Fall 2011 Mary's Plant Farm Newsletter
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"“… and in the lane, late aftermaths are growing.”"

         It’s September and time to start (as the garden writers state) to put the garden to bed.  I personally do not put mine to bed.  I figure the plants know when its time to die back.  I think cutting them down too soon causes the plants to put out new growth when we have rain and a warm spell in the fall.  This new growth is too tender to survive our winters.  It is time to cut peony foliage to the ground and send it to the dump, not the compost heap as it might harbor blight or mildew spores.  If you have tree peonies and they need trimming it should be done immediately after blooming.  I try to keep my oldest at 4 ½’ tall and 5 ½’ wide, otherwise the luncheon plate size blooms break the limbs down.  Trimming after bloom keeps them from wasting energy on forming seeds and the new buds for the next year begin to form.  September is the time to plant peonies or move them to a new location if needed.  Shade patterns change as shrubs and trees grow in the landscape and peonies like and need sun.  Otherwise they can stay in the same location for life.  In the winter I spread wood ashes from the fireplace over the peonies roots, and also on the roses and iris if I have enough.  I do this even if there is snow on the ground, when I clean the fireplace.  I’ll be digging tree peonies this fall from out new 3 year old tree peony stock rows.  I believe the loss of newly planted tree peonies is because they are young 1 yr. grafted plants when they are sold.  I do refuse to move a tree peony after six years, although this fall I have a Gold variety that is over 25 yrs. and is covered by shrubs.  The trees and shrubs must stay so the tree peony gets moved.  We’ll see if it lives.  I also need to move several hemerocallis (daylily) clumps.  They are hidden behind the lower limbs of a fast growing Nyssa tree.  Sherri insists on cutting the lower limbs, but I can’t bear to remove those glossy leaved limbs that will turn brilliant scarlet in the fall, so I’ll moved the daylilies instead.

   Ripened seeds of perennials, biennials and annuals you would like moved of can be sown around existing plants.  This is an easy way of letting nature help you start new plants without bothering with tags etc.  Do remove mulch before sowing.  Then next spring you’ll have extra plants to move to a new location or fill in where they were sowed.  This works if you have not used a pre-emergent agent in the seeding area in 3 or 4 months.  Examples that work well are Echinecea, Marguerites, Platycodon, Matricaria, Baptisia, Foxglove, Hesperus, Ruella (hardy petunia), and Allysum (aurinia) Basket of Gold. I sow the Alyssum as soon as the seed forms after bloom so I always have young plants.  This reminds me of a customers question about the Alysums habit of getting woody at the bottom as it ages.  She says hers die after a year or two.  This habit is also typical of other plants that like it dry and are woody or shrub like.  Examples; Lavender, Santolina (both green or silver foliage), some artemisias, Heuchera and fall blooming Shasta nipponica.  All get very woody at their bases.  These need more soil placed around their bottoms or you can dig them up and plant them deeper to the good green growth.  Otherwise they often freeze out during wet winters.  I prefer to dig and bury them deeper, but remember to plant them with a soil ball, do not bare root them during fall planting.

    Now, back to sowing seeds around existing plants.  This system also applies to some of the fall planted allium bulbs. When the seed heads get brown usually by July,  I crumble the heads of seed over the existing bulbs.  This increases your stock  rapidly and you’ll have different size blooms which make a more attractive clump.  They are also wonderful cut flowers. If you allow the seed heads to remain, they can create an interesting texture for awhile, especially the Allium shubertii. I have a customer, an art teacher, who paints the seed heads a soft peach, puts a stick up the stem and puts them back in the garden.  It fooled me completely, on seeing the picture of their garden, I remarked I had never seen that color of Allium schuberti.  So the laugh was on me.     

    The allium bulbs we sell in the fall (including the extensive list of other bulbs available) can keep your garden in bloom from April to mid July.  The Brodiaeas are another bulb that multiplies very well.  They bloom in June creating a sensation of blue in my garden for over a month.  Foliage on all alliums, brodiaea, and many other varieties of the spring and early summer bulbs have thin narrow foliage that disappears quickly and never makes a clean up job.  One of the fall planted bulbs that does need trimming after bloom is Iris Bucharica.  This has lovely cluster of yellow and iris type blooms up a 12” stem in April.  They always cause much comment from customers touring the gardens, sometimes disappointed that they have to wait till fall to plant them.  So now is the time to remember them.  Fall is NOT the time to plant the german bearded iris as they will heave out of the ground and freeze.  These should be transplanted before late August.  On the other hand fall is planting time for the Colchicum and Lycorus bulbs that send up their foliage in the Spring and bloom in the September and August. I love the white colchicum planted here and there in the woodland.  Colchicum ‘Waterlily’ looks like a 6 – 7 inch pink water lily along the edge of the border, in a rockery or in front of shrubs.  Like the Cyclamen they prefer well drained soil.  Fall planted bulbs are not just spring flowering tulips and daffodils.  If you haven’t planted any of the newer pink cupped & yellow perianth narcissus you’re really missing a treat.

    Fall is also best for planting new trees and shrubs as they have time to get settled in before Spring.  We sold more large trees and shrubs last fall and this spring than ever because gardeners neglected to water larger plants in the drought. So that is maintenance that must be remembered in severe weather.  We had a customer who said he was sorry he had neglected planting more viburnum.  There are some really beautiful new varieties of the different types of Hydrangeas.  I especially like the H. arborecens ‘Invincible’ and the double blooming H. a. ‘Hayes Starburst’.  Still a favorite of mine is Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’.  It’s absolutely incredible. There is always color here, even in last year’s drought.  I don’t rely on mums for fall, I grow many types of Asters instead or true species of Chrysanthemums that survive.  And winter color is another newsletter topic.  So get busy this fall and plant, so you’ll have tremendous color in your garden Spring, Summer and Fall.

    Seeds seem to be a common theme running through this newsletter and now that I’m thinking of trees I remember the many shrubs and native trees I’ve grown from seed. I’m reminded of an article written by the Ohio Extension Service about Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus), stating how hard it is to grow the hard pea size seeds.  In the first place the seeds are large brown and flat, similar to a lima bean (it became known as coffee tree because the beans were ground to make a coffee like drink.  I picked up a couple of the seed pods several years ago where I was doing a landscape job, and planted them in late August.  The following Spring I had several coffee tree seedlings that are getting too large to sell.  I’ve also grown a huge hybrid Pin Oak that had acorns within ten years.  This spring we bought nice size stock of Ohio native buckeyes from a customer who started them from seeds.  These are almost impossible to get from a regular wholesale nursery and we have customers who ask for them so we were pleased he made them available to us.