Question
Hi Tom:
I have a flower garden that is currently overgrown with red Monardas.  They just grow tall like weeds. They are pretty, smell like mint, and attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but I have to move them somewhere else.  Can I do that now, or would you recommend I wait until the spring?  Im in zone 6.  Also, I transplanted some of tehse last year against a fence.  They seem to prefer leaning up against something rather than free standing. Do you know anything about these flowers?

Some additional questions:

1) pampas grass -- Im thinking that it is better, landscape wise, to put pampas grass up against a house, or a fence, rather than free standing.  Is this sort of standard?

2) I cut back my butterfly bush last April, around the first week of April.  It was 12ft tall, much taller than I wanted it, and very unruly. It didnt come back this year.  Did I kill it?

3) I have blue hydrangeas, but the flowers keep coming out a powder blue, rather than a deep blue. IM not 100% sure that Spring Hill Nursery sent me the royal blue ones I asked for, and there is no way to tell.  But I read once that hydrangeas like more peat for richer color.  Is that true? Should I apply more peat now, before putting them down for the winter? Or wait til the spring?

Thank you.

Ken in Westport, MA

Answer
Hi Ken,
Thanx for your question.  The monarda you speak of is related to the mint family.  If you want to move it now, do so and you can also move it in the spring after the last hard frost.

In regard to pampas grass.  I think we're talking about "hardy pampas" and pampas.  True pampas grass is barely hardy to zone 6.  Hardy pampas is erianthus ravennae which has been referred to as hardy pampas because it looks like pampas grass.  It is hardy  to zone 5 but is not as spectacular as the other pampas (Cortaderia sp.)  Pampas grass is always planted in its own spot with no fence or other support.  It doesn't need it.

Butterfly bushes can be finicky.  I don't think you did anything wrong with it.  Sometimes a perennial plant will just die.

In regard to your blue hydrangeas, You need to use Miracid and follow the directions on the box.  Miracid is available at Walmart.

I hope this helps.
Tom