Sheryl, I think the Laurel was a soil PH issue. I do have 2 doing well in another bed. One may have been a vole attack too.
The two Daphnes heaved during a thaw and I didn't see it soon enough to cover the roots before they froze again.
November...color in your garden ??
Ah, gotcha - thank you!
Sheryl,
Mountain Laurel do fine for us here, and we are colder than you are. And if you're looking for Daphne, may I recommend Carol Mackie? It seems to do quite well everywhere, and oh, the fragrance.
This is a great discussion. Let's keep it going. I'm getting a nice list of shrubs I want for spring!
Thanksgiving morning Camellia "Winter's Snowman". They say we may get some snow today.
Double Knockout rose blooming yesterday.
Daphne Cneorum putting out a few Thankgiving blooms. Oh the smell!!
Here's the female Skimmia. See no frost or sunburn.
Hey Polly - I was thinking the opposite - that maybe we were too warm for the Laurel when Stormy mentioned that she was in the warmer part of her state....
I really do like those skimmias. Might have to break down and get it from Forestfarm..... maybe Seneca has them?
Lady's at the front please
Mr_Canthus, are you saying I should move the Skimmia?
No Stormyla. I wasn't saying anything at all really. Just a pic to show a male and a female Skimmia. I thought the photographer might have said that if mad enough to talk to skimmias.
Only about half the things I ever say are serious
Ha!
OK, I still don't know why I don't have berries now. I had them for two years and then none last year nor any so far this year. Any ideas?
Last nice day here. I went out and spray painted some of my hydranges in the front strip green, red and gold. Then I did some of the ornamental grass tassels. And decorated the pine tree out there. Looks festive.
I love that skimmia, and will definetly get one or two.
Pagancat, I wasn't thinking you might be too warm for the mountain laurel. they do have a narrow zone range they grow in. I think they do grow up in the mountains of Georgia and North Carolina, though, although it may be pretty cold there.
I'm going to look into skimmias. Do they stay small like that?
LOL - see what you guys started? I found some at Rare find nursery ( http://www.rarefindnursery.com/ ) but they are pricey lil' buggers....
Polly, as I think about it, I live in a very strange place, weather wise - all these tall hill/ mountains, with the various hollows (sorry, hollers) and a river or two running through the whole thing can cause some really strange stuff. IOWs, if I want it, I can try it and if it makes it, it does! I *do* get a really nasty cold west =>east wind in the winter time - are they sensitive to that, do you know?
Hmm, Stormy - do you know what pollinates them?
Ge, generally they are short, 3' & under, but they can get wider than that. They are relatively slow growers. Most references site them as being hardy only to zone 7. Mine came with a tag saying zone 6.
Sheryl, No clue. They do need a shady spot or the edges will get burned.
This nursery has a good selection of kalmias, and a couple skimmias. They have all positive ratings in Garden Watchdog, although there are only seven ratings.
http://www.brokenarrownursery.com/
That's great - thanks!
Thanks, Polly. I also have another shrub that gets berries. It's called a Snowberry and it gets white berries. This gets to be a large shrub and is deciduous.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53571
This message was edited Nov 28, 2009 10:38 AM
Thanks Polly
What I didn't see was they have a 100.00 minimum order. I'm sure i could spend that, but it's steep.
Has your family departed, Jo Ann?
Re your berryless skimmias Stormyla... just going through the possible causes
It is female( not hermaphrodite) and something happened to the male.
The male's still there but onr of thems not flowering well, eg too shady or nutrient (Potassium) deficiency
Flowers are getting damaged by something eg cold
Some other obstruction to pollination, ie failure of pollinatiing insects as Pagancat suggested
( all these last 3 would apply if it is hermaphrodite)
There's probably other reasons but can't think right now. Sorry if you've already accounted for some of these in previous posts.
Hope that helps
Mr_Canthus. Last year that bed was under rock hard frozen snow and ice for three weeks. That could have possibly done it.
This is an amazing thread. What a good question.
I've got allysum going great, roses (4 types), galairdia, rudbekkia (just a few), one shasta daisy, salvia, and nasturium to beat the band. The nasturtium are the biggest bloomers and I strongly recommend them. They even make good cut flowers.
I started the nasturtium, salvia and allysium from seeds and they have done the best. Interesting. Got my seeds from Diane's seeds. Strongly recommend her.
Stormyla. The red buds you get on male skimmias all through the winter are unopened flowers. Its easy to imagine how extreme conditions at the wrong time could damage them.
Sawpalm.here in zone 8a ( I think) we have roses, nasturtiums and some salvias but Gaillardias and rudbeckias are pretty much over. What zone are you in?
Yes, Mr_Canthus, I remember how wide they open to white flowers. You are probably right, even though the buds opened, somehow the flowers might have gotten damaged.
We still have Gallardia blooming here. I think they will have to be frozen stiff to stop blooming.
Sorry about my horrible spelling. I'm in Zone 7A, northwest NC. How could I forget! Camelias "Yuletide"...early but profuse. Camelias are blooming all over this town.How do Gallardia do in the summer. I just planted mine this fall.
Actually, I don't think I've seen a Gaillardia here recently to know that they're not still flowering.
I'm guessing that if grown from seed to flower in the first year, it would depend on when they were sown.
My goodness though, it aint half raining a lot here lately. It never seems to stop. Any self -respecting Gaillardia must be feeling rotten.
LOL, It's been wet here too. Except the last two days, it's been wiiiiiindy!!
I took a walk/ride today down a road that is usually chained closed. I spied these berries growing there, but I don't know what intrigued me more, the berries or the stone slabs that had been laid across this stream for carriages to cross.
Carriages? like horse-drawn?
Yes. The old fashioned kind.
I almost dread to see what asphalt and the public access does to the place.
Sometimes restoration isnt the best thing to happen.
That is a fascinating picture. The shrub looks like a Viburnum; we have one over here that grows in really wet places called Viburnum opulus ( or guelder rose) Do you think that that is a similar species in the photo?
Mr_Canthus, I have no idea. I was just out looking around. I did find several unexpected treasures. If you want to see them go here to Pirl's thread on driftwood and look at my posts from yesterday.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1051560/
Lovely pictures there, Mary. I can't wait to see what they do with it.
Yes, Pirl, but in some ways, I'm with Ge. If they open it to the public, it could be a problem. I read today on the web that it is one of the richest spots in Pa for native wildlife as no one has been allowed back there for years. Most of the people who see it do so from down along the river, which is quite a hike.
This area was once referred to as Egypt as two large creeks converge here with a big river and the waters would flood and leave silt on the soil, like the Nile every year. I always wondered why the next road over was called Egypt road. The next plantation over is called "Fatlands" a reference to the quality of the soil. While I was climbing through there, it was tough not to get stuck in the mud.
It's amazing what you find out when you read, slave owners living next door to Quakers???? I knew Ben Franklin owned slaves, but he was a Unitarian, actually a Deist, until most of the Deists became Unitarians. Ostensibly the founding fathers were all Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and Quakers. But they had their "secret" sects.
Are you talking to me Mary, LOL? Hopefully they can conserve it as a wildlife sanctuary. We locally have an area that has albino deer. It used to be an army depot, and many developers have wanted to purchase it, but so far they have been able to preserve it.
Is that your family in the picture?
Gosh, Polly, yes, the two threads were confusing my pea brain. The Audubon bird sanctuary is just across the road down a mile or 2 on his plantation. That one is funded by the county & the Audubon Society.
The Fed has had great plans for this property and the adjacent Fatlands to turn them into a Revolutionary War Conference Center. But the residents and the state have been fighting them about the Walnut Hill property because of the barn and the wildlife. Lately there has been talk of the Fed giving the entire VF park system back to the state. I guess then my address will return to Valley Forge and not Norristown.
Yes, my niece and DSO. They were OK with the walking, but guess who got to do all of the embankment climbing for the photos?? VF National Park has the largest deer population in the world. A person can see literally thousands of them before dusk. They have very little fear of people. You can get really close to them and they won't move. They are so used to all of the hikers, joggers and everyone else. Every year, they have to do a large controlled shoot there as they can't feed them all and they wreck havoc on the resident's properties and cause hundreds of car accidents every year. I haven't seen Albino deer. Will have to look them up.