Will, the spider babies haven't done anything yet, but I'm not giving up. Thanks for checking. By the way, those plants respond well to singing; esp. "Tip toe thru the tulips." (Just kidding! lol) Feeling a bit crazy because the gr-d is over watching "SpongeBob SquarePants". So silly!
The temp is currently 91F at 7pm & no rain in sight. We've been dry since the quick rain storm that hit yesterday around 4:45pm.
Elephant Ears are so attractive, but I've never grown any. Aren't the bulbs a bit expensive? I guess it depends on where you buy them.
What variety are your hollyhocks Will? I believe that mine are the old fashioned kind that we grew in the 60s when I was a kid. "Flower power!" LOL
I'm ready for Friday; though this week went by quickly. I can't believe that Monday is July 1st. I'm expecting a new thread to be started when I get home from work on Monday. Ha! Ha! Pepper, it's your turn. : )
June 2013 - Starting out wet and cool; ending?
I'll try to remember!! I still haven't taken pics off my camera and put on computer. lol
My hollyhocks are still white. I like how they really seem to pop.
Rainy and stormy , everybody arguing and carrying on here ,, too hot too packed together ,as for me.. I am setting letting them all argue it out ..
Walk to the garden rain or not once in a while , wait they made boots and coats for anyway ,,
Goodness ... today "out there"
#1 is the Catnip nearly four feet tall
My hollyhocks are about beaten by the rain , had a dark red also besides those earlier
Oooh, a dark red hollyhock!! I need to get me some seeds for colorful ones.
We are nice and cool here. Cool front with small storms moved in and it is soooo nice!!
A couple of not so good pics of the bee balm from jw The primroses already bloomed I can't seem to find the pic ..
If any fails or goes wrong and you would like any tree size root clumps of catnip this fall with the trees let me know ..
Native willow didn't do a thing after the ground hog,, the red & sandbar willows are doing really nice , so are the Apricot trees ..
I will catch up someday .. Pics are to say allright , nice plant....
I have the pink ,a red and a dark red I will try to show you later ,, if you would like the seeds in a few weeks let me know .
These also are the tall heirloom (otherwise known as "outhouse") cultivar ..
Still there is another that has not bloomed yet , (probably another pink) lol
Fact is it took a few seasons for these here to look at all ..
They respond to singing that huh?! I'll try that, I hope they don't fall asleep! Maybe they'll like that better than the recording of, "Money, money, money", (you know, that song from Apprentice), that I've been playing for them over and over!
My black Hollyhocks are Alcea nigra, the rest are from a seed packet called 'Summer Carnival', I thought you have some of those too? So, you really are a flower child! lol
I'd like to have some white Hollyhocks.
Pretty flowers ju, yes a dark red one would be nice too!
Hehe! You have a plant called 'Outhouse'!
That is their name""Outhouse Hollyhock"" Old heirloom variety , grandma great grandma use to grow them ,, Some of the seeds came from R.H,Shumway , some came from DG,ers .
I believe they seed true and come in many colors , with yellow being the most rare ,,
As a matter of fact , except the newer varieties , and pictures , I have never seen the two centuries or more old type of yellow hollyhock ..
I really like how neat all the gardens are here ..
Will the little red out building and potted plants are cheerful !! especially so lately !!! You do some nice work gardening and showing those planter boxes , more difficult to do that neatly than it looks ,,, real nice job of fun in the garden there !!!
I forgot I found a variegated Foxtail grass plant today , it only has one leaf and does not look too good as far as decorative ,, I did not know anything such as that even existed .. an interesting possibility if it lives ....
This message was edited Jun 27, 2013 11:20 PM
Thanks ju. It sure has been a lot of work, making the backyard decent, I've enjoyed doing it. There's more enjoyment left as there is quite a few things left to do back there and everywhere else!
The red shed up there is the next-door neighbor's shed. There is one here very similar to that one but it isn't looking very nice. It is the biggest remaining project in the backyard. I need to get a sheet of waferboard to put over the deteriorated West side of it, then paint it red this year. I also intend to cut a hole for an old window and frame that I have, (the inside of the shed needs some light, it has NO windows. Then, I plan to plant Hostas and other plants all the way around it. I haven't photographed it much lately because it looks like poo! Here it was in days past. -
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9217597
Will
Dang don't know how it happened but the storms barely hit us....we need some rain. We didn't get much today either, downtown got a whole bunch.... ;( It got pitch black down there and the street lights came on but we barely got sprinkles up here.
Yep, I am Joyce..rofl. Wow looks like July is starting off really cool. I am not complaining at all...rofl.
I will post some pictures of this woman's banana trees that come back every year and they are huge considering it was a really cool spring. I was really surprised on how big they were.
Joyce, what a lovely garden!
ju, I tried bee balm a few years ago and mildew did it in. I hope that it does better this year.
pepper, if you don't have time, someone will start it.
My button bush is blooming. Lovin' this time of year! 8 D
Always such pretty flowers you post here ,, and gardens ,, and good conversation too !!!
This morning one I grew from seed last year .. From seeds I pollinated and planted ,,
Wow juhur, that is way cool, what did you name your new flower? So it just took a year from pollination to blooming? Which two did you daylilies did you use to get your new plant?
I visited some amazing gardens this year on the water garden tour. If they have a tour like that close to you all, even if you are not interested in water gardens, most of the folks have amazing land gardens. I shoot a ton of digital pictures...rofl. Fun to go thru them during the snowy days. Will, the woman with the banana trees told us she really mulches them heavy.
They were small last year from seed , I thought these had not made it to dormancy . two survived ,, this is first to bloom Naturalizing Daylily is what this came from , can't register a name without named parentage ,,
It looks like a yellow "quartz ruffle" though . Still beer in champagne in the world of Daylily This and a dwarf red I will show later in bloom that I grew in a cloning tube a few years ago . are the only two I have done so far ..
I haven't seen the adds for the water garden show , they have them in Indianapolis though .. a 45 minute drive or ride from here roughly
I drive about that far to Kansas City, if yours is like ours, then you drive house to house to see the gardens, which is alot of driving but well worth it. You ought to go at least once. I am amazed at the gardens. The ones people do themselves are usually the best. The ones done commerically are never as unique and varied, guess more commerically looking...rofl. Ours was in July because water garden plants like it warm, this is the first year they had it so early...hope they go back to July.
Ahh, juhur you can name your daylily want ever you want like juhur's beginning. I just think it is so cool that you did it and the bloom is beautiful. I would love to have a bloom like that in my garden.
Thank you again for the compliments ..happ .. Maybe someday about the garden show ..
Opposite extreme a pic of onethera biennsis This is over six feet tall , humongous for these ,, they grow as weeds here
Oh, green, I got my Elephant Ear bulbs at Walmart. I got 3 bulbs last Summer and one bulb this year, unfortunately, EE bulbs kinda reflect my finances..lol
Yeah, places are usually proud of Elephant Ear bulbs. They are 2 bulbs for $5.98 at Walmart. They are BIG, I think they usually weigh about a pound apiece, get the biggest ones you can find, I believe the bigger the more sprouts you get. A good thing about Elephant Ear bulbs is they've always been reliable on storing them over Winter in the garage, (at even room temperature I found out, when I had no choice), but ideally about 50° or 60° F I think. I never even spritz them with water or anything thru the Winter. One bulb of EE usually has 3 or 4 sprouts in my experience, 2 nice-sized bulbs should give you 7 or 8 leaves. I think I might have 1 bulb left from the Fall 2008 RU from Allanme79. Here they are and pepper separating the bulbs from the stalks. -
That is a nice, big, Banana 'Basjoo' happ! I noticed the fan in the garden, is that a master gardener thing?! Are you MG's hotties?! I put cans or something over the Basjoos so they don't get wet in the Winter, but I'll try alot of mulch, thanks. I would be all atwitter if a Banana I have got that big. Hers had ALREADY grew that big? It kinda looks like something she had growing in a hothouse or inside the house for the Winter, boy that is nice whichever.
Good conversation?! Oh, I can be such a bummer at times! lol
Yeow, a 6 foot tall weed. Onethera biennsis is a biggun'!
Nice Button Bush there, Betty! The bee likes it too!
That's a pretty yellow flower that you grew there, ju, good work.
This message was edited Jun 28, 2013 5:35 PM
What are you all doing in the previous pic, looks like a big iris garden going in?
The is a Habitat for humanity house being built next door to me . here .. foundation is in ,next the house raising ... poof .. modern homes ..
Hi ju, that's the Fall 08' RU, those are the plants people brought. Habitat For Humanity homes go up pretty quick.
Here are some more pic's from early this morning .. This is the first time in twelve years or so Ihave seen the hen and chicks blooming . While I was away someone threw them under porch and grandma could not get them or their pots .. dug them out and up, pot collected and put them here .. Now if there were only ten times as many looking like a clump .. oh well. we don't get to have everything our own way anyway, (even though it would be nice) do we ?
Hen and chicks
red tickseed
catnip
Stargazer lilium
This message was edited Jun 28, 2013 7:14 PM
Boy ju, you got some nice plants there. I like that lava rock in that strawberry planter with the Hens and Chicks, thats neat looking. That Tickseed is bright! You got the catnip, what's the secret to growing it like that?! I'd be Man Of The Year again here if I could do that, my friend is a cat lover and she wants catnip ALL the time!
That lilium is nice. One of my Lily Trees, I think 'Satisfaction' looks similar to that, but it hasn't bloomed yet.
I don't have a pic of Satisfaction but here is 'Purple Prince' a couple years ago, it looks a little like it too.
I put pic's of that here last year when we were talking about rocks , you were setting them around your door area , a small space I believe you said it was .
Pepper was in favor of the natural or real stones , I agreed , but we have what we have sometimes .
I don't have any secret , a few roots that live a few seasons and poof , these are front and it is coming up all over backyard spaces , from these ,, who can tell .. I do throw some old coffee grounds around them once in a while , the water , the worms the grounds , could be either ? Pick a place and put them in the ground ,,
Lily Trees are nice , I don't see them often , hiding in peoples backyards.
Still waiting for the red tickseed to really get blooming . and to find out how hardy or if it is long lived..
I have big lava rocks. I like the tropical look of them so I have them in this one area, I have one by each Banana 'Basjoo' plant. - I have rocks out by the front porch and ramp in the same area as the front door basically.
I don't recall what we were talking about last year, I have such a short memory. Here is those rocks out there, they are limestone and from the interstates, but shhh! lol Just kidding, they were on the ground I'm pretty sure they wouldn't care, I was cleaning up the ground for them.
I luv that big lava rock ,, !!! Those lighter real ones look like Bedford or Arkansas
We can buy shale and combination field stone fairly inexpensively here ..
Some of mine are real ,, others are fake , I make or mold a few from cement ..
That reminds me I still have poles to finish ah ,, ha .. good reminder ...
Lava rocks though .. the small ones .. the break up hard clay and hardpan type earth and soils here for me ..besides being a nice , wonderful cactus decor ..
The real lava rock makes good earth as it breaks down ,, where it all may of come from to begin with .. back to the basics,.. lol
This message was edited Jun 28, 2013 8:22 PM
It's strange how the tomatoes, cukes, squash, & other veggies are thriving, but the peppers and beans are sulking. What's up with that?
I had a customer say the same thing about peppers. And I've noticed it with mine also. My cukes are doing great though. I just have a lemon cucumber plant and I have it climbing a small trellis to hopefully keep beetles at bay.
I have a black pepper , stunted , with a pepper that is full size , one doing good that's all . Wet cool to the peppers .. hot to us .. maybe? humidity effect perhaps ?
My cukes look allright . beans I ate a serving last night .. Couple of flowers doing real well . that's all ..
That and the trees are growing faster than you could get them to burn , most anyway ..
Thanks ju. I was trying to figure out what to do with those big lava rocks. They were leftovers from some hideous 70's landscaping that was done here before my friend moved here. Back then, I believe railroad ties, lava rocks, big and small, and landscaping timbers (the big round log ones) musta been the stuff, those things were, and are in some cases, everywhere!
I'm going to get some small lava rocks that are here, yours remind me how neat they look. I think they are getting buried, soil and stuff has been washing over them for about 40 years but I might uncover them and get them.
Hehe! Here's what my EE tag says, "likes standing water", well, I hope they like a lot of it! lol
Here's my 'Purple Prince's in the third photo, they are twined up a little, I wouldn't want them to break in the wind. That's a pink flowering 'Summer Carnival' Hollyhock and a Spiderplant in the foreground.
Here is my 'Satisfaction' Lily Trees, with my 'Nanho Blue' Butterfly Bush from pepper in the foreground, it is getting big!
That Rose Tree in that pic is losing it's leaves or maybe dying. I've tried moving it around, I am at a loss on it. I got the rec't, I'll take the sonofagun back.
This last pic is the huge blackberry thicket here, it has spread like crazy. -
This message was edited Jun 28, 2013 9:32 PM
Herre's my 6 footish black Hollyhock all twined up. I know it looks terrible but I'd be ill if it broke in the wind! -
That's the flowers closer up, I marvel at the blackness! - Just some more plants, mostly shade plants, I been collecting over the years, some of those don't have a home here yet.
There's my ditchlily putting on a show! -
I'd like to find somewhere, like a riverbank, where I can get shale free, I'd like some black shale.
I enjoy the hollyhocks too . Their old foliage changing . makes them not as popular as once was .I see you have pink also ,!! lol everybody!! pink, pink, pink.
I always enjoy the variety shade plants offer , looks like you have some nice ones there ,Surprising the number of plants that will grow in half sun and half shade ..
At the I am only seem to be trying to keep up with all that (the garden)
Oh.. very pretty light pink flowers there, ju. Yes, I too got plenty of pink flowers, I'll take a flower's color any color I can get! lol Thanks ju, I have a few shade plants, most of them started out very small, maybe $5 or $6 plants that have grown double since. We're very big on shade plants here, lots of shade, my friend here loves her trees!
Hi green, I do believe that A. gigantea rootling is making a move! I noticed it's a runner, you got that Bamboo running in your yard? I have a friend who planted a hardy running Bamboo in her yard and it is well on the way to ruining it now. I am excited about the one I got, I plan to keep it contained, that is my #1 priority..lol
But, look at these before and after photos of it, it's evident that it's on the move. - Actually, that first pic was only 2 days ago, 6 days after I received it from you. I've had it for 8 days so it has had time to generate roots and grow some more. The others are taking a bit longer but I expect they'll come to life eventually also. Even that Nanking seedling has only lost it's leaves but that doesn't mean it's done by far. That 3rd photo is looking the other way is all, it shows the Bamboo rootling itself is all.
Here's how you transport a railroad tie! I'm not lifting it! I'm not risking blowing anything out! I have a good back so far and I plan to keep it that way for awhile! lol
The Elephant Ears still seem to be okay with the standing water. I put a Bamboo and a Fern in there too, they like water. I plan to cover up that black edge with mulch, it looks funny the way it is.
Here is my Hosta 'Patriot', it's much too pretty to be sitting out of plain sight in a 1 gallon black plastic pot, so I put it in a bigger, nicer pot and put it on a cheap trolley of mine. -
This is one of the main repotting projects I've been planning to do, so I did it today. - It's my variegated Rubber Tree getting fancied up a little and also going on a HarborFreight $2 (on sale) 100 lb. capacity plant trolley (nothing but the best, see?! lol Here it was before the transformation and it after and then after I parked it with the Hosta 'Patriot'. -
Here is my $12.99 Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood'. - It's hanging in there too, it'll be fun finding a place to plant it. My Japanese Maple 'Ornatum' too, which is also doing well, but they grow so slow., they look like they did when I got them months ago, but they're alive.
Will
The beans are finally taking off. Maybe it was because the peas that were on the same trellis finally gave out. It could have been the competition. The peppers are looking better too. The cucumbers and tomatoes are already topping their 6 ft trellises. I counted over 8 cukes on one cucumber vine! I have 2 pickler varieties (Little Leaf & Gurney's Burpless II) that I've been growing for years, so they're my favorites because they don't succumb to bacterial wilt. The 2 salad cukes are Marketmore 76 & Sweeter Yet. I have a competition going on between the OPs & hybrids. I'm rooting for the OPs, but time will tell.
Hello gardening buddies on the last day of June 2013! I am getting more and more into making my own natural house cleaning solutions from recipes in a book that my oldest daughter lent me. Now I'm finding more uses for herbs that are ripe for harvest. What perfect timing! I'm actually looking forward to trying them which could make house cleaning fun? I've found a supplier for beeswax, pulled out my old "Herb Magic" book, and stocking up on Borax, peroxide, vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda. I know that there has to be a DG forum & past articles with some good advice. Gone browsing. BTW, the weather is gorgeous today. We've come a long way from the turbulent early June weather. Enjoy! : )
NEW THREAD!!!! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1322582/
THIS THREAD CLOSED!!!!