ANTI-FLOPPING CAGES we make for PEONIES/TALL PERENNIALS, AND CLEMATIS

we have over 120 peonies in our gardens, so we chose to make our own cages. here's what we devised: we buy the tallest 4- ring tomato cages and cut off the feet just ABOVE the lowest horizontal ring. we cut squares of 2" grid wire fencing big enough to just fit over the circle of the top rung on the tomato cage. then we bend the 4 corners of the fencing square over/around that same top ring of the tomato cage. we push down the tomato cage low enough that the peony's new foliage begins to grow up through the cage.(often you have to help weave the peony stems
up through the square holes of the fencing). we then lift the cage to its tallest appropriate height after the peonies have max'd their height. we also use these cages for other perennials that flop- like clematis integrifolia, veronicastrum, cimicifuga and eupatorium. the short,narrow cage that is left after you've cut off the bottom of the tall cage- you can use for veronica crater lake blue, nepeta,or any shorter sloppy perennials, to keep them from flopping.

For Clematis Vines that are not TOO huge-growing, we use the same tallest tomato cages, but this time, we turn the cages on their heads- over the clematis crown. and then we use staples
and/or stakes to pin down the cages. we gather the legs together through a washer or bolt or some decorative ball with a hole drilled through it.
the cages eventually rust and blend in with the ground. nice cheap obelisk for places where you want your attention to be on the flowers and not the architecture of the obelisk.