What Goes Around Comes Around

– Posted in: Garden chores, Plant info
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I cleared out a spot in the Purple-and-Gold bed to plant the Chrysanthemum superbum ‘Polaris’ daisies that my friend Bub gave me. These were daisies that I had bought from White Flower Farm several years ago and had shared with her. Subsequently they died out on me, so she graciously shared them back. Since having them die out on me, I learned that Shasta daisies must be deadheaded religiously or they die out. I think I read somewhere else that they must be divided frequently or they die out, but I read that so often about asters that I wonder if I’m just getting it mixed up with that. Since I am neither a religious deadheader or divider, it’s really all the same in the end. With a lot of plants there’s no harm in not deadheading except a certain untidy look in the garden, and if there’s seeds you’re wanting from a plant, it’s imperative that you don’t deadhead. I need to learn which ones really need to be deadheaded, so I can stop losing plants from neglect.

About the Author

Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She gardens in rural upstate NY, which used to be USDA Hardiness Zone 4 but is now Zone 5. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002. Find her on Instagram as kopurdy.

In the end, this may be the most important thing about frost: Frost slows us down. In spring, it tempers our eagerness. In fall, it brings closure and rest. In our gotta-go world–where every nanosecond seems to count–slowness can be a great gift. So rather than see Jack Frost as an adversary, you could choose to greet him as a friend.

~Philip Harnden in A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons

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