Re: [SG] Low Maintenance Gardening/cimicifuga

Funny, I was just about to bring up cimicifugas. I'm really perplexed about
the bloom times. I have a C. ramosa that used to be in a really dark and dry
spot and didn't bloom until November. I moved it to some place lighter and
easier to water and now it's putting up wands. Is it possible that it will
bloom in August? That's when the C. acerina (aka japonica var. acerina)
blooms. Also, I have a C. foetida variant--an obscure species, I
believe--and I have no idea when it will flower. Does anyone know? I'm in
zone 6B, in New York City.
My experience, by the way, has been that the Asian cimicifugas are tougher
than the American ones. Seems to me that the Asians will flower in more
shade, possibly because the leaves have fallen and the light is lower when
they bloom. Am I alone in thinking this?
But they're all wonderful. Elegant and natural at the same time. Definitely
low maintenance when they're happy.
Nancy


>Nancy, I bought ONE C. ramosa about 5 years ago and it lingered for 3
>years before finally giving up altogether. Fortunately, I have forgotten
>how much I spent for it but it was expensive--and painful watching its
>decline. I will never get another. A gardening friend grows the plain
>Cimicifuga racemosa (?) and she has a bunch of it--no fuss, no muss,
>attractive, not temperamental or difficult.  Doesn't smell as good, true,
>but MUCH cheaper! It's a native, as opposed to ramosa, which comes from
>Tibet or somewhere. As soon as I get around to it, I'm going to get some
>C. racemosa. I am getting more and more into native plants. They seem to
>LIKE my dreadful Lower Midwest growing conditions.
>
>We put in mulch everywhere this spring--except in my hosta garden, where I
>am convinced that mulch near hostas exacerbates the Southern Blight
>problem.
>
>Bobbi Diehl
>Bloomington, IN
>zone 5/6
>
>
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