It's me again, lol. Desperate for fall clean-up help.
I have a few gingers, brugs and cannas that I don't know what to do with? Mulch heavily and pray or do I really need to dig them up?
Geranimus? Heard different things. Some say to knock off dirt and hand upside down in the basement, others say put pot and all in the basement?
I'm assuming that coneflowers, shastas and cousins can stay put? What if I want to seperate them? Yarrow, poppies and bellflowers? Some of them were so little when they got put in that they haven't bloomed yet. Will moving them hurt blooms next year?
Any other helpful tips would be so appreciated. I hope I'm not coming across as too ignorant, but I admit I am not to bright on frozen tundra gardening.
Fall help?
Geraniums ~ My Aunt is 82 and has been bringing her geraniums down to her basement for at least 16years. She brings them in the house first for a month or so, then down to the basement at the end of Oct. first of Nov. Then she heads to Florida until April..comes home and sticks them back outside in the spring.
My shastas, coneflowers etc. just stay where they are. Sometimes don't even deadhead them. If you want to move them now, you'll probably lose bloom for this season, and it would be best to cut back blooms that form in favor of root growth; but you probably won't lose them. It's hard to kill coneflowers here. You'll undoubtedly get volunteers in the bed they were moved out of in the spring. I'll still be moving and planting perennials through Sept.
My shastas have finished blooming for the year already.
I've had much more success with dividing coneflowers and replanting in autumn rather than spring.
Pixie, does she do anything special with them or does she leave them as is?
Do I have to dig cannas? I'm not sure how big the rootball of the coneflower is, but I think I remember seeing a few side shoots.
Yes, dig the cannas!
she just leaves them in the pots.
You probably can leave the canna in pots, bring them someplace out of danger of freezing, a basement sounds fine, and then put them out the end of next May.
Ugh, they're in the ground.
The weather is nice but know that it will start getting colder. Do I just keep an eye on the lows and dig before a freeze?
Dig (don't wash the soil from the cannas) when they start looking drowsy and weary. We're only a zone apart and we dig ours in late October to early November. I believe a freeze will hurt them but a frost won't.
I haven't kept tender bulbs in a while but that's what I remember too. Move them soon after the first frost.
I dig up my cannas, elephant ears and dahlias and clean them of all dirt [or as much as I can]. Then I put them in cardboard boxes with shredded paper and store them in my basement. This past year, I started them indoors and then planted them out as plants rather than planting the tubers. I had success although I'm not sure if I got flowers earlier or not. I will try starting them a bit earlier this year and see how that goes.
Thanks for all the great tips! I talked to my neighbor and she said she doesn't dig anything up. I asked what her comeback % was and she said not too good, lol. But she also doesn't know about EE and this is her first year with cannas. She said she wasn't going to dig them so maybe next year we can compare which did better?
I wonder if I can store gingers in a box with shredded paper also?
NY's radio gardening guy, Ralph Snodsmith, says to clean the dahlias but not the cannas. I've stored them both ways (before I heard him speak about it) and they do fine either way. Just let the canna dry - don't put them away damp. I lost some doing it that way. They simply rotted.
Jen, I haven't dug anything up in 5 years. I have returned to some dahlias this year (thanks Al) so I will return to tubor storage.
Here's an old resurrected thread with some good tips.
I need to do some coleus cuttings soon, I think