Dear Helen: We cannot remember the name of some plants that have been in the garden for 10 years. Every year, they bloom beautifully and attract bees. The feathery flowers are purple-blue.
L.M.
Dear L.M.: I think your plant is a Caryopteris (ka-ree-OP-ter-is), also known as bluebeard, blue spirea and blue mist shrub. Though they are mound-forming woody shrubs, the plants are usually treated like prennials and cut back each spring to around 15 centimetres (six inches). Clusters of small, fluffy blue to purple flowers appear on the small bushes in late summer and early autumn. The attractive leaves are aromatic.
Caryopteris is an easy-growing plant with flowers that serve as a fine complement to the various yellow and gold perennial daisy-type blooms prevalent in late summer.
Have a look at the website of Heritage Perennials (perennials.com) to see the five varieties listed. You might be able to identify your specific variety from that.
Dear Helen: I have several old rose bushes growing by a house wall. They are so big now that I cannot access the wall to clean or paint. I would like to move the plants away from the wall, but I fear that might kill them.
Dear F.K.: The older a rose, the more difficult it is to re-establish successfully in a new location. It would be my preference to dig out the old plants and replace them with young, purchased roses.
I realize that sometimes rose plants have significant sentimental value, and great is the desire to preserve them.
I see two possibilities here. One is a transplant attempt. Prepare new planting locations for the roses and, in February, prune the plants back by at least one-half and make sure their soil is fully saturated well ahead of carefully digging them up.
Replant at the same depth. For a more cautious path, try reproducing the roses using cuttings before transplanting.
A method that Doris Page, of fond memory in local gardening circles, shared with me is to use shoots that have flowered. Cut off the withered flower and its stem and make the cutting about 10 cm (four inches) long, with the bottom cut immediately beneath a leaf node.
Doris inserted cuttings in sand in small clay pots, which she sunk into a bed of sand on a bench of her shady, cold (unheated) greenhouse.
Another method worth trying is to take cuttings in autumn, when leaves begin to fall from the canes. Select mature wood that has had the summer to harden and make the cutting 15 cm (six inches) long, with a growth bud at top and bottom.
Remove any remaining leaves and insert the cutting half way into light soil in a warm, sheltered part of the garden. Or pot the cuttings and place the pots in a cold frame or cold greenhouse. Look for rooting and new growth in spring.
GARDEN EVENTS
Nursery courses. Russell Nursery, 1370 Wain Rd., North Saanich, is offering the following one-hour courses, which are free except as noted. Reservations are required, with a limit of two classes per person. Call 250-656-0384 or email [email protected]. Include your phone number, if emailing.
? Cool-season container workshop, Sunday, Sept. 23, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. or Monday, Sept. 24, at 10 a.m. Create a container planting using small shrubs, grasses and perennials that will endure for several seasons. Cost of $35 plus HST includes the container, plants and soil.
? Beautiful trees for your property, Saturday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. Learn techniques tree-care professionals use to increase the lifespan of trees and enhance their natural beauty.
? Tool-sharpening clinic, Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Revive your dull and tired hand tools. Learn how to clean, maintain and sharpen them.
HCP courses. The Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, 505 Quayle Rd. in Saanich, is offering the following courses. To register, phone 250-479-6162. For more information, go to hcp.ca
? Urban homesteading, Saturday, Sept. 29, from 12: 30 to 3: 30 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 30, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In this two-session course, participants learn how a couple has turned an ordinary urban lot into a small farm that provides a zero-mile diet. The first session will be in an HCP classroom; the second will be a hands-on workshop at Wenark Farm in Rock Heights. Cost to members $50, others $70.
? Trouble-shooting townhall for the 2012 garden, Sunday, Sept. 30, 1 to 4 p.m. with Linda Gilkeson. Common gardening problems and positioning the garden for the winter will be examined. Cost to members $25, others $35.
