Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
vera_ewash

Bluestem and early re-growth.....

Vera_EWASH
19 years ago

Isn't kinda early for my LBSs to be pushing out new green growth? I realize our Feb and first part of March was well above average (50's to 62 max) but I thought they needed the temps much warmer than that? Our normal spring weather is back and the day temps are 40'ish and low's upper 20's and low 30's...Will they just hang back or will they be damaged?

Thanks,

Vera

Comments (8)

  • mikeLHS68
    19 years ago

    Hi, Vera! I also have LBS sprouting here in NW Indiana. I'm going to trust the Lord and Ms. Nature to bring all these babies through Spring. Here we can get a hard freeze yet, but if you don't have that possibility, I suppose they will be alright.

  • Vera_EWASH
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    This whole winter I don't think we ever did have a hard freeze...shoot I was digging up more beds in the middle of Feb! HAHA!

    Vera

  • joepyeweed
    19 years ago

    vera - i am jealous - your baby bluestem should be fine... remember 2/3 of the plant is underground...the stuff we see on the top is only a little bit of the plant . you could chop it off, burn it off or step on it and it would be fine...a frost might set it back a bit but the roots will still be fine...

  • Vera_EWASH
    Original Author
    19 years ago

    Hello Joeypyeweed :)

    I did burn them down in February....and March 27 is when I started seeing new green shoots. Frosts haven't done much as far as injury but they are delayed.. it's only those growing in full south exposure that are waking up...
    lots of stuff really is waking up in this location: echinacea, blanket flower, coreopsis, hyssop officinalis and a Maximillian Sunflower...this is not my wildflower planting area btw but the bed in front of house.

  • joepyeweed
    19 years ago

    i am jealous 'cuz the only stuff that is waking up in our area right now is exotics - daffodils are blooming and buckthorn is starting to bud...i did see some native skunk cabbage coming up but that is in nearby spring fed wetland, so the soil is alot warmer there...

    i was going to look for some spring stuff sprouting in our woodlands today...

  • Vera_EWASH
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    That would be nice :)

    Funny my Daff's are on the west side and are at the point of being just about to bloom but still haven't opened...of course the Peony are waking up...hope they bloom as I divided them last fall, the Tri-color Viola have been blooming since Febbuary, and the raspberry are leafing. Wild Bergamot in the west bed is waking up and the Blue Flax in another south facing bed never died back..stayed nice and green all winter, yet the echinacea in this same spot is still asleep :)
    Wintersowed native Giant Ryegrass in 3 different coolwhip containers and they are shooting up sprouts....I love the gracefullness of this one and lovely seed heads in fall :)
    Never did make my order for Junegrass seed this year but there's always next year.

    Have a nice walk in the woodlands :)

    Vera

  • joepyeweed
    18 years ago

    my walk in the woodlands did show alot of neat stuff just starting, and i did do a closer inspection of my yard too.

    i do have dutchmens britches, shooting stars and spiderworts just starting to sprout - yeah...

    i also transplanted some sprouts from our old property to our new yard today - i transplanted some trilliums, some delphiniums and some virginia water leaf. the soil is quite different here from our old place, so i am not sure how well those will do, but i think they are fairly hardy, time will tell...

    i also burned off the prairie planting at our old property today...we still own it, but rent the house out.. the renters seem to enjoy the prairie and i have been teaching them about what is there and how to maintain it...

    so now that i have found some stuff sprouting and got to play a little pyromania, i am less jealous of you, than i was yesterday ;-)

  • Elaine_NJ6
    18 years ago

    My little bluestem is just showing new growth now. Prairie dropseed has been growing for a couple of weeks. I've been dividing them both. I find the earlier the better, especially for little bluestem, which really dislikes being divided and can take a year to recover.