Peonies from Seed

My sister-in-law is a die-hard “no money” gardener. She takes cuttings from friends and strangers, and tries to grow everything possible from seed. Last week, she was talking about growing peonies from seed and the difficulty she was having. I told her that most peonies are complicated hybrids that do not come from true seed so she might be at it for years without success. The best way to raise a new plant is to start with a root division.

Peony Pod

Even if you only take a small clump with just one or two eyes (underground growth buds), it will produce a blooming plant in half the time it would take a seed to deliver — assuming you can even find a seed for some of the new cultivars. More important, using a division ensures that the plant you’ll get will be just like its parent.

As I said, most peonies are complicated hybrids. To reproduce from seed, the plant would have to be a pure species type. Nevertheless, many gardeners do plant seeds just to see what develops (my sister-in-law is definitely one of those). If you want to give it a go, choose seeds that have become firm and black; those that stay red are infertile. Sow the seeds in autumn, in moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, about an inch deep and a foot apart. Wait for signs of growth. You might see something the next spring, but the second spring is more likely and it may even take until the spring after that. Make sure the soil doesn’t dry out while you’re waiting.

The seeds must have a warm, moist period to sprout, then a cold one to begin rooting, then warmth and moisture again before they start thinking about making growth buds. Sometimes, for reasons best known to peonies, they think about it for another year just to be on the safe side.

Eventually, most will send up shoots. In the fall, transplant the young peonies to their assigned growing places. Wait some more. If all goes well, you might get flowers the third year after transplanting, but don’t be surprised if it takes longer.

Additional blog posts about peonies:

https://gardensnips.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/plant-peonies-in-fall-for-spring-beauty/

https://gardensnips.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/peonies-2/

Don’t discard that ‘Easter’ Lily

Every year, ‘Easter’ lilies make their way into people’s homes and places of worship but so many of them end up on the scrap heap when you live in the northern area of the U.S. Don’t take the Easter part of the name too literally. This best-loved member of the lily family, Lilium longiflorum, actually blooms in mid summer when it has its druthers. But since more than 11 million are forced into early bloom and sold all potted up and decorated, this lily and Easter are forever entwined.

Forcing a bulb takes a toll, and it can’t be counted on to force again for the following Easter; but given a year to rest up in your garden, Easter lilies can recover and will bloom next summer and for years to come.

So gather them up (they look much better when planted in groups anyway) and care for them inside until after the last frost date in your area. Knock each bulb out of its pot, trying hard to keep the soil around the roots. Plant it with the base 8 inches deep in a sunny, well-drained spot, leaving the foliage and flower stems intact. The flowers will be finished, but the shiny green leaves should remain all summer; they play an important part in providing food to help the bulb regain its strength.

Planting the lily so deep allows the part of the stem that is below ground to develop roots and protects the bulb over the winter. Unlike many other bulbs that grow roots only from the base of the bulb, L. longiflorum is a stem-rooter, growing roots along the buried stem as well as from the bulb’s bottom.

Don’t cut the stalk down until the leaves turn yellow, and fertilize once a month between now and then. A 3-inch winter mulch is a good idea.

Next Easter will come and go without a peep from your lilies, but the mother bulbs will be hard at work, developing new flower stems for the Easter-in-July show.

House of Flowers

A fun project to do with your children or grandchildren: make a house of sunflowers and morning glories.

Sunflower houses are not an exact science, which is a great part of their charm. All you need are the flower seeds and a patch of open ground that gets plenty of sunshine.

Choose a sunflower that grows tall but also makes some branches, rather than an old-fashioned type that goes straight up and then hangs its heavy head. ‘Giant Sungold’, ‘Soroya,’ and the pale-flowered ‘Moonwalker’ are good choices. Make sure the morning glories are the climbing sort; it’s hard to beat good old ‘Heavenly Blue’ in this situation.

Wearing gloves, use agricultural lime to draw the shape of your house on the grass. (Don’t make it too small. When the plants are full grown, the walls will be about 3 feet thick.) Following the line, remove a foot-wide strip of sod. Enrich the exposed soil with some compost and well-rotted manure.

After all danger of frost is past, plant sunflowers about 3 feet apart, arranging a triangle of seeds at each location and spacing the seeds in the triangle about 2 inches apart. (Don’t forget to leave space for the door!)

When the sunflowers have four leaves, cut off the weaker extras. You should now have single, strong plants, spaced evenly around your perimeter. Wait until they’re 2 feet tall, then plant morning glories every 4 inches or so in the spaces between them. When the vines sprout, use thin twigs to train them toward the sunflowers.

Resist the temptation to fertilize. Sunflowers that grow tall too quickly are prone to falling over; and morning glories that get lots to eat make leaves instead of flowers.

 

Ornamental Grasses (conclusion)

Indian Grass

In Part 1 of this discussion of ornamental grasses, we talked about grasses for part-sun, for cold climates, and those that provide fragrance. Today we’ll cover grasses that provide fall and winter interest.

Blades of Color

The most common fall color for grasses is a warm tan, but there are also some that are as bright as autumn leaves. Plant them where they’ll show up: the pale ones backed by dark evergreens, stronger shades where they will blaze against the pebbles of a courtyard or an open sky.

Yellows include many of the molinas, especially Molina caerulea cultivars, and Phragmites australis.

Shading more toward orange and red are the big bluestems (Andropogon gerardii) and switch grasses (Panicum virgatum), especially the variety ‘Haense Herms.’ Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) does double duty, starting out yellow and shading toward orange as the season progresses.

For darker reds, consider Miscanthus sinensis ‘Graziella’, which has warm brown undertones, the purplish Hakonechloaa macra; Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’; and Miscanthus sinensis ‘Purpurascens.’

Winter Grasses

The best grasses for winter interest are those that are quite sturdy, able to stand up to rough weather, including the feather reed grasses (Calamagrostis spp.), Ravenna grass (Erianthus ravennae), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and those that have decorative seed heads, such as Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) and cat tails.

For the prettiest effect, they should be planted in groups of varying heights of where they will be set off by evergreens, garden sculptures, or other structural elements that give them a context. If you just dot them here and there, they tend to look like something you forgot to clean up.

Cutting Grasses Back

In nature, nobody cuts down grasses, so why should we? Well, in nature, the open areas where grasses grow are periodically renewed by the cleansing effects of fire. In the absence of this very efficient remover of dead material, we need to cut back our grasses.

The best time to do it is in early spring, after the grasses have done winter landscape duty but before the new growth starts. Wearing gloves (many grasses have sharp edges) and using hedge clippers if the clumps are large, cut off the dead stalks right above the ground. This will not only open up the plants, bringing light and air to the centers and thus forestalling disease, but it will also remove a potential fire hazard.

Note: Grasses will let you know they need division by flowering less and/or dying out in the center of the clumps. Be on the alert for the start of these symptoms and divide the grasses then. You want to get in there before things get ugly, but there’s no need to divide plants that show no signs of needing it.

Ornamental Grasses – Part 1

Ornamental grasses add color and texture to landscaping

Frequently overlooked and under-appreciated by most gardeners, ornamental grasses can add beautiful height, texture, and even fragrance. While it is true that the majority of ornamental grasses do best in full sun, a number will also tolerate shade as long as it is not too heavy and their other cultural needs are met.

Grasses for Part Sun

Among the useful grasses or grasslike plants are tufted hair grass (Deschampsia caespitosa), millet grass (Milium effusum), Hokonechloa macra ‘Albo-aurea’, variegated lily turf (Liriope muscari ‘Variegata’), and ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea var. picta). These vary from about 1 to 3 feet tall. Somewhat shorter are Virginia wild rye (Elymus virginicus), Alpine hair grass (Deschampsia alpina), and blue fescue (Festuca ovina glauca). And quite a bit taller are northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), creeping bluestem (Andropogon stolonifera), bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis), and bush grass (Calamagrostis epigejos), which may range from 2 to 6 feet tall.

Well-Behaved Grasses

One of the common complaints about grasses is the invasive nature of many of them. Anything with runners — ribbon grass (phalaris arundinacea), blue lyme grass (Leymus arenarius), and switch grass (Panicum virgatum) are the classic examples — is likely to be a problem. If you’re taken with something that comes without a description, tip it out of the pot and look for signs of runners (underground shoots with upward-pointing tips) before you take it home.

And almost anything with seeds will self-sow, that being what the seeds are for, though some, such as the fountain grasses (Pennisetum spp.), do it more aggressively than others. Be careful of plants described as self-sowing “manageably”; someone has got to do the managing, and that someone will be you. Nurseries are increasingly conscientious about labelling possible invaders, but it’s still best to check with your local extension service before you purchase and plant.

Fragrant Grasses

Several ornamental grasses give off appealing fragrance when their leaves are rubbed or broken. They include lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus), citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus), and sweetgrass or vanilla grass (Hierochloe odorata). When dried, sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) is fragrant as well. Sweet flag (Acorus calamus) is a scented grasslike plant, but not a true member of the grass family.

Grasses for Cold Climates

Many of the most popular ornamental grasses are very hardy, including Miscanthus sinensis cultivars such as ‘Morning Light’ and ‘Purpurascens’; midsize favorites like the feather reed grass Calamagrostis arundinacea ‘Overdam’; yellow foxtail grass (Alopecurus pratensis), which seldom grows taller than a foot; and it’s even shorter cousin, A. alpinus ssp. glaucus, a 4-inch charmer with very blue leaves.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum conducted a large study of cold-hardy ornamental grasses and has published the results in North Central Regional Publication No. 573, “Ornamental Grasses for Cold Climates.” Call 952.443.1400 for information about how to obtain the booklet.