By Kerry A. Mendez
Q: Last year I had GORGEOUS foxgloves but this year they are all dead. What happened?
A: Welcome to the world of biennials! First, understand their modus operandi: Biennials have a two-year life cycle. First year: leaves; second year: flowers; third year: dead. Unless, of course, you are careful to allow some flowers to go to seed and sow themselves in the garden for flowers the following year. This means you can’t cut all the beautiful flowers off to use in vases (look the other way when the blooms start looking dried out) and you must be careful not to disturb the soil where the little darlings seeded themselves. Biennials certainly do not fall into the no-brainer, low-maintenance category (the one I prefer). If you still want to have biennial foxgloves in the garden, one way to make it easier on yourself is to buy both first year (those with only leaves and usually found in 4” pots) and second year plants (the ones that have those stunning flowers). This way you have primed the proverbial biennial pump for at least two seasons of color! Or, you can always buy perennial foxgloves. These return each year – same plant, same spot. Of course these are not as showy as the biennial varieties, but many times convenience comes with a cost. Perennial foxgloves include grandiflora (yellow), lanata (cream), and mertonensis (raspberry pink). Personally I have found the yellow grandifloras live much longer than the other two.
Q:How do you prune clematis? Some say prune it in the fall, others say in the spring, still others never do anything to the vine. Is there an easy answer?
A:Pruning clematis is a common quandary for many gardeners. We fret so much about making a pruning mistake that we don’t do anything and our clematis usually turn into a tangled mess that don’t bloom very well. Well, grab your pruners and take a deep breath! It is rare that you will ever kill clematis with poor pruning; the only negative ramification is you may be without flowers for a year. No big deal. Clematis falls into three groups for pruning – 1, 2 and 3 (or A, B, and C). Group 1 (or A) bloom on old wood which means flower buds will form on stems from last year. Group 2 (or B) bloom on old and new wood. They have an early bloom on old wood and then a second bloom (with usually smaller flowers) on new wood later in the summer. And group 3 (or C) bloom on new wood, which means only new growth from the current year will form flower buds. Group 1 clematis should be pruned AFTER they bloom. It is commonly suggested that category 2 can be pruned lightly after their first bloom. But I read that you can prune the vine to within two feet of the ground after its first blooms and then it will still have a second flush, but look neater and less scruffy. To be on the safe side, I suggest you test this theory on a few stems first to see how your plant responds before whacking the whole thing to two feet. And group 3 can be pruned to within 8”-12” of the ground in the fall when you are cutting back your gardens or in early spring before the plant breaks dormancy. Since my mantra is LOW MAINTENANCE perennial gardening, I stick primarily to group 3 clematis that I can whack back every fall at the same time I am cutting back my gardens for their winter nap. If you are not sure which category your clematis falls into, and you know the cultivar, you can find its category by checking any good perennial reference book or typing in ‘pruning clematis’ online. If you have lost the tag or never knew its name, then simply step back and watch how it grows in the spring. If it forms new growth only at the top of the old stems than you know it blooms on NEW wood (group 3). If this starts breaking leaf buds throughout the old wood then it is a 1 or 2. And, if this plant then re-blooms later it the summer it is a group 2. My last piece of advice to all those who have really had it with that tangled mess and really don’t give a hoot what group it’s in—take your hedge pruners in hand, aim them two feet from the ground, close your eyes and WHACK! Then thin out some of the stems at the soil level to reduce the mass of stems remaining. You will feel good, the plant will look better, and it will bloom again at some point.
Q:I have a wooded area in my backyard and wanted to create a woodland garden. What plants do you recommend?
A:Woodland gardening is becoming more and more popular. It is a very low maintenance, natural form of gardening and a great way to use native plants that are usually quite tough, disease and critter resistant. When working with woodland plants, be aware that many of these are spring and early summer bloomers that go dormant once the hotter summer months arrive. They like a rich organic soil in a cooler setting that gets at least partial shade. And deciduous woods are a better location for these than under heavier evergreen canopies. To kick off the spring show, I suggest the following bulbs: trout lilies (erythronium), winter aconite (eranthis) and naturalizing narcissi. In addition to these bulbs, tuck in some pink, burgundy, white or yellow trilliums. Their delicate three-petal flowers scream ‘woodland garden’. And wild bleeding heart (dicentra cucullaria) is another forest hallmark with its feathery foliage and white or pink flowers. Wild columbine (aquilegia Canadensis) adds great color with its delicate red and yellow flowers that combine nicely with the rich blue flowers of Virginia bluebells (mertensia virginica). And how could you not plant ferns, wild ginger (asarum), woodland phlox (phlox stolonifera), hepaticas, foam flowers (tiarella), hostas, Solomon’s seal (polygonatum), and bugbane (cimicifuga)? A combination of any of these will give you a strong jump-start to creating a charming woodland garden for fairies to visit. And remember, some woodland plants are protected wildflowers—it is important that you do not dig these from the wild or buy them from people who do. Purchase them from reputable nurseries that propagate these legally!
Kerry Mendez is the owner of Perennially Yours, a local business that specializes in low-maintenance gardening classes, design and consulting services. To learn more about Perennially Yours please visit www.pyours.com.