'Allegiance' Daylily, Perennial Of The Day

Hemerocallis x 'Allegiance' Daylily

Type Perennial
Hardy range 4A to 10A
Height 18" to 24" / 45cm to 60cm
Spread 18" to 24" / 45cm to 60cm
Growth rate Average
Form Irregular or sprawling
Exposure Partial shade or partial sun
Bloom Color Red
Bloom Time Summer


Environment
This plant tolerates drought. This plant will grow in moist soil. Suitable soil is well-drained/loamy. The pH preference is a neutral soil. 

Leaf Color Green
Fall Color No change in fall color

This plant has attractive foliage.
The flowers are suitable for cut flowers.

Culture Notes
Plants are best placed in a location that receives morning full sun but some shade from the afternoon sun. Many cultivars also tolerate full sun, especially in the northern part of their hardiness range. Heavy shade produces lots of foliage but few flowers.
This plant tolerates a wide range of soil conditions but most enjoy a soil with ample organic matter. Before planting, be sure to loosen the soil in as large an area as possible. They tolerate some drought but perform best with irrigation in dry weather.
Plant about 18 inches apart and do not place too deep. The white part of the foliage should be just at the soil line. Add about 2 inches of mulch to help preserve soil moisture. A slow release fertilizer can be incorporated into the planting holes to help plants regain vigor quickly. Apply about 2 fertilizations yearly during the growing season to maintain vigor. Do not apply too much nitrogen as this can encourage lots of foliage growth with few flowers.
Many daylilies loose vigor and flower poorly 3 to 4 years after planting if they become too crowded. Divide the clumps in early spring or at least one month before frost in the fall. Do not expect flowering to be spectacular the first season after dividing.

Pests, Diseases and Damaging Agents Aphids are the biggest potential problem but are usually not terribly serious.

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Maiden Grass, Perennial Grass Of The Day

Miscanthus sinensis

 Maiden Grass, Eulalia, Silver Feather, Chinese Silver Grass, Eulalia Grass, Japanese Silver Grass

Type Perennial, grass

Hardy range 4A to 9A

Height 6' to 8' / 1.80m to 2.40m

Spread 6' to 10' / 1.80m to 3.00m

Growth rate Fast

Form Upright or erect

Exposure Partial shade or partial sun to full sun

Persistence Deciduous

Bloom Color Pink and red

Bloom Time Summer and Fall

Environment This plant tolerates some drought and occasional wetness. This plant will grow in moist to wet soil. Suitable soil is well-drained/loamy, sandy or clay. The pH preference is an acidic to slightly alkaline (less than 6.8 to 7.7) soil.

Leaf Color Green and variegated
Fall Color Brown, copper and orange 

This plant has attractive foliage and attractive fall colors.
The flowers are showy, suitable for cut flowers and suitable for dried flowers.
Culture Notes Maiden Grass is a gracefully arching, fine-textured grass that forms dense, green clumps. Slender leaves originate in a clump, spreading out and up like a fountain. The 5 to 6-foot-tall clumps bear pink flowers in late summer and fall which can be used for drying or as a dye plant. Their pinkish or silvery 8- to 10-inch-long plumes persist into the winter. Foliage is flexible and blows easily in the wind. This shrub-like grass turns to a rich gold in the fall; the fall color lasts through the winter.
Maiden Grass is frequently used in the landscape as a specimen or screen. It is also employed in group plantings forming a nice mass of fine-textured foliage, especially near a water garden or pond. Use Japanese Silver Grass as an accent or mass planted in a large-scale landscape, such as around a commercial building to add a touch of soft elegance and texture. The slightest breeze moves the foliage allowing the landscape to `come alive'.
Maiden Grass requires a location in the landscape that receives full sun, but it is adaptable to most well-drained soils. This ornamental grass is quite drought tolerant. Miscanthus sinensis is a warm season grass and transplants best in the spring. Provide good drainage at the planting site. Three- and four-year-old plants tend to flop over and might thin in the center of the clump. They can be divided or cut back to encourage more upright growth.
Miscanthus will go dormant to the roots during the winter. The old foliage should be removed from the plants in the spring. This allows the new growth to come through unimpeded.
Cultivars include: `Condensatus', coarser leaf texture than species, mid-summer bloom, 7 to 8 feet tall; `Gracillimus', narrower leaves than species, Fall bloom, upright growth habit from 5 to 8 feet tall; `Purpurascens', reddish foliage in summer, purple-red foliage in fall, silver pink inflorescence, mid-summer bloom, 4 to 5 feet tall; `Silver Feather', silvery white flowers in mid-summer; `Strictus', horizontal yellow bands on foliage, upright growth habit, 6 to 8 feet tall; `Variegatus', white variegation on leaf margin, does relatively well in partial shade, to 7 feet tall; `Yaku Jima', more compact, 3 to 4 feet tall; `Zebrinus', horizontal yellow bands on foliage, wide spreading habit, to 7 feet tall.
Pests, Diseases and Damaging Agents Diseases: Rust occasionally infests the foliage but it often goes away in drier weather.

Strawberry Foxglove, Perennial Of The Day

Digitalis x mertonensis

Strawberry Foxglove Scrophulariaceae (Figwort)

Type Biennial, perennial

Hardy range 5A to 10A

Height 24" to 36" / 60cm to 90cm

Growth rate Average

Form Upright or erect

Exposure Partial shade or partial sun to full sun

Bloom Color Pink

Bloom Time Summer

 The flowers are suitable for cut flowers.

Environment This plant will grow in moist soil. Suitable soil is well-drained/loamy. The pH preference is an acidic to neutral (less than 6.8 to 7.2) soil.

Leaf Color Green

The flowers are suitable for cut flowers.

 Culture Notes
If Digitalis is grown in conditions it likes, it will be a reliable perennial; otherwise it will be short-lived and seem like a biennial.  To help the plant maintain its vigor, divide every other year (once flowering is finished) to preserve a vigorous plant.  Spring cut dead foliage only; deadhead after blooming.

Airplane Plant, Perennial Of The Day

Crassula perfoliata var. falcata

Airplane Plant, Scarlet Paintbrush, Sickle Plant

Type Perennial, succulent

Hardy range 9A to 11

Height 24" to 30" / 60cm to 75cm

Growth rate Average

Form Upright or erect

Exposure Full sun

Persistence Evergreen

Bloom Color Red

Bloom Time Summer

The flowers are fragrant.

Environment This plant tolerates drought.
This plant will grow in dry to moist soil.
Suitable soil is well-drained/loamy or sandy.
The pH preference is a neutral soil.

Leaf Color Silvery
This plant has attractive foliage.

Culture Notes During winter months, water only to keep shoots from shriveling.

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Rose of Sharon, Deciduous Shrub Of The Day

Hibiscus syriacus 'Russian Violet'

Rose of Sharon, Althaea, Shrub Althea

Type Shrub, woody plant

Hardy range 5B to 9A

Height 10' to 15' / 3.00m to 4.60m

Spread 6' to 10' / 1.80m to 3.00m

Growth rate Slow

Form Rounded and upright or erect

Exposure Partial shade or partial sun to full sun

Persistence Deciduous

Bloom Color Pink, purple and red

Bloom Time Summer

The flowers are very showy.

Environment This plant tolerates some drought, occasional wetness and some salt.
This plant will grow in dry to occasionally wet soil.
Suitable soil is well-drained/loamy, sandy or clay.
The pH preference is an acidic to neutral (less than 6.8 to 7.2) soil.

Leaf Color Green
Fall Color No change in fall color

Culture Notes Easily grown, shrubs are usually planted in the perennial garden because of the abundance of colorful flowers. Too much or too little water or over fertilization will cause buds to drop from this plant. This plant is capable of self-sowing to the point of being a nuisance if the soil beneath is suitable for germinating. Flowers are produced on new growth so prune in late winter, if you wish to control its size. Pruning is not necessary for flower production. Shrubs are easy to transplant bare root or balled and burlapped. Plants in flower attract hummingbirds.

Plants sometimes have poor root systems which cause the plant to fall over as it grows taller. This often originates in the nursery when plants are held in containers too long. This can be avoided by choosing plants that are small for their container and slicing any roots that circle the outside of the container. Some growers also use alternate container designs specially designed to reduce the amount of circling roots.

Planting and establishing shrubs The most common cause of young plant failure is planting too deep. Plant the root ball no deeper than it was in the nursery. In most instances, the root flare zone (point where the top-most root in the root ball originates from the trunk) should be located just above the landscape soil surface. Sometimes plants come from the nursery with soil over the root flare. If there is soil over this area, scrape it off. The planting hole should be at least twice the width of the root ball, preferably wider. In all but exceptional circumstances where the soil is very poor, there is no need to incorporate anything into the backfill soil except the loosened soil that came out of the planting hole. Never place ANY soil over the root ball. If a row or grouping of plants is to be installed, excavating or loosening the soil in the entire bed and incorporating organic matter enhances root growth and establishment rate.

Weed suppression during establishment is essential. Apply a 3-inch thick layer of mulch around the plant to help control weed growth. Keep it at least 10 inches from the trunk. If you apply it over the root ball, apply only a one or two inch layer. This allows rainwater and air to easily enter the root ball and keeps the trunk dry. Placing mulch against the trunk or applying too thick a layer above the root ball can kill the plant by oxygen starvation, death of bark, stem and root diseases, prevention of hardening off for winter, vole and other rodent damage to the trunk, keeping soil too wet, or repelling water. Regular irrigation through the first growing season after planting encourages rapid root growth, which is essential for quick plant establishment.

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