The intensely seasonal nature of the glasshouse and nursery industriousness in our region means that many gardener only shop for plant in spring and early summer . Planting early in the time of year lengthens the amount of time a northerly nurseryman can love a industrial plant that twelvemonth , so it makes sense that most of us do n’t buy too many new flora after July .
But I consider that September is really the better ( record : most economical ) metre to shop for recurrent plants . I ’m not say that you ’ll always find gross sales when you venture on your late time of year plant shopping adventure . In fact , I want to encourage you not to require for deals on perennial if they are n’t already discounted . Most unspoilt garden centers will overwinter their recurrent plants from class to year , which means they have nothing to gain from knock down their prices .
Rather , I think September is an ideal time to buy plants because they have already had a few months to grow big and beautiful . September plant have been fertilized and watered regularly all time of year , and they ’re practically erupt out of their pots , ready to go home with you . And , these containerized perennials can often be divided before you plant them ! you could sometimes get three or four plant from a single pot , if the industrial plant is large enough . I call these plants “ Buy One , Get One ” ( BOGO ) perennial .
A knife makes dividing this Pulmonaria light work.
Most recurrent plants are easy to divide when they ’re well - established in the ground . I just grab my dear solid - headed nigga and dig out , chop , replant . Dividing perennial right out of their pots requires more precision ( and bring about lowly plant life ) , but it can be just as sluttish . I mostly reserve this technique for plant that have spread rhizomatous radical organisation . guess of plant like daylily or Hosta , which spread by creating diminished versions of themselves , complete with their own root and shoot tissues . As long as you ’re able-bodied to differentiate off an undamaged slice that has both types of tissue , you’re able to propagate a new plant from the old one .
I ordinarily use a delve knife to reduce my perennials apart . It has definitely taken practice for me to feel confident doing this , so I would commend practicing with plants that you ’re not especially bond to – like those old light-green Hosta that seem to live in every yard . obtain the lifelike space between two shoot and use the knife to pry the root tissue into two separate piece . Some plants divide without much power , while others require a bit of sawing . If you terminate up with a chunk of theme tissue bond to each shoot , you ’ve succeeded !
Perennials filling up one- or two - gallon container are usually the pure candidates for this process . Common BOGO perennials let in hosta , pulmonaria , monarda , daylily , astilbe , iris , stachys , turtlehead , sedum , allium , spiderwort , and rudbeckia . Again , perennial BOGO campaigner have root systems that disperse and then produce raw shoot from their root tissue .
Do n’t seek to BOGO plants with individual stems and/or big tap roots . It will be too challenging to intermit off piece that have both roots and shoots , and you might just stop up with lots of broken , damaged plant part . Perennials that wo n’t give you an duplicate for complimentary ( at least not easily ) include baptisia , aralia , amsonia , hibiscus , butterfly stroke weed , and goat ’s beard , among others . ( Of of course , there will always be some exclusion to all of my suggestions . )
The new split up plant will be small , but just be patient . imbed them as you would have planted the original one before you divided it . Give them a footling extra water to help them establish , and then continue watering them regularly , especially if the autumn weather is hot and wry . Next springiness , they ’ll come up healthy and quick to grow .
Laura Schwarz garden and writes in Minneapolis .
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