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| Hi All, now that we've go this wonderful new forum (Thanks Spike!) I figured it was a good time to "put it to work." What were your disappointing producers so far this year and the possible reasons why?
For me, my greatest disappointment so far has been my tall bearded irisis. I only had approx 20 percent blooming this spring and they finished up approx 2 weeks ago, which is a little later then last year. Since a lot of mine are rebloomers I'm not giving up yet. The ones that did bloom, however, were spectacular. I don't know why I has such poor performance this year. Has anyone had a similar problem? I am thinking that it may be due to the excess moisture from our wet winter and spring. Happy Gardening! Beth |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| BSG, Mine are GORGEOUS this year! and I don't really know why. I can tell you the stands are old, very established (4-5 yrs.) and I wonder if the poor performance of your's is due to recent division and a tough winter? I was stunned by the apparent robust health of mine... they need dividing, the winter was a horror, and the spring's been wet, cold, perfect for rot... but no! they thrive. I have no answer for you! Big disappointments? Henry Kelsey roses... all the canes were zapped by January temps barely above 10 degrees. They're sprouting from the roots, but this time last year they were tall, full, lush, and COVERED with buds. Oak Leaf Hydrangeas, they were so nice last year, but there are lots of black stems, leaves are still not full size and they look pretty bad. Miscanthus... only a few pathetic green shoots here and there, they'll survive, but like the roses it'll take some time. Bulb display was not what it has been in previous years, either. I'll feed them and see if they rebound, as they did flower a little and sent up a lot of greenery. |
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| My bearded iris have never looked better this year. I really enjoyed Dusky Challenger, Copper Classic, Stepping Out, and the Snowflake varieties of Iris. |
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| not enough time to garden...thats my disappointment this year. |
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- Posted by Too_Many_Pets LI Z7 (My Page) on Sat, Jun 12, 04 at 21:33
| I guess I didn't do a very good job of dividing hostas last year, or I did it at the wrong time. They're gone! I have less iris blooming also. Lynn |
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| I bought culantro from Johnny's this year, it is a taste-alike to cilantro, but supposed to bolt slower. Of all the people I shared seeds with, I am the only one to get reasonable germination (actualy, the only one to get any germination), and the plants after 2 months of growth could hide under a kennedy half dollar. |
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- Posted by waitforspring z6MA (My Page) on Sun, Jun 13, 04 at 22:18
| My biggest disappointment was losing a daylily that I bought last year and never saw in bloom. I put it in a temporary bed which wasn't an ideal location, but don't know if it was the location or the bitterly cold winter that did it in. |
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| The last two winters were back to back five foot snowfall totals, we haven't had that type of snow ever in over 80 years on LI. Last spring it rained 50 out of 90 days. Any plants that thrived during this time period either are in excellent soil with perfect drainage, or are water lovers to begin with. Best iris I have seen grown are in clayish loam with moderate water, or in sandy soils with lots of water. Iris enjoy cool nights, Immortality a white rebloomer seems to shoot out bigger blossoms in the fall than in spring. bj |
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| My iris were beautiful, but my rhodies produced only half of what they were capable of, and my long-established 'Bride' phlox is gone. Tough winter. |
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- Posted by greenfreak Z7 NY (My Page) on Mon, Jun 14, 04 at 13:20
| My 30 + tulips in the ground doubled the last spring. This spring, the totals stayed the same but all of them had grey spots on the petals. Didn't make for very good cut flowers but you couldn't really tell from the street. I got sucked into "Tulip Shirley" because they looked so great with the contrast of white/purple in the pictures. They sure didn't look like that in my pots; more like dirty white. Other than that, my lillies planted last year look aweseome. |
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| Thanks bj, I have so many rebloomers (including Immortality) that I am hoping for some pleasant surprises this fall. The bed the Irisis are in is very sandy, but well enriched with old horse manure. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and convince myself that they just need more time to establish. |
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| 5 years ago I planted ceasar brother iris and never got one bloom. Last year they were dug up,planted in pots and donated to a museum for there plant sale. They couldn't sell them so they planted them. They are blooming like crazy. Talk about frustration |
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| Some irises were amazingly beautiful, others, more than I'd like, did not bloom at all. Maybe because they were planted last fall. The foliage came up fine, but they did not bloom. I know nothing about irises, so I don't know why. |
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| I bought a beautiful, but small, filigree red maple. I have been wanting one for a long time. I large snowdrift did it in!!! Darn snow.Lynne |
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| Lost almost every Achillea (yarrow) in the garden! Usually I have to thin them out they're so aggressive. Also Geranium Midnight Reiter. Actually this already was a disapointment last year. Gave it a huge, ideal spot since the tag said it would get BIG. It's still the same size as when I bought it and had about a dozen blooms. Also, goes summer dormant, phooey. Melanie |
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| I've had a few disappointments this year, one was a clematis I had sent for, I recived it dead, LOL, but in all honesty, today as I stood in my yard, just looking around, all in all things look good, (except the eggplant plants, they are just sitting there, yellowing, not growing, and stunted). Alberta |
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| Irises looked the best they had in years - Rhods did well-lawn is looking good - disappointments would be losting some roses, not many blooms on the lilacs, haven't gotten it together to work on the shade garden, pond and back corners of our yard. But we are determined!!! :-) |
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| First winter in this house..there are 3 old (probably 20 yrs. +) rhoddies our front. Two of the three (about 6 footers) lost more than 75% of their leaves and all of the buds blackened from January's cold. I pruned the two back hard, maybe 24", and hoped for the best by July 4. Both are already putting out new, beautiful leaves. At least the wet spring helped something! We were too busy unpacking last season to get started on the gardens. I'm so thankful now that we didn't plant. I'm thinking that we'd have suffered huge loses if we had. Now though, we've been planting since early April (many times in the rain) and things seem to be taking hold pretty well. Cool temps and lots of rain probably helped get stuff established. So, no matter what the weather there's always some good and some bad. I imagine the daylilies will bloom their heads off next month 'cause of all the rain also. |
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- Posted by another_hosta_please 6 Coastal MA (My Page) on Tue, Jun 22, 04 at 16:37
| Most of my disappointments were winter losses. There were many grasses lost and every potted hosta, but for one - aptly named Sweetie. One funny spring disappointment was a perennial geranium. No blooms this spring! I've just moved it to see if it finds a happier spot, but I look enviously at the gardens of others and see a plethora of geranium blooms. |
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- Posted by flowersandthings MidAtlantic 6/7 (My Page) on Thu, Jul 1, 04 at 0:43
| Most of my dissapointments were vegetables as usual...... probably nothing a better or more experience vegetable grower couldn't fix..... I didn't plant enough peas so I only had enough for a few at a time..... I planted them late so they're browining now..... I made myself little meals of them with a few in a plate with butter.... not enough for a meal for many...... My tomatos died before I planted them out..... started them too early????? And they died of something..... too late to start new seeds...... my melons died as well...... tooearly I supposed...... won't start the seeds so early next year...... :) |
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| Pam, I'm surprised that your potted hostas didn't survive. They're supposed to be hardy to -30F or -40F, and even in a pot they should be able to handle -25F. Maybe it was bad drainage? That would be the only thing... if the water didn't drain from the potting soil, and the containers froze up in solid ice. My disappointment: a long established bamboo croaked, despite its reputed hardiness to temps way below what we got. I'm guessing it was the powerful, freaky cold winds we got. |
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- Posted by Jazzmom516 Zone 7 LI, NY (My Page) on Tue, Sep 21, 04 at 22:22
| My disappointment this year was the loss due to the winter of my perennial geraniums Johnson's Blue. Their divisions live on in my neighbor's yard so I did get to see them. Another disappointment was 2 of my Bergenia Bressingham Ruby did not send up flowers, but the leaves grew. Evergreen viburnum didn't bloom so no berries are seen now. Graham Thomas yellow English rose became my black spot magnet. Someone told me to severly prune back in the spring to prevent this from happening. Next year.... I'm wondering if my hardy cyclamen made it thru the winter. I haven't seen them come up yet and bloom. I bet they died due to the wet soil. |
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- Posted by Jazzmom516 Zone 7 LI, NY (My Page) on Fri, Nov 5, 04 at 9:51
| Looking at my fall garden, my hardy cyclamen did come up with one of them still in bloom. Hidden by the daylilies' leaves they became more visible after I removed the dying daylily leaves.One of my dwarf fothergilla had fantastic fall color but the other 3 are lagging, I'm wondering if its lighting conditions? |
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