Herbaceous perennials, winter to spring

I also have sandy soil @ClematisDbee. Both my Calamagrostis and Stipa keep going throughout winter. I wonder if yours are getting enough sun perhaps. Also avoid feeding them, with any added manure or fertiliser they go floppy and become less resistant to wind and rain. I’ve never grown Deschampsia, I’ll have to do some reading .

 

Thankyou, @Plantminded. That is helpful to know. I am hoping that it is the young age of my Stipa and Calamagrostis that caused them to 'disappear' because they were still green in November when I last checked and noted their progress. Would lack of sun in winter harm them? I will check on them in the next few days. I think Deschampsia can give a lovely waterfall effect. The one I am thinking of is D. cespitosa.

Deschampsia cespitosa - tufted hair grass

 

Not winter sun @ClematisDbee, as the two grasses will be dormant, but I think perhaps sun during the growing season makes them more robust. I would reduce your Calamagrostis to ground level now and comb your hand through the Stipa to remove any loose growth. I've just been looking at Deschampsia on the Knoll website, nice frothy flowerheads .

 

Oh I see. @Plantminded, there were quite a few dreary non-sunny days last year! The Stipa strands have defoliated themselves, so I have left their sheddings as a mulch. The Calamagrostis I think 'disappeared' - I hope to check at ground level soon. I must have a look at the Knoll website too!

 

Too soon to worry yet . When I left OH's garden in Norfolk 9 days ago Rozanne wasn't showing and here in my garden in SW France I noticed the first small shoots of my Rozanne yesterday. A lot of perennials haven't really started yet.

 

I wanted to update the thread about the plants that still haven't emerged! I am getting worried now. No-shows include:
Astrantia, Geum Bell Bank, Heuchera Sugar Plum, Primula vulgaris, Tiarella Sugar & Spice, Achillea Marmalade, Anthemis Susanna Mitchell, Campanula Sarastro, Gaura lindheimeri, Geranium Red Admiral, Geranium Rozanne, Helenium Moerheim Beauty, Helenium Wyndley, Fennel (Purple Bronze, I think), Linaria purpura, Monarda Jacob Cline, Nepeta (various), Oenothera fruticosa, Papaver orientale, Penstemon Pensham Czar, Potentilla nepalensis, Salvia nemerosa, Salvia x jamensis Nachtvlinder, plus several Rudbeckia (various).

The only plant that might have come up is a geranium!

Can anyone tell me if I should be seeing some signs by now?

Thankyou very much.

 

Hmm, that’s quite a list, @ClematisDbee. I’m south coast (nearly) and my Geranium Rozanne is up from its winter nap. The oriental poppies tend to be short-lived, but may pop up in other places. Salvias can be slow to get going, though my Oceana is visible (but it is in a pot). Heucheras ought to be above ground by now, I’d have thought, but mine never die away completely, keeping foliage through the colder months. Not sure about the rest.

 

My Geums, Heucheras and Nepetas are all up and flowering @ClematisDbee, Heleniums are leafing as are Rudbeckias and Salvias. The only latecomers are a Sanguisorba which has just started to leaf this week, plus Panicums which don't normally start to show signs of life until May.

Your long list does suggest a problem. Photos of your soil, plant locations and any plants with signs of pests or disease would help. I doubt that your weather there would have been any worse than here.

 

Definitely odd I'm afraid @ClematisDbee - papaver orientalis has been in leaf for me for a while, gaura is leafy from shrubby growth, and Primula vulgaris ie primrose is tough as old boots and should be in flower. Might be worth digging one up to see the roots as well as telling us the background as @Plantminded suggests.

 

I have several of those plants in Norfolk and they are up. I hope your soil is OK and your garden hasn't been attacked by slugs. Weird.

 

Most of these should be up by now , always the case of a plant doing a disappearing act like monarda's , some of the rudbeckia may not return reliably pending on variety

 

The three unnamed, different hardy Geraniums I have are all leafing up well now.

 

Thank you everyone for your helpful replies. I am really concerned now, something has gone wrong, hasn't it. Thanks @ViewAhead re the G.Rozanne and Heucheras and @Plantminded re Geums, Heucheras. Nepetas. Rudbeckias, Salvias. I don't have a hint of green apart from two small leaves that I think are a Geranium. I am trying to remember when the plants faded away. It was between November and January I think. I thought it was just dormancy...
Thankyou @CarolineL re Papaver orientalis, Gaura & Primula vulgaris. I will try digging something up. The oriental poppy is particularly concerning, because it was one of the last I saw still in leaf circa November to December. Thankyou @Busy-Lizzie, do you know if underground slugs could have chomped on almost everything? I feel so defeated....!
Thankyou @Perki, and @Sheal, I have a mix of both dubious and more sure returners don't I? It makes no sense.
The plants that have returned are the ones that never disappeared and they are some Aster ageratoides and one of the Japanese Anemones plus a few tulip bulbs. I am really stumped. It must be the soil or pests then? Could it be dry soil or wet soil?

 

It does seem strange because there are a few on the list that should be evergreen and it's a wide variety that normally means some would cope even if others didn't. I'm sorry if you mentioned this earlier but have you amended the soil since the autumn?

 

Thankyou @Thevictorian. I have mulched with Strulch, and I have added some compost. I haven't watered since October until March when there had been no rain for a few days. I let the level in my small pond guide me as to rainfall. I have seen hardly any slugs and snails compared to most years because it hasn't seemed particularly wet this winter gone. If anything, it felt a bit colder than usual, which really should not have been a problem. The soil is where I had planted roses in 2023, but they all died one after the other, between 2023 and 2024, so I then decided to plant herbaceous perennials. It is a raised bed/bank, extending towards the main body of the garden. Sun and dappled shade depending on the time of day.