With just 2 months to go, there are lots of things that we can do to help our plants prepare for the spring growth spurt. What are you doing in your garden on the welcome breaks from snow, ice, rain and freezing winds?
When I was out this morning, I saw a number of Hyacinths 2 inches above ground!
It was time for a new thread. Nothing like finishing up old projects as we move in to the year and planing new projects for the new year. Ric and I have already started talking about priorities for the comming spring. We are hoping to start off early with the big arbor over the driveway to support the wisteria and the brick area under it. Then move to the Gazebo and finish up enlarging the brick patio and getting in those flowerbeds on the 4 corners. They were 2 of the projects that didn't get done last year due to Ric's injury. I will say that since we didn't get to work on those projects and I had to come up with an alternative that I could do mostly by myself I ended up with that great new bed down by the garden. I would have never started that if things had gone as planned and I just love the new bed.
Stormy, are you sure they are Hyacinths, look like iris to me. Love the purple leaves. Snow is still on the ground up here, still to deep to go poking around outside.
Yeah! They do not look like Hyacinths to me either.....Hyacinths have that rosette cluster of leaves all around the stem, and they are NOT that tall....
What am I doing????? Just trying to get all my seeds bagged and portioned out and ID'd to get ready for the Frederick Seed Swap. I have SOOOO many seeds! See my Trade List! Ask! And you shall receive!!!!!....:o)
My outside is pretty much all cleaned up. I hate to put my garden to "sleep" dirty! I rake and clean and cut back and all that--to save time in the Spring when it is crunch time. There are a few vines I never puled up. No biggie! They are dead anyways!
Not much anyone can do outside at this time of year. It is cold! It is wet! Everything is dead!
Just keeping the birds fed.
Inside---Now that will soon be a different story!!!!!!
Gita
OK you Guys, I never meant to imply that the photo was a Hyacinth. I just happened to mention that my Hyacinths are above ground. That photo is a robusta iris, "Gerald Darby", from last spring.
Gita, I spent almost 3 full days doing "nothing" in the garden. And I hurt all over. So far I've filled at least 6 dumpster fulls of debris, branches, spruce cones and such that blew in from the windstorms. I trimmed lot of seed heads that I left for the birds. They were picked clean. Last year I had a lot of heaving, so I left a lot of foliage on anything that heaved last year, hoping that the extra insulation would protect against heaving. That will have to be cleaned up at the end of March. A lot of that heaving happend last March, with those late freezes.
There was so much rain in the fall that most of my broad leaf evergreens became chlorotic. I treated all of them with foliar iron sprays. I also gave all of them and the roses and other shrubs some epsom salts. I hope to give them some sulphur before the rains start.
There was a lot of settling of the soil in that new section along that long white fence. Some of the roses planted along there had exposed roots. I had to build the soil up around all of those. Same with the Japanes Iris along there.
I applied a lot of compost to plants that were surrounded by a lot of foliage in the fall. It was hard to get close to the roots then.
More observations from today, daffs are up everywhere. Hyacinths are up in 3 beds. Tulips are up in 2 beds. All of the Crocus foliage is up. Squill foliage is up. Lots and lots of perennials are putting out new foliage. The lilac buds are swelling. The Camellias look like they will bloom long before April. Forsythias are fully budded. Viburnums have some pretty fat buds. All of the Daphnes are in bud. Hope these buds don't get whacked by late freezes.
I'm hoping to direct sow some poppies this week. Need to have a still day to broadcast the seeds.
Oops! Stormy, still love the purple foliage. LOL
When I look out side all I see is slowly melting snow and each day more small twigs are being revealed, a lot will have to be cleaned out of the water garden, yuck!
I still have a long way to go till real spring but at least the days are getting longer. The early spring blooms will still get a covering of snow as they do every spring and I will be out picking daffs to rescue and enjoy in the house.
I spotted a bunny out by my Carol Mackie Daphne, it was the only green out there, but I think he was eating the bird seed what has been kicked out by the birds at the feeder.
Can't get to the Forsythia to much snow to stomp through.
I'll just enjoy reading about everyone's early spring, I time will come later.
Lady, We still have 2 months of winter left. Today wasn't very cold working out there. But it was much damper than yesterday. My feet were the only part of me that was cold. I actually worked up a pretty good sweat. Just had on a down vest over my clothes. No gloves needed today for warmth. I really couldn't get over how much emerging foliage was on the perennials. I don't ever remember seeing that in January before.
stormyla--How that for a bunch of gardeners, hoppin on ya for even a hint of mistaken ID/ chuckle, all meaning well!
I don't think I'm at all seeing the growth you are. Maybe my messy leafy beds are not warming up like nice neat ones would be. or your better fed soil gives them more encouragement. I will need good spring cleanup. Instead of that I tended the Bringin Ins, took tips from coleus and begonia, repotted some small started begonia that were outgrowing the tiny pots, cleared off the plant shelf where seeds will go.
My warm-spot pansies have stayed in bloom very well.
When I see my spring bulbs coming out I'll try to use that as a reminder to fertilize them. Early, so they have time to take some in. I know some people prefer (OK strongly prefer) all organic fertilizer but I heard also that low soil temps keep the micros from making anything available in winter, so that inorganic ferts are better taken up. Well, I guess I could pee on my pansies...
Tulips that I remember did NOT bloom last year, or the year before I will pull leaves off to help them go away. I know I didn't fertilize any tulips and they are hangers on from years ago. Those few tulip leaves laying in a bed with no chance of blooming , don't look good.
I could/ should trim my butterfly bush anytime now. And could get Forsythia cuttings. thanks ladyg.
Sally, I got a good buy on two of the largest bags of Bulbtone right at the end of the season. I broadcast it on the beds in early December so that it would have a chance to soak in by March. Except for the lilies, all of the bulbs are usually completely without roots until February. I figured that by then the nutrients should have reached down to the root level. I will feed them again in April or May.
Maybe those two bigs snows kept the ground warmer than normal this year. My ground did not freeze until about 3 weeks ago, and it has thawed quite a bit now. I slid around in the mud a lot yesterday. The pansies had been frozen solid, but yesterday were starting to stand up and had quite a few blooms open. You're welcome to come and pee on them!
HYACINTHS taken today!
Tulips - today!
Daffs - today
Yup stormyla, I figured your bulbs were well fed already! And I like the theory of the early snow preventing the usual freeze.
All the talk of clean beds inspired me. I pulled leaves away from iris and hand raked some other areas. I did find more daffodil foliage. I found LESS wood poppy foliage, Bunny must like that. I saw no signs at all of my snowdrop or crocus foliage. I made three gallons of 'blue water' fertilizer and gave shots to everything that seemed like its trying to grow.
I was thinking of cutting back some of dead foliage that I left last fall but I never did get to it. This weather sure makes me want to get out and work in the yard but it is just too wet to do much. I did walk around and didn't see much in the way of new growth. I was looking at the new varigated box woods Ric planted last fall. They are looking good I wonder how many years it will take for them to look like a hedge? They seem so small but I reminded myself that the big clipped yew was little like that once.
The new growth on my three boxwoods was awfully yellow. I gave them the Iron and epsom treatments. The Eumonymuses looked awfully white,, so I gave it to them too. Hope I can get to the sulphur tomorrow. If we get another 5 or 6 days of rain, everything will just get worse.
I have a lot of iris foliage to start cutting and pulling away. Don't want those rhizomes to rot. All of that Gaillardia and Aster foliage has got to go too. There is a lot of work to do. Spent most of the day today at the office. Was only outside for an hour and there was frost out front. Maybe tomorrow I can get 2 hours outside. All of my roses need pruning. The ground was more solid today as it was colder. It was pretty windy too.
Lilac today. This one didn't bloom last year, so I gave it a bunch of lime.
Stormy---
For years and years I listened to the Radio "Garden Club" that Allan Summers hosted. He owned "Carroll Gardens".
It was an Early Saturday (7-9AM) call in show that went for 2 hours. People called with all kinds of problems and asked all kinds of advice and he always had the answer.
Most of Baltimore's gardeners would NOT go a Saturday morning without tuning in to this show. ...including ME!
I learned a lot from him --His advice was so great! Then it grew VERY repetitive-- to the point where I would know what his answer would be to a caller's question--before he answered it. And--that is still a lot of the advice I give people here on DG.
He sure was a real gardening "GURU" and knew everything...at least we all believed that!
Much of what I still practice came from his advice.
Now-he is/has gone out of business. Quite a loss to everyone---but also, he did no run his mail order business to well---and his Nursery and Shop was a junk yard. He was also getting on in years.....Still--a BIG loss to us all.
I keep wondering if he will keep his Show on AM Radio after giving up his Greenhouse.Shop and his Mail Order business as well. It was NOT well received! Like--"All talk and NO action" type of a thing. BUT--we all were glued to the radio for his advice....
I have mixed feelings about all this..........Gita
Wow, I can't believe you have all that popping up already. Just some of my crocus foliage is showing.
Well Gita you certainly paid attention as you give great advice. You really are a very knowledgeable gardener. You are always willing to share your knowledge and your great plants. Holly
AAAWWWW.....Thanks, Holly! That makes my day!
I DO love to pass on whatever i have learned or know. I think I should have been a teacher at some time in my life.
I DO do that in my HD during the growing season when I hold my "Clinics: in Outside Garden on Sunday mornings.
This Spring will be the 3rd year I will be doing it.
What I treasure most is that I can pass on what is NOT "common. knowledge". Advice that has been gleaned from outside sources--personal experiences--trial and errors and such. I believe THAT kind of advice really matters the most. IF people are open-minded enough to take it. Isn't that what DG is all about?
And--having worked for a Grower and for different Nurseries and Garden Departments, one cannot help but learn stuff that is not written in books. I DO feel confident that I can pass on information that is not "common knowledge".....
BUT--if I am challanged by someone who seems to know better--I will withdraw--as i cannot make an argument why MY advice is more factual than theirs....as it is "acquired knowledge". Hoe can I prove that it is factual?
Thanks--Gita
Hey, what is "common knowledge" to some may be news to others! :-)
I don't fuss trying to prove I've got the facts, I just say "this is what has worked for me." In gardening (as in everything) there are lots of different ways to do things, and most of them are quite valid. When I write "teaching" articles, I try to acknowledge that and make it clear that I'm just giving directions for the approach that works for me, not saying this is the one and only way to do something. But if you're a total novice, it makes sense to try a "tried and true" approach also. I've gotten Dmails that basically amounted to "I did what you said with my seeds, but I didn't have lights so I put them as close as I could to a little window that's not very bright, and I went away for 10 days and couldn't water them, and nothing grew. Why doesn't your seed starting method work?" LOL, ok, I'm exaggerating a little, but only a little!
Back to spring projects... somebody mentioned pruning butterfly bush, and that's something I need to do... also need to cut some remarkably big suckers off my contorted filbert again... but don't I have to wait for slightly milder weather before pruning? I figured that was a task for early spring -- preferably before growth starts, but after major cold snaps. But I don't know much about pruning, which is why I don't do nearly enough of it. :-)
I like to read several opinions and decide which one seems right for my growing conditions. Sometimes, I'll try two different approaches if I have more than one planting. Everyone on DG is so generous in sharing their experience. It is wonderful. I especially appreciate the years of wisdom that Gita and Doc bring to our forum and feel that we are very lucky to have them both.
I need to learn a lot more about pruning too. I usually ask by variety on the shrub forum.
Jill, Most trees and shrubs can be pruned this time of year, without damage, just remember quite a few flowering species already have their bud set for this year. Fruits, nuts, and come again species may be "suckered", and thinned as needed. When orchards actually had people instead of machines, pruning was winter work for the regulars to help keep them employed. Ric
Thanks, Ric! I'm reassured. But I'm not going outside today to prune; it's just nasty out there! LOL
Stormy--I feel totally HONORED that you are grouping me in the same category with doc!
I feel humbled by all the information that doc has about growing plants! Honest! I do NOT know all that much!
Here's my opinion on pruning too early...for whatever it is worth.
In our area--we are known to have VERY cold spells--as well as VERY warm, extended, spells during the Winter.
During longish warm spells throughout the Winter--plants will start to put out new growth. Why not?
However--if you have pruned too early--during these unseasonal warm spells--plants will also start putting out new growth which will, eventually, be killed by more Wintery temps and freezing--killing off most of the new growth.
My advice would be NOT to prune anything until you know that the weather has, somewhat, stabilized with warmer temperatures and it is safe for new growth to proceed--uninterupted. . Pruning usually encourages new growth--which will be cold-damaged if done too early. A waste of the plant's energies.....
Butterfly bushes need to be cut back in early Spring to about 12"-14". This, I say, is from what Allan Summers always preached. Personally--I cannot say that it works for me--but then my 2 Butterfly bushes reside in my horrible, "YUK" bed--and never bloom properly at all. Too many tree-roots competing for nourishment!
Off topic--but just FYI----
Easy rule for knowing when to prune any blooming shrubs:
1--IF it blooms in the Spring--it is blooming on last year's new growth.
Prune these kind of shrubs right after blooming. Azaleas--Rhodos--Lilacs--etc.
2--IF it blooms in late Summer--it is blooming on this season's new growth.
Prune these shrubs in early Spring. Viburnums, Snowball bushes, Butterfly Bushes, etc...
Roses get pruned and fertilized for the first time when the Forsythia blooms in your area.
ALWAYS prune Roses 1/4" above an outward-facing new growth bud. And--also---with the first feeding of your Roses, apply a hand-full of Epsom Salts around all your Roses. This will encourage new canes to grow from the bud-union. Has always worked for me!
To combat "Black Spot Fungus" on Roses--spray your Roses with Lime Sulfur while the Roses are still dormant.
NEVER spray Roses with Dormant Oil Spray after the leaves have unfurled. They will get damaged. Use the Seasonal Dormant Oil Spray instead.
And--off season--BUT--NEVER, EVER prune off the rose hips from the last bloom of your Roses just because you do not like the looks of them. Leave them on the plant to tell the Rose that it is time to go to sleep! IF you prune this late--it may encourage new growth on your Roses which may get damaged during the warmer temperature spells we get here in the Winter. Just let them be!
Sorry if all this is repetitive--and you already know this....but it is important information nevertheless....
Gita
Gita, I do usually apply lime-sulphur and/or dormant oil to my fruit trees and roses in the winter (before budding) season. I also use dormant oil on my spruce, pines, and hemlock in the cold season to smother any egg cases, this also works on adelgids,tent caterpillar and gypsy moth eggs. Ric
If anyone can spell adelgid, without looking it up, they win today's spelling bee! LOL :-} Ric
PS. I have also been told that application of dormant oil to evergreens in winter can help as a anti-desiccant.
Ric,
I am just reading about your "dormant oil" application and am thinking that it's something that I should to help my hybrid tea and grandiflora rose bushes. I don't think that mulching them will be enough for the cold wind winters here. Hope I remember next year, and I hope I have enough survivors to use it on. Is this something that protects the plants from the elements?
This message was edited Jan 24, 2010 7:55 AM
I only have 2 evergreens that I need to spray--and sadly--I am not a regular sprayer....:o(
They are my 2 Canadian hemlocks in the front of my house. They are pretty badly infested with Adalgid scale.
I sprayed good early last year, It is time to do it again. They are old..
I hand-prune these bushes to keep them a decent size--or they would be 40' tall. I have to do this so i can put X-mas lights on them all the way to the top. haven't done that in the last few years either...
OK! Have to go to work......;O(
G.
Gita,
Some of my rose bushes are left with some pretty long stems and branches. I sometimes read that these should be cut back to prevent wind damage but I'm still worried about trimming them now. They are mostly hybrid tea, floribunda and grandiflora. Which way should I go. Is it too late to use dormant oil?
Thanks
Teri
