' All About Gardening and Gardening Q & A by Pernell Gerver Bookmark this page or add it to your favorites now! (Reload or refresh each time you visit to get the current week's columns.)

"Growing the Many Different Anemones for Fall" Late summer and into autumn in the perennial garden is a colorful time. There are many different perennials that begin blooming at this time of the year and many continue blooming into autumn. One of my favorites is anemone. Fall-blooming anemones are lesser-known perennials that really should be grown more for many different reasons. First and foremost is their bloom time. They bridge the gap between summer and autumn and continue blooming right into autumn, providing a very long period of bloom. It's a handsome plant that forms clumps of attractive, grape-like leaves. Tall, well-branched flower spikes stand well above the foliage and carry bushels of rounded single, semi-double, or double flowers, depending on variety. Flower color includes white and various shades of pink and rose. There are many different varieties of anemones that bloom in late summer and fall. One of the nicest is 'Pamina.' It forms a handsome mound of foliage not quite two feet tall - no staking required! Flower stems rise through the foliage and stand three feet high. Dozens and dozens of flowers bloom over a long period from early September right through frost. The double flowers have many petals surrounding a central cluster of golden-orange stamens. Flower color is rosy lavender. It's definitely a must for the fall perennial garden.   Anemone 'Robustissima' really lives up to its name. It's a very-vigorous variety that forms a three-foot-high-and-wide mound of attractive foliage. Four-to-five-foot-tall flower stems stand above the foliage and carry single, rounded, clear-pink flowers. Dozens and dozens of flowers are in bloom in late summer and early fall.   Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' is a compact, vigorous variety that forms a dense mound of foliage just a couple of feet high and wide. Three-foot-tall flower stems stand above the foliage and carry pure-white, single, rounded flowers with prominent golden-orange stamens. The flower stems are well branched and carry dozens and dozens of flowers. It begins blooming in early September and continues blooming for weeks.     Anemone 'Whirlwind' is similar to 'Honorine Jobert,' but instead of single blooms, it bears clusters of semi-double, white flowers. The flowers are held on well-branched, three-foot-tall flower stems that stand above a handsome clump of foliage.

by Pernell Gerver

"Getting Rid of Nutsedge in the Lawn and Garden" Q. Our lawn develops a weed every summer that is broader in width and grows quickly and higher than the grass. What is the best way to get rid of this weed? - S.B., South Hadley A. The weed you're talking about is called nutsedge, and next to dandelion, is one of the most common and prolific of lawn and garden weeds. I get many questions from people frustrated by this obnoxious weed because it grows much faster than the lawn. Shortly after you've mowed the lawn you will see this grassy weed rising above the rest of the lawn. I, too, have been frustrated by nutsedge in the lawn and garden because conventional controls don't work on this native weed. In controlling nutsedge it helps to understand how it grows and then you'll know why pulling it up by hand doesn't work and why conventional lawn treatments you put down with a spreader or spray on the lawn don't work, either. Nutsedge has a very deep root system and on the tips of its roots there are small "nuts," hence the name nutsedge or nutgrass. These underground nuts can be several feet down and when you go to pull up the plant many nuts are left behind which will sprout new nutsedge plants. The reason all of the bags or sprays of conventional lawn treatments don't work is because they are all designed to work on broad-leaved weeds and since nutsedge is a narrow-leaved weed it won't control it. The best way I have to get rid of difficult lawn and garden weeds like nutsedge is to spot spray Herbicidal Soap Spray on the weeds which will kill their roots, nuts, and all and then spread organic lawn weed and feed which will prevent future weeds. I recommend doing these two treatments each year twice a year - now and in spring. Click here to read more about Herbicidal Soap Spray and order it from Pernell Gerver's Online Store Click here to submit gardening questions for Pernell Gerver's online Q & A column. Click here to read previous online columns in the archives.

© Copyright Pernell Gerver, Horticultural Communication Services All rights reserved.