Comments on: Delicate Flowers: What NOT to Plant in Fall

By: Grasshopper

Grasshopper — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:07:03 +0000

This has much information which is good for me. Thanks for this post I won’t be needing more research on what to plant for the fall season. Thanks a lot!
.-= Grasshopper´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly =-.

By: Pomona Belvedere

Pomona Belvedere — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:32:05 +0000

Always so interesting seeing what makes a different climate and a different planting program. I hadn’t thought about wind as a factor, but of course it is, since it increases transpiration and the plants dry up, and in the case of small plants, croak.

For us in N Cal it’s hard to predict when the reliable rains will come – sometimes it’s fall, sometimes winter, sometimes spring – but any of those might be dry in a given year, and in drought years a couple of them will be. It’s one of the most interesting thing about garden blogs, I think, seeing how we all cope with our different climes – and long for those ungrowable plants which somebody across the country may regard as a loathsome weed. (I remember being amused the first time I heard the Brits have carefully bred many varieties of GOLDENROD, a pestiferous allergy-producing weed to many, though not to me.)
.-= Pomona Belvedere´s last blog ..Rose Hips =-.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:26:12 +0000

Sonia! Here, in my humble gardening blog! Thank you so much for stopping by Sonia, I’m honored.

I guess Daff and I should quit bellyaching about not having the agastaches then if they are thuggish – but it’s always the things you can’t grow that you long for the most. I bet you grow great hybrid Clematis as well. Stupid things mold here. Great flowers on moldy unhappy leaves. Blech.

By: Sonia Simone

Sonia Simone — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:08:09 +0000

Don't feel too badly about the agastaches, the little buggers self-sow until you want to shoot yourself. .-= Sonia Simone´s last blog ..What Makes Marketing Hard? =-.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:36:00 +0000

That is an awesome point, Christiane, about holding off planting till the more reliable spring rains start hitting. “Fall” usually gets us a couple of rains but it is mostly sprinkles. Just yesterday I pulled out some ancient heathers and found they were bone dry underneath despite having a heavy rain two days earlier!! So I think you’re right – the soil isn’t really drenched now and anything planted right now might need supplemental water.

I’m still planting trees and shrubs, just holding off on the most delicate ones… like you said, it really is the perennials that suffer the most.

By: Christiane Holmquist

Christiane Holmquist — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:56:09 +0000

Your list is very intriguing, and I am beginning to think that we, too, here in Southern California, should rethink the generally held belief that fall is the best planting season. We don’t usually encounter the problem of too much rain – it’s the Santa Ana winds that dry out the newly planted shrubs and perennials, and of course it’s the perennials that suffer most, and since the rains haven’t really started yet it’s hard to keep them moist enough to withstand the drying strong winds. How often have I watched my new plantings wither, and had trouble adjusting the irrigation to cope with the drought when the cooler temperatures lure us into believing that we can reduce irrigation frequence and length. Especially now with our watering restrictions, planting should really be held off until the rains start which usually are more reliable in early spring. Thanks for this thorough list!
.-= Christiane Holmquist´s last blog ..pondsage =-.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:17:51 +0000

LOL, Daff, my aching hips!! (I wish I were joking!)

Agastache seem to hate our winters too. I’ve had one live over, falteringly, and conk out the next year. I figured it was our rain that they hated, but you don’t get as much rain as we do here on the coast, do you? Everyone talks about them like they’re so easy – but never anybody from around here that I have heard.

By: Daffodil Planter

Daffodil Planter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:05:34 +0000

How does agastache do for you? I'm like an old man with a gripe, grumbling about it every time the subject of tricky plants comes up. I invested heavily in them a few summers ago, gave them the best of everything and they all conked out over the winter. I now consider them annuals in my Zone 7b spot. And did I tell you about my rheumatism? .-= Daffodil Planter´s last blog ..Do my incense-cedars work for Goldman Sachs? =-.

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:00:13 +0000

Yep, Monica! It’s all our blasted rain!! Those guys just tend to rot. It’s possible they also need a good cold snap to force them into dormancy or kill some soil-borne disease they get, but in any case – they do not do well here over the winters! The foliage does stay aboveground here on most of these plants.

I’m jealous of your rudbecks and echinaceas – but then – I am sure you’re jealous of my princess flowers and other tender beauties!

By: Monica the Garden Faerie

Monica the Garden Faerie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:09:37 +0000

It’s always so enlightening reading about gardening in other regions! I’m a big fall planter (though, admittedly, mostly shrubs), and am very intrigued by some of the things that shouldn’t be planted in fall in the Pacific Northwest: specifically, Scabiosa, Rudbeckia, Gaillardia, Echinacea, and Asters. All of these are entirely winter-hardy here in zone 6 (in the new scheme of things) southeastern Michigan; in fact many self sow themselves over the winter. While it truly is a bit late now in my area to plant them (not enough time to get their roots established before the ground freezes), I would have comfortably planted those through mid-late October. I’ve never lost any of these over the winter (um, unless some critter ate them in early spring). I guess wet winters have an entirely different effect on plants than a really cold winter where the plants go entirely formant/die back. Does the foliage remain where you are? Perhaps that’s the difference. As always, interesting post!!
.-= Monica the Garden Faerie´s last blog ..It’s All Good =-.