Staking floppy perennials
It’s disappointing when perennials flop open, falling over under the weight of flower heads or after heavy rain. But staking can get expensive, especially if you want ones that won’t stand out in the garden.
Smart solution
June Hayes of North Carolina found a discreet and inexpensive alternative to stakes: bungee cords. She had two large clumps of yarrow (Achillea hybrid) that split open from the center following a storm. Though twine didn’t work to gather the branches up again, two bungee cords — one wrapped around the middle of each plant — kept the yarrow upright.
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Bungee cords to the rescue
The same thing can happen to tall sedum (Sedum spp. and hybrids). As the season goes on, plants splay open and flowers lay flat on the ground, like you see in the before photo. For large clumps, interlock the ends of two bungee cords together like you see above to hold all the stems.
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