Sambucus Nigra died away?

[ramyad]

Hello all,

Newbie gardener subscribing for your help please.

I bought this last year from Wyevale garden centre and planted them last summer. Over winter they died away and I trimmed them down to the ground. But nothing is coming through this year, I would have thought I would see some new growth?

Have they died completely? How can I tell?

This isn't the only plant that seems to have died. I think I have a black thumb, instead of green fingers, as two other plants have died too. :-(

One of the other plants that seems to have died is the Dahlia Bishop of Llandaff. I can't see anything, above ground.

I'm very sad as my father and mother are fantastic gardeners and I thought I might have some of there genes (joke) :-)

Please help.

Thanks Ramesh

PS - I'll post pictures of them tomorrow.

[D. Arlington]

Where are you located? It may still be too cold for them to come up.

[gardengal]

When you say "died away" what exactly do you mean? Sambucus nigra is a shrub and while it will lose its leaves in winter, the stems will remain present and should not have been pruned away. You leave it alone untill you see new growth buds emerging from the stems in spring and then trim back any dead wood.

Dahlias are generally treated as annuals. In warmer climates, you can leave the tubers inground overwinter (if you have very well drained soils) but new growth won't emerge until both the soil and temperatures warm considerably. I'd not expect to see much sign of life until midMay at the earliest. In colder climates, the tubers need to be dug and stored for winter. You replant the tubers in late spring after last frost.

[ramyad]

I'm > On Apr 3, 8:19*pm, ramyad [e-mail] wrote:-

Thanks for the info. Basically all the leaves fell off and the stems are brittle under touch. They break up and falll away.

I didn't take the Dahlia out of the ground over winter so I assume it's gone. Oh well, thanks for the info.

Thanks to both of you for info.