters, I need not dig up the whole planting, just the smaller clumps that I wish to relocate. If the plant’s divisions are growing closely together, as may be the case with a Daylily or a Bearded Iris, you may need to dig up more, or all, of the plant. When that is the case, gently pull the division away from the original plant. Tease it with your fingers. If this is difficult, as it may be with plants that are overdue for dividing, it’s okay to cut through the clump using the knife. Just be sure that each smaller clump gets three to five shoots and part of the root system.  

Digging to divide a perennial into multiple plants. photo by A. Laine

Step 4. Replant the divisions, with proper spacing and depth (the crown at soil level), as soon as possible into your previously dug holes or at-the-ready containers. The goal is to minimize the amount of time that the roots are exposed to the drying effects of air. Water the new planting well.

newly transplanted divisions. photo by A. Laine.

As you can see in the photos above, the new divisions look a bit forlorn 10 days later. They will need nurturing equivalent to any new planting; that means vigilant watering through their first year. It is also helpful to snip new flower buds off the first year or two, if any even develop, so the plant’s energy can be concentrated on developing its root system. Remember: sleep, creep, leap!

Step 5. Pay attention to the original plant. Rebury its roots if any were exposed during the division. Enrich the soil with compost or soil conditioner. Even just loosening it will help; Plants dislike growing in compacted soil. Having some garden soil or compost on hand is helpful but not necessary. It’s okay to add the compost later in the growing year when social-distancing may not be as critical as it is this spring.

Exposed roots of Stokes aster following separation and division. photo by A. Laine.

Follow similar five steps if you wish to relocate a plant: Prepare, survey, dig, replant, nurture. I divided the asters last spring and the new plants are doing very well. I will divide and move some hostas to shadier places this year. My landscape has changed (we took down some larger trees) and the hostas are no longer planted in the right place for their needs.  

Early spring days are excellent for separating, dividing or relocating perennials. And, these are tasks you can accomplish with equipment and material already on hand. Perfect for gardeners sheltering-in-place.

1Perennials not recommended for division

  • Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila)
  • False Indigo (Baptisia)
  • Balloon Flower (Platydocon)
  • Flax (Linum)
  • Bugbane (Cimicifuga)
  • Lupine (Lupinus)
  • Butterfly Weed (Asclepias)
  • Monkshood (Aconitum)
  • Clematis
  • Russian Sage (Perovskia)
  • Poppy

Divide Only to Propagate

  • Bugbane (Cimicifuga)
  • Tall Sedum (Sedum “Autumn Joy“)
  • Garden Peony (Paeonia)
  • Yucca
  • Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia)

Resources  

1. Some plants need dividing more often than others. Scroll to the bottom of this link for a list of perennials and their division requirements.
https://extension.psu.edu/dividing-perennials

http://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/dividing-perennials

Further Reading

A glossary of gardening terms
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/glossary

The many ways to propagate plants are described in the Extension Master Gardener Handbook: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/13-propagation#section_heading_5641

Ten Plants That Can Take the Heat

On By durhammastergardenersIn annuals, container gardening, Perennial

by Andrea Laine, EMGV

The pilgrimage to local nurseries has begun and warm-weather gardening is upon us. With so many plant selections available and a heat wave due by the end of the week, it seems like the perfect time to revisit one of our most popular blog posts: “Ten Plants that Can Take the Heat,” by Andrea Laine. Grab a cold iced tea and plan your garden for the long hot summer to come. 

_______________________________________

Come July, I am unlikely to be outdoors — much less gardening—unless watering or weeding is absolutely required. I dislike the heat of a North Carolina Piedmont summer. Luckily for my garden and the birds and insects who visit it, there are perennials and annuals that do just fine despite the heat and even when rain is not plentiful.  

I’ve been noticing those plants more lately as it has been almost two weeks since a measurable amount of rain has fallen on my garden. And, we’ve had some very hot days, with heat indexes of 100 or more. I watered six days ago and again this morning (July 20).

Plants begin suffering physiological damage at 86 degrees and above1. Keeping up with watering is important, especially for the newer additions to the garden or those recently transplanted. An established tree, shrub or plant will fare better due to a stronger, more settled root system.  

Here are 10 plants that tolerate sunny, hot, and dry conditions reasonably well:

Perennials

Blackberry Lily or Leopard Flower (Belamcanda) This is my first experience with this semi-hardy summer bulb. It prefers morning sun, but this plant is doing very well in afternoon sun in well-drained soil. The dainty flowers began blooming in July atop stalks 30 to 36 inches high. Blackberry refers to the black seeds that follow flowering. Store corms in dry sand at 35-41 degrees.

Catmint (Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’) This is another plant I had never grown before this year and so far I am very pleased. Lavender spikes of flowers (10 inches high) appear late spring to mid-summer and flowers are always crowded with bees, moths and butterflies. It is deer resistant. Photo credit: Debbie Roos

Lantana (Lantana Camara) The ‘Miss Huff’ cultivar is a generally reliable perennial in the Piedmont region of NC. Treat all other cultivars as annuals here. Miss Huff is a woody evergreen shrub that will grow 4’ high and wide in full sun. It blooms from late spring to fall and flowers are a mix of orange, yellow and pink. Cut it down to four to six inches in the spring before new growth begins.

Garden Sage (Salvia Officinalis) This plant is the star of my herb garden – good-looking, evergreen and productive all year. It is planted in well-drained soil and receives four to six hours of sun; that’s about as ‘full’ as my heavily wooded property allows, but obviously it has been good enough for this plant.  

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)  Being native to the southeast United States, it’s not a great surprise that the purple coneflower tolerates heat and drought. But it also tolerates humidity and poor soil and can grow in full sun or part shade. Pinkish-purple flowers appear from May to October. It is deer resistant, too. Photo credit: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/echinacea-purpurea/

Annuals

Summer snapdragon (Angelonia angustifolia)  For years now I have relied on this annual to add color and grace to my front walkway. I choose white and purple flowering cultivars but there are pink and variegated ones, too.  It grows at a medium rate and flowers from June through September. I bet it would do well in a container. Actually, most plants that tolerate drought probably would.

Begonia x ‘Dragonwing’ This has long been my favorite begonia because it fills out so nicely. I don’t readily think of begonias as being heat and drought tolerant, but I’ve included this one because of my firsthand experience with it under exactly those conditions. I love its drooping clusters of flowers. I usually plant this in a container on my deck which receives morning sun. This year I put it in the ground outside my front door,  a western exposure that also receives a good bit of shade. As you can see, it is doing well.

Evolvulus  glomeratus ‘Blue daze’ It was serendipity when I spotted this plant in a nursery in Mebane last summer. I was through with my planting for the season (or so I told myself) but just couldn’t resist its charms. I do like plants with blue flowers. I brought it home without knowing anything about it. I put it in the ground in full sun among some perennial grasses and it proceeded to take over! I eventually learned that it is a ground cover in the morning-glory family. It’s flowers close at dusk or on cloudy days. If planted in the ground, it forms sprawling mounds nine to 18 inches tall2, which was precisely what I experienced. I would plant it again, but in a more open space. It was yet another lesson in “right plant, right place.” Photo credit: JC Raulston Arboretum

Mandevilla (Dipladenia sanderi) Every summer my mother planted this tropical vine in a container (with trellis for climbing) on her deck in Southeast Pennsylvania. In a short time, it looked spectacular. I’ve often considered doing the same, but the vines have become more expensive than I care to spend for a one-season plant. So, imagine my glee this spring when I noticed a new compact mounding cultivar for $6 in a big box store. I planted three in the ground; I mulched but have not been aggressive with water. They attract hummingbirds and butterflies. NC State Extension says they can be wintered indoors in a container.  

Portulaca grandiflora This is an old favorite of mine that I have not planted in a great while but is such a crowd pleaser. I think it might come to own this sloped spot (therefore, well-draining) among the native pink muhly grasses. There are varieties that flower in a single color, but I enjoy the ones with a variety of colors on one plant. So cheerful! Like evolvulus, the flowers close on cloudy days.

I’ll be looking to add more of these plants to my garden in future years. I am so grateful that some like it hot!

Footnotes, Resources & Further Reading

1. https://www.ahsgardening.org/gardening-resources/gardening-maps/heat-zone-map

2. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/evolvulus-glomeratus/

https://extensiongardener.ces.ncsu.edu/extgardener-salvias-for-the-sage-gardener/

https://www.uaex.edu/yard-garden/resource-library/plant-week/begonia-dragonwings.aspx

Learn more about other plants listed above: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/

(Unless otherwise noted, photos taken by A. Laine)

Article Short URL: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-1vS

A Tale of Three Sedges

On By durhammastergardenersIn Perennial

by Flora O’Brien, EMGV

What’s so great about sedges? They just look like clumps of grass, right? Well, here are three sedges both unusual and interesting for sun, shade and in-between.

Top to bottom: Carex scaposa, Carex Sparkler, Carex Whitetop. Credit Flora O’Brien.

The Cherry Blossom Sedge, (Carex scaposa), has surprising, vibrant, showy pink flowers, something you don’t expect to find in a sedge. The plant grows in clumps, stands about a foot high and has wide arching leaves. It blooms in summer and repeats in the fall. Plant this beauty in part shade to shade in average soil.


Next is Carex phyllocephala, “Sparkler.’ This plant was given to me last winter by a friend. What I love is that it looks like a small palm tree. The foliage is variegated and sits atop one- to two-foot tall cane-like stems. This is also a clump former and does best in part shade to deep shade.




And for the sun, try Rhynchospora colorate or Star Sedge (also known as Whitetop Sedge). The flowers themselves are tiny but have long flowing bracts, white near the flower, then changing to green near the tip. From a distance they look like bobbing white daisies. This plant spreads by rhizomes so it will need to be thinned occasionally. I have included a close-up photo to illustrate the lovely form.



So, don’t pass over sedges believing them to be boring. Check these three out and prepare to be amazed.

Resources & Further Reading https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/rhynchospora-colorata/
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=256661
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhco7


Dividing Perennials

On By durhammastergardenersIn Perennial

by Andrea Laine EMGV

There’s a saying among gardeners: Sleep, creep, leap.

The first year that an ornamental plant is in the ground, it sleeps. Above ground it looks like nothing is happening. All the action is underground where it is creating strong roots. A quality root system is essential for absorbing water and nutrients to deliver to the rest of the plant.

The following year, the plant creeps. We may notice new leaf buds, an elongated stem, and we are content (or relieved) that the plant is still living.

Then, finally, in its third or fourth year, the plant really starts to get showy. It leaps! There are new leaves and bold flowers. The plant is noticeably taller and/or wider and we gardeners are filled with pride and joy and our enthusiasm for gardening probably leaps, too.  

Stokesia ‘Blue Danube.’ Photo by A. Laine.

This is so true of herbaceous perennials! Before you know it, it is time to divide the perennial into smaller plants. Division can control a plant’s size and invigorate the original plant, assuring that it continues to flower abundantly. (If your perennial no longer flowers very well, that is a sure sign that it is crowded and needs to be divided.) Another benefit is that you will have new plants to place in another part of the garden or share with a friend or neighbor.

Time of year
The best time to divide herbaceous perennials is early spring, however bearded iris and Asiatic lilies prefer later summer to early fall and some plants like black-eyed Susan are so resilient they’ll accept division in spring or fall. Choose a cool or cloudy spring day or an early fall day. Dividing or planting most perennials during a hot and/or humid day, such as we tend to have during a Durham summer, is generally not advised. Also, do not divide or dig around plants the same day they have been watered.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1.  Prepare by putting in place everything you may need to complete the task: a long-handled spade or digging pitchfork, a sharp knife (I use an old steak knife from the kitchen), a full watering can or hose, and newly dug holes in the ground. If you intend to gift your divisions to other gardeners, then also have containers, a small spade and potting soil by your side.

Step 2.  Survey your plant(s). From afar, it looked like I had two giant clumps of Stokes Aster (Stokesia ‘Peachies Pink’). See photos below. They had  been in the ground four years. But upon closer inspection, notice that there are actually multiple small clumps growing close together.

Two Stokes aster in foreground. Photo by A. Laine

Step 3. Dig and separate the plant. Use the spade or fork to dig deep on all four sides of the plant. In the case of these asters, I need not dig up the whole planting, just the smaller clumps that I wish to relocate. If the plant’s divisions are growing closely together, as may be the case with a Daylily or a Bearded Iris, you may need to dig up more, or all, of the plant. When that is the case, gently pull the division away from the original plant. Tease it with your fingers. If this is difficult, as it may be with plants that are overdue for dividing, it’s okay to cut through the clump using the knife. Just be sure that each smaller clump gets three to five shoots and part of the root system.  

Digging to divide a perennial into multiple plants. photo by A. Laine

Step 4. Replant the divisions, with proper spacing and depth (the crown at soil level), as soon as possible into your previously dug holes or at-the-ready containers. The goal is to minimize the amount of time that the roots are exposed to the drying effects of air. Water the new planting well.

newly transplanted divisions. photo by A. Laine.

As you can see in the photos above, the new divisions look a bit forlorn 10 days later. They will need nurturing equivalent to any new planting; that means vigilant watering through their first year. It is also helpful to snip new flower buds off the first year or two, if any even develop, so the plant’s energy can be concentrated on developing its root system. Remember: sleep, creep, leap!

Step 5. Pay attention to the original plant. Rebury its roots if any were exposed during the division. Enrich the soil with compost or soil conditioner. Even just loosening it will help; Plants dislike growing in compacted soil. Having some garden soil or compost on hand is helpful but not necessary. It’s okay to add the compost later in the growing year when social-distancing may not be as critical as it is this spring.

Exposed roots of Stokes aster following separation and division. photo by A. Laine.

Follow similar five steps if you wish to relocate a plant: Prepare, survey, dig, replant, nurture. I divided the asters last spring and the new plants are doing very well. I will divide and move some hostas to shadier places this year. My landscape has changed (we took down some larger trees) and the hostas are no longer planted in the right place for their needs.  

Early spring days are excellent for separating, dividing or relocating perennials. And, these are tasks you can accomplish with equipment and material already on hand. Perfect for gardeners sheltering-in-place.

1Perennials not recommended for division

  • Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila)
  • False Indigo (Baptisia)
  • Balloon Flower (Platydocon)
  • Flax (Linum)
  • Bugbane (Cimicifuga)
  • Lupine (Lupinus)
  • Butterfly Weed (Asclepias)
  • Monkshood (Aconitum)
  • Clematis
  • Russian Sage (Perovskia)
  • Poppy

Divide Only to Propagate

  • Bugbane (Cimicifuga)
  • Tall Sedum (Sedum “Autumn Joy“)
  • Garden Peony (Paeonia)
  • Yucca
  • Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia)

Resources  

1. Some plants need dividing more often than others. Scroll to the bottom of this link for a list of perennials and their division requirements.
https://extension.psu.edu/dividing-perennials

http://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/dividing-perennials

Further Reading

A glossary of gardening terms
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/glossary

The many ways to propagate plants are described in the Extension Master Gardener Handbook: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/extension-gardener-handbook/13-propagation#section_heading_5641

December: To do in the Garden

On By durhammastergardenersIn Gardening calendar, herbicides, lawns, Perennial, pruning, trees

by Gary Crispell, EMGV

How did it get to be December already? Wasn’t it 100 degrees and October yesterday? Unbelievable! So, I was looking at last year’s December calendar and I can’t think of how to improve it. Therefore, y’all get an encore! Heck, come next year it might be a new tradition.

The holidays
Are upon us.
It’s cold enough
To prune the euonymus.

Most of the leaves
Have fallen down
And into the compost
Raked and blown.

The door is closed
On the potting shed.
Most of the garden
Has been put to bed.

But before the year
Turns over anew
There are a few more things
Left to do.

Ilex x ‘Nellie R. Stevens’ Little Gem Trees CC BY-ND

Lawn
Mow the fescue
One more time.
Remove the leaves
To keep it fine.

Planting
Landscape plants
Can still be planted
There in that space
Where you’ve always wanted.

Prune
Prune the nandina
And red-berried holly.
Arrange them on the table
To make it look jolly.

Herbaceous perennials
Can still be cut back.
While weeds and “bad” trees
Can be thoroughly wacked.

Spraying
While some of us think
Spraying is fun
In the month of December
There should be none.

Other Stuff That’s Mostly Fun
The Christmas tree
Really needs water
And will appreciate
Being away from the heater.

To keep your poinsettias
Cheery and bright
Put them in the room
With the sunniest light.

As to your soil recommendations
Apply the lime.
Save the fert
For the warmer springtime.

If it’s viticulture
Or an orchard you seek
Order plants now
To plant by March’s second week.

For your strawberries
A sweet straw bed
Either wheat or pine
A blanket for their heads.

May your holidays
Be blessed and merry
As bright and cheery
As the holly’s berry.

And may next year’s garden
Be like my Grandmother’s
A bounty for you
And a bounty for others.

Further Reading
December is a good time to explore the NC Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/