I need to move my Drummond's Aster. Would it be best to do it in the spring after it first comes back from dormancy?
I need to divide my Texas Aster. Would that be best done in the spring also?
Transplanting and Dividing Questions
You can do those after the weather cools down and through the winter, be sure you water them well and keep them moist.
I was concerned because they are blooming now. I might wait so I don't have to worry about any that need to be cared for over the winter. My success rate at overwintering is not good.
Overwintering got a LOT harder when the drought hit. Because it isn't hot I forget to water things, and really dry plants are much more vulnerable to freeze damage.
I need to move a Flame Acanthus. I have 2 from (I think) the RU last October. I was lucky to actually get them in the ground before our early snow. The one that started to come back first has been overshadowed by Greggs mistflower, the other has had a few blooms, not many. (Probably would have been good if I'd been better about feeding them over time.) I staked some of the Greggs mist (altho it prefers to sprawl everywhere) so the first Flame Acanthus could get more sun. Both plants are about the same size, maybe 15" tall and 8 - 10" wide.
After my trip to Dale Clark's Butterfly Farm, I now know how big these plants get. I also know I can wait until spring to do anything. But I'm wondering if I can pot one of these up. Will a Flame Acanthus tolerate growing in a pot? And does it have a taproot?
Of course no matter what I do the squirrels will find a way to undo it. Grrrr.
How big can they get Joan? Mine both lived and I have baby flame acanthus coming up in pots near them. have some other lifting dividing and planting to do, presumably after first frost?
tx_flower_child
my Flame Acantus self seeded all over my back yard, both shade and full sun !
Maybe it will happen to you too next year.
I have a Flame Acanthus and it only gets about 3' tall.
Mine is about 30 inches tall but it sure scattered its seed in that flower bed. Should I pot any up for RU? and I have a lot of heartleaf scullcap too
That would be very good Gypsi.
Do it in the spring since we're not having one this fall.
Gypsi - Unless I was mis-identifying a plant as Flame Acanthus, my guess would be close to 6' tall. I know they were over my head and I'm 5'2". There were a few individual ones here and there and then there was a whole mess of them out in a field.
Now that I think about all of these plants reseeding, since they're in the backyard that could be good. Maybe I wouldn't need to dig any new beds but rather just let everything go wild. I'd like that.
Here's the Flame Acanthus. Mine doesn't spread at all.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60921/
I'll bet you were looking at a full sized well watered turks cap. My biggest one is about 7.5 feet tall, the ones that get less water are about 2 feet tall.
No, I know a turk's cap when I see one. I have a very large one in my yard. And a young'un that's blooming this year! And an even smaller one that doesn't seem to do most of anything.
Back to Flame Acanthus, I did a google search before logging on to DG. Some of the pictures show some very large ones. (Just google 'Flame Acanthus' and click on 'images'.
The Aggies say 3' - 5' tall and 3' - 4' wide on their page.
See http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/anisacanthusquadrifid.htm
But if you look at some images, like this one from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, they seem taller to me. Maybe they're not. (That site also says 5' tall.) Maybe Dale had so many of them that I was simply overwhelmed.
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=17176
Nevertheless, I've got to move something in my small perennial bed. Or I could let Greggs mistflower duke it out with the 2 Flame Acanthus and see what happens.
I think the greggs will handle groundcover and surround the Acanthus nicely!
Dale has posted pics of his flame acanthus previously and they were larger and taller. Mine is scrawny.
Gregg's salvia and blue mistflower are two different plants. Mistflower never comes back each year in the same place and likes to spread. It's easy to pull out, though. Gregg's salvia is a bush and gets about 2' tall. If you trim it back, it gets bushier and not scraggly.
I love both the Greggs and the mistflower, and have them both.
Mistflower is a Monarch magnet, too!
Yes, I saw a monarch on it just awhile ago.