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It's that time of the year, spring, and do you know where your fish are? It is also time to divide and get ready for the plant exchange. Last year was a great success with many different aquatics brought in. This year I hope more terrestrial perennials are brought in. No Jamie, I don't mean heavenly bodies, I mean herbaceous perennials.
Most perennials are fairly easy to divide. After lifting them from the ground, gently loosen the soil from their roots, putting them in water helps in this process. After the soil has been removed, the plant can be slowly pulled apart, taking caution not to break the roots. This process is best used on clump forming plants like hostas, daylilies, grasses, etc. Or do like I do and take the spade and chop the root ball in pieces. Now, non-clumping plants do take more care in dividing because their root system is more fragile. Plants like purple coneflower, delphinium, and aster either have individual root systems or a common root system. As in the case of asters, they have one large rosette of crowns attached to one main root, so you must get crowns with root nodes on the bottom. Then put them up in a well draining but moisture retentive soil mix until the root nodes develop into true roots. Mums can be treated the same way. But beware of mums because they can harbor nematodes that are harmful to many other perennials.
Most aquatics like reeds can be divide in the same manner as clump forming perennials. Plants like pickerelweed and iris that have a very tuberous root can be cut with a clean sharp knife into single or multiple eyes for repotting. Water lilies also have a very tuberous root system that can be cut apart with a sharp knife although they should be cut into sections with three eyes each and potted up in the center of their new pot. Lotus have a segmented tuber that can be cut with a knife but unlike the other plants that have been mentioned, you want to make each cut with at least three segments to it. Make sure the growing end of the segment is in the center of the pot because if potted to the edge of the pot it will outgrow the pot in one season.
There are as many ideas and products to use for repotting as there are plants. But when it comes down to it, use the product that best suits your needs. Clay products are great because they won't muck up the water if they get tipped over. Clay is very heavy and large pots are hard to handle alone. A good potting mix is lighter and holds nutrients longer but if tipped over will surely mess up the water. So I don't continue on like a bubbling brook, I'll leave you with this concept for dividing your plants. Divide for fun, divide for your health and the health of your plants, and for sharing a part of your garden with friends. The plant exchange will be our May meeting and start an hour earlier at the Alliant location.