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when plants die down, do they come back same size in Spring?
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Posted by yippee1999 6/7 NYC (My Page) on Fri, Dec 26, 03 at 14:32
| This is my first winter with container plants out of doors. When plants die back in the winter, when they come back in the Spring, do they somehow know to come back at the same size, or slightly bigger, than they were the Spring before? Is this all determined by the root size? I know this might be a dumb question.... but I'm just double checking. I assume that it has to do with the roots, and that just cuz a plant develops brand new growth each Spring, that that doesn't mean it's like a brand new "baby" plant, right? The growth should be just as full and high as the previous year, right, assuming there was no root damage? Tx. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: when plants die down, do they come back same size in Spring?
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| Most perennial plants will come back the same size or larger each year. A few plants that are not well-adapted to your climate/soil/etc. will come back smaller and smaller until they disappear. Some plants will reseed and you will get loads of little baby plants, and the original plant may die completely. |
RE: when plants die down, do they come back same size in Spring?
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| Depending on what you are growing and how cold the winter is. Are they pots or planters? Where are they kept now? When you grow in containers that are left outside, you expose the roots to freezing temperatures. Even if the plant puts on leaves during winter, you can't tell if you lost the plant until the spring when the pots thaw and see if the roots support the new growth or if it dies back. I have lost many plants this way. What are you growing? Some plants that I've had make a real cold winter in containers are chives and rosa rugosa and shasta daisies. |
RE: when plants die down, do they come back same size in Spring?
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| For us a complicating factor is very poor draining, almost pure red clay soil. Some winters it can get so waterlogged that perennials partially rot and come back smaller for a season, then recover and grow again until the next wet winter. So there can be quite a bit of variability. I harsh winters things may disappear altogether but may leave seedling from buried stems, etc a short distance away. RJ |
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