Plant Cultures

Article © 2001 Don Engebretson, All Rights Reserved.

Any hobby capable of enchanting one for a lifetime does so through slowly revealed intricacies. A fly-fishing fanatic starts out buying exotic flies from austere catalogues then evolves to tying his own flies with exotic feathers bought from even more austere catalogues. A golfer can hone her skills for 10 years without lowering her score then hear one tip concerning her chin that cuts three strokes from her game.

So it is in gardening. Learning plant culture-what conditions a plant likes to grow in-plays a big part in becoming a better gardener. What hooks us in this hobby is that within this topic lie thousands of intricacies. No gardener will ever know them all, but the best place to start is by learning the cultural nuances of each plant you grow. These include sun/shade requirements, soil pH and soil structure particulars, and how much (or little) water the plants need. Let's start by focusing in on perennials.

Remember, the plants don't read the books. I don't have full sun anywhere on my property. The most I get is four hours in one bed. So I grow shade perennials, plus experiment with plants listed as full sun just to see if there is a spot in my yard they like. If it does well and blooms (tall phlox), it becomes my little secret. If not (achillea), then it really does need full sun.

When it comes to watering, a good starting point is the age-old axiom that most perennials feel good with an inch of water per week. It's a nice general rule to remember, but it's not without its nuances. Splash a hose across a rain gauge and you'll fill it an inch in less than a second. So can we water our plants a few seconds at a time? Of course not. An inch of rain may come down over your entire yard in the course of a week during two or three hard storms. Or it might take a month. When the rain gauge (set out in an open area, preferably four or more feet above ground) registers an inch, that's a true inch of water.

One inch will seep down eight to ten inches into properly prepared, well-drained soil. To duplicate this in the garden with a hose and watering wand one needs to water a good fifteen seconds around the base of a tomato plant or medium-sized perennial (and even that broad statement depends on your soil type).
Now all you need to learn to move up one rung as a better gardener is which plants in your garden exist outside this rule. Here are the ones from my garden:

Campanula glomerata (Bellflower) - One of my favorite perennials, but one of the first to drown from excessive moisture. Pick up the pace a bit when watering around them. It is lsited as needing full sun, but I've learned it blooms beautifully with only four hours of sun per day. BUT-we were going to learn nuances, remember?-the four hours are midday sun, the hottest it gets. Four hours of sun from two in the afternoon to suppertime, and they wouldn't bloom enough to bother growing.

Astilbe (False Spirea) - Here's the opposite, from a watering standpoint. Astilbes are in vogue right now, which means new owners are killing them like mad. They need much more than an inch of water per week, even in the shade; plunk them down in full sun (which you shouldn't do) and you'll need to water them every three days or they'll shrivel and die by fall.

Liatris (Gay-Feather) - A little of both here. Will welcome ample moisture during the growing season but ease up on the watering in late fall and early spring or the corm will rot. Needs at minimum four hours of midday sun. Must winter in sandy loam.

Baptisia australis - I almost gave up. Bought a healthy specimen, and even after four years, lvaish growth, but no bloom. Then the grower mentioned it doesn't mind a neutral-to-alkaline soil pH, say around 7.5. Well, my pH is 6.5 all around my yard. So I did something I never thought I'd do: I added lime around the plant, in the fall. Next spring, bingo, full bloom.

Iris - I only water bearded iris every other time, as they are prone to moisture rot. Truth is, they're quite drought tolerant. Siberians, on the other hand, welcome ample moisture prior to blooming, then around half an inch per week after bloom. Again, to grow irises successfully, you should incorporate sharp sand into the soil. You must not plant the rhizome too deep-the top should be visible when you plant bearded varieties-and they will bloom but disappoint without four peak hours of sun.

Ligularia (Golden Ray) - Will thrive in a bog, so what does that tell you? A fabulous yellow spiked bloom that your neighbor doesn't have. My favorite, "The Rocket," blooms best with morning sun and afternoon shade. It wilts in hot sun but keep the soil evenly moist and it's fine.

Aconitum (Monkshood) - Treat it as you do ligularia and astilbes. Plenty of moisture (too much is difficult to do, unless the soil is heavy clay) but even then it will not last to its mid-August date with blooming if it gets too much sun. Dappled shade is best.

Hot Peppers - Even though a vegetable, I threw this in because it's a neat culture trick. The secret to boosting potency in hot peppers is to let the soil dry out completely between waterings, and I mean to the point of surface cracking and early wilt. Think about the climate they're native to and it starts making sense.

And that's it. All the rest-95% of my garden-gets an inch of water per week. OK, I skipped over groundcovers, and azaleas and rhododendrons deserve a separate column, but for the most part it's that simple. If I have five minutes to kill waiting for my son to find his baseball glove before we head to the basllpark, I'll flip on the hose and water the astilbe and ligularia, maybe the bleeding heart and aconitum while I'm at it. I'm careful not to hit the bellflower too hard, etc.

What are the intricacies to watering your garden? It's not difficult to find out. Buy from good growers who spend time with you at the nursery, discussing plant culture. Read books and tool around the Internet. And above all, experiment with plants, move them, trade them, love them, and banish them. Find out what likes to grow in your yard, and you'll know why. We call it gardening, and it's a riot.

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