Reddit mentions: The best perennial gardening books

Thank you very much. African violets can bloom constantly if given the right conditions but I would guess mine bloom every other month. I'm not an expert but I try to get them to bloom often. When they bloom the flowers can last several weeks as well, making them very desirable.

I sometimes rotate mine from my growing area, to my dining table when they bloom, where the lightning is less perfect for them. The right amount of light is crucial to AVs to help them bloom, but I like showing them off and having them in the rest of the house is nice. This way they bloom in my growing area, and then in the rest of my house the blooms fade while I show them off.

About separating them, I'm not sure if you mean offshoot crowns, or multiple plants growing from a leaf. For offshoot crowns, I actually only have one that does that, which I received as a gift very recently, just a few months ago. I decided to take the offshoot and try and plant it as its own plant, so I'll see how that goes.

For multiple plants coming off a leaf you've planted, yes I separate them, once they are sizeable and easy to handle. To me an African violet should have a single crown, otherwise it looks messy.

I also have cut old 'stalky' plants shorter and replanted them with success. I have two plants I did this to just a week or two ago, which are recovering nicely.

For watering, you can easily add your fertilizer to the water you soak your plants in. I would recommend occasionally, maybe 1 in 5 waterings, to use plain unfertilized water. This will help eliminate too much build up of fertilizer. The issue you may have is you're soaking the plant in a large amount of water, you should mix your fertilizer into the water based on that volume. Meaning you'll use/waste more fertilizer faster.

But ultimately for me, a smaller dosage than the recommended amount of fertilizer is more effective for me. I also water from the top with fertilizer mixed in, and occasionally just use plain water.

Edit: also everything I learned about African violets, I learned from this book by Tony Clements.

Maybe we just need a closer picture. I would say do it in sections and when you weed it, plant more low maintenance flowers that go with the style that is there now. Echinacea, rudbeckia, golden alexanders, alliums, columbines and phlox would all look great there. Prairie plants will suffocate weeds after a few years. This book is the best I've read on low maintenance landscaping: Know Maintenance Perennial Gardening and it's got great recommendations for the midwest. You will still need to do some weeding (and probably a lot to begin with) but if you get a dutch hoe like he recommends it doesn't take long and I personally enjoy it. You have a great start already with some healthy looking flowers there already. Mixing in some tall grasses can be cool if you just want to take up some space. Wild geraniums would look awesome on the front border.

https://www.amazon.com/Perennials-Time-Life-Complete-Gardener/dp/0783541007


Time life has a great series. Honestly they Are so cheap you can't go wrong. Selection guide, a little botany, planting guides, trouble shooting, gorgeous inspirational photos, "encyclopedia" section. Geoff hamiltons the organic garden book has been a favorite of mine for years. Covers soil, pests, weeds, garden plans. It covers flowers but not a whole lot on herbs. Also the complete book of herbs by Lesley bremness. Finally there's a series by ortho called "all about...". I have the perennials one. There's also an herb one, one on annuals, one on vines, one on bulbs, etc. These are prob all "dirt cheap" on amazon. Good places to start your gardening library. It's nice to have different ones for different ideas and photos, but I think you'll like these and so does my engineer hubby! Enjoy!

Annuals are quick, colorful, prolific, and cheap if you start from seed. But you're just as likely to get weeds. Annual beds at public gardens can be gorgeous, but they've probably grown each individually and refreshed the bed for each planting. Some annuals might not last for the entire season, and some won't flower until late in the season; this can make annual beds seem messy or unkempt. Annuals tend to need more water than perennials. Also, I don't know about 6a, but in 8a I need two sets of annuals per year, warm-weather and cold-weather (violas, kale).

For perennials, I highly recommend The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, by Roy Diblik. IMO this is the book that best describes how to achieve a low-maintenance perennial garden full of interest year-round. Diblik worked with Piet Oudolf (Chicago's Lurie, NYC's High Line, etc.), and IMO this book is more practical than any of the books by Oudolf or Kingsbury. He's not that far from you (southeast Wisconsin), so his plant recommendations should be spot on, and the book has a variety of plans.

Cost may be an issue for a perennial bed of that size; perennials are expensive and in my experience can be difficult to start from seed. Consider starting with a smaller area and propagating using your existing perennials as you expand each year.

Before importing garden soil that may introduce new weeds, consider whether your existing soil may be sufficient. My yard's soil turned out to be ideal for native plants; when I incorporated compost or other amendments they weren't as happy (or in some cases, got too happy). YMMV. I do need amendments for non-natives, though.

ATM I have a small (32 sq ft), highly visible bed reserved for annuals that I grow individually and can vary yearly. This year I'll start testing a few beds of reseeding annuals in less prominent locations. I'm slowly incorporating perennials, but unfortunately DFW is far enough south that Diblik's plant recommendations, and consequently, his plans, don't work for me. The principles are still valid and I've been trying to figure out how to apply them here, but it's been a slow process of trial and error.

Most of the information that I have found is in books. Some of the books are out of print and quite expensive. I enjoyed this book and the used copies are quite reasonable.

There is also a bromeliad society website and newsletter that you may want to check out.

I have probably 6 different species of bromeliads in my atrium- most of them I have been given by some friends who used to grow them for the San Diego Zoo.

Two very popular and highly recommended books. Check out the amazon reviews.

Teeming with Microbes to learn about the soil food web: http://www.amazon.com/Teaming-Microbes-Organic-Gardeners-Revised/dp/1604691131

The Well Tended Perennial Garden for ornamental gardening: http://www.amazon.com/The-Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Techniques/dp/0881928038

Cutting them back periodically through July keeps a more compact form. Find a good garden maintenance book like: The Well-Tended Perennial Garden by DiSabato-Aust. https://www.amazon.com/Well-Tended-Perennial-Garden-Planting-Techniques/dp/0881928038
Her book teaches a lot about things just like this.

Very lovely, if you want that look you better learn to propagate plants or you're going to be spending a few boatloads of cash for it. Learn what is native to your area and plant that, that's what they did here. There are a bunch of plants here I recognize from the book 'Know Maintenance Perennial Garden' which I recommend (somewhat Illinois/midwest specific but maybe not too bad)

The author's name is Christopher Lloyd:https://www.amazon.com/Meadows-Christopher-Lloyd/dp/0881926280/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1479219310&sr=8-11&keywords=christopher+lloyd+books