Hardy annuals and biennials
"Martin Sykes" wrote in message ... If a hardy annual or biennial doesn't die off naturally after flowering then is there any good reason why I should dig it up instead of leaving it in place to flower next year? Martin 'Experiments' have taken place in our garden over many years on this one. I say experiments cos actually it's because I can't bear to pull up anything that is still flowering in autumn, and then I leave it there in the winter to remind me where I can plant next year. In this way many annuals/biennials have been given the full life that nature intended :-) And the surprising one for me was antirrhinums - no amount of wind, snow or permafrost can make these the 'annual' they are supposed to be. I trim them back medium hard in the spring and off they go again. I've had some on the go for four years now. Wallflowers are another - as long as they get a trim to stop them getting leggy, they seem to do well year after year. Oh and I did notice that my Brompton Stocks have pulled through thus far and are even budding up! A couple of years ago I saw some in a garden in bloom in March and thought 'Hah they must have been early plants in the green house' but now I realise that they *could* just have been left to their own devices over winter. Try some and see - if they don't make it you can pull them up in the spring - or watch as the birds use the strawey remains for nest building :-) --A |
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