Herbaceous perennials, winter to spring

I planted quite a few of the above plants last year, between May and October, and would like to know how other gardeners check that the plants have made it through winter.

There are gaps in my borders where I thought I should be seeing signs of life.

Is there a rough rule of thumb regarding when to assume the plant has not made it through. Should I be allowing around 3 months between the usual flowering time and the plants first appearance in spring? I am not expecting Anemone Japonicus to appear now, because it is late-flowering, but I cannot see Geum, Nepeta, Geranium, and other earlier-flowering plants and I am feeling concerned.

There are other signs of life in my garden (leaf buds on trees, roses, ivy etc).

Thankyou.

 

It's still early, or it is here. There are some things coming through but others are still in their winter slumber. The thug type geraniums are growing strongly but the other types are still hidden or only just poking a little above the soil surface. Our nepeta is definitely still asleep and the geums aren't doing much either.
I wouldn't be getting overly worried and would just wait a little longer. You might see green shoots appearing soon.

 

Thank you, @Thevictorian, that is reassuring. Do you tend to find different plants show up in stages or waves from now on for a few months?
I also planted Geranium Rozanne and can't see anything at all. Is that one a bit of a thug usually? My plants were small 1 or 2 litre sized when I planted.

 

Geranium Rozanne isn't showing for me yet either but I did mulch the beds a bit which wouldn't help.
Plants definitely wake up at their own pace. I grow eupatorium and it's not normally on show until May-june. You will be surprised how quickly things appear and how big they become by mid-late April.

 

Thankyou, @Thevictorian, I won't panic yet!

 

My Nepeta are appearing @ClematisDbee and Geums, but not G. Rozanne, yet. By the end of this month I think you'll find most summer flowering perennials will be making progress. I cleaned up some Hostas in pots yesterday and noticed some tiny shoots. I've also realised that my three main types of grass appear in alphabetical order, Calamagrostis (early March) Miscanthus (mid March), Panicum (not yet!). Also some of my perennials remain semi-evergreen, depending on the weather, particularly Geums and Erigeron. Location and soil will also influence timing.

 

No geranium Rozanne here yet either. It’s been quite cold, so I’m expecting things to be a bit slow. The windflowers are only just appearing, and they are often out in mid Feb.

I leave a bit of bamboo stick in the ground where I am expecting something to resurface, so I don’t accidentally disturb it.

 

Thankyou. @Plantminded, that sounds positive. I expect younger plants can take longer to get going, but I am feeling sick of just seeing the bare ground (with a light layer of mulch and fallen twigs etc). I feel as though the garden is a little bit late to wake up. Just realised until I planted them last year, I had hardly any herbaceous perennials. Mainly just shrubs and trees, or annual flowers, so I am not in with the rhythm properly yet!

That is so funny (and helpful) about your alphabetically-consistent ornamental grasses...

 

Thankyou @ViewAhead. Yes it has been colder than usual with me too. That is helpful to know about your G.Rozanne and the windflowers. My windflowers (Anemone blanda) have not materialised either. There is a cold sharp wind at the moment, despite the sun, but you have reminded me to check on the bulbs too, if the wind drops a bit.

 

Are you not tempted to plant some grasses @ClematisDbee? Your garden will have interest throughout winter until you chop them down in late February. (My A. Blanda are starting to flower now, but they only open in the afternoon when they get some sun.)

 

Its soil temperature, rather than air temperature that regulates plant activity. You will realise that it varies similarly to the change in sea temperature to air temperature; no paddling at Bognor just yet !!
If weed seeds are germinating and growing, then your plants will also (hopefully) be doing the same. They generally need around 8deg C as an average at the surface.
See this app which you can set to your postcode, as a guide.
Farmers Weather | Weather Checker | Farmers Guide

 

Lots of perennials aren't growing yet here either.

I have quite a lot of bulbs planted in between the perennials so that the borders aren't bare at this time of year. Also biennials like forget-me-nots, honesty and foxgloves that just get a bit of thinning to make sure they don't completely swamp the emerging perennials.

I usually do the cutting back of the old growth of the perennials in late winter/early spring so that they're clear when the bulbs come into flower, so for example the area where there are snowdrops get tidied up first, then crocuses, then the earlier daffodils and then the white Thalia daffs which flower later than most, and the species tulips and alliums. By the time the bulb foliage is dying down the perennials and biennials are up and help to mask it. Most of it is ready to clear along with the dying forget-me-nots in late spring to early summer.

 

Yes, @Plantminded, I planted a group of Stipa tenuissima and also Calamagrostis × acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'. Perhaps these aren't the best types for winter interest? The Stipa carried on until at least December and have now shed their discarded strands, creating a sort of mulch on the ground. The Calamagrostis seemed to fade away before December. I was inspired by your gardening to try out grasses. I like Deschampsia - maybe that would last longer. I used to think I have a dryish garden, but maybe only in dry summers. I do have fairly sandy soil.

 

Oh thankyou, @infradig, I will keep that website for reference, that is most helpful of you. According to my various analogue garden thermometers that I keep at various heights from just above ground to about 4 foot, it hasn't been much above 5 degrees Celsius for a long while, excluding a few hours on some days when the sun has shone and the wind has dropped. In that case, it seems I should not be too surprised at the lack of growth. My trees (willow, plum, cherry, sycamore, for instance) do have green leaf buds unfurling. The weather forecast looks warmer next week.

 

Thanks @JennyJB, I haven't minded the mix of bulbs with old growth from perennials before, but I have moved most of my bulbs to pots because of congestion. I have kept some species tulips in the borders. I find the weather is so up and down that there is no easy to find late winter/early spring any more. It is a shame, because I used to enjoy that about gardening. Timings don't seem to synchronise in the expected ways any more.