Deadheading Brings New Life

Don't let anyone tell you differently, but deadheading is a job!  It seems like an endless job if you want to keep your garden in bloom throughout the summer.  We all know about cutting off the spent roses (however, with Knockout, you do not have to prune except for looks and size).  The salvias and nepetas need to be deadheaded if you want rebloom.  May Night is everywhere, and it seems that not many people know that it has to be cut back if you want it to bloom throughout the summer.  The rebloom on most plants will never equal the initial bloom.  I cut my May Night back about four times in a season.  I have several other low growing salvias that benefit from the same practice.  Nepeta, I deadhead less or more often depending upon the plant, Walker's Low once during the season, Six Hills Giant, once and Souvenir d'Andre Chaudron stem by stem.

Certain phlox will bloom most of the summer if deadheaded, one of the most prolific after pruning is Blue Paradise.  I have tried it with David (although my daughter has better luck with David reblooming profusely) Franz Schubert and Eva Cullum with less than spectacular results.  Deadheading Echinacea (coneflowers) is important if you want to extend the blooming time.  I went to a workshop some years ago where the speaker was Tracy DiSabato-Aust who wrote The Well-Tended Perennial Garden (planting and pruning techniques) great book for a beginning pruner as I was.  Some plants do not benefit from deadheading, most daylilies, lillies, asters and peonies are in this category, and I am sure there are many more.   My motto is, if in doubt, deadhead - it can't hurt and it will give you a neater looking plant.

The Mystery of Clematis

I see the grass again!  The Christmas lights can finally be removed from those expensive Chicagoland boxwoods. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I began thinking about clematis.  I have a lot of clematis for such a small property.  It takes up such a limited amount of garden space, I just keep adding more each year - I'm up to about eighteen.  I never knew much about clematis, just buying whatever color and size flower appealed to me.  Henryi really taught me everything I know now!  I loved that big white flower I saw on the package, but mine were always miniature versions of that!  When I moved to a new house I decided to try Henryi again on my arbor, and again after the first year, the flowers were much smaller than on the package.  So, finally I pulled out my plant encyclopedia and began reading about clematis.

As I read about all my other clematis' I realized they were all a type 3 (cut down to 6" every spring and they flower like crazy).  Henryi was from a different family, he was a type 2 (don't cut down, trim lightly) and you will get 6" to 8" huge white flowers.  I realized I even had a type 1 (Miss Bateman - just trim off any dead parts) that I had been cutting down each year with the result of very few blooms.

I now have all three types of clematis and my fear is that I will forget which is which.  This new found knowledge has prompted me to pay attention to which of my clematis require full sun like Rouge Cardinal and which can take part shade like Hagley Hybrid and Nelly Moser.

Clematis is easy if you follow the directions (a lesson learned late by me), check out the classification, either 1, 2 or 3 or A, B or C and prune accordingly.  New plants should be put in deeper than the pot they are in, cut back so they develop many shoots, not just a few spindly ones and feed lightly.  You won't get much the first year, but from each year after you should be rewarded with an abundance of beautiful flowers.  http://www.paradisegarden.com/,  http://www.homeofclematis.net/

Boxwood

I know boxwood has been around since the 1600's, but it seems like it has taken on a major rejuvination in the past ten years.  I remember about twenty years ago when I planted  twelve boxwoods around a garden and not one of them made it through the first winter!  I was so upset, I never planted it again until about six years ago when we moved to a new house.  Chicagoland or Glencoe as it is called had been introduced a few years earlier (developed at the Chicago Botanic Garden), so I thought I would give it another try.

I planted five very expensive boxwoods in front of the house and was also going to plant another seven along the patio in the back.  After paying the price for the five, I decided to take a chance on a boxwood called Green Velvet which I purchased at Home Depot.  Well, you probably know what I am going to say, the $16.99 Green Velvets look better than the $50.00 Chicagolands.  Now, I realize that they are growing in different areas but the conditions are similar, not too wet (boxwoods do not like wet) and I have fertilized both varieties each year with a higher nitrogen fertilizer. 

Chicagoland grows a little higher and not as rounded as Green Velvet, but for the difference in price I think I would go with Green Velvet (they look healthier).  Boxwood does experience some dieback each year, dead yellow stems peeking out, cut them off at the main stem.  Hopefully, with good care the bush will fill in to cover any bare spots.  Trim Boxwood lightly each year to encourage growth and for a pleasing shape.

They are lovely evergreens, much more interesting than yews - so historical!

Heuchera Villosa

I have always loved "Coral Bells" or technically Heuchera, but they certainly have not loved me.  They would either slowly disappear, pop out of the ground each year, breaking apart when I would try to replace them in the ground.  Anyway, I stopped growing them for a number of years until I bought Heuchera Villosa Purpurea for a design under my Chanticleer Pear tree.  This certainly did not look like the Coral Bells I was used to growing.  The leaves were large, bronze colored and certainly not delicate.  They sent up very delicate (almost baby's breath-like) flowers that first year that lasted summer through fall.  Two of the four that I purchased thrived under the cover of the pear tree, and the other two which received a little more sun, I kept having to replace.  They were very expensive and only offered at a specialty nursery.

Then, two years ago, I was at Home Depot and I spotted a Heuchera that looked very similar to mine, but it said Heuchera Villosa Mocha.  I decided I would add these under the tree instead of replacing my original ones.  These new varieties will take more sun, they are much hardier than my original ones and the flowers are a variety of colors.  The leaves range from bronze, carmel, raspberry, black, brown, and multi-colored.  I am slowly adding them to my landscape because I keep thinking they may not come back.  But so far every one of the newer varieties has survived.  The best part is the price $5.99 to $7.99 per gallon pot at Home Depot not the $17.99 I was paying for my original plants.

All America Rose Winners

I guess by now, you know I love to have roses in my garden.  I do not have a "rose garden," but I do include them throughout my perennial garden.  I have heard that hybrid tea roses do not like to have competition too close to their roots, so most of my choices are shrub or floribunda roses.  So far I have not had any problems growing them among the perennials and annuals.

This year the winner is "Easy Does It," a floribunda that is disease resistant and is recommended for all climates.  It has been stated that it has been grown in zones 6 and above, but the growers feel that it will do well in zone 5 also with minimum protection.  I always put a little extra mulch on the crown of all of my roses in the fall, so I am willing to give this one a try.

Last year, I planted two of the winners, "Cinco de Mayo," (floribunda rose) and "Pink Promise," (hybrid tea).  I know, I said I don't do hybrid teas, but they came together.  Yes, I do mean they were sold as a set!  Where - at Costco.  Every year Costco has a huge display of Jackson and Perkins essentially bare root roses.  If you are not near a Costco, look at Home Depot, Wall Mart, etc., but they will probably only be found bare root under the Jackson and Perkins name.  They are a great buy (usually about $18.00 for two) and the secret is that this display usually includes the current All America Winners.  The problem is you may see them in March, and in zone 5 or less it is too early to plant them.  So, buy them, put them in a garage (preferably) or a cooler area in the basement.  If the weather cooperates in April, soak the bushes overnight (take all packing material away) and plant in a nice sized hole, mounding the dirt over the crown.  This can be removed when you see growth.  Fertilize lightly in May.

My Cinco de Mayo looked great planted amoung my perennials in part shade towards the front of the border.  I stuck Pink Promise in the back of my Becky Shasta Daisies, and it was a slow start but did peek out towards the end of the summer.  So, this year I'll have to find a place for Easy Does It, only if I get it as a bargain!