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Aconite woes
I have an area with bulbs etc. in, and everything is doing adequately or better, except the aconites. There are usually plenty of seedlings but the number of mature (hence flowering) corms is gradually dropping. This isn't actually under trees, but doesn't get all that much sun until May, and they aren't mown until they die down. What do they like that anemones, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, bluebells and Puschkinia don't mind not having? Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Aconite woes
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Aconite woes
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote: I have an area with bulbs etc. in, and everything is doing adequately or better, except the aconites. There are usually plenty of seedlings but the number of mature (hence flowering) corms is gradually dropping. This isn't actually under trees, but doesn't get all that much sun until May, and they aren't mown until they die down. What do they like that anemones, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, bluebells and Puschkinia don't mind not having? I don't know, but I would hazard a guess that they might prefer a damper in summer heavier soil than you can offer them in Cambridge. I suspect drying out in summer is what they really don't like. That's very plausible. While they do well on the Backs, my soil is rather sandier than it is there (as well as considerably higher above the water table). On the bright side, the anemones went bananas within a year or two :-) Yes, an actual carpet of them from something like 25 corms. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Aconite woes
wrote in message ... I have an area with bulbs etc. in, and everything is doing adequately or better, except the aconites. There are usually plenty of seedlings but the number of mature (hence flowering) corms is gradually dropping. This isn't actually under trees, but doesn't get all that much sun until May, and they aren't mown until they die down. What do they like that anemones, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, bluebells and Puschkinia don't mind not having? Regards, Nick Maclaren. I have a feeling they are very sensitive to soil PH, and I have heard tell that something eats them in winter (I thought they were poisonous?) but either way I have never got one to survive here -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
Aconite woes
In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote: I have an area with bulbs etc. in, and everything is doing adequately or better, except the aconites. There are usually plenty of seedlings but the number of mature (hence flowering) corms is gradually dropping. This isn't actually under trees, but doesn't get all that much sun until May, and they aren't mown until they die down. What do they like that anemones, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, bluebells and Puschkinia don't mind not having? I have a feeling they are very sensitive to soil PH, and I have heard tell that something eats them in winter (I thought they were poisonous?) but either way I have never got one to survive here It's probably not soil pH, as mine won't differ from the Backs, but being eaten is possible. What is poisonous to mammals is very often not so to other animals - e.g. slugs can eat Amanita phalloides. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Aconite woes
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Aconite woes
In article ,
Spider wrote: A few years back, I ordered some WA from a mail order supplier. Soon after, I had to ring them to complain about a strange densely black fungus on them. I was told this was some sort of 'soot' mould peculiar to WA. I was advised to water them with a mild detergent solution and all would be well. I picked off some of the worst bits, then treated them with Fairy Liquid (yes, this was the specific brand named). Since then all has been well and I have both mature flowering plants and lots of seedlings. I am wondering, therefore, if you remember seeing anything unusual on your plants? No, they are absolutely clean. Well, almost. One option is to water them with a solution of FL just to be on the safe side. Another option is to give them a weak tomato feed to help them build up to flowering size. That's an idea, but I am afraid that the drying out theory makes a lot of sense. My soil is 60% sand, and it can get very dry in late spring. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Aconite woes
On 27/02/2012 18:31, Spider wrote:
On 26/02/2012 15:44, wrote: I have an area with bulbs etc. in, and everything is doing adequately or better, except the aconites. There are usually plenty of seedlings but the number of mature (hence flowering) corms is gradually dropping. This isn't actually under trees, but doesn't get all that much sun until May, and they aren't mown until they die down. What do they like that anemones, snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, bluebells and Puschkinia don't mind not having? Regards, Nick Maclaren. Winter Aconites can sometimes be mysteriously shy to 'take' in some gardens, in the same manner as Lily of the Valley. Really. I view Lily of the Valley as a borderline weed. I do grow the variagated cultivar deliberately. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Aconite woes
On 27/02/2012 23:37, Sacha wrote:
On 2012-02-27 22:37:50 +0000, Martin Brown said: On 27/02/2012 18:31, Spider wrote: Winter Aconites can sometimes be mysteriously shy to 'take' in some gardens, in the same manner as Lily of the Valley. Really. I view Lily of the Valley as a borderline weed. I do grow the variagated cultivar deliberately. Please go and stick your head in a bucket! ;-)) I cannot grow the darned thing wherever I've gardened and I love them! How strange. I really didn't think they were that tricky to grow! If they like the conditions the clumps just get bigger almost forever. (and out compete most weeds - dandelions excepted) I never do anything special to it. No fertiliser just pull out the odd weed seedling from time to time and otherwise leave it undisturbed. Maybe it thrives on neglect? I would hazard a guess that dappled shade and permanently damp but not wet clay soil is approximately what they want. Some get afternoon sun. -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Aconite woes
In article ,
Martin Brown wrote: On 27/02/2012 23:37, Sacha wrote: Winter Aconites can sometimes be mysteriously shy to 'take' in some gardens, in the same manner as Lily of the Valley. Really. I view Lily of the Valley as a borderline weed. I do grow the variagated cultivar deliberately. Please go and stick your head in a bucket! ;-)) I cannot grow the darned thing wherever I've gardened and I love them! How strange. I really didn't think they were that tricky to grow! If they like the conditions the clumps just get bigger almost forever. (and out compete most weeds - dandelions excepted) But only IF they like the conditions! There are lots of 'easy' plants I can't grow, because they can't take Cambridge rainfall on a sandy soil, and others for reasons I haven't identified. Incidentally, your Lily of the Valley evidently prefer my garden to yours - I can't keep them from spreading even in an enclosed bed and they can even take on a solid block of Vinca major that eliminates namby-pamby weeds like dandelions :-) I have got Cyclamen coum to establish a carpet, and it even out-competes most weeds - again, the conditions are the key. They are so extreme that few other plants can even survive :-) Lily of the Valley doesn't need extreme conditions, but it seems to dislike some conditions. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Aconite woes
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Aconite woes
On 28/02/2012 12:32, Spider wrote:
On 27/02/2012 22:37, Martin Brown wrote: On 27/02/2012 18:31, Spider wrote: On 26/02/2012 15:44, wrote: Winter Aconites can sometimes be mysteriously shy to 'take' in some gardens, in the same manner as Lily of the Valley. Really. I view Lily of the Valley as a borderline weed. I do grow the variagated cultivar deliberately. Yes, indeed, Martin. I know people who long to grow it and can't. I can and, whilst it isn't a problem yet, it's running a bit rampant in part of my woodland garden. If you're one of the people who can't grow it, it must be very frustrating to hear other people refer to it as a weed. Yes it is strange. I guess the plant knows what it likes and is incredibly fussy about where it will grow unless it happens to find exactly the right spot in which case it attempts world domination! -- Regards, Martin Brown |
Aconite woes
"Janet" wrote in message ... In article , says... Lily of the Valley doesn't need extreme conditions, but it seems to dislike some conditions. I have never been able to grow it (sob). I've bought it growing in pots; I've lifted it from established colonies with utmost care and minimal disturbance and it still turns up its nose and toes. At our last place, a neighbout just a mile away had it growing like a weed but it still wouldn't take for me. Janet We once had an established clump, a square of which I removed in order to locate a fence post, I put some in pots and they made pot full's in no time, not realizing how lucky I was I sold them, over the next couple of years my previously rampant patch dwindled and went. and I have never persuaded it to grow again. -- Charlie, Gardening in Cornwall Holders of National Collections of Clematis viticella and Lapageria rosea cvs http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk |
Aconite woes
"Sacha" wrote in message ... On 2012-02-28 09:58:20 +0000, Martin Brown said: On 27/02/2012 23:37, Sacha wrote: On 2012-02-27 22:37:50 +0000, Martin Brown said: On 27/02/2012 18:31, Spider wrote: Winter Aconites can sometimes be mysteriously shy to 'take' in some gardens, in the same manner as Lily of the Valley. Really. I view Lily of the Valley as a borderline weed. I do grow the variagated cultivar deliberately. Please go and stick your head in a bucket! ;-)) I cannot grow the darned thing wherever I've gardened and I love them! How strange. I really didn't think they were that tricky to grow! If they like the conditions the clumps just get bigger almost forever. (and out compete most weeds - dandelions excepted) I never do anything special to it. No fertiliser just pull out the odd weed seedling from time to time and otherwise leave it undisturbed. Maybe it thrives on neglect? I would hazard a guess that dappled shade and permanently damp but not wet clay soil is approximately what they want. Some get afternoon sun. I've tried them in four different gardens with no success. I've actually got to the point of wondering if there's something in my skin that acts as a lotv killer!! -- Sacha Lilly of the Valley? A weed to anybody else? Kindest possible regards Mike -- .................................... I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight. .................................... |
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