The Flower Garden This July

Hello Cayuga--Thank you very much, I am happy to hear that you like the looks of my little flower garden.

The "Chelsea Chop" is a method of of pruning some flowering plants so that their blooming will be postponed or extended.

There are two ways that I do it:
(1)--I cut half of the plant's stalks that are growing in a clump and leave the rest. (I usually cut the stems back about 1/3)
This method means that the uncut stems will go ahead and flower at the normal time and the cut stems will bloom later ---this effectively gives you an extended period of blooming.

(2)--I cut back ALL of the stems in a clump by about 1/3 or 1/2 of their length.
This method simply postpones all blooming in that clump until later in the season.

This latter choice is what I did with my white phlox this year and they are now in full bloom, while all my other phlox have completely bloomed out and are setting seeds.

Why is it called , "the Chelsea Chop? It is thus called, because of the time of the season that one is perform "the chop".
This is done then, at the end of May and coincides with the famous Chelsea Flower Show.

I have done this with a number of plants--Sedum, Daisys, Phlox, Helenium and Echinacea.
I plan to try it with my Eupatoriums once they are well established and are growing up to 2 meters. They are lovely plants, but once they are 2m tall, one can't see the blooms so easily.

If you plan to try this next season, do show your before's and after's. Good luck.

 

Sjoerd--Thank you! In my garden, the deer may be doing their own disorganized 'Chelsea chop'. As they browse the tips of some stalks, but not others. I will try your method after I figure out how to discourage the deer. I like the idea, it is a way of extending the bloom season, yes?

 

Hey there, Cayuga--Ja, it is indeed the point of doing the chop--extending the period of blooming.

What on earth can you do about those four-leggéd pruners there? They are such large animals.

 

Sjoerd--I am researching just that. Trying this & trying that. They truly are like cows, creatures of habit. Once they find something they like it is hard to deter them. It helps to make the plant unappealing from the get-go. I am off to NY state for a week. I will take up the battle when I get back. Good luck with your wallabies.

 

We found that leaving a radio playing constantly next to the veggie garden has kept the deer away.

 

Great Photos Sjoerd, Great Garden

 

Thanks Calomar.
It is great to see you back on here. Everything Oké with you and yours?

Have a nice trip,Cayuga. I hope that you have some garden left when you get back.

 

Outstanding pictures again sjoerd...they are beautiful.

 

Thank you so much, Sherry. That was a nice thing to say.

 

and you do have a way with words...a very good way. I wish I could tell about things like you do.

 

Everyone seems to have said it all for me.Thanks everyone for all the WONDERFUL words WONDERful wordsI can never find to saybut yall Stewers can always find a way to say.SjoerdI love all of yourblooms.I'm so greeneyedand I* think I need A FEW OF ELI"SBIBS AS I HAVE DROOLED ALL OVER MY PJ TOP.

 

Hee hee hee....thanks for the nice comments, Glenda. It is so nice to hear from you. Maybe Dooley ought to start making bibs. She already does a great job with aprons.

Hope that you are doing good and I look every day to see if you have posted.

Take care, Glenda.

 

Hi Sjoerd,
very interesting information about the Chelsea Chop,..i didn't know why it was called that.

I had a good look at your garden flowers in July,..and i just had another good look now,..talk about coming back for seconds,..i enjoyed my second visit,..very much!.

 

Thanks so much, Philip.
The garden looks a bit different now, but the overwhelming colour now is yellow. The honey bees here seem to prefer yellow flowers at this time of year.