perennials

Several years ago, one of our staff members brought some mystery bulbs into our office to share. I love bulbs and figured why not. They would be great additions to my daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips in the spring. Little did I know when they came up in the spring there were no flowers. Eventually the foliage dried up. What a bummer. But then in early August a surprise. Naked Ladies!

Mukdenia rossii (Mukdenia), is a perennial plant (hardy to USDA zones 4-8) well suited to Ohio gardens, yet it remains known only by a few gardeners. This native of China forms  a low-growing rhizomatous clump 8-12” tall and 1-2 feet wide (though it will take years to form a clump that large!). In China it can be found on rocky slopes and ravines, which tells us something about growing it in our own gardens.

In 2018, around this same time period, I wrote a BYGL Alert about the damage in my garden caused by the four-lined plant bug (Poecilocapus lineatus). I was a bit upset because of the amount of damage to a wide variety of plants. I SAID I was going to take action but of course, I never got around to it. Well, that's about to change this year!

Take note!  Every few years it seems that there are high populations of spotted cucumber beetles that have moved from vegetable gardens into the flower beds.  They love to feed on the supple, tender sweet petals of dahlia, mum, petunia, portulaca, sunflower and many others.  Joe Boggs did a quick check in his area and found them feeding on Jerusalum artichokes.  Joe also noted that this is his "go-to indicator plant" when inspecting for this pest in his area.  They seemed to be working the salvia but not actually feeding on it.  

The recommended time for planting or transplanting perennials is late August or early September.  This gives adequate time for roots to establish before winter comes.  However, like most gardeners, I don't usually think about it in late August and besides, this year was too hot to take on this task anyways.

 

I finally got around to it this past weekend and the weather was glorious to work outside.  I needed to transplant a few perennials as well as plant some that I bought at a plant sale in the spring.  Yes, I am a little behind but I really didn't want to plant them...