@Tepelus
Thank you for explaining turkey necking. I am sorry I didn't get back with the photos I promised. The triple digit heat hit two weeks early and I have been a garden slave ever since.
Tepelus said:It's when the crown of the plant gets long and woody and the leaves come out of the end of it. Some heucheras are prone to it after a few years, others are not. Depends on their genetics, I think. I've read that if you cut off the turkey neck and plant it in soil that it'll root and grow a new plant. So far mine haven't wilted but they have stopped putting out new leaves. Once they start growing again then I'll know they've taken root. You have to do it fairly early in the season so they have time to root and then time to establish when planted in the ground. Some people stick them directly in the ground but I like putting them in pots so I have better control of watering.
I no longer have any doubts about whether or not my 'Amethyst Myst' is turkey necking. It has survived my hot dry summers quite well for the last two years. This year, which is also the third year of drought in our part of the country, it is struggling with the heat. My summer temps are running 10 to 15 degrees hotter than they have been in the last two years. There is no doubt I am going to have to move the plant further back under the dogwood tree to give it more shade. For now, I am protecting it from direct sunlight with a tee-pee over the plant with a sheet pinned to it. It's alive and not going backwards since I started protecting it.
I try not to plant anything when it is this hot and dry. I know how to do it and still end up with a strong plant, but it takes a LOT of TLC, so I'd rather wait until it cools off.
If I can get it through the summer, do you think I would be better off waiting until next spring before I cut the crown off and start a new plant ? Or do you think I should handle it this fall ?
I will probably put it in the ground because keeping the proper moisture in container plants seems to be harder for me in my dry climate.
I really, really need to get the invading vinca and blackberries out from under that dogwood tree so that I can have a place for shade plants.
Smiles,
Lyn
