How do you wind down a perennial garden?

rteets - that's so funny to here -- I just put in some baby Amsonias last year, and right now there isn't much too them -- I can't imagine them bulking up. But that is what I want!

Happy_macomb

It will happen - in time. In my garden I'm always waiting for something to be in its prime. For some a year, some 3 years, some 30 years. For that I think it would be 5 years. Longer than most perennials, but so long-lived and beautiful it's well worth the wait. It is very late to get started in the spring so make sure you know exactly where it is and be patient. Every year I think I've lost them after 15 years.

Thanks. That's good to know about it being late to appear in the spring. I'll mark it on my notes.

I guess that I would contact a local garden club and see if anyone wanted plants that you want to get rid of. Hostas are a good choice. I have tons of daylilies but the spraying I do is to deter deer. They seem to be low maintenance compared to other perennials that I have. I like this topic since it really gets me thinking about what I will want to do in the coming years.

I think those of you who have a border of mainly daylilies may be in better shape. My perennial garden is really more of a cottage garden, crowded and with mixed in annuals. I need to divide mine both because the slow down in bloom, which I might be able to deal with with better care, but also because I only have 3 and they just get too big for the space esthetically.

One thing I am trying to do is to plant more and more drought tolerant perennials and not so many annuals.

Me too, Birder, it is over between me and annuals. I want more for my buck, and hard work.

I have 'can't-live-without' favorite annuals, but the list gets shorter every year as i keep adding perennials and they keep expanding. Now it's the self-seeders I rely on more and more- various Digitalis, Nicotiana Langsdorfii and N Alata, Verbena Bonariensis to name just a few..

I use a little no work trick as far as annuals go. I have several empty pots buried in my landscape. I get some annuals and place them (still in their own pot) in the buried pots. Snug the mulch up and you would never know they weren't planted. If they start to look past their prime I buy new ones - whatever looks good and is cheap. Very easy. it's hard to only have perennials and have a garden that looks great all the time. This is an easy way to bridge any gaps in my garden.

That's a great trick!

What is the work involved with annuals? I'm wondering if some of you had been planting annuals with short bloom times? I look for annuals like callibrachoa that bloom all summer. It takes me an hour to plunk them in the garden. Maybe the difference is the amount of space? I only attend to one bed. So it's not a lot of space. You can see it in the Garden Showcase link I posted above.

Well, I am getting a little off topic. My very favorite annual is Angelonia. Plant it, water it and you're done--blooms ALL summer into early fall.

Thanks, birder17, this fits my color scheme. I'm putting it on my 2014 shopping list.

I had never heard of Angelonia. It is stunning.

LAS14, with respect to your question "What is the work involved with annuals?" -- I'm just cheap so I don't like to buy new plants each year, and my garden is fairly large so it is expensive to maintain even without annuals. Perennials thrill me. I get so excited to see them return each year. Right now my Naked Ladies are blooming (ok, those are bulbs) and I laugh every time I see them.

This message was edited Aug 7, 2013 7:52 PM

This is Angelonia, comes in pink and white to. Likes heat, and survives in hard condition in the full sun. Love it, only thing is the seeds are not good, so you have to plant new every year. Looks nice with orange zinnia. Etelka

It does go well with orange.

It's also a nice match for the daylily, Move Over.

As far as the work involved with annuals, I use the buried pot system so I can change things up. I use pansies in the spring when there's still danger of frost, then when it gets too warm for pansies to thrive I go to a summertime plant. Then in the fall it's mums or asters, who dont mind a frost. I like to span a bit more time and with more variety than I can get with a typical annual. The petunias in the pictures below are in sunken pots.

rteets -- that's lovely -- a nice approach.

I'll wade in here with my hired gardener experience.
I'm 78 and just cant bend over and do like I used to.Both hips have been replaced and those are limitations plus balance problems make it necessary to hold onto a garden fork when doing anything.
I had a man who would weed and spread mulch and clean.He came for 2 years as I needed him.
I also have a landscaper who put in some informal paths for me and as a full service business I asked about garden clean up last fall.
I pointed out plants to leave alone ( oriental poppy crowns ) and lavenders. Between their electric hedge shears and my ignorance of the other plant needs in my garden ,they literally mowed everything,only spared the OP's I pointed out in one garden but mowed down all the rest in other gardens.
I spent the winter concerned.
If it hadnt been pitching down rain the day they did cleanup things would have gone better as I stayed in the house.
This spring I tried to find James the gardener who could identify and understood perennials.He could not be found.
This fall I will do the job myself with DD's help for the big stuff like baptesias and nepetas and DL's. If it takes me 2 weeks at least I will know my heucheras and Hummelos are safe.

I'll wade in here with my hired gardener experience.
I'm 78 and just cant bend over and do like I used to.Both hips have been replaced and those are limitations plus balance problems make it necessary to hold onto a garden fork when doing anything.
I had a man who would weed and spread mulch and clean.He came for 2 years as I needed him.
I also have a landscaper who put in some informal paths for me and as a full service business I asked about garden clean up last fall.
I pointed out plants to leave alone ( oriental poppy crowns ) and lavenders. Between their electric hedge shears and my ignorance of the other plant needs in my garden ,they literally mowed everything,only spared the OP's I pointed out in one garden but mowed down all the rest in other gardens.
I spent the winter concerned.
If it hadnt been pitching down rain the day they did cleanup things would have gone better as I stayed in the house.
This spring I tried to find James the gardener who could identify and understood perennials.He could not be found.
This fall I will do the job myself with DD's help for the big stuff like baptesias and nepetas and DL's. If it takes me 2 weeks at least I will know my heucheras and Hummelos are safe.

Good morning. Sorry if I'm back-tracking a bit, but I wanted to answer this with a little "tip" of my own that I use; I find it rather helpful. I actually buy large "combo hanging baskets", take the whole grouping out and plant those directly into the ground. 2 of those will cover quite a large area and give a nice variety of loads of colour, and, when chosen well, can give colour that will last the entire season. This year's combo was a mix of different coloured Petunias, Calibrachoas, and Verbenas. Last year I was lazy and just sprinkled some Alyssum Carpet of Snow seeds around on top of the mulch, watered them in and promptly forgot about them. They SMOTHERED the area in a lovely carpet of flowers, self-seeded and gave me another carpet of flowers again this year. With the Alyssum surrounding the 1 'combo pot' that I planted this year, I covered approximately 20 sq feet. Not bad for about 5-10 minutes' bending work. :)
Hmmm... I don't see an option to add a photo here, I'll add one or 2 in the next post.

The first year I tried this 'trick', I added the "spilled over pot" look. (the next year I decided I wanted to use that pot, HA!)

Second shot - stuff I have in that corner this year... oh yeah, I forgot about the Coreopsis! :)

Third pic - Just a shot of a Calibrachoa that I installed last year, and it actually came back this year. This is not a new self-seeded plant, this is the actual plant that I installed last year which survived the winter. (full sun, semi-protected little spot)

Just some ideas for long-lasting colour with little work. :)

Our little museum where I live has gardens that become a bit overflowing so each spring we dig up and divide a lot and sell them. You might check with your Chamber of Commerce and local gardens clubs to see if there is a group that would like to have them, maybe even include them in an Earth Day plant sale.
We also work with a 4-H group here called the Farm Fun Club. The woman from the Cooperative Extension Service could tell you if she needs some plants for similar projects. All these folks must understand, though, that they have to fill in the holes.

Another good idea, speediebean. Thanks!

ge1836 and anyone else experiencing balance problems, I love to pass this on because results are so clear and quick. I'm 69 and for several years I was less comfortable in the garden than I had been. I didn't think hard enough to identify this as a balance problem. But I couldn't lean down without tipping over, etc. Then a physical therapist suggested that my husband, then 76, join a study at Mass General about balance. In the course of it he was given 5 exercises to do 3 times a week. I joined him just for the heck of it, and shortly thereafter (weeks) noticed that I could navigate in my garden like I used to. The exercises are below.

As an aside, one thing my husband learned in the study is that he is very deficient in one of the 3 sources of balance, the soles of the feet. He was advised to be extremely careful when he gets up I the night and the eyes (a second source) are not much use. The ears, of course, are the 3rd source.

Note - "Heel to toe" means putting one foot directly in front of the other, facing straight forward. But that's a goal. My hubby has never achieved it. Start out wherever you need to to accomplish the exercise. Even with feet side by side and spread a little apart.

1 - Shut your eyes and stand heel to toe for 30 seconds. Do 3 pairs, first left in front of right and then right in front of left.

2 - Stand heel to toe and focus on a spot a few feet in front of your eyes. We use a little piece of paper with an X. Turn your head side to side as far as it will go while keeping your eyes focused on the spot. Turn head 40 times for each foot in front.

3 - Take a couple of steps and pivot 180 degrees on the balls of your feet. Feet should be straight when you "land." Do this several times, making sure you end up half the time on one foot and half the time on the other.

4 - Do the drunk test. Walk a straight line heel to toe.

5 - Walk forward turning your head side to side as far as it will go. Focus on whatever is directly to your left and right.

Thanks, LAS, I'll try those!

Thank you LAS, those will be wonderfully helpful!!