Late August blooms

Holly I never had a begonia disappoint...once in a while I get one that grows funny... but just cut back the funny pieces and it always recovers nicely.... and since I have so much shade they love it here.. I love once they start to bloom they don't quit until it's time to dig them up.. making cuttings this year was pretty easy ...I will defiantly do that again next year ... some how I have to try to keep track of which is which color... somehow the tubers got mixed up in Randy's garageland.... going to have to make some changes this year... keep thinking the pantyhose route might be my best bet.. as least if something happens they won't get mixed up

thanks LG... always good to get another opinion on my photos... like I said I am way too critical

Holly

HOW did you save the Mandevilla? Did you keep it alive in the house or in some form of dormancy?

Somewhere on DG I read that Mandevilla make serious root tubers that can be dug up and saved. Has anyone heard of that? I never checked last year--just cut off the dead vine and the pot stayed outside all Winter. Might dig around and see this fall....

Sally--
ALL the blast e-mails I get from the Conservatory are written by Betsy who is the Volunteer Coordinator there. It is always her job to put out the SOS for help when it comes to getting ready for one of the shows or dismantling them. She also sends out the notices about what is happening.

As far as the area----yeah! it does, kind of, have a bad reputation about it, but it is a busy area and a residential area with all those beautiful, old, ornate row houses across the street.
When I have driven there, I go the "back way" through Wyman Park past the Art Museum and then down 28th Street. That is the worst part....Then I continue through Druid Hill Park-- around the lake and then I am there.....This park IS known for lots of drug people, mostly at night, but they also patrol it because of that.

I seldom think about what "might" happen--I just drive. Sometimes-- if it is really a seedy area--I lock my doors.

Gita

Hey Gita--maybe you have pictures you'd like to share with this thred
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/999730/
of Ric rac cactus etc

Onewish this is my first year with the begonias, they came from a DG co-op (were you in that one?) I have so many bulbs to pull this year I have been thinking about how to save them and mark them. Last year I just tossed all my cannas into big tubs and then had no idea what they were. This year I would like to try and be a bit more organized. I have been thinking about buying or making mesh bags like onions come in. Or just brown paper bags. I have done very well just putting my OSP and some of the Caladiums in brown bags.
Gita, I tried to keep mine in the house as a house plant and had terrible trouble with spider-mites but it did survive. My Dad put his in the basement and tried the going dormant trick. Both his and mine are about the same now. Mine just started blooming and his doesn't have blooms but I told him to watch for them as his is just a little behind mine. Hopefully next year I will be more on top of the insect issue and will feed them earlier. Dad was a bit late getting his out of the basement so hopefully he will do that earlier next year and we can enjoy blooms all summer.
I think I will be making a lot of trips to Josh's house this fall. He has what I think will be a perfect basement for storing my bulbs in. I tried some of the cannas there last year and it worked very well.

These are the ones in the deck boxes. Really they look good when they first open but the blooms don't last very long and the edges of the blooms look sunburned to me.

Sally, the Yarrow above, (Strawberry Seduction) is a relatively new introduction: 2007. It grows in poor soil, which is why I probably I have had success with it, and the red color remains vibrant for an extended period of time. I've been very happy with it. Snug, :o)

thanks!

Holly... yes I was involved in the begonia co-op... and will leave it at that... but a couple from that are just starting to bloom as well.. I planted mine late.. the ones I already had I started in the house in Feb

:)

the blooms usually look real nice for less than a week...when they get real funky I just cut them off... more will come... it does look as if yours might be getting a touch too much sun... the foliage isn't crispy so it's not too bad

I usually dig them and sometimes only somewhat clean them.. last year I cleaned them very well... years prior I left some soil on them and they were fine... in the past I kept them in empty containers with the tags... in our unheated garage that is attached to the house... doesn't get terribly cold or warm in there.. the cannas stored well.. but I haven't had luck with caladiums yet.. every year they shrivel up on me.. and turn into rocks.... guess the begonias are easier storing.. I am not kidding when I tell you I have a begonia tuber the size of a softball... this was it's 5th season it doesn't flower all that great... the stems on it are massive... as well as the leaves... but I am keeping it going for cuttings next year... I had pretty good luck this year with them... it will have to get tossed sooner or later.. but it's something I have kept alive for so long and don't want to ditch it

I think I might try to pot some up and let them grow on inside to see how that goes

Onewish, Try a warmer location for storing your Caladiums. I have stored all of mine the last 2 years. I just drug in the pots and stuck them in my plant/craft room. Stopped watering them and let them go dormant. The bulbs that got dug out of the window boxes just got tossed into brown paper bags. That room is pretty warm. The cannas where stored in a cooler location.

Holly, thanks for mentioning the warmth for the Caladiums, I tried the basement and failed, so I guess it was too cold. This year I'll use the spare bedroom. Time to start thinking about making room, that will be 5 good sized pots.

...besides.....
Caladiums require at least 85*-90* to germinate. If you plant them outside--they will just sit there till it starts getting hot.
When planting Caladium corms, plant then at the bottom of the pot and then find a place to put them that will have bottom heat. Light is NOT necessary.
I used to use the top of my water heated, but now they are so well insulated that there is hardly any heat there. I suppose a heat mat would help here.

When I was still working for the grower, they had a big, long table covered in a thick felt blanket which had all the growing AV's on it. The blanket got watered and the AV's absorbed the moisture.
This blanket hung all the way to the floor. It was under these tables--in the Greenhouse--that they germinated Caladiums. Talk about hot and moist!

onewish--

racking my brains from "antiquity" here....
I remember--long, long ago, that I read that the corms of the Non-stop (or tuberous) begonias were to be left in their pots and allowed to dry out for storage.
In the new season, when those little growth nubs were starting to show, you removed the corm and re-potted it in a VERY peatmossy soil mix.
..anyway......that's what I remember.....

Gita

thanks Holly.. maybe my heated basement will be better for the caladiums then...

I always dig my tuberous begonia out Gita... been 5 years doing it that way ... they always come back just fine.. not really a corm... more fibrous than something like a glad...

I found the photo of my softball size one

the one on the right is the normal sized tuber

the monster cosmos finally has blooms... going to have to try and get a better shot tomorrow.. but look at the size of the thing!!

Sure it's papa want's a sunflower? That is tall!
Mine bloomed early and through most of the summer, it was in a bed that the soil is not built up enough, going to add more compost to that space this fall.

Cosmos get tall if they get a lot of water, and they don't really need much in the first place. Not much you can do about all the rain we've had!

Some hostas are still blooming here, this is H. plantaginea and friends

'Elegans'

'Geisha' - some of the little hostas have impressive flowers, they seem to be more colorful than most.

oops, wrong pic but you get the idea

This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 8:52 AM

Sedum 'Matrona'

New England asters that the groundhogs didn't cripple. The ones out front are purple-ish, this one's pinker.

I've tried to get asters going for a few years now, but the grounhogs just tore all the lower leaves off most of them and bent them to the ground. But they're still growing... hopefully I can outsmart them next year.

This message was edited Sep 1, 2009 9:27 AM

Can't have asters without goldenrods.

Helenium and ironweed

Critter's obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) I like these a lot.
Anyway, September's here, I figured it was last chance to post some of these. It's finally cooling off, lots of work to do in the yard this week, smothering more grass and moving plants around.

claypa,

I have tried Asters--and none of them have ever come back--actually, most of them give up the ghost the same year. What are they called??????
Mostly, I have tries those bright blue ones (pink too) that everyone sells...soon. Just love that bright blue!
Looked like your Asters....

My HD got in some dwarf Goldenrod a week or so ago. It sure was an eye-catcher! Must have sold out in no time flat. I have not seen it again. Looked really pretty!

We are loaded with all kinds of evergreens and Rhodos and Azaleas now. I was told to go water everything in Outside garden today. Things were dry! Did alal the plants inside the Greenhouse too.
Three hours later--I was hot and sweaty --but it was all done.
It is the job of one or the other (of us two) phone operators to do this. Beats me why? The garden people just hang around and yak.....Asked the Mgr. why? he said they are there for customer service.
Really?????? One can always turn off the hose and still serve the customers. I DO! Garden is slow anyways nowadays....

Thanks for listening.....Gita

can't believe the asters didn't come back for you Gita

I have a few that do very well

Ha - I'd rather water plants than answer the phone any time! I guess air conditioning would be tempting, though.

Most plants called "asters" (in America, anyway) are Symphyotrichum or Eurybia species. I grow a few, mostly New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae). There are lots of hybrids.
I got some more goldenrods this year, Solidago rigida and S. speciosa, but I don't know if they'll bloom this year.

stormyla's aster is looking fantastic as she predicted when she gave it at Swap. With barely any care its become a nice bushy clump. Will get a pic when it blooms.

Glad to hear it, Sally. I hope that Happy's is doing well too. Sorry I haven't been posting. Bronchitis has got me felled flat.

Oh no stormyla! Bundle up, get the tootsies in the sun and take care of yourself. Hope you're on the mend!

Oh Stormy take care, I too noticed you missing. With all the summer activities I just thought you were larking around and here you are laid low. A bunch of my cannas are blooming and the dahlias I need to get some pics and do some posting. Not sure if I will get there today as I really got to run but I promise more pics tomorrow. I have a few others for some of the other threads too.
Onewish, I've never seen a monster cosmos like that before. What a Hoot ;-}
Claypa, I've been weeding out my goldenrods but then they aren't really weeds just misplaced flowers. LOL
Those dwarf goldenrods that Gita is talking about might be very nice.

I got that one at your swap Holly!!!.. here is the best shot of the bloom I could get today.. that sucker is so high up

Reblooming black eyed stella

Friend on autumn joy sedum

Sweet autumn clem, that I received from Wind at Holly's...thank you, thank you!!!!

nice Jen!!

I still can't get over that cosmos.

Jen, My sedum is filled with bees too. I would love to have a Sweet Autumn Clem just don't have a spot to grow one yet. I've been thinking about a new trellis down near the new bed I have been working on. I was thinking maybe a couple of climbing roses, wonder how that would look mixed with a Sweet Autumn?

me either... I hope there are some blooms lower so I can get the seeds... LOL

I think it would look very pretty mixed.