Posted on May 10, 2020 9:08 AMRemember Those Perennials I Didn't Know Would Return?
I was worried about plants that I hadn't seen come back yet. I've seen new growth on several of them!
- Red-Osier Dogwood, Cornus sericea. I bought one plant in 2019, put it in the ground, and it seemed to be doing OK. But in January, deer (presumably) ate the stems down to the snow, leaving a couple of inches above the ground. I wasn't sure it would survive; but on Tuesday, May 5th, I noticed some new leaves growing on it!
- White Prairie Clover, Dalea candida. New growth seen on May 5th.
- Purple Prairie Clover, Dalea purpurea. Came back on May 5th.
- Dwarf Joe-Pye Weed, Eutrochium dubium "Phantom". This is a plant I purchased at a Bachman's garden center in 2019, they call it eupatorim hybrid 'Phantom.' The bees loved it last summer, but the stems have been dead and doing nothing this year. On May 8th, I saw new growth emerge at the base, between the roots: purple buds coming up from underground.
- Switch grass, Panicum virgatum. New green blades are present.
- Little Blue-stem, Schizachyrium scoparium. This also has new blades present.
It is very reassuring to see this happen. While these are all Minnesota-native plants, I wasn't exactly sure how they would return, or if things like "being eaten by deer" were fatal.
I may try to do more weeding today, but it rained last night; it might be better to blowtorch the weeks in the cracks of the sidewalk, while everything is wet!
Incidentally, I'm going to try to maintain this blog by making posts on weekends. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
