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In this issue:
Choose a kousa dogwood but shed the shady notion
Make a cool move on woody plants
Divide to conquer huge Geranium and lavender
Look at the roots to divide and multiply
Some lumber's no treat in raised-bed veg gardens
Garlic mustard: Tiny seedling turns heavyweight weed
Break the rule, split the plant whenever you can:
even in bloom, even bulbs!
Northern advantage: Stemless tulips a rarity
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overview of this issue.
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Did you come here from a Search? You will find all of the topics
below in this Ensemble edition. Download the pdf to read the articles.
Achillea, yarrow
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Anemone x hybrida, Japanese anemone
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Aquilegia, columbine
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Asclepias, butterfly weed
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Astilbe
dividing WU38 Pg 5
baby's breath, See Gypsophila
balloon flower, See Platycodon
blanket flower, See Gaillardia
bulbs
dividing WU38 Pg 9
buttercup, swamp buttercup, See Ranunculus acris
butterfly weed, See Asclepias
Camassia
dividing
WU38 Pg 9
Colchicum autumnale WU38 Pg 9
columbine, See Aquilegia
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pdf.
Cornus
Cornus florida flowering dogwood WU38 Pg 2
Cornus kousa, Chinese/Korean dogwood WU38 Pg 1-2
crocus, fall, See Colchicum autumnale
design
four-season plants WU38 Pg 1
Dianthus, pinks
dividing WU38 Pg 5
dividing
frequency WU38 Pg 8-9
guidelines WU38 Pg 7
perennials WU38 Pg 3-7
root type as guide for dividing WU38 Pg 5
Euphorbia
Euphorbia myrsinites myrtle euphorbia
transplanting WU38 Pg 9
fern
ostrich, See Matteucia
flowers
suppressed by shade WU38 Pg 1
Forsythia
propagation by layering WU38 Pg 5
Gaillardia, blanket flower
dividing WU38 Pg 5
gardener's health
life-extending work WU38 Pg 9
Geranium, cranesbill
dividing WU38 Pg 3-4
gooseneck, See Lysimachia
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groundcover
Aegopodium
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, plumbago
dividing
WU38 Pg 5
Gypsophila paniculata, baby's breath
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Hemerocallis, daylily
dividing WU38 Pg 5
herbs
mint WU38 Pg 5
Hosta
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Hydrangea
transplanting
WU38 Pg 2
Juniperus
transplanting
WU38 Pg 2
Lamium
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Lavandula, lavender
dividing WU38 Pg 3-4, 5
Leucanthemum, daisy
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Limonium latifolium, sea lavender
dividing WU38 Pg 5
lumber
rot resistant cedar, Juniperus WU38 Pg 7-8
rot
resistant cedar, Thuja WU38 Pg 7-8
treated WU38 Pg 7-8
Lysimachia clethroides, gooseneck
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Matteucia ostrich fern
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Monarda, bee balm
dividing WU38 Pg 5-6
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myrtle euphorbia, See Euphorbia
Narcissus
dividing WU38 Pg 9
ninebark, See Physocarpus
Physocarpus ninebark
transplanting WU38 Pg 2
Paeonia
dividing WU38 Pg 5
pasqueflower, See Pulsatilla vulgaris
perennials
dividing WU38 Pg 3-7
frequency WU38 Pg 6, 8-9
root type as guide for dividing WU38 Pg 5
Phlox, creeping phlox
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Platycodon, balloon flower
dividing WU38 Pg 5
pollution
treated lumber as source WU38 Pg 7-8
propagation WU38 Pg 7
layeringWU38 Pg 3, 5
offsets WU38 Pg 4, 5
rhizomes WU38 Pg 5
running roots WU38 Pg 5
tap roots WU38 Pg 5
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Pulsatilla vulgaris, windflower
dividing WU38 Pg 5
quotes
plants... behave like new furniture
working like this for my life... WU38 Pg 9
raised bed
wood used as retainer WU38 Pg 7-8
Ranunculus acris, swamp buttercup
dividing WU38 Pg 9
roots
indicate coming year's spread dividing WU38 Pg 6
type of root as guide to dividing WU38 Pg 5
Rosa
transplanting
WU38 Pg 2
Sedum
dividing WU38 Pg 5, 9
shade
affects flowering of shade tolerant species WU38 Pg 1
importance of moderated temperature WU38 Pg 2
shrubs
Clethra alnifolia WU38 Pg 5
layering to propagate WU38 Pg 3-4
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pdf.
spurge, donkey tail, SeeEuphorbia myrsinites
sweetshrub, SeeClethra
temperature
affect on tulip stems WU38 Pg 8-9
moderated temperature in woods WU38 Pg 2
toadlily, See Tricyrtis
transplanting
timing WU38 Pg 2
Tricyrtis, toadlily
dividing WU38 Pg 5
Tulipa
stems unusually short WU38 Pg 8-9
vegetables
cool season crops WU38 Pg 9
raised bed WU38 Pg 7-8
watering
watering levee, watering ring WU38 Pg 2
weeds
biennial weed eradication WU38 Pg 8
garlic mustard WU38 Pg 8
windflower, See Pulsatilla vulgaris
wood, treated lumber WU38 Pg 7-8
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An image overview of this
issue:
You're reading this issue's image overview. To read the complete
issue, download the pdf.
Kousa dogwood gives us summer bloom, fall color and
interesting form and bark in winter. Yet sometimes a tree doesn't
flower well. In my experience, the most common reason for sparse
bloom is too much shade. For instance, in 14 years the kousa in
this photo never produced more than a few flowers. Then one winter
the huge sugar maple behind it (trunk in the background) was pruned
to remove a high overhanging limb. This gave the dogwood almost two
hours additional light each day. 18 months later, after growing for
a year in that improved light, the tree bloomed as you see it here,
its first big show.
A watering levee is a ridge of extra soil an inch or two
high forming a ring around a plant's root system. When Janet waters
these transplants she pours into that ring. The levee holds the
water to soak in over the roots.
This lavender branch (photo on left, below) set its elbow
down on moist soil and grew roots -- we say it's a "layer" or that
it "layered."
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
A layer can develop on almost any woody-stemmed plant where
a branch comes into contact with moist soil. Below, right: The
lavender layer pictured here, related to the rest of its mother
plant.
A gardener can encourage layering by lightly scraping the
underside of a branch and then weighting it down to the ground or
burying that limb while it is still attached to its parent. The
limb continues to live off its mother plant's root system while
producing restorative tissue called callus over its wound. Callus
is capable of developing into any kind of plant part and usually
forms root cells when in moist darkness. Cut the layer away from
the rest of the lavender plant to grow it separately.
Most geraniums have roots like the species known as bloody
cranesbill (Geranium sanguineum, right and below). The plants more
of themselves by both offsets and running roots. Notice the bumps
on the roots -- each one capable of sprouting to produce a
stem.
When you first start to look at roots the mass may be
confusing even when a portion is rinsed of soil as in the previous
picture. The drawing at left was made from that photo to highlight
just the two parts of the crown indicated by the arrows. They are a
mother plant (brown) which was able to produce enough starch to
develop a fine root system of its own plus a daughter offset (red).
The daughter has done well for itself, too, as indicated by its
well developed roots
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
Read the root to divide
Our procedure for dividing any perennial or shrub that we
haven't divided before: Dig the plant, rinse the soil from the
crown and at least one side of the root mass. That lets us see
where to apply shears or knife to separate some rooted
pieces.
There are just a handful of ways to divide. You don't have
to memorize a hundred ways for a hundred perennials and
bushes.
Offsets (below, left) are daughter plants that form at the
base of a stem then develop their own roots and stems. Snap or cut
between mother and daughter to make more of an offset. Hosta,
daylily, astilbe, tall sedums, peony and daisy are some that
multiply this way. The connection between generations is very
strong and close in some plant species, less so in others. A daisy
offset comes away with a tug, an astilbe offset must be cut away
from a near-woody crown.
Tap roots (above, right) are vertically oriented structures
that become thicker at their top and may branch a bit at the bottom
but keep one undivided head over the years. Each year that head has
more eyes -- buds that can produce new stems. Balloon flower
(Platycodon), butterfly weed (Asclepias
tuberosa), windflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris), baby's
breath, columbine and perennial statice (Limonium species)
have tap roots. To divide a tap root, slice vertically through the
root (below) to make a division that includes at least one
eye.
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
Younger is better division
As you cut to make divisions, keep in mind that the younger,
outer portions of a perennial are the most vigorous in growth,
bloom and health. Don't expect matching book-ends if you replant
the old center and one of its divisions side by side. Daughter
plants usually out-grow, out-bloom, stand straighter and show less
pest damage than the mother plant.
Above: The foreground 'Violet Queen' bee balm is
a one year old daughter division of the plan in the
background/right. Given its own space to grow, the daughter became
taller, longer blooming and kept its foliage more reliably than the
crowded parent plant.
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
Propagation references
Here are some of our favorite books for information about
making more plants:
Propagation: Fine Gardening How-to Series
CD, Includes video of Janet Macunovich on Division;
FineGardening.com
American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation
Alan Toogood, Ed.; Dorling Kindersley, publisher
Park's Success With Seeds
Ann Reilly; Park Seed (out of print - buy used)
The New Seed-Starters Handbook
Nancy Bubel; Rodale Press Inc., publisher
Seed Germination Theory and Practice
Norman C. Deno, 139 Lenor Dr., State College PA 16801
Plant Propagation: Principles and Practices
Hartmann, Kester, Davies, Geneve; Simon & Schuster
In our own books we've combined the best from many sources
plus our own experience. Use the index on our Asking About
Asters CD to search by plant name and learn which of the six
books on that CD have articles about dividing a given plant, then
click to go right to the listed book and page.
Six of our books that are no longer in print are combined on
the CD, Asking About Asters: Complete Library of Macunovich
How-to.
It's 1,200+ printed, illustrated pages with one index. Order the Asters
CD from our Market.
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
No dividing
while in bloom? We break that rule all the time!
Here's a barrow full of plants we dug to divide and transplant
one late April day:
1) swamp buttercup,
(Ranunculus acris);
2) Sedum sieboldii;
3) daffodils;
4) myrtle euphorbia (Euphorbia
myrsinites) - take care not
to
smear the irritating milky sap on
your bare skin;
5) fall crocus (Colchicum
autumnale);
6) quamash (Camassia cusickii)
Still hesitant to divide when you need to, even when the plant's
in bloom? Then come put your hands on at a Garden by Janet and
Steven session to practice on our plants. There's a great
opportunity coming up to do that. Come work with us in a
gorgeous and celebrated garden May 2-4 in Berlin, Connecticut. It's
a Garden by Janet and Steven and Cheryl!
You're reading this issue's image overview. Download the
pdf to read more about this in the complete issue.
45mph Garden: Blooming bulbs looked like no-stem
tulips!
Tulips and daffodils may produce normal flowers that fail to
reach the normal height. The blooms sit on stems only a few inches
tall even though the plant formerly produced 18- or 24 inch
stems.
This happens when the bulb did not experience enough cold --
the plant's chilling requirement wasn't met. It happens after
unseasonably warm winters and when bulbs not planted in fall and
stored warm are put into the ground in early spring. Plants
affected in this way can be expected to return to their normal ways
in future years.
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