Last June, I started my “Prune in June” series covering perennials I cut or pinched back in June to control the ultimate height and/or look of said perennials. June has come and gone already, but I logged my cutting back of these same perennials to once again closely analyze the results.
Today, we are talking Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ but my guess is this same approach can be applied to other upright Sedum cultivars.
As a recap, here is what a pinched plant looked like by late Summer:
And a photo of an unpinched one:
A pinched plant in October:
And again, an un-pinched plant at that same time:
As you can see, the pinched plant bloomed later (by about 1 – 2 weeks) and provided extended color deeper into the Fall. That works for me.
The number of blooms on each stem was also greater on the pinched back plant which gave the Sedum a “fuller” look. Again, a win.
So for 2013, I pinched back each and every bud on each and every Sedum ‘Autumn Fire’ plant. Here is how they looked pre-pinching:
And how they now look post-pinching:
As I did last year, I’ll be tracking the results throughout the Summer/Fall. This is life changing info we all need and I am here to provide just that for you.
You are most welcome.
John
A little over two years ago I vowed, on this blog, to get rid of all my Geranium Brookside.
At that point, they had resided in my garden for a few years and I wasn’t the least bit impressed. Even in full bloom, they looked messy and out of control; and not in a cottage garden like good way.
Needless to say, I didn’t have the cajones to ditch them. Instead, I followed my mantra of “If at first they don’t succeed, just move ’em somewhere else”. And two years later, I’m glad I didn’t heave them on to the compost pile. I’m still not necessarily sold on them, but let’s say they are trending in a more positive light.
I was further inspired to keep the faith last year, when I read the results from the Fine Gardening geranium trials at the Chicago Botanic Garden. They received a 4 star rating with outstanding flower production. OK, maybe I need to stay patient and let this all play out.
So let’s look back on last year.
I really like how Geranium Brookside looks in its early stages in mid spring. Nice compact foliage:
And here they are in full bloom:
Not too bad, especially now that they are in a location where they can spread their wings a bit and spill over on to other plants. A much better fit.
I even noticed more bee traffic in this new locale:
They still look a bit ragged when their initial bloom is complete:
So cutting back hard after that bloom period is an absolute must. And to their credit, they bounce back nicely in only a few weeks:
And fit in quietly amongst all the other perennials, shrubs and grasses:
I will tell you, contrary to what I’ve read online, I have never witnessed any reblooming after the heavy shearing. But I am also holding out hope that this will happen one of these years.
The fall color on Geranium Brookside is pretty solid, but does vary quite a bit year to year. Here is how they looked last year:
And soon after, they fell apart, but that’s OK, we’ve all moved on by that point:
And there you have it. Decent but not overwhelmingly eye catching.
I will leave them in their current location again this year and monitor the results … because that is how this guy rolls.
Before I go, here are some quick bits of info on Geranium Brookside:
Anyone else have experiences they are willing to share on this plant?
Do tell.
John
And a bloom on one of the unpruned plants (as of today):
The difference may be subtle, but I’ll take any extended bloom color whenever I can get it.
Maybe I’ll do a double pinch back next year and analyze the results.
Is it June yet?
John
As compared to one of the unpinched sedums:
As you can see, the pinched ‘Autumn Fire’ has more blooms per stem which are smaller than the unpinched sedums.
Here is a shot of the entire pinched ‘Autumn Fire’:
And a photo of an unpinched one:
Obviously, the pinched sedum is “behind” the other two in terms of bloom time and that was expected. You can see that better in the photo below (pinched sedum is at the top):
So, what does it all mean? I’m not sure.
The pinching worked as expected but truthfully, I should have either pinched them all or left them all unpinched. They would look their best and have the greatest impact while all at the same stage of blooming.
However, I think I prefer the look of more but smaller bloom heads and I like the idea of potentially extending the sedum bloom season further into the fall, so I’m leaning towards pinching all of these in unison next summer.
A final evaluation to come in the next few weeks.
Thanks for following along.
John
And then cut back by half:
As of this past weekend, here is how they look upon beginning to bloom:
And as of this evening with even more blooms:
I would say they are at about three feet tall right now and were closer to four to five feet tall at this time in previous years. So far so good in terms of staying upright and they have even survived some major winds and rain the past week or so.
Of course, Boltonias bloom like mad and they are only about half way there in terms of reaching their full blooming potential … but I wanted to bask in the positivity for a while.
Hopefully the good news will roll into September.
John
Blooming has clearly been delayed and so far so good on how it is holding up and not flopping.
Of course, the real test is once the blooms explode in the next few weeks.
**Quick note: Please ignore the ugly legs on this one; they are actually covered by another plant but you cannot tell by this photo. Pinky swear.
Sneezeweed #2 – This one was pruned back in June naturally by some creature one night, so I left it alone as is. Ultimately, it was at the same size as #1 after it was pruned:
And how friggin wonderful it looks today:
This one clearly bloomed earlier than #1 and immediately collapsed under all of it’s bloomage. On the surface, this makes no sense when compared to #1.
But after some detective work, the roots of this one were inundated with water and it was more exposed to the huge rains and winds we’ve had the past few weeks.
This one will be relocated in the near future.
Sneezeweed #3 – This one was left untouched back in June with the thought being it would be sufficiently supported by its neighboring plants:
So far so good, as the blooms have appeared and it is still standing at attention:
As the blooms continue to multiply we’ll see if it still remains upright. Fingers are double crossed.
I’ll hold off on the final analysis for a few more weeks as this situation is still fluid.
Until then …
And looking damn good along side Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’:
But enough of the niceties, this is about pruning and science and crap.
As a recap, here is the new growth prior to it being pinched back in early June:
And then pinched:
And then the new buds breaking soon after:
And the blooms from those buds, as of today:
As you can see in the photo below, the pinched areas in the front, where the blooms are just now appearing, provide the planting with a layered look that I really dig:
This mass of Joe Pye Weed has always looked good and performed beautifully in the past, but now with this new layered look (seen best from the most common vantage point) I am loving it even more.
I’ll have some additional updates on my other pruned victims plants in the next few weeks so keep an eye out for them.
This stuff is fun, yo.
John
Couldn’t resist a quick update on my original post on pruning Joe Pye Weed.
When I pinched the growing tips back, I had mentioned that Tracy Disabato-Aust had stated that it would result in “5 breaks emerging from the stem” and guess what? Here they are:
The non pinched stems are just about ready to bloom so more to come on this front in an upcoming post.
Good times.
John
