Got a Plant Question

Superswid

I have these plants in my back yard and the leaves and stalk are getting really dry. Should I be watering them more? Less? How can I make them look healthier.

teepee105

where do you live? looks like a dormant perennial to me. time to cut them back if so. do you know what they are? looks like a canna to me. perennial in zones below me, unless covered well.

Superswid

I live in Southern California, near Los Angeles. I don't know what these are called. I have been cutting them back. However, the stalks and remaining leaves keep drying out more. So I cut them back some more. However, at this rate, soon there will be just stalks a foot or so long remaining of the whole plant.

natwlsn

They are ready for a cold rest period .... cut them back completely to the ground, not just their tops. ...don't pull them free from the soil .... they need to be left alone until spring, then they will grow back again

sdsester

Buy a plant guide or talk to your local nursery so you know what they are. Indeed they are probably a perennial or even growing from a rhizome or bulb. They have done there thing and are resting. What did they look like during the year?

biggles

cut back is good thing also ground might be dead how is the soil.. that your out there might want to get a bag of manure and a 5 gallon platic bucket...dump 1/2 the bag in and fill the water to the top reach in and stir it up liquifying it as much as it can then pour it around the base of the plants....might give it a boost to the spring growth was it a hot summer and does that area get banged with the sun all day..could be just weak soil...

natwlsn

This is not the growing season .... don't feed the soil until spring, when things are ready to grow, not rest.