https://gardern.co.za/2014/10/the-blues-and-bees-and-bulbs/ Horticulturist Matt Mattus shares gardening expertise, research and science from his home garden and greenhouse. Thu, 13 Aug 2020 21:47:40 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://gardern.co.za/2014/10/the-blues-and-bees-and-bulbs/#comment-1557 Fri, 07 Aug 2015 00:52:50 +0000 #comment-1557 Your Gentian is a GENTIANA SCABRA BUERGERI. Also known as. Japanese Gentian.
I also bought this at Lowes about 2 years ago in early Fall. It was a short compact plant and the color was a beautiful deep blue It was lin a 4" pot labeled as an alpine. Our winter in Louisville, Ky got as low as 10 below zero! Many plants did not make it and others suffered as you canThis lovely late-flowering gentian, one of the most famous of the hybrids, opens abundant blossoms from August up to the beginning of November, its dazzling-blue, bell-shaped flowers covering the leaves. Darker than the normal pale blue form, this is one of the very few gentians to possess any perfume or fragrance, and it has been used to create special cosmetics in China and Japan. Traditionally, this plant is used in Chinese medicine as a cure for liver diseases and intestinal troubles, whilst its roots provide an extremely bitter substance to stimulate the appetite, and in olden times the plant was used as a famine food, none of which uses we recommend! imagine. By the Sping I had forgotten about it and when it came up I wasn't sure if it was a weed. Thankfully I didn't !! By early August it had tripled in size with tight little buds. However, after a month and a half they still had not opened I began to think it was a dud. It took two months to start blooming and by the end of October it was stunning!! Stunning!! Dozens and dozens of gorgeous blue flowers that lasted at least a month.
Once again this past winter it got 10 below zero a couple of times. Really rough on garden 2 yrs in a row.
It came back again with babies. Unfortunately this summer I've been distracted and they've gotten too leggy and the stems have fallen away from the center. I can't think of how to describe it now other than it has a bowl shape.
Can anyone give me advice on whether to prune it now or not? It's August 6 and I don't see any buds. I think I can answer my own question but I'd love to know if it's possible to do it now and still get the blooms?
If not, I guess the right thing to do is wait to prune back as it emerges in the Spring if I want to bring the shape back to a tighter bushier plant. ?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I would value your knowledgable suggestions. 🙂

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