joene's garden » Perennials & Annuals

Native Plants from the Connecticut Conservation Districts

joenesgarden — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 02:18:41 +0000

Native Plants from the Connecticut Conservation Districts

One way to improve the diversity of the plant offerings in your landscape is to plant natives. Native plants, shrubs and trees do a bang up job of attracting native insects which, in turn, help feed native birds and pollinators that will improve yields of edible and ornamental flora in your gardens.

Read more on native plants in In Search of Natives, an article I wrote for Connecticut Gardener.

Connecticut gardeners have a wonderful opportunity to purchase many native plants, shrubs and trees through the various Connecticut Conservation Districts' plant sales. Follow this link and click on the district in which you are located to find the plant sale specifics of your region.

Those of you in my district, The Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, can download the plant sale brochure here. There are many, difficult to locate, native shrubs and trees available in the brochure. Before ordering check out the photo/info database for each plant so you know their needs and characteristics. I'm quite impressed that they have Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) and American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls') among the natives offered this year.

Proceeds from the plant sale support the many conservation and water quality programs offered by the Connecticut Conservation Districts. But don't wait … orders must be received by April 1, 2013.

Categories: CT Grown, Gardening, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: Connecticut Conservation Districts, Connecticut Gardener, Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District plant sale, gardening in Connecticut, Native plant sale.

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joene's garden

Ornamental grass Miscanthus self-sows into a Gardening Oops.

joenesgarden — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 02:26:52 +0000

Ornamental grass Miscanthus self-sows into a Gardening Oops.

You may be surprised to learn that a miscanthus grass is on the Connecticut Invasive Plant List. The miscanthus in your yard may not be the specific one listed as invasive in Connecticut, but it still may be one that self-sows like the many miscanthus growing on my little piece of Earth. Self-sowing miscanthus are the topic of my November 2012 Gardening Oops – GOOPs for short.

I usually post on the first of each month about a GOOPs/gardening faux pas/gardening mis-step I've made. Super storm Sandy, as it is now being called, had another schedule in mind, so this month's post is a tad late.

I started planting ornamental grass varieties many years ago. Living in an area heavily foraged by deer, I thoroughly enjoy that ornamental grasses are not deer candy. In fact, I have never seen even the slightest deer nibble on any ornamental grass. I have, however, found one ornamental grass family, specifically miscanthus, very readily self sows.

The invasive miscanthus variety listed as invasive in Connecticut is Miscanthus sinensis 'Andersson'. I don't have this variety planted. However, I do have Miscanthus sinensis 'Arabesque' and 'Gracillimus' in multiple locations and, if I didn't deadhead the flowering bracts of these, I'd have many more miscanthus growing.

I discovered the prolific self-sowing habits of these miscanthus varieties quite by accident … I found young shoots while weeding. At first I thought the shoots were weeds then, as a few here and there managed to elude one of my many weeding sessions I realized what was growing was not a weed, but a young miscanthus.

Now if you've tried to dig out a mature miscanthus, you know what a good hold their roots have on the soil. These babies are not easy to eradicate once they have a foothold. So a few years back I started deadheading the miscanthus in my yard. I'm still able to enjoy the airy, red hue of the seed bracts when they are fresh and look like this:

But when the bracts begin to whiten, and resemble the mature seed head of a dandelion puff, off go their heads.

This is why.

This unwanted volunteer grew from a seed dropped by its parent plant growing just a few feet away. It is definitely not in a desirable spot, but serves as a good example of why I deadhead miscanthus each autumn. Even with my vigilance it's obvious one seed head slipped the jaws of my pruning shears and spread its progeny.

And, remember, none of the miscanthus varieties planted in my yard are the variety listed on the invasive plant list. Let this be a warning … not my first, but a continued one … that any type of miscanthus will self-sow and could become a problem child. This is why all my miscanthus now look like this:

I can still enjoy how the grasses sway in the breezes – Sandy's gusts really had them swaying – but I no longer need to worry that their prolific blooms will become a similarly prolific «weed» issue.

Have you had this experience with miscanthus? Do you have a different GOOPs to share? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to stop back again on December 1 for another GOOPs installment. Barring any weather issues, the December GOOPs should go up as scheduled.

Many thanks to Laurrie who posts a GOOPs every month … even when I miss one. Read Laurrie's November GOOPs.

Categories: GOOPs-Gardening Oops, Invasives, Perennials & Annuals, Techniques.
Tags: gardening in Connecticut, gardening oops - GOOPs, miscanthus, ornamental grasses.

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joene's garden

Late bloom before the storm

joenesgarden — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 03:40:46 +0000

Late bloom before the storm

One daylily, Hemerocallis 'Macbeth', sent up one last bloom in defiance of the weather to come.

The shades of this rebloomer are slightly less intense than they were during summer, when the center glows in deep maroon in contrast to the raspberry hues of the outer edges of the petals. Still, this flower is no less lovely than its summer version.

What a welcome sight with hurricane Sandy promising to wage her fury on Connecticut.

Last September, when Irene paid us a visit, we lost power for seven days. Sandy seems much angrier. She may knock our power out for as long or longer.

Normally, on the first of each month I share a Gardening Oops – GOOPs for short. Take a look back at some previous GOOPs here and here. If Sandy allows, I'll add another GOOPs on November 1.

If you see no new posts for a while, Sandy is to blame.

Categories: Gardening, GOOPs-Gardening Oops, Perennials & Annuals.
Tags: daylily, gardening in Connecticut, gardening oops - GOOPs, Hemerocallis 'Macbeth, last bloom before hurricane Sandy.

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