Herbaceous perennials "die back to ground level?"

What is meant by this? In all my life I have never known a plant to completely disappear down to the soil in it's dormant season. Yes, if it is pruned as well, but otherwise how would you even know where the plant was, if all that could be seen was soil and vaguely visible tips of stems?

 

Sometimes that's very much the case! It also depends on the plant though-some disappear altogether, other already show fresh growth even at this time of year.

Markers or not cutting back until Spring can help as aide memoires:thumb:

 

Thanks for that. So, if you wanted to ensure that the autumn dieback was countered by a flush of growth, when and how could you plant the autumn growing perennials? I am assuming that if you wished to grow an autumn flower like Nerine bowdenii, or Fuchsia "Hakshead," they would have to have been planted in spring to bloom in autumn. But if the planting area was full of spring and summer growth, how could the new arrivals be planted? Even if they were grown seperately and transplanted in the autumn, how to place them in the ground without disturbing the roots or bulbs of the plants that have died back?

 

As SussexG says, many plants do completely disappear and sometimes you have to mark them with a label to know where they are.

The principle is that these plants have developed a mechanism to avoid the worst of the winter weather by hiding underground, just as some bulbs do. But other bulbs, like Allium and Tulips, come from very hot dry places and they disappear underground in the summer to avoid the extreme hot weather. In this country they are sadly misinformed. :D

With respect to your second post - you have put your finger on a major interest of many gardeners - the question of how to achieve successional flowering. All young plants have an ability to grow up through already established plants - but only to a certain extent. I let my forget-me-nots run riot this year. They were lovely but they grew so thickly that they constricted and even killed some of my later flowering plants. So next year - almost no forget-me nots. Christopher LLoyd always said don't grow daffodils or most tulips in a border, because their foliage lasts for a long time and can choke off other plants. The secret is to either lift plants and replace them at a certain point, or to ensure plants are compatible.

 

Thanks again Peter. What puzzles me, though, is when to plant the later flowering plants for the first time. When you come to first plant the autumn bloomers, such as sedum autumn glory, for example, how to dig the holes without disrupting the plants and root systems already in full growth, and if you have to mulch or specially prepare the autumn flower, how to avoid hasslign those around it?
I keep thinking I have missed something really obvious and that this sort of question just seems stupid?

 

My herbaceous borders are (in the main) true to form. Apart from a bay bush, a eucalyptus and a couple of minature conifers that were there before I developed them, they lie dormant throughout winter and I concentrate on gardening in pots - bulbs and slow growing shrubs such as Osmanthus and Sarrococca that flower or look good in winter.

I do plant daffs in the borders though, but amongst perennials that bloom in late Spring so by the time the daffs foliage looks tatty and unsightly, it's hidden by the newly emerged and flowering perennials.

I don't grow any autumn flowering bulbs apart from a successful experiment with Kaffir Lilies (are they bulbs?). My borders look dreadful now and apart from walking past them to get to the chicken run at the end of the garden, I ignore them. Come December/January they'll get cut right back so I can do any necessary work (like clearing weeds that have established at the back).

 

Simon, I have Sedums growing in the borders as well (forgot to mention them!). They look good throughout the year until blooming and got planted when I was preparing the rest of the planting. They get left over winter as the dried seed heads look spectacular with the frost on them. I cut them back in Spring, although even now I can see fresh growth appearing.

 

Thanks for that, Aaron. I suppose when planting the daffs you just find a large enough space between where the spring perennials will be and hope for the best?

 

Don't worry about disturbing plant roots - they will soon get over it. But disturbing bulbs is more of a problem, and its one reason why I am tempted to grow more bulbs in pots.

 

Yep! :thumb: