Coffee break 99

Coming from here http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1328755/

Thanks for the new thread, Ronnie!

Thanks Ronnie. We all should be trained how to do that.

Your welcome!

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas, ours was good despite both my husband and I being sick. Trying to get better, we are having a big party at my house tomorrow, 40 people 14 of them will be under 11!
I am really looking forward to it, I will get to see my sister who move to NC last year and her new grandson.

Have fun!! Hoping you will be feeling better to enjoy it.

Currently we are in Clayton, GA. Planning on leaving early tomorrow morning to had for home. It will be nice to sleep in my own bed.

Thanks, Ronnie....enjoy your wonderful day with family! Jan, have a safe trip home....nice to get away, nicer to come home....I must be getting old! Found many things in the WFF catalog to spend my gift certificate on.......

So glad to hear good reports on Christmas, despite illness even!

Safe trip, Jan! i'm sure your own bed will feel great! Quiet but busy time here...packing lots of stuff up just in case.....will see my niece, nephew and 2 great nephews tomorrow at a favorite spot for breakfast. Strange winter for us this year. We need to get settled into our next iteration. The good news is that my physical therapy on my injured foot is making progress. I've been able to do about two thirds of our normal walk several days in the last week. There's still pain, but not nearly like it was.

Happy new Year to all!

Glad to hear, Louise!!! Enjoy your breakfast

Yay for finding things to spend your gift certificate on, RD!!!

Good news certainly, Louise! Walks are so important to me, they give me a better outlook, & hopefully, a better nature! Don't know if I could give them up........

I hope everyone has a safe & happy New Year's!

plus keep warm he northern states--it's cold out there.

Yes, Happy New Year to all!

DD1 is back in Ohio today on a 5:30 am plane, so we're fairly tired.

I have been organizing, and now the garden structure in one area has crystalized in the ole noggin. Paperbark maple (trying to find Gingerbread) with smoke bush or some other purple-red leafed thing, well behind the Shasta viburnum and the low evergreens. In back of the maple, three dwarf prunus to set off the cinnamon colored bark when they bloom. More evergreens behind the white peony bed which is well in back of that. From kitchen and dining room the view to the back of the property will be clear through a passage, but from the bedroom, the lavendar blooming prunus will be a translucent screen over the peony area. My white flowering almond blooms with the cornus mas, so maybe these will too. It will be a few years before things grow from the quart sized containers that are on order. I read on a blog that Gingerbread maple has hybrid vigor, hence the choice, but it apparently didn't catch on in the trade. I wrote to Whitman Farms which listed it in their plant finder and said it wasn't an improvement, but what do peope in a temperate zone know about that?

Earlier in the day, I was thinking about pink yellowwood for a while after I learned that Persian parrotia harbours a pest that causes sudden oak death. No thanks to that! The graceful mulberry tree that currently frames the garden passageway, and used to get admired, is coming down this spring, having gottern dangerous.

happy new year to all

nice to read your post rosemary - i have not gotten to that point - yet - my wife keeps asking when i will just let things grow and stop :) that will not happen. will get the 10 yds of dirt again this year and enlarge some more beds and delete more grass and i have a nice batch of large stone/boulders to integrate into some beds - will order a couple more jm's just not sure what yet.

check out rarefind for the smoke bush I picked up two last fall for a back drop color that are dark purple called black velvet, small today although they do grow fast. got rid of smoke bush young lady (green one) as it did not have the fall color as advertised and the smoke stayed on unless trimmed off - just did not do it for me - dug up a royal purple to relocate in the spring

Happy New Year to all of you! It is always nice to tune in and see who is doing what or planning what. I see you are thinking ahead to you RU, Bill. Good to hear!

Rosemary, I like your thinking. No dead oaks indeed! Hope you can get some rest now!

Marilyn, I agree completely about our walks. They are not only good physically, but great for the spirits as well.

Be safe tonight everyone! We are celebrating in with a nice dinner and a movie. Or some episodes of The Good Wife! Enjoy your evenings!

Nice to hear from folks. As usual, Bill is one step ahead of me because I WAS thinking about Young Lady cotinus since it is supposed to be a dwarf, but black velvet and royal purple will get a much closer look now as a result of Bill's experience-- hoping one of them will fit into the space. There is also a dwarf form of diablo ninebark which I did order from Rarefind. If not used in the landscape, it can join all the patio pots, which will be full of seedling trees and shrubs.

The project I am delaying is the final design of patio, walls and water feature. The plants are easier to dream about-- currently thinking of some potted willows, cercis, an ashei magnolia and lots of winter jasmine spilling over the wall in front of the catch basin. Tropical look alikes will be allowed or grown in pots. I have saved this area for JMs to be considered too. The camellias may come out from my garage for this area too, and I promise to follow Christopher Lloyd's admonition to have fun and grow what I want.

Wishing all lots of healthy activities and good fortune while we are hunkered down until the New Years baby is at least a toddler and we can really size up the garden plans.

Happy New Year everyone!!

Wish I had your ambition Rosemary and Bill sounds great!

Waiting for midnight so I can get to bed...granddaughters are here waiting to ring in the new year and I'm pooped!

Happiest of new years to my dear friends. Praying it is healthy and happy.

Rosemary, now you started me to thinking and dreaming, but I may try to follow Bill's wife's sane advise to stop planting and enjoy what is already planted and growing. However that would be like me trying to give up chocolate...so I guess that ain't gonna happen. So I am now off to check out this early order discount from Garden Crossing.

Another early bird special from Avant Gardens. http://www.avantgardensne.com Patti

Oooh! I'll try anything to buy more new plants.

I just placed my order for the prunus Hally Jolivette trees, cercis alba and a few others. My rule of thumb is if there's a space where the plant can go, it's OK to buy it. The orders got a little large, so I had to "prune" them to keep the costs down. Every time a desired plant was tube sized, I have bought it, though, cause it's fun to see what it does in a pot.

Being not happy with the thought of constantly pruning a cotinus, I'm thinking about fagus cultivars since they are slow growing and there are copper beaches or purple beaches in all sorts of shapes--and slow growing. So, there's more to research.

I tried the promo code for Avant Gardens but it didn't work for me on my order, so I didn't place it. Since the shrubs are my priority, if calling them tomorrow doesn't get the promo, then the helle's and the heurcheras will have to wait.

I had the same problem, so I took a screen shot and sent it off so they can get it fixed tomorrow. I have always been pleased with their plants.

Did you look at their Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple'? Patti

I can't help but notice the glaring absence of ANY hollies, Hamamelis, or Viburnum in the discussions above...

VV, hollies weren't left out of my orders, but I'm not done selecting them, either. Just before Christmas, my local Stop and shop had an English holly 'Argentea Marginata,' which was only $6, so I have one that was sold with fake berries stuck in the pot. It gave me the idea to buy tubes of several hollies that I like on-line, I purchased I hybrid Red Beauty, I crenata Beehive, I cornuta O Spring, I glabra 'Pretty Boy,' and I aquifolium Crispa Aurea. Now I can grow these and evaluate them in pots in a sheltered location. At least that plan worked for camillias this year.

I was looking for I opaca Cardinal and didn't find it. I am not partial to rows of identical plants anywhere, so variety matters.

Among the hardy I. opacas, does anyone have a favorite? What do you think has the shiniest leaves in a hardy holly, VV?

I planted a lot of baby viburnums two years ago.

I'm exhausted just reading about what will be planted in everyone's gardens....this is what keeps me alive during a winter like this one, where cold & snow are the norm.....I will go through the catalogs again tomorrow....I've chosen 10 dahlias so far......

Love the catalogs. They are windows into summer.

Patti, I am considering the fastigate european beech from Avant Gardens. It would make sense that trimming the central leader would probably keep it somewhat under control for a few years at least. There are some weeping purple ones that also might be made to stay low. Wouldn't it be fun to make a garden arch with the fastigate beech? I have just the right place.

I have that rather tender Viburnum 'Le Bois Marquis' Handsome Devil™on my to order list from Garden Crossing. What think thee Mr. V.? Patti

We have several of the arrowood viburnums growing naturally on the property. I am on the lookout for the winterberry ilex if I can find a place for them. We are quite heavily wooded as the house was snaked into a wooded plot 40 years ago. Miss our low bush blueberries which have been shaded out.

Got an email from Katherine at Avant Gardens about their promotion code not working yesterday.

For Ilex opaca, I think the ones with the best dark green shiny leaves are:

•Ilex opaca 'Jersey Princess'
•Ilex opaca 'Jersey Knight'
•Ilex opaca 'Judy Evans'
•Ilex opaca 'Lady Alice'

I can probably find Ilex opaca 'Cardinal' around here, if one were to want it bad enough.

There are plenty more EXCELLENT selections of American Holly. You could do worse than to plant 'Satyr Hill', 'Dan Fenton', 'Farage', and a host of other amazingly great performers. That doesn't even include orange or yellow-fruiting selections.

The Viburnum × Handsome Devil™ plants that I have are still youngsters in containers, but they've been attractive in leaf character and fall color. I expect it will be a fine performer for you.

I'm not very impressed with the Garden Crossings website, though. Every viburnum listed (9) is given the common name Naked Witherod, which isn't even a good common name for the one plant that it could be attributed to (Viburnum nudum). I'd call them out...

Look for any wetter site to make a good location for Winterberry Holly - which I happen to know good sources for (ask wha or bbrookrd).

some busy conversations here - I am hoping to stay strong and not order much until the bed enlargement projects are done - still have many viburnum's and winterberries to move to happier sights.

look for a coming attraction on the projects thread. a small stone cairn - think desktop sized - I just finished to be posted on the projects site. this is a forever standing (drilled and glued) type.

my bride wanted one for her office. it came out real nice, maybe too nice to go to her office :)

I will be traveling to Colorado for work soon and hope to find a stone yard open. never have the time to hike a trail and bring back any of their beautiful red rock. have only come across a few so far. want to build a few more and then decide on the one to "give up".

Cindy deserves the good one, Bill! Just think, it may mean another JM for your property!

Red Rock Hunting for Cindy....sounds like a Book title. Patti

Went for a walk in the garden to see what was happening so here is a college. Patti

Exochorda 'Niagara' Snow Day Surprise has many blooms beginning to open.
Hamamelis mollis Wisley Supreme (Thank you Viburnum Valley) Just starting to pop.
Helleborus foetidus Wester Flisk we have many other H.foetidus cultivars in bloom all over the garden, but this is my favorite.
Yucca flaccida Golden Sword always looks good.

Thanks for the holly suggestions, VV. I do have Satyr Hill in the ground, and Jersey Knight is on the way this spring. Thanks for the offer about Cardinal, but perhaps there are some others that are more unique, so I will hold off and think about some other defining characteristics for variety. Most of the nurseries around here sell the aquifolium or perhaps aqua-perni selections if the plant has any size, and seldom an I opaca cultivar. There is probably still room here for luxuriant native hollies.

Holly books list a lot of mail order places to buy: ubiquitous Forest Farm, Gossler Farms, Holly from Holley, Holly Haven, McLean Nurseries, Monrovia, Patuxent Valley Nursery, Roslyn nurseries, Simpson's Nursery, Solt Gardens, TNZ nursery and Wavecrest Nursery. I spent time surfing Wavecrest (conifers looked good there too) and others not even listed.

Work is cancelled til noon tomorrow. Maybe a few more companies will get their 2014 sites open :) Avant Gardens is hard to resist. Lazy s's nursery is hard to resist...So far no impulse buys here.

wish work had been cancelled here. the snow is still coming down and really blowing.

ok i posted some pictures of the little cairn on the projects thread.

have a month to find more stone and build a couple more of these - then a decision will be made on which one to give up - it was hard to give up a small stone flower arrangement last year - i did let a good one find its way to her office - don't worry marilyn it will be a nice - just maybe not this one.

This message was edited Jan 2, 2014 5:13 PM

wha:

My bride and I will probably be driving to Denver next November for the ASLA meeting. I bet someone could convince us to pull a heavy duty trailer behind the Tundra...

bbrookrd:

'Wisley' is looking supreme. You are welcome. Now, I can't wait for mine to get started.

Sounds like a good plan to pull a trailer......I could use some nice red rocks! 😉

Awesome having blooming plants in the garden right now, Patti! I'm not worried, Bill.....I know Cindy will get a lovely work of rock art, because yours are all nice! Rosemary, you seem to be building a nice collection of hollies.......Louise......Red Rocks in Windsor? Another book title!