What is to be done now?
A blooming perennial bed does not require much work anymore. Only in the event of long periods of drought it should be watered. Admittedly, many late-summer flowering perennials tolerate drought well, but when the leaves begin to hang down, we have to grab a watering can or a garden hose.Better to irrigate plants thoroughly once or twice a week than a little daily.We are also improving the aesthetics of the flowerbed by tearing off the faded flowers.
Especially large dahlia flowers look ugly when their brownish stuck petals hang over the plant.It is already a bit late to insert the supports, but when, for example, tall asters begin to unfold to the sides, you can tie the clumps with string and thus restore them to their proper shape.
How to properly plant and propagate perennials
Autumn comes after summer, and with it the best time to reproduce most perennials and grasses. Now we are checking where the rebates need to fill in the gaps or where we would like to make changes.Basically, you can plant perennials in late summer, but make sure that fresh plantings do not suffer from drought.If you want to increase the discount, you do not necessarily have to spend money. We can reproduce many perennials ourselves.
We should stick to the rule that for spring-flowering plants the best time to reproduce is autumn, and for late-flowering plants - spring.Therefore, asters, sedum and other perennials of late summer are divided spade only in early spring. It will be an excellent rejuvenating treatment for them!
Durable flowers for a vase
If a perennial forms a lush clump, we will not even notice the loss of a few flowers cut for a bouquet. Several very durable cuttable plants are now blooming in the garden, such as Echinacea Echinacea, Rudbeckia Rudbeckia and Helianthus Sunflower. They will be beautifully complemented by grass panicles and fennel flowers, Foeniculum vulgare.
Nectar for bees and butterflies
In nature, the number of flowering plants decreases during the summer, so garden perennials are even more important for many insects.One of the last sources of nectar for bees are, above all, those that bloom until October, e.g. sedum Sedum or Aster autumn asters.A unique magnet for butterflies is the cannabis plant Eupatorium cannabinum, a perennial plant reaching 1.30 m in height and blooming until September. Its nectar is eagerly eaten by the nectar admiral.
He althy snacks without powdery mildew
Pysznogłówka Monarda with unusual flowers is a great complement to a summer perennial bed, but its leaves often feature whitish powdery mildew. This disease can be prevented by choosing the right job.It should be fertile and not too dry, and the plants cannot grow too densely. Newer varieties such as 'Huckleberry', 'Rebecca' and 'Camilla' are much less susceptible to mildew. Pysznogłówkom is favored by the division of clusters every three years and transplanting the seedlings to another place on the bed.
Goldenrod - remember that not all varieties are expansive!
There is no need to convince anyone that Canadian goldenrod Solidago canadensis with golden yellow flowers is pleasing to the eye and benefits bees. However, it grows very easily and has been classified as one of the so-called invasive neophytes, because it spreads unstoppably in nature and displaces native plants.It is worth remembering, however, that problems are mainly caused by the wild species.
There are garden varieties that have been transformed through breeding treatments so that they do not reproduce uncontrollably.Among them are both varieties shown in the photos.If we are not sure what variety we have in our garden, we just cut the faded inflorescences to avoid seed formation.
