Flower Gardening Techniques for Perennials
I confess I usually fell down on the side of having the flowers in the garden while my girls always managed to help me find the other side of the equation. And, who can resist a daughter’s request for a few delphinium spikes or just a few of those wonderful geranium blossoms? Not me, that’s for sure although I did manage to maintain my gruff head gardener image for a few moments before giving in. They knew I was a soft touch and so did I.
I can hardly imagine flower gardening without perennial flowers as the mainstay of the gardening mix. Spikes of delphiniums, daisies galore, lavender for fragrance, daylilies for their ephemeral nature, kniphofia for esoterica, and lots and lots of nepeta and monarda. There’s simply too many good perennials to ignore in the flower garden. There’s two important tips I’ll pass along right now that will make your job a lot easier:
Practical Tips for Cut Flowers
Sharp tools work bes to cut back your perennials for spring or fall work. For example, these sharp scissors or hand pruners are extremely important when preparing the flowers for long vase life. Second, after the flowers have been cut and taken to the kitchen to be prepared for the vase – recut them *under running water* and immediately insert them into the full vase of water.
Do not allow the end of the stem to dry out – even for a microsecond – and your flowers will last much longer. Drying out – even for a very short time – allows the cells at the end of the stem to dry out. Keeping them moist means they’ll continue to draw water up the stem and keep the flower alive.
Handling Perennial Plants
How to transplant perennials,
How to germinate perennial seeds or even
How and when to divide perennials you're in the right place for simple answers.
Perennial plugs". Here's a review of these products and how to succeed with these cheaper plants.
Here's how to take plant cuttings
How to plant perennials you can find it on this page.
Moving perennials can be done at any time of year if you follow these directions.
Wildflower seeding tips that may prove helpful as a flower gardening technique.
Fall gardening tips make your garden look better in the spring, reduce disease but are not fashionable right now. Here's the story.
Can I transplant container grown perennials at any time of year?
Digging Video - for all kinds of garden-making
I'm
now taking some semi-retirement time, so questions about perennials are
now only being answered here. (Click Here)
You may find yours already answered so do check out the lists below
What Other Visitors Have Asked about Perennial Gardening Techniques
Click below to see questions from other visitors to this page...
peonies changing color My mom has had a peony for several years and it has always been pink. This year my mom's peony is white. Does she need to amend her soil in some way or ...
How to keep daylilies alive in vase longer... I inherited a beautiful daylily garden but despite cutting stems at an angle and immediately immersing in water my lilies' blooms fold in by the next ...
Staking Perennials I think I need some help with staking my perennials. My Shasta Daisies were planted last fall and now are so tall that they are falling over on to my ...
Shearing perennials in mid-summer my daisy plants have been looking beautiful, although mixed now with some dead heads, I am cutting for arrangements, but have heard I should give it complete ...
peonies changing color My mom has had a peony for several years and it has always been pink. This year my mom's peony is white. Does she need to amend her soil in some way or ...
iris
What can I do to keep weeds from growing between the rhizomes of my iris? It's a pain every year to weed them.
Doug says it's a fact of life in the ...
Preparing the perennial bed for winter
This is my first year with my inherited perennial garden. What should I do before winter comes? Cut it down? Cover it in leaves? Leave it alone?
Doug ...
Concrete in soil
I have a nice area along my house for flowers but it was used by builders to wash out the concrete tools. How can I make it usable again?
Doug says ...
Starting a Perennial Garden I want to start a perennial garden in sun and part shade, in Zone 4. I am a beginner gardener (just retired), and would like to have continuous bloom ...
Watering perennials in the hotest part of summer
What is the best rule of thumb for watering perennials that like full sun in the middle of summer? I am having a hard time keeping them looking good.
Thanks
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fish in compost Can fish and shrimp remains be successfully put in a compost pile? I remember reading in elementary school that the Indians taught the Pilgrim's to grow ...
Straggly purple cone flower I planted purple cone flower from seed last year and they grew tall and leggy. This spring some are much bushier, but some are still straggly and getting ...
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