Floppy Lavendar & Floppy Yarrow

[ninnymary]

For years some of my flowers have flopped over. I thought it was my poor sandy soil. This year I had my soil tested and amended.

My yarrow still gets floppy and I have to put plant stakes around it to keep it upright. I gave up on my "Provence" lavendar because it used to flop over right to the ground. This year I planted "Hidote" since it's shorter. We'll see how this one does.

Why do these plants flop over? I see many in my area where people don't seem to have this problem.

Mary

 

[lesa]

It could be a wind issue. If you have tall plants out in the open, they are going to flop in certain conditions. A more protected area usually helps- but not always. Heavy rain and wind will knock down the best of them...If your yarrow is full enough, you might try putting a little cage around it, early in the spring. By the time it blooms, the foliage will cover the cage. I do this with my peony plants. Good luck!

 

[hoodat]

For years some of my flowers have flopped over. I thought it was my poor sandy soil. This year I had my soil tested and amended.

My yarrow still gets floppy and I have to put plant stakes around it to keep it upright. I gave up on my "Provence" lavendar because it used to flop over right to the ground. This year I planted "Hidote" since it's shorter. We'll see how this one does.

Why do these plants flop over? I see many in my area where people don't seem to have this problem.

Mary

Possibly you are using a fertilizer that is too high in nitrogen. That will promote a lot of soft growth. Yarrows are odd in that they prefer poor sandy soil and not much water. Basically a yarrow is still a wild plant although they have been bred to show more colors than they do in nature. Lavender likes a little more water than yarrow but doesn't need a lot of fertilizer.

 

[curly_kate]

My yarrow always gets floppy after a while. I just thought it was the way the plant grows.

 

[patandchickens]

Some yarrows just *do* flop badly, especially (IME) the yellow ones.

Lavender does not normally flop though. If it is truly flopping i.e. weak stems throughout their length, that's usually too high nutrient levels in the soil (lavender, and yarrow too, do best in really rather poor lean soil); if the stems are of normal strength but they keel over from the soil, there may be too much soil moisture (or too-damp mulch) that is encouraging softening due to rot.

DOes any of that ring a bell?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ninnymary]

Well, my soil was poor and sandy prior to this year. So you would think they would be happy and doing great.

It's not that windy here and they are in full sun. I don't really fertilize. This year I did add compost. But like I said prior to that I really didn't do anything.

Yes, the flowering stems do fall throughout the stem. I know that they like drier conditions so I don't water them that much.

Can't figure it out. Because like I said, no one around here has that problem!. :/

Mary

 

[ducks4you]

My strawberry yallow is kinda floppy but it's planted right against the west side of my garage. It doesn't get a direct north-south or south-north wind, and a west wind doesn't knock it over. I'm agreeing with the wind theory. We have had just plain WICKED winds this spring!!

 

[cwhit590]

I've had the pink-flowering yarrow before, and it always flopped over when it started blooming. It spread like crazy too...so we just replaced it with nicer looking stuff instead.

I dunno if it would work with the yarrow, but with the lavender you could try pruning it as it grows to promote branching and sturdier growth...thats what I do with some of my plants that tend to get big and floppy...

 

[ninnymary]

Hi cwhit590...It's nice to see you back. Haven't heard from you in a long time. I also have the pink yarrow and it also flops. I'm always afraid to touch my lavendar once it starts growing. Maybe the Hidote will be better.

I just hate staking. I really don't have that many plant stakes so they are not as upright and contained as I'd like them to be. I hate spending more money on more stakes. They are just too expensive and I don't really like them. Even when the plant is fully grown, you can still see them.

Mary

 

[cwhit590]

Hi cwhit590...It's nice to see you back. Haven't heard from you in a long time. I also have the pink yarrow and it also flops. I'm always afraid to touch my lavendar once it starts growing. Maybe the Hidote will be better.

I just hate staking. I really don't have that many plant stakes so they are not as upright and contained as I'd like them to be. I hate spending more money on more stakes. They are just too expensive and I don't really like them. Even when the plant is fully grown, you can still see them.

Mary

Good to be back...just had a very busy spring!

Yeah...that pink yarrow....I dunno if there will be much hope. :/ Mine ALWAYS flopped every year once the flower heads started opening up. The stems just weren't strong enough to hold the flowers up. I guess it flopped the least when we didn't have a lot of rain (or overhead watering from sprinklers) at bloom time.

My plants spread like crazy and they flopped so much that I just had to get rid of them. They looked so weedy.

If you really like yours, I guess I would try "starting over"....by ripping out the entire clump and replanting a small division (or a few depending on how big the area was). Usually with that type of yarrow the younger plants are more vigorous, and hopefully the next year's stalks would be sturdier....

If you like yarrow and want to try a different kind, I would recommend the 'Moonshine' or 'Moonbeam' type. They have yellow flowers and silvery leaves. In my experience the stems are MUCH sturdier on those. The flowers also dry well too if you're into that...

I think the Hidcote lavender should be fine...at least out east here they seem to be pretty compact....don't think you should have a problem with flopping.

I don't like staking much either....I usually have to stake my hollyhocks, but other than that, I try to trim/prune my bigger perennials to avoid staking.