Bad Or False Garden Advice

[Nyboy]

Over the years I am sure we have all been given advice about the garden that was just bad. I remember as a kid large peony brushes on our front lawn. My father dug them up and transplanted them to weekend house we had. The peonies never flowered there, my father claimed it took 7 years after being moved for peony to flower. I think it had more to do with him planting in heavy shade, Because of my fathers claim I always stayed away from planting peony. Another was touching the toads in garden would give me warts. What untrue advice did you get.

 

[Nyboy]

My dad also told me it was illegal to kill or hurt a Praying Mantis, I would go to jail.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My dad also told me it was illegal to kill or hurt a Praying Mantis, I would go to jail.

Probably to his jail!!!

 

[catjac1975]

My dad also told me it was illegal to kill or hurt a Praying Mantis, I would go to jail.

I heard that as a kid too.

 

[catjac1975]

Over the years I am sure we have all been given advice about the garden that was just bad. I remember as a kid large peony brushes on our front lawn. My father dug them up and transplanted them to weekend house we had. The peonies never flowered there, my father claimed it took 7 years after being moved for peony to flower. I think it had more to do with him planting in heavy shade, Because of my fathers claim I always stayed away from planting peony. Another was touching the toads in garden would give me warts. What untrue advice did you get.

A yellow peony I bought took around 8 years to bloom.Worth the wait. They do not take transplant all that well.

 

[thistlebloom]

The peony I have was one of a group that a co-worker dug up and split roots from. It bloomed 2 years after it sprouted. A lot of it has to do with the depth it's planted, not too deep. Or maybe that's another myth?

I do have a friend with several peonies that have remained small and have never bloomed. We dug some of them up and replanted, then she fertilized and a few responded with blooms. Who knows if it was the fertilizing or the replanting....

 

[Nyboy]

Now I think of peonies as a easy flower. I love them have 2 large brushes that where there when I bought country house, for years nothing was ever done to them yet they bloom like crazy every year

 

[digitS']

I have to cut Dad some slack. I do remember that there were many times that he would say, "Wait a minute, wait a minute!" That meant, "get outta the way, I'll do it." At least, that was how I understood it.

I've given bad gardening advice. About the worse has to be giving a whole group of gardeners in-person advice that by using cotton string for trellising, one could just cut the string, plants and all, and compost them. After several years (!), I still had string that I was transferring from one batch of compost to the next - waiting for it to compost!

While out moving some flats of plants around in the greenhouse this morning, I thought of advice I gave on orienting seedlings. It was from using a narrow shelf in a utility room for plants and I really didn't have much room to turn anything. I decided it was best just to leave them alone - let them grow in one direction. Nah! Sure, turning them after they had sat for a week at a time would tie them in knots but a 90° turn daily works much better for plant health.

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

Don't you hate it when you recommend something and it doesn't work. Or did for you and not them....

 

[Ridgerunner]

Last year I got four peony starts from Hank Chotkowski, known around here as the Peony Man. His peony garden is a tourist attraction for this area in season. This is an article from last year.

http://allthedirtongardening.blogspot.com/2014/05/chotkowski-gardens-annual-mothers-day.html

Talking to him he is adamant that peony have to be planted at the right depth, around an inch to the top of the roots. There are other things involved too. They need sunlight. They store up energy in the fall so they can bloom the next year.

Of the four I planted last year:

Highlight will not bloom this year

I expect to get one bloom from Peppermint

White Cap should give me two blooms.

Hit Parade will give me one.

I got some peony from a lady in California a couple of years ago. It did not produce any blooms last year, but I think I'll find out what the bloom looks like this year.

That's it for the photos. I got a second one from the California lady that did not bloom last year and will not this year. It looks pretty weak but at least it's growing. When we moved here in 2007 a peony was growing on the north side of the house, pretty much full shade. It lived but never bloomed. I finally got off my butt and moved It two years ago, splitting it to two different plants. Neither bloomed last year but one of them looks likes it will will this year, I'll finally get to see what color it is.

From talking with Hank and reading up on it some, how deep they are planted is very important and they need sunlight. Here six hours a day is enough but further north they may need 8 hours. Around here lightly fertilize them in June around the drip line, don't overdo it. if it is dry you may want to water them late in the year when they are producing energy for next years blooms. Occasional deep watering is better than constant watering. They need to be in well drained soil so they don't get waterlogged and rot.