September Blooms

coming from here
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1120426/

thank you to whom ever this was from at Holly's swap (I think)

This message was edited Sep 6, 2010 8:16 PM

thank you thank you Teri!!!!

I'm just starting to enjoy my caryopteris now, Allison. This thing makes so many babies that I could supply the whole neighborhood!!


Enjoying my Kidds Climax Dahlia, also.

My first bloom on the passionflower vine I got from Sally at the plant swap. I love it.

And a dark Morning Glory, the picture does not do justice to the real color. It is really more purple.

Pencil me in for caryopteris LOL. I don't try Dahlias but that would be one for me if I did, I'm a peach fan.

Catbird, so glad you got blooms. They're so complex and fascinating. Beware--I am shouting from the rooftops how invasive that thing gets! Suckers popping up 5-10 feet from original next year LOL

Third and biggest flush of blooms on my Brug. This shows the color diff between just opened (white) and next day pinkish.

Sally, I have it planted in a pot so I'm not going to worry about it spreading.

The brug blooms are lovely. May have to try them some day. I'll just enjoy yours til then.

Robin, good idea, the pot.
And Gita and I will probably fight over who gets to unload a Brug on you next spring!

Love seeing that people still have some color.

I have a couple new ones that I'll get pics of tomorrow

D Mail me with your address Sally. I think that I still have some babies out there because I don't have the heart to pull up ALL of them when I'm weeding.

Teri, You're so kind! Is Caryopteris a bush or perennial?

Caropteris is a bush that behaves much like butterfly bushes. They bloom in August, however and can be cut down right to the ground in winter or early spring and will come back next year to the same size as before. Blooms are on new growth.

Roses, That Dahlia is just beautiful. I did get a few planted but it was so very late I'd be surprised to see any blooms.
Same as you Sally I love the peach colors.

Some plants of Balloonflower - Platycodon grandiflorus 'Astra Semi-Double Lavender' - I started this spring are starting to bloom.

While not the blooms, the berries on my Calicarpas are just as colorful, and they last until the birds eat them in the winter

Liatris aspera, Rough (orTall) Blazing Star

I love that Balloon flower, just beautiful.

David--

I have blue and white Balloon Flowers....
Can't say I ever noticed them blooming this year....What happened????

I really, really believe that the insane heat of this Summer did a lot of plants in--temporarily.....
They all were just scorched! No amount of watering helped ...

Now that the cooler temps are about to come--I bet all these flowers will have a latent "AAAAHHHHHH!"
--and will bloom away...I know my Brugs will--just as I need to prune them all back to take them in the
basement....Happens every year.....
There are several people in FL waiting for cuttings. Jump on in--if you want any--just for postage....

Too late for some of my plants---they are already being cut back--pulled up--or, whatever....
Trying to pace all my Fall chores. CANNOT deal with them all--all at once....Too much effort!
SO! There are some sacrifices......Better sooner--than not at all....

Gita

A couple new blooms and when I say a couple I mean like only 2 blooms on each plant....ugh this weather!!!!

Button mum

October Skies Aster

sweet autumn clem

tuberose STILL have not bloomed

Gita, most of what we have blooming right now are plants in pots. The pots get well watered daily and are doing fine. We try to water the gardens daily, but it takes so much more water to affect a plant in the ground. We often have spent 2 hours a day, each with a hose, and yet many of our plantings fail to revive. Some of our heurcheras have disappeared altogether, and most of our astilbies are either brown or green but crispy. Except for our Marginal Shield Ferns, Dryopteris marginalis, and our Ghost Fern, Athyrium 'Ghost' our ferns are flat on the ground and many are completely brown. What dreadfully dry year we are having! I wish there was a wider selection of hardy, humidity tolerant cacti available for the East Coast.

David

David,

I have 3 hardy Ferns and they are doing OK--because they are buried behind a bed full of my amazing Coleus (this year) --all from thise cuttings I took and took last year.
In this same bed is a pretty big Endless Summer Hydrangea and a good-sized Brug (Dr. Seuss).
So--the ferns are staying moist and protected in the back.
My 2 Astilbes have been "crunchy-dead" for a long time now...

I can't help but think that all my beds have been used and used and used and maybe need some
"pick-me-up" after all these years. Nothing I would have to dig in--as these are the beds in my back garden. Maple roots everywhere!!! I top dress them in the Spring with 2 yr. old composted leaves and scratch it in--that's about it.
How I HATE all those Maple roots! But--How I love the shade from these 2 trees.
Walking from the sunny front, or sides of my house, into the back--I swear the temps drop by 10*...

Any suggestions?
Can you also tell me exactly what benefit coffee grinds provide to ANY plant or bed--other that acidity?
I started collecting C. Gr.'s last year from the 7-Eleven here, but the bucket-full is still sitting under my table.
I did dump some on my cut-back camellia--which is re-growing nicely.

Here's the Coleus/Brug/Ferns in the back bed i was talking about....Can't even see the ferns....
Gita

Gita, coffee grounds are best added into a compost pile of mixed materials rather than applied alone in bulk. They can be very acidic alone and adding some lime (stone, not fruit) to the mix helps. Coffee grounds are high in potassium and magnesium, but very low in other nutrients. The potassium is said to encourage the presence of earthworms and the decomposing plant material will add humus to the soil.

As far as your beds, what, if anything do you add to your plantings (compost, ashes, fertilizer etc.)? I have Leaf-Gro delivered in bulk (4 yds a dump) for $20-25/yd. and use it to mulch my beds. Bioturbation gets the older applications worked into the underlying soil, adding a lot of nutrients and improving soil texture. I also use it as a potting medium or mix it 50/50 with bagged potting soil. This is the same product that is sold in bags at HD but has not been as finely milled, which enhances its utility as a mulch.

David

David--

I have not seen "Leaf Gro" at my HD for a few years....That was always something I recommended to people that were planting trees and shrubs...
Not saying it is NOT carried by other HD's--but our store is fairly low-volume--so we don't have all the products the bigger stores have....That's a shame! Leaf Gro is a good product.

Thanks for the advice on the coffee grinds....will add some to my composter as I go....
I can always get more from the 7 Eleven here...1/2 mile from my house. They just let me take the whole trash bag out of the trash container--and then i sort out what's what when i get it home....Pretty yukky job--but I don't care.

I did put a good amount of coffee grinds on my "Bob Hope" Camellia.
Do you remember the picture i posted where I cut it down to 12"-14" nubs? The WHOLE shrub--GONE! It was time to do something drastic.....as it was not well for the last 3 years...
Mike Quinn in GA is my "Guiding Light" when it comes to Camellias....I trust his advice!
2 years ago--I sent him a box-full of Camellia tip cuttings and made him "The Happiest man on Earth...."
This Summer, I sent him the tip cuttings off of my KK Hibiscus (after the first bloom, I cut it back and it blooms again). He is rooting these also. He KNOWS how to do all that!!!

My Camellia is re-growing very nicely....nice shiny leaves...The Winter will tell if it has something going on with the roots, as the Winter was when it had all kinds of yukky leaf problems...They lookes so fungusy--but Mike had a camellia expert look at them and he thought it was weather related.....I kind of disagree--as it has had this same leaf problem for the last 3 Winters....The weather sure has not been the same!
Cant take a picture if the re-growing shrub yet--as i have all kinds of annuals in front of it...Will after I clean those out...

Since I emptied my S.E.M. (Stupid Earth Machine) composter this Summer (after FOUR years of throwing stuff in there--can you believe that?) I am now starting from scratch again. Fill...Fill...

David--You cannot imagine the amount of veggies (mostly carrots and leafy things) and fruits (mostly melons and grapes) I consume! I have a shoe-box sized plastic container next to my dish drainer which is next to my kitchen sink...DAH! WHAT!!!! Did you think it would be in my DR????
All these rinds and trimmings go in there...and I can fill that thing up at least once a week.
IF I am cooking soup--God help me! I will fill that thing in one day! This all goes in my S.E.M.

Not doing so good on the Carbon part.....mostly fresh stuff....
I have never tried shredding newspapers...I guess i could? I could rake up a few fallen, dried leaves already--that would work....I have a trash bag full of straw that should be semi-composted by now. Could add that!

Raked it off the grass seeding BG&E did after digging up most of my curb strip to pull in Fios cables...
Crap! That's all they did to fix it up! They dug DEEP--and brought up a lot of sub-soil and small rocks...
Now all that is on the surface!

The grass that grew from the seed they uses is all gone! Must have been pure Fescue.....I don't care for that....it burns up in this kind of heat. Then they dumped enough straw over everything to bury China....I raked most of it up and saved it....it will come handy--one way or another.....Used it as mulch on my Tomatoes--for one....

Put down 2 rolls of sod today to try and repair the damage.....Ran a bit short--but I hope it looks better anyway.
Have a lot of work to do on my lawn next Spring......Getting too much Clover and Crab Grass everywhere.
The Clover is REALLY taking over! It seems innocuous--but it is sooooo invasive!

Sorry that I have SO abused the "September Blooms" Thread....but--so it goes.....
I guess I should post a picture of a September Bloom......HUH?

Gita

Gita-

Clover was an intentional component of grass seed mixes until after WWII. It fixes nitrogen in the soil. When Scotts and such began producing broadleaf herbicides for lawns the clover was dropped. Then these companies began pushing lawn fertilizer to make up for its absence. You can use an herbicide now for the clover. Crabgrass is an annual and will die off when the frosts come. Put down cornmeal gluten in mid-March. It prevents the germination of the crabgrass seeds as well as most other weeds, plus it is a good source of nitrogen. The nitrogen is released as the gluten decomposes and feeds the lawn gently in the spring, rather than in an overstimulating shot like the commercial fertilizers.

I don'tnow about your area, but many localities such as Arlington County and Takoma Park, MD collect leaves, compost them and make the leaf mold availible for free pick-up or will deliver for a small fee. I know both places allow anyone to do load and carry, regardless wheter they live in the jurisdiction. Check around, you may be able to get all the leaf mold you need for free.

David---

Are you saying Corn Meal gluten is the same as "Pre- Emergent Crab Grass Control???
I just bought a hose-connector bottle of Ortho Weed KillerPLUS Crab Grass control...
Then I read all the info on the "Peel-Off: label on the back--and it said to use it in the Spring,,,
I kind of thought that it would not work NOW--so I will save it until next Spring....

My sister lives in Homer, AK. She paid to get white clover shipped to her,,,,
I always wondered WHY??? Here--Clover seems to be a weed...Yet--She wanted it.

I live about 6miles from the Baltimore County Land Fill on Rt. 40. Such easy access....About 6 miles.
YES! They allow County residents to "come and get it" for free.....You haul, though!
BUT--One must realize, that whatever they have composted is whatever they have picked up from your curb....
Grass...weeds...trimmings..pison Ivy...Noxious plants.... of whatever...etc....
.It is part of the Recycling program.
SO! You will be getting wonderful composted "stuff" but that "stuff" will also contain weed seeds and all kinds of other negative things. BEWARE!!!!!

I have driven to the Land Fill and watched, in amazement, the HUGE machinery that grinds everything into smithereens...
I have never, actually, gone there to get anything,...as I have heard so much negative stuff abut the "end product"..
Also-I cannot fill and lift trash containers full of composted stuff....Even if it is FREE!!!! Too heavy for me!

I may be too judgmental! I need to experiment more......

Gita

Gita-

In both Arlington and Takoma Park I have hauled off compost from piles that were so actively decomposing that they were smoking (not steaming) and portions were so hot that you could not touch them. Properly composted material will reach a high enough temperature to destroy weed seeds and completely inactivate any unsavory plant remnants. Some localities compost the leaves seperate from the other yard waste. Wood chips and shredded hardwood mulch are products you really have to be careful with, no matter what the source.

Well--My SEM never gets hot enough! Not even warm....

I cannot turn it--nor is it exposed to the air and the sun.
It composts all right--but all the seeds still sprout from it....

I wish I could have an open compost pile--but that would take some discreet construction
in the same location my SEM is in. perhaps one made of slatted boards?
Nice and neat.....all the "trash: out of sight?

Here is my SEM----as you can see--it is not in a open area. I do not jave open areas....I am in a development.....

NOW! I need your help ID'ing my neighbors tree....

I already posted it on the Trees and Shrubs Forum. Do you know what it is????

Here's the link....

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1128182/

Gita

Love the soaking rain that we're getting right now.

My dahlias continue to put on their late summer show.

You got soaking rain???? Lucky you!!!

Roses those Dahlias look beautiful. I have got to make sure I get mine planted next year and order a few more.
We had rain last night and into this morning. We're home again and I will see what there is out there to get a pic of. We got home too late last night to do much of a yard tour and I left early this morning to do a half marathon relay. I walked 6 1/2 miles this morning came home and had a glass of wine, soak in the hot tub and a nap. Haven't really had a good look at everything yet but the yard looks pretty good from here on the couch. LOL

you didn't get it Jen???.... rained up here for a while today

Nothing heavy it was drippy all day total was .28"

Went out for a drive after the weather cleared. The rain perked up the landscape, especially in the roadside ditches. Some mistflower, Eupatorium colenstrum (sp?) or what ever its changed to now. Found about a 50 foot ditchfull.

Lots of coreopsis.

OMG! I just really looked at my photo to see if I could ID the species of "Coreopsis" and realized that it is probably not a Coreopsis at all but likely a Tickseed. Coreopsis "Moonbeam" is currently blooming in my garden (sort of) and I was lazy, didn't look closely and assumed that this was a relative. Now I have to go out, examine the plants in situ, make an ID, post a correction and hide in embarrassment until everyone forgets.

In-hand examination IDs plant as Bidens polylepis, commonly known as a tickseed sunflower. Contrary to the Plant Files it is a separate species from Biden aristosa. So much for casual at-a-distance ID.

This message was edited Sep 14, 2010 8:48 PM

This message was edited Sep 15, 2010 11:00 AM

Even the thistles are looking good.

I'm enjoying the sweet smell of my sweet autumn clematis.