Hi everyone.
This is Dianthus Double North, which I purchased from Jackson and Perkins about 3 years ago. It's blooming quite well this year, but the stems are floppy. Any ideas on how to perk/prop them up?
Also, I noticed that they seem to be starting to form more of a ring than a mound. Is it time to divide them this year?
Thanks in advance.
How much sun are they getting?
I'm not familiar w/ that Dianthus but they look a bit leggy.
Like they grew too fast to support the flower weight.
Have you fertilized that bed recently?
Ric
Actually, I haven't fertilized them except for a weak shot of Miracle Grow liquid (leftover from feeding house plants) about 2 months ago. I thought about shearing them, but I don't know if you can do that with dianthus.
Place a hyacinth stick or ANY stick in the center of the clump and tie them up with fishing line. Mine flop, too, and that's how I get mine to stand up.
You can shear them and it will help them bush up a bit. The main thing, though, is that they definitely look like they need more sun. Mine look the same way in the bed which doesn't get as much sun as I deluded myself into believing it did. LOL
This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 10:14 AM
Thanks for the advice. I'm sure they're all flat to the ground and dirty today with all the rain, so maybe I'll shear them today. You know, I seem to have misjudged pretty much most of my front yard as far as sun exposure. I've got to move some shady plants this year since they seem to be getting too much sun. I saw a gadget in the Gardeners Supply catalog that would measure exposure over 12 hours. I'm thinking of getting that, since I don't seem to be very good at just observing. :)
Thanks again!
We have our neighbor's trees shading a lot of our front yard. Here, we can trim any branches that are on our property, so I'll be borrowing my dad's pole trimmer and cutting back the firs and other trees so my poor plants can straighten up. I've come to call many of the plants in our front beds things like
lavendula horizontalis
coreopsis horizontalis
You get the picture...All leaning to the right in search for light!
If you have a digital camera that has a timed exposure setting, you could set it up on a sunny day and have it take pictures every half hour or hour. Then you'll know what the exposure is.
Better method includes a cooler of beer, a watch, a beach lounger and a Sunny day.
Oh yeah and sunscreen. lol
Ric
Oh, I like your idea, Ric! Only I'd just drag my hammock along as the day progressed. :D
LOL!
We are actually having a sun problem now.
(we were always 90% shade gardeners)
We had to take out a huge Maple right next to the house that covered two beds (west side). We also took out two 30' Ash Trees (volunteers) between the garages.
We have a short mulberry (neighbor's) to the west of those and a HUGE Oak to the south and east.
I've gone out evey hour and placed sand along the shadowline.
Around the stump we are now growing tomatoes as we have sun from noon to 6.
That's amoung the hostas (which have to be moved) and the Pulmonarias. lol
The Ash Trees had a big impact too.
We now get no shade in the backyard (small 14' x 50').
Also late afternoon sun in our Toadlily bed (a HUGE no no).
I've had to plant large annuals to the west of them.
Ric
Oh, no fun! Sounds like time for a pergola....Grin.
Great ideas, thanks! The sand is a great low tech method. I'll have to try that.
I'm sure my garden exposure will change over time, too. We've got some older trees that will need to go, as well as some volunteers that should also probably disappear.
No pergola.........lol
We have been w/o Sun for soooo..........many years it's fun to play w/.
The Brugs, EE's and Tomatoes are lovin' it.
winging,
If the volunteers are Ash you can probably kiss them goodbye anyway.
It's cheap to get them out early.
You may though be able the thin or limb up the mature trees.
It makes a world of difference in the light coming into the yard.
Ric
