Get to Know Burnets

Get the bigger picture of burnet

Burnets are easy to grow , have great textural leaf , outride mostly disease - free , and put on a supremely unequalled bloom show from summer into fall , when much of the garden take care deep-fried . Here are a few other thing to live about these interesting perennials .

Consistent moisture is key

Burnets do not like droughty or squashy soil , although drier situation with irrigation are all right .

They are best divided in spring or fall

These are rhizomatous herbaceous perennial that spread through an underground stem that often transport out base and shoots from its nodes . It ’s best to divide engorged flora in springiness or fall to prevent larger bunch from getting center dieback .

Self-sowing is common

Burnets hybridize readily , lead to the hypothesis of unique seedlings ; however , seed is copiously make and can self - sow in smartly . Deadheading curtails self - seeding and can heighten the late - season foliar display , since declining flowers — especially livid ones — are not so pretty .

Certain pests can be pesky

I wish that I could say burnets are difficulty - free ( as some references do ) , but deer , rabbit , and Nipponese beetles were all plaguy nibblers . Damage from Nipponese beetles was usually a minor cosmetic blip — their flagrant liaison was far more troubling — whereas cervid and hare in earnest affect substance abuse quality and flush video display by reducing or delaying rosiness .

Their flowers are unique

Burnet blossoms are in fact an inflorescence — the many - flowered spike may be fingerlike spires , arc bottlebrushes , or compact raspberry bush - same knob . rather of have honest flower petal , each petite flower has colorful sepals and few to many exserted stamen , which work both color and texture to the show . Indeed , bosses of especially foresighted and showy stamens are what make some burnets look so fluffy .

Foliar variation is a bonus

Flowers are certainly the main draw of burnets , but their pinnately dissected leaves — from delicate to boldly textured — are beautiful all on their own . Green , blue - green , and gray - green are coarse colouration , while leaflets haloed in white or splashed and dotted with xanthous are delight novelties . typical sawtoothed margin heighten the textural treat . The figure of leaflets variegate by species — graze from 7 to 20 — but are always odd - numbered because the terminal folder is not paired like the eternal sleep .

Check out the top performers from the Chicago Botanic Garden burnets trial inBurnets Are Tough and Beautiful Plants .

And find out some promise raw arrival inThese New Burnets Deserve Your Attention .

Richard Hawke is plant evaluation manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe , Illinois .

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growing burnets

Did someone say pollinator plant?Burnet flowers are delightful in any size or color, from great burnet’s understated bobbles to Korean burnet’s eye-popping tassels. Based on the flurry of midsummer activity, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators appear to agree!Photos: (left) Robert Mabic/gapphotos.com; (right) Stephanie Fagan

dividing burnets