Division Woes

It is rare for me to come in from a gardening chore with a scowl on my face, but yesterday's task was just cause - the challenging division of two perennials that are, well, resistant to division. The grey foliage of my Dianthus "Baths Pink" had formed a HUGE, low sprawling mat. Lovely during its two week bloom, but for the rest of the season the foliage monopolizes 12 square feet that could potentially be shared with another pretty blossom or two. Likewise, the softer, grey foliage of Cerastium (Snow in the Summer)had sprawled far beyond its intended space.

Most of my perennials can be divided by my easiest method. I position the shovel over an outgrowth of the basal foliage, throw all of my weight into one big jump onto the shovel, apologize to the mother plant for the intrusion, and walk away with the division ready to plunk into a prepared hole. Works great for everything from Astilbe to Veronia. Occasionally I need to dig up the entire plant and do my shovel-jumping aerobics out on the lawn, then replant divisions, tossing out the tired center. But neither method suits these pretty little troublemakers. The sprawling foliage rests atop the soil far away from the strong center of the plant. Oh, it tries to send down new rootlets beneath the sprawl, but those are precarious at best. Yesterday I looked for healthy chunks in each mat, stabbed the shovel in with gusto, removed the chunk with PLENTY of soil not daring to look to see if it was even attached. I ran each to its new hole as if I was an organ transplant doctor, watered well, and just hoped it would be forced to send down new roots before death overcame it. Today the dianthus mother plant looks shocked, traumatized, as if it has suffered a very bad haircut (I know the feeling). The new divisions of the cerastium look wilted, brown and equally traumatized. But days are shorter now, cooler, and as I type this I'm listening to a steady rain. I know that Mother Nature is giving the best medicine to these poor victims of my well intended division. Cheers to the beginning of the season of great division.