I'm having the same problem in my front gardens. Two KFs which were perfect until all the rain. We've had twice the normal rainfall for all of June so far, and they have opened up a good deal. This morning, they were partially flopping, but today was a bit drier and breezy, so they've straightened up quite a bit.

You can tie them up fairly easily, since they tend to be so upright under normal circumstances. I'd stick a couple of thin bamboo rods into the plant, on the upwind side, and use them as the anchors for some soft jute twine which encircles the plants, just below where the blooms begin.

Also, as the blooms open up, go out and gently shake off excess rainwater to lessen the weight.

donn
Great advice Thanks much
jjbjr

I have "clump" of "who know's what grass"--gets about 8' tall every year. *tag simply said "assorted grass" when I bought it* I took a large tomatoe cage and cut the legs off, turned it upside down, used the part cut off to make stakes to hold it in place and leave it inplace----no more flopping or falling over on that clump of grass. When the grass fills in, the cage isn't noticed much at all.

Is there a wrong time of year to plant Karl? I'm just north of Austin TX, and am interested in doing some fall planting, including about a 1/2 dozen Karls. Thanks.

The only wrong time in your zone would be in the hottest part of summer and the coldest part of winter.

You can plant them now, and probably have no problems.