Gardening Basics - Monthly Tips

Monthly Tips

September - Plant of the Month

Pennisetum orientale - Oriental Fountain Grass

Pennisetum orientale sends up its classy little foxtails to wave in the wind in July. As other plants come into (and go out of) season the fluffy little flowerheads keep on going and somehow manage to make everything around them look better. In July, they looks great with the oval flowerheads of Allium sphaerocephalum. Later the flat heads of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and P. orientale's gaily waving little bottlebrushes seem meant to go together. (See photo.) The foliage is nice too, a gently arching clump of bluish leaves.

Oriental fountain grass is a clumping deciduous grass. That means that the leaves all turn tan come the cold weather and that the grass doesn't send out runners to take over the garden bed. Unlike many ornamental grasses, this one doesn't seed itself about.

My P. orientale plants have come through summers with very little water although they are reputed to have average water needs. They like sun. Oriental fountain grass reaches about 12-18"Wx18"H. The flowerstalks stick up another 4-6 inches. There are cultivars available with pinker flowers and slightly different heights. In the late fall the leaves will turn tan and you can cut them back whenever you don't like the look and before new growth starts.

Add some life and movement to your yard. With Pennisetum orientale it comes in a handsome, tidy, well-behaved, easy-care plant that will fit into any garden. What more could you want?

September - Tip of the Month

Plants that flop

You know the story. Your salvia comes up with straight perky shoots. They get taller topped by spires of purple flowers - then one day it happens. The flop occurs. Your tidy upright plant has splayed itself open revealing its pallid and unattractive interior. It's not just salvias either. Penstemons flop, crocosmias flop, asters flop, peonies flop. "Why?" you lament, "Where did I go wrong? What can I do?"

Plants flop for a variety of reasons. Everyone tells you to add compost and mulch your soil so it will be rich and delicious for your plants. Some plants, however, like many penstemon and salvias, may do better in lean (low fertility) soils. They grow well in the rich soil - too well - leading to a bad case of the flops. The answer? Give them leaner soil. Also, dividing them often (say every other year) so they don't get so big definitely seems to help. I cut off the flopped over parts. For salvias that leaves you with a little bun of new stems in the middle. For penstemon it is usually just the flower stalk falling over that is the problem, so cut them off and put them in a vase.

As some plants age the middle becomes congested (like crocosmias in photo) and this seems to cause some flopping. For crocosmias, dig them up, separate the corms and replant. You'll have extra corms to start a new colony or give away. This may not work for Crocosmia 'Lucifer' who may flop whatever you do.

Asters are notorious floppers. In The Well-Tended Perennial Garden Tracy DiSabato-Aust suggests cutting asters back by 1/2-2/3 when they are 12-16" tall to make them bushier. She says this will prevent flopping for many types of asters.

Many peonies flop because the big heavy flowerheads of double peonies often don't have adequate stems to support them. They bend (especially when made heavier by the rain) and flop. The answer? Not peony loops in my opinion. They just dangle over the loops like a Victorian maiden with the vapors. Instead buy single or semi-double flowered peonies which are less likely to droop.

Lastly, if you try some of these solutions and they don't work, consider moving the plant someplace sunnier. If that doesn't work, then its definitely time to toss the flopper on the compost heap and head to the nursery for something new and exciting and totally unwilling to flop - maybe a nice sturdy shrub?