Re: Liatris root rot?

In a message dated 7/10/02 6:30:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
sguzik@lynx.dac.neu.edu writes:

<< 
 Someone suggested that the fungus just liked the conditions and moved in.  
Is it possible to prevent
 those favorable conditions (i.e., do we know what they are?) >>

I really do not know anything special about Liatris except that I have grown 
it in what is about the area you are located.  We are higher up and colder 
but it is still New England weather.

This is from observation  - the roots or tubers,  if you have that sort,  
grow very close to the surface.  Sometimes you have to hill up around them, 
they seem to want to be on the surface so it would be easy to damage roots 
while cultivating setting up conditions for some pathogen to invade.  Add to 
that the weather we have had this spring and summer.  Other parts of the 
country are dry but in the Northeast it has rained constantly.  We had rain 
most of yesterday.  These plants may have not dried out if your soil is 
retentive of water.

My Liatris grow with Echinacea because I once thought the prairie plants 
would look good growing all together.  I have long forgotten just what 
prairie plants want exactly, mine are grown on the dry side on hill in front 
of the house and I never water anything there.  I also do not have a prairie 
but once read so many articles on the subject I thought the rolling hill down 
the front of my house would look good treated that way.

Both Liatris and Echinacea and a number of other things, Malva,  some awful 
traveler,  is one are out there doing fine.

I would get rid of the rotted plant and not anywhere in your garden then 
believe the others will be OK.  If you searched the conditions they are rain, 
dry, rain or something like that for these plants.  Nearly every plant we 
grow did not orginate in New England so I would not worry too much about 
conditions.  Roughly I think this way - some plants will do nothing, barely 
live in dry soil, the other bunch do very well there and that is about how I 
divide them.  Sum up, Liatris will grow forever here.

One other thing, the clumps do not increase much, they stay the same size for 
years.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4 

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