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The Garden Club |
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Hostas – A Garden Favorite
Hostas are native to Japan, Korea and China, finding their way to the
United States in the 1800’s. Today, thanks to many years of exploration
and cultivation, there are hundreds of species and many thousands of
hybrids, most developed during the past half century. It’s hard to
believe that in the early 1960’s there weren’t more than about a dozen
varieties of
Hostas available in the U.S. Now there are thousands of
collectors worldwide vying for the latest hybrids and mutations costing
hundreds of dollars each.
Carroll Gardens carries over 140
Hostas – this
week we are featuring one of our favorites, the
Royal Standard.
Planting and Care
For best results plant in
summer to early fall.
Prefers light shade to almost full sun.
Plant feet apart in light, well-drained
soil.
Water regularly until established.
Hardy in zones 4-9.
From 1 gallon pots. Our Garden Worthy Certification means that your satisfaction is guaranteed. |
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Garden Club Questions &
Answers Question: Alan, you suggested I should cut the bloom stalks off of my perennials as they finished blooming. Well, I started to, but I got interrupted half way through and never got back to it. WOW! What a difference! Most of the plants I cut back rebloomed. On those that didn’t get cut back, I have had almost no rebloom. The Veronica was particularly dramatic because I was cutting them back when I was interrupted and every one that was cut back just had a second bloom equally as good as the first one. Those that weren’t cut back still have their seed heads standing, but they never gave a rebloom - not even one bloom. installed my perennial garden several years ago. Almost all of the tags have disappeared and I can’t find the invoice. People are always asking me the names of the plants, especially the Veronica. Do you know which Veronica I have? It has the prettiest deep blue flowers; it stays really short and never falls over.Answer: Thank you for the feedback. Would you please cut back again the Veronicas that have just finished blooming? Perhaps you will get a third bloom. I would appreciate if you would get back to us with the results of your little experiment. I dug into our archives and we found your old bill and we are sending you a copy. Your Veronica is “wormskjoldii”. I have had it for years and we keep propagating it from the original plants that I brought from my home when I came to this nursery twenty years ago. We do not list it on our web site, because I am not absolutely sure of the spelling. But if someone calls, there always some plants in stock and we can send them out. We sell them 3 plants for $19.85. I noticed on your 10 year old invoice that you paid 3 for $16.85 for the plants. Considering the price increase of greenhouse heat among other things, a $1.00 a plant increase over 10 years isn’t very much—no wonder I am always broke. Question: I planted some Crape Myrtles in the late spring. I bought nice big plants from the local nursery and they said they would bloom this year. In New Jersey, in my neighbor’s yard, the Crape Myrtles are in full bloom. Mine aren’t even showing any buds. Will they bloom this year?Answer: Newly planted summer-flowering trees and shrubs ( Crape Myrtles, Hydrangeas etc.) usually bloom later than normally because they are growing new roots rather than flower buds. Exception: if the growth cycle was interrupted just as the flower buds were forming or when they were very young. In this case, your Crape Myrtle may not bloom until next year or it may bloom very late if a second set of flower buds forms to replace those that perished.Question: Everything I've ever read or heard says Stella D'Oro is reblooming. Mine bloom once and are done. Help! Can you suggest anything? Answer: Stella D'Oro blooms in cycles until hard frost. You can encourage reblooming by keeping Stella actively growing and by removing the spent flowers before the seed pods form. Active growth can be encouraged by ample water and fertilizer, as well as frequent division—every two to three years. Question: Alan, I live on the Eastern Shore and enjoy your radio program so much. My question: Can a Crape Myrtle "bush" be pruned to look like a Crape Myrtle "tree"? I had one planted a year ago and I thought I was getting a Crape Myrtle "tree" but it looks like a bush. It is about 4 to 5 feet tall with many branches going off in all directions. It's pretty and blooming nicely, but doesn't look like a "tree". There is NOT a lone single trunk-like area. Are they two different specimens entirely? Can I get this to look like a tree?Answer: You cannot do anything about the height—that is determined by the genes and cannot be changed. But, you can prune your Crape Myrtle into a multiple stemmed tree with 3 to 5 clean stems. To keep your Crape Myrtle with 3-5 clean stems, pruning at least twice a year will be required, especially when the tree is young. Whether you have a bush or a tree Crape Myrtle, without pruning, the number of stems will naturally be about the same –only the height will be different.Question: I have three bleeding hearts around our wishing well in our front yard. They get full sun. When they first bloom in the spring they are beautiful for about 3 weeks. Then, they die. First, can I cut them back when they look like they are dying and second, when would be the best time to transplant them in a shady area?Answer: Old fashioned bleeding heart naturally turns yellow and goes dormant in the summer. It goes dormant earlier when planted in the sun. Transplant them from August 15th to August 30th. Be aware that old fashioned bleeding heart has a very large root system—out of proportion to the size of the plant. Moving your old fashioned bleeding heart is a good idea; it does best in a lightly shady spot—especially protected from the afternoon sun.Question: I bought some of the Hydrangea Annabelle that you featured in last week’s newsletter. You said they bloomed on new wood and that if they were trimmed after blooming we could expect rebloom. Should I cut back Hydrangea Annabelle in the spring and if so, how far?Answer: I have never cut back Hydrangea Annabelle in the spring and it has always done just fine for me. But I do know of some gardeners who cut theirs back to the ground every spring. These gardeners believe that cutting back the old stems will make the new stems stronger, which in turn will keep the flowers more upright. In short, spring cut back is optional; but I know of no reason not to do it.►Garden Club Newsletter Index |
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