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In the past, I've always had problems with my spiderwort falling over by the end of spring, when the bloom heads get too heavy.
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Last year, we put a circular wire frame around the clump to hold it up.
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The cage helped, but was not the solution. The stems still fell over (exposing the center of the plant), just not to the ground. Here is the main clump in bloom, and held up nicely by the cage at this point.
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Here's what happened after a rain, even with the cage.
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3/11/00. This year, we added a wire grid top to the frame. The leaves and stems will grow up through the grid and be supported. At least that's the plan.
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3/29/00. Spiderwort is beginning to fill in the wire grids. I think this has promise.
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3/29/00 First buds of 2000.
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4/6/00 First open bloom of 2000.
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4/8/00 You can barely see the wire grid now, and then only if you look really closely.
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4/20/00 Lots of blooms now. The blooms open in the morning and close up in the afternoon; hence the nickname: "Twelve o'clock flowers."
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5/10/00 Still lots of blooms. I really like the shape and form of this plant, now that it appears we've learned how to support it.
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5/14/00 I really love this plant.
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5/21/00 Even when it rains now, except for a few stems outside of the cage, it doesn't flop over the other plants.
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6/4/00 Beginning the annual summer die-down.
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6/15/00 Thinning out considerably now. Will need to cut back soon.
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7/8/00 Looking pretty bedraggled just before being cut back.
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7/9/00 Gone for now, but usually there's a spurt of new growth when the weather begins to get cooler, and it will rebloom.
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9/25/00 The larger plant didn't come back as usual, probably due to the overgrowth of orange mint which will be eradicated in the spring. Or perhaps it needs thinning. I think I'll divide the spiderwort in the spring, too.
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9/26/00 The smaller plant did pretty well this fall. Will probably divide this one too.
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11/7/00 What a champ! Still blooming in November.
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