Coleus Chatter for January

Thought I would start a new one.
Happy New Year everyone
http://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/COLEUS2009

and happy new year to you

happy new year to all!

and when can we send our order to RD?

Keeping my eye on co-ops just incase.

I really only intend to order a few from RD this year but finding that impossible. I keep chipping away at the list, currently have it down to 15. I just don't have space for that much this year, or don't think I will. I guess I'll know pretty soon what plants in my garden survive winter.

I'm also trying seeds of the versa series this year.

Karen

My list is much shorter this year due to all the cuttings I have in progress ref. posted picture of my livingroom windows.
I probably wont buy as many perennials this year either and am sowing seeds that are easy to germinate outside now, like annual poppies and Larkspurs.
Its an economy move.

That RD site is a killer!

And I grew Iceland Poppies one year, such a delight! They are perhaps the most precious flowers I've ever grown. The cannot be grown here, booo

Thats a shame.
I couldnt imagine a summer without poppies

Thanks to two great people I will have poppies this year!

Mola - you probably don't have snow either but we do!

So far the coleus are doing good. Every few days I find one or two that have slit their nodes but not as many as in former years. I'm watering even less than I did last year and it's working out just fine. The dead ones were the wimpy ones anyhow so it's no big loss.

no need for wimps!!!!!

I have no idea why I even bother planting the wimpy ones. It must be coleus madness.

Ha!

Coleus Madness.

Good Tshirt

Maybe its the challange of bringing a plant back from near demise.I have given up on that challange.
Why dig twice when a hard decission once will make sure I dont get dissapointed when the thing wilts and shrivles up and has to be replaced.

Coleus shouldn't be challenges to grow. I doubt if Fishnet Stockings was ever given enough trial time before it was put on the market. So few of us (if any) report any decent growth on it and we all know it will never grow like Gay's Delight, Alabama Sunset or Sedona.

I wonder how well it grows for Ray Rogers.

Good thought Pirl

If Ray, Dale or anyone else has had wild success with Fishnet Stockings I wish they'd post to let us know and post photos. Maybe we are doing something wrong but I seriously doubt we'd ALL be doing something wrong.

We might be in too cool a zone for it.

The vendors must be able to grow Fishnet Stockings OK, or they wouldn't have it to sell. Do they have a trick, is what I'd like to know.

It was planted here in the attached brick planters in the courtyard - equivalent to zone 7b to 8, still it never thrived and always looked smaller than the plants we get from Rosy Dawn.

So would I, Mola.

Yea, its called a greenhouse:-)

In essence a greenhouse is a protected area with the right temperature, humidity and light. If it was meant to be ONLY a greenhouse plant then it should be sold with that warning.

I have a greenhouse on the porch and every coleus does well but Fishnet Stockings lacks the will to live for me.

Obviously, if it is sold it is NOT strictly a greenhouse plant. But nursery greenhouses are way more sophisticated than your porch lean-to. They have facilities to keep plants better than you or I. I have grown fishnet with no problems. I dont particularly like it so I do not overwinter it.

You do not like it so that is why it grows for you. I love it and I will try it here in the heart of the desert. I will keep you posted.

Yep, thats the way it goes. I love irises, but cant keep one alive to save my life.

I have great success wintersowing my seeds. But I've tried platycodon 3 or 4 times and never had one sprout. Everyone else has them grow like weeds. Finally I bought one and planted it in fall. I'm wondering if it will even survive. They sure don't give me the impression that they want to live in my yard. :-)

So far coleus don't seem to dislike me. But they're pretty hard to kill.



Karen

Platycodon's emerge late around here, after other summer perennials appear asnd are well under way.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on the new thread.

I have just killed another batch of Fishnet so it's not the cold that does is. Maybe it's the heat. That is the thing I had until last week. It's now 47 and I'M COLD!!!!

Hap

14 degrees here, light snow with about an inch on the ground. This cold is supposed to last until next week. Traffic is awful because it's too cold for the salt treatments to work. Glad I don't have to go to work today.

Karen

I'm with you,too cold to melt snow.

We're due for a heat wave of 37 tomorrow but by Saturday morning we're told to expect minus 5, which will go up to a staggering 20.

Bundle up, Happy!

You better believe I am, but the cold has gotten to the bones and I am literally shaking.

The whole east coast including Florida is in for some really unseasonable cold.Canadian high will bring temps here into the minus digits.
Its nose freeze weather for sure.

Turn the oven to self-cleaning and cuddle up to it. Hurry up before you freeze!

I'm building a fire.
SIL turned 55 yesterday and I baked him his favorite Lemon Mirangue pie.
I need to stay as far away from it as possible.

I really should go out and shovel the driveway. Only about an inch of snow but it will get slippery at these temps. I'm dragging my feet- don't want to go out in the cold.

Karen

We are just having fluffy showers.No wind like the last few days.

Thank God that wind ended and gave us a break for awhile.

Knock Knock.....

Anybody home?

I moved>

Where are you, how are you and do you need some coleus cuttings when we can safely mail them???

Missed you, Dale!!!

HI DALE!!!!!
Our long lost friend is back! Ditto on what pirl asked....