RE: snow, insulation & Dahlias
- Subject: RE: snow, insulation & Dahlias
- From: "Marilyn Dube" m*@easystreet.com
- Date: Sat, 4 Jan 2003 15:02:42 -0800
Donna,
Evergreen branches make good insulation. I build little teepees over the
crown of my perennials that don't like too much water - Salvias and
Penstemons for instance. Stick the cut branch end in the ground and the
green end up. It takes about 3 or 4 to make a nice little teepee that will
insulate and/or shed excess water away from the crown. I have lots of
Douglas Fir branches that break and come down in the windy times. They stay
green a long, long time, so no mess in the spring. I've never had any
damage to my plants from using them as I described above. It also works
laying them over Dahlias, Callas & other tender bulbs I leave in the ground
for the winter.
Speaking of Dahlias.....I'm looking for black/purple leafed Dahlias to grow
in pots. I have Fascination, Bishop of Llandaff, & Ellen Huston. What
others are you all growing? I value your opinions. Searching Google using
"purple leaf dahlias" didn't yield many and surprisingly, most of the
catalogs don't bother to mention what color the leaves are - Brent & Becky's
Bulbs being an outstanding exception. Has anyone grown Bednall Beauty,
Moonfire, David Howard, Japanese Bishop or Tasagore?
Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of Donna
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 1:27 PM
To: perennials@hort.net
Subject: RE: snow
No snow here ... all melted!
Forecasting 2 inches by morn, but with the sun shinning, not a cloud in
the sky and temp right around 40... we will see.
Last year my plants did survive this nonsense. I hope they do again with
the thawing / freezing. A couple of inches of snow would really help
them out here. I was going to do some extra mulching for winter this
year. Didn't get around to it.
So those that are familiar with this crazy weather pattern.. do you ever
use your Christmas tree branches and kind of cover the plants just for
winter? Thought about stripping the tree trunk and using each individual
branch. Does it cause a major mess in the spring? Thoughts anyone?
Donna
IL, Zone 5
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