Thanks for checking, Karen. I love that one also.
It is a job to lift hostas...my daughter has some that haven't been divided in a decade. I told her she's going to need a front loader to do it at this point.
I need to get out there in front of the rain too. Lots to do.

My crocosmia grows against a warm south wall, and does fine. In pots, it's an annual.

My May Night Salvias always flop, I think it's something I'm doing wrong. I see them grow upright elsewhere.

Bought some of the new fancy Barberries last year, they all died over winter, even though I babied them.

If only I had a dollar for every plant I ever lost

Cookies4kids said:

What is the correct thing to do with all that terrible potting medium that comes with most new plants??? Do you get rid of most of it and then plant the new plant, or do you plant the plant just as it comes out of the pot and hope for the best??

with Jeanie. If the plug area's roots and soil looks okay I'll just loosen and unwind. If it's really root-bound I cut or pull apart. Plugs with wood chips or other *debris* get a very thorough purging...especially toward the middle of the plug and up around the crown. I shake these guys out as much as I can without breaking the stems. If not the roots just sit there; either rotting right away, or over the course of winter.
********


Just wondering...for those of you who planted crocosmia that didn't show -were these planted as dormant corms, or as growing plants? I don't know as it should make any difference, but I'm just trying to figure out what some of them might be.

Hydrangeas are okay here, except for the two pieces I moved late last summer. Those two are growing nicely (thank goodness! I was terrified to try it! ) and also just from the base, but I expected that.

My crocosmia had to be dug in order to get all the self-sown fennel out of one area. Guess what's back? More fennel and I'm removing it piece by piece - glad they're only seedlings right now.


Here's the great night of the crocosmia removal and you can see them sprawled across the earth. They filled three huge pots to overflowing but not one returned.

I just gotta barge in here with a disappointment...because I just spent five hours and muscles I didn't know I had to dig out all my Joe Pye and two clumps of baptisia...and I strongly suspect all of it will come back. I love both plants, but they get to be gigantic and self seed everywhere. I am particularly sad that I couldn't keep the Joe Pye. It was a great tall screening plant for my border along the alley, and a butterfly magnet. If only it would stay under control!

I lost an entire (very late) order of perennial mums due to leaving them in pots outside for the winter. I should have made space for them under the house, I guess, but I really thought that they'd make it through if they were on the protected porch.

Sorry, Jeanie. How I wish more plants had warnings on the label regarding eventual size but they don't put much on the labels that would stop us from buying them.

Chelle - that's a shame. Some people "plant" them in compost piles in fall and it keeps them going until spring when they can be planted in the garden.

Thanks Arlene.

I did get in several new ones as replacements this spring. Better timing for sure!
I'll be planting them out tomorrow, or Monday morning...depending on the latest updates about impending rain, or even a nice bit of cloud cover.
I had 80% survival rate of p. mums in the rock garden last year, so these will go in there as well. It's full all-day sun though, so I'll wait patiently for Mother Nature's help.

Ugh, Chelle, I have procrastinated too many times and not gotten things planted at the end of the season. My own fault, but disappointing nonetheless. I'm glad you got replacements.
Arlene, I knew how big Joe Pye would get and I wanted it that way. I didn't know it would self seed as much as it does. And I also knew how big the baptisia would get, but did not know it would puff out to twice that width after blooming. If it would stay as it is when it blooms, it would have been fine. Generally I think the labels are pretty good, and I always read them.

Baptisia can get overwhelming depending on how much room we give it at the start. I've had to chop away at the base, in front, to keep it away from the edge of the lawn. That's not easy work.

I lost about half my mums , 2 heurchera and most of my Moonbeam coreopsis. The last was a shock because it has grown for years. Have one hibiscus that is not growing yet, but it was very late to start last year too. My Double Knockout Rose died almost to the ground, but is doing OK now.


Also planted a lot of new lilies last fall and a number of them didn't grow. The ones I dug up looked like they had rotted. Lost some newly planted daylilies too. It was really a hard winter.

Sorry about those losses, Susan, but your Knockout rose is really pretty. My Knockouts have been a disappointment from the second year on, and they have a date with the knacker coming up soon. Meant to do it last year, but never got it done.

Susan. I hate to lose plants.

We never suffer any losses with weeds! Why not?

Ain't that the truth

Jeanie I saw your post about Venero gardens and looked them up online. I had often in the past looked at their offerings and this time placed an order. Thanks for the reminder about their gardens. I am pretty sure that is the garden my sister and I visited several times years ago when we purchased some hosta. This time I ordered some of their ferns that I had been considering, got the push I needed when you said this is their last year in business.

Betty, even if they sold no plants it would be worth visiting just to look at their gardens. Very nice people too. First time I went I got out of the car and my jaw dropped...could you imagine that being your back yard?
I am assembling my order and will go pick it up soon.

They are sending my order to me. I do remember the landscaping in the garden it was very nice then and has likely become even nicer.

My biggest disappointments are Knockout Roses. I removed most of them yesterday. They had rose rosette disease. I will never plant another rose in my yard.

Also disappointed in Amsonia hubrichtii. It is ugly and weedy. I am trashing it tomorrow. Everyone raves about its fall color, but it was ugly most of the year and never turned gold here at all.

I'm also disappointed in Baptisia. The blooms don't last long and the plants are huge weedy looking monsters. I'm getting rid of them too.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' is also a pitiful plant. It's weak and gets smaller each year.