Continuation from
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1348312/#new
I hope before this thread is filled up that I can see emerging bits of this Monarda bradburiana, from Greenthumb, to share at Swap. Meanwhile, we are shivering out the remainder of FEBRUARY, some with a new layer of snow yesterday.
Oh my GOODNESS Gita, those evergreens really were sad!! But your Wintersweet looked quite happy... nice to see a silver lining there somewhere! =)
Oooh Sally, what pretty babies!! =)
Some time soon, I will have to go poke around in my soil to see if there are any signs of Hellebore life. Gosh I hope so!
How about this snow storm we're supposed to get? I'm starting to think that my kick off the gardening season project on 3/1 is going to be postponed :(
I've been planning for a couple months now to plant 12 aronia arbutifolia but I'm not sure all the snow will be melted in the next two weeks.
They seem sure we'll get several inches at least. Then weekend after this, forecast hits 50 high a few days.
I can handle some snow, no excuse for not being prepared with these forecasts, but I hope the pretty fluffy stuff isn't all ruined by ending with freezing rain, like is expected.
I am getting tired of waking up to fifteen degrees!
8 ^/
But maybe this will cut down on garden pests.
You're tired of waking up to 15 degrees! Imagine how I feel visiting my patients out in Olney in the old folks buildings that have no visitor parking so I have to park 2 blocks away and lug all my equipment with the wind blowing up my skirt through this mess!
t Please oh please Phil, don't just not see your shadow, bring out your beach chair, umbrella and sunscreen with you and don't forget your polarized sunglasses. I can't take much more of this!!
Me either. Prediction out my way is 12 - 18" tonight. We still have snow/ice in the yard that hasn't melted since the beginning of winter, and the gravel lane is a slushy, muddy mess. Come on spring!!!
How do you prune native honeysuckle? The trellis I've set up for mine is only 6 feet tall, so I'd like to keep it at a manageable size without pruning out the blooms.
Jan, do you prune your honeysuckle at all?
There isn't much yardening we can do for the next couple of days, but I'm planning on pruning the shrubs, trees, and grasses as soon as it warms up.
Not really, I just twine the longish ones in and around. I tried to find out the name of it and the tag was nowhere to be found. Looking forward to seeing it this spring, if spring ever comes.
Read up on the honeysuckle, I wonder if its the kind of thing that should be pruned back to get fresh growth that flowers more. Starting to snow here.
Ssg, I usually wait till the buds swell in spring to trim mine. Then anytime during the summer when it starts to get unruly. Mine usually gets aphids so I end up pinching a lot too.
How nice to think of spring pruning!! My yews (10-12' tall) were the only shrubs suffering in the snow; they were bent in half. I'm going to bite the bullet and do extensive pruning before growing season starts to make them sturdier. I thought about doing it today so the limbs would bounce back up, but decided it was a bad idea and shook the snow off instead.
Muddy1, Good thing to wait a bit give the wood a chance to spring back as far as it will before pruning.
Yep - I want to make sure I do it right!
The first blooms I get on the native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) do get a disfiguring amount of aphids so I frequently prune then. Although I have since learned that they are native aphids that are eaten by early bird visitor so I prune some and leave some.
I'm sure you can prune now you'll just lose the early bloom but mine quickly have a second bloom after pruning.
Do you have the red or yellow flowers?
I have both colors although I prefer the red. I have about 9 vines scattered throughout the yard. They are such great bee and hummingbird attractors. The ones that form denser vines are also preferred nesting spots for cardinals and catbirds.
I even have kept 2 vines in pots on small trellises for years.
The potted ones try to root along the ground and are good sources for new plants.
I have the red flowers. Very interesting that the aphids are early bird food! I didn't get any aphids on it last year (knock on wood).
I love this vine and hope it gets nice and full, but I do want to keep it at a manageable size. I once saw a large clump of L. sempervirens that had bent a metal trellis.
I read that hummingbirds eat aphids. I never saw hummingbirds on my milkweed, but something ate the tiny little black bugs or bug eggs that were on them once or twice last summer.
Great news! I saw a ladybug this afternoon, take that aphids!
Muddy1, I have a 30 year old yew hedge, with a portal entering our secret garden. Internal inspection reviles very little breakage but it will be badly bowed. I have considered trying some stem grafts to try and prevent damage, maybe after this I will try. Yew is very sturdy wood and historically used for English longbows which were really Welsh, so I imagine the wood will tolerate a lot of stress.
A ladybug?! If that's not a sign of spring, I don't know what is.
That's a wonderful hedge and I love the idea of a secret garden - I always have since watching that movie with my kids over and over when they were young.
Anyway, back to yews: I assume the photo on the left shows the same hedge? That's about what my yews look like after a heavy snowfall.
Mine are too top-heavy due to insufficient sun and, probably, insufficient pruning during their formative years. The snow doesn't break the branches; I just want to create stronger branches so the birds will have better winter shelter and spring nesting spots.
Wonderful hedge Ric!
I have a neighbor who turned his privet hedge into a long dragon. It was one of my favorite walks
to pass by and check on the progress of the double heads since they were the tallest and the last to be formed. He never quite got the mouths to form.
One of my favorite books is "Gardens of Obsession" Eccentric and Extravagant Visions by Gordon Taylor and Guy Cooper. That's were I found out about Pearl Fryar's Topiary garden (extraordinary! and his art form is recognized by major art museums.) There is also a section on grafting that turns trees into sculptures.
This message was edited Feb 15, 2014 5:52 AM
Well--
Some of yu know that there was this amazing "Roadshow" last Wednesday (2/12)
at the cavernous Bell Nursery Distribution Center Facility.
This place is almost as big as as a HD.
It was well set up and they treated us all to breakfast AND a wonderful lunch.
The classed/demos were resented on a 1/2 hr. rotational schedule with a
15 min. break in between.
All the attendees were Garden associates from various HD-s around the area.
There was a second day (of the same) scheduled on Thursday--but it was called off
because of the big snow. Too bad--lots of scheduled-to-go people lost out.
I did not take a lot of pictures--but here are a few:
1--The breakfast bunch--there were lots more people
2--Mary Lou from Bell (she takes care of our store) presenting a demo
on annuals and perennials.
3--There were 2 other ladies that spoke--each had a topic.
4--This one talked about decorative grasses.
5--The "enthusiastic" audience----Hmmmmmmmm...
I always sat in the front row and contributed my share.. Some people were quite impressed..
That's really cool that you get
'professional development' !!
I would not enjoy trying to develop that crowd though. They look kind of bored! Thank heavens for your interest in the subject, so the Bell people can keep up their spirits!
That looks like a really nice program. So glad you were able to attend and enjoy day.
That looks like it was a really cool presentation Gita, I'm glad you got to go too!! Woulda been nice to have been able to clone you and put about 30 more Gitas in that crowd. =)
Yeah, Speedie---
Two of the presenters thought I was really knowledgeable too--
and gave me their cards... What for--I don't know....They were regional biggies.
You know--the classes are all on a strict schedule--and there really was not
time for any discussions--or they all started squirming...
Mostly, I tried to mention something they missed that was important,
like--if you talk about diseases and are holding up bottles of concentrates
to spray on plants--how can you not mention that selling a sprayer with a wand
is the ideal add-on sale? After all--most plant insects live on the undersides of leaves..
a hose-end sprayer cannot reach them.
That kind of stuff.......
After the last class--a young guy standing around stared at me as i walked by--
so I walked up to him and he said: "How do you know so much"???
Besides filling him in as to how long I have been gardening--and my job history--
I also told him to check our DG. ....:o)
Gita
Gita, I bet those regional biggie presenters were "headhunting"! < =D Wheeee!!!!!!!
I always tell people about DavesGarden. Any customer that actually looks like he/she is truly "listening", I grab one of our business cards and write the website name on the back of it for them. =)
Gita, just curious if you found out anything more about the new shrub vendor?
Anything new on the horizon?
Coleup--OH YES!!!
Hopewell Nursery had their own 1/2 hr. presentation, along with slides of their operation.
MAN!!! Are they hands-on!!! From starting their own cuttings to pruning to trimming--
all done by hand. A zillion acres of plants!
One of the two people that gave me their card was their sales rep--
Lisa Semler.
309 Woodruff Rd.
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
cell-(609) 805-4826 office: (856) 451-5552
e-mail..... lisa@hopewellnursery.com
I asked if they would have their people come and water their shrubs and trees--NO!
They will merchandise and display--but not water.
Some other news re the new season---at the HD.
--Sod--is going back to 10sf (they cut it to 8 last year).
--Bell has purchased a perennial Nursery somewhere in NC and they will be growing
80% of all the perennials themselves. They will also double the amount of perennials
HD will carry.
--They will be selling more Hllebores. and more Ornamental Grasses.
I would say--things are looking good for the new season...just more work for us.
OK! If I find out anything else new--I will let you all know.
G.
I'm sure if you are interested in Topiary, you have been to Ladew Gardens. It's one of hidden gems nearby.
http://www.ladewgardens.com/
Here's an old thread from Holly, I'm not sure what happened to some of the text.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/997862/?hl=LaDew+Topiary+
Do you think we could sell our snow to California gardeners? Heck I might even give some away!LOL
Another memory just popped up. Has everyone seen the documentary, "A man called Pearl"? Here's a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfXWwgZCAiI
Inspirational !
This message was edited Feb 17, 2014 5:59 AM
Ric, I've got a buddy in So. Cal., have told him I'd LOVE to send him all our snow... would be nice, huh? They suuure could use it.
Seems to me I've heard of that movie before, will have to check it out, thank you.
You can find it on Netflix and it is definitely worth watching. Very very interesting
We don't do Netflix anymore, but I'll do a search on DirecTV, maybe I'll be able to find it on there. Looks REALLY good!
Pearl looks wonderful and we are needing Netflix ideas- streaming I hope.
Sally, the Netflix original series House of Cards is fantastic. There are two entire seasons out.
I think all but the last season of Breaking Bad is streaming. Another great series.
If you haven't seen Sherlock, the BBC Sherlock Holmes series, they have 2 of the 3 seasons streaming. Great acting, and quite funny.
And the '70s classic Airplane. I could watch that movie everyday and it'd still make me laugh. :)
I'm surprised every morning when I open the curtains and still see snow out there. I keep thinking today's the day that I get some wintersowing done, and then I'm shocked at the snow that's still in the yard.
Ss, winter sowing, or, at least 'winter sowing' as I know it, can absolutely be done while there is still snow outside. In fact, wintery weather is one of the prerequisites. :) Unless of course you're thinking of a different sort of winter sowing that I don't know about?? :)
oh yeah ssg- we were glued to House of Cards last year when it came out. Mark just said though, he came to dislike it because the main character was so BAD. Well, yeah, you need a protagonist, right? antagonist? I found it oddly reassuring, everyrthing I thought I knew about those evil scheming politicians seemed borne out!
My friend watched tehe British house of cards and said it was good too, tho the affair between the main character and the reporter was even creepier.
We've caught parts of Breaking Bad all along as one of our kids has watched it all- I agree excellent.
We'll try Sherlock- sounds good. And me too I am a diehard Airplane fan...and Young Frankenstein.
The snow in parts of our yard is still over your ankles when you go crunching thru it. My snowdrops are a whole lot more SNOW than DROPS. This is a good time to observe the snowmelt and think about microclimates- what warnms up fastest.
Brilliant thinking Sally, about observing the snowmelt and what warms up the fastest. I've been watching my melt (that sounds funny), and it's interesting what's still out there and what's already gone... tho I'm not surprised.
LOL Speedie, the problem is I can't get out to the shed or open its door! :)
On the north side of the house I had to Star Trek (go where no man...), anyway, the snow was above my knees before I hit hard pack. Near the south wall no snow.
SSG, my husband and I thoroughly enjoy Sherlock. The only problem with the show is that there are so few episodes in each season. The 3rd season came and went so quickly! :(
Ss, Oooooh!!! LOL, silly me! Yeah, I guess getting to your stuff in the shed is a primary prerequisite, huh? ;)
DH and I watch "Top Gear; BBC America" ALL the time, and from time to time we see trailers for Sherlock... guess we should check it out, huh? We've also seen loads of trailers for "Torchwood", been curious about that one as well.
Ric, Egads, I now have visuals of you tromping along through knee-deep snow and then, WHOMPH!! You've gone down above your head and vanished!! Got any snow shoes??
Speaking of snowy stuff -- what's up with the stuff that's falling out there now!?! I thought we were all done with this for a while?? I peeked out the window as DH was leaving for work about an hour ago and the driveway and street area all white again! Really now, enough is enough already.
