I know what you're thinking. There's nothing to it! They easily and happily return each year.
What you may not know, however, is that if there were a group for Aggressive Weeder's Anonymous, I would join. No intervention would be required. I know I weed a little too aggressively.
I have weeded out all my echinacea, and have had to buy more. :(
I have weeded out all my coreopsis, and have had to buy more. :(
Whenever a perennial plant doesn't return, I wonder if I have weeded it out. (Of course, I have also weeded out a lot of weeds!)
This year, I tried very hard to leave a few plants that looked suspiciously like weeds to me, in the hope that they weren't actually weeds. Well, it paid off! Some of those weed-look-alikes were, in fact, coreopsis. My quest for finding coreopsis the second year was finally successful!
 |
| Coreopsis |
Look at all the sweet, sunny, yellow blooms! Coreopsis! Proof positive that I am becoming rehabilitated. Let the quest for echinacea begin!
Coreopsis is such a pretty plant, glad you didn't weed them out.
ReplyDeleteI am, too! It was thrilling to see that it really was coreopsis, instead of a weed!
DeleteSome of them are more recognizable I think. I have Zagreb here and Moonbeam. The Zagreb is clumping and much easier to differentiate from the weeds. Glad you left some for those Buckeyes. They look pretty perched on the yellow blooms.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first Buckeye I've seen this year. I think the butterflies are just as confused as the rest of us about when spring will finally stick around!
DeleteI've left more 'might be something' weeds than I've pulled up good plants.
ReplyDeleteMy coreopsis is just starting to bloom. Seeds last year, took a year to get blossoms.
There's a little coreopsis that blooms on the roadsides here, pretty.
I've seen coreopsis on the side of the roads here, too. I guess there's not an aggressive weeder living there! How exciting for you to have your coreopsis from seed finally blooming!
DeleteWell---it's easy to weed out some good plants along with the weeds... We've all done it!!!! Guess we're all members of Weeders Anonymous!!!!!! ha
ReplyDeleteI was trimming some dead branches from my big Rhododendron bush recently... Each time I would check carefully (so I thought) --but each time, I cut the wrong place --and not only cut out some dead branches--but also some good ones. I was so mad at myself that I finally just QUIT.....
Let's all keep on plugging.
Hugs,
Betsy
Besty, I made the same mistake - to one of my biggest roses! :( I guess we all learn from our mistakes.
DeleteOh, too funny! I am quite the opposite kind of gardener - I usually find out that I have been lovingly nurturing nothing but weeds! (There was an infamous incident in which I proudly grew a giant ragweed, which my husband is very allergic to!) Coreopsis plants do look rather weedy when small, though so pretty in bloom. I'm glad some survived your weeding compulsion!
ReplyDeleteI have so many weeds here, I sometimes have to remember that I do have other things planted! But, it's frustrating to have a weed grow to a good size before I realize it's just a weed!
DeleteIt's a beacon of sunshine in your garden! My husband is the one who seems to weed out the perennials. We used to have Phlox and Monarda, but he pulled them out. I guess I can understand that, because the foliage of both looks kind of "weedy." But it's too bad to lose those beautiful blooms. I'm glad your Coreopsis are making a repeat performance!
ReplyDeleteI understand your husband pulling all of them out. I think I also pulled out all the monarda I had, but it was several years ago, and didn't I realize it was *I* that was the problem!
DeleteIt's very hard to judge if something is a weed or not sometimes, but your Coreopsis is lovely so it's great that you left it alone. I'm guilty of pulling every little 'weed' up, unless it looks very similar to the parent plant when small.
ReplyDeleteI hope I have learned my lesson, and will remember next spring not to pull them all up!
DeleteWell done! It's not always easy to leave little seedlings popping up, all virtually looking the same, it can be tricky knowing which ones are weeds and which ones are desirable.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder sometimes, through the years if I have inadvertently weeded out some rare or unusual plant that has sprouted somewhere and which I classified just as another weed, hmmmm....
Oh, I hope not, but I guess we'll never know. Almost makes you want to have every little weed pop up until compete identification!
DeleteI have broken myself of "weed" pulling too soon. Fortunately, my Coreopsis kept a slight bit of it`s foiliage to protect itself, I suppose!
ReplyDeleteIt's a hard habit to break! Congratulations on breaking it. Maybe I'm finally learning!
DeleteWell guess this was a good year for you then. A learned moment, be careful to leave some weeds each year. :)
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Yes, I'll have to start leaving more and more "weeds"! I wonder what other flowers I have been weeding out!
DeleteWhen I do my final weedings in Autumn, I leave a couple inches when cutting down perennial plants. That way I know when the green shoots start to arise among the short browned stems, it is probably something meant to be! It has taken many years for me to recognize the leaves of the emerging plants I intend to be there, so this helps with any new perennials I've planted. Oh and those pesky labels help too - the ones that never stay put! As always, I adore your close up photos!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually cut down perennials in autumn, just so I'll know to leave whatever is there under the dead sticks the next spring. But, for some reason, coreopsis just seems to completely disappear in my garden. Or, maybe the critters around here remove the stems!
DeleteLOL! Oh, Holly, don't you just hate when that happens? Congratulations on your coreopsis! My husband pulled some of my daylilies last year and this year he pulled some columbine. One year, I yanked half of my bee balm before I realized what it was! Sometimes it's very hard to tell the difference, especially with natives. There are just so many awful weeds to fend off. I'm not sure that we can afford to not be aggressive!
ReplyDeleteYou are right - there are so many weeds, I don't feel like i would ever get them pulled if I didn't pull them immediately.
DeleteBy the way, I can not comment on your blog because I have to comment through Google plus, and it and I are in the middle of a squabble right now. Is there any way you can change your blog to accept other ways of commenting?
I'm so glad your Coreopsis came up...it's so bright and cheery! I think aggressive weeding is why I never see some of the seeds I plant. I'm not sure what to look for and I think I hula-hoe them out. This year I decided to leave everything I'm not sure of to see what it is. There are currently several things out there on the "wait and see" list.
ReplyDeleteI hope all of the ones on your 'wait and see' list turn out to be something spectacular! Or else, you find out they are a weed soon so you can get them out of there! :)
Deletedear Holley, shall we start a self help group and called Aggressive Weeders Anonymous (AWA)? Congrats on managing to overcome the urge. Good luck with the echinacea quest!
ReplyDeleteYes! My name is Holley, and I am an aggressive weeder! ;)
DeleteInstead of feeling sad for you since you are thinking of joining AWA, I was laughing :-)..hahahhaha...:-). The trick that I apply is leave the plants out if I don't recognize them, but keep on memorizing them so that I know which ones are weeds in the next spring. I am glad you are rehabilitated :-)..sending some magical spell -- echinecia here you go -- on your way :-).
ReplyDeleteLovely flowers. I am wondering the temperature difference between your place and mine! Wow! coreopsis will not flower until summer comes.
I have ordered more echinacea, but it hasn't arrived yet. I hope it does soon! And yes, about the time everyone's gardens begin to look beautiful in the summer, we are so hot here, mine looks weary and tired.
DeleteMy husband belongs to AWA. I walk him around the garden periodically, pointing out seedlings to Leave Alone!
ReplyDeleteI can wait a bit to pull out a plant. If it's not what I thought it was (zinnia, cosmos, cardinal climber) then I take it out.
haha - I need someone to walk ME around the garden, telling me what to leave alone! :)
DeleteI have been seeing those a lot lately, very tolerant to heat..which means a great deal down here.
ReplyDeleteThey won't bloom all summer here, but they are so sweet and pretty when they do bloom, they're worth having. Anything that can take our heat and live again gets an 'A'!
DeleteI am also an aggressive weeder / mulcher in spring. I got rid of all the self seeded flowering tobacco seedlings and then had to buy more when I realized I had none coming up. I do okay with the yellow coreopsis, though, they come back every year so I am apparently not pulling them out. They are such a happy yellow, I'm glad you got yours back.
ReplyDeleteGlad you know what coreopsis looks like, and that you don't weed them out. Maybe in another year or two I will know what they look like, too, and won't have to leave some weeds just to have some coreopsis!
DeleteI normally land on the other side (I often let a volunteer plant that I can't identify grow until it flowers or proves itself a nuisance, just in case it proves to be interesting), but I still don't have coreopsis return very dependably...I've got a clump of Moonbeam that has survived and that I protect from neighbors at all costs, and I've got a tall tickseed whose name escapes me that returns...but all the "fancy" reds just die out on me.
ReplyDeleteI guess the fancy ones just aren't survivors like the little yellow ones are. Too bad, because they sound just beautiful.
DeleteThere is a standing joke in our garden between Mr TG & I about disappearing 'weeds'. A few years back I bought a packet of Poached Egg seeds, having lovingly sown them all together I left them with nature to do their thing. MR TG assumed (he's since been trained AND leashed in the garden) that anything teeny, tiny was a weed...even though they were all together...he yanked the lot up!!
ReplyDeleteI hope ou find all your 'weeds' :-)
That made me laugh! I would have probably done the same thing. He must be a very good weeder to have weeded them *all* out! I hope you had a few seeds left to try again.
DeleteThat made me smile ! I have done exactly the same with Monarda which looks JUST like a weed when it is first emerging ! I need to join AWA too ! I carefully grubbed it all up last year, in early Spring, then wondered whu it wasn't growing, and only realised my mistake when I went to a nursery to rebuy it and saw it in its juvenile form, and recognised the 'weed' I had dug out !!
ReplyDeleteI have no monarda in my garden just because of that! Welcome to the AWA group! :)
DeleteI have occasionally weeded out plants that were actually ornamentals, but that hasn't happened with coreopsis. What has happened is that the cultivars I really like, the ones with a maroon ring in the flower, frequently don't come back the second year.
ReplyDeleteOf course it would be the ones you really, really like!
DeleteHolly, Your post reminded me that I am still waiting to find out where I planted a plant I bought in Feb, 'Agrostemma gitano.' I had forgotten that I ever bought such a plant and couldn't even remember what it's supposed to look like. I had to Google it, but I had noted on my Feb plant calendar that I bought it, and I assume I planted it..somewhere! There is a great big plant (or weed) coming up in one of the flower beds and I'm hoping it's that plant. Your coreopsis looks so happy. I have coreopsis 'Jethro Tull' somewhere out there!
ReplyDeleteI hope you find your plant! That sounds like me! I often forget where I put a plant - and plant something right on top of it!
DeleteWell, I've never weeded a perennial out of the garden but I've lost a lot of volunteers that would have been nice or should have been shared!
ReplyDeleteYou make a good point about sharing the ones that are not wanted. Maybe one day I'll have enough to share!
DeleteI absolutely love coreopsis! They are just so care free and reliable but I must admit I transplanted mine last year and I totally killed them. I have no idea what in the world happened. They were flourishing and then all of a sudden they turned brown and flopped! I am so glad yours are greeting you again this season...thinking I am going to pick up some more!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry yours didn't take the transplant well. I hope they return anyway. Just in case, though, you should really pick up some more! ;)
DeleteOh I know that problem...I leave things too now until I know if it is a weed or flower and I have gotten better at identifying most of my flowers.
ReplyDeleteI have started looking more at the foliage of things now instead of just the blooms. So many look quite weedy!
DeleteI don't know about coreopsis because I didn't plant the free seeds I got last fall when they were supposed to be planted but I have been playing with the echinacea seeds so I know about them from observation. They take a LONG time to come up. Even after some have sprouted up 5 inches, others around them will just barely be peeking out of the ground so, yes, it would be very easy to weed them if you hadn't been paying attention to leaf structure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your observations. I have wondered about echinaceas. I think their being so slow to come up just makes me feel like it's a weed that blew in, instead of something planted on purpose!
DeleteI tend to grow my echinacea seeds in pots so that I can watch them carefully. This spring I planted some called Magnus Superior in 4 different little quart landscaper pots. In the last month, a whopping 3 of them have sprouted...
DeleteI just ordered a new echinacea to put out in the garden. Putting them in containers would be smart. Of course, I'm really, really bad about forgetting to water my container plantings, so I'll probably stick it out in the ground. But maybe I should put something beside it so I will remember next year not to pull it up!
DeleteI had to smile, as I am a very lazy gardener, and particular here in a new garden I tend to leave everything until I am sure what it is! Glad you got your coreopsis back, a very happy colour to have in the garden.
ReplyDeleteI really am loving the coreopsis. What's so funny is that I am now seeing them all along the roadsides! Such an easy plant, and I went to such trouble to make sure it came back in my garden!
Delete