Selaginella 'Aurea' going brown

Discussion in 'Annuals, Biennials, Perennials, Ferns and Bulbs' started by Barbara Cameron, Aug 30, 2008.

  1. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Good move! I was doing the most simple gardening task (cutting down all my DEAD plants in my window boxes) yesterday and the old "gardening bug" hit me with a whallop! Wow, how I miss my gardening. All of the stupid snow was melted from my window boxes until this morning. Now they are covered again. Grrr...

    I used to entertain the idea of moving to the Maritimes (my grandfather was born in New Brunswick) but boy has this winter in Vancouver killed dead that idea for good!
     
  2. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    (See photo)
    I planted these beautiful ground covers last fall and almost immediately they started to have these brown stems showing. I would like to have the whole thing the lovely yellowish-green moss showing and spreading.
    It may be the soil. I have seen sites that recommend peat moss, pine bark and loam (whatever this is). But this site is growning the plants in a greenhouse and I'm trying to grow them outside in sun/shade and in a wet climate.
    Any ideas on what I can do to encourage the moss but discourage the brown stems?
     

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  3. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    My brown stem problem with my Selaginella 'Aurea" is still a problem.Grrrr....
    Please see the photo (If I can attach it to this old thread) here and maybe make suggestions. It survived our horribly cold winter and so much snow fine, but the brown stems are still there.
     
  4. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Sorry, didn't see the photo -- mine did not do well either, in fact it has disappeared! Some things are re-appearing in my garden so maybe it will yet, but I doubt it. It was really a harsh winter for us -- a lot of these plants are really meant for temperatures which never go below 10 degrees Celsius, probably!

    What has done really well is Sweet Woodruff, Lavender Thyme [like a sturdy tiny shrub, spreads well],
    and a wonderful little mini-shrub, perhaps you could call it a groundcover, called Parahebe catarractae 'Alba'... a beautiful, rather woody-stemmed [but delicate] thing with small semi-evergreen leaves and in summer wonderful small white flowers like a frosting... and it spreads a bit! It is a low-growing, about 8 inches maybe, filler and perfect for a semi-sunny spot one can't think what else to put there...
     
  5. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    janet,
    so nice to hear from you again.
    barbara
     
  6. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    I may have solved my brown stems. I actually dug up one of the 5 plants and took it to Mandeville Gardens (my favorite garden shop) and asked the expert why this plant has these brown stems and what to do about it. Her answer was so simple; she said to just cut them off as most of the plants were doing just fine. She said that she was surprised that the plant (called Clubmoss too) even survived our brutal winter. So today I dug up all the plants, carefully cut off the brown stems, divided the 5 plants into many smaller plants. Then I worked some Peat Moss and bone meal into the entire area that the plants are planted. HARD WORK! So now I just have to wait and see if this works. If not, I'll just replace them with Creeping Jenny (or some other ground cover that is that yellowish green colour). Wish me luck.
     
  7. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    janetdoyle,
    I may have solved my problem of the brown stems. I just posted this on Small Space Gardening. I didn't get any answers to my latest post, but I wanted you to know about my latest plan with my "Clubmoss".
     
  8. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    Maybe that will work with some Elfin Thyme I have which is doing the same thing in one area -- but in my case this browning in one section was due, I believe, either to a dripping hummingbird feeder [sugar water] or cat pee [my cat likes to try out the different ground covers on the fenced-in patio...]. Elfin Thyme does not like cat pee, the others don't seem to mind. The Selaginella Aurea has disappeared entirely, owing to the winter weather, as it was located in the front garden and the cat does not go outside except on the fenced/gated [with the cat-gaps wire-grilled-over] patio...
     
  9. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    Janet,
    The Mandeville person told me that the brown stems which started to appear right after I planted them last fall were caused by cold weather. I thought that our fall wasn't that cold, but she said that it MAY have started way back then. Maybe your brown stuff is caused by the same problem.
    My cat loves to eat my wonderful Hakonechloa (Japanese Grass) as well as a small Variegated Feather Reed Grass. Saves me buying cat grass! But I don't want her to eat my Hakgol (my short name for the Japanese Grass) as I want it to have every chance to flourish this summer.
     
  10. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    Mine also goes for various grasses, prefers plain lawn grass which I have planted in along low planter just for her, on the patio...

    But, back to non-thriving groundcovers... strange, the browning... it bears watching, and taking some notes... everything they sell is not useful, that's for sure. I have found the Scotch and Irish mosses don't last, so assume they are best for terrariums.
     
  11. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    My cat will not eat cat grass even when it is put right beside the Hakgol and other grasses in my garden. Grrr.... I will try your idea of planting plain grass in a planter on the porch. Of course I just threw out all my grass seed because the rats (they are abundant here) were chewing a hole in my grass seed bag and since I thought I was THROUGH with grass I thought it wise to just throw it away.
    But I just thought of something brilliant! I still have numerous grass plants growing in my now grass-less garden. So instead of throwing them away I'll transplant them to my planters which are silling empty this year for lack of time to plant them.
     
  12. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Re: Brown stems on Selaginella 'Aurea'

    There's lots of grass around to transplant from our condo surrounding lawns, plus as you say it pops up unwanted in the garden! Mine goes out to have a morning salad first thing, sits at the low planter [a larger Japanese style bonsai planter] full of perky fresh green grass about 6 inches high, and has a munch...
     
  13. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    Encouraging words! I just made a small planter with grass that has been growing (unwanted) in my new garden. This space used to be grass (and mostly moss which is why I replaced it). I put the new grass pot far away from the Hakgol and other ornamental grass that I don't want the cat to munch on. Hope it works.
     
  14. janetdoyle

    janetdoyle Active Member 10 Years

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    Mine has grown quite nicely in the low bonsai planter, and if you keep it watered it should thrive; the cat seems to like it when it is about 5 to 8 inches high.
     
  15. Barbara Cameron

    Barbara Cameron Active Member

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    I just planted the grass last eve and am watering it every day. So time will if my fussy cat will eat it!
     

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