Dsmith74 16 Report post Posted July 10, 2012 Great! I just planted this stupid box a month ago. I really hate when I plant sempervivum and it likes the spot so much it flowers (after which it dies of course). This is not the first time this has happened. Heck, it's not the first time it's happened in this same box! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beaufort 1 Report post Posted July 16, 2012 Can you prevent that just by cutting off the flowers? Or, having made that commitment, does it die anyway? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dsmith74 16 Report post Posted July 16, 2012 Hmm. Never tried that. It does seem like some plants that die after flowering will live if you just prevent seed set, while others still die. Maybe I'll lop one off and see what happens. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cricket 7 Report post Posted July 22, 2012 Unfortunatly, removing a blossom stem won't prevent sedum rosette die off - it's the nature of the plant - some sedum varieties take two to three years to bloom......... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dsmith74 16 Report post Posted July 22, 2012 Well, just holes to plop some new, perhaps different kinds in. I'll just have to make sure the new ones are accompanied by a few offsets so if they bolt, their replacements will be standing by. These were extras someone gave me when she cut back her clump, so I do have a few spares planted in the ground somewhere (assuming a warm, wet winter doesn't bump them off). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Janet Macunovich 32 Report post Posted August 9, 2012 You do know that some people break those flowers off out of embarrasment? "They look like male members," one lady told me, as she leaned over almost furtively and snatched the flower stalks away. I thought it eccentric but have heard the sentiment repeated enough times since to know it's not all that unusual.What Cricket says fits what I've seen, and yet I'm with you, Beaufort, in thinking we should be able to keep them going, as we do with hollyhocks and other biennials. Never tried deadheading and then determining the flowering individual's fate. Maybe next year we can do some trials of "dismemberment" at varying times in the bloom sequence. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dsmith74 16 Report post Posted August 11, 2012 Well, the point is moot now, as they were so heavy (and recently transplanted into loose potting mix) that they flopped over and fell out of the box from the weight of the stems. I ran over them with the lawn mower this afternoon. Figured the chances of saving them weren't high enough to warrant getting off the tractor to save, trim, and replant them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cricket 7 Report post Posted August 12, 2012 Dsmith 74 - Do you have friends/relatives living in the southwest or along the pacific coast? If they have sedum - and almost every garden does in those areas - they can break off a sedum rosette with root attached - pop it in a $1 USPS mailer and send it to you. I have a 5 year old sedum living wreath with some fantastic sedums that relatives/friends in Colordao, Arizona, Califorina and Washington have mailed to me - The longest a sedum on the wreath has gone before flowering is three years - Some flower annually - Much more variety this way then the small selection at most nurseries that can cost upward of $5..... Another place to watch for "free" sedum is along parking blocks in parking lots - I found a prostrate sedum that grows rather like a groundcover using that "source"...... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
