Hello,
It is cold here in CT now... and my hardy's have all lost their leaves but the stems are still green. When will it be safe to cut them back? Do I need to wait for them to turn brown?
when to cut back hardy's
i didn't last year i cut the right after last frost.. however i have since heard you should wait till spring to cut them..
I cut mine down every year before right before first frost. The new stalks will come up from the ground in Spring
thats when i cut mine last year too and mine did great this year.. I've just heard its better to wait till spring now really sure why..
The advantage of leaving them until spring is that they are sometimes rather late to start growing, so if you wait until spring to cut them back you'll be more likely to remember where they are. Otherwise you'll forget where they were and plant something else there, then in June when they start putting out new growth again you'll find they're right on top of the things you just planted in what you thought was an empty spot in the garden.
ecrane that was exactly the answer I was going to give her :) I leave the cut stalks about 6 inches long so that I can still find them in Spring
ok then i'll cut mine again this fall just like last fall.. I did leave 6" cause i heard they are last to come up, and almost so late that you think there dead... lol my mom thought her was dead this year but i had to explain to her they come late.. She didn't know they plant dies back and grows new.. She almost dug it out...
So ya cut them now weather green or not but like they said leave 6" or so to find them in the spring.. Doesn't matter weather there green or not they will just die in a few weeks anyways
that's right smurf...good luck!
Thanks everyone! They are all gone tomorrow. Time to rake out the garden!
I cut mine in the spring, leaving the stems and some of the seed pods over the winter is a food source for the small finches, and I know where the plants are.
Does any one need some seeds, I have a mixture (thanks to grandson) of dark pink, pink, and white with a red throat.
I have a million Lord Baltimore, and some Lady Baltimore if any one is looking for any of those as well.
I'd love to try growing some from seeds. Sending you both an e-mail.
As some of you are aware, I have been researching wild populations of Hibiscus moscheutos which existed in New Jersey over 100 years ago. Frankly, the more information I find the greater my understanding of the magnitude of the loss is becoming. I have pictures of lush fields of wild Hibiscus moscheutos in the New Jersey Meadowlands, seven miles from Time Square in New York City in 1919. But that is a topic for another time and post
To the point of this thread, there may be risks associated with keeping the dry stalks of Hibiscus until the next string. In the following paper, it was recommended that the dry stalks of Hibiscus moscheutos be burned to eliminate the hibernating buprestid beetle Rhaeboscelis tenuis. Apparently you can keep the stalks on during the winter but they must be cut to the ground very early in the spring and burned. Quite a lot of the work reported in this 38 page paper was conducted about 3 miles from my home, so this is a bit more than of academic interest to me.
One word of caution: it appears that the name of the buprestid beetle Rhaeboscelis tenuis has changed in the last 100 years and I have not yet found the modern designation. For now the message of this paper should be that keeping dry Hibiscus stalks has its risks, particularly if you have an insect problem. If I find the modern name of this beetle I will post it.
Insects of the Swamp Rose-Mallow Hibiscus moscheutos L., in New Jersey
Harry B. Weiss and Edgar L. Dickerson
Source: Journal of the New York Entomological Society, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Mar., 1919), pp. 39-68
http://www.jstor.org/stable/25003834
In I907 when the writers were observing the buprestid beetle Rhaeboscelis tenuis Lec., on the swamp rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) growing in a nursery, they noted other insects infesting this plant and it appeared to them that observations on these insects might prove interesting. Accordingly, a study of the insects associated with this plant was undertaken. Some of the observations were made in I917, but the major portion during the season of I918. The results are given in this paper and it might be added that they were carried on incidental to other work and were made on plants in some of the nurseries as well as those growing on the marshes in their natural environment.
….
Rhaeboscelis tenuis Lec., was described by Le Conte in I863 in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Contributions, from specimens collected by Mr. Ulke in Maryland and by Mr. Benj. D. Walsh in Illinois. Since then it has been recorded in very few local lists and so far as we are aware there has been very little or no indication of its habits or food plant. In Ulke's Washington list it is recorded as being taken on oak, but a more nearly accurate suggestion is made in Smith's List of the Insects of New Jersey (1909), where Mr. Wenzel records it from Anglesea in July on low plants in swampy glades.
….
In the nurseries where the last season's dry stalks are allowed to remain on the plants, the beetles emerging from these infest the present season's growth. Moreover, it is apparent that if these old stalks are cut and burned, the infestation will be largely eliminated. If this is done the stalks should be cut at the surface of the ground. The importance of this was shown in a nursery where the stalks had been removed in the early spring, but several inches at the base had been left standing, and in these mature larvae and pupa were found. It is also evident that the injury to the leaves by the adults could be controlled by spraying with arsenate of lead.
If anyone wants a copy of this paper, DM me.
Mike
good to know.. I kept mine cute down to about 6" give or take but I will for sure come spring be chopping these off.. I never found the beetles in any of my seeds but i dont want to chance it..
again Mike thanks for the great info, keep it coming
jen
One of the authors, which I referenced previously Harry Bischoff Weiss, also wrote a 1919 pamphlet for the State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture, on the insect enemies of Hibiscus moscheutos. As this a government published document it is not pay-walled and anyone can down load the PDF which I would recommend you do. Google did not include OCR Text with the PDF so you will have to use their interface if you want to search the book.
The More Important Insect Enemies of the Rose-Mallow in New Jersey
Harry Bischoff Weiss, January 1919
State of New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Alva Agee Secretary, Bureau of Statistics and Inspection, Circular Number 25, Trenton, NJ
http://books.google.com/books?id=Q-UoAAAAYAAJ
The pamphlet contains the same warning about infected Hibiscus stalks as the paper. Several of the insect pests which have been discussed in DG are referenced in the pamphlet. I have still not located the correct reference to buprestid beetle Rhaeboscelis tenuis but I may have observed the damage from it during my trips to work each summer. In Northern Bergen County NJ there is a beautiful red Hibiscus moscheutos, with typical moscheutos leaves, which is stripped every summer by insects. The Hibiscus always recovers but it has been producing fewer flowers each summer. I have been tempted to stop and talk to the home owner but I don’t know if I would be welcomed.
What is really interesting about the pamphlet is that there was sufficient Hibiscus horticulture in New Jersey in 1919 to justify its publication by the State. From my research, the common practice was to collect interesting wild Hibiscus along the New Jersey shore and then propagate the plants for the trade while being on the lookout for chance mutations or sports. The Hibiscus Nursery which is pictured in the pamphlet, and attached to this post, is the same one which is shown in the paper, where the nursery location is identified as Rutherford, New Jersey. From the slope of the land I have a good idea as to the general location of the nursery. The photograph in the paper was taken from a different angle and two houses are shown. Both photographs were taken looking uphill and if I am correct about the location, at the bottom of the hill would be the New Jersey Meadowlands and a clear view of New York City 8 miles to the East; but, in 1919 there would be no skyscrapers and the buildings would have been obscured by the Palisades Escarpment.
Mike
