Re: [SG] Low Maintenance Gardening/cimicifuga
Hello Bobbi & the 2 Nancys,
I have been playing with the Cimicifuga for some years now. If you only
have room for one then go for the native C. racemosa or Black Snakeroot.
Give it an exposure similar to the edge of a woodland with some deep soil
and it will not fail to bloom for you in the later part of July each year.
No, it is not of a fragrance you would want to hover over like a hummer, but
then the blooms are around 5 to 6 feet in the air anyway. Sure does light up
a corner and foliage is a bonus. When we get this hot and dry for this long
the foliage will get browned and ratty looking around the edges.
Next on my list is the C. racemosa atropurpurea. Same thing but the
foliage is a darker veined and stemmed in reddish-purple. Since this one is
seedling grown it is a bit less expensive than the "Burnett" or the Wayside
baby.
C. simplex White Pearl is shorter than the other two coming in at about
3 feet in height. Kind of a honey-spicy scent on the blooms and it is coming
into bloom shortly.
The C. acerina I grew from seed is in bud now and in a downright abusive
position in the garden. It is showing less stress than some of the others I
have. Bloom stalks are always shorter on this one than any of the others for
me. Part of that may be due to where it is located in the garden. Heavy
soil, not all that deep, very well drained on an embankment.
I have been meaning to play with more species, but the time from seed to
flowering is a long one.
My experience says deep organic soil is one of the tricks to growing
these. They do come into bloom just as we go into the worse part of the hot
and dry around here. No amount of watering from a hose is the same as good
old rain. How is that rain dance coming, Bobbi?
Gene Bush Southern Indiana Zone 6a Munchkin Nursery
around the woods - around the world
genebush@otherside.com http://www.munchkinnursery.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Nancy Stedman <stedman@INTERPORT.NET>
Sent: Monday, July 26, 1999 11:04 PM
Subject: 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
> >
> >
