Stormy, That does light up that dark spot. I did not realise you had a dark area, your garden looks so open in the pictures.
Here is my first sucessful Pensteman, I think I found the right spot of them. It is Red Rocks, I collected seeds for the swap.
Boy you guys can chat up a storm when the timing is right
Orange flowers--I let it be known I would accept peach colored iris, and critter gave me two or three. I thought they would give a refreshing contrast to my current purple and lavendar iris . Fine line between orange and peach flowers. But this coming year will be the bloom and I don't have the names handy! And I have also decided (lady) that iris really take maintenance because when I leave them alone I get huge thick clumps that leave big ratty holes in July. My goal would be individual rhizomes that I renew every other year probably, with other leafy things so there's no big holes.
But as for a highlight of 2009--probably that I took this from a pitiful stick in early 2008, survived awful mites last winter, and grew enough in 2009 to give me the first flowers. Plumeria. And the mites are back in force as we speak.
Well also getting Brugmansia sticks to four feet tall and some blooms too, in one year.
Sally
Plumeria is supposed to smell like heaven. My parents went to Hawaii on a cruise last year and brought me back plumeria and ginger sticks. I was only able to get the ginger to start...
Sally, I am drooling over your Plumeria, I really need to get a cutting and start one. My co-worker has one and brought a blossom in for me to sniff, it was heavenly. I'll have to con her into taking a cutting for me to try.
Lady, Those Penstemon are very pretty. Did you try some before, and they didn't make it?
Sally, That Plumeria is very nice. Does it smell very good? Tropicals are a whole nother set of challenges. You should be proud of yours!!
I had a number of very beautiful Iris this year. Many of them came from one of the co-ops. But they must have gotten some of them mixed up, because some of them don't match the names of what I ordered. But this unusual one is "The Big Apple". I really like it's deep rich color.
Mary -
They are absolutely stunning! I also like the white one with the purple detailing to the right of Big Apple. What is the name of that one?
Thanks, Carolyn. Unfortunately, that's one of the ones from the co-op that doesn't match anything that I ordered.
I was afraid you were going to say that.......
That's a pretty bed, Carolyn. Just waiting for the peonies to open and the lilies to bloom. Bet it looks great. What is the white blooming tree?
Here's another beauty from that co-op that was misidentified.
Stormy, I did try other verities of Penstemon it a different bed, these are in the new bed beside the privacy fence. It gets good drainage, I think that might have been the problem.
Love the iris but you guys better stop tempting me, I don't want to add to the ones I already have.
Mary
That is a Fringe Tree http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/chionanthus_virginicus.html. Hubby had to have one when we moved in. This picture is from May of '08, but it shows a better shot of the tree. This past year, I put in another bed of heucheras under it.
Wow, Lady. That's an absolute beauty. I love the creaminess of that color and the subtlety of the edging.
This siamese bloom on Edith Wolford, just delighted me. Iris are tough plants and absolutely do require work, but their beauty is really unsurpassable. Maybe Chris, you should plant the SDB. They are a lost easier to work with and just, if not more, beautiful as the TB's.
Carolyn, That is a pretty tree. I don't think I've ever seen one of those in person. I've been dying to try a Sourwood tree. Of course, there is no such thing as "trying" a tree.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://greenwoodnursery.com/Images/sourwood4main.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/19518&h=272&w=252&sz=37&tbnid=BCsUKW1FScQ1gM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsourwood&usg=__pUKTIWvx1J4sFBD_dE8UB0ZdIuY=&ei=ckw-S_uEJZHOlQf05vmpBw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=5&ct=image&ved=0CBMQ9QEwBA
I took a rather chilly walk around the garden today. Found buds starting on the lilacs, some viburnum and the stachyurus Praecox.
I never got around to protecting the Hydrangea this fall, so what will be will be. One thing I noticed is that my small Magnolia, Little Gem had lost all of it's leaves since this brutal weather started. I don't think it should have. Does anyone else grow this? How are your leaves holding up? Dumped some coffee grinds on some of the acid loving shrubs.
I have a "small flowered" magnolia, 'Ann', and it drops its leaves every winter. :-)
Critter, I think Magnolia Ann, Jane and Little Gem are all the same type of Maganolia. Good. I didn't notice last year as I had a cage full of leaves around it.
I haven't given mine any special protection, and so far it's done OK. I think it might be too young to bloom much... or buds are getting frosted.
Mine hasn't bloomed yet either. I think this will be year 3 for it.
My friend Jane lost the top out of her Southern Magnolia in that heavy snow we got a couple of weeks ago. She was heart sick, she has babied it along for several years, wrapping it in burlap every year. Last year it was finally too big to wrap and she was so excited as she had been told if she could get it to live for several years in our climate and get it big enough it would be fine. Last winter was it's first unprotected year, it was just beautiful last summer. Not sure how or if it will bounce back this spring.
I won the table arrangement at our HGHA meeting last sat. There are winter blooming pussy willows in it. The florist that put it together (a member of the assoc) said that he had just cut them from his garden. They are covered with pussies, he also said that they are easy to root so we will see I might have some winter blooming pussy willow for the next plant swap. Critter and Stormy are either of you interested?
Holly, Yes, I will be. You are now reminding me that I don't remember where I planted the black pussy willow from the swap. Talk about a brain blip. I'm drawing a complete blank.
So I was NOT hallucinating--I thought my lilac buds looked swollen too.
You probably all know--
Little Gem is evergreen like a Southern Magtnolia
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2836/
and shouldn't lose leaves. Mine is full of leaves and never goes bare. Other magnolias ARE deciduous
Sally, I thought that it was supposed to be evergreen. Mine definitely has been defoliated. The leaves will probably grow back. I remember that it lost all of it's leaves in the first year, which is why I protected it last year. There are always lots of them for sale in the nurseries up here, but they must not be evergreen in our climate. I hope that some day it will bloom.
I don't know where my black pussy willow is, either... but I think it's in a pot (or two)...
I'd love a start of winter blooming pussy willow, didn't know such a thing existed. :-)
Thanks!
I cleaned out a Spring bed to plant annuals. I put some Stitch Witch iris in the nursery bed to hold it over and forgot about it. Here's the result, blooming lovely amongst chives, parsley and asparagus. (PS I have some rhizomes extra for trade...)
Karidan That's lovely. It's not blooming now is it?
The photo was taken late Spring. SW is the perfect border iris, never over 18-20 inches, with blue to purple picotee flowers. Here's another shot, showing chives (my favorite herb, ornamental as well as edible) and Neon Lights Swiss Chard. If you want an easy to grow "greens" that produces all season long, give chard a try. I have a few extra rhizomes of SW if anyone's looking for it.
Cheers then!
Thanks, Karidan. I grow both green and red chard. I don't use chives or grow them. My friend has a large bed full of them and is always trying to give me some. I have a large collection of SDB Iris. Most are under 14". There are one or two in that collection with coloring similar to Stitch Witch. I have them in my front shrub beds along the walkway to my door. I love to pass them as I come and go. Many of them are rebloomers too. Their bloom times are mixed also, so it seems like July & August are the only times that none are in bloom. It's nice to see you post here in the MA forum.
K--I need to learn your secret to easy Chard. I have been unable to keep it last few years! Mostly due to flea beetles eating it to heck. Lovely iris!
Gosh Sally, That's one beetle that hasn't found it's way into my garden!Thank heavens!
Very pretty Karldan, I have some iris to dig this spring. I promised several last year and never did get around to digging and shipping them. I like flowers planted in my Veggie Garden. Someone will host a spring plant swap hopefully you will be able to attend and bring your extras along.
Sally, no special secret, grow organic. I garden right next to the Elizabeth River which flows into the Atlantic. I cannot in good concience allow any chemicals "safe" or not to enter the watershed. Also, be good to the "Little People". I see Jack-in-the-green or his brethren every now and then out of the corner of my eyes as I garden. When I find shiny treasures like a marble or shell, I throw it out in the swamp for them. They reward me with record harvests! (youtube Jack-in-the-green, or google for the lyrics to this song about Jack Frost's brother, who taps his cane to awake the sleeping gardens in Spring).
Here's a daylily seedling from my hybridizing program that I am quite proud of. Will be glad to trade seeds this year as well.
Lovely DL! Have you registered any of your seedlings? I keep meaning to try some deliberate crosses (as opposed to bee-pollinated ones). I've had good luck growing out DL seeds, so I'd like to grow out some of my own. :-)
'Stitch Witch' is wonderful! I think that's one that I have in front, although I'll have to check as I lost a few irises to rot last summer. Hopefully I'll have a chance to dig/divide some irises this year.. either do some swaps by mail or pot them up for the fall plant swap.
I know Norfolk is a bit far from Frederick for a day trip, but it would be cool if you could make it up this way at the end of February to join us for our seed swap party! Keep an eye on the "Events" thread in this forum for swaps and other opportunities to get together with other DGers. :-)
thanks Karldan- I do grow organically as in little or no chemicals, but am thinkign I don't give my soil fertility enough help. The sandy base lulls me into thinkign it'll be as easy to GROW as it is to DIG in.
Pretty DL
Compost my dear! Everything organic goes on the pile except for disease carriers like tomato plants (virus) and canna stalks (leaf rollers). Here you see already rich black muck, (and a crab shell, this year was an especially crabby year). I lost count of the 5 gallon bucketsfulls of compost I spread last year, over 500 gallons, all for free. Grass clippings (but not from "chem-lawn" lawns,) autumn leaves, hedge clippings, even large branches which soon get covered with fungus and break apart. My pile is a favorite hangout for blue tailed skinks who also patrol the garden for insects.
Sally, no matter how much you enrich your soil, that won't help with those beetles. Therein is always the rub for organic gardeners. To spray or not to spray. Organic sprays generally retard, but don't stop insect damage. We have a wonderful organic market in our area and for many items they also offer "low spray" selections. Sometimes the "low spray" variety is the only one offerred of a particular fruit or vegetable.
If we all want to be truly organic we would have to get used to only eating what is in season in our own area and be sure to buy whatever we don't grow from only local organically certified farms which we could verify as the source. Or we'd have to pay exhorbitant prices to shop in some store that would import from only organically certified sources. We'd have to be willing to trust that they were honorable in this regard. Life without citrus would be tough.
The only two weapons in my gardening ordinance that would violate the rules of organic growing are RoundUp and Sevin. I only painted the Roundup onto the cut stems of some thistle last year and didn't use the Sevin at all. I know what the cost was for the beneficial insects that I purchased last year. I purchase large amounts of produce weekly, but generally pretty cheaply. Even so, the cost of the insects alone was equal to half of the amount that I spend on produce a year. I still bought most of my produce too.
Sally, row cover isn't purty, but I've been told it's effective at keeping flea beetles away from young eggplants (a plant I'd about given up on growing because of those pests!), might work to protect a patch of chard.
Hi, K--you don't have to convert me to compost I'm there. Just don't have the wherewithall (time?) to move 500 buckets of it around. I will try to maximize compost in the chard area--and try the row cover too. and move the chard to a fresh spot. and and..
I grew red amaranth last summer and had a really good introduction to pigweed flea beetles.
I opened up my coldframe today- I may just go out and sow some chard seeds there. I'd do spinach if I had some.
Oh but for a highlight, I saw how nicely lettuce and mustard did as fall crops!!
I'm still waiting for some of my soil to thaw to fill my cold frames. It has softened up some now. Should be ok, maybe by Friday.
I went to try to broadcast some poppy seeds today, but it was too windy out by my road side bed. Figured I could do the ones right around the house, despite the wind. The ground is nice and wet. Decided that I would use the salt shaker method. Went to get some sand to put in the salt shaker. Found I only have builder's sand and greensand. Builder's sand clumps up too much. Greensand is too expensive to waste for this use. Will have to go to HD for some sand & Peat.
Sprinkled some coffee grinds around the Daphnes, Laurels and Rhodos. Still have to get to the Azaleas and Camellias. Noticed that some of these shrubs were getting chlorotic, so I sprayed what was left of the premixed liquid iron on them. Will have to get to the rest tomorrow. Might give them some sulphur too.
Found some nice big buds on the Viburnum Bodnantense Dawn. Might bloom before month's end. Lot's of Daff's popping up above ground.
I also spotted one clump of daffs putting up leaves; they're right next to the shed and on a southwest facing wall of it. So tempting to think spring will follow easily from here. We can easily still have more winter storms. Shhhh, knock on wood!
