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Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 29. January 2002, 20:19:
So get this. Today it was 68 degrees F and sunny.
I went outside in short sleeves,
jeans, and Birkenstock clogs to see what was up, literally.
---All bulbs are poking their heads up. Including, it would seem, the species tulips
you all encouraged me to buy... unless I am confusing them with the legions of
muscarii planted by the former owner. I'm especially excited about the dozen
colchicum which I planted last summer. They didn't do anything in the fall, but now
they are all up and looking vigorous.
---The peach and plum trees are actually alive. They have buds on them. So I
haven't yet made a mess of that.
---The irises look good too even though the ground has frozen and unfrozen half a
dozen times.
Early spring in Connecticut. It's like falling in love with someone dangerous, yet
irresistible. I know my heart's going to get broken by a major snowstorm in Holy
Week and I don't care. Today, however briefly, I felt the sun.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 29. January 2002, 20:27:
I went out in my newly-acquired garden this weekend, when it was almost as nice as
today, and walked around talking to the plants begging them to NOT bud. They seem
to mostly be cooperating. This weather can't last.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 30. January 2002, 02:11:
Well, supposedly this peach tree ('Belle of Georgia', white-fleshed and cold-hardy)
normally sets far too many buds anyway. So it probably won't be a big deal if it gets
zapped. I just planted the plum tree ('Stanley', a prune type) last fall, so I don't
really expect it to do anything now other than stay alive. (We're in USDA zone 6a.)
But you're right---I should be begging the roses, at least, not to do this---the shrub
rose by the driveway has got lots of fat little buds on it! Though that particular plant
is probably as old as the house (around 70 years) and has no doubt seen it all.
Qestia, do you know when the Northeast Horticultural Society spring show is? My
husband and I went up to Boston for it last year and had a fabulous time.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 30. January 2002, 11:22:
Our little white rose bush has been busy flowering all winter, despite frost, snow, and
ice. I don`t know what it thinks it`s doing (it`s not supposed to be a winter rose),
but it seems perfectly happy.
I never got any tulips down in the autumn. I suppose it`s too late to plant them
now?
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 30. January 2002, 13:07:
Oriel--generally tulips need a couple of months of cold weather to put down roots in
after they're planted. But if you've got the bulbs and they're just sitting there looking
sorry, and you have the energy, go for it! Otherwise, buy some in a pot for this year
(they'll have been chilled) and wait for next year.
I've got gorgeous fat furry buds on my clematis alpina (that sounds obscene). I was
walking around the garden of a friend and saw snowdrops and crocuses and winter
aconite in bloom on Monday, and some Helleborus niger so amazingly beautiful that I
stopped at a nursery on the way home and picked up a pot of it for myself. Anna,
you might try helleborus in your garden: H. niger is of questionable hardiness in New
England (though White Flower Farm stock it) but H. orientalis is tough as nails and
comes in various spectacular shades of pink, plum, slate, white, green, and
primrose, with and without spots.
I wonder if the Japanese maple--the one that dropped all its leaves right after I
planted it--will turn out to be alive.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 30. January 2002, 14:57:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
Qestia, do you know when the Northeast Horticultural Society
spring show is? My husband and I went up to Boston for it last
year and had a fabulous time.
Well, that Spring Flower Show they have in the Bayside Expo center is March 1624...is that the one? (I'm a bit new to all this gardening stuff...the garden came with
a house we got in December, so I'm just waiting to see what happens in the spring!)
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 30. January 2002, 22:11:
Qestia, that's exactly the one!! (Bet I got the name wrong...) Now I can go look this
up on the Web.
Amos, I've heard such good things about helleborus, and just today I was thinking to
myself, "This garden is pretty low on 'winter interest.'" Writing it down.
Oriel: Are you quite sure that Our Lady of Lourdes has not visited your area
recently?
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 30. January 2002, 22:16:
The snowdrops are out in South Croydon!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 31. January 2002, 14:54:
Damn. Freezing rain coming. Turning attention to forced bulbs ('Carnegie' hyacinths,
some even in proper hyacinth glasses). Anyone else doing this?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 31. January 2002, 15:27:
Sorry to double-post but I've got another question. I've fallen in online love with
Rosa eglanteria, also known as eglantine, sweet briar, or Shakespeare's rose. Lovely
memories and other personal opinions about this rose would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 31. January 2002, 15:29:
I'm hoping to use the present freezing temps to knock down some hornet's nests
I've noticed on the garage. Any ideas about how to do this safely?
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 31. January 2002, 19:44:
At this time of year, the nests are empty (except perhaps for some pupae that didn't
hatch before the freeze). The queen is tucked in a cozy place somewhere waiting for
warm weather.
Just in case some renegade wasp or two hasn't read the same stuff I have, do it on a
very cold day and anything that might be alive will be way too slow and stupid to
attack you!
In the spring, watch for those queens who overwintered to start a little nest where
they raise the first few helpers; if you knock them down first thing, it either wears
out the queen or at least convinces her to go try somewhere else.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 31. January 2002, 22:50:
Anna B--All the eglantines, the species and all the hybrids, are very tough and
thorny and hardy. They bloom once around mid-summer, and the flowers tend not to
be large. However it's the foliage that is the glory of the eglanterias: it's scented,
and especially after rain, fills the vicinity with the smell of apples. Lord Penzance and
Lady Penzance are both good hybrids, and there are others, mostly bred around the
turn of the century. I've grown a couple and found them to be thoroughly
worthwhile. You can grow a lot of eglanterias as climbers or drape them over a wall
in a wild corner of the garden. Or plant them in a place where you'd like something
with lots of thorns. There is a nursery up in Maine--I can PM you the name--which
carries a lot of them, has good stock, and ships.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 31. January 2002, 22:52:
Anna, if you PM me, I'll gladly send you that info.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 01. February 2002, 03:22:
Actually, Amos, I believe I may already know the one you mean---I've ordered from
them before and would definitely get my eglanterias there as well.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 01. February 2002, 15:27:
The willow wigwam around which my clematis alpina (mentioned above) was twining
blew over in the heavy winds this morning, breaking off the clematis just above
ground level. Damn.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord
Posted by Pipkin (# 1401) on 01. February 2002, 18:06:
Today was so mild. The Lord giveth and taketh away indeed. All our snow is fast
depleting up there, which is no good at all with half-term on the way. However, the
cat and I strolled jacketless, well me anyway, onto the patio and observed primroses
in the bank!!
What a glorious sign of spring.
Of course next week it will probably be blizzarding or something!
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 01. February 2002, 19:14:
Here's some infoabout what to do with wasp nests. Scroll down through the stuff
about how beneficial wasps are to get to the instructions about disposing the nests.
Amos, I think your clematis should be ok, we usually cut ours to the ground every
fall to encourage new growth. Leaves and buds will come out on the old wood but it
is so fragile you usually lose them before the summer is out.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 01. February 2002, 22:15:
Thank you Renee! That's encouraging to know, because cut to the ground it certainly
is! It's a macropetala, incidentally, not, as I said earlier, an alpina. A nice blue one.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 01. February 2002, 23:22:
My mother had clematis on the fence at the back of the yard for years. She pruned
them back quite viciously every year because they seemed to thrive on it.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 02. February 2002, 02:15:
Thanks, jlg and Renee. I had no idea they were empty this time of year. That makes
my task a bit more manageable!
Umm...one more thing, once I've got the nests down, what should I do with them?
Can I just throw them away? We have to haul our trash to a dump, and I worry a bit
about having them in the car with me, empty or not. And I don't think we're allowed
to burn rubbish in our yard as we are in town. Can I just add them to the compost
pile? It seems odd.
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 02. February 2002, 10:53:
Sure, you can compost them or bury them. Or you could burn them in a metal trash
can or bucket--a quick, controlled burn with a small, hot fire shouldn't upset anybody
too much.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 02. February 2002, 12:46:
Qestia--what you do with them will depend on which bit of Massachusetts you're
living in. In Cambridge or Brookline even a controlled burn will cause consternation.
In Saugus or Methuen you can probably get away with it. Somerville would be iffy.
My suggestion would be to break the nests up with the edge of your shovel and
compost or bury them.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 03. February 2002, 16:05:
I'm actually out in a very small town right now, closer to NH than Boston, so you
may be right about fires not being a big deal, but I think I'll opt for burial when the
ground's no longer covered with ice. Thanks everyone!
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 03. February 2002, 21:15:
Just toss them on the compost -- it's just cellulose, wasp-made paper, and it will
break down. Smash them up a bit first if it makes you nervous to see a whole nest
looking at you. Or bury it in a snowdrift.
I have a window that doesn't open (stuck) at the foot of my bed and every summer
the paper wasps (the brown ones that are quite passive, not white-faced hornets
which are aggressive) build a colony between the screen and the sash. Right now the
shreds of last summer's nests are slowly falling down and turning to dust.
I also have a story about the year the honeybees built a hive in our chimney, if
anyone cares to hear it.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 03. February 2002, 21:18:
Sounds like you're in the neighborhood, Questia. I'm just over the Mass border from
Merrimac and Haverhill.
Posted by spigot (# 253) on 03. February 2002, 21:34:
Shouldn't this thread be in hell? After all gardening was a result of the fall.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 03. February 2002, 21:51:
I think you will find that Adam was given the job of looking after the garden before
the fall.
Of course, there is nothing to stop you starting a Gardening thread in Hell...
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 06. February 2002, 14:04:
Ooohhh, how exciting! Maybe I'll start that one after my annual spring inspection of
the compost pile...
What's really missing from this thread is a report from someone farther south in the
States.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 06. February 2002, 22:13:
Benedictus! Moo! What's up in the garden south of the Mason-Dixon Line? Erin?
Renee, one of those iris reticulata you suggested I plant is showing a bit of deep
violet-navy-blue.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 06. February 2002, 22:28:
I'm none of the above, but in my neighborhood the Bradford pear trees are
blooming; the yellow bells are blooming and it is sleeting today. Two nights ago it
was 21 degrees with a 30 MPH wind, My daughter had given me some violet pansies
to set out and they froze in their containers..dirt and all. They still have blooms tho,
so when I'm off work on Friday, I'll see if they can be rescued..By then it will
probably be 70 degrees again and sunny....Typical February here.
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 06. February 2002, 22:57:
Amos, thank you for the inspiration to take more notice, although the weather for
the last few days has not been conducive to wandering around outside. So far what I
know is that the pansies next door are in full bloom, as is the Japanese magnolia
down the block, although that may have changed since yesterday. The dogwoods are
not yet blooming, but they are in bud. I will have a better update in a few days.
Bene
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 06. February 2002, 23:26:
Well, now that I am on this thread - I noticed the wasp ordeal above...I have a
problem with yellow jackets (are they a Southern species only??) I got stung on two
different occasions last summer while trying to clear out some of my wooded area.
Once was 5 times on my face. Quite a downer. I had read that after the 1st frost
they would die out. I waited til we had 12 inches of snow and 7 degree weather.
Unbelievably, the 1st warm day, I thought I would take up the task again, but they
were still there. They lived thru the snow and cold. Will anything do them in?
Posted by Campbell Ritchie (# 730) on 06. February 2002, 23:27:
Dogwood? It refused to grwo in our garden. But we have the winter jasmine out (as
usual) the lesser periwinkle that crawled under the neighbours' fence has a few
flowers on (even though it will have to have its expansionist tendencies curbed very
severely), our snowdrops and a few grage hyacinths (Muscari) are out, but the best
plant from January through to the end of March will probably be the laurustinus
(Viburnum tinus).
Then as Spring itself arrives, the whole garden will go yellow. It turns blue in the
summer!
Should anybody start a gardening thread it Hell, please can we have a thread about
slugs there too?
CR
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 08. February 2002, 21:33:
Saw a patch of daffodils in full bloom today. And the first white iris I've seen so far
this year.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 08. February 2002, 22:45:
quote:
Originally posted by bessie rosebride:
Well, now that I am on this thread - I noticed the wasp ordeal
above...I have a problem with yellow jackets (are they a
Southern species only??) I got stung on two different occasions
last summer while trying to clear out some of my wooded area.
Once was 5 times on my face. Quite a downer. I had read that
after the 1st frost they would die out. I waited til we had 12
inches of snow and 7 degree weather. Unbelievably, the 1st
warm day, I thought I would take up the task again, but they
were still there. They lived thru the snow and cold. Will
anything do them in?
Well, yes, we have "yellow-jackets" up here, but they may not be the same thing as
you have. Perhaps some of the workers winter over in the south since the weather is
milder. At any rate, your mistake was to wait for a warm day to attack the nest. Do
it when it is below freezing on a cloudy day and you shouldn't have any trouble
moving faster than the little beasties even if they do try to fight back. (I'm assuming
you're dealing with the typical gray paper honeycomb nest in a tree, not with the
ground-nesting type.)
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 08. February 2002, 22:58:
Sorry to double post and this isn't really practical help, but we once had a resident
raccoon. When it arrived, our old rambling house with attached sheds and barn had
wasp and hornet nests in every available nook and cranny, including all along the
beams and rafters in the barn. About a year later when we had to trap and remove it
because it was starting to come into the house, it had cleaned out all nests, happily
eating the larvae, pretty much oblivious to the stinging of the insects. Fifteen years
later, with only minimal action from us, the wasp population is still 10% of what it
was before the raccoon.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 09. February 2002, 00:07:
jlg, I believe that you are wrong. That is the most practical piece of help I've heard
in a long time.
Benedictus: white iris? What variety?
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 09. February 2002, 02:28:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
Benedictus: white iris? What variety?
Don't know, Anna B. It was in someone else's front yard.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 09. February 2002, 03:04:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
jlg, I believe that you are wrong. That is the most practical
piece of help I've heard in a long time.
Benedictus: white iris? What variety?
Well, yes, but how does one go about getting just the right sort of raccoon to move
in at the right time. Judging by the personalities of my many cats over the years, not
to mention to various skunks who have sought to grace our household with their
presence (I have lots of skunk stories), I'm not sure that just any old raccoon would
provide the same service.
Is that white iris a siberian/japanese iris?
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 11. February 2002, 00:05:
jlg In answer to your two posts...sounds like you know what you are talking about. I'm
afraid that I do have the ground-nesting kind (didn't know about two kinds!! )
I believe they "nested in" so well in the veritable jungle of downed trees, dirt, 5
years of leaves and pinestraw; that they survived. I will attempt to take up further
clearing on a bitter cold day (as horrible as that sounds - I hate the cold).
Secondly, I like the idea of hiring a raccoon. But, unfortunately, the only one I saw
last summer had rabies.
In North Carolina, raccoons are the #1 mammal carriers of rabies. Then, I believe foxes are next.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 11. February 2002, 01:35:
quote:
Originally posted by bessie rosebride:
jlg In answer to your two posts...sounds like you know what you
are talking about. I'm afraid that I do have the ground-nesting
kind (didn't know about two kinds!! )
I believe they "nested in" so well in the veritable jungle of
downed trees, dirt, 5 years of leaves and pinestraw; that they
survived. I will attempt to take up further clearing on a bitter
cold day (as horrible as that sounds - I hate the cold).
I had problems with ground-nesting yellow jackets this past September and
September a year before.
The first time they were in a hole in my lawn. I sprayed wasp-killer into the hole one
cool morning, and that took care of the problem.
The second time they were somewhere very near my outdoor trash cans. I was
stung three times one morning while getting the trash ready to take to the curb. I
didn't know where the nest was, and I was afraid to look. I hired an exterminator to
deal with it. He charged ninety-two dollars, but it was worth it.
Yellow jackets are very nasty things.
Moo
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 11. February 2002, 02:43:
bessie, yes, use a cold day to clean up the debris, but you'll have to find the hole.
And then go for the poison. (Dealing with established yellow-jackets and hornets is
one of the few times I endorse this.) The ground-dwelling yellow-jackets are among
the nastier species.
I didn't know I knew this much about wasps etc. But long ago I had to work in a little
metal cubicle about the size of a large (American) refrigerator with an open bottom
where the cables came in (it was part of power plant control room). This was in
Puerto Rico and the wasps just thought this whole place had been designed just for
them! I finally got used to the fact that these mud-dauber wasps were extremely
benign, and learned to work alongside them. I checked my wires and circuits, they
built their little mud nests, when they flew off for more materials, I knocked down
part of the nest (you don't want them to actually complete the nest and start raising
more wasps!), and everybody's happy, more or less. Since then I'm been adding to
my knowledge of which ones you can work next to (slowly and calmly, of course)
and which ones are aggressive.
Did you know you can pet honeybees while they're busy collecting nectar? Clover in
the middle of a yard is a good place to do this. It's fun!
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 11. February 2002, 04:41:
quote:
Originally posted by jlg:
Is that white iris a siberian/japanese iris?
Siberian, I think. Did you know if you run a google search for "white iris" you get
about 367,000 hits?
The forsythia is out. I've also seen the odd azalea in bloom in protected areas.
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 11. February 2002, 04:53:
so far the only flowers I have seen are in the nursery catalogs. Got myself one of
those Earth Boxes, though, and hope to get some sugar peas started on the porch.
By the time they're ready to flower, there should be at least a few pollinators out
there looking for a snack.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 11. February 2002, 12:28:
Benedictus is he who lives where forsythia is in bloom. My heavens, you could be out
pruning roses! It is soooo cold here. Drizzly. Nothing happening.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 11. February 2002, 21:37:
Moo and jlg
Oh, my goodness; y'all are so encouraging!
Well. at least now I know that I am looking for a hole. I'll get myself all armed and
dangerous and set out to do battle (if we have another cold day....) If I live to tell it,
I'll be sure to report back.
Meanwhile, there is plenty to be planted and pruned in safer areas of my little
patch of land.
Jlg, you are by far a braver one than I; with your little mud-dauber office mates!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 15. February 2002, 11:28:
Oh, dear, I believe the squirrels may be eating my species-tulip bulbs
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 15. February 2002, 15:37:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
Oh, dear, I believe the squirrels may be eating my species-tulip
bulbs
Oh, Anna B, that's sad. Do feel free to borrow my dog, chasing squirrels is his
favorite thing. (When anybody asks me what kind of dog I have, I say, "Small black."
I didn't want a dog, but I'm a sucker.)
Saw my first crocus yesterday, and the azalea is in bloom all over the churchyard
when I was there Ash Wednesday.
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 15. February 2002, 16:56:
Anna, find some chicken wire and lay it out over the places where you planted bulbs.
A little mulch over the top, and it's squirrel deterrent. works with digging cats, too.
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 17. February 2002, 16:50:
I'd like to hear about your garden "follies". Here's what I mean: I grew up in a region
of the country famous for its small fruits, blueberries in particular. I miss unlimited
blueberries and strawberries in the summer, but where I live now is simply not a
hospitable environment in which to grow them.
However, two summers ago I planted six blueberry bushes and this will be the first
summer they will (possibly) bear fruit. My folly, because hope is the only thing that
is abundant in this situation.
Anybody else have a similar story?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 22. February 2002, 13:35:
Hmmm, I live in blueberry country, but am trying to winter over some tuberoses...
does that count?
Beautiful weather here... in the '50's and sunny. Bulbs are looking happy. And hey--my little plum tree is alive!!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 26. February 2002, 18:15:
Sorry to double-post. I have a question---who can tell me about their experiences
raising fruit? In addition to the plum and white peach trees previously mentioned, we
also have blueberries, raspberries, and Alpine strawberries. Strongly considering
putting in blackcurrants (yes, they are legal here) and a couple of apple trees. The
number of apples out there is bewildering---I love Macouns and have heard lots of
good things about Cox's Orange Pippin.
Posted by Renee (# 479) on 26. February 2002, 18:25:
Anna, try your cooperative extension--UNH has publications on small fruits and tree
fruits here.
The great thing about Extension is that it provides research based information for
your area's soil and weather conditions.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 28. February 2002, 20:16:
Oh, I know, but I'm interested in hearing personal anecdotes too... whatever you all
think might inspire/motivate me.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 01. March 2002, 15:43:
My forsythia is looking very cheerful today!
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 01. March 2002, 23:22:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
STrongly considering putting in blackcurrants (yes, they are
legal here) and a couple of apple trees. The number of apples
out there is bewildering---I love Macouns and have heard lots
of good things about Cox's Orange Pippin.
You're lucky you live in an area where it's legal to grow blackcurrants. It was illegal
to grow them where I lived in New Hampshire, and it's illegal to grow them where I
live in Virginia.
As far as apples are concerned, many varieties must be pollinated by a different
variety. If none of your neighbors grow apples, you may have to plant two varieties.
My favorite New England apple is the Cortland. I love the flavor.
Moo
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 02. March 2002, 06:00:
My favorite apple is the Northern Spy--a truly great American apple. I'm not certain
if you can get it on dwarf stock, or whether it is self-pollinating, but it would be
worth any trouble. Among English apples, the Ribston Pippin is lovely, followed by
the Blenheim Orange, and the various russets are nice.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 02. March 2002, 18:30:
UK people allowed here too?
Your gardens sound wonderful. I've just spent an afternoon out in my yard - English
type, back of old terraced house, covered in York stone slabs, used to have the
outside loo and wash-house. Everything is in tubs.
Yellow winter jasmine now just finishing, pale blue rosemary blossoming beautifully,
clematis (purple - don't know the name) going wild so I cut down half and left the
rest of the new shoots - which had loads of tiny green caterpillars. I hate them - but
I love them too, and I hate squashing them. At least they don't attack me like
wasps.
Scented jasmine is taking over the whole place and had lots of tiny flower buds, still
red. I had to pull off some convulvulus, growing over the high wall from the other
side of the wall which is the back of a pub. pretty weed, but if I allowed it, we'd have
nothing else.
Campbell Ritchie - slugs, snails and caterpillars - really nasty devourers of soft new
leaves and flowers. I found a whole extended family of snails in a bag of compost
that they had obviously taken over as a winter home. I feel really guilty killing them
and the blackbird I try to feed then to is not around.
They eat my orange blossom buds, my viburnam (now flowering pinkly), my clematis
and the new shoots of my lily of the valley and lily bulbs.
Early prunus flowering wonderfully in LOndon streets.
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 05. March 2002, 17:19:
re: slugs and snails. I find that a long pair of cooking chopstics (dedicated to this
purpose only) are very handy for finding and picking off the slimers. Drop them into
a container of salty or soapy water (or garlic butter) or feed them to the dog.
There is also the old but effective method of setting out a dish of beer. The slugs are
drawn to the yeasty smell, crawl in and drown. Better than being devoured by a
blackbird, I reckon.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 05. March 2002, 20:08:
yes, daisymay, snails in garlic butter and beer to wash it down (make it very chilled,
please). sounds lovely.
anna b...i have about 10 blueberry bushes at the back of my property...pies in july is
what i say! but i just say it, i don't do it. though as it happens, i have recipes for
durgin park blueberry crumb cake and jordan marsh blueberry muffins, and i do
make those when i can find the recipes that i somehow manage to put in a different
place every time i use them.
while you're waiting for spring to come, you might want to peek through Sue
Hubbell's new book "Shrinking the Cat"...she speaks at length about the evolution of
the apple. (she speaks about cats, too...and silk worms, and other genetic
marvels/messes.)
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 05. March 2002, 20:14:
So you find blueberries grow well in this area? I may have to install some...yum!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 05. March 2002, 22:05:
definitely do. unfortunately, i can't tell the variety, they were already planted when
we moved in, but they absolutely thrive (as large as grapes and about 5-6 feet
tall...though we have some low-growing wild bushes at the woods edge with the tiny
berries) and i've only cut them down once in 20 years. the kids loved picking them
first thing in the morning for pancakes!
alas...today there is but the slightest tinge of burgundy where buds will come out on
the maples...we've a long way to go yet.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 06. March 2002, 21:53:
daisymay, I wish so much that rosemary grew outdoors here---you are so fortunate!!
I love rosemary in all forms. My relatives in northern California don't even notice it---
"Oh, that old rosemary [hedge a good 2 meters high]---we really must cut that back
for Christmas wreaths sometime."
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 08. March 2002, 20:13:
OK - gardeners - we have almost survived winter (at least here in the South - sorry
to incorporate.. ).
It's in the seventies and sunny today and I have to seriously get something that
blooms and has color growing in my yard. This weekend. Everything is still brown. I
am happy to report back that I have cleared a sizeable chunk of my woods and
without
seeing any of my foes...the yellow jackets.
My grandson was selling bulbs and seeds from a catalog for elementary school funds
and I ordered an assortment of wildflower seeds; an assortment of butterflyattracting seeds to sow and an assortment of bulbs to plant.
I essentially have no grass (I inherited my yard from someone that never went
outside for the five years the house has been built)
And I don't really want to have a lot of grass. An entire yard of other plants,
flowers and shrubs would be my ideal.
I have a butterfly bush that I am afraid didn't survive last year. I think it is dead and
just sticks. I read an article which discouraged planting butterfly bushes, anyway.
The author called them the "new Kudzu of the south".
What's happening with y'all?
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 08. March 2002, 22:34:
Grass would be ready for a first cut here if I had time and a machine. The Ruby Giant
crocus are making a good show as are the little early narcissus (jetfire?) with the
long trumpets the color of Cheetos. The sadly mauled clematis macropetala is
showing a couple of new buds at ground level. The Japanese maple that dropped off
all its leaves when I planted it last summer and has played dead since is showing
signs of life, as is the Boston Ivy. I've got a box of seeds in cold storage that I'm
looking forward to sowing---all kinds of poppies and hollyhocks and columbines and
violas and larkspur and nigella and so forth. But the really thrilling sight right now is
either blackthorn or whitethorn (I'm not sure which) in flower along the sides of the
dual carriageway. No leaves, just twiggy black boughs and white blossom--in the
early mornings it's like inhabiting a black-and-white photograph. D.G.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 09. March 2002, 20:07:
Apologies for double-posting. Who out there has a magnolia, and what sort? I very
nearly bought a magnolia soulangiana "Rustica Rubra" today, even though it cost too
much and wouldn't have fit in the car, because I was remembering the incredible
specimen that flourished in front of The Workman's Circle in Brookline. It wasn't just
the color of the flowers--deep rose with a touch of mauve--but their shape--more
rounded than most soulangianas--that fascinated me. This is rapidly turning into
Garden Porn, so I shall post before I get onto magnolia cylindrica (rather like
denudata, but with strange fruit...)
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 09. March 2002, 20:53:
Anna B,
The rosemary is lovely. I run my hand over it every time I walk out of the back door.
Then my hand smells wonderful too.
Bess,
Down my street there is a huge buddleia growing in an old tin dustbin. The seeds fly
all over the place and seed themselves in every crevice; some people think they are
weeds. I have one in an old plastic food container out the back.
As to all you snail devourers - mine at the moment are too tiny, only children, to eat.
I'm going to try some beer - just hope they're not teetotal.
Scented jasmine has begun to flower. Some magnolias flowering on London streets.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 09. March 2002, 21:43:
ooohhh...i have a magnolia...completely dormant right now...but come april it is
magnificent...i believe it's a soulangiana (a pink saucer type...though really
purple,rose, pink, white blend...and i call it a boston magnolia because it's the type
you see all over the back bay)...i planted it 15 years ago, the year my second
daughter was born...it's now about 20 feet tall. when it is in full bloom, the week of
my first daughter's birthday, i always make a point of sitting on my front stairs for
hours to watch it show off. it's so ridiculously beautiful.
i did spend a bit of time in the yard today...everything is waking up with leisure...i
especially love to watch my dicentra (white and red) take off, only 1/2 inch out right
now...peonies, iris, lilies, poppies, cameo quince, roses, lilacs, hydrangeas...God, i
love seeing them peek back out. i couldn't get afghanistan and the other wretched
war zones out of my mind, though...i wish everyone who wanted one had, and could
enjoy, their gardens?
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 11. March 2002, 19:36:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
Down my street there is a huge buddleia growing in an old tin
dustbin. The seeds fly all over the place and seed themselves in
every crevice; some people think they are weeds. I have one in
an old plastic food container out the back.
How funny, daisymay.
I think mine endured too harsh an environment its first year. My daughter came out
and planted it when I first moved in last June, before we really had any idea of sun
or soil. The poor dear baked in full southern exposure sun all summer in essentially
sandy soil (I have 3 soils in one yard - red clay, sand and some decent dark soil that
I steal from the woods)
Then we had a drought all fall. I watered like a maniac, but she still wilted to where I
had her branches stilted up on life-support. Maybe, it's playing dead like Amos'
Japanese maple. I feel like the evil foil to all the successful gardeners on this thread.
Amos....this is like Garden Porn. I love it - can't wait til I can lust over a succulent,
lush, lavish, flamboyant yard/garden of all the delights everyone describes here.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 11. March 2002, 20:14:
so what have others "rescued" from roadsides, woods, etc.? i've a couple of crops of
jack-in-the-pulpit that are very happy (will be in may)...also transplanted a pink
lady's slipper (both very naughty and illegal...but they were doing demolition for
building a gas pipeline...so i felt justified)...also a silver birch, various lilies of the
valley from vacant lots, some wisteria from an abandoned demolished foundation.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 11. March 2002, 20:20:
well if this is garden porn, call me a voyer. i have no yard, live in an apartment. bot
oh what i'm seeing around me...
crocus, daffodils, tulips and marsh marigolds are up!!!
spring is here!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 11. March 2002, 20:31:
When I lived in the neighborhood of Boston, blackbird, a friend who lived in New
Hampshire gave me a little bit of a rose and asked me if I could identify it. It was
one that crept (via suckers) down Ragged Mountain and into her garden--originally it
must have been planted in the garden of a farmhouse. Amazingly it grew for me--it's
a gallica of some kind, like r. gallica officinalis only with a few more petals, very
fragrant and almost cherry-red, fading to carmine after the first day. My friend died,
and her garden has gone wild, but this rosebush is still growing and blooming--it's
about five feet tall now.
I've always wanted to grow chicory--the feral kind with the blue flowers with
squared-off petals. And the London buddleias have to be seen to be believed---they
grow like weeds along the railway lines. The birds of the air have a lot to be thanked
for.
Today, being the sacred Day Off I cut the front lawn. Does anyone have any tricks to
starting a gasoline-powered mower? Apart from growing arms like a gorilla?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 11. March 2002, 20:33:
I know, nicole---and this warm front, cold front, warm front, cold front stuff is
absolutely driving me up the wall!!!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 12. March 2002, 14:10:
welcome to the virtual garden, nicole. but you must have things blooming in your
apt. fess up. even though it's lent, my jasmine and christmas/easter cacti are
blooming inside. (God's way of saying "lighten up")
better start eating more bananas, amos. i hate starting my lawnmower (one area
men really do have the advantage...their upper arms). on my lawnmower, i have to
press the rubber primer button many times and then a sharp, quick pull...still, i
strain a muscle in my back at least once a summer. i suppose that's one good aspect
of it still being winter here, snow predicted for friday, no grass to mow.
i have some exceptionally hardy climbing roses, too, that came with the house. i've
replanted pieces all over the place and they thrive....i hope to get a white beach rose
this spring.
anyone else have wind damage this past weekend? a 40 foot tree feel in my
driveway and smashed my daughter's car...thank God it missed the lilacs.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 13. March 2002, 23:27:
Just turned compost and found potatoes growing at the bottom of it
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 14. March 2002, 21:54:
Got 6" of snow last night. Forget planting peas on St. Paddy's Day. Maybe by April
Fools.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 15. March 2002, 20:28:
heard one lone peeper calling out last night from deep in the woods. first one this
year.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 15. March 2002, 23:46:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Does anyone have any tricks to starting a gasoline-powered
mower? Apart from growing arms like a gorilla?
Do you have to pull up or to the side?
If you have to pull up, I have no suggestions.
If you have to pull to the side, hold it with both hands and run backwards a couple of
steps. I used that technique successfully for years.
Moo
Posted by hermit (# 1803) on 16. March 2002, 21:04:
Moo, the best technique is to buy a new one.
Qestia, you haven't discovered the wild blueberries in western Massachusetts yet? I
grew up in Pittsfield ... come late summer we would go out into the hills and get tons
of them. Some used combs and sorted out the leaves afterward, but I picked them
freestyle. We ate some in buttermilk mixed with sugar, use some for pies and
cookies, and froze the rest.
I'm sure everyone knows to make a very acid soil if you grow them.
Lots of wild thyme in that area also, and crabapples.
My brother travelled through all of the UK, and says gardens there are gorgeous,
much nicer than American in general.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 16. March 2002, 22:45:
Welcome to the gardening thread, hermit!
Moo--the lawnmower belongs to my nice neighbors, and is a new gasoline-powered
one. The string pulls up at a sort of forty-five degree angle while one is squeezing
the handle and bracing one's foot against the engine block. I am small-to-mediumsized so all of this is just about impossible. Went to Stanbrook Abbey this afternoon
(which is the model for Rumer Godden's House of Brede) and there were all kinds of
wonderful narcissus, some of them beautifully and amazingly fragrant. Some of my
friends spent the afternoon on their allotment and proudly announced that they'd put
up a shed with only one swear between them.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 17. March 2002, 00:06:
i saw forsythia in bloom today!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. March 2002, 00:11:
Made a mistake last week. My Christmas Cactus has been out on a window-sill all
winter (mild in London this year) and I brought it in because we had sudden frost
.
What I didn't know was that some of these
caterpillars were overwintering,
??probably as eggs?? They have wakened up and before I could even notice, they
have been munching away.
Scented jasmine now beginning to emerge and blossom out the back. Wonderful
stuff.
High winds blew down the new trellis I had just bought. No damage to rosemary.
The Little blue aliums are blooming, as are the daffs I planted in the council patch of
trees across the road. Buds coming out on the mop-head and climbing hydrangeas.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. March 2002, 00:15:
Nicolemrw,
Forsythia - wonderful stuff. It's out in London at the moment, and really brightens up
the gloom. I keep thinking of acquiring a bush and sticking it in a tub.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 18. March 2002, 18:22:
quote:
Originally posted by hermit:
Qestia, you haven't discovered the wild blueberries in western
Massachusetts yet
No, I've only been in the state a few years. Where I grew up (Wisconsin) we had wild
blueberries, but they were really too tiny to eat.
Moo, you should get an old-fashioned push-mower (no motor, no noise, no
petrochemicals needed). I've got one and it's really far easier to push than you
would imagine.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 18. March 2002, 18:44:
Questia - where did you get your push mower? That is exactly what I want. I have
an old gasoline poweded one that I am afraid of. And like Moo - I can't get it started.
It was a gorgeous day here Saturday (83) and I planted an azalea, 2 Don Juan
climbing roses (to climb over an unappealing structure in my back yard) and some
phlox and poppies to add color to the front. And I hung a bright yellow garden flag to
fly in the March wind.....several of the existing azaleas are blooming, which amazes
me - they look so straggly.
Yours, the hapless gardener/Bess
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 19. March 2002, 01:22:
quote:
Originally posted by Qestia:
Moo, you should get an old-fashioned push-mower (no motor,
no noise, no petrochemicals needed). I've got one and it's
really far easier to push than you would imagine.
I now have a walk-behind power mower with an electric start.
The one I had trouble starting was a riding mower which came with the house. After
seventeen years I decided I had had enough.
I needed a power mower in New Hampshire because I had two acres of land. I didn't
mow it all, but I mowed enough to make a push mower impractical.
Moo
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 19. March 2002, 14:13:
2 acres! You should've gotten a nice little herd of goats.
Bessie, our mower was a gift, but this site has quite a few to choose from:
Cleanairgardening.com. Ours is by Conagra and not listed here, though.
I just started raking some of the dead stuff out of the flower beds Sunday and then
yesterday we got a few inches of snow! I hope it doesn't hurt anything.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 19. March 2002, 16:28:
Qestia, (and sorry for spelling your name wrong in my previous post - I did it to
sophs yesterday too...I didn't drink enough coffee)
Thanks for the cool website for reel mowers. I am so excited, I actually will plant
some grass now.
I read in a magazine last night about buffalo grass, which is a summer grass that
grows slowly and then turns a wheat color over the winter. I am thinking of trying
that. (I actually don't even like grass - would rather have a ground cover or flowers,
but grass is such a cultural thing. And in my area of the south, it is worshiped.)
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 19. March 2002, 22:13:
Bess, talk to a turf expert about buffalo grass. It could work in your climate, but it is
way hard to get it established from seed.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 20. March 2002, 00:07:
----sigh---marmot....I will definately research this further, then. As I have alluded to in earlier
posts, I am having difficulty establishing even a butterfly bush in my yard. (and they
apparently grow in adverse conditions)
Maybe I need to have my garden and land blessed.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 20. March 2002, 14:21:
It snowed several days ago and it's fixing to do so again today---now how is my poor
peach tree supposed to bloom???
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 20. March 2002, 15:55:
Bessie, it's not to say it can't be done! Usually buffalo grass comes in "plugs", which
eventually fill in to create a lawn. Check with a nursery or your extension office, they
can tell you more.
xoxo
marmot
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 20. March 2002, 22:40:
marmot - I will be prowling some nurseries this weekend and I live near a large
university with an excellent agriculture program, which gives advise to the locals.
Thanks - plugs of buffalo grass would be an improvement over what I have now scraps of mystery grass, weeds and bare earth. I am new to gardening, but feisty
and up to the challenge.
Anna B. No snow here, of course - but after the 83 degree weather on Saturday (and
I planted and potted all day) it has been cold, dark and rainy every day since. I keep
watching everything, but nothing has keeled over dead yet.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 26. March 2002, 17:36:
Today, in an attempt to cheer myself up, I went to the huge garden centre not a
million miles from here and bought nine evil-looking black roots which, they tell me,
will grow up into Mirabilis Jalapa, the Marvel of Peru, otherwise known as Four
O'Clocks (I think). I've only seen these in seed-packets before, and didn't think to
ask how deep to plant them. Can anyone help?
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 26. March 2002, 18:13:
Almond blossom out here in London now, and camellias and magnolias simply
exploding - some in the strip of 'garden' (= path and bare earth) beside our church.
Today was dry enough for me to sweep the yard - loads of dead leaves in corners
under the orange-blossom bush tub and the viburnam bush. I've been invaded by a
plague of caterpillars, and I hate squashing them between my fingers, but that's the
only way. They have got into the buds of the orange blossom and if I don't, they will
never bloom.
Blueberries - there was a programme on UK radio ("Gardeners' Question Time"), and
they recommended planting one bush in one tub and you would get loads of juicy
fruit. Is this only for UK, or would it work in USA for those of you with fantasies of
growing them?
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 26. March 2002, 20:05:
The flowering fruit trees are almost over, as are the forsythia. The azaleas are
blooming and the dogwoods are just at the edge of glorious. Another day or two.
Amos, I have a largish magnolia tree next door. I have no idea what kind it is, we've
always just called it southern magnolia.
Bene
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 27. March 2002, 06:48:
Bene--if its leaves are glossy, and its blossoms are huge, cream-coloured and
fragrant, it is Magnolia Grandiflora, and you are the envy of English gardeners who
try to coax it up next to a south wall. That's the one generally known as Southern
Magnolia and associated with the steel variety.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 27. March 2002, 14:47:
daisymay, I think your blueberry idea would work here if one were willing to water
the bush meticulously.
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 27. March 2002, 15:13:
I second that. I planted 2 blueberry bushes in separate pots, and lost one almost
immediately because it dried out so fast. Blueberries like consistent moisture.
Saw my first little johnny-jump-up blooming yesterday and swarms of bees feasting
on clusters of yellow crocus. More, more!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 30. March 2002, 01:03:
First daffodil bloomed in our garden today
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 30. March 2002, 01:07:
my miniature iris (danfordiae, I think) bloomed today. woohoo!
Peas in the Earth Box on the porch are 3" high.
Posted by hermit (# 1803) on 30. March 2002, 06:24:
I don't know anything about flowers. I threw out a few handfuls of supposed
wildflower seeds around my apartment grounds, hoping to cover up some of the
paint chips, cinderblocks and rusty nails. Hope something comes up.
Since I can't grow vegetables here, I'll tell the secret of my giant prize carrots.
First select a variety of carrot known for growing to a large size. Then take a
posthole digger, and dig holes in your garden three feet deep. Fill it with a mixture of
50% sand, 25% dried (commercial) manure, 25%compost (or peat moss if no
compost). Mix well, make sure there are no large chunks of manure which distort the
carrots.
Add a little bit of overly diluted commercial fertilizer, and every few weeks after.
Plant 5-10 seeds per hole, thin to one.
Water at the beginning, and afterward only if very wilted - you want the root to
struggle down for water.
Wait patiently as long as you can in the season to make sure they have gotten big,
maybe five months. When you are sure, you must invite someone over for lunch ...
with a very straight face ask if she would like a fresh garden carrot. Have a trowel
handy to help dig it up, then hand it over ... enjoy the horrified expression on her
face as she accepts the monstrosity.
Posted by GUNNER (# 2229) on 01. April 2002, 18:12:
I hate gardening. Does this compromise my salvation?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 01. April 2002, 19:43:
Gunner: Yes.
Hermit: That was obscene
Posted by hermit (# 1803) on 02. April 2002, 00:19:
Anna, "giant carrots" was not a metaphor.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 03. April 2002, 14:23:
maple trees beginning to bud out...the red tips look beautiful on this very grey day.
forsythia swelling.
columbine, lupies, sweet woodruff, forget-me-not curling out everywhere. and more
rain today to help wake everything up!
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 03. April 2002, 15:25:
I finally have crocuses! And one ambitious daffodil. Hooray!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 04. April 2002, 23:57:
Peach tree is blossoming pale pink Forsythia, hyacinths, daffodils, species tulips,
muscarii, primroses, and chionodoxa are all out!!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 05. April 2002, 10:38:
Mock orange blossom blossomming nicely out in yard, now I've squashed loads of
tiny greenish caterpillars feeding on the buds.
Hawthorn trees beginning to blossom around London. and my horse chestnut tree in
its tub has stretched out its leaves tentatively.
The slugs and snails in my yard have started a 12-step programme for the alcoholics
among them. A small tub of Belgian Blonde beer has been the death of getting on for
a dozen, little ones to begin with and now somme grown-ups. Addiction is chronic,
progressive, devious and eventually fatal.
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 08. April 2002, 04:37:
Dogwood and azaleas everywhere; it's gorgeous here now. There are a few daffodils
and tulips left, still a lot of pansies. My urban front yard is about the size of a
postage stamp, but right now it has a couple of azalea bushes probably 5 feet tall or
so, in riotous bloom. It's dangerous for me to drive this time of year, I keep trying to
watch the road and the flowers too.
Amos, you are quite right. The magnolia next door is a magnolia grandiflora, 30 or
40 feet tall.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 08. April 2002, 18:50:
We had frost and a 25 degree night here Saturday night. (North Carolina). All my
azaleas are in bloom and my new climbing roses are growing - so when I heard the
weather beforehand, I went out with all my old sheets, pillowcases and flannel
blankets and covered them all up and taped on duct tape because the wind was
blowing.
My neighbors must have had fits laughing - it looked like ghosts all over the yard.
Blue and pink "Blues Clues" sheets and yellow gingham ones.
But I didn't have a single blossom turn
brown or fall.
Qestia...I bought a reel mower yesterday for a marvelous bargain price and my son
assembled it for me. I am so happy - I just love it.
Posted by CJ (# 2166) on 08. April 2002, 22:27:
Can't believe I've not found this thread before - can I join in?
Hurting virtuously all over today, having blitzed lawn, hedge and vegetable patch
over the weekend. Worth it though; more light, less grass, and lots of exciting things
waiting to come up.
Does anyone know where I can order slug killing nematodes from in the UK?
Shopping mistake of the week: bought what I thought was a pretty miniature
ornamental tree with attractive twisty branches and discovered it's actually a
hazelnut capable of growing to 5 by 6 metres! However I've now fallen in love with
it...and I gather it grows fairly slowly...and can be pruned quite hard..and my
neighbors shouldn't mind too much...I hope
happy growing
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 09. April 2002, 18:06:
quote:
Originally posted by bessie rosebride:
Qestia...I bought a reel mower yesterday for a marvelous
bargain price and my son assembled it for me. I am so happy I just love it.
You go, girl! Yay, reel mowers! And raking by hand instead of blowing things around
with an infernal leaf blower. More peace, less pollution.
My forsythias are blooming!
This is my first year with a yard and garden of my own and it makes me so happy! I
raked for hours Saturday and Sunday, getting all the dead stuff out of the beds, and
never got tired of it (though I did get a bit sore!). I think I'll go consign the whole
thing to Heaven right now.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 09. April 2002, 19:08:
yes, a magnificent day. i'd say another 3 days for my forsythia. giant phlox,
delphinium, blue indigo and strawberries peeking out.
cardinals mating all around my house these days. the male sits on my deck railing,
puffs out his abdomen and serenades the female who keeps playing hard to get.
there are at least 4 couples. they have no pride! (or maybe i don't for watching
them.)
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 10. April 2002, 01:13:
I know we're upside down, but can I join in? Glorious autumn colours now amongst
the exotic trees (ie deciduous ones), and the natives seem to have stopped shedding
their leaves quite as fast (they shed both leaves and bark through the hot weather and a right nuisance it is too). Picked the last strawberries last weekend, then
thinned the plants - and the replanted thinnings are
drooping !!
Time to plant pansies, and bulbs, and the pretty native daisies, before the frosts
come.
Posted by EllieC (# 2547) on 10. April 2002, 14:09:
Happy to see that the crocuses I planted actually grew, and now I have tulips
starting to flower.
However, the daffodils are taking a little longer... perhaps I will have a pot full of
daffs come summer, while others adffs have come and gone.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 15. April 2002, 02:12:
We've got armloads of daffodils! The mix I planted last fall apparently included some
stunning multiflowering types.
Thinking of planting a hedge of apothecary's rose (Rosa gallica officinalis)---anyone
know this rose?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 17. April 2002, 19:15:
Double-post for extraordinary circumstances: The thermometer reads over 90
degrees F
!! The fruit trees look happy, but the daffodils and tulips are gasping for
breath---as if they were in a speeded-up film.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. April 2002, 21:05:
Ceanothus (is that how you spellit?) covered in bright blue flowers and being visited
by some busy little furry bees.
And I have a few nemesia flowering in my tub on my doorstep - left over from last
year! So today I planted some more seeds in the hope of bright little enthusiasts
later this summer.
Although it's spring here, I'm envious of the upside-downers having fruit now! Glad I
don't have falling leaves, tho'. The horse-chestnut my children started from a conker
20 years ago has spread out its fingery leaves just this week. I'm amazed it's
survived in a tub all this while - had a nasty accident 2 years ago when it was blown
down the front area steps and broke off its crown.....
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 17. April 2002, 23:53:
yes, christine, keep us updated with what's happening there if you can...it provides a
fun contrast.
temp here today went from 94 to 70 in about 15 minutes...what a relief, though...a
great windy front moved through.
ferns are unfurling, violets popping out, tiny leaflets on the trees, spears of lily of the
valley poking through all over. lilacs, roses, wisteria all moving right along.
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 18. April 2002, 02:45:
WE went to the apple orchards of a friend the other day. He's an organic grower and
has apples from all over the worrld, incl. Canadian Spartans and UK Cox's Orange
Pippins that you can't normally get here. He's had a really good year, so we're
stocked up for a bit. And there's a lot of pears around. But the mango season has
ended - all good things come to an end (they don't grow here, but in Qld)
Days are still warm ( c 18 C) and we haven't had a frost yet. Planted snow pea seeds
the other day, the rosemary bushes are in bloom, and going wild - they love
conditions in Canberra, as does lavender. Callistamens (sp?) (Aus native bottlebrushes) are in
flower, mostly red, but some orange and pink. And snails are still around ... grrrr.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 18. April 2002, 22:09:
My relatives in northern California once tried to turn their snail population into little
nuggets of escargot gold for the gourmands of San Francisco. If I remember
correctly, this involved a large vat of cornmeal and a lot of snail poop. They
ultimately decided it was far too disgusting, and went back to smushing them
underfoot.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 19. April 2002, 14:00:
Hello all--
everything's coming along nicely. The lilacs and roses are getting all leafy, the things
I thoiught may be weeds are turning out to be bleeding hearts, other "weeds" are
pretty violets. (Can you tell I'm new at this?)
My question today regards renegade tulips. I have clearly delineated flower beds,
chock fulla tulips, in the front yard. But quite a few (10?) tulips have escaped from
the beds and are making their way out of the yard. What to do with these
insurgents?
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 19. April 2002, 15:51:
snow today.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 19. April 2002, 16:43:
One's attitude to renegade tulips depends largely upon how regimented you like your
tulips to be. Some of my friends would rogue them--root them out. Personally, I'd
enjoy this minor act of non-conformity on the part of a flower which is not usually in
the habit of stepping out of line. Right now I've got Atilla and Queen of the Night
blooming (the latter just beginning, the former in full flower) with muscari, and the
flowering crab. Next to the house the love-in-a-mist that I sowed in the autumn is
beginning to bloom, and in the back yard there's geranium phaeum and the very first
corn poppy. Nice. I have been squishing greenfly since Holy Week.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 19. April 2002, 16:52:
Anna, see if you can find a copy of Suzanne Verrier's book on Gallicas. I've grown r.
gallica officianalis, or something very like it (see my post on p.2). It's a wonderful
easy suckering rose, once blooming, but heavily and very fragrant, with hips
afterwards. Its growth pattern is fairly open; that would be my big doubt about using
it for a hedge. I've planted a hedge of Alba Celestial in my time (planted in 1984,
now taller than me, dense, and, when it blooms, scenting the whole house if the
windows are open). But it's pink. Have you thought of any of the red rugosas?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 19. April 2002, 20:43:
Yes!! (I've got her book on rugosas.) There are so many lovely ones, aren't there?
Actually I just want the roses to form a pleasant, low boundary---open growth would
be a bit of an advantage because then it wouldn't block too much light from reaching
the beds on the other side. And I like the idea of a free-suckering rose---erosion
control is an issue in the area we want to plant...
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 24. April 2002, 03:26:
Did a Daffodil Mart catalog come out last fall? I don't remember seeing it. After 4
years, my Elizabeth Arden tulips are still blooming, but my Angeliques are kaput.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 24. April 2002, 15:04:
Here is where that concern wound up. They have "Angelique" in the fall.
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 24. April 2002, 17:31:
Thx, Anna. I also found Brent & Becky's Bulbs online (former owners, I think)and
they have all my old favorites, too.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 24. April 2002, 23:46:
Lots of wild hyacinths (bluebells) out in London this week. Also mauve, white and
pink lilacs. And the Horse Chestnuts are producing pink and white spikes of flowers.
My little one has only fresh green leaves. All this because we have had a few days of
hot sun - and after working out of doors i am back to Factor 30 to protect my skin!
Posted by clare (# 17) on 26. April 2002, 13:26:
hello gardeners!
having spent the last ten years battling with the big stuff - the odd park, woodland,
cycle trail, that sort of thing - I finally have a wonderful tiny garden of my very own!
Am enjoying getting to know every plant.. and trying to resist the urge to prune back
everything just because i can and i want an excuse to potter about outside.
Highlights at the moment: fabulous large green hellebores (of the shrublike variety)
that have been a luminescent pale green for the last couple of months and are still
going strong. A dash of vibrant orange tulips crowned by the shocking violet of the
lilac. The leggy overgrown hebe and as yet unidentified woody uninteresting shrub
have yet to prove their worth or else they'll be out on the bonfire within the
twelvemonth.
Sweet peas which have been shooting out of their toilet roll pots in the luxury aspect
of my bay window have had their first taste of the great outdoors today - potting out
on monday I think (better late than never).
a couple of questions to the experts:
1) i have discovered legions of empty snail shells in my garden. Is this a bad thing 'cos i've lots of snails, or a good thing - because I've got lots of hungrey birds who
enjoy taking 'em out?!
2) When planting stuff in pots all the recomendations are to put some bit of 'broken
crock/flowerpots' in the bottom for drainage. But I have a surfit of plastic pots and
hardly any earthenware ones... i certainly don't want to sacrifice them! What else
could i use?
love clare
Posted by sophs (# 2296) on 26. April 2002, 13:30:
We use stones at home and they seem to work well.
Posted by clare (# 17) on 26. April 2002, 14:08:
yes, i thought about that. I suspect it is the traditional solution. i know this will
sound completely absurd, but i find the few bits of rubble around my garden come in
handy every now and then for alternative worship stuff. have i got my priorities
wrong?! ... or would anyone like to "support my ministry" by sending me a few rocks
in the post?
clare
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 26. April 2002, 16:16:
Clare,
I save up any broken mugs or plates that happen indoors, and use them.
Lucky you with empty snail shells - mine are still munching away at some of my
plants, even tho many have committed suicide in the beer.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 26. April 2002, 17:03:
gardens and beer...we had a freaky snow storm last night that snapped a big branch
of my magnolia. good thing it had bloomed early because of the freaky hot weather
we had 2 weeks ago so i got to enjoy the blossoms.
and here i was worried about my flowers last night because my daughter had almost
20 kids over to celebrate her 18th birthday...and they just had to have a snowball
fight at 11pm, though i don't know why since they'd emptied 3 bags of confetti
inside...which was about the time the maple caught fire because the branches were
so heavy from wet snow and were resting on the wires...i promised myself a beer
when the boys went home...but i forgot to have one. now i have to wait til tonight
(don't i?).
lily beetles have arrived for the third year...small red voracious bugs that cover
themselves in their own waste and devastate lilies and hollyhocks...i'm not sharing
my beer with them tonight!
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 26. April 2002, 20:05:
Lily beetles? (starting to worry) I saw this oblong, bright red beetle on my lilies. It
was kind of pretty, so I let it be. Should I worry? (And sorry about the fire, bb--how
scary!)
Also, on the subject of pests, while weeding I came across a slug. There was just the
one, so I let it be. Should I take action?
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 26. April 2002, 22:21:
Those are lily beetles, Hon. Kill them, or kiss you lilies goodbye for the year.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 27. April 2002, 00:20:
My pink dogwood is in bloom.
It looks beautiful from the street and from the ground floor windows. I especially
enjoy looking down on it from my bedroom window. I can see the shape of each
flower.
Moo
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 27. April 2002, 16:32:
i hate crushing bugs. and depends, qestia, on if you're looking at a slug on your lily
or was it a garden variety slug? lily beetle larva are gooey slugs...(ugh...think of
them as the antichrist and kill them...or get someone else to...although it took me a
while to discover that my husband would carry offending bugs into the woods instead
of killing them, so find someone who will really get the job done!)
but i've co-existed with regular ole slugs for many years...they haven't harmed
anything that i've noticed. the worst thing is stepping on them in barefeet.
(and we only lost half a dozen small branches on the maple )
Posted by Rhyzome (# 2398) on 27. April 2002, 21:39:
Clare: The snail shells should make good crocks. You should think about opening a
slug pub (i.e. a beer trap). Make sure they only get the dregs though
This is the last call for getting your seed potatos if you wnat nice big fat Rhyzomes
this year. Just thinking about the family...
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 29. April 2002, 12:26:
Thanks for the info about lily beetles. I was checking my lily plant for slugs and
snails (3 snails) and there was this beautiful bright red beetle. I'd have left it...if I
hadn't been reading this thread. It is now deceased, tho I hated killing it and it had a
very hard case. But if there is one, does that maen there will be more? What do I do
now - never had them before - the greatest plague was vine weevils.
Strong winds this w/e blew down my tub with chestnut tree and broke the rope
holding it to the railings, so it's now down at the bottom of my front area, a bit
battered, but going to recover.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 29. April 2002, 13:33:
Lily beetles are indeed the work of the Devil - for those unconviced, the larvae
attempt a disguise by covering themselves with their excreta
! They will strip a
clump of the finest lilies literally to the stems.
They are extremely persistent, and the only remedy is to examine your plants at
least once, and preferably 2 or 3 times each day, and squash each beetle and larva
found. The beetle will instantly drop off the plant and burrow into the soil if
disturbed, so it is advisable to hold a container or cupped palm below it as you grab
for it. Eggs Benedict found that it took 3 years to be rid of infestation (we became
progressively more vigilant), but we have now been free for 2 years.
They over-winter in the soil below the plant, so possibly sterilisation may help.
Curiously, our reference books state that this insect is unknown outside Surrey! We
did wonder whether we could rid our tubs by leaving them with our friends just over
the county boundary in Kent? (And had any of them realised that since the advent of
Greater London, they were now homeless?)
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 29. April 2002, 13:46:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Those are lily beetles, Hon. Kill them, or kiss you lilies goodbye
for the year.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 29. April 2002, 13:51:
quote:
Originally posted by Ham 'n' Eggs:
Eggs Benedict found that it took 3 years to be rid of infestation
...
I hasten to add that the infestation was not of Eggs Benedict ...
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 01. May 2002, 22:12:
Tiny little peaches forming on white-peach tree
[victory dance] cha cha cha cha cha, CHA
cha cha cha cha cha, CHA
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 01. May 2002, 23:30:
First maroon-coloured clematis flower out today! Big single yellow scented roses also
started blooming but got attacked by the foul strong wind and rain this week here.
Some are still in bud, though.
Wish I could grow peaches.....
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 03. May 2002, 14:17:
If you've got roses blooming now, daisymay, you should be able to.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 03. May 2002, 17:29:
blustery day...tree petals flying everywhere...very exciting!
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 03. May 2002, 20:58:
Torrential downpour - my newly sown lawn is a boating lake with floating clumps of
grass seed.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 05. May 2002, 00:09:
We had a terrific storm on Thursday and there is now a very large tree (trunk at
least 15" diameter) on the grass in my back yard.
Fortunately it missed the house and all the plants I cherish.
Also, fortunately I wasn't here to hear it fall.
Moo
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 05. May 2002, 14:22:
that happened to us in march, moo. only the tree smashed across my daughter's car
and missed our house by 3 inches. i heard an initial crack and thought a window had
cracked upstairs. half an hour later the tree came smashing down (2 a.m.). it was
horrendous (but strangely exciting).
if we had to create a native american record, we'd have to call this the year of falling
trees!
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 05. May 2002, 15:36:
Nothing nearly as dramatic as that, but I discovered yesterday that the commercial
bark mulch I bought last year is now crawling with scale. Blecchhh. I had to rake it
all up and soak it in a water-filled trashcan spiked with pyola.
The good news: Many of my plants are now at a mature stage, so the garden should
look great this year!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 05. May 2002, 22:21:
First poppies blooming; these are from a mixture sowed last summer. Wonderful
pure poppy-red. I can't get enough of annual poppies! In front of the house the lovein-a-mist has started blooming. Lovely but slightly bizarre looking: the flower from
another planet. I'm trying to remember the name of the shocking pink lily-flowering
tulips that I've got. Whatever they are, I recommend them, particularly when
associated with Atilla and Queen of the Night.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 08. May 2002, 15:11:
lilacs!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 08. May 2002, 17:32:
Spent the w/e camping in the South Downs and the woods there had acres of
bluebells (wild hyacinths) in bloom under the hazel, oak, chestnut and beech trees.
Absolutely beautiful.
My hostas are growing well and loads of dark and light green leaves - but then today
some holes appeared - another family of snails has moved in. They are obviously
teetotal.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 13. May 2002, 03:57:
everything is greening up here, too, daisymay...it's just gorgeous...and raining
.
Posted by Moo (# 107) on 13. May 2002, 08:56:
One of the rhododendron bushes in front of my house has started blooming. The
other three are almost ready.
I got the fallen tree cut up and taken away.
I measured the diameter of the stump, which was oval rather than round. It was 22"
in the short diameter and 25" in the long.
Now I have big piles of chainsaw sawdust on the grass in my back yard. I have to
get it moved before it smothers the grass, if it hasn't already.
Moo
Posted by clare (# 17) on 14. May 2002, 12:34:
I am waiting with baited breath for the peonies to burst forth. With the tulips
basahed to the ground by the rain and the lilac well past it's best, i need a new shot
of colour!
now, i don't think this thread has yet addressed the sordid subject of cat mess. My
garden is frequently visited by a number of these dastardly creatures, and i don't
appreciate the volumes of turd they leave behind.
My scheme, implemented in despairation at the weekend, has been to string lines of
garden twine across the ground about 10cm high - a few strings in parallel or criss
crossing at the areas most favoured by th beasts. Any guesses whether this will
work?
clare
Posted by EllieC (# 2547) on 14. May 2002, 13:57:
I have a few pots - that's all my garden (sob!), but still, better than nothing!
But in one of the pots of bulbs that I planted way back in December, the daffs have
decided that now (NOW, of all time, May!) is the time to start blooming!
Has anyone else had anythign as bizarre as this happen?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 14. May 2002, 16:09:
EllieC---that is wild!!
clare---we are in the same boat. My peony buds are swelling up after a lovely
constant rain, and I can't wait to see them bloom (I'd divided them two years ago
from what looked to be some very old plants and got 14 new ones with a couple of
growth buds apiece!!). Also, our yard is clearly in communal cat territory---we have
all sorts of cats CONSTANTLY coming through and leaving their cards. I must
confess, though, that the most frequent visitor, a huge gentleman with a white body
and black spots, has truly endeared himself to me---all he really wants to do is stare
at our housecat Freya. Once he even left a little vole for her right beneath her usual
spot in the screened-in porch...
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 14. May 2002, 16:28:
clare...you might try hanging balloons on your strings...then you'll have color and
ward off the cats ...but then you might want to try sprinkling black pepper where
you don't want the little s___ machines, as my daughter so affectionately calls ours.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 14. May 2002, 17:49:
EllieC -- it must be a climate thing; we`ve got loads of lovely narcissi in pots in full
bloom now. (Of course, it might also be because we planted them rather late.)
We have spent the last couple of weeks in our garden digging a great big hole (about
two feet deep and four feet across), sifting all the soil in it through a sieve (removing
literally several cubic feet of stones in the process, including a couple of half-bricks
and a rusty horseshoe), and digging in much sand and compost. Our carrots and
parsnips are now sown quite thickly in this patch; we`re vaguely thinking about
performing the same treatment on another patch of garden so we`ve got somewhere
to thin them out to, but we`ll see.
Potatoes and onions we planted some weeks ago are coming up nicely, as are some
lupins, broom, and delphiniums we`re growing from seed for next year. The lupins
have been planted on, though we had some difficulty with this because we`d sown
them into eggboxes in lieu of seed trays, and had left them a little too late so the
roots had grown through the cardboard and got tangled with each other. There`s
one thing I`m not sure about: when you plant lupins out, do you plant them
separately or in clumps, and is each plant one colour or will they have several
colours from one plant?
I stole some shoots from a couple of flowering redcurrants by the side of the road
and rooted them; they are now planted in the garden and are doing well. Lots of our
neighbours have lilac trees which look and smell wonderful; I`m jealous, but with all
these lupins and brooms we`ve grown we probably don`t have room for one.
Last autumn we took lots of cuttings from my sister-in-law`s garden; only one
survived, though it`s doing very well. Trouble is, I`ve completely forgotten what it
is! I don`t expect it`ll flower this year, so we`ll have to wait a while longer before
we can find out what it is.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 14. May 2002, 18:12:
Well, even in London - Wealdstone where I work - we have some daffs bloomig. We
have a tiny garden at the front and I planted most daffs on time (Autumn), but a few
got shoved under the sink and I found them about a month ago - so now thery're out
and having fun. We have some irises too, just budding, so it will be interesting to
find out the colour.
At home, I have loads of scented jasmine in the tubs out the back and on my
doorstep. I just have to open the front or back door, and the sweet scent wafts in.
Posted by clare (# 17) on 15. May 2002, 16:43:
Anna...I shall race you to the peony buds bursting! Connecticut vs. South Yorkshire!
I shall also try attendng to my garden as if it were a pizza.. out there with the
pepper grinder. the neighbours will have a field day! I might see if the trip wires
work first though.
clare
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 15. May 2002, 17:25:
Go Connecticut (USDA zone 6a)!!!
Victory shall be ours (bwah hah hah hah)!!
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 16. May 2002, 10:15:
Clare and Anna: up here in Glasgow the peonies are going full swing, and have been
for about a week. Lovely deep red colours.
I`ve been going round lots of houses in the last couple of days delivering leaflets
advertising the plant sale at our church tonight, so I`ve seen lots of other people`s
gardens. Lovely banks of forget-me-nots and poppies, lots of different coloured
azaleas, the aforementioned peonies, and wonderful great wafts of clematis round
people`s doors. And still in a couple of gardens some beautiful tulip beds.
Now I have a wishlist of plants for our garden as long as my arm. And I still want a
lilac tree. And I can`t go to the plant sale.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 16. May 2002, 13:52:
my peonies aren't even near blossoming, but covered in ants, so that's fun to watch.
festiva maxima, a double white tinged w/red, is the ultimate peony in my garden.
speaking of azaleas, some of my favorites are blooming right now...planted in pairs,
hot pink next to a deep orangey red.
(and gardenia blossoming in my bathroom
)
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 16. May 2002, 13:57:
quote:
Originally posted by Ham 'n' Eggs:
[re:lily beetles] They are extremely persistent, and the only
remedy is to examine your plants at least once, and preferably
2 or 3 times each day, and squash each beetle and larva found.
The beetle will instantly drop off the plant and burrow into the
soil if disturbed, so it is advisable to hold a container or cupped
palm below it as you grab for it. . .
They over-winter in the soil below the plant, so possibly
sterilisation may help.
I wish I'd read this more closely the first time around. I have crescents eaten out of
all my lily leaves, and amorous (ugh!) lily beetles all around. I missed the bit about
how they fall the first time I read this post, but have been noticing it in my quest to
kill them. Is by hand the only way? And what's this about sterilizing the soil? How is
that done?
Thanks for your help!
[UBB Code edited]
[ 16 May 2002: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 16. May 2002, 14:05:
ham n' eggs will have to give you instructions for sterilizing the soil q, but i found a
handy way to dispose of the beetles...hold a bottle half filled w/water under them,
and then after gathering them, flush down the toilet...they like waste, give it to them
.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 16. May 2002, 14:10:
Wonderful! I can't wait to get the little devils! That seems far more efficient than my
previous method of carefully balancing them in my trowel (which of course never
worked), walking them to the pavement and squishing them. I will kill them all,
bwhahahaha!
Who would have guessed gardening was so violent?
Posted by clare (# 17) on 16. May 2002, 15:08:
quote:
Originally posted by Oriel:
Clare and Anna: up here in Glasgow the peonies are going full
swing, and have been for about a week. Lovely deep red
colours.
This shocks me to the core! I'm stamping my little feet in frustration... since when
was Glasgow ahead of sheffield in spring blooming?!!! Huh!
And, in another blow to the gullet, a cat did a gloriously smelly poooo just a few
away from my carefully constructed tripwire.
!!!
but i had supper outside enjoying the various shades of green anyway, and that's
when you know that, deep down, things are alright in the world.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 16. May 2002, 18:15:
Bear in mind that some peonies flower earlier than others (depending on variety).
The dark red ones are out where I am (south of Brum) but not the pink or the white
ones. My first roses are blooming now, and the allium albopilosum. The poppies get
better and better,and the white foxglove will be blooming in a week or so. Someone
nearby has a whole front garden devoted at the moment to columbines. Oriel, if you
really want a lilac and don't have a lot of room, think of syringa microphylla superba;
it's like a miniature lilac tree; it grows to about seven feet (max), has sweet little
leaves, and produces lots and lots of very fragrant flowers (buds are dark red,
flowers are a rather boring pale pinky-lilac) in May and again in September. It'd take
up no more room than a broom.
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 16. May 2002, 22:00:
The magnolias are in bloom here, most of the spring blooms are over.
My roses have terminal black spot.
Bene
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 17. May 2002, 02:05:
Not exactly gardening, but at least outside and seasonal. First fireflies tonight!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. May 2002, 09:29:
quote:
Originally posted by Benedictus:
The magnolias are in bloom here, most of the spring blooms
are over.
My roses have terminal black spot.
Bene
sympathy and empathy - I'm forever fighting black spot.
Magnolias - how old do they have to be to flower? I have one (in a huge blue pot)
which I have nurtured for about 3 to 4 years. nice light green leaves, and seems
happy, but no flowers. It's one of the ones that should have big pinky flowers.
My scented jasmine, yellow scented climbing roses and reddish clematis are
intertwined and gorgeaus - but London expects a thunder and lightning storm on
saturday, so I may receive damage.
I've just done a slightly foolish thing - split up a hosta after it produced leaves. I
believe I should have done it when there were just roots, so I'll have to wait and see
if the friend who asked for it gets on OK with it.
Posted by clare (# 17) on 17. May 2002, 15:02:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Bear in mind that some peonies flower earlier than others
(depending on variety). The dark red ones are out where I am
(south of Brum) but not the pink or the white ones.
oooh, Anna... are we operating on a level playing field here?! The exciting thing is
that since this is my first year in this house and garden, I have no idea what colour
mine are! They look a pinky red though from the peeks I've been taking.
So exciting, being in a new-to-you garden. You have no idea what will spring out at
you next!
clare
Posted by Siegfried (# 29) on 17. May 2002, 15:27:
quote:
Originally posted by Benedictus:
Not exactly gardening, but at least outside and seasonal. First
fireflies tonight!
I wish we had fireflies, but they aren't found West of the Rockies.
Sieg
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 17. May 2002, 20:52:
oriel, about the lupines, one of my favorites...i've planted russell's from seed. each
plant grows to about 18" wide and tall, so i'd give them at least a foot in between
each other. each plant produces the same color spikes, but there may be a multicolored variety i'm not familiar with.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 17. May 2002, 22:32:
clare... My neighbors have got big red peonies in bloom, but I wasn't counting those;
that's not the variety in my garden.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 18. May 2002, 19:29:
Some magnolias take quite a long time to bloom (that's why they're generally grown
from cuttings and not from seed). They're worth it though. Hang in there. A baby
Soulangiana hybrid (which is what yours sounds like) will probably take more than 4
years. The stellatas are the most precocious. Can you tell that I've always wanted a
magnolia, and for one reason or another have never been able to have one?
Today I wish I'd planted the love-in-a-mist (which is a variety of blues from royal to
sky) and the poppies (which so far are all pure red) on the same side of the house.
What a fool I am.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 19. May 2002, 00:34:
Ah yes, it's spring in New England! Woke up to rain this morning and the breeze
through the open window next to the bed seemed a bit brisk, so I opted to snuggle
deeper into the blankets and read for a while. Later something in my peripheral
vision catches my eye and I look up and dang if it doesn't look like there are a few
snowflakes mixed in with the raindrops. I got up and went downstairs to see if my
husband thought they looked like snowflakes, (C'mon, it's May 18, it can't be
snowing! must be time to get new glasses), checked the thermometer (35F!). I
decided to go back to bed (after closing some windows).
I have to say that it's the first time in my 50 years that I have seen lilacs in full
bloom covered with half an inch of snow. Nice wet, heavy snow.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 19. May 2002, 23:06:
Oh, me too! Halfway through the storm I went out and swept (with a broom) my
lilacs...they had been bent double under the weight of the snow. Then I covered my
poor peonies with big garbage bags, which seems to have helped them, though the
largest is still bent over a bit. I've staked them now, too. And of course, today it's
almost 70!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 22. May 2002, 03:18:
trumpet vine is leafing out. strange absence of black flies.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 22. May 2002, 13:15:
Our tallest foxglove snapped in the high winds during the night. It was just beginning
to put out flower buds too.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 23. May 2002, 13:16:
Great jubilation in the Eggs household at
this obituary on the BBC website!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 23. May 2002, 16:08:
ham n'eggs...what would be the appropriate whistle to communicate this message to
shipmates? Man Overboard? or, Abandon Ship('s deck)? though, i love my deck.
Posted by Ham 'n' Eggs (# 629) on 24. May 2002, 08:49:
The demise in question is of decking in the English garden, where it patently does
not belong.
It is quite at home in a New England garden, and thankfully on board the Ship!
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 24. May 2002, 23:17:
The following quotes are from the Vegetarian Main Dishes thread
and are being
brought to you as a public service.
(Translation: I don't want discussion of reel mowers cluttering up my attempt to
scavenge yummy recipes!)
quote:
originally posted by Questia:
My life's ambition is to own a flock of goats. They're so cute!
They are indeed. My mother-in-law has a small herd.
quote:
originally posted by bessie rosebride:
thanks - Qestia. I can't wait to make this. tangent* BTW - the
amazing little lightweight reel lawnmower (garden thread) is
the envy of all my neighbors.
end tangent*
quote:
originally posted by Questia:
[tangent] Glad you like it! Ours is having trouble, so we took it
in to get the blades sharpened. The problem is though, they
don't do so well on bumpy ground, and we have a lot of bumps.
I'm planning on getting a weed-eater (trimmer thingy) to help
smooth things out. Or maybe some hungry goats! [/tangent]
With human-powered reel mowers, it is also very important to cut the grass in time.
They are pretty useless on tall, stalky overgrown grass. (The voice of experience!)
[UBB Code edited]
[ 25 May 2002: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 28. May 2002, 00:13:
pink and white dame's rocket blooming today, and the first few purple iris. thunder is
rolling in from the south.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 28. May 2002, 13:58:
Thanks for putting us in our place (literally), jlg!
law's goats.
I'm so envious of your mother-in-
Posted by clare (# 17) on 28. May 2002, 17:33:
woe is me... i am giving up on my peonies ever deciding to pop out of there cosy
buds. I've given them rain, I've given them sun, a little bit of wind thrown in and
they won't budge. I know AnnaB that you have other long-awaited events to watch
out for, but do let me know if i have to admit defeat on this one! I've never seen
flowers so obstinate.
clare
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 28. May 2002, 20:09:
quote:
Originally posted by Qestia:
Thanks for putting us in our place (literally), jlg!
envious of your mother-in-law's goats.
I'm so
I'll be driving out to her place (near Albany) tomorrow afternoon. Give a yell and I
could swing by and pick you up on the way.
, as long as you don't mind staying for a week and cooing over my new little niece!
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 28. May 2002, 20:15:
About the peonies. I've never had any, but I remember hearing people
talking/writing about ants in peonies and someone saying to leave them alone,
because the ants crawling around inside the buds helped the buds to open up. I have
no idea if there is any truth to this. (But if you need any ants, clare, I have plenty to
spare; tiny, small, medium, big, huge; black, brown, red, brown&red; agressive,
friendly, oblivious; just name what you want!)
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 31. May 2002, 14:52:
i think the ants eat the wax covering off the peonies. still a week or so to go for
mine. but the poppies, foxglove and iris are coming into their glory.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 31. May 2002, 14:56:
Hey, New Englanders--do you think it's safe to plant veggies this weekend? Am I
late, early?
I have some glorious irises going right now. And my hands full trimming
hedges...some previous owner of the house was very hedge-happy and they're
starting to take over. Thank God for electric trimmers!
Also to do this weekend: get one of those "weed eater" thingies to trim the now 2feet high patches that our reel mower missed (I'm sure our neighbors are looking at
the yard thinking, there goes the neighborhood!).
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 31. May 2002, 16:28:
About veggies---I don't know what zone you're in, Qestia, but my guess is you're in
the clear. Around here, heat-loving plants like marigolds and garlic are thriving.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 31. May 2002, 23:51:
Good wishes and God's blessings on our various gardens, pots, window boxes,
allotments...over the next two weeks!
Happy gardening!
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 01. June 2002, 00:24:
Happy gardening to all too.
Actually, this means I can attempt to get home before dark every night to pay my
garden some extra attention - for the next two weeks at least.
Posted by Ham 'n'Eggs (# 629) on 01. June 2002, 14:07:
Rosa Mundi buds are beginning to open in the Eggs' garden.
Have an idyllic two weeks of June, may the fruit set well on your vines, may your
flocks, herds, manservants and maidservants grow fat, and may all your pests be
easily smitten!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 01. June 2002, 15:45:
putting my tomatoes, cucumber, squash, zucchini, peppers and eggplant in
momentarily.
and
it's almost strawberry shortcake time in the granite state!
have a peaceful rest everyone.
Posted by shoesize14 (# 1965) on 01. June 2002, 16:10:
All this gardening - reminds me of the story of a Minister walking passed a well
tendered garden and leaning over the fence to say to the busy gardener ' God has
certainty blessed you with a beautiful garden' . To which the gardener replied 'yes
but you should of seen it when he had it to his self'
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 17. June 2002, 20:39:
So how are your gardens growing?
My morning glory seeds never sprouted. I had planted them among some lily of the
valleys, which I since heard was not a good idea. And my peonies keep falling over in
the rain, despite being staked.
However, everything else seems to be coming along nicely. I have huge, lovely
foxgloves, persistent irises, lots of red roses. I've eaten the first strawberries (alas,
something is helping me there--and helping itself to my baby basil plants as well).
Am eagerly awaiting a shipment of neem oil which I am told will organically cure my
roses of black spot and finish off the lily beetles once and for all.
Posted by Siegfried (# 29) on 17. June 2002, 20:55:
I did a walkthrough yesterday morning to get an idea of what I could expect in terms
of fruit production this year.
Apples: My fuji apple tree will give somewhere between 2 and 3 dozen again, it
would appear. I'll know better end of the month, after it does it's June drop.
Pears: That poor tree has fireblight again. No idea if I'll even get the 3 I got last
year.
Plums: Maybe a couple dozen at best. It overproduced last year, plus I gave it a
good thinning prune this spring. Next year it should be good.
Persimmons: More than I'll know what to do with again. Anyone want some, come
about October?
Grapes: 3 vines, all fruiting. Should be good.
From the neighbors overhangs, I'll get 4 or 5 peaches, about a dozen apricots, and 2
or 3 pomegranites.
Sieg
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 17. June 2002, 20:58:
My poppies have been wonderful, albeit all red. The plum coloured oriental didn't
bloom and there was no sign of any of the lovely speckled and cloudy grey Cedric
Morris hybrids. Probably God's way of telling me something about poppies and the
colour red. The roses are doing pretty well too, and so is the cistus, which is one of
the sorts that is white with maroon blotches towards the centre of each petal. The
nigella is still great, in a variety of beautiful pure blues, and my friend Terry in Lancs
gave me about a dozen different kinds of cranesbills out of her garden, all of which
are blooming. And the foxgloves are the best I've ever grown--and one of them's
white. However, I'm moving in the next month, and the house I'll be in has the
largest garden I've ever had to deal with (okay, I know that's not saying much) with
a big plum tree, and an apple tree and a pear tree and a clothesline and a rickety
potting shed and a garage too. I'm hoping to move a few things out of my present
garden--the cranesbill collection for sure--but it'll really be back to square one.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. June 2002, 21:39:
Rosa Mundi has been blooming profusely and beautifully, despite the occasional rain
storms that battered the petals.
Pink mallow and bluey-white geraniums, red lilies, little purple clematis, red runner
beans, pink Lavinia roses, forget-me-nots (in cracks in the yard paving), lavender
and cat mint all flowering.
Hostas thriving despite having been divided, and some mauvey flower stalks
arriving. The leaves are a bit holey because of now mainly deceased slugs and snails.
Nice to be back!
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 18. June 2002, 01:39:
The deep South in June--magnolias and mimosas everywhere. Mimosas are
pestiferous creatures and invasive as the very dickens, but I love them--I had friends
who called them powderpuff trees when I was little. And the crape myrtle is
beginning.
Bene
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 18. June 2002, 01:52:
Death to Squirrels. It is no use trying to pick ripe strawberries, the little bastards are
eating them green.
I'm going to have to build boxes for my berry plants and screen off the tops.
Just finished installing a drip watering system. After a little fiddling to equalize
pressure throughout the system, everything is getting just the amount of water it
needs without watering paths or the spaces between rows.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 19. June 2002, 13:20:
The foxglove that snapped didn`t snap off completely, and the flower stalk survived,
curled itself upright again, and is now flowering beautifully. In addition, lots of side
stalks have appeared and are preparing to flower.
We have courgettes doing very nicely, and the carrots and parsnips are coming on
apace. But I`ve discovered we`ve been growing the potatoes all wrong. No-one told
me you were supposed to keep covering the stem with soil as it grew, so we have
big leafy plants and probably very few potatoes.
Our main problem is an infestation of what I believe to be ground elder (big
umbelliferous plant that sends runners everywhere). It`s been showering on and off
for the past three or four weeks, and so I`ve never managed to finish weeding it out
before being sent indoors by rain, and it keeps coming back again. Moreover, it`s
coming in from next door, whose idea of gardening is to mow it once a year with a
strimmer, so there`s not that much I can do about it other than keep pulling it up.
I managed to get sunburned digging the garden on a cloudy day (for our second
vegetable patch, where the courgettes and broccoli are to go). Then the rain came
back, and for two weeks there has been a big pile of half-dug soil and turves waiting
for us to get back to it.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 24. June 2002, 13:39:
I`m feeling proud. This weekend we got the second vegetable patch completely
finished (about 3'x20') and planted with lots of stuff. We swapped some of our
excess broccoli seedlings with someone from church for her excess Brussels sprouts,
lettuce, leeks, and cabbage. And parsley. I think we got the better part of the deal.
So we`ve got them all planted now, except for the parsley, which is awaiting the
completion of a herbery next to the house.
So now all we have to do is the front garden..
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 24. June 2002, 19:21:
Oriel,
you may in fact gets some potatoes even if you haven'tearthed them up - my tiny
nephew buried a few poatoes in one of my pots and we had poatoes for years
afterwards despite my neglct and constant attempts at digging them out and
disposing of them.
Red lilies finished here, and big classic creamy sweetsmelling lot are now filling the
yard, despite a few being nibbled briefly in the bud. Still loads of 'Lavinia' roses,
surviving while fighting black spot. Spraying does not seem to make any difference.
Still warring against snails and slugs. I look for them daily and if I find any, I bash
them with the trowel. I've decided that's probably quicker and kinder than poison.
Lavender sweetly out and being visited by honey bees. Loads of them. So someone
with a rooftop hive (that's what they do in London
gardening endeavours.
) is profiting from my
Everything needs watering at least once, sometimes twice daily now it's sunny.
Takes about an hour....
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 26. June 2002, 02:25:
Argh. I see now the reason my roses have suddenly lost their leaves wasn't my overenthusiastic [organic] herbicide spraying on the walk beneath them, but rather black
spot run rampant. How could it come to this?
I have now sprayed them (and
myself) liberally with neem oil, which is supposed to cure everything, but I fear it
may be too late.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 26. June 2002, 08:59:
And are your black spots fading, Questia? Hope your fingers are not falling off in
parallel with our roses losing their leaves!
Posted by Anonymous 4 (# 2898) on 26. June 2002, 17:37:
Real mixture of sun and rain at the moment here - which the runner beans are
loving....... The roses too are fantastic.
I live near woodland which has had some of the most beautiful Rhodadendrums
recently - glowing in the shadows between the trees........stunning.
One question though for those in the know.
The ground here is basically moorland - very soggy. So my lawn is far better at
producing moss than grass
. Should I persist in growing a lawn - or just be glad
that moss is green and you can't really see it if you squint........
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 28. June 2002, 00:16:
my front lawn has a fair amount of moss because of maple trees, magnolia and
wisteria. we let a path of moss meander to our door and frame it with bleeding
heart, jack in the pulpit, ferns, astible and foxglove, and other shade-lovers...moss is
so soft to step on in bare feet.
grass can be so boring.
things here are magnificently sultry. humidity hanging in the air, everything is lush.
deep purple clematis in full bloom against the light gray of my barn. black-eyed
susans, purple and white daisies, giant phlox, hollyhocks, trumpet vine all getting
ready to open. beautiful yellow and orange flowers on squash and cucumbers.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 28. June 2002, 06:25:
If it wants to be moss, don't bother trying to grow grass. Lush green grass lawns
require wide open spaces, rich soil, and an unrealistic combination of sun and rain.
OK, not so unrealistic in England, land of the lawn. But if you're growing moss, it
indicates that your patch is too damp and shady.
Do an internet search to discover the moss-lovers and learn to appreciate what
you've got.
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 28. June 2002, 08:57:
Er yes, will here in the antipodes we're in deep midwinter. Snow on the hills last
night. But the pansies are thriving, and the bulbs peeping through. Most other things
are having a rest. And it's cold !!!
Posted by Pestilential Penitent (# 2943) on 28. June 2002, 09:08:
rooty toot toot for the patrician garden club! Anyone here do urban gardening, the
ghettoer the bettah?
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 28. June 2002, 10:12:
quote:
Originally posted by Pestilential Penitent:
rooty toot toot for the patrician garden club! Anyone here do
urban gardening, the ghettoer the bettah?
What makes you think we're"patrician"? No way!
As to urban gardening - absolutely yes!
I live in the centre of the capital City of Hell, as you can read, and I have to use
pots. We stick them on our doorsteps, window sills and back yards (yards as in
English English - small paved or concreted areas - used to have outside loos) The
middle-class area near us pay the council loads of money to hang bright baskets
from the lamp-posts. We can't afford that.
Next door grow Bangla herbs in their pots.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 28. June 2002, 12:21:
I`ve never understood what`s wrong with moss, or why people are forever trying to
get it out of their lawns. Moss makes a lawn beautifully soft underfoot, fills in any
spaces between grass blades, and gives it a really lush green look.
Some of the leaves on my potatoes are turning yellow and brown. Should I be
worried?
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 28. June 2002, 13:01:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
And are your black spots fading, Questia? Hope your fingers are
not falling off in parallel with our roses losing their leaves!
The spots do appear to be fading! Hooray. And I managed to keep all my digits, as
well.
Two of my tomato plants have tiny blossoms, and my lavendar (which I thought I'd
killed) is beginning to bloom.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 28. June 2002, 15:34:
now, now, pestilence...just because all you can grow in milwaukee are mold and bad
beer, no need to lash out. just move.
Posted by Pestilential Penitent (# 2943) on 28. June 2002, 17:21:
Stuff grows great in Milwaukee. You must be thinking of the big brand beers, now
reduced to one--Miller--which was just bought by a S. African Company. Other than
that swill, the beer here is great. There are more little breweries and brew pubs here
following old world traditions than anywhere I've been in the US. You can go in any
bar--they're on every neighborhood street corner--and usually get a selection of local
stuff on tap. It's getting disneyfied, but the old culture still has its legacy. "The
American City" is very much unlike other American cities. Nobody else has had
socialists in power for long period of time. And we have yellow brick!
Posted by Pestilential Penitent (# 2943) on 28. June 2002, 17:23:
Anyone here doing a compost vermiculture? (Compost + worms, preferably red.
They eat and excrete fastest.) Can do it in buckets even in an apartment. Highly
recommended.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 29. June 2002, 08:13:
quote:
Originally posted by Pestilential Penitent:
Can do it in buckets even in an apartment. Highly
recommended.
Eeeewwwww!
I have made a compost bin from a black rubbish bin, with some drainage holes
drilled in the sides and bottom. When I lifted the lid last night it contained 'vanilla'
earthworms (loads), black ants (the non-biting sort), wood lice, and quite a few
creeply crawlies that I couldn't identify. The compost is generating quite a bit of heat
just now.
Is it okay to add things like dandilions (leaves and roots)? What should I be putting
in, and what shouldn't I? Do I need to 'turn' the compost, and if so, how often?
One last piece of advice, I am looking for a hardy plant to fill a gap in the corner of
my garden. The gap is right beside a hedge. The soil is pretty fertile, lime free, and
free draining. The gap is in the region of 1.2m x 1.8m, and the hedge is about 1.5m
(4ft x 6ft, 5ft).
I am looking for something structural, that will still have some interest in the winter.
The leaves also have to be soft, as we will need to push past this plant to clip the
hedge.
I look forward to reading your recommendations.
bb
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 29. June 2002, 15:42:
oriel, are they getting enough/too much water? i've never grown taters, but i always
just pick off yellow/brown leaves. i don't like using pesticides, so sometimes that
means i fight a losing battle.
pest, yellow bricks? you mean you build houses out of cheddar? (if you can label us
patrician, i can label wisconsin sterile )
babybear, does this space get much sun? are you looking for a shrub to maintain a
skeleton in winter, or a perennial plant that will die back to the ground?
Posted by Anonymous 4 (# 2898) on 29. June 2002, 18:32:
Quite happy not to fight the moss! Very soft - very killer ants living under it though,
so have to be careful when I collapse on the moss after gardening, they seem to
think I'd make a good dinner!
Just planted out a Bottle Brush Bush I'd brought from my last house. It loves the soil
here (as do rhodadendrums) - fantastic red hue slwoly developping in its eploding
branches - fabulous!!
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 29. June 2002, 20:02:
quote:
Originally posted by blackbird:
babybear, does this space get much sun? are you looking for a
shrub to maintain a skeleton in winter, or a perennial plant that
will die back to the ground?
It is in full sun for most of the day.
I am quite happy with a skeleton, as long as it looks nice.
I don't want a
perennial plant. In the same border I have a beautiful bluey/purpley geranium, and
have been promised a pink one, and a magenta one. There are tulips in that bed,
and also snowdrops.
Where this mystery shurb/plant will go there is currently a weedy, sickly rose, some
dandilions, and some self-seeding annuals.
bb
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 29. June 2002, 22:41:
Baby Bear, what about some broom? The yellow flowering stuff is beautiful and
cheerful, but you can also get other colours. It's not scratchy; it doesn't have thorns;
it doesn't grow enormous....
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 29. June 2002, 23:35:
Um, isn't that a weed? It certainly grew like a weed in the Lowlands of Scotland.
bb
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 30. June 2002, 04:22:
BB, here's a great beginning resource for composting.
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 30. June 2002, 04:33:
,And if it's vermiculture , or worm composting you want, try this one.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 30. June 2002, 08:36:
"Grows wild" in many places in Scotland, yes, but is now also an elegant cultivated
plant with all sorts of coloured flowers. However, no point in planting something
you'd always be wanting to uproot and bin!
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 30. June 2002, 14:21:
i guess that rules out the invasive gooseneck loosestrife, too...though it fills in gaps
very nicely. it does die back in winter, though. the first spring after i planted some,
all these red buds sprang up from the ground.
how about hydrangea? my blue dwarfs leave a spindly skeleton through winter.
depending on how severe the spring is, they leaf out on the existing branches,
otherwise, they grow rapidly from ground level in spring and you just snap off the
dead branches from last year. leaves are very soft. i recently saw a beautiful white
hydrangea ("lanarth white", i think).
last early evening a wild turkey and 6 babies visited my yard...until the dog caught
wind of them. woohoo, are they fast little buggers!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 30. June 2002, 22:14:
I was going to suggest the oakleaf hydrangea, babybear, and then I thought that a
fothergilla might be nice too---they have fragrant tasselly white flowers in very early
spring and the foliage turns wonderful shades of red and gold in the autumn. Or you
might try a witchhazel, which has tiny fragrant flowers in February, or a philadelphus
microphylla, which is incredibly fragrant in June; philadelphuses come in all sizes and
various flower forms. Or you might try a Carolina allspice (I've forgotten the Latin
name) which has weird deep red-brown flowers and big oval leaves--and yes, it's
fragrant too. Or clethra alnifolia, which now can be found in both large and small
forms, with both pink and white flowers. None of these is thorny. As you can see, I'm
thinking in terms of fragrant things, and things that are interesting at different times
of the year.
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 01. July 2002, 14:14:
quote:
Originally posted by blackbird:
now, now, pestilence...just because all you can grow in
milwaukee are mold and bad beer, no need to lash out. just
move.
Actually, my first thought of Milwaukee is always of the famous Domes which
impressed me greatly when I visited them as a child. Have you been to them yet,
PP?
Re: remakrs on composting, just to make sure: are all those creepy crawlies in there
natural? They always give me the heebie-jeebies.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 01. July 2002, 19:58:
Only time I ever got compost to compost was when I sluttishly left a big sack of
leaves in the corner of the garden all winter. They were lovely leaf-mould when I
next looked, and full of worms. Meanwhile the composter was invaded with carpenter
ants from the bottom and rats from the top, and I rid myself of it. Vermiculture has
always sounded rather fun; there was a bit on the Today Programme last week about
a company doing it on a large scale in Scotland who have been having great
difficulties with fishermen tunnelling under their fences and making off with the
worms, which, in this case, were not the little red chaps but a species of large and
muscular night-crawler.
Posted by zandolit (# 346) on 01. July 2002, 21:15:
Greetings! I hope a Zone 9 gardener is welcome here. I'm not much into the
ornamentals (they're all pretty, but I have no idea what they are called!) but I adore
fruit trees and vegetables. We are right in the middle of mango season right now,
and lychees are just around the corner!
Myself being a transplanted northerner, vegetable gardening in Florida is nonintuitive. Here you do your veggies in the winter, but in the summer they all die
unless you get special heat-tolerant varieties, etc... Tomatoes get fungal diseases
with the heat and humidity, and lettuce will bolt at the drop of a hat. There are some
yummy tropical veggies that do okay though.
z
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 05. July 2002, 15:10:
Grr. Pigeons have stripped the leaves off all our brassicas (sprouts, cabbage, and
broccoli). Hopefully they should survive if nothing further happens to them. Going to
put some nets over them now.
Strawberries are coming onstream -- lovely and sweet. The plants are putting out
runners too, so we should have some more next year. Nice next-door neighbour is
growing sweet peas up against our fence, and we can have any for our vases that
flower on our side. She also has a wonderful bed stuffed full of marigolds.
We`ve planted out our herbs in our newly-dug herbery (stony ground next to the
house) and they seem to be settling in well, though something`s making holes in the
basil. It`s not slugs, the nematodes seem to have worked and the pansies are
keeping their flowers for more than a day for the first time since we planted them.
Even the thyme, which got stripped completely, is putting out fresh leaves.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 07. July 2002, 13:29:
Thanks for all the suggestions.
My Mum was visiting a few days ago, and left me a present of a tree peony! It won't
give the winter interest, but it saves me having to make any decisions.
bb
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 08. July 2002, 00:52:
that will be beautiful, babyber.
seeing a lot of rabbits, snakes, dragonflies, bats and fireflies lately. ah, summer.
Posted by zandolit (# 346) on 19. July 2002, 17:00:
Rabbits!
Any fondness I once had for small furry creatures with big teeth is rapidly
diminishing.
Rabbits girdled all my little curry leaf trees.
They bypassed the beautifully succulent foliage on the hibiscus, and instead, ate my
baby trees bark!
Hmmmm.... Methinks I smell rabbit stew in my future....
zandolit
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 19. July 2002, 18:54:
frogs, frogs, frogs.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 19. July 2002, 19:36:
was at my mothers house this past sunday.
my daughter saw tow snakes! and succeeded in catching one. and she never
believed my husband and i when we told her there were snakes back there.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 19. July 2002, 19:38:
excuse me, that should have been two snakes.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 04. August 2002, 15:03:
How do I get a cutting of rosemary to root? I've been given a bit and I've stuck it in
water. I want it to root as I would like another slightly different colour to add to the
one I have already.
Do the little new roots come from the soft or the hard twigs?
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 09. August 2002, 01:04:
Bumping this up to tell anyone who is interested that the first daffodil is open in the
garden today. The golden grevillea is also out, and the wattle budding - many are
already out but ours is Snowy River Wattle, and it's later than most. Cockatoos and
parrots plentiful, and the daft galahs who are more of a hazard outside the local preschool than the children.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 09. August 2002, 06:06:
daisymay, I think your best bet would be several newish shoots, neither soft and
sappy nor old and woody, which you would dip in rooting powder (yes, such a thing
exists) and put in a vessel of sharp sand, which you would then keep moist. I am no
expert at rooting things though, so there may be someone here who can give better,
more specific advice.
My garden has toads in it! Real toads! Shades of Marianne Moore! They're lovely,
and now I'm nervous about hiring someone to cut the long grass. I've discovered
that the earwigs that have been nibbling my clematis hide out in the little green
plastic things at the top of the bamboo canes (they're there to keep the canes from
poking your eye out as you look for the earwigs...). Knowing that, I can shake them
out of their cubicles and squish them. The greengages are almost ripe, and the local
nurseries are having sales, which means I've got pots of rudbeckia, crocosmia, and
Japanese anemones (Honorine Joubert--the best) to plant. Mind you, the back yard
is an obstacle course of knee-high grass, dog-toys and rotten windfalls...but that will
all be changed.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 09. August 2002, 09:18:
quote:
Originally posted by Christine:
Bumping this up to tell anyone who is interested that the first
daffodil is open in the garden today. The golden grevillea is
also out, and the wattle budding - many are already out but
ours is Snowy River Wattle, and it's later than most. Cockatoos
and parrots plentiful, and the daft galahs who are more of a
hazard outside the local pre-school than the children.
So what are "galahs"?
Congratulations on your first daffodil! It does make life interesting that we hear of
flowers growing at various times - I can't quite get my head round it.
"First daffodil in August".
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 09. August 2002, 09:24:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
daisymay, I think your best bet would be several newish
shoots, neither soft and sappy nor old and woody,
My garden has toads in it! Real toads!
Thanks, Amos, I'l chop it up into several bits and try. Why didn't I think of that?
Send me some toads so they can eat my slugs, which are still around, despite the
slug pub and the bashing with the trowel which is my massacre weapon for snails
and slugs. I love toads. We used to have a few when I was a child and it was
wonderful to have one just sitting on your hand and looking at you. We called them
"puddocks". Are yours brown?
Maybe send a squad of small persons across the grass to drive them out before you
cut grass?
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 09. August 2002, 10:49:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
How do I get a cutting of rosemary to root? I've been given a
bit and I've stuck it in water. I want it to root as I would like
another slightly different colour to add to the one I have
already.
Do the little new roots come from the soft or the hard twigs?
Rosemary in my experience is one of the easiest things there is to root. Often, taking
a young cutting and sticking it straight into the soil is sufficient, though rooting
powder also helps. I had a few shoots and dipped them in rooting powder and
shoved them into a pot of compost, and they all took. One thing I would say is that
small pieces generally do better than big ones, so if you have a big bit then take off
some of the side shoots and try to root those.
Posted by Birdie (# 2173) on 09. August 2002, 14:54:
I am mourning the loss of our pond.
It really had to go, was dirty, smelly, etc etc. (this is a new garden we've moved
into). But now it's gone, I really miss the frogs and toads, the fish and the newt.
(Newts! Aren't they cute little fellas?) Luckily we gave the various wildlife to a friend
who had just dug a spiffy new pond, so I can visit from time to time.
Anyway: a question. Once the flowers have dropped on peonies, they have those big
alien-like furry erm, things. What do you do with those then? I left them, as I liked
them, but am wondering if I should have snipped them off, like deadheading roses. I
am new to peonies and all I can say is they were heartstoppingly wonderful. I
dashed out every morning through the spring to see how they were getting on.
Since moving and having for the first time a garden that is really mine, I have
discovered a hitherto unsuspected love of gardening, and have been reading this
thread avidly for some time!
Thanks all
bird
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 09. August 2002, 15:14:
Hello everyone! It's lovely to be back on this thread.
The wildlife around here took advantage of the baby's arrival to CHOMP on the
garden. I think the peach tree has borers... there is marmalade-like stuff oozing
from the trunk...
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 12. August 2002, 03:28:
Daisymay,
Galahs are a variety of parrot, a very beautiful grey and pink colour, who hang out in
flocks, make a lot of noise and have a prediliction for sitting on telegraph wires and
eating any seed available (they've just stymied an attempt by the public works dept
to re-seed an area they'd dug up). They are also on the stupid side. They are the
only birds I know that will fly straight into a moving car - an unnerving experience
for both bird and driver. A flock live in the tree outside the pre-school - I therefore
have not only to look after kids, but also galahs. Though at least if you're abiding by
the speed limit hit birds usually manage to stagger off! Calling someone a galah is a
fairly affectionate way of saying they're an idiot, calling them a drongo (also a bird)
is a bit ruder.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 12. August 2002, 23:45:
Can someone recommend a good small tree to plant in a very large pot? I have
visions of magnolia soulangiana "Rustica Rubra", or a small clump of young birch
(not very practical). Anyone know anything about Quercus Rober? I don't want a
fruit tree (though I am tempted by the thought of a fig).
Christina, I wish I could see (and hear) your gallahs.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 13. August 2002, 11:38:
Have just filled one of my giant terracotta planters with a combination of anemone
"Honorine Joubert", potentilla thurberi, and delphinium chinenesis. And the Beales
rose catalogue has followed me here. O joy.
Posted by Chapelhead (# 1143) on 13. August 2002, 21:16:
I have been given some pink poppy seeds (that is, the poppies are pink, I haven't
checked the colour of the seeds).
Assuming I can find somewhere for them (bearing in mind that I don't have a
garden), what should I do with them, when and where?
Many thanks.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 13. August 2002, 21:43:
Amos, magnolia sounds great - but mine has yet to flower after 3-4 years. I live in
hope that next spring it will blossom.
What about one of these little cherry trees?
Or a red maple?
I have a wonderful holly tree in a tub...and a chestnut tree grown from a conker.
What's the name of the blue flowering tree? Is it cetoniaster or something like that?
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 15. August 2002, 02:36:
Cotoneaster, at least the variety I know, has small white flowers, red berries and is a
PEST. We're no longer allowed to plant it. Rosemary grows prolifically here, and I've
had no trouble getting it to root - but that special powder helps too. Just stick a
cutting ( I've used fairly mature stock ) in pot and off it goes - and there aren't many
things that will do that for me.
Wattle is beginning to flower along the roadsides - very pretty, though some are
allergic to it.
Daisymay, in what language is your signature? I had guessed Hindi - but I'm
probably wrong.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 15. August 2002, 07:15:
Chapelhead, poppies grow very easily. They need to be sown where they are to
bloom because they don't like to be transplanted. The reason why you see poppies
blooming in cornfields and on building sites (and, indeed, in trenches...) is that the
seeds can lie dormant in undisturbed earth for years and then germinate when the
soil is disturbed. They're annuals, which means they bloom, set seed, and die every
year. You should therefore plant yours either in the late autumn (I've done this in
the Midlands) or in early spring. As the seeds are tiny, you don't really need to
bother covering them in my experience. Once you have poppies blooming in your
garden, they usually reseed themselves happily forever. I love them, and am
perfectly happy with the plain red ones, but hope one day to grow some of the
doubles and some of the more exotically coloured versions raised by the Revd Mr.
Shirley in the last century. Ah, for the days when Anglican clergy had oodles of time
to spend gardening!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 15. August 2002, 07:27:
daisymay, is it ceanothus you're thinking of? It';
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 15. August 2002, 10:31:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
daisymay, is it ceanothus you're thinking of? It';
That's it! I can never remember that name. I have one which is now about 6 ft tall
growing in one of my tubs and it's wonderful every year. There are all different
shades of blue that it comes in.
I also have a mock orange blossom bush in a big tub and it smells gorgeous - but it
grew so big i had to cut it down to about 1/3 after it flowered this year. It may have
to go eventually....
Christine, yes, it's Nepali, which is very close to Hindi. My husband originates from
there among other places.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 15. August 2002, 11:38:
Ceanothus in a tub is a brilliant idea, daisymay.
It grows very well in these parts too, and I've
admired it in other people's gardens. I'll try it with an underplanting of little bulbs-white and blue anemone blanda, and maybe an autumn-flowering crocus or
something.
You know, there is a variety of philadelphus, philadelphus microphylla, with tiny little
leaves and small, incredibly fragrant, bell-shaped white flowers. It doesn't grow very
big, and would probably be a better candidate for a tub than the usual kind. And it is
wonderfully fragrant.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 15. August 2002, 15:04:
Embarrassed--just nipped out to the garden at Stone and picked up a ceanothus-and various other interesting looking items that I could ill afford, including the
above-mentioned philadelphus and a syringa microphylla superba.
Birdie, if you have a well-established peony in your garden, you are lucky indeed.
You can dead-head it (those furry things are seed-pods of a kind), or you can just
wait until you tidy up the garden in late autumn and cut the old leaves and stalks
down to the ground. (NB if yours is a tree peony with woody stems like a shrub,
rather than the usual herbaceous sort, then you don't cut it down in the autumn. Or
else.)
Posted by Chapelhead (# 1143) on 15. August 2002, 20:37:
Many thanks for the information and advice, Amos.
Posted by Beenster (# 242) on 25. August 2002, 17:05:
Help!!!! I have masses of caterpillars and I just can't get rid of them. They have
eaten through a honeysuckle and are now focussing their evil intention on destroying
my clematis and all else around and it is just SO ANNOYING.
any bright ideas for the destruction of caterpillars?
And yes I do pick them off, the trouble is there are always more to be found and I
can't find them.
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 01. September 2002, 20:05:
Poppies don`t like being transplanted. Fine. How about (perennial) oriental poppies?
I ask because we`ve got one in a flower bed which has a retaining wall. The wall is
two feet high on the path side, fine. The wall is nine inches high on the flowerbed
side, unfine. So we, having dug all the lawn off our front garden, are leaving it in bin
liners to compost down a bit (hopefully), and then in the spring we`ll dump it all on
the flowerbed, thus (hopefully) raising the level up to the wall.
So, can we dig out the poppy and replace it on top, or are we better off leaving it to
see if it can grow through?
Amos: How about a dwarf laburnum?
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 01. September 2002, 21:19:
Oriel--Oriental poppies are the exception. They are perennial; you can move them,
and you can also reproduce them from root cuttings. I once tried to dig out a patch
of the ordinary orange-scarlet oriental poppy from a garden (foolishly thinking that
the colour was too loud and the flowers too big for my plans). It couldn't be done.
Every tiny scrap of root I left in the soil cheerily came up and bloomed the next year.
I finally gave up and learned to like it.
I was wrong about one detail.It was the Revd. Mr. Wilkes who bred the Shirley
poppy, not the Revd. Mr. Shirley. Mr. Wilkes was vicar of Shirley, which I believe is
somewhere in the vicinity of Croydon.
Thank you for the idea of dwarf laburnum. I will make a note of it and keep my eyes
open. I've put a ceanothus in one tub and a katsura tree (heart-shaped pale green
leaves which turn pink and smell like toffee apples on a frosty morning)
in the other.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 02. September 2002, 21:39:
My bit of rosemary has started sprouting roots
way up the stem!
not from the bottom, but half
So I'm going to remove it from water and stick it in a pot of earth.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 03. September 2002, 11:28:
Just outside of my back door I have a collection of pots. In two of the largest ones I
have fushias. They are starting to go over now, and I am thinking about moving
them to a 'quiet' corner of the garden.
I would like something to replace them with.
It isn't in a summy spot. It is sheltered, but will get frost almost every night during
the winter. However, there is little chance of snow. The lowest temp will probably be
about -8C.
I have been thinking about something silvery-green, with winter pansies, and some
bulbs. Anyone got any better suggestions?
bb
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 03. September 2002, 21:24:
What I am inclined to suggest, babybear, is that, for now, you plant up those pots
with an assortment of bulbs. You plant them in layers. First a layer of earth. Then a
layer of May flowering tulips, the late ones. Then some more earth. Then a layer of
large-cup or trumpet daffodils. Then a bit more earth, so that the tulips are nearly
covered, and then a layer of the miniature narcissus---tete a tete or minnow--one of
the jonquils, and some species tulips. When these are covered, and you've about
three inches more of pot to the top, add species crocus, anemone blanda,
snowdrops, and maybe some of the autumn-flowering crocus. Then fill to within an
inch of the top, and add a thin top layer of small gravel. You should then have
flowers from the end of January until the middle of May, after which you can put the
pots aside until the foliage has matured, and then plant your bulbs in the garden and
figure out something new to do with your pots.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 03. September 2002, 21:29:
If you want something silvery green to plant with winter pansies and small bulbs,
however, I would tend to go with an artemisia abrotanum. Their defect is that you
get them as such pathetic little plants, and they take several years to build up into a
creditably little bush, during which time they must be kept in shape so that they
don't go all woody, like old lavender. On the other hand, the foliage is deliciously
scented.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 03. September 2002, 21:42:
The layering of bulbs sounds lovely. But what do I do between now and January? I
am going to have a bare bit of concrete and brick wall immediately outside of my
back door. It has been a riot of reds and purples these last few months.
I don't think I can face going back to a bare brick wall again.....
bb
Posted by Mrs Tubbs (# 440) on 12. September 2002, 12:42:
Bringing the War into the Very Reaches of Heaven (While Making a Profit)
Right, these lovely green fields and that fallow ground will be very useful for growing
poppies and grass And that shed will make a very lovely drugs den Just chuck
those garden gnomes onto the newly created rancid compost heap and give
Titchmarsh a good kicking
Discovering her green fingers, growing pretty plants and making a profit at the same
time ...
Mrs Tubbs
Drugs Baron
Posted by Birdie (# 2173) on 12. September 2002, 14:09:
Ggggggrrrrrrrrr. This is Not. On.
Out! Go on, out!
This garden is a neutral, war-free zone, please.
Actually, I just popped by to say thanks, Amos, for the peony information. I think I'll
just leave it now till general tidying up time. They are beautiful... I have 3 in the
back garden and one in the front.
Also, I am sure you have filled your large pot by now, but my husband gave me a
big terracotta pot for my birthday and I've put a Japanese maple in it (Acer
palmatum atropurpureum - I think!) Colour works v. well with the terracotta and the
brick of the house...
bird
considering installing angel with whirling sword at gateway to garden
Posted by Campbellite (# 1202) on 12. September 2002, 17:13:
Whew! What did you put on that compost heap, Mrs. Tubbs? It smells like the Other
Place. Thanx bunches!
BTW, Should my cannabis be fertilized at this time of year, or should it be left alone
until spring?
(Always looking for good gardening tips)
Posted by starbelly (# 25) on 12. September 2002, 17:22:
<hostly hat on>
Please, no more battles on this thread, you are ruining the lawn.
This is a thread for talking about Christian Gardening (or something) on, any more
spillover from the Heaven/hell war will be scorned upon!
Thanks.
Neil
Posted by Mrs Tubbs (# 440) on 13. September 2002, 09:49:
A small, white transit van draws up. Mrs Tubbs and Her SWOT team emerge – to put
things back as they were. The bits of the lawn that have been ruined are replanted
and should be as good as new shortly. The crops harvested and loaded onto the van
(waste not, want not). People are shoo’ed out from the shed and the windows
opened to clear the air. And it is cleaned and tided. Heads are glued back on the
garden gnomes and they are replaced. Even Titchmarsh only received a light
bruising. After a morning’s hard work it’s like we’d never been at war …
Now, I have a garden with a border that currently has nothing in it (as we’ve just
cleared out the weeds). What should I do now? I don’t know much about gardening
and don’t have that much time (what with the leisure side lines and all) but would
appreciate some advice … Thank you
Tubbs
Posted by Mrs Tubbs (# 440) on 13. September 2002, 09:51:
Sorry, I nearly forgot the compost heap. (Or was I trying to avoid it ) It's kicked
into hell though one of the connecting doors - this one only appears to open the one
way so it shouldn't come back.
Tubbs
PS I really would appreciate advice about my garden ...
Posted by clare (# 17) on 13. September 2002, 13:38:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Can someone recommend a good small tree to plant in a very
large pot? I have visions of magnolia soulangiana "Rustica
Rubra", or a small clump of young birch (not very practical).
Anyone know anything about Quercus Rober? I don't want a
fruit tree (though I am tempted by the thought of a fig).
Amos.. a ridiculously late comment on your post! Quercus Robur (aka the english
oak)... NO! it grows into one of our largest trees. And they don't transplant well so
growing them for a bit then moving them to some deserving woodland isn't an
option. Works well for horse chestnuts though!
Have you thought about an Amelanchia? they have white flowers in spring, not as
'polished' as a magnolia, but less snooty looking too! They are technically a large
shrub, the multi-stemmed like a clump of birch, are grow in an upwards spray shape.
there, i've almost talked myself into buying one!
clare
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 13. September 2002, 13:46:
quote:
Originally posted by Mrs Tubbs:
I really would appreciate advice about my garden ...
I would probably pop in some winter pansies and loads of bulbs.
Then I would sit back and look through gardening books etc and decide what I really
fancy.
bb
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 13. September 2002, 14:30:
Ah, now that the talk has turned to trees (and the rest of my garden is infested with
crabgrass which I've resolved to let remain till spring) I must ask about this catalpa I
have in my front yard.
Here's the story: we just bought the house in December, at which time the tree was
an approx. 8-ft. high stump (with some knotty 6-inch thick, but not more than two
feet long branches around the top). The realtor told us, "That's a very special tree.
You have to cut the (new) branches off every fall, and then in the spring it will send
out long, droopy, beautiful flowery shoots."
What utter nonsense. As it turns out, it sent up absolutely normal, not especially
flowery branches. AND it turns out just about every yard in the neighborhood has a
catalpa, but they're are about 60 ft. high (I guess because their owners didn't chop
their branches off every year)and not extraordinary looking it all.
My question is, what should I plant in its place that will be pretty, failry small, and
"special" (but easy to care for) after I've chopped the blasted thing down next
spring?
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 14. September 2002, 06:57:
At the moment my favourite small tree is cercidiphyllum japonicum, the Katsura
tree. This lovely tree (according to my book) has a unique smell of caramelizing
sugar in the autumn, the scent is carried on the air so you often notice it before you
see the tree. It is one of the best small trees to plant in a cool area (it's hardy in
Boston, i.e. to US zone 6) and the new leaves are a beautiful shade of pink. It makes
a fairly small tree.
I've not had luck with Japanese maples, alas.
Posted by Deserted (# 3035) on 15. September 2002, 17:14:
Beenster asked
quote:
any bright ideas for the destruction of caterpillars?
Identify the pest first.
If in doubt ask the bugman
pestfacts
If it is actively feeding, Bacillus thuringensis will give them a serious stomach ache.
(to the point of death) Doesn't work if they are not eating. Garden store should have
it. or mail order. It is a bacteria so is not toxic like other pesticides.
Questia
quote:
The realtor told us, "That's a very special tree. You have to cut the
(new) branches off every fall, and then in the spring it will send out
long, droopy, beautiful flowery shoots."
is this the catalpa in your yard?
So much for taking hort advice from realtors. Some treebutchers will top a tree to
create a perfectly round head during the summer. It really shouldn't be done unless
you are doing it specifically for a given effect (pollarding) generally makes for an
ugly winter tree and weak branches. Here is some govt info on catalpas.
here is what trees look like when they have been topped.
Catalpa blossoms are very pretty and orchid like, but they also make long beanlike
fruits and IMHO are quite messy.
Check with your local Coop extension service for a replacement. A lot of things to
consider...sun/water/climate/full size etc. Are you looking for blooms, shade,
screening, etc.
[UBB Code edited]
[ 15. September 2002, 20:02: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
Posted by Qestia (# 717) on 16. September 2002, 14:11:
Thank you, Amos -- I heard good things about the Katsura someplace else, as well.
I'll have to look into it.
And Deserted -- I loved the links you listed. From the topped trees site:
quote:
A common question I receive when viewing a tree that has been
drastically topped is...
Question: Do you think it needs any more pruning?
Answer: Yes. One more cut at the base.
How wonderful to have my instincts confirmed! I can't wait to get rid of this thing
(which is a "Northern Catalpa" I think--and therefore has ugly broad leaves and
would have had creepy foot-long bean pods if it had actually bloomed, which it
didn't).
Friday's Wall Street Journal actually had a bit on trees and recommended the "Prairie
Fire Crabapple", which apparently does pretty things all year round. I worry about
tempting the neighbor kids with crabapples, though--I remember having a lot of fun
using them in slingshots as a child.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 06. October 2002, 21:50:
Two men with saws, shears, lawnmowers, edging tools, and a skip, working for two
days, have produced order in my garden. It turns out to be even larger than I
thought. This afternoon after church (it was Harvest Festival), there being no
baptisms, I put in half my bulbs. Blue parrot tulips, Queen of the Night tulips.
Negrita and Passionale tulips, Ballerina, which an orange lily-flowering tulip and the
white tulip with green stripes up the side. Little red species tulips, Iris reticulata,
double snowdrops, some unidentified white daffs from a friend, Minnow, Jetfire,
Thalia, and (for the first time in about twelve years) Baby Moon narcissus, crocus
tomasinianus, and anemone blanda. That leaves about fifty tulips in shades of
currant-red, crimson, apricot, orange, magenta, and near-black to plant in the bed in
front of the house, along with allium albopilosum and the last few Baby Moon
narcissus. I thought of Anna B who began this thread last year, asking about springflowering bulbs. Impossible as it may sound, Anna, I found gardening a welcome
change from diaper-changing when I was a new mother. Does anyone know an
essay by the poet Jane Kenyon called 'A Hundred White Daffodils'? That describes
pretty accurately my feelings this evening.
What bulbs are other people putting in this autumn?
Posted by The Coot (# 220) on 28. October 2002, 10:53:
quote:
Zach82 posted this:
I just bought an orshid today, and I really have no idea how to take
care of it.
First, how much do I water the thing?
Second, the stem of the blossom is turning brown and dying, should I
cut it off or something?
Zach
[Duplicate post deleted]
[ 28. October 2002, 14:17: Message edited by: Belisarius ]
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 28. October 2002, 14:53:
We've still got raspberries and wild strawberries here. Yummy!
Posted by Belisarius (# 32) on 25. November 2002, 02:55:
*BUMP*
Any questions/comments from the Southern Hemisphere?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. November 2002, 03:18:
i'm not from the southern corner of the planet but i can share that i picked the last
rose of the season: a vibrant pink 'ahoha' .
fitting tribute to the growing season....
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 25. November 2002, 10:10:
Thanks for the bump Belisaurus: saved me searching through loads of pages.
My winter jasmine has just started sending out sweet little yellow flowers.
The planted sprig of rosemary is out of doors and struggling to survive in the soggy
London atmosphere. Do rosemaries drown?
The leaves of the camelia are browning and faling off, new buds arriving. This is the
one that's never flowered yet. Should I give it tomato feed through the winter to
help it flower? Or just leave it, lay hands on it and pray?
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 25. November 2002, 10:46:
quote:
Originally posted by Belisarius:
*BUMP*
Any questions/comments from the Southern Hemisphere?
I've been out deadheading my minature roses as the first flush of flowering has just
finished.If I look after them and the weather is kind they will flower until around the
end of May. (A drought has been forcast for summer)
My biggest current problem is convolvulus(bindweed) which is so difficult to get rid
of.
It is growing all through the garden next door so the best I can hope for is to keep it
down. Ideas on how to do this are welcome, especially as it has started to grow
around the roses.
Huia, who has a passion for roses (in case you hadn't guessed)
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. November 2002, 14:02:
arghh.. bindweed. our neighbors let the 'pretty pink morning glories' climb all over
their side of our fence and now i'm also battling the wicked stuff!
i suppose that's
paybacks for the rambling branches of alberic barbier that grab them as they mow
along the fence.
pull it out before it goes to seed - the earlier the better and either burn the stuff or
bag it. (don't put it in the compost pile!!!)
diligence is your best tool. if it comes back up from the roots (which go all the way to
china from this part of the planet), pour some round-up (weed killer) into a small
cup and carefully paint the bindweed leaves as soon as they appear.
i'm a rose freak too. i grow mainly shrub roses and ramblers. rugosas are a
particular favorite.
Posted by blackbird (# 1387) on 25. November 2002, 14:40:
everything up here is sensibly settling down for a long winter's rest. i love the early,
colorful sunsets through bare tree branches. time to snip some sprigs of wild
winterberry.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 25. November 2002, 21:29:
can this thread be for indoor gardening too? cause i have a beautiful amaryllis plant
on my desk here at work, and it's bloomed.... 4 gorgeous huge white blossoms with
delicate pink touches. and i want to tell everyone about it cause i'm so proud i grew
them!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. November 2002, 21:56:
i think indoor plants fit into this thread, nicole! my house is packed with the
'regulars' and a bunch of overwintering survivors i can't part with.
i would love to grow an amaryllis (i even like the name!) but don't know the light
requirements. any info you could pass to me would be
-worthy!
they're available now and i'd love to put one on my birthday/ Christmas list if i was
certain i could grow one in my kitchen.
Posted by nicolemrw (# 28) on 25. November 2002, 22:15:
well actually zepharine, its misplaced pride i have, cause it was absurdly easy. my
husband bought me a boxed, already potted bulb. (he bought it from our local target
store, if you have one in your vacinity, you might see if they have them there) as to
what light it needs, well it seems to be perfectly happy on my desk which, being in
an office with no widow to the outside, gets only the office florescent light. i water it
when it seems dry, it came with instructions.... you just water til it sprouts. what i
will be proud of is if i can get it to bloom again next year.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. November 2002, 23:46:
i'd say it's well placed. the amaryllis IS responding very well to whatever way you're
ministering to its needs.
even the most 'experienced' gardener is only responding in a similar fashion,
whether on a grand scale or with something smaller. it's all about ciltivating care &
reaping wonder. (dang! where's that crazy daisy when you need it!!!)
i think i will put an amaryllis on my list. thanks!!!!
now...which one to ask for? (shiver of delight)
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. November 2002, 23:49:
quote:
Originally posted by nicolemrw:
what i will be proud of is if i can get it to bloom again next
year.
i suppose it would be like any other type of bulb plant... you allow the foliage to
ripen and produce enough food for next year and clip it off when it's brown.
anyone know how to grow them outside?
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 27. November 2002, 10:24:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
diligence is your best tool. if it comes back up from the roots
(which go all the way to china from this part of the planet),
pour some round-up (weed killer) into a small cup and carefully
paint the bindweed leaves as soon as they appear.
Thanks - the local garden shop suggested burying small pots of round-up in the
garden and putting the growing tip of bindweed into it. I'm going to try both as
wellas the digging.
Huia who will not be beaten by a mere weed.
(inset determined looking smiley here)
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 27. November 2002, 16:33:
mmmm... if it should rain, the round up would spread all over the garden.
the stuff
doesn't just kill weeds (which are, after all, simply misplaced plants). use great
care... even spraying the stuff in a very light wind can create a lethal drift. my best
friend and boss, an accredited master gardener, won't spray round up for customers
because of the liability.
keep us posted on your progress. i, for one, will celebrate your success and try it out
in my own bindweed-plagued area.
insert daisy smiley
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 27. November 2002, 17:47:
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
My biggest current problem is convolvulus(bindweed) which is
so difficult to get rid of.
It is growing all through the garden next door so the best I can
hope for is to keep it down. Ideas on how to do this are
welcome, especially as it has started to grow around the roses.
One of the tips that they gave on a BBC gardening program was to dig a trench at
the fence, and put down some thick black polythene down the side of the trench.
Then fill the trench in. It provides a physical barrier to the bindweed coming in from
next door. I am going to be putting up a new fence in the spring, and shall be trying
out the polythene trick.
I have been keeping the beds affected very well forked over. This makes it very easy
to pull out the roots. I have absolutely no idea if it will all go, but at least it keeps it
down.
Any suggestions for getting rid of nettles growning in my hedge? I have tried ripping
them out by gloved-hand, and also painting 'stuff' on the leaves. But it is a
persistant little bugger. How do I get rid of it without damaging the hedge? It is very
close to where the children's play area.
bb
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 27. November 2002, 17:55:
One trick with bindweed is to put bamboo canes next to the bindweed and encourage
it to grow up around the canes. This makes it easier to paint the roundup onto it and
then (hopefully)kill it. Pulling it up is a thankless task as it can regenerate from a
tiny bit of root.
I am also a keen rose grower. Is anyone else a fan of David Austen Roses?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 27. November 2002, 18:31:
i adore austin roses! i have his fair bianca (who smells of licorice!), lw braithwait and
want to get jude the obscure once i find room to tuck him in.
my earlier mentioned best friend has an impressive apricot graham thomas cuddled
next to a thrilling purple wisteria growing up a pergola. it's pure eye and nose candy!
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 29. November 2002, 09:10:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
mmmm... if it should rain, the round up would spread all over
the garden area.
Sorry, my last post wasn't very clear. The pots with round-up in them have lids and
you punch small holes in the lids and poke the bindweed through the holes. Not
foolproof I know but it should lessen the possibilty of accidents. Thanks for the
warning though, I would be sorry to lose the roses in that garden.
I'll also try bb's idea of the black polythene.This bindweed doesn't know it but I have
not yet begun to fight!
Huia, in a militant mood
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 29. November 2002, 10:28:
I've never tried it but I was told that if you mixed a small amount of roundup with
washing up liquid then you get the home made gel version at a fraction of the price.
I find painting roundup on weeds very theraputic but then I'm probably just sad!!
The worst weed in my garden is my next door neighbours' vinca minor which is
seeking asylum in my garden by sneaking under the fence. It has shiney leaves so
roundup does not work. Apparently you have to crush the leaves first to allow the
chemical in.
For the rose lovers my David Austen roses are: Gertrude Jeykll (deep pink),
Winchester Cathedral (White), Kathryn Morley (pink), Sharif Asma (pale pink),
Charlotte (pale apricot), Heritage (pink), and Wenlock (red), Lucetta (pink.) My old
roses are: Little White Pet, Cardinal de Richelieu (deep pink/purple), Blush Noisette
(very pale pink clusters), Fantin Latour (more pink), Felicite Parmentier (very, very
pale pink clusters) and Ballerina (looks like a hydrangea!)
All this in a garden 40ft square so my pruning tends to be done with vigour or the
children would never find the lawn!!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 29. November 2002, 15:36:
we have an acre, a third of which is part of a massive working apple orchard. rather
than plant around our property, our farmer neighbor asked permission to continue
the row thru our property. we have about 30 macintosh trees as a result. we let him
take about a third and the rest we open to whoever is in need of fruit. i can
applesauce and applebutter for a month after harvest.
i have a ballerina all sqidged in between a 7 foot mystery rose we call 'the
grandmother' and the pool yard fence. she's bright and cheery all winter with sprays
of tiny hips. a delightful rose when she spreads her skirt full of pale pink blossoms! i
have to make a point of layering over a stem to put somewhere that will allow her
the room she needs to spead out.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 04. January 2003, 01:06:
I thought we'd lost this thread!
We're growing amaryllises indoors in pots at the moment - hoping for red, pink &
white stripes, white with pink edges. Aren't they gorgeous?
Outside, I have a tall (8/9ft) whippy Lavinia rose - pink and scented. It gets black
spot every year. I know I need to spray it soon, but it's so wet at the moment, no
spray would take. Is there anything I can give it through its roots (it's in a pot as are
all my plants)? And it doesn't like being pruned as it grows tall thin stems that can't
bear the weight of the flowers, so I can't just ask it to start again.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 04. January 2003, 01:36:
black spot is awful. be sure to pick up all infected leaves so the disease doesn't get a
chance to stick around.
a master gardener friend suggested using a milk spray to control blackspot. i want to
give it a try next year cuz even the most fungus-resistant of my roses got the
@#$%! stuff last season due to fungus-inducing weather.
i found
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 04. January 2003, 01:42:
oops.. hit reply instead of url.
look here for the formula.
lavinia is beautiful!
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 04. January 2003, 04:34:
Zephirine, thank you for the link. I've noticed some powdery mildew on my roses
lately so will now try an organic approach. Besides all the environmental reasons it's
a darn sight cheaper.
Incidently my transplanted minature roses are doing well and the front garden is
looking much happier under a layer of mulch.
Around the back the fight against bindweed continues.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 04. January 2003, 22:46:
my garden's under an ever-growing blanket of snow. winter came so quickly, i wasn't
able to rake up all those nasty infectious leaves from last season's plagues. i'll have
to be diligent about applying the fungicides or i'll have another disasterous year
among the roses. (gritting teeth in rememberance)
and
round the back of my tiny brain, i'm remembering a ackage exchange i need to get
to. (after the lil guy's better)
xoxo
zephi
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 09. January 2003, 18:26:
This thread is risen! Alleluia!
Oof, is it cold and depressing here. Not a ray of sun in sight. Lots of boggy spots and
semi-decomposed leaves. Maybe I should force a hyacinth or two?
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 09. January 2003, 19:29:
It's sunny and warm here today in North Carolina, but tomorrow brings freezing
temperatures again for the entire weekend.
I still have pine tree limbs down in my yard from the ice storm last month. None of
the grass I planted last spring survived the lengthy drought. Everything just looks
brown. I have no idea where to start when spring arrives.
I need to attempt some more clearing in the woods while the snakes are still cold
and before the yellow jackets take up residence.
I did notice today as I went out to retrieve the mail, that a few daffodil shoots are
peeking out in their beds. In a few weeks, if there is no snow or ice; there will be a
bit of green about - new leaves on the azaleas and dogwoods. It can't happen soon
enough.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 09. January 2003, 19:32:
I don't know of anything that will prevent blackspot on roses via the roots. I was told
that a good spray of Armatillox (not sure of the spelling and its too cold to go into
the garage) will kill off any diseases. It is toxic stuf and has to be sprayed when the
plant is dormant.
I fight a loosing battle with black spot as my neighbour does not spray his roses and
it just migrates into my garden if I miss spraying by a few days. I usually give up by
mid season.
All my roses need a pruning but it's too cold to do it at the moment. I love pruning
but then I am a sad person. I will save it up for next week when the weather has
improved a bit and the kids are all safely back at school.
I like this time of year. I can do all my planning and put off the cold, back breaking
business of real gardening until the early spring.
I can spend many happy hours with the seed and young plant catalogues and just
wish my garden was 10 times bigger!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 10. January 2003, 14:25:
bessie, you are so lucky! I wish I had daffodil shoots to look at---the best we can do
around here in the way of greenery is pachysandra!! (And holly of course.)
Posted by Belisarius (# 32) on 27. January 2003, 18:29:
*bump*
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 27. January 2003, 20:43:
not even a snowflea in my garden.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 27. January 2003, 21:30:
We've got daffodil shoots in the tiny garden of the Young Persons' Centre I work at.
The Social Woek student and I planted them last year and they're coming up now!
The nasty weeds are starting to grow too..
And across the road from where I live, I planted some daffs under one of the trees
the council planted - and they're coming up!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 27. January 2003, 21:33:
I've got a tub full of iris reticulata, and the first couple of crocus tomasinianus are in
bloom. However the temperature is due to drop precipitously over the next couple of
days.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 21. February 2003, 19:14:
Bump. I bid you all a small carpet of Iris Reticulata, a few species crocus, and the
first snowdrops. What can you raise me?
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 21. February 2003, 20:19:
So glad to see this thread again. I have nothing to offer -- still learning, learning,
trial and error -- so even tho I haven't posted anything yet, I am lurking out here
reading and learning. Just wanted to express my appreciation for all you gardeners
who share their successes and challenges for all to see. And Zepherine, I love the
links!
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 21. February 2003, 20:34:
Yes, I'll be back when I have something growing. My yard is all brown and frozen at
the moment. I'll probably have to start over this year.
Can anyone recommend a grass for the Southeastern United States that will flourish
in sandy soil during summer drought and severe winter cold, ice and little sun?
Whatever I planted last year keeled over in June and hasn't been seen since.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 21. February 2003, 20:36:
Does it have to be grass, or will a ground-cover do?
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 21. February 2003, 21:05:
Oh, I would love a ground cover. I'm down to the bare sand and worry about
erosion, actually. Not to mention the negative esthetics of brown yard everywhere.
I don't believe there is such a grass that will stand the test of my conditions. So yes,
a suitable groundcover...I await a suggestion with fervent glee.
Posted by Regina Shoe (# 4076) on 21. February 2003, 21:08:
Will buffalograss work in the Southeast? I know it is very commonly used here in the
West for very dry conditions and sandy soil -- and obviously, if it survives Colorado
winters, it is resistant enough to the cold.
It is not as soft to walk on in your bare feet as fescue, but nothing is perfect...
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 21. February 2003, 21:20:
Curiously, I was thinking of planting buffalo grass this time last year. It's on page
two of this thread.
I learned that it could be difficult to get established, so I made another choice. Which
of course, didn't get established either.
I've seen buffalo grass and think it's quite attractive. Maybe I should look into this
further. I could try small areas this year if it's costly to plant...
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 21. February 2003, 21:39:
Amos,
I offer you several daffs blooming in my centre garden, yellow winter jasmine, pale
pink that goes white viburnam, a shiny green-leafed shrub with dark red spikes of
flowers that open up yellow and smell sweet, all blooming in my back yard. And it's
been frosty all week!
Also - from Perthshire, growing through the snow in an e-mail from a friend snowdrops!
Today I repotted my ceanothus into a huge egg-shaped pot which I hope will allow it
more freedom and space. I'm worried about the cold, but today was milder.
Posted by jlg (# 98) on 21. February 2003, 22:08:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Bump. I bid you all a small carpet of Iris Reticulata, a few
species crocus, and the first snowdrops. What can you raise
me?
I raise you three feet of snow still on the ground (OK, two-and-a-half feet now that
we've had a couple of 50F days), evergreens without any white trim on them, and
six-inch square patch of bare dirt in front of the doors to the wood-shed.
But the warm day yesterday and today reminded me of this thread, and voila!, here
it is on page one of Heaven, only recently brought out of cold storage.
And while I scrolled down to look for the current postings, I found all those lovely
links to Austin roses -- thanks, Zepherine/Bee!
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 22. February 2003, 00:23:
The temperature got down to 1.5c the night before last so I guess we're heading into
autumn /fall. The mini roses are still full steam ahead as I expect them to be until
May, or maybe even June if the weather is kind.
An amazing thing happened was after I moved them all (I thought) round the front
and sprayed weedkiller on the twitch/couch/nasty grass with an amazing root
system, then a friend brought around his weedeater and cut all the dead grass.
Several weeks later I saw something growing there so went to take a closer look.
Two small and very healthy rose plants were growing amid the remains of dead
grass. They have since flowered and one is a cerise rose I thought I had lost. I will
move them around the front when the flowering stops.
Huia - not looking forward to the change in seasons
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 22. February 2003, 17:03:
Only just discovered this thread - may I introduce myself, a total gardening novice
but with good intentions The crocuses are out, a couple of my hebes are currently
flowering, and the winter jasmine has a few flowers left, but I've a number of other
bulbs starting to peek through the earth now so it looks like spring is finally
happening My two oleanders (cuttings taken from oleanders in Turkey a few years
back) seem to have survived the frosts, and my honeysuckles are producing new
leaves all the time! I need to do some major garden design this year (hoping to
gravel the bulk of it that's not planted up) so will probably be concentrating more on
that than planting this year
But I do have one planting question I'm sure you'll be able to help me with: due to
my curious location on the junction of two railway lines, with wire fence, I'm trying to
grow climbers up the fence to give me some more privacy. Can anybody suggest
some fast-growing climbers, preferably evergreen I can try? With the added
complication of being able to cope with the winds whistling up the railway? I've got
some passion flower, but didn't plant it till the autumn so with the cold and wind it's
holding its own but not taking over yet. Also some ivy which has invaded from the
railway bank which I've decided to make the most of and train up the fence. I've got
a pyracantha and winter jasmine which are (slowly) growing up but seem a bit
spindly (I think I've spread them out a bit too much), and the rest are nonevergreens. Any other suggestions much appreciated!
Posted by Clyde (# 752) on 22. February 2003, 17:13:
You don't seem like a novice to me Jack the Lass.
I have a large garden but I can never remember what the plants are called. You at
least know the names.
As you will now appreciate, I can't help with your question but I'm sure that one of
our Shipmates will.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 22. February 2003, 18:19:
Jack the Lass,
What about scented jasmine? I've got some that is busily taking over my yard,
climbing everywhere, and produces beautiful white, sweet scented flowers in spring.
It stays green all year.
You could grow clematis up through it and then you'd have flowers later on as well.
And a climbing rose or two would mix in nicely.
How draughty is the fence?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 22. February 2003, 18:27:
for a sweet and voracious climber, try clematis montana rubens.
she's a beaut!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 22. February 2003, 18:28:
Whatever you do, don't plant Russian Vine. Jasmine sounds nice. There's also
Clematis Montana--it comes in white or pink and the scented varieties smell like
vanilla. It grows fast and doesn't really need pruning if it's happy. Then there are a
variety of rambling or scrambling roses that can really go to town--Rambling Rector
is one of my favourites; there are a lot of others, generally white, cream, or pale
pink in colour, and scented. They bloom the following season on the new growth
produced after flowering, so prune them (if you must) right after they bloom. I've
also seen rather more labour-intensive (but wonderful) flowering eyesore-covers of
Heavenly Blue morning glories (these are annuals), nasturtiums, and scarlet runner
beans.
Oh, daisymay, I raise you and jlg the first three double snowdrops.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 22. February 2003, 18:31:
also try weaving in my namesake. a fragrant, care-free, thornless, rambledeescramble delight in MAGENTAAAAHHHHH!!!!
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 22. February 2003, 19:35:
There aren't that many evergreen climbers. Winter Jasmine, Passion Flower and Ivy
are two of the very few and they have already been mentioned. Pyracantha does not
like wind but you may be lucky. Mine didn't flower in the 8 years I had it.
Stephan Buczacki wrote an excellent book 'Best Climbers' which might give you
some ideas.
In the garden design department beware of having lots of gravel as it is not as
maintenance free as you might think. It is a wonderful medium for catching weed
seeds and you need to keep on top of the local flora when it starts to spring up. If
you do not have a cat it will quickly become the neighbourhood cat toilet! The
material that is worse than gravel is chipped bark - cat heaven.
Gravel is overused on garden makeover programmes because it is quick and easy to
lay. Have a good look around other people's gardens and treat yourself to a day out
at one of the big garden shows to get some ideas and at the end of it you may
decide that gravel is best!
In my ideal garden I would have york stone slabs and slate. What I've got is decking.
It looks great but it has most of Berkshire's frogs living underneath it and I hate
them. Rats are also partial to a bit of decking. Nothing is ever simple in gardening.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 22. February 2003, 19:42:
Sorry can't count tonight, there were three evergreen climbers. Preview post should
be my friend.
Also meant to say that I can match your snowdrops and crocus can add a bronze
Primula which appears to have escaped from last years hanging basket.
Posted by geroff (# 3882) on 22. February 2003, 20:06:
We were admiring a white with purple streaks inside helebore flower in our garden
today. We planted it last year but can't remember it being this colour! Also loads of
snowdrops and green budded dafodils.
Jack the Lass, if you PM me I can tell you about the wonderful local nursery (that
also has a website) for interesting and unusual plants, shrubs, clematis etc. which we
use. That is, if you are in the UK!
I've had to write this because I don't know how to add a link!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 22. February 2003, 20:10:
question cats in the garden... a mixed blessing. on one hand, they keep the vole and bunny
population in check.
on the other hand - are fingernails embedded with toxic cat crap.
how do you deal with felines planting their stink-seeds in your garden?
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 22. February 2003, 21:41:
Amos,
I raise you one (indoor) bright red amaryllis that opened up today.
And purple crocuses in Kew gardens.
Posted by Regina Shoe (# 4076) on 23. February 2003, 04:11:
Well, I have relatively little to add to the botanical poker game, being almost
exclusively a vegetable gardener. So all that is outside are dormant strawberries and
some rather sad-looking kale still hanging in from the fall. However, I could see your
red amaryllis and raise you tonight's supper, featuring one dish of home-grown
green beans and another dish of calabacitas made with home-grown onions, garlic
and green chiles. Mmmmm....
P.S. Sorry for the redundant buffalograss suggestion -- serves me right for not
taking the time to read through the whole thread (these really long ones can be a bit
daunting for us newbies!)
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 23. February 2003, 08:49:
geroff, I'll give you some pointers in the Practise thread in the Styx.
Jack, This might not be what you are after, but have you considered putting in a
hedge? Hedges are brilliant for coping with windy locations, are evergreen, and will
be a pretty effective windbreak.
The fence in my back garden has been blown over this winter, and I am seriously
considering putting in a hedge instead. The only thing that is holding me back is the
4 years or so it will take for the hedge to become properly established.
I am thinking about growing perennial sweetpeas through it, as well as clematis and
other non-thorny climbers. I don't want thorns becasue they would be growing
beside the path, and also beside the washing line. I don't want drying clothes to get
tangled in the greenery.
Ages ago I asked for some advice about a shrub to plant. Yesterday I went out and
bought the thing! I have choosen a Camellia, Anticipation. It is to fill an empty spot
in the garden, beside a hedge and the children's play area. I had been on the verge
ofputting a large lavender bush there. I had spade in hand when I suddenly
remembered the number of bees the lavender attracts in summer! Definetly not the
the thing for a spot beside the children's swing and climbing frame. The camellia
flowes in winter/spring, so that there is little danger from bees.
bb
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 23. February 2003, 09:30:
Thanks for all the suggestions folks - I knew I could count on you!
In no particular order:
daisymay, I do have a scented jasmine, it's doing really well though it does lose its
leaves in winter I might try another in a more sheltered part of the garden though.
I also thought before about a clematis montana, Zephirine, although I'd been under
the impression that they had to be cut back down to the ground over winter, which is
why I hadn't bothered before. I'll definitely get one of those now
Why not Russian vine Amos? A friend recommended it, as it's evergreen and fastgrowing - maybe it's too fast-growing and takes over? The fence is very see-through
and there's lots of it as it goes down the side as well as the back of the house, so I
guess I could always put something like that down the side by the compost bin
where I won't see it but if it goes a bit wild it won't matter.
BB I hadn't thought of a hedge, but I'm reluctant to do that as I've already planted
loads of stuff near to the fence, plus as you say it takes ages for a hedge to get
established. I had thought about putting up a willow fence up close to the wire fence
so that I still had the benefit of the wire for the climbers but a bit more privacy, and
as the wire fence is set in concrete there'll be plenty of support for it (Railtrack put it
up as my garden encroaches onto their land, so it's tough as old boots wire rather
than anything flimsy - a godsend for climbers). But for the moment willow fencing is
beyond my price range
I was a bit worried about the gravel becoming cat litter too, though (again due to my
odd location) I've only actually ever seen one cat here in two years, and that was
over a year ago! Also in our residents car park there's loads of gravel and (so far)
the local cats don't seem to have cottoned on to it for some reason. I've got plenty
of other wildlife, being so near to the railway, so I'm not keen on decking for that
reason. Which is why I came back to gravel - given the not too many cats I think it
will be my lowest maintenance and relatively low cost option.
Now I've established I'm in the company of experts, I have another question: I'm
looking for some climbers with lots of thorns to train up the fence that divides my
garden from my neighbours, as that fence was what my burglars climbed over
and
the police suggested thorny plants as a deterrant. I've already got some climbing
roses and some holly, but any more suggestions welcome
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 23. February 2003, 12:47:
Jack the Lass,
Russian vine takes over; it grows so high and wide that it can overtake full-grown
tall trees. And then it only seems to produce flowers high up. We had some across
the road planted by the council and it climbed right up to the top of the trees and
was pulling them down by its weight. Been removed now.
I wonder why your scented jasmine loses its leaves and mine doesn't? Are there
different varieties for different amounts of cold and wind? The one I've got now was
my third attempt, but came from an indoor one I was gifted.
BB, hope your magnolia flowers soon. I'm praying for mine - been there four years
now and no flowers up to last year.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 23. February 2003, 13:47:
Jack the Lass, the Russian Vine is also known as the mile a minute plant. Once
established it is rampant and smothers small children, sheds and postman in it's
untidy grip. It is best used to cover garages at the bottom of a garden.
In terms of spikey plants to deter thieves then roses are your best bet. Ramblers
look more natural than climbing roses which can look a bit stiff and formal.
My favourite spikey plants are the berberis family. Some of them have purple leaves
and they look really good with clemetis growing through them. I have a Berberis
thunbergii 'Rosy Glow' with one of the pink viticella clematis growing through it and
it looks very good.
Another spikey plant is the Mahonia. They are often planted in car parks but you can
get more refined versions. My favourite is Mahonia x media 'Lional Fortescue'
because it flowers in late winter when nothing much else is in bloom. If you pinch out
the dead flower heads before it forms berries it will make it bushier. They can get tall
and leggy if you are not careful.
Hope that helps. Off to the garden centre now.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 23. February 2003, 14:03:
daisymay said it for me re. Russian Vine. It is without a doubt one of THE poisoned
chalices of the vegetable world, right alongside the Lawson Cypress and kudzu.
O glory be to God for thorny things. By all means plant Zephirine D. where the
children will play, but if you want to inhibit burglars, here are a few suggestions:
Rosa sericea pteracantha (or omiensis)--I've planted this in every garden I've had,
because it has has, as well as lovely ferny foliage, very early delicate four-petalled
blossoms, and rampant good health, the most amazing thorns in the world. They
look like something from the age of the dinosaurs. They look like Erin's teeth. They
are huge, very sharp, blood-red, and translucent, and they grow down three sides of
each stem. Think razor-wire. On old growth they become less conspicuous in
appearance, so some of us cut out old canes every year to make room for the new. I
like to keep mine at about six feet by six, but it will happily grow a lot bigger. You
can obtain this lovely plant from Peter Beales's nursery in Norfolk--among other
places, or, in the States from one of several specialists in oldfashioned and species
roses. If you shrink at the thought of r. sericea, or want something with a bit more in
the way of blossom, take a look at the eglantines, or sweetbriers. They also are big
and thorny; they can be used as climbers, and, since Lord Penzance set about
hybridizing them at the beginning of the last century, there are now a number of
colours and shapes to choose from. After rain their foliage smells like green apples;
the flowers are rose-scented. There are also any number of rampant and thorny
ramblers: rosa filipes Kiftsgate is nearly as big as a Russian Vine, and vicious with it.
Bobbie James (which I've grown) is not as thorny as some, but quite treacherous
and I wouldn't care to run through it in a hurry. The Kordes hybrids can be thorny-Maigold, Dortmund (it's screaming scarlet) and Alchymist are three of the best.
Or you could plant a blackthorn and make sloe gin.
I transplanted two pots of hollyhock seedlings that made it through the winter after
church today!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 23. February 2003, 20:06:
rosa sericea pteracantha are beautiful! do the stems dry well? (thinking of unusual
flower arrangements or even wreaths)
i can vouch for the apple scented foliage on the sweetbriars. they're well worth the
fragrance. her simple fleurs and flaming scarlet bottle-shaped hips make her ever so
much more worthy. i have a pink sweetbriar growing against the pool deck. she's
slowly being drawn into the embraces of handsome alberic barbier and goldbusch,
both very hardy and fragrant roses. alberic has glossy leaves and looong arms.
goldbusch bears a fruity fragrance, blooms continually all summer and has big
groovy orange woody hips in the fall.
my goldbusch is sprawled over a big pergola and is host to dove and robin's nests all
summer long. we've quit eating supper in the pergola because of the bird bombs
there. `sigh.
hawthorne makes a good barier but oh gag me - beware her carrion scented blooms!
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 23. February 2003, 21:10:
quote:
Originally posted by Regina Shoe:
P.S. Sorry for the redundant buffalograss suggestion -- serves
me right for not taking the time to read through the whole
thread (these really long ones can be a bit daunting for us
newbies!)
No, don't apologise. It was wonderful that you did mention it. I was laughing at
myself, because I should have planted buffalo grass last year.
Even I can't
remember what all has been said on this thread.
It's a new year, a new season - and it's a new deck of cards, it seems.
Carry on freely, I say. This should be the most relaxing, friendly thread on the Ship.
Posted by Duo Seraphim (# 3251) on 24. February 2003, 08:22:
Oooooh gardens...
I'd suggest berberis - beautiful bronze leaves and razor sharp thorns. If you want to
go "big rose" then I'd suggest the 40 foot Rosa filipes "Kiftsgate" or the (relatively)
smaller rambler "Rambling Rector". I planted the delightful small rambler (around 20
feet) "Adelaide d'Orleans" with its pink-flushed- with-gold, scented flowers. My
favourite climber is the gorgeous repeat flowering, tough-as-nails tea-scented, small
climber Sombreuil.
On the thorny hedge front - holly and blackthorn rather than hawthorn. Best way to
plant a hedge is to dig a trench about a spade and half deep and about the same
wide, for as long as you want the hedge to be.. Back fill with soil liberally mixed with
well-rotted compost and well-rotted animal manure. If you have the patience, buy
"whips" i.e. one year old seedlings of hedging plants. If you create a proper
hedgerow - holly, hazel, blackthorn, hawthorn, even privet - think how the birds will
love you,even in London.
There are evergreen clematis - Clematis armandii which gets to 20 feet, the six foot
Clematis cartmanii and Clematis cirrhosa (creamy yellow bells and a gorgeous but
tender New Zealand evergreen Clematis forsterii, with nodding scented star shaped
flowers.
The drought is breaking in Sydney and in NSW generally. The hoyas on my terrace
are going mad in the humidity. Here is a curiosity orchid which I have in flower a
Gongora- in my case Gongora armenaica.
I have also planted a triangular bed full of flowering gingers. Here is a picture of a
white ginger (Hedychium coronarium), which is one of the ones I have. It has a
heady exotic scent.
Sorry - couldn't resist after the snow descriptions.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 25. February 2003, 22:03:
Sombreuil is lovely and smells delicious; not terribly thorny though.
If you planted blackthorn whips as Duo Seraphim suggested and then kept them
hedged (this involves bending, slashing, and weaving as they grow; there should be
an illustrated article on it somewhere) you would eventually produce an impenetrable
wall of spikes (fruitbearing too).
R. sericea dries quite well, Zephirine, but the little ferny leaves look pathetic when
dry. It's also almost impossible to avoid lacerating yourself on it when dried.
daisymay--I raise you another early iris, this one deep purple with narrow petals,
and a pot full of white species crocus with very dark blue-violet streaks on the
outsides. If I could count in other gardens I'd bid the garden at Stanbrook Abbey
seen today with the scent of early daphne wafting downwind and drifts of snowdrops,
crocuses, and a wide-petalled lavender iris I've never seen before.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 25. February 2003, 22:49:
I'll raise you on the thorny hedge front. Gooseberries!
I had a wonderful hedge of gooseberries. I hate the fruit, but was loved my a family
that made gooseberry wine.
I have decided to go ahead with the privet hedge plan. I shall be constructing a
'sheep' fence, but without the barbed wire at the top. I hope to plant the hedge-lets
this spring, and interplant with sweetpeas.
I am thinking about putting in clematis too. Will that inhibit the privit? Will there be
holes in the hedge during the winter?
bb
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 25. February 2003, 22:53:
There's not much that inhibits privet, bb.
Posted by Duo Seraphim (# 3251) on 25. February 2003, 22:57:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
I am thinking about putting in clematis too. Will that inhibit the
privit? Will there be holes in the hedge during the winter?
bb
Depends how rampant the clematis is I suspect. I often used to see wild clematis
"Old Man's Beard" in the hedgerows, co-existing happily with the other hedgerow
plants. If you are worried, there are the evergreen clematis I mentioned in my post
above.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 26. February 2003, 00:34:
Problem about privet is it takes up so much moisture that nothing else grows within
2 ft of it. That might make the clematis die of thirst. It would need to be planted
away from the hedge.
Amos, I reckon you might have won this hand. All I can offer is two red flowers on
the amaryllis, a dozen daffs in the centre garden, and almond blossom beginning to
bloom in the road near me.
And a family of snails under a pot.
Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on 26. February 2003, 01:49:
Privet!
You're planting privet?
In NZ privet is a noxious weed, to say nothing of the nasty hayfever inducing effects
it has. Sorry to rant in Heaven, but privet is one of my least favourite plants.
I'd do the roses myself, but then I love roses and have a funny mixture of herbs,
roses and NZ native trees around my garden. My roses are all flowering away madly.
I've just planted bulbs and cut down three trees. Summer is continuing in NZ, so I
hope the bulbs are getting enough cold.
Posted by multipara (# 2918) on 26. February 2003, 02:01:
Privet-horrors! Also regarded as an introduced pest in Oz.
I'm not sure about the origins of bougainvillea -whether introduced or not. Whatever,
I have come to like it (high priase from a non-gardener). I would guess it is a nonstarter in the British Isles but it is very much a goer here in Sydney and further
north. It might be OK in the north Island of NZ. Brilliant flowers (no scent) scarlet or
purple, very thorny and just climbs and climbs. Handy for keeping out burglars (bad
in our neck of the woods) and very low -maintenance. Ours just loves the long dry
spell we have had, and doean't seem to be suffering from the recent rain.
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 26. February 2003, 03:12:
Pansies all over, and camellia. Today I saw my first flowering fruit tree struggling
into bloom, and 12 redbud trees in full bloom. Not in my yard.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 26. February 2003, 12:19:
quote:
Originally posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom:
Privet!
You're planting privet?
Um, it is our standard hedging stuff.
When I was researching hedges I saw that in Oz they use Camellia as a hedge. That
sounds delightful, but for one thing. The thing little camellia I bought on Saturday
cost me £7. To plant a hedge of the stuff would cost me too much....
.
.
.
or would it?
The camellia was expected to to reach 1.5m (height) and 1.2m (spread) in 10 years.
I have 20m to do something with, and the end of the 20m comes in under the apple
tree.
It is a windy spot. The winds blew down the old fence (mind you it had rotting fence
posts).
What do you think?
bb
Posted by adso (# 2895) on 26. February 2003, 21:15:
Can I go back to the cat question for a moment? I want to start a new lawn (from
seed) in the next month but am worried that as soon as I've raked the earth and
sown the seeds, all the neighbourhood cats will come and start digging and/or
peeing on it. Please advise...
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 26. February 2003, 22:11:
i've had moderate success with laying pine branches over my seedbeds. i suppose
laying down any prickly barrier is a good cat deterrant, as long as it still allows the
sun to get at your seeds.
a watchful eye and a powerful supersoaker works well too. i chased away several
families of farm cats by bursting out the back door with a celtic holler and chasing
the rascals down with my son's mega-soaker. my boys got such a kick out of this
method of scaring the bejeepers out of the cats that they volunteered to help out
that whole summer. the cats steered clear of the house of crazy humans for all of
that growing season.
(the vole population increased mightily though...)
now we've a whole new scourge of feral cats and they will run but sneak when we're
not attending.
Posted by Duo Seraphim (# 3251) on 26. February 2003, 22:19:
quote:
Originally posted by multipara:
Privet-horrors! Also regarded as an introduced pest in Oz.
I'm not sure about the origins of bougainvillea -whether
introduced or not. Whatever, I have come to like it (high priase
from a non-gardener). I would guess it is a non-starter in the
British Isles but it is very much a goer here in Sydney and
further north. It might be OK in the north Island of NZ. Brilliant
flowers (no scent) scarlet or purple, very thorny and just
climbs and climbs. Handy for keeping out burglars (bad in our
neck of the woods) and very low -maintenance. Ours just loves
the long dry spell we have had, and doean't seem to be
suffering from the recent rain.
Privet grows well and is benign in the UK. But it certainly is a noxious weed in NSW.
English box is permitted.
Bougainvillea might make it in London in the right spot - microclimate and all that. In
the rest of the UK it is definitely a conservatory plant.
Posted by Duo Seraphim (# 3251) on 26. February 2003, 23:59:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Originally posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom:
Privet!
You're planting privet?
Um, it is our standard hedging stuff.
When I was researching hedges I saw that in Oz they use
Camellia as a hedge. That sounds delightful, but for one thing.
The thing little camellia I bought on Saturday cost me £7. To
plant a hedge of the stuff would cost me too much....
or would it?
The camellia was expected to to reach 1.5m (height) and 1.2m
(spread) in 10 years. I have 20m to do something with, and the
end of the 20m comes in under the apple tree.
It is a windy spot. The winds blew down the old fence (mind
you it had rotting fence posts).
What do you think?
bb
Camellia sasanqua is used in hedging in Australia. Camellias like quite acid loamy soil
and hate being planted deep. Soil surface level with soil level in the pot is ideal. They
don't like strong winds, but sasanquas seem to be more tolerant of exposed
situations and take full sun happily although will go into part shade. Basically they
are pest free and pretty much disease free.
The varieties used here are "Setsugekka" and "Star above Star" (white), "Plantation
Pink" and "Jean May" (pink), "Bonanza" and "Yuletide" (red).
Sounds a good choice.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 27. February 2003, 19:32:
OK, you've talked me out of Russian vine. Looking forward to planting some
alternatives, thanks for all the suggestions.
One more question: do your bulbs swap places or is it just mine?! I have a pot with
crocuses planted, I haven't touched them for several years, they just keep on
coming up. This year, though, I've noticed that rather than being a random
formation of yellows, purples and whites, all of the yellows have come out on one
side of the pot
I'm sure they never did before.
Posted by ken (# 2460) on 27. February 2003, 19:43:
quote:
Originally posted by Duo Seraphim:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
I am thinking about putting in clematis too. Will
that inhibit the privit? Will there be holes in the
hedge during the winter?
bb
Depends how rampant the clematis is I suspect. I often used to
see wild clematis "Old Man's Beard" in the hedgerows, coexisting happily with the other hedgerow plants. If you are
worried, there are the evergreen clematis I mentioned in my
post above.
Wild Clematis is a chalk-loving plant. There are places near Brighton where it all but
forms lianas. Not remotely evergreen though.
Probably less rampant in our less alkaline London soil.
Posted by ken (# 2460) on 27. February 2003, 19:46:
I'm not sure that there isn't an environmental influence on the colour of crocuses.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 27. February 2003, 19:55:
I'm no scientist, but I could understand an environmental link if they all came out
one colour in close proximity. But I've still got three different colours in the same pot
(and all three colours in the crocuses planted out in the garden too) - it's just that
the yellow ones in the pot have clustered together this year, but have never done
that before.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 28. February 2003, 09:39:
Cats just love nicely raked seed beds. So do birds. We reseeded parts of the garden
last year and used kiddies paper windmills stuck in the ground to scare off the birds.
We also hung free CDs on twine around the seeded area. The theory is that
movement scares off the birds and cats.
The super soaker idea works well with cats but you have to be careful that they don't
associate the supersoaker with humans. You have to be very quiet and stalk the kitty
so that it end up associating sitting down for a poo on your grass with a powerful
stream of water up it's nether regions. If they work out that people are responsible
they will just wait for you to go out and poo on regard less.
I have to purchase a new improved supersoaker as my old male cat died recently
and we have a cat turf war going on in our veggie patch in a 'my turd is bigger thatn
your turd' kind of way. My girlie cats are usless at keeping the invaders at bay.
Posted by Huia (# 3473) on 28. February 2003, 10:02:
quote:
Originally posted by Duo Seraphim :Depends how rampant the
clematis is I suspect. I often used to see wild clematis "Old Man's
Beard" in the hedgerows, co-existing happily with the other hedgerow
plants. If you are worried, there are the evergreen clematis I
mentioned in my post above.
Here in NZ "Old Man's Beard" is also a noxious weed as it strangles native plants. My
brother, an ex-council worker says he spent most of his time trying to get rid of it
from riverbanks. For a leaving present his workmates gave him a stick of it that was
about 2 1/2 inches thick.
Huia - enjoying the roses.
Posted by Benedictus (# 1215) on 05. March 2003, 14:18:
Crocus and daffodils blooming, and Japanese magnolia coming out all over town.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 06. March 2003, 13:45:
So much blooming now that I throw my hand in, daisymay: the dark purple iris have
followed the blue, there are crocus all over the place--I have three different colours
of my favourite species ones, but well-established people have many more. Oxford's
a great place for crocus this week--there's a house at the Jericho end of Leckford
Road with a yard full (they also have great hollyhocks later in the year). Everyone's
first daffs were out for St. David's day--mine were a strange pompom-like variety
called 'Rip Van Winkle' which has sentimental associations for me. There are
snowdrops--short, tall, and double, and I appear to have some dark blue anemone
blanda, planted by a previous tenant. The mahonia aquifolium is blooming all over
the place, smelling like lilies-of-the-valley. The winter-blooming cherries are
blooming, as are the first forsythia. And the blackthorn. One of the best reasons to
drive around Redditch is to see the blackthorn blooming on the margins of the ringroad; particularly in the early morning; it looks fantastic. There are promising buds
on the clematis and the newly planted roses (am restraining myself from taking an
hour off and buying another) and the katsura tree. There are tiny leaves on the lilac
microphylla (well, they would be, wouldn't they). I've killed my first greenfly
and
seen my first ladybug, and, to the amused consternation of my offspring, stopped
the car to assist a couple of frogs who were too busy copulating to look both ways.
Here's a new question: when do people start planting seeds in this part of the world?
I'm talking about things like nasturtiums and sunflowers and portulaca, not
columbine and poppies which can take a little cold. What about the summer bulbs-dahlia and Marvel of Peru and such-like? Is anyone planting the Bishop of Llandaff
this year?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 06. March 2003, 13:51:
i've got a foot of rock-hard grey snow with more of the more fluffy variety to come.
bleah.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 06. March 2003, 16:15:
I plant Bishop of Llandaff every year. It's one of my favourite dahlias. This year I'm
giving the veggie plot a rest and growing cut flowers instead so I will be able to
indulge in some lovely bright colours. I'll start the dahlias off in pots in the garage at
the end of the month and they should be ready to plant out in May.
At the moment I'm awash with geraniums. Everything got very leggy over the winter
and although I've cut them back now I can't bear to throw away the trimmings.
Does anyone know how to propagate regal pelagoniums? I've tried just sticking them
in water and I've tried taking cuttings properly with hormone rooting compound and
putting 5 cuttings in a pot but they just shrivel up and die. Do they need bottom
heat or some strange compost. Normally I have very green fingers but these have
got me beat!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 06. March 2003, 16:38:
regals ARE hard to propagate. it may be the hairy stem. i have problems prop.ing
rose and peppermint geraniums as well and they have hairy stems. who knows...
`shrug.
a couple of hints that may help - place the cuttings in brown or amber glass or an
opaque container. the sunlight seems to slow the rooting process. stick a willow twig
in the water with the cutting. willows add a rooting hormone to the water and seem
to reduce bacterial yuk that sometimes forms on the cuttings.
i have a velvety deep ruby-red regal that has overwintered in a sunny southern
window along with a white begonia that rowan potted for me in cub scouts & a
sequoia seedling i got as a Christmas present from my nutty spinster aunties.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 06. March 2003, 19:14:
Before I head out to the Lent class, I shall just say that I bought three roses today-Boule de Neige, Eglantyne, and (more sentimental associations), Peace. Also some
decent little divisions of red valerian, coreopsis--the bright yellow ones with the redbrown eye--phlox, papaver orientalis (a purple one) and a pasch flower. Also a large
pot. Chocolate I can give up. GIN too. Gardening, alas no.
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 06. March 2003, 19:28:
Re: keeping cats off of newly raked and planted seed beds, how about one of these?
[Link Fixed]
[ 06. March 2003, 20:25: Message edited by: Stoo ]
Posted by marmot (# 479) on 06. March 2003, 19:32:
Ummmm... Try this.
Sorry about that.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 06. March 2003, 22:33:
Amos,
I concede.
I have repotted my Lavinia, done some anti-blackspotting; will let you know what
works.
And a friend has just given me a little pot of "windflowers" - wood anemones is what
they seem to be. They are so beautiful and dainty that my heart wobbles when I look
at them. They have a label saying "blanda".
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 06. March 2003, 22:52:
Thank you for your suggestions Zephirine.
In the past I've managed to propagate the rosebud type geraniums but now that I
know that they are difficult I will never get another one to root!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 07. March 2003, 01:45:
oops - i meant the rose scented geranium.
i'm a fragrance freak and grow several varieties of scented geranium. i bake with the
rose scented ones.
Posted by Arabella Purity Winterbottom (# 3434) on 07. March 2003, 01:54:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
i'm a fragrance freak and grow several varieties of scented
geranium. i bake with the rose scented ones.
What do you bake with them? I have several Attar of Rose geraniums in my garden wonderful smell. I did a big weed a couple of weeks ago, and I could smell them
from metres away.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 07. March 2003, 02:05:
oh ! several ways
i lay the leaves under sponge cake batter, or shred the leaves finely & add to
cookies, muffins and pound cake. the younger leaves have a better scent, in my
opinion.
if you don't like the leaves in your food, you can tuck a few leaves into a jar of sugar
and use it (sans vegetation) and add to your baked goods.
i like to fill a small linen bag full of rose geranium leaves and a bit of clove oil and lay
it among my clothes. also makes a nice sweet bag to tuck under a pillow in the dead
of winter.
if you run the words 'rose scented geranium recipes' through a search engine, you'll
come up with a bevy of goodies.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 07. March 2003, 12:34:
I love anemone blanda, daisymay, not less because it reminds me of a young woman
I buried (sorry if that makes me sound like a serial killer). It's a cold rainy miserable
day, and I wonder if it's worth going out and planting, or if I should just stay over
lunch and work on sermons and things: a compromise might be to start some
nasturtium seeds in the kitchen. They're intended to cascade over the front wall
along with the red valerian.
I take this opportunity to recommend the dark red potentillas; potentilla thurberi
'Monarch's Velvet' is the one I have. They are great in tubs with old roses, great also
tangling up with species geraniums and white violas. And, incidentally, what a joy to
live in a country where geranium praetense grows wild! I once paid five bucks for a
pot of it in Boston, when I was homesick for England.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 09. March 2003, 14:44:
On a quick trip from the kitchen door to the compost bin this lunchtime, I saw four
ladybirds - most welcome visitors. Crocuses are out, daffs just starting to open out,
forsythia (affectionately known as 'Brucie', UK shipmates will know why) is budding,
new leaves on the honeysuckles and clematis "Nelly Moser", bluebells starting to
emerge, and vibernum also now starting to flower! I need to sort my landscaping
out, so that I can show them all off at their best!
A question for the veg growers: last year I planted out lots of onions (don't know the
varieties, just one normal lot of onions and one lot of red onions), which due to
pressures of studying etc last year I never had the time to ever dig up. I just
assumed they'd rotted away, but they've now reappeared. Are they likely to be
edible, given that they've been stuck in the ground all winter? Also when is the best
time to dig them up? My friend thought it's when the leaves stop standing up and fall
over onto the ground, but she wasn't sure.
Posted by Regina Shoe (# 4076) on 10. March 2003, 03:41:
Hi, folks;
Yay! Finally another mention of veggies
I do know that your friend is right -- you harvest the onions when the tops turn
brown and fall over.
I suspect that the onions will still be good. Cut one open and check it out carefully,
but we just today tilled our garden and found several perfectly good carrots that we
didn't know were there. Frankly, the way I preserved the onions I harvested last fall
was to clean and peel them a bit, cut them into chunks, chop them with a food
processor and simply freeze them in ziploc bags. They've been wonderful. So I
should think that the winter in the ground wouldn't have hurt them too much.
Probably the most you'll have to do is peel off some of the outer layers if they got
frozen and thawed a lot.
FYI, I believe that what you are supposed to do when they are ready to harvest is
dislodge them thoroughly but leave them covered loosely with soil for a day or two. I
forget why. But I get the impression that soil is not a bad storage medium for
onions.
We tilled our garden today, and are excited about starting to plant soon. Especially
my 4-year-old daughter, who has her very own patch of ground for the first time this
year to plant what she wants. She picked pansies to plant now, and deep red
sunflowers to plant later. Since yesterday, she was bugging her daddy constantly to
till the garden so she could plant; yesterday as they were running errands late in the
afternoon, she said: "Sun, don't go down! ... It's OK, Daddy, I told the sun not to go
down, so you'll have time to do the garden when we get home." He interrupted his
tilling this afternoon to come get me to remove the carrots that were turning up; as
soon as she heard the rototiller turn off, our daughter was jumping up and down,
saying "Time to plant! Let's get the seeds!" So the gardening bug runs in families, I
guess.
Posted by Belisarius (# 32) on 24. March 2003, 14:42:
[Originally posted by Anna B--"Spring Gardening"]
I've got tulips, muscarii, and daffodils poking up. Peach and plum tree buds are
swelling.
How about everyone else?
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 24. March 2003, 16:03:
Willow is coming out, as is blackthorn hedging. Blossom all over the place and
magnolia too. I can almost hear sap rising!
My garden pond is full of frogs and newts lovin' it up as well. I am delighted with
this, as I live in north London suburbia.
Now...
Advice please!
1: Is there anything I can do to get my pond water a slightly less violent shade of
algal green?
2: Has anyone else tried one of those mini Plastic greenhouses and if so do they
work?
3: Can someone suggest a few interesting plants for toddler gardeners?
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 24. March 2003, 17:08:
James, I have a mini plastic greenhouse and it is of limited use. It doesn't retain
heat well at night and it is so lightweight that the smallest breeze has it flying off
down the garden. I have to weight it down with bricks.
However, it is really useful for the very early summer when I'm hardening off my
fuchsias, pelegoniums and other half hardy plants. I use it during the summer for
mini veg such as peppers, aubergines and tomatos as they need all the heat they
can get.
As I don't have a pond I can't advise on the green soup problem. I was always
taught that half a bale of barley straw would clear a pond but I haven't tried it
myself.
When you say plants for a toddler gardener do you mean a new gardener or a new
small person who might want to play in the soil? Children need instant results.
Sunflowers are good. One of my children is into minature pelegoniums. They came
as plug plants and he has a wonderful display on his windowsill. He has practised
propagation of his plants and learnt that they die if they are not watered.
Gardening is a wonderful preparation for life!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 24. March 2003, 20:58:
Sunflowers are good and satisfying for small children to grow, especially the 12 foot
Giant Russian ones. You can then save seeds for next year's crop, roast and eat
them, or leave them out for the birds. Another very satisfactory toddler thing in the
garden is a Bean-Pole Wigwam. You make the shape out of bamboo poles, being
sure to leave a door, then get your Scarlet runners started and trained up the poles.
The small child will watch the progress and eventually can hide inside. In the US
pumpkins are a great children's crop, as are watermelons, and if you're clever and
careful you can grow one with your initials on it. In north London you won't get
enough really hot weather for such things. But you can grow various veggies which
can be eaten raw, which I remember doing with great pleasure when I was very
small. Peas. Carrots. Radishes. Lettuce even. Those tiny, grape-sized cherry
tomatoes. If you have a pear tree in your garden you can do the trick of persuading
a pear to grow inside a bottle (later you can add brandy). Nasturtiums are pretty,
easy to grow, and (as it so happens) edible. So are marigolds. Little children like
growing things from seed; they also like having their own trees.
And if you have amphibians in your garden, that's a bonus: when my offspring was
about 2 she established a Sanctuary for Worms (called 'The Wormer Castery').
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 24. March 2003, 21:17:
Delightful, Amos!!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 24. March 2003, 21:22:
Hi Anna! I was hoping you might appear on this thread (which after all you founded)
so that I could ask after your garden and Baby B.
Three months until I can start hearing confessions
!
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 25. March 2003, 14:33:
Baby B is doing very well, and shows all the signs of being an excellent gardening
companion. When taken on walks, he lifts his little nose appreciatively as he
encounters the fresh spring breeze. He also enjoys eating things that he finds on the
ground.
The garden is doing well, too, only---there aren't enough bulbs!! When will I get my
act together? We could use hundreds more.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 25. March 2003, 17:12:
a day of firsts:
*~first opened crocuses (watching for first honeybees)
*~first bouquet picked - newly emerged pussywillows!
*~first frog sighting
*~first rose-bite.
i've had shallower immunizations. #@*%! OW!!!!
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 26. March 2003, 05:11:
Alas, not a bloom in sight here! So I'll have to dream of gardens.
This rookie gardener would appreciate any ideas for what to plant in the following
space. There is a strip of dirt about 3 feet deep and 36 feet long which runs
alongside of our coachhouse, separating the coachhouse from the alley. It has a
southern exposure and gets plenty of direct sun for several hours. About 6 feet of
this length is taken up with our trash cans (lovely, I know). My criteria for what to
plant in the remaining 3 x 30' space would be: provide some interesting color
contrast against the huge expanse of coachhouse wall, which is khaki green; be
hardy -- it's not going to get a lot of water; be virtually maintenance-free; and be
not too horribly expensive (it's on the alley and not even visible from the house).
Most of the houses in our neighborhood have similar configurations and almost
everyone plants those orange daylilies. Not an option for me because my husband
hates them (sorry, daylily fans.)
Here is what I have considered so far, none of it particularly original. My first choice
was tall prairie grasses because they would be hardy, would provide winter interest,
and would be taller than the trash cans. Husband is concerned that the grasses
would attract mice which would then get into the coach house. Anyone have
experience on this?
I've also considered putting in a row of potentilla, because I love them and have no
room for them in the rest of my yard. But they're kinda short. I've thought up
putting up a trellis and running some clematis, which I also love and don't have
enough sun for in the rest of the yard -- but don't know what I'd do with the ground.
The space is 3 feet deep and might look naked.
Help! I'm no good at design. Any ideas??
Much appreciation for any thoughts.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 26. March 2003, 06:38:
Clematis will need a fair bit of water there, Mamacita. You seem to be thinking about
e-z care perennial things. One thing I've seen in places like this that looks great is a
spectacular crop of annuals: nasturtiums (which come in climbing and non-climbing
forms, and in various colours and mixtures--you see I have them on the brain right
now), tall zinnias, cosmos, and Heavenly Blue morning glories on strings or a trellis.
These would take a bit of care when you started them, but once they took off are
very happy in a sunny spot without fussing. When winter comes and they die down,
just clear the space (no mouse problem!) for the winter.
Alternately, you could go the Martha route and plant three espaliered fruit trees:
plums maybe. These will require training, but will look lovely (and very chic).
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 26. March 2003, 06:42:
If economy is a factor, go for the annuals. You can grow the lot from seed for about
1.49 per packet.
Posted by Byzantia (# 3586) on 26. March 2003, 06:54:
quote:
Originally posted by Qestia:
[QB]
Umm...one more thing, once I've got the nests down, what should I do
with them? [QB]
Wasp nests..... I have seen some exquisite art made with these fragile things! Give
them to an artist who can use them! Or to a school....
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 27. March 2003, 12:09:
Mamacita, just a few design thoughts.
If the space is quite small then try to limit your colours or the type of plant you are
using. In such a narrow space it is easy to get a look that is more 'dogs breakfast'
than 'design ideal.'
If it were my space I'd go for the grasses which are going to look really good against
the green wall and get a cat.
You could do a herb border. Lots of lovely smelly plants, different heights and habits
but all green.
The other one would be a tender perennial/annual border but limit the colours to
pastels or brights. My personal favourites are penstemmons and salvias. They make
cuttings very easily and some varieties can be grown from seed.
Remember to add in some structure. Any border needs it's full stops and commas.
Nice upright evergreens do the job. Buxus microphyilla and the small yews are what
I use. Spikey phormiums or cordylines are another way of doing the same job.
Alternatively use pots or sculpture or driftwood. You are just trying to create a bit of
contrast and stop the eye drifting along an bed.
Hope that makes sense. Kids are vomiting everywhere and I am escaping into a
virtual garden.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 27. March 2003, 12:53:
More little flowers happily doing their thing; those little onion thingies ?alia? are
being sweet and blue across the road in the council's strip where I planted them
My Dutch sister-in-law brought the bulbs over one year and they have continued to
flourish (and obviously multiply) everywhere, some in my pots under the bigger
plants and some where I've emigrated them.
They are so pretty!
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 27. March 2003, 14:39:
Thanks very much for your suggestions, Poppy and Amos. There will be Sunflowers
and possibly a bean wigwam chez nous this summer. I will try one of those
greenhouses next year maybe.
On a different note, birdbox I nailed up last year in the garden, is being fitted out by
a pair of Bluetits at the moment. I'm so pleased!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 27. March 2003, 19:05:
I'm off work with a nasty windpipe infection so, now that I feel a little better (can't
speak though
so can't go to work) I got a member of the family and girl-friend to
put up a solid wooden trellis on top of the yard wall. My scented jasmine was taking
over the whole place and getting into the neighbour's yard - remember, London back
yards are room sized.
I spent an hour disentangling it and threading it and tying it up the trellis. It's
covered with small bunches of buds and so I hope it won't be angry at me and sulk.
It's amazing how heavy and how mauch space it was taking up. Now it's got at least
15 ft to climb.
Down underneath I found a little yellow "Little Miss Chatterbox" soft toy, which gave
me a real fright when I was sweeping up; it started chattering, and it's obviously
been there for at least a year, thrown over by next door's toddler.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 27. March 2003, 22:22:
Is that allium caeruleum, daisymay? I grew it once in a previous garden and loved it:
ping-pong-ball-sized sky-blue pompoms on wiry stems. I took three quarters of an
hour between the christening visits and the wedding rehearsal and watered all my
tubs and urns in front of the house (somebody's nicked the rose off the watering can
) and planted a lathyrus (pink), a bleeding-heart (white), two monarda (the one
called 'Aquarius') and 'Peace'. When I finally get around to getting the grass cut, I
will have to go round and pick up all the bones and dog-toys lying around on the
lawn. The plum tree is about to bloom, and there are little leaves the colour of milk
chocolate on the katsura tree.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 27. March 2003, 22:56:
Amos,
It's alium, but a different variety obviously. The flowers are little and like stars, no
pom-poms. I think they come in pink or white too.
Apparently in Holland, they grow and spread like wild hyacinths.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 28. March 2003, 21:59:
If you find out what it is, please let me know.
My nasturtiums are up today, or at least the dark red ones are--they always have
bluer leaves and seem to germinate first. The sunflowers will be up tomorrow by the
look of it. However the roses I planted last winter are dawdling. Should I have been
more sparing with the muck?
Have had to take several trips down the back roads south of here. Until now I'd
thought wild primroses and daffodils were a thing of the past, but they're all over;
there are patches of cowslips too. One wooded hillside was covered with white woodanemones, and it looks as if this should be a good year for bluebells. Don't get me
started on the suicidal pheasants, though.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 28. March 2003, 22:25:
My two Rosa eglanteria plants arrived in the mail today---in lovely condition. Hope
they do well here.
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 29. March 2003, 06:00:
Thanks, Poppy and Amos, for the suggestions, and Poppy, hope the kids are feeling
better.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 29. March 2003, 09:02:
My grass got its first 'short back and sides' of the season. I also edged it, and have
started clearing the weeds growing between the paving. I even did some hoeing, and
painted the rust covered washing poles!
My garden is looking rather lovely! Still need to get the fence up and hedge planted
though, but that is our 'April' job.
There is an apple tree (from next door's jungle) that is interfering with the washing
line. It is a very well established tree, and has been neglected for years. Have I left it
too late to chop it?
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 29. March 2003, 15:51:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
My two Rosa eglanteria plants arrived in the mail today---in
lovely condition. Hope they do well here.
'ware - sleeping beauty's castle was wreathed in rosa eglanteria!
they ARE lovely roses - mine is soft pink single-flowers that turn to carmine bottleshaped hips in the fall. he's taken over the west-facing side of the pergola, all
tangled with alberic barbier (who hasn't weathered the winter very well at all
)
and the apple scented leaves are heavenly!!!
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 29. March 2003, 15:57:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
Amos,
It's alium, but a different variety obviously. The flowers are
little and like stars, no pom-poms. I think they come in pink or
white too.
Apparently in Holland, they grow and spread like wild
hyacinths.
is this what you're describing?
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 29. March 2003, 18:25:
I think next year for lent I'm going to have to give up going to the garden centre.
However, this year I've not been so disciplined, and spent far too much money today
Have just spent a lovely afternoon planting it all out - clematis pixie (dwarf
evergreen to climb up the bald bit of one of my honeysuckles), various small
perennials to fill various gaps, rosemary, sage and a couple of varieties of thyme and
... my piece de resistance ... a dwarf magnolia (stellata). Apart from the magnolia
which I'd planned to buy, I went with good intentions of looking for evergreen
climbers (see previous posts), but you know how it is, everything just looked so
lovely, it kind of leapt into the trolley
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 29. March 2003, 20:04:
zepherine,
it looks a bit like mine. It may well be the one... I've searched the web and have not
found an exact match...
Mine has single flowers on the stems, is about 8"-!0" high. The flowers are
blue/lilac/lavender coloured. Each flower has six petals, three on top of three, so that
it looks as if it's got six petals all on the same level. They don't tend to hang down,
but look up brightly towards the sun.
The leaves are exactly right.
Jack TL,
Just enjoy! It's an investment.
Taday one of my neighbours invited me into her yard; her next neighbour turfed out
a little jasmine pot and it's grown from her yard over the wall (15-20') and spread all
around her yard so she's got it surrounding her flat, doors, windows, and creeping
over to her next neighbour. It's started flowering on the south wall. Amazing.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 29. March 2003, 20:22:
try allium central. maybe it's there. (mmm.. lots of interesting stuf here... making a
new wish-list)
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 30. March 2003, 16:53:
Mmm...thanks, zephirine. I'll be keeping my eyes open (no doubt in vain) for allium
narcissiflora. Jack, I've just done it too. Went out for a little pot of something and
came back with the back of the car swaying down towards the tarmac under the
weight of potting soil, gravel, a terracotta pot, a 'Black Knight' bearded iris, and a
dwarf bearded iris, which is supposed to be a coppery pink, and three pasque flowers
to plant in that pot in a very gravelly mixture.
By the way, does any of the gardeners on this thread know of a source in the UK for
'Superthrive'? A friend in the US gave me three little bottles of it when I moved here,
and they're nearly used up.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 30. March 2003, 17:24:
nice site, zepherine. My little one still doesn't seem pictured.
Fresia bulbs have suddenly sprouted and have loads of green buds. Clematis seem to
be growing about a foot every night!
magnolia has still not flowered this year. Apparently, some take 20 years..
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 03. April 2003, 17:24:
I am
with my new roses---the apple-green scent of the leaves is like nothing
I've ever smelled before! Who's been sitting on this secret?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 03. April 2003, 18:13:
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
I am
with my new roses---the apple-green scent of the
leaves is like nothing I've ever smelled before! Who's been
sitting on this secret?
not me! i've been blabbing it whenever sweet briars are mentioned.
wait til it rains! after it stops, be sure to run out and put a dry chair nearby so you
can revel in the fragrance.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 10. April 2003, 15:37:
quote:
not me! i've been blabbing it whenever sweet briars are
mentioned.
wait til it rains! after it stops, be sure to run out and put a dry
chair nearby so you can revel in the fragrance.
That sounds lovely, zepherine---I could have apple-scented tea parties!
The roses got snowed upon several days ago
---thank goodness it's all melted off.
I can hear cardinals chirping in the back yard---"Whee whee whee churr, churr,
churr." Species tulips are set to bloom and daffodil mix is beginning to do so.
Hyacinths are just poking their heads up.
[fixed quote]
[ 10. April 2003, 20:06: Message edited by: Stoo ]
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 11. April 2003, 17:34:
Whee! I have a front garden full of different kinds of narcissus, muscari, and pink
tulips. The katsura tree has little leaves; there are fat purple buds on the clematis
alpina, and the roses are showing signs of life (and of greenfly). The magnolias in my
neighbourhood were at their prime last week, but something new is blooming all the
time.
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 11. April 2003, 17:55:
Amos, I adore pink tulips! WFF has a pink tulip mixture which I am going to have to
indulge in one of these years. Do you treat them as annuals? The tulips I planted two
years ago---not the species ones, the hybrids---are looking pretty shabby this year.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 11. April 2003, 20:07:
When I lived in New England (now I live in Olde Englande) I learned to plant tulips
deep to make them more perennial. Like ten inches deep. When I plant bulbs in
layers, the tulips go on the bottom. Some kinds are more perennial than others too.
I planted a whole lot of the lily-flowering ones about twelve years ago, and some
came up for ten years. Somebody down the street from us planted up their front
yard with every different pink tulip you can think of, along with shades of magenta
and purple, a few cherry-coloured ones, and the lovely Queen of the Night. It looked
so great that I've been stealing the idea ever since. Since I came to England, I've
not yet been in the same house for more than one spring, so can't say whether the
tulips here act as annuals or not. Personally, I'd find it hard to chuck a bulb that had
another season's worth of bloom in it. I always wanted to try the WWF mixtures. If
you do, let us know what it's like.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 12. April 2003, 11:13:
In a shameless attempt to make sure this thread isn't culled, may I report that my
new magnolia, which I only bought and planted a couple of weeks ago, is budding
already! Tulips are about to open, davidii (I think that's what they're called) are
out, and looking lovely with the yellow against a carpet of forget-me-nots, which I
know are common as muck but I can't get enough of. Spiraia is also in full bloom,
and I'm spotting buds on all sorts of things!
My beans I planted the other weekend haven't started sprouting yet, I'm watching
with interest as it's the first thing I've ever planted in my own home-made compost
(I'm so excited about that, it was beautiful stuff, much nicer than bought compost,
and so much more satisfying!). And the onions show no sign of falling over yet so
I've not been able to harvest them, but I'm looking forward to a homegrown crop
before too long.
And a quick herb question: I bought a couple of variegated thymes the other week,
and one of them which is a lovely green and yellow combo has a shoot of just green.
I'm not sure if this is my imagination or if I was really told this, but if I leave it will
the green eventually take over? Or if I pinch out the green shoot will it grow back
variegated? I hope so!
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 12. April 2003, 15:18:
I too have made a plea on the Board Cull thread for this thread to be kept.
Don't laugh because I don't have dramatic landscaping and gardening triumphs to
report. I live in North Carolina which has had the wackiest detrimental weather since
last June: Harsh drought til November, then ice storms, severe intractible cold and
floods. Today I have a foot of water in my yard and still need to pick up fallen pine
branches from the ton of rain earlier this week.
But I'm happy to report that some of the Fescue I planted last year which croaked in
the drought has come up this spring. It's so cool to drive up in the evenings and see
green grass in my yard instead of sand!
Last year I attempted to plant a variety of climbers to cover up an unsightly fence in
my back yard. The roses didn't take and I finally yanked them up and planted
honeysuckle.
It lives and is blooming!
If we survive the cut, see y'all soon.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 12. April 2003, 16:12:
Bessie, one of my favourite nurseries (it's closed now, alas) was Holbrook Farm
Nursery, up in the mountains of North Carolina. The man who owned it--Alan
Something or Other--had an impeccable eye for plants, spotting things in the yards
of old farmhouses or along highways, and encouraging the planting of all kinds of
interesting native species. The catalogue was well written and quirky, and the plants,
most of which were field-grown, were big and healthy and came beautifully packed in
newspaper. There are an awful lot of plants up in Boston now that originally hailed
(pardon the pun) from North Carolina. Now I understand why they were so hardy!
(Perhaps the very best of them was the lonicera sempervirens--the Mount Vernon
honeysuckle-- that I planted to grow over the iron railings by the back door. It
blooms now from May until December).
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 12. April 2003, 20:17:
about an hour ago, i was trimming out all the dead stuff out of the garden with my
groovy felcos and cut off my ffingertip. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! it
hurts SO BAD!!!
i cleaned all the dirt and splashed on half a bottle of peroxide. been thru 3 bandaids.
half a tube of neosporin and a good bunch of paper towels. the bleeding's stopped
but ~moooan~ it freakin HURTS!!!
please keep my poor finger in your prayers. snffff weep
i'm wearin gloves from now on!!!!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 12. April 2003, 20:37:
O zepherine!
I've got much minor injuries. I have a plant full of spikes which was given to my
daughter years ago as an indoor plant, 8" tall. It looks like bamboo but goes curly
and is now about 10' high, spreading all over the back yard. It was horrendously potbound and it has taken me over a week to edge and grub it out to repot. It attacks
me all over, thorns grabbing my hair, clothes, hanging on to all the other plants near
it..
Anyway, it's in a bigger spun aluminium tub now and I'll see if it survives. I
had to spend at least half an hour trying to untangle the roots.
Scipia japonica (?) flowering pinkly and dropping yellow pollen liberally. Clematis are
growing at least 6" nightly, and look healthy. Roses still showing no sign of black
spot. Chestnut tree thriving in its pot, with buds opening to green hands.
Cherry blossom, pink and white, out all over Regent's Park.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 12. April 2003, 21:48:
Oh.my.God. zephirine, that is horrible. And I feel your pain because I've done
precisely the same thing, also with my beloved Felco secateurs while thinning out my
r.alba 'Celestial'. This happened about four years ago. Top of the left ring finger. I
was in shock. It looked perfectly disgusting too, and of course I couldn't drive, so I
wrapped up my hand in a teatowel and a friend took me in to the A&E (ER in the
US). And there I discovered that when you cut off the flesh at the top of your finger,
they can't stitch it. So I had to have a series of dressings and wear a rubber glove
for several weeks. Meanwhile my daughter found the amputated bit in the garden
and was.completely.disgusted. If you've not had a tetanus shot, recently, please
have one, and watch out for inflammation. Don't hesitate to get proper medical
advice. I'm still not wedded to the use of gloves, even now, but never, never do I
hold with one hand and cut with the other.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 12. April 2003, 22:52:
zephirine, my sympathies.
I worked at a cheese shop once and had several nasty hacks to my fingers with
various cheese knives. All the nerve endings we have in our fingers makes these
injuries very painful.
Please take care and I agree - seek medical advice to get it properly dressed and
protected.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 13. April 2003, 08:04:
Oooh, please can we get back to plants. All this 'red' talk is disturbing my breakfast.
My sympathies to you, zephirine.
My garden is looking just lovely now. When we moved into this house we
concentrated on the house, and it was only last year that we started making any real
inroads into the garden.
Tha garden is currently looking better than it did at the end of last growing season.
We have plans for a new patio, and laying some new bits of grass, and extending the
gravel garden.
Any tips on extending the grass? The grass is currently a rectangle, and I would like
to make it a bit more 'organic' in shape. Any suggestions?
bb
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 22. April 2003, 07:19:
Ah, but my red parrot tulips are blooming now, BB, as well as the red ones with the
fringed edges; a beautiful pure red. Yesterday evening I planted out the first of my
seedlings--nasturtium and sunflowers.
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 22. April 2003, 15:02:
I haven't checked this thread for a few weeks and -- goodness, zepherine, I hope
your finger is better! Ouch!!!
Actually, I came with a question, as my annual mystery-in-the-garden has popped
up this past week. And I think I have found the solution:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
Amos,
It's alium, but a different variety obviously. The
flowers are little and like stars, no pom-poms. I
think they come in pink or white too.
Apparently in Holland, they grow and spread like
wild hyacinths.
is this what you're describing?
I think that's it! Every spring they pop up in my (and neighboring) gardens and they
spread like crazy. Mine appear in clusters of about 5 or 6 flowers, which are
periwinkle blue and definitely star-shaped. The petals have a deeper blue "stripe"
down the middle and then are variegated periwinkle-to-white in color. The leaves are
shiny green, pointed, and range 5-7" long. And if you pull them out, the bottom part
does look like they're related to onion! So, I think the allium in the link zepherine
posted may be the answer to my question. Thank you, thank you! I've been
wondering what these were for the 7 years we've lived in this house.
Not much other garden action yet (it will be chilly here through May)but my forsythia
is in full bloom and makes me smile when I look out the kitchen windows.
I am learning so much from you devoted gardeners
; thanks for letting me lurk
here and enjoy your conversations.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 22. April 2003, 16:52:
I have been having problems with Grape Hyacinth. They are pretty little things, but
spread all over the place!
I have found that the only was to deal with them in shove a hand fork under them,
to loosen the soil, and then to pull them up via the leaves. I now only have little
manageable clusters of them.
bb
Posted by Oriel (# 748) on 22. April 2003, 18:11:
Tulips are out and beautiful. We got a mixed bag and planted them last year, so we
had no idea what they were going to turn out like. Many lovely deep purple ones,
lots of low pink ones with petals like roses, and some tall yellow ones streaked with
red. There are some pale pink and yellow double ones coming too. Lovely.
Seedlings are coming along, aubretia, snapdragons, camomile, and delphiniums for
flowers, and cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli, and broad beans for veg. Still to
sow: courgettes, runner beans.
I went on Easter Sunday with family to a nearby country park, which had a garden
centre. I spotted a lovely purple flower which sister-in-law told me was a paschal
flower, well, I thought, it is Easter... She even bought it for me because I was feeling
poor.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 22. April 2003, 19:47:
Mamcita,
they're wonderful these aliums aren't they? I've planted some across the road in the
council garden and they are flourishing beautifully.
Tulips, red and yellow, blossoming in the garden where I work, and lilac blossom,
purple, for the first time in five years on the litle tree in the corner.
Mock orange blossom sweetly filling the yard with scent, particularly at night.
Frescias blooming reddy orange.
Now, advice needed: I have this great tall windey spikey plant - I don't know its
name - any ideas? I'm thinking of winding it round itself and trying to contain it - it
has gone over the wall and been bounced back by my neighbour who obviously
doesn't like it. It is quite vicious.
zepherine, how is your hand? I've been thinking of you whenever my thumb bursts
open and starts bleeding and I realise yours is much worse. I was quite embarrassed
that it happened at a course I was on which had loads of us trained against catching
or spreading HIV
Posted by Christine (# 330) on 23. April 2003, 06:32:
I haven't posted on this thread for ages. It's always rather odd to be out of sync with
everyone else - being in the southern hemisphere and all - but my problem at the
moment is that I'm NOT (out of sync, that is). We've had a dreadful drought, no real
rain for months, then in Feb had some, at which everything sprouted. And the BULBS
came up. So now I have daffodils, spraxis etc peeping up (no flowers yet)- in the
Autumn. And the frosts are just about to start. The assistant in the gardening shop
reckons the bulbs will just go into suspended animation with their shoots up, then
flower at the right time (ie September). But it is VERY odd.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 23. April 2003, 08:29:
quote:
Originally posted by Christine:
So now I have daffodils, spraxis etc peeping up (no flowers
yet)- in the Autumn. And the frosts are just about to start.
That happened to me last year. The bulbs shoots started showing in November (even
the roses were still in bloom!). I thought that we would loose the bulbs, but as the
lady in the garden centre said, they seemed to go into suspended animation, and
started re-growing in the spring. The only thing was that we didn't get many flowers
at all! Quite a few leaves, but few flowers.
I am currently lifting the bulbs and drying them for storage. I am clearing out the
border where they are in prep. for either a new fence, or laying a hedge. Come
November I shall be planting the old bulbs, and new ones too.
bb
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 23. April 2003, 08:44:
Daisymay, can you give us a clue about the spikey plant. What sort of flowers does it
have, when does it flower and what do the leaves look like?
I have terrible trouble with my neighbour's roses and his vinca minor. Both prefer
my garden to his and the vinca has glossy leaves so it is difficult to get glyphoshate
to work on it.
My tulips are looking wonderful, the primroses have been beautiful this year and the
whole garden is all fresh and new and waiting for the roses to come out. Bliss.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 23. April 2003, 11:12:
Poppy,
It doesn't flower at all. It has delicate little leaves the shape of a thin cat's tongue,
which grow in twos, threes, fours or more from the stem. When there are smaller
branches (more like twigs, but they do grow) from the main stems, they appear to
have no particular pattern, ie not alternate or opposing.
It started as a tiny bush in a pot, with loads of stems, which it still produces, in other
words it grows up and makes more stems from the base.
It has tiny thorns on the little twigs but they are huge on the older stems.
The leaves are common or garden green. The older stems are beige.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 23. April 2003, 17:38:
Daisymay your plant is a mystery as most plants will have flowers although they can
be very small and insignificant.
Are the thorns grouped in threes or are they placed individually up the stem? If they
are in threes you have a Berberis. From it's growth habit it sounds like an
ornamental bramble. This is the family Rubus and they have wicked thorns.
Does it die back in the winter? Is it evergreen or not? Are the stems square or
rounded in section?
Did it have any redeeming features as it sounds as though you planted it?
Posted by Anna B (# 1439) on 23. April 2003, 17:53:
Tulips are just starting here; earlier bulbs, including daffodils, are in full swing. Peach
tree is blossoming. We planted blackcurrant bushes a week ago and look forward to
years of jam!
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 24. April 2003, 03:45:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
Mamcita,
they're wonderful these aliums aren't they? I've planted some
across the road in the council garden and they are flourishing
beautifully.
Yes, they are delightful and so cheery. The allium makes the side beds in my yard
look fully clothed in those first springtime weeks when my perennials are barely
peeking through the soil.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 24. April 2003, 10:23:
The grass is finally cut! It's amazing how good everything looks when reduced to the
semblance of a greensward! Never mind what proportion of it isn't actually grass.
Never mind the holes that the dogs have dug in it. The purple tulips round the edges
look great too.
Even my most taciturn colleague has asked about the clematis macropetala which is
covered right now with expensive-looking three-inch blue tassels.
daisymay, you have me stumped! Can you remember anything about what it looked
like when you got it? The plant you persuaded me to get for my large pot--was it
caryopteris or ceanothus? It's blooming now, exactly the same shade of blue as the
clematis macropetala.
bb, I'm amazed that you're drying off bulbs already. The midseason tulips here are
at their height, and the late ones just coming on. I did pull up a few muscari from
the wall to make room for the infant nasturtiums, but I fully intend to replant them.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 24. April 2003, 11:59:
Right:
"the plant" was given to my teenage daughter as a b.day present, so it's not young.
It was about 10" high, lots of sprouting small shoots and leaves and tiny thorns,
minature of what it is now.
The thorns come singly, at the base of each leaf or twig, and I think the thorns, the
leaves and the twigs grow in a spaced-out spiral along the main tall shoots, not
opposing or alternate. It reminds me of bamboo the way it grows with lots of
individual growths from the base.(It is not bamboo, I'm sure)
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 24. April 2003, 13:06:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
bb, I'm amazed that you're drying off bulbs already. The
midseason tulips here are at their height, and the late ones just
coming on.
There are few reasons for it:




they have already finished flowering
I need to get the ground cleared
there is bindweed in that part of the garden
there is going to be a new hedge/fence there.
I do not want to take them out just now, but it seems the simplest thing to do. I
dont' really have anywhere to plant them just now.
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 24. April 2003, 13:45:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
zepherine, how is your hand? I've been thinking of you
whenever my thumb bursts open and starts bleeding ...
(asking babybear's grace on reporting this red report)
the doc said i did a great job caring for my finger and noted that if i HAD come into
his office after it happened, he would have given it a stitch or two, to which i hid my
finger in response. it would have been insult upon injury and he would have had to
strap me down and injected me with a tranquilizer cuz i'd have screamed bloody
murder and likely bopped him... accidentally, of course. i have to lay off the
mandolin for a long time cuz it could damage the healing tissue under the skin.
at the moment, it has healed up enough to go band-aidless though the top layers of
skin didn't heal nicely so my finger sports a wee toque at the tip.
very much realizing that i am fearfully & wonderfully made.
many thanks for the prayers on my behalf.
perhaps it will stop snowing now.......?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 24. April 2003, 13:51:
quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:
...I think that's it! Every spring they pop up in my (and
neighboring) gardens and they spread like crazy. Mine appear
in clusters of about 5 or 6 flowers, which are periwinkle blue
and definitely star-shaped. The petals have a deeper blue
"stripe" down the middle and then are variegated periwinkleto-white in color. The leaves are shiny green, pointed, and
range 5-7" long. And if you pull them out, the bottom part does
look like they're related to onion! So, I think the allium in the
link zepherine posted may be the answer to my question.
Thank you, thank you! I've been wondering what these were
for the 7 years we've lived in this house.
...
that sounds more like squill. unless you smell onions when you dig them out.
Posted by bessie rosebride (# 1738) on 24. April 2003, 14:01:
I'm on vacation this week so I've cut the grass.
I set my push mower blades as high as they will go because I think last year I was
cutting my fescue too short which hastened its death when the drought hit. Here's
hoping.
I bought a couple of azaleas to replace some straggly brown ones
and impulsively
I bought a poppy plant. I'd tell you the specific variety but the stake's in the shed
and I'm in the house. I have to say - it's gorgeous - oh, my god I love it!.
I'm buying more this weekend. It is just perfect for my yard....takes full sun and
seems to like my sandy soil. After a light rain she bloomed and the red and yellow
flowers make my heart sing.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 24. April 2003, 14:59:
The purity of the colours of newly opened poppies is a miracle of creation. Any kind
of poppy is wonderful. I'm hoping for some this summer; I've ploughed the fields
and scattered/The good seed on the land...
bb--that comment about the bulbs wasn't meant as criticism; I was wondering about
whether the summer was somehow much more advanced in your part of the island.
It seemed unlikely.
squills? Aren't those Puschkinia?
daisymay--I'm still completely flummoxed by your plant. It does not seem to be one
of the few generally given as presents to girls.
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 24. April 2003, 18:24:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
quote:
Originally posted by Mamacita:
...I think that's it! Every spring they pop up in my
(and neighboring) gardens and they spread like
crazy. Mine appear in clusters of about 5 or 6
flowers, which are periwinkle blue and definitely
star-shaped. The petals have a deeper blue
"stripe" down the middle and then are variegated
periwinkle-to-white in color. The leaves are shiny
green, pointed, and range 5-7" long. And if you
pull them out, the bottom part does look like
they're related to onion! So, I think the allium in
the link zepherine posted may be the answer to
my question. Thank you, thank you! I've been
wondering what these were for the 7 years we've
lived in this house.
...
that sounds more like squill. unless you smell onions when you
dig them out.
My eyes have deceived me, and mystery solved again. As opposed to allium (sorry,
daisymay! but allium are cute too!) it is indeed Siberian Squill, thanks to a link
provided by zepherine!
The bottoms do look like onion but don't smell like it. (The tall white weed in my
back garden, on the other hand. . . but that's another story.)
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 24. April 2003, 18:41:
Amos, I was busy at the time of writing that. I didn't mean to come over so
defensive.
zephirine, glad to hear that your finger is healing.
And now to alliums - a neighbour suggested that I plant some onions in amongst the
bedding plants. Tis tempting. If I do so, can I let them onions flower, or will it impare
the onion?
bb
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 24. April 2003, 19:53:
There are some onions you can let flower; chives, and those curious Egyptian ones.
I'm not sure about others (Oriel? Can you help?) but think in any case that healthy
onion foliage is so pretty, so smooth and bluey-green, that it is ornamental all by
itself (especially with deep yellows and reds). Aubergine and some of the leaf
lettuces are also extremely ornamental and would look nice in a mixed planting with
flowers. As do scarlet runners.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 26. April 2003, 10:02:
My chives are all set to flower, I know they last longer if you deadhead them before
they flower but I think they're so pretty and there's only so much I can eat! Tulip
petals are starting to drop, but the freesias are about to come out, as are the
bluebells. And my holly appears to be getting berries for the first time - surely
several months too early? (not that I'm complaining). I've also got calendula
flowering early (and not where I sowed the seed, thanks to the birds, but they look
fine where they've ended up!) and clematis and honeysuckles budding all over the
place. No sign of any beans though, I think the seeds I used were too old
A quick clematis question, is there any rule of thumb with regards to pruning? I have
a Nelly Moser and a President, this will be the third summer for both, both are
covered in buds so I'm in for a wonderful display, but because I've never pruned
them (other than accidentally whilst trying to train them in a direction they didn't
want to go and snapped them), all the new leaf and flower growth is at the top, and
the first four or five feet are just totally bald. I'm trying to grow a few things up the
bottom so it doesn't look so bare, but if I pruned them to a foot or two above ground
once they've finished flowering would it kill them? Likewise for one of my
honeysuckles (no idea of the variety - it was a cutting from my parents).
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 26. April 2003, 10:36:
Those two clematis both flower on the new season's growth as you may have
suspected, which is why you're getting all the flowers at the top and probably an
untidy raffia-work effect down below. They need to be pruned hard in February or
March; the experts suggest giving them the chop down to the first healthy-looking
set of buds.
You're too late for pruning them this season, so enjoy the flowers at the top, do
other things in other parts of the garden, and then be prepared to give them both a
No. 1 in 2004.
(Note: there are three kinds of pruning for clematis--the ones mentioned above
which bloom on new growth (viticellas fit in there too), ones that bloom on old wood
like my macropetalas and the doubles--these you prune lightly after flowering, and
things like Clematis Montana, which you just need to trim when it gets too big and
begins to swallow meter-readers, et al)
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 27. April 2003, 19:28:
Thanks Amos for the advice - I never did get my head round clematis pruning and I
think it might be too late for my current lot and I'll have to put up with bald stems,
but when I get any others I'll remember your advice
For some reason, your description of the montana swallowing the meter reader put
me in mind of a giant venus flytrap eating the gasman - but I know what you meant!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 27. April 2003, 19:55:
You think it doesn't happen?
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 27. April 2003, 22:20:
As to swallowing people, I have a holly bush at the top of the steps going down to
my front basement area. It helps keep the local youngsters from kicking the ball
down there without forethought. However, a couple of nights ago, I heard the gate
open and footsteps trotting down; I whisked back the curtain and battered on the
window - at a prostitute and her punter! They were so keen to get on with the job
that they had scrambled through the holly!!! So now I have the gate locked with my
bike chain. And I thought sharp holly was a good enough barrier. Maybe it's not
trained to eat people?
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 27. April 2003, 23:26:
quote:
Originally posted by daisymay:
.... However, a couple of nights ago, I heard the gate open and
footsteps trotting down; I whisked back the curtain and
battered on the window - at a prostitute and her punter! They
were so keen to get on with the job that they had scrambled
through the holly!!! So now I have the gate locked with my bike
chain. And I thought sharp holly was a good enough barrier.
Maybe it's not trained to eat people?
i think that part of the garden calls for a nice stand of stinging nettles and maybe
some rue!
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 28. April 2003, 11:08:
While the subject of chives is still visible... I have something growing in a herb tub,
that smells and tastes like chives, yet looks like grass, with no hollow centre to the
leaf. Are they chives, or am I sprinkling my fish supper with some weird other Allium
type relative? It hasn't flowered yet....
I went and bought a mini greenhouse, and it is doing a great job with my runners,
broads, nasturtiums and sunflowers - only a minor setback, when a micro miniwhirlwind (very weird) knocked it over - it is now weighted down with rocks. My
sweet peas must have been duff, because nothing came up yet, yet it must be 3
weeks since they were planted.
The Wigwam poles are bought and appropriate netting is ready. The children are
really excited - especially my 2.75 year old daughter, who loves planting and
growing things and follows me around the garden with her pink watering can....
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 28. April 2003, 12:06:
James M, sweetpeas can be a bit funny about germinating. Have another go but this
time soak the seeds in water overnight before sowing. Then sow in a small pot, cover
with an old plastic bag and pop it in the bottom of the airing cupboard. Look at it
everyday to check whether they have germinated.
When you plant out your runner beans remember to use some form of slug
protection or your children will have a very early lesson in the frustrations of
gardening. What you use depends on how eco friendly you are. We have decking and
a very healthy frog population but I still protect young plants with 2litre lemonade
bottles with the bottoms cut off to make mini greenhouses. It looks stupid but it
does the job!
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 28. April 2003, 18:00:
James, ditto the advice about soaking the sweet peas first before planting. A very
pleasant surprise, last year I soaked and planted some sweet peas, not one came
up, but then loads of them have appeared this year!
(it said "everlasting sweet
peas" on the packet so I presume they're perennials, but still, I was impressed!). My
beans were definitely duff, they've not appeared at all having been planted a month
ago, but the seeds were a couple of years old so that's probably why.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 28. April 2003, 18:38:
James, Poppy clearly knows her onions. You should listen to her about the peas and
beans!
Still waiting for my poppies to emerge--and the California poppies--and the Marvel of
Peru. Now that the apricot and pink tulips have finished, and the Queen of the Night
has begun (with Red Parrot and Red Shine), the front of the house is looking a little
loud. Whoops.
Lilacs and wisteria all round the neighbourhood, and the blossom in the hedges is
lovely.
Posted by geroff (# 3882) on 03. May 2003, 20:30:
we've finished our front garden, all that's got to happen now is for God to step in and
make it grow!
We live in an open plan garden area (70s houses)where we are not allowed walls,
fences or hedges, so what happens is that everyone has huge lawns. But this year
everyone has had landscaping firms in to do block paving so they can park cars in
the front garden.
A couple of years ago we were given a spiral shaped pot stand (from Australia). This
inspired us to do something different with our garden!
We have dug our lawn up and planted loads of perennials, some shrubs and a small
tree with a spiral gravel path going through it.
The only thing is that we ordered 2 tonnes of gravel when we needed only 1. So I
think its more gravel in the back garden, gravel in the tops of pots, gravel
everywhere!
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 04. May 2003, 08:29:
geroff, if you're anywhere near south east London, I'll take that gravel off your hands
Ooops had another "garden centre moment" yesterday - couple of clematises
(clematii?) (both montanas this time), a hardy fuschia, ceanathus, and a few other
bits and bobs to randomly plant around the place. This afternoon after church I'm
going to try and tackle the rest of the weeds (have had a week of heavy rain-sunheavy rain-sun which has done wonders for lots of my plants, but the weeds have
gone a bit mad as well). Then I can get down to the edging/gravelling that I've been
planning for the last couple of years
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 04. May 2003, 18:58:
geroff (or anyone else for that matter), a question which occurred to me this
afternoon whilst doing the weeding - how many square feet did your ton of gravel
actually cover? And how deep did you go (I hear it has to be at least a couple of
inches to stop weeds growing back through)? I've got absolutely no idea how much
I'm going to need, nor to be honest how many sq.feet needs to be gravelled, as my
garden's a funny shape and the beds mean the gravelled area will have lots of curves
and bits sticking out. But I might get the graph paper out tomorrow and try to
approximate it. My plants are looking so good, I want to get the gravelling and
edging done so they can be shown at their best. Tonight for the first time this year I
ate my tea outside looking at it all - *sigh* this is the life!
Posted by birdie (# 2173) on 07. May 2003, 12:20:
Gardening Questions within ‘why does it take four months for people to give
me a quote?!’ Lament:
* sigh *
Well, we have had an ongoing saga of getting someone to widen our drive, which I
won’t go into now, but the whole thing has been very on again-off again for the past
few months.
In a fit of enthusiasm back in the winter, when I actually believed the drive would be
done, I moved two miniature roses (successfully, they’re budding like anything) from
the front to the back while they were dormant.
There are three other roses (not miniature ones) which I didn’t move, having then
lost all faith that the drive would ever be done.
Now, of course, these three roses are budding in a very promising fashion, and we
have had a phone call from the *&!!#** drive man to say he’ll be round the first
week in June.
Question: If I try and move these roses while they are budding, or even flowering, I
am assuming they won’t like it? Not that I have a choice, it’s either that or they’re
ripped up – but is there anything I can do to make their journey less traumatic?
I also have two camellias in my back garden, which never flower successfully for
more than a day or two. I am convinced that this is because they are in a fairly
exposed site. The flowers just go brown and drop off after wind or a frost. It’s not a
problem with the soil – although we’re not on acid soil I give them a feed and the
leaves aren’t yellowing or anything. The chap next door has a camellia at the front of
his house where it is more sheltered and he doesn’t have these problems with it.
So once the drive is done, howsabout we move the two camellias from the back
garden, into big tubs, and put them on the newly widened drive out the front where
they can be more sheltered?
Question: Is it possible to move two four foot high camellia bushes without
a) killing them
b) putting my/my husbands back out?!
I’ve never done much transplanting things – any tips?
One good thing though; When I moved the miniature roses I moved a peony at
the same time. I thought I’d killed it as I couldn’t get all of it out, but I put it out the
back by the other ones just in case and it’s grown! Not budding, probably getting
over the shock, but nonetheless, it’s grown! (And the other peonies have more buds
on than I’ve ever seen
)
b
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 07. May 2003, 13:59:
quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
needs to be gravelled, as my garden's a funny shape and the
beds mean the gravelled area will have lots of curves and bits
sticking out.
I would just like to extoll the virtues of putting down a liner before putting down the
gravel. We did that last year, and have only the occasional bit of weeding to do
around edges.
You can cut slits and fit it around existing plants. You can also cut slits when the liner
and gravel are down.
-I took a notion to plait up the bulbs that I have lifted. They look rather funky, in a
French onion sort of way.
bb
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 07. May 2003, 14:06:
Ok
Effective, safe slug remedy required please.
Have tried:
"organic slug repellent" which turned out to be crushed egg shell.. This stinks and
does not work.
Slug drowning pots with sweet stout or Marmite solution. Result: one dead beetle.
The slugs like hiding underneath mind...
Bowl turned upside down on soil and collecting slugs in the morning. Result: one
snail.
On top of these, I have a pond that is teeming with frogs and newts....
I went out last night at 11pm, and there were a total of 18 slugs and 8 snails gaily
chomping through my fennel, comfrey and pennyroyal.
Someone please let me know the best alternative to metaldehyde please. I am quite
sure that my son would like to eat slug pellets given a chance.
On a happier note, I made a wigwam for my beans, following earlier excellent
suggestions from this thread. As soon as someone can tell me the best slug
prevention method, I can go ahead and plant!
In hope
James
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 07. May 2003, 17:47:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
needs to be gravelled, as my garden's a funny
shape and the beds mean the gravelled area will
have lots of curves and bits sticking out.
I would just like to extoll the virtues of putting down a liner
before putting down the gravel. We did that last year, and have
only the occasional bit of weeding to do around edges.
You can cut slits and fit it around existing plants. You can also
cut slits when the liner and gravel are down.
Fret not bb - liner is already bought! It's just the gravel I'm procrastinating about
Oh and digging the soil to a 2" depth before laying it down. But it WILL happen
sometime this summer
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 07. May 2003, 17:53:
If you plant out your seedlings with the protection of clear plastic bottles (the singleserving water bottles are good) with the tops and bottoms cut off, and then surround
them with a barrier--grit, ashes, or (my favourite) salt (these need to be renewed,
esp. after rain) that should help. You can also go around at night with a flashlight, a
stick with a nail on the end, like park-keepers used to have, and a container full of
salt in which to drop the victims. I've read of something called 'Slug Stoppa Tape'
but it seems a bit expensive if you can't be sure it will work.
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 07. May 2003, 18:16:
If using the plastic bottle trick I find it best to just remove the bottoms of the bottle
and unscrew the screw top. Some slugs are so keen to eat your veggies that they
will climb over the top of plastic cylinders.
If using beer traps one of the best baits is alcohol free larger. They love it and will
queue up to drown in it.
Be very careful about using salt around plants. When invading armies salted the
fields of the defeated peasants they did it for a reason. Nothing will grow until the
salt is washed out. You do not want to a homage to medieval warfare in your veggie
plot.
Posted by Mamacita (# 3659) on 07. May 2003, 18:48:
I've heard that setting out a bowl of beer is the best bait for slugs, but haven't had
to use it.
This is the time of year when I am grateful for Rita, the lovely lady who lived in my
house for 25 years and who has since gone to tend gardens in Heaven. Rita planted
a wonderful shade garden on the north side of our coachhouse, which is always in
shadow. In the last couple of weeks, everything has started to pop. There are ferns
which uncurl themselves bit by bit each day, and remind me of someone waking up
and stretching in the morning. There are trillium (I think -- three leaves and a deep
rose-colored flower) and these cute plants called May somethings, May apples I
think. They come up like umbrellas - the leaves folded straight down. Then day by
day the leaves start to move upwards, just like an umbrella opening up. The best
part is that in a few weeks they will each have a pink flower, hidden under the
leaves! There are one or two few jack-in-the-pulpits in there somewhere, too; I can
never remember so it's always a surprise in the spring. Thank you Rita!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 07. May 2003, 19:15:
What Poppy said. I've put salt on individual slugs
but would go for something else
on the soil itself. I guess I hate them so much that I was overdoing it--a sort of
scorched-earth slug repellent approach. But Poppy speaks with authority on this.
Mamacita, that sounds lovely.
The guys with the mower have strimmed two of my roses (Eglantyne and Ipsilante)
for the second time in a month. I've just dug them up (the roses not the guys),
pruned them right down and planted them in a big tub for now. Not the best time for
such things, but needs must.
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 07. May 2003, 21:30:
I've just done the ethnic slug and snail cleansing in my back yard. I've been
regularly smashing and bashing them with the trowel, but so many were hiding and
surviving that I gave in and bought slug pellets, bright blue little things.
They were eating my emerging lilies and lily of the valley and the hostas were just
coming up....
I reckon there are over 70 dead creatures. I feel really guilty, but relieved at the
same time.
Beer (Belgian Blonde) did for quite a few of them last year, but the remainder have
been breeding.
Scented jasmine now beginning to blossom. The chestnut tree is thriving in its nice
new pot. Huge green leaves.
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 08. May 2003, 12:54:
Thanks for the tips. I shall do a little experiment, and use slug pellets in one area
and keep to beer traps/club-with-nail/Sodium Chloride-slug-melt in the other.
We are just embarking on a replacment of our dreadful hedge/wall combination and
will be using a wire fence in its stead.
What would you grow on the fence? (two sections, 4-5 feet high, one 15 feet, the
other 35 feet long, south facing, full sun, clay soil.)
I was thinking Vitis Vinifera (Bacchus), Clematis, honeysuckle...
Thanks again for all your help. It is much appreciated.
James
Posted by Annie P (# 3453) on 08. May 2003, 13:26:
Can someone please help me. My honeysuckle has got green fly!
This didn't
happen last year - so I have no idea where they all came from. Needless to say, a lot
of the leaves are covered with eggs (ewe)! I did a big pruning job (more than
previously taken off in March) to get rid of the worst bits and have sprayed with
insecticide. I don't really like using spray, as I don't think it does the plant any good.
Does anyone have any tips for getting rid of them? Or do you know a small herd of
lady birds I could import?
James - good climbers for that situation:
Clemitis - lots of variety there, fast growing too
Honey suckle - yes - absolutely gorgeous
Wisteria is another favourite of mine.
I might even endulge by trying a climbing rose.
I've just potted up a lovely chllian potato plant - which has small lilac flowers with
bright yellow centre - very pretty. That should climb up one of the trellis's before not
too long.
Even if you have clay soil, wouldn't it be best to improve it? You could have a greater
choice of plants then. I don't have that problem, as many of my better plants are in
pots, so I can get the best for them.
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 08. May 2003, 16:00:
Every time I dig over a new bit of the garden, the soil improver goes in at the same
time.
Thanks for the tips
J
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 08. May 2003, 17:59:
Annie, I'm sure I've heard of somewhere that sells freeze-dried ladybird larvae. I'll
try and find out for you (though if it turns out to be my warped imagination I'll stay
quiet till people have forgotten
). Alternatively, try planting some lavender nearby
- apparently greenfly can't stand them.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 08. May 2003, 19:01:
Annie, it depends on the size of your honeysuckle. If it's not too big you may find a
combination of killing-by-hand
and a strong spray of water will do the trick. A
soapy water solution was my late father-in-law's recommendation.
James, what a lovely prospect. I'm fond of the various ornamental grapes, especially
the very dark-leaved ones, some of which have amazing autumn colour. Clematis--a
clematis montana would happily cover the whole thing, or fight it out with the grape.
They are either white or pink flowered. The important thing is to be sure you get a
scented one--delicious, like vanilla. There is also a delightful little vine called akebia
quinata, which has small, smooth, oval leaves in a palmate arrangement (like so
many other Japanese plants), and curious scented dark purple flowers in the spring.
There are the later clematis, of which you might find the viticellas easiest--starshaped red or white or purple flowers by the hundred, all approximately two and a
half inches across. These will climb your wire fence by themselves, with no help from
you. So will a trumpet vine (can't recall the Latin name offhand), of which the variety
'Mme. Galen' has not trumpets but two-inch French horns, in a mixture of scarlet,
coral, and apricot from Midsummer onwards. It is probably a bit late to plant
morning-glories, but if you and your offspring get the variety 'Heavenly Blue' started
next April, and then plant out a good number, they can be incredible. They also
cover wigwams well. Climbing roses need to be trained and tied in. If you have little
children, thorns can also be an issue. However the one zephirine gets her name from
is a nearly thornless shocking pink.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 08. May 2003, 19:33:
quote:
Originally posted by James M:
What would you grow on the fence? (two sections, 4-5 feet
high, one 15 feet, the other 35 feet long, south facing, full sun,
clay soil.)
I would plant something that will establish itself over the next few years, and
interplant with sweetpeas. That was you get something lovely this year, and then
again in future years as the 'proper' plant grows.
I have had fun plaiting daffodils. Think about strings of onions, and replace the
onions with daffs.
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 08. May 2003, 22:40:
good bugs to eat the bad
bugs.
i've done business with these folks for almost a decade. i highly reccomend them!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 09. May 2003, 15:47:
Just in from the garden, having weeded the strip next to my neighbour's drive,
cultivated it, watered it, and planted out my cosmos and Empress of India
nasturtiums. Have also planted out two potentially giant sunflowers, and potted up
some columbines, hollyhocks, and black-eyed susans. Then I watered. I still wonder
who nicked the rose off my treasured Haws watering-can. Lots of tulips still
blooming--the blue parrots are only starting now, along with Baby Moon narcissi,
vinca, ceanothus, and lilac.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 09. May 2003, 19:35:
James, if you drink proper coffee (ie not instant) then save the coffee grounds and
spread them round plants that are particularly vulnerable to slugs, apparently coffee
really doesn't agree with them.
The one thing I've got in common with slugs, sadly
Posted by geroff (# 3882) on 11. May 2003, 17:01:
Jack the lass:
sorry for the delay in replying ( i logged out and then forgot my password!)
I am obviously not well placed to advise on the amount of gravel otherwise I would
have got it right. We worked it out originally because our plan was drawn out on
squared paper, so we counted the squares and multiplied the area by the depth,
about 2 inches. We then lost the piece of paper and guessed!
The thing is that gravel is sold by the tonne (that is metric tonne) and not by the
cubic yard. It comes in big canvas bags which are about 1m x 1m x 1m, so it IS
about a cubic metre isn't it.
The other thing is don't buy it in a garden centre, you'll get a much better deal using
a builders merchant.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 12. May 2003, 03:04:
ooh! looky what i got for mother's day!!!
ferdie
ruby
violet (they only had a pic of the red)
and a big watering can, hot pink gardening gloves, a packet of heavenly blue
morning glories and lots of love (in between the usual bickering)
these guys REALLY know what gets mom's green blood pumping!!!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 12. May 2003, 04:52:
Ooh. I've grown Ferdinand Pichard. It is tough (it had to be where I put it) and really
does smell like raspberries. The clethra looks gorgeous, zepherine.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 12. May 2003, 12:50:
Talking of rasperries, do you need a fruit cage to grow rasps? Or do the canes
provide enough to share with the birds?
bb
Posted by Apothecary (# 3886) on 12. May 2003, 12:59:
Baby bear asks
quote:
do you need a fruit cage to grow rasps?
My mum used to just put old net curtains over the canes for the necessary weeks.
They're light enough to not damage the canes and the holes are too small for birds
to get caught in. Much cheaper than a fruit cage!
Posted by birdie (# 2173) on 12. May 2003, 13:12:
Does anyone have any thoughts at all about my roses and camellias?
(Mind you, the **#!** drive man has gone all quiet on us again, so maybe it won't
happen. )
b
Posted by LesleyW (# 4445) on 12. May 2003, 16:08:
In an earlier post, Annie P asked
quote:
do you know a small herd of lady birds I could import?
Annie: Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, and it won't help this year, but
you can buy bug nests, which you hang from trees etc (it tells you all the suitable
places) for ladybirds etc to hibernate in. Might help for next year. I got mine from
the RSPB catalogue.
Lesley
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 13. May 2003, 00:14:
quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
Does anyone have any thoughts at all about my roses and
camellias?
(Mind you, the **#!** drive man has gone all quiet on us
again, so maybe it won't happen.
)
b
re: the roses at least the rule of thumb is to prune it down by one third. (put the buds in a vase and let
them open in the house. flowers take a LOT of energy and the plants will need every
scrap of it to survive their moving house.) dig up VERY carefully, very deeply and
widely, leaving the root systems as intact as possible.(mind the tap root!) take more
dirt than you think they would need. they will go into shock and wilt, so be sure to
nurse the poor dears with loads of nice compost and well-rotted manure in the new
hole. mix in a tablespoon of triplesuperphosphate. take care to shade them til they
spring back and water well. don't let them dry out all season!
can't help you on the camellias
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 13. May 2003, 08:30:
I have never moved a 4 foot high camelia but the principal would be the same for
any established shrub.
1. Wait until the autumn when the earth is still warm but the plant has started to
slow down it's growth.
2. Make sure the plant is very well watered.
3. Get out those pruning shears. The plant is going into shock and cannot support all
it's previous growth. At least a third of the top growth needs to go.
4. Now the tricky bit. You need to dig around the root ball and attempt to get the
plant up without damaging any roots. Dig a circle around the plant and go down until
you can see where the tap root is. Try to avoid snapping the tap root. This is tricky
as you have to try to dig under the plant and a husband who has been digging for an
hour and fancies going back to watch to footie may go through the tap root 'by
mistake.'
5. Now that the root ball is free slide some heavy duty polythene underneath the
plant, call for help from friends and neighbours, then carry it to it's new planting hole
which has been prepared earlier.
6. Keep the plant well watered until the spring. Then keep watering it as Camelias
will drop their buds if they go dry.
Alternatively go to the garden centre and buy some new ones which will adapt to
living in pots.
Posted by birdie (# 2173) on 13. May 2003, 08:35:
quote:
Originally posted by Poppy:
4. Try to avoid snapping the tap root. This is tricky as you have
to try to dig under the plant and a husband who has been
digging for an hour and fancies going back to watch to footie
may go through the tap root 'by mistake.'
Tell me, when did you meet my husband?
The 'buy new ones at the garden centre' option is starting to look good. Shame
though, they are lovely.
Thanks, Zepherine, re. the roses. I'm going to wait until I know for definite about the
driveway, as I'm reluctant to risk it just yet...
b
Posted by Woodpecker (# 4030) on 19. May 2003, 17:27:
Compost bins! Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, so it may have been covered.
Ham'n'eggs has just said on the Decadence thread that he/she has 7! Any tips on a
successful type, as we have failed twice with our "Wormery", just ending up with a
horrible sludgy (not smudgy) mess. Tried getting some more worms today from our
local fishing shop, but no luck.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 19. May 2003, 17:56:
My compost bin is just a bog-standard green plastic thing, the compost does go
sludgy to start with but I left it for 2 years before starting to use it. After that length
of time the sludge had turned into a beautiful moist but crumbly compost which was
so satisfying!
A question for the rose growers (zeph?
) - I've got a couple of climbing roses
(forget the variety), and one of them appears to have, on some leaves and stems
and flowers, though not the whole plant, some white powdery stuff. I've got a
horrible feeling that this is Not A Good Thing. Is there any way I can get rid of it
without destroying the whole plant? It's growing beautifully and covering a large part
of a very bare fence, so I'd hate to have to get rid of it
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 19. May 2003, 18:58:
I took an ordinary outdoor bin, and drilled holes in the sides. I then started piling
organic material in it, in layers. My compost also went sludgy and 'orrible. I too left it
for another year, and it beautiful!
My worms decided that they liked the compost bin and migrated their of their own
accord. When I come to empty the compost (soon) I shall scoop off the top 30cm
(that is the layer the worms live in) and pop them into the new compost bin.
I have the feeling that there was too much grass in my compost. That is what tends
to go to mush. I have taken to adding a layer of grass about 7cm thick, then adding
a layer of garden soil, then grass etc. I also wrap up veggie peelings in newspaper
and add that. Sometime I add a layer of scrunched up newspaper.
However, I have found that the real secret is to pop organic stuff in, up the lid on,
then leave it for a few years. I am not even terribly convinced about the lid....
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 19. May 2003, 20:08:
quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
A question for the rose growers (zeph?
) - I've got a couple
of climbing roses (forget the variety), and one of them appears
to have, on some leaves and stems and flowers, though not the
whole plant, some white powdery stuff. I've got a horrible
feeling that this is Not A Good Thing. Is there any way I can get
rid of it without destroying the whole plant? It's growing
beautifully and covering a large part of a very bare fence, so I'd
hate to have to get rid of it
ah lass - your roses have likely succumbed to the dreaded powdery mildew - a curse
all roses fall under at one time or another. even my supposed mildew-resistant
cultivars get a case of pm from time to time. i've tried battling it with the deadly-bad
chemicals and it doesn't seem to totally erradicate the problem thus i no longer
subject my environmentally friendly garden to them. (living in an apple orchard
makes growing roses very hard - the farmers have the potent controls for the
diseases apples and roses share(since they are from the same family) that the
general consumer can't get ahold of and wouldn't want in the garden setting anyway
due to the toxicity)
the best way to battle it is to clean up infected leaves asap and spray the plant with
a baking soda solution after every rain. (sucks if you live in a rainy area such as
upstate new york!)
this handy dandy article spells it out for you better than i can.
sending up a prayer for your roses.
this is nature groaning under the curse.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 19. May 2003, 20:18:
quote:
Originally posted by Woodpecker:
Compost bins! Sorry I haven't read the whole thread, so it may
have been covered. Ham'n'eggs has just said on the Decadence
thread that he/she has 7! Any tips on a successful type, as we
have failed twice with our "Wormery", just ending up with a
horrible sludgy (not smudgy) mess. Tried getting some more
worms today from our local fishing shop, but no luck.
i use the lazy lady gardener method of composting. i have an area in the berry
bramble where i dump my household gleanings and peelings along with seed-free
garden rubbish, leaves and grass clippings after the ol man mows. we layer it with a
few shovelsful of dirt and the redworms find it on their own.
keep in mind there are certain kinds of earthworm (we calls em "pink ladies") that
work better in compost bins. i'm not sure what sorts the bait shop carries.
(gew- there's a bait vending machine at the place where my teen works... right next
to the pop machine. cuppa crawlers, anyone?
here's a nice piece on putting your pink ladies to work.
Posted by Ham'n'Eggs (# 629) on 19. May 2003, 21:18:
I'm afraid that my dissertation on compost making shows no signs of translation
onto the written page.
In the meantime, insomniac Shimates may wish to play "Spot All Seven".
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 19. May 2003, 21:43:
zeph, some of us will never ask for a pink lady again.
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 27. May 2003, 07:55:
Has anyone here ever kept a duck (or two) in their garden? The owners of a
wonderful garden near me, who also keep fowl, were very near persuading me of the
merits of a couple of ducks to keep down the slug and snail population, as well as
being charming, sociable, and decorative. The ducks--Indian Runners and Khaki
Campbells, and a cross between the two--are delightful. Among the factors holding
me back are: the necessity of providing fox-proof duck housing and a paddling-pool,
the possible reaction of my dogs, and the picture of us driving up the M6 on holiday
with the whole circus (spouse, teenager, cats in boxes, dogs in way back, ducks in
boxes, luggage underfoot....). What I did come home with was aconitum episcopi, a
blue monkshood that climbs. Am planning on putting it in a tub with a pink gallica,
on the principle of the actress and the bishop. Clematis now blooming.
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 29. May 2003, 18:44:
Ham'n'Eggs, I loved your garden! The compost bins were too well hidden for me
though, I think I must have been too tired. Will try again to spot them though!
Some more questions - firstly, I went to dig up some of my onions today, they were
showing all the signs of being ready (as discussed on this thread a few pages back),
but when I dug them up they were still just tiny bulbs, all the growth seems to have
gone into the leaves and none at all into filling out the bulb. Should I leave them
longer in the hope they fill out, should I eat them even though they're tiny, or should
I just start over again?
Secondly, I talked about the powdery mildew on one of my roses a couple of weeks
ago, is it possible that euphorbia can get it too? It's not near the rose, but is really
not looking very well at the moment
The rest of the garden is starting to look really good now though. Once I've written
my essay I'll get out there and start enjoying it a bit more
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 07. June 2003, 15:56:
last night i began digging a hole for a butterfly bush i bought and got stopped dead
by a rock that could have easily been used as the top of a crypt. after digging out 2
wheelbarrowsful of dirt and getting my poor weary husband to lever the monster
out, i now have a harelquin butterfly bush surrounded by a ring of dark red
spittunias next to my enormous l d braithwaite rose. and the rambling scrambling
appleblossom rose. (it's now where the weary sage is flopped at the feet of the rose.
sage is rip from the ice storm)
kudos to hubster for a job well done.
Posted by Regina Shoe (# 4076) on 08. June 2003, 06:25:
Well, my husband also went above and beyond the call of duty last night. Our
vegetable garden is in full swing now, with tons of chile peppers and tomatoes (over
40 in all), two cantaloupe mounds, strawberries bearing fruit and beans just starting
to come up. Then, last night (yes, that's June 6!) the forecast was for rain mixed
with snow and lows as low as 35 Fahrenheit. So as soon as my toddler son woke up
from his nap, I went out with the kids and got freeze protection cloth and a whole
bunch of bamboo stakes, but then it was suppertime. After supper, Mark kept the
kids while I cut the cloths and stakes to the right sizes. Then he put the little ones to
bed while I went out in the pouring rain and put the stakes down. Then I found it
was virtually impossible for one person to drape a 10-foot by 12-foot cloth over an
expanse of plants without potentially squashing the plants, plus it was getting dark.
So, I called Mark and he came out into the freezing rain with a lantern and the two of
us spread out cloths and pinned them down for about an hour. Of course, we both
got soaked and he got mud all over his nice new white tennies.
But the good news is, all our tomatoes and peppers and beans and cantaloupes are
just fine, as are the strawberries and the mobs of ladybugs living therein (thanks to
Gardens Alive and the person here who recommended them!)
When I give my daughter tomatoes, she's already started asking if they came from
the garden. Not yet, but soon...
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 08. June 2003, 10:45:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
Has anyone here ever kept a duck (or two) in their garden? The
owners of a wonderful garden near me, who also keep fowl,
were very near persuading me of the merits of a couple of
ducks to keep down the slug and snail population, as well as
being charming, sociable, and decorative.
Ducks are wonderful creatures. However, I hate to think how the dogs and cats
would react to them. If they didn't attack the birds, then would certainly attack
ducklings.
I don't think that ducks are the solution for you.
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 08. June 2003, 23:11:
quote:
Originally posted by Regina Shoe:
...(thanks to Gardens Alive and the person here who
recommended them!)
our first shipment of ladybugs immediately began an orgy of massive porportions.
my eldest, who was in first grade at the time, asked several pointed questions about
the "ladybugs playing" and ended up getting a merry-hearted lesson on the birds
and the bees. (he was incredulous and i was struggling to keep a straight face.
)
Posted by zippity (# 4523) on 09. June 2003, 07:00:
Ducks are very cute, and yes, they do eat snails and slugs, and give you duck eggs,
but Beware!! Ducks are hungry, indiscriminate plant-munchers. They will eat to
death anything in your garden that is green, non-poisonous, young, soft-to-medium,
or expensive. When discovered, they will be unrepentant, and then look at you in a
way that will immediately melt your heart and reverse any ideas you had about
chinese-style duck pancakes.
Also, duck poop is green, greasy and doesn't come out of clothes or shoes.
There is a happy medium. Keep your ducks in a well-fenced, largish enclosure, and
when you find snails or slugs in the garden, just pick them up and throw them in
along with any weeds or scraps you have. And make sure you can get to the egg
boxes, water and food without having to cross duck-poop minefields.
For all lovers of ducks:
I love ducks too. I'm just having a bad duck moment.
Posted by Janine (# 3337) on 09. June 2003, 09:36:
Think the same re: the positives/negatives of chickens.
The two favorite parts of my gardens have always been:
*the furred and feathered partners, the ones who eat the scraps and the bugs... and
in turn get eaten by my family... kinda like recycling, iddinnit? And
*the compost heap... love a good efficient compost heap...
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 09. June 2003, 10:12:
zippity, you have sussed out my plan exactly. Stalag Duck has arrived and is in the
garden. It can be moved around (with some difficulty). There is also a pond and a
baby pool. The ducks (to bb's relief, I hope) will be, like the Supremes, a trio of girls,
or else, like the Andrews Sisters, a quartet. We are not doing Ray Charles and the
Raylettes here! They should be able to have some free garden-range time too. I am
pretty confident about the dogs leaving them alone (one is a terrier, but a bit
cautious: all he needs is a good hiss to put him off; the other is obedient) and about
my cats' reluctance to tackle a full-grown duck! If I'm wrong I shall report the
carnage here, probably sometime in August, since the ducks arrive at the end of
July.
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 16. June 2003, 10:23:
Hope that all goes well Amos.
And now for something completely different:
Plant suggestions please for my very small (1m x 3m) south facing front garden
front garden. At one side there is a rose bush, in the middle a huge lavender bush,
and at the other side there is a purple geranium. There are also some very, very sad
pansies.
The soil is very slight, and is dusty just now because of lack of rain. The pansies are
all but dead. What will enjoy being hot and dry, or maybe cold and wet later? The
colours in that little garden as pink, lavender and purple. I would prefer something in
similar shades, or whites/creams.
Ooh, and while I am here, I would like to have a little winge. My neighbours have
been doing work on their gardens. In the front garden (same size as mine) they
have planted 3 Cupressus macrocarpa 'Wilma' (Grows approx. 20-25cm per year.
Eventual height untrimmed approx. 10m with a 90cm spread.) One is planted 15cm
from my front door step.
These people are not renouned for their garden care. Each Jume they take a
strimmer to their back wilderness and cut back all the green stuff. Of course, the
first things to grow back are the weeds. I suspect that if I want to get into my house
I will be clipping their trees.
bb
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 16. June 2003, 10:58:
I was just about to look for the thread and lo and behold, it was up at the top!
My rosamunda has finished her beautiful flowering this year, as has the yellow and
the lavinia is still producing heavy pink sweet blooms.
The mauvey-white geraniums and the pink lavatera (mallows) and the lavender are
taking over. Red lilies are back in abundance.
My bamboo has decided to grow suddenly and quickly and has produced about four
stems about twelve feet high - all in a week!!! Last year's ones were only about eight
feet, and are gradually becomong black.
I'm spending time every day giving first aid water to the plants across the road that
the vandals pulled up. The council gardener from down the road comes along on his
bike with a bucket every so often too.
It's taking me an hour at least to water all my pots....
Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on 16. June 2003, 11:05:
First off, let me say I'm not much of a gardener. I have very little garden, and I don't
do much with it.
What I have got in abundance is ground elder. It creeps up through my lawn and
into my tiny flower bed. How do I get rid of it? I can pull if off the top of the bed, or
squirt killer on it, but this doesn't stop it coming back through the lawn. I tried
spraying the stuff in the lawn last year, but it did bad things to the grass as well,
which hasn't entirely recovered yet! How do I get rid of it?
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 16. June 2003, 11:55:
For ground elder, dig up as much of it as you can and dispose of it. For the stuff that
is coming up through the grass apply a topical weed killer. Get the ones where you
get a bottle with a paintbrush, and paint it on the leaves.
Have you tried the 'feed and weed' for lawns? We have used that, and the grass
seems quite a bit better this year.
bb
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 16. June 2003, 12:07:
some ideas for the dry season.
coreopsis rocks... if you keep it deadheaded, it blooms nearly all summer. it makes a
nice contrast with the lavender too!
a little border of portulaca will offer a nice
bright spot of colour.
Posted by James M (# 3414) on 16. June 2003, 13:11:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
Have you tried the 'feed and weed' for lawns? We have used
that, and the grass seems quite a bit better this year.
Yup, and spilt it! A big white pile of powder in the lawn, and an enormous growth of
grass around the edge. It is gradually sinking into the surface, and some grass is
getting up through it. I have no problems with moss now though (I just have very
little grass in some areas.)
My bean wigwam has been a half disappointment, with the broads doing very well
while the runners are a bit scrawny. Any suggestions as to how I can improve them?
We are getting the rather surreal sight of a small flock of parrots (up to 6) flying
overhead in the evenings. I have no idea where they came from, but they are not
quite normal for North London!
Cheers
James
Posted by kingsfold (# 1726) on 16. June 2003, 13:34:
quote:
posted by bb:
For ground elder, dig up as much of it as you can and dispose of
it. For the stuff that is coming up through the grass apply a
topical weed killer. Get the ones where you get a bottle with a
paintbrush, and paint it on the leaves.
Have you tried the 'feed and weed' for lawns? We have used
that, and the grass seems quite a bit better this year.
Oh boy - digging should be interesting as I've not got much in the way of topsoil. I
think it's mostly builders rubble under there.
And no, I haven't tried weed and feed. I feel a trip to the garden centre coming on!
Posted by Amos (# 44) on 16. June 2003, 18:13:
bb, I found a patch like that in front of my house here when I moved in. Since it's
mostly paved, I mostly have things in pots (like daisymay) which, yes, take forever
to water when the weather's like this. This looks as if it's going to be a good summer
for cosmos, which you can buy in six-packs at the garden centres right now, in
shades of white, pink, and a magenta that looks good with pinks and blues. They
don't seem to grow as tall as the cosmos I remember from the Portugese front
gardens in Massachusetts, but they're good. Verbena bonariensis is tall and tough
and purple and fragrant. It's also perennial and is supposed to reseed itself when
happy. Hollyhocks and mallows would be nice there too, as would the hardy
geraniums, which only come in shades of pink, blue, white, mauve, and fuschia.
Missouri primrose, if you can find one in one of those beautiful light shades of yellow
(the same shade as coreopsis moonbeam) is lovely with the pinks and blues. As is
coreopsis moonbeam. There's also a creamy yellow California poppy, but you'll have
to grow that from seed. If you wanted another rose, I'd recommend Fru Dagmar
Hastrup, which is carefree and wonderfully spicily fragrant, with childbearing hips.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 17. June 2003, 16:05:
and speaking of roses -
look who i found!
Posted by daisymay (# 1480) on 17. June 2003, 22:14:
Litle and big purple clematis out flowering now - and the bamboo has added another
foot and a half!
My spiky plant is definitely asparagus.
Not the edible type. It is growing new
shoots and the tips look just like the vegetable.
I have spoken to the council gardener and he and I have agreed that I will dig a big
hole and plant it in the little vandalised strip across the road from me. We think the
spikes may be prohibitive to idiots. It's getting too big, height and width for me to
keep in t he yard.
Posted by The Obscure (# 4149) on 18. June 2003, 18:58:
I'm having a whale/ wail ?? of a time this year - first time ever in my own flat, and I
have plants all over the place (2nd floor flat with v. small balcony) - growing my own
strawberries and tomatoes and herbs (with mixed results - the basil grows and then
dies again - three times now???) and rocket and miniature carrots and lettuce and
everything - watching things grow is sooo amazing.
But rather than just wittering, I wanted some advice on my tomatoes. They were
supposed to be a miniature variety, because of the enclosed space - they are
currently 5 ft tall - in my living room - it's mad! The tomatoes are coming through,
though only two groups of flowers per tomato plant. But the bottom leaves are going
very pale and looking pathetic. Meanwhile the top keeps getting higher. So my
questions are:


What can I do as regards the bottom leaves?
Is it okay to pick out all shoots that now appear (both top and side) to ensure
that the tomatoes already there get to grow?
Thank you in advance for any comments/tips
Posted by Jack the Lass (# 3415) on 18. June 2003, 19:17:
quote:
Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
and speaking of roses -
look who i found!
(PS zeph check your PMs - or at least check them in a few minutes, haven't written
it yet)
quote:
Originally posted by The Obscure:
But rather than just wittering, I wanted some advice on my
tomatoes. They were supposed to be a miniature variety,
because of the enclosed space - they are currently 5 ft tall - in
my living room - it's mad! The tomatoes are coming through,
though only two groups of flowers per tomato plant. But the
bottom leaves are going very pale and looking pathetic.
Meanwhile the top keeps getting higher. So my questions are:
What can I do as regards the bottom leaves?
Is it okay to pick out all shoots that now appear (both top and
side) to ensure that the tomatoes already there get to grow?
Thank you in advance for any comments/tips
I'm no expert, but my take on this is:
Bottom leaves - they won't get any better so you're probably as well to just pull
them off (that's what I'd do anyway, though I'm happy to be corrected).
Side shoots - yes definitely pinch them out. That should (I think) improve the yield
of tomatoes you get on the remaining branches. (Do tomato plants have 'branches'?
- you know what I mean!).
Top shoots - not sure what the received wisdom is, but once mine got too big for the
pot and too tall for the cane, I pinched them out and it didn't seem to do them too
much harm.
This year's tomato plants are very small (I wasn't organised enough to buy them so
just rescued some small ones the other week from a colleague who was going to
chuck out her excess plants). But I have high hopes for a month or two down the
line My strawberry plant is also full of little green strawberries at the moment (last
year it only produced a couple, which withered before they ripened
so I'm hoping
for better luck this year), and I'm reaping the benefits of some wonderful herbs
already - chives, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, bay - plus the lemon balm and
lavender which I just look at and smell rather than eat.
Oh, and one of my oleanders started flowering yesterday
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 18. June 2003, 20:00:
quote:
Originally posted by The Obscure:
I'm having a whale/ wail ?? of a time this year But rather than just wittering, I wanted some advice on my
tomatoes. They were supposed to be a miniature variety,
because of the enclosed space - they are currently 5 ft tall - in
my living room - it's mad! The tomatoes are coming through,
though only two groups of flowers per tomato plant. But the
bottom leaves are going very pale and looking pathetic.
Meanwhile the top keeps getting higher.
Thank you in advance for any comments/tips
hmmm... my feeling is they're trying very hard to grow towards the light, thus the
legginess. (o for a soul like a tomato plant!)
the lack of flowers def. points towards needing more consistant light all around.
is the fruit of the miniature variety or the entire plant? that could explain the height
also. a miniature plant would be small byt a grape or cherry tomato plant could get
quite large.
Posted by zephirine of the roses (# 3323) on 18. June 2003, 20:04:
quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by zephirine of the roses:
[qb]and speaking of roses -
look who i found!
(PS zeph check your PMs - or at least check them in a few minutes, haven't written
it yet)
right-o!
try and take in the whole site... i'm in awe!
Posted by The Obscure (# 4149) on 18. June 2003, 20:24:
Zeph (is that appropriate shortening or one you hate?) - the toms are on a huge
window sill, getting light pretty much all the time the sun is up, so it's not that
they're having probs with the light. The type of toms are Red Cherry, and I was told
the plant would be small too, but think that I have been misled!!! It says that they
can be grown in containers if the side shoots aren't pinched out. However, the first
flowers didn't appear till 4ft, even though I didn't pinch out....
Can you, or anyone else recommend a small variety to look out for next year please,
so I can get some light to the rest of the living room???
Posted by babybear (# 34) on 19. June 2003, 08:10:
I haven't grown tomatoes for years, but my Grandpa and my parents have grown
them for years.
Unless you have a tomato bush you need to be pinching out the top. If you had
pinched out the top it would have forced growth to come from lower down the plant.
Next time don't leave it until the flowers start to show, pinch before then.
Tomatoes take a huge amount of feeding and watering. The nasty leaves on the
bottom could be a sign that the plant isn't getting enough water. Water the plant
morning and evening. You should also shield it during the day. If the plant is in a
sunny window the heat will dry it out, and the fruits will split.
Advice for now:




pinch out the top, and when you have a good crop forming on the sides, start
pinching extra tips out too.
make sure that you are feeding them properly. Tis the only way you will get a
decent, tasty crop. (you should also be feeding your other crops too)
make sure that you are giving enough water
protect the plants from too much sunshine and heat.
Tomato plants produce a strange sticky, staining thingy. Don't put anything of value
under the plant, in fact put down some sort of protection, eg a dustsheet so that it
doesn't stain your floor.
One last piece of advice, gather some recipes for green tomatoes, cos you will have
some at the end of the season. Green tomato chutney is good, as are fried green
tomatoes.
bb
Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on 19. June 2003, 08:40:
I'm growing a tumbling tomato called 'Gartenperle' and they are about 8 inches high
at the moment, very bushy and have the first flowers but no fruit yet.
It's a bit of an experiment as my tomatos have been a bit a disaster in recent years.
The plants get very big and just as they are about be harvested they get blight. The
tumblers are in clean soil, clean pots and on top of the shed.
These might be a better bet for indoors but I would have thought that unless you are
growing them in a conservatory that there will not be enough light in an ordinary
room to grow tomatos sucessfully.
Although I would class myself as an experienced gardener I have had very little
sucess with vegetables. I have green fingers with geraniums but hands of clay with
veggies!
Posted by Duo Seraphim (# 3251) on 19. June 2003, 08:41:
Basil is good to grow with tomatoes.
My Australian native orchid hybrids are flowering now - or rather the ones with
Dendrobium bigibbum in them. Here's Dendrobium "Elegant Heart" as an example.
Mine is covered with these lovely spikes of flowers.
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