My bottle brushes are putting out a last hurrah. And my duranta is going nuts.
I have antique roses that have a good flush, and my coral vine just won't stop even though we have had a couple 40 degree nights.
How I Started From Scratch
Hey Fruity... how big does your Lady in Black Aster get (ht x w), I planted a few last fall. they over wintered just fine but never really got any growth. Am thinking the drought this summer had alot to do with that tho. Where I got them they were about 4-41/2 ft in height. Tag says shorter but I'm hoping they get as big as they were at the nursery.
Looking good, Joy. I have never tried to grow Duranta. Did you start yours from cuttings or seeds and how old is yours?
Kathy, that's one Aster I started from a nursery three years ago. It's in my main bed in full Sun and the only water provided now is rain or snow. If I had pinched her in late Spring / early Summer like the Mum regimen, she would have been a mound instead of a sprawling cascade. Which in this case I really like because the Daylilies around and underneath had long finished blooming. Picking up the branches yesterday and roughly measuring against my height, they are right at 4-1/2' tall and the rosette is about 1-1/2' diameter.
What's everybody up to? Fall clean-up, planting Spring-blooming bulbs, decorating for Christmas?
Thanks Fruity...am glad to know they will get that big. I planted them toward the back of the border, just in front of Joe Pye Weed, and to the sides if I remember a pink Agastache and Campanula pyramidalis. Others in the front Penstemon Rocky Mtn. Blue (by the time these bloom the penns. will have been cut back to 8-12"), Centaure montana, perenn Geranium and some other goodies....Hope it gives a great show next year.....Am beginning to create vignettes.
hiya Froot - I'm back for December. :)
The picture - yes I posted it everywhere. Did not win a prize, tho'. One of my personal best, I think.
I haven't thought about my garden for so long due to school I don't hardly know where to start. :D
I was thrilled with a black scabiosa I grew from seed this season. I don't know if it's going to be perennial or not. I had a couple of white ones from seed but never bloomed. I have on the windowsill inside from wintersowing (I'm such a mean momma) some Salvia uglinosa (bog sage with clear blue flowers). I also have a single S. x nemorosa 'Rose Queen' from seed. You know how some things just never get into the ground?
We have a giant camellia with red flowers just beginning to bloom. My oakleaf hydrangeas have the most glorious colors in their leaves. Out front, I have yellow snapdragons planted in November 2010 that are still blooming (!!!) together right now with blanket flower. I have SO much work to do out there. I need to get collecting seed from my plants and several neighbors. Ha ha ha.
More news - the power company sent their minions to clear the powerline easement after18 years of NOT maintaining the lines. Everybody in my neighborhood was livid. I had a padlock on the gate, just thinking . . .. so they came in over the fence from the yard next door with a cherry picker. :/
In any event - there'll be more sun for more flowers. bad news is that I will have to relocate the meager shade garden I had tried to start back there. Nothing but wisteria and english ivy. Blah. The pecan tree looks kind of lopsided, but I'm sure there'll be growth in the spring.
Can't wait. Hope all's well.
xo
A.
Some updated pictures of the garden. We had a couple nights of a slight freeze last week. Didn't do too much harm.
A few close ups.
WONDERFUL flower garden's Val.
Val, very nice! Thanks so much for sharing. Sure helps seeing wonderful blooms like yours to chase away Winter blahs.
Love the colors and textures of your garden!
How nice to see things blooming, love the pix!!!
This is really informational and all the pictures are great!
I just reviewed this thread again when you bumped it David, the pics are WONDERFUL aren't they? When I gave up my horses, my gardens became my outlet and it just does my heart good to see other people's gardens and ohh and awww. I tell myself "when my garden grows up it's gonna have some of those!!!" LOL
Formal gardens are grand places of aspiration and envy but they take a lot of maintenance and upkeep, much more than this one woman show is capable of, although I would like to have a small knotted garden of Herbs one day. Have any of you tried that?
A cottage style garden works for me and so many of you. It's a forgiving style where we can plant willy nilly and still have a beautiful show. I've had a few Amaryllis to bloom indoors over the past few weeks, good for keeping spirits up in Winter even if the blooms are short-lived.
Anybody jump in and show us what's blooming for you or soon will be!
Your words are well spoken and wise.
I'm going to research knotted Herb Gardens,... and these are some of my favorites that will be blooming soon again...
psychw2, I love this thread, too, and have been referring back to it this past winter to fight off the winter doldrums.
DavidofDeLand, is that a brug in your third photo? Is it in a hanging basket? I love the last photo. It has kind of a mysterious garden aura to it.
This is Buttercup and it is usually the first rose to bloom in my garden.
Its an in-ground gold brug Terri. That is a really pretty yellow on that rose,...a good deep true yellow is the best on roses for me.
Brugs are so cool. Might try one this year....hmmmm....
If it's fussy I can't grow it! I don't do baskets or pots because they take toooooo much maintinace in an area that gets 100+ degree weather and still gets COLD winters. (That's my story, I'm NOT admitting I am too lazy to care for them! LOL) if the sprinklers can't take care of their needs, color them DEAD!
Beautiful shots! David, remind me the name of the purple flowers. It's on the tip of my tongue.
I just disassembled a few plants in the fall containers, have two like this, and had sauteed Swiss Chard, Mustard Greens, and Baby Bok Choy.
Pic is from September. The ornamental Kale plants have really grown and are enjoying cold weather. Also noticed a bud on a pansy, long forgotten those were included.
What an unexpected and creative bowl 'Fruit of the Vine'.
The Cordyline was a dramatic touch,... and is that Blue Fescue or Chives to the side? Love it.
The purple flower is Florida Blue Lisianthus. It was specifically created to be a heat tolerant Lisianthus specifically for Florida. It would still flourish where you are. The pink and white verions are at the foot of the birdbath picture I sent.
These are some greens I love too. The Burgundy Mustards are completely spineless, tender and much sweeter then green Mustards. I am believing in them!
David
Lisianthus? I used to grow them as annuals. Beautiful!
We cross posted, glad I got it right!
The Florida Blues seem to behave as perennials here unless a hard freeze Pfg. They really are pretty. Kind of antique looking flowers... Faeries would love to wear them as hats in Victorian paintings I think!
Thanks both of you for the ID. I'll look into finding seeds.
What a gorgeous array of greens. Is that a recent photo? The C. spikes were seriously marked down to $1 on the close-out rack last Fall and grabbed two, one for each container. They're doing so well now I wish I had bought more. There are springs of Rosemary behind it. Love how it smells and have snipped it many times for culinary purposes. And yes, the mound is Elijah Blue Fescue Grass.
Sooz
I thought that was Fescue Sooz! Those C.spikes grow into beautiful plants.
Have a nice pleasant sleep tonight,...... and dream of Spring!
David
I'm beginning a garden experience this year in Virginia, I am! You guys have given me the boost I need. I've got a down-sloping yard full of weeds, unkempt grass, and downed trees & limbs abandoned by 'loggers' in my wooded areas. Loads of work, but thanks so much for the fresh new boost of self-confidence you have instilled in me!
Barbara
Barbara,
Once you get the grass mowed and the limbs compiled your vision will start clearing up! Sometimes some downed trees and tree limbs can be utilized for really interesting garden looks, like borders around beds if arranged and planted around for a season (Especially in woodland type gardens)...
Barbara, we are practically neighbors! I'm across the lake from you and started my Daylily collection from the farm near you on Windy Gap Road. Take it from me, you will have beautiful gardens in a very short time. To kill weeds and grass without chemicals or excessive digging, you can layer newspapers, lightweight cardboard spread flat (like soft drinks come in) and a variety of other compostable materials. I did this and covered the paper products with a heavy coat of mulch and organic materials like leaves and kitchen veggie scraps. A few areas I used landscape fabric and regret doing that, doesn't allow clumping plants to grow like they should and also impedes the flow of water. Just a few thoughts to get your wheels turning. Do keep us posted with your progress.
Oh, thanks so much, guys, for the votes of confidence, and many, MANY thanks for the tips & info! Sooz, I was wondering if you were down here nearby - had a feeling you were. You have loads of beautiful plants & flowers! I've never been to the daylily farm you mentioned, but I've definitely eyeballed it many times when headed to Roanoke. I go to church in Floyd, and up there is another daylily farm I'm going to hit for sure! :o)
Ok, all, what's your opinion on bamboo? My husband & I took a 'sightseeing' trip over Webb Mountain, a huge, challenging dirt-road-gullied pass from one county to the other, and I made him stop so I could stuff some dumped bamboo cuttings in the back of the car. I know it's very invasive, but gee, the creative ideas are mind-boggling!
I've heard very hard to start but INCREDIBLY invasive once it takes hold. I'd vote no. (I'm a Scaredy Cat!)
Yeah, Pat, I've got to agree with you. I just finished a tiny bit of research, and the picture of a man digging a trench - it was up to the bottom of his bum - was enough to stop that line of thinking really fast! I'll just put some in a big pot on the deck! Thank you so much!
Barbara, I drove by the Daylily farm near you for many years on my way to work in Roanoke. Shame on me for never even noticing it was there until both of us landed home full time and needed perennials that would fill in fairly quickly when I started our new gardens. Really do hope you'll be able to attend our Round-Up on May 11th down at Fairy Stone State Park. Bring anyone you like, they don't need to be affiliated with Dave's Garden. I'd really love to meet you.
I've eyed Black Bamboo the past couple of years wishing for a quick growing plant to make a screen, but even a small start is too rich for our pockets. Our neighbor has a patch of green Bamboo plants and has already brought us several canes we're going to lash together with twine to make T-pees for pole beans, peas, cukes, morning glories....pretty much anything that twines and vines. Wondering how well they'd work for Gourds?
A good friend of mine used bamboo in a Japanese inspired garden. For 3 years she loved it. The landscaper put in a barrier to jeep it in bounds, and gave her a super strong chemical to paint on anything that came up where it shouldn't. Then she noticed that large patches of grass were dead around those spots, and that the escapees were becoming more aggressive. This summer she had someone come with heavy machinery to dig it all up. It's guaranteed for 5 years to be effective, they'll come back if she sees any growth. What a mess!
A nightmare for sure, Pam.
OUCH!!! I'll bet was an expensive fix!
I'm thinking along those lines myself, with teepees and such. I've got gourd seeds, cardinal climbers, cucumbers that I think would work with them. The bamboo itself, though, I believe I'll just keep my eyes open for more cut n' tossed bunches on the roadsides, rather than grow it. I could, possibly, grow it down by the creek, though. Will have to think long and hard. Heck, the cuttings I absconded with might not even root!
I haven't told my husband yet about the Round-Up at Fairystone. I'm not originally from here, have always wanted to go, but I'd like him to experience it with me. I'm coming though, with bells on!!
Horrendously expensive. She's an artist, so it really, really hurt that her vision bcame such a nightmare. Now she has Crape Myrtles. The bad memories will take a while to fade.
I did a lot with bamboo last year Sooz. There are patches in our neighborhood here and there and friends are too willing to let me come in and cut down whole cane for the goat to feast on (yes that's right). When he's done, I bring them home where they dry in the sun. Unless you treat it somehow the wood won't last for more than a season or two. Also - use some decent twine.
I learned all about the Japanese ebo knots to try to do some authentic looking trellis work and enjoyed it muchly. The effort was to "go vertical" and it worked for the most part.
The only bamboo we have growing here is horsetail (equisetum), and I keep it in containers.
xox
A.
This message was edited Mar 7, 2013 10:56 PM
My husband works for a commercial supplier to all the landscape companies here in MI. Bamboo is a nightmare in most cases! My hubby won't even let me "container" it. He has been called out to so many homes and business the last couple of years to consult on the best way to get rid of it! Crazy:)