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Lazarus plants and surprise survivors

B3B3 Posts: 26,433
in The potting shed
Just found a tarragon plant which I was so sure would have succumbed to the beast, that I didn't check properly before buying a replacement. 
In the past, clematis have returned after years.
Has anyone given a plant up for dead only to get a nice surprise or otherwise?
Is it another benefit of being a lazy gardener?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,634
    Several clematis for me too and usually after 2 or 3 years so long after the label has disappeared.    That was in our Belgian garden.   

    No lovely surprises here so far as not a lot is actually in the ground yet.   Looks like I've lost salvias Amistad and Pineapple tho which is a bad surprise.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • B3B3 Posts: 26,433
     :( 
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • 2oaktrees2oaktrees Posts: 160
    I lost 2 large pink cordyline palms and was about to throw the pots away when I spotted several shoots growing out from the soil. 

    Should I cut off the main stem to encourage the growth? 



  • B3B3 Posts: 26,433
    I'd leave it alone
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,963
    Concord grape.. dead as could be last spring.. until it sent up new growth from the roots in early August!  It is currently playing dead, again.  I'm never going to get any grapes at this rate.. so it may still make it to the compost heap in the sky.  
    Utah, USA.
  • B3B3 Posts: 26,433
    It does sound a bit lazy
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FireFire Posts: 17,324
    I had a lemon verbena that I was sure was dead. I was about to compost it when I saw the tiniest leaf springing. So left it. Since then the tiny leaf dropped off. So it looks dead again. But I will leave it in its pot for the rest of the year, just in case.

    Two bumble salvias looked dead as doornails but have just started to put on a little leaf. I'm not sure how much to cut back. It looks like its struggling - adding one leaf a week - but might hit its stride in June. If not much is happening by July, I will pull them out, cut them right back and replace them.
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    My canna has grown new plantlets, I thought it had been killed by the beast.  Delighted!
  • Singing GardenerSinging Gardener Posts: 1,229
    An indoor yucca that I decided to sacrifice by leaving it outside for the winter because it had outgrown its position. It died right back but then reappeared from below the ground.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 86,036
    I was also convinced that The Beast would have done for my French tarragon ... but no ... and we had roasted tarragon and lemon chicken for supper last night  :)

    However, my Clematis Montana 'Elizabeth' hasn't flowered this year and is struggling to put out a few leaves ... Wonky's is the same ... I've a good mind to chop it right back and see what happens ... what do you think folks?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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