Since snow is still melting there isn't a whole lot to say. And the wonderful sun only helps when there is no cloud cover which seems like clouds are always here. But I have a good growth and am planting annuals to jam into the perennial beds to try to fill them out. Wispy stuff like cosmos, love-in -the -mist,. Also Black Eyed Susan, marigolds, gaillardia. I planted melons, cukes, two kinds of peppers, chard, dill, cabbage, spinach. I think that's all. My lettuce is forming first true leaves as well as the romaine. I am again trying chives and bunching greens. No success last year. Cauliflower is up and hardy looking along with tomatoes. Course all of this is in my garage on the growing racks. As I mentioned before, got tired waiting for DH to fix their problems so I hired electricians to come in and install new ballasts all around with new flourescents, and an additional breaker that won't keep b lowing when they all come on. They ran consuit up the wall from a double wall switch to quad boxes in the ceiling out of the way. Now all I have to do is flip two switches and the whole chebang lights up, including a 4x8 sheet of plywood with four double flourescents over them for the taller stuff like my begonias and dahlias. I dread when it comes time to hardy these guys up. Hauling flats and pots in and out, trying to not burn them, not overwatering or underwatering. Once they are in the ground I can almost sigh with relief. It will be up to nature and themselves if they survive.
My peonies are breaking dormancy!
Just lurking still LOL. Funny story, checked my peonies earlier after a msg from kathy about ants. Told DH "My peonies have buds on them", he thought i said my penis had buds on it..=/ hmmm... LOL. Anyways, I have buds and ants on the peonies I told you guys about earlier!! Ill have a bloom to identify soon. :)
Prarie Afire has broken dormancy. All else still under ice. Well, except for the ones formerly mentioned that are sending pips.
Overcast and light rain today, but very warm- 70's predicted. Next weekend hopefully there will be more to see. I unpacked my nice new peony grids from Lee Valley, what a difference from the standard ones! No more bending and sagging under the weight of the flowers. Yay! Now if only they'll wake up, lol.
Kathy, I did divide the Veronica, I always want more, lol. I started with 1 V Sunny Border Blue and one V Red Fox ages ago, finally got decent patches.
Mary, that sounds like a great light setup. Good for you to get it done, especially since your season is so short. You're way ahead of me. And I hear you about dragging flats in and out, I'll be starting that soon enough.
Hmmmm... Started this yesterday, somehow it never got posted. More later!
Wow, Mary, you are ahead of us here on veggies. Except for parsley I have ordered seeds but not done a lot. I have been concentrating on perennials and have gotten cynoglossum, tons of digitalis, arabis, Fragaria vesca reugen, salvia patens and viridis, and a few others. I was shocked to find that a whole series of culinary perennial salvia that I put into our Master Gardener's "Idea Garden", then dug up and put in pots, survived the winter in my garage. I think it's so cool the way you adjust to your very short season so beautifully.
But my best treat (this is a bit off topic) is the survival - to the tips! - of the four viburnum plicatum tomentosum 'Pink Beauty' I installed. I lost 5 quite mature shrubs of 'Lanarth' years ago in Lake County, supposedly the same zone. But 'Pink Beauty' is leafing top to toe. Wonderful. And I wrote Rosemary privatelu, and put on Trees and Shrubs, that I got amazing, healthy, extremely well branched viburnums from Classic Viburnums a few days ago. And, bless my little heart, they are all in the ground. They were HALF the price of inferior ones here, even including shipping. One 5 gallon container and 4 2 gallon containers for less that $180 - and yes, that includes shipping. The five gallon was $29 and change. It would have been $50 without tax at the nursery I utilized to get plants at my former home.
Is anyone else seeing what I am seeing? Much lower prices! It's like the clock has been turned back, what with the end of season sales at Old House Gardens ($38 for what turned out to be 8 lilium martagon albums?!) and the early season sales at Bluestone (more like the prices several years ago before all the costs went up). I actually think that it's a bad sign, but I also see that my local nurseries' prices have soared whereas mail order plants of the same size are much less expensive.
Pam, sorry am confused...did you think I had sent the V. Sunny Border Blue?
No, just telling you I know about dividing Veronica to get more. And when I finally planted what you sent me, Sight Seeing Blue, I divided it. :-)
I agree with Donna about the prices. I have been purchasing loads of baby conifers and some of the sale prices are amazing. I am afraid to wait a year for fear the companies will stop doing retail sales and switch to bulk wholesale. I say that as some of the plants and bonus plants that are arriving are as a large as the smallest, but still expensive ones and less specific to cultivar, at the local nursery. Just look at some of the peony sales, such as the Wild catalog--wow!
My Bluestone order arrived looking very healthy and some, such as the red Bessingham's berginia are in bloom right in the box. Very easy to just close up the boxes at night considering it is still cold at night and a freeze is expected Wed.
Closer bloomtime gets the busier yall are. Love getting tips and tricks from you all. Iv seen hoops for peonies to keep them up, instead of getting weighed down and flopping on the ground. Are they called peony cages? Not sure, I need to get a few. Never had peonies until now. Any info would be appreciated. So just trying to make sure I have my bases covered. also, were getting frost/poss snow tonight, should I cover them? Not sure what to do with them.
Sorry if anyone was offended by what DH said about my peonies, but I had a good laugh about it, Thought you guys would get a laugh too. Still laughing actually. Going to get him in for a hearing test soon.
Pam, thought so but wanted to make sure..yes caan divide again this spring toooo..
Badcat...lol, make sure you take care of him....lol For me, my peony hoops consist of 2" gridded fencing (36") cut down to size for the peonies and stuck into the ground. When the foliage gets up and growing it pretty much hides the fence.
Mary have you thought about using a frost blanket ot two to cover plants so you don't have to carry them back and forth quite soo much in the hardening off process??? I usually do that when I start to take plants out in the spring... When you get anything over 20 flats it's just too much effort to haul them back and forth. Very easy to uncover them for a few hours each day..but I might tend to keep the annuals inside for awhile yet..just an idea.
Did some reseasrch on the Limonium l. and found out they can infact reseed (first time for me tho)...so I'm one happy camper, so to speak, lol. Would go count them but we got 5-6" of snow which ended this am....
Spent part of the day re-uploading my pix from previous years..had to replace my puter tower...it got sick... So now I'm trying to get them edited as I have many copies of the same pix... but here's the Iris from last June... More than 200 here and am hoping for a better show this season, but also noticed some that were newly planted in didn't make it thru the winter, my fault for doing it so late I guess. Am hoping to finish this border in the up coming weeks, want ot finish about 150ft more to the north (top of the pix) And those that I moved from an area last season got divided and potted, sure am glad as they ready to go into the ground in a few weeks... but also found more in the feild that I missed and have to pot those..... Sure am glad the deer don't like them..I do! lol.
These are the rings I just got, they are extra sturdy. Actually it's Donna's on recommendation that I bought them. I already have a few of the cheaper ones from the box stores and nurseries, they are not nearly as strong. I leave them in place all year, so I never walk on the plants while they are dormant. Too bad I can't make everything else as safe!
http://www.leevalley.com/us/garden/page.aspx?c=&p=10446&cat=2,43319,33282&ap=1
Badcat, I thought your DH's comment was funny and cute, lol.
Ty Pam and Kathy, Im going to get some of those! Iv seen my neighbors drooping. Id like to prevent it if I can..Back to your sceduled program ;) xx Amanda
Kathy, I have some floating cover. Would that work as a frost shield. I think that is what it is for. But it isn't just the frost. It is also the sun. Too hot on the 'hot house' raised plants. I have had some burn to pieces when first put out for too long. I doubt that a white row cover would protect from sun. But the idea is good none the less. I may try to rig supports for visqueen to blockthe sun and frost. I won't be able to carry them back and forth soon. Thanks for the great idea.
Mary...I've used it as both...a frost protector and as screening from the sun for babies..yes it does cut some of the strong light...I'm thinking another name for it is remay?! 10x10ft for less than $15 ish, (sound right?) What I use has about 15-20* protection range...not sure on floating row cover but should tell you in a description of it somewhere...
My area that I use to harden off plants if I begin taking them out early has plastic on it...(backside of the garage has a horsestall), I call it my greenhouse..lol. Anyway, early in the season I put up plastic (6mil). And use the remay when night temps are still quite cool til things harden off a bit. Removing the remay sheet during the day if needed. Then when need, I take the plastic down and put up a sheet of the remay frost blanket, which then helps with sun protection...that way I don't have to cover each plant but just the area,,, Does that help with a few ideas? Guess I should remember to take pix one of these years.lol. (Usuall after last frost is when they will be needing the cooler temps. I swear I was out there the other day and the temps were maybe 70* outside and in this area they were in the 90*s but only guessing...So I opened up the plastic at the end and propped it up on some buckets just so some cooler air was allowed in for a few hours,,, I leave the plastic at the bottom (on the ground and weight it down with 8ft pieces of lumber), that way I can open up and let some cooler air in til eve. and close it again for the cooler over night temps early in the season... or like yesterday when we got 5.5" of snow...
All great ideas and absolutely along the lines of some of my projects. I will look up the info on the floating row covers to check for sun protection. Will also look at building a light weight sturdy frame to drape the poly and then row covers over. Thanks so much again. I was not looking forward to that spring chore this year.
Oh your iris row is beautiful, kathy! I'm developing mine. The house I now live in came with irises (my first) and seeing how pretty they are and that the deer leave them alone as you say, I've started adding to them. Though this year, aphids are devastating them. It must be the early heat? Once I started noticing them, I've been going out twice a week and smushing them.
Pam, your Falling Down Wall is breathtaking with all its textures (your first pic up there - I'm way behind in replying). I love it! What plants are involved in producing the scene? Or did you already write it?
Now that I know what a platycodon looks like, I'm seeing them everywhere :)
1st pic is a surprise. (Excuse the bad photo!) This is apparently a peony and I didn't plant it!
I didn't see this growing here last year and yet it has a few stalks. So strange. I suppose I inadvertently uncovered it when I moved things around in that bed. I hope it buds so I can see what it is. Regardless, I'll move it in the fall; it's flush against the oak tree.
2nd is Scrumdidlyumptious. It's an itoh. It's a big one! Yet, there are no buds on it. I assume that is normal for an itoh. I bought a Bartzella too, as big, but I arrested its growth when my DH moved it. DH said it's a plant, why would it care if it's moved? and he manhandled that root like it had no feelings lol. Now, it's small and sulking and has been for a month now.
3rd is Morning Kiss. It was the first up and unfurled. It has many buds and all of them, every millimetre, is covered by ant. I can't wait to see it bloom. The buds are still tiny.
4th is a bad pic of Festiva Maxima. According to my records, I should have four peonies in this bed, but there are five growing in it - boggle - so I'll have to wait till the plants form flowers to confirm what went where. Anyhow, this plant is funny in that I have to remove a leaf or part of a leaf every week because it gets slimy and wilts or becomes brown and dies. Any ideas? The rest of the plant looks great, but if I keep having to remove little bits of it at a time, it won't have leaves by July.
5th should be Therese. I just had to remove a little bit of brown leaf. I hope that has nothing to do with what is happening with FM. FM was bought at a nursery in a small pot (if that matters). Otherwise, it is looking gorgeous.
Thanks! The Falling Down Wall has White Saponaria at the top, along with Iberis, Arabis, Salvia Snow Hill, Achillea Ballerina. On the way down are white, 12" Alliums so happy they've self sowed, more White Saponaria, Cerastium Tomentosum, and at the bottom a short white Asclepias and more A Ballerina. On the ledge at the side are Russian Sage and a silver-leaved early blooming pink Dianthus. Behind the big rock are white Veronicastrum, tall white Asclepias and a huge pre-existing fern. That's my white garden, in case you couldn't tell, lol, and it's come together bit by bit. Pic is from the summer of 2011, after I got rid of the raspberries, tradescantia and other rampant aggressors.
I finally saw the first peony pips yesterday afternoon-- Duchesse De Nemours, Karl Rosenfeld, Coral Charm and Red Grace. The Duchess is the only established one to show so far, she gets a little more sun than the other oldies. Coral Charm was new last fall, Red Grace is in her 2nd year, and Karl was moved again last fall, hopefully for the last time. Spring is here! :-)))))
For the first time EVER, every single onne of my peonies has broken dormancy, including the new ones and the ones I moved.
I won't bore you with a bunch of pictures of pips, but I wanted to show you the two that spent a year in a walnut bed (Mrs. FDR and Festiva Maxima from Old House Gardens - huge roots I thought I had destroyed, and Burma Joy, which did not even emerge from the soil last year because I moved it to a location that was too shady. It is a few years old, and it shows it in the advanced stage of leafiness that it is displaying.
These are actually on a shadier part of my back yard. There are openings in the trees such that these get sun all year round. Good thing, too, because I got so carried away ordering peonies this year that there was NO WAY I could fit them all in the front. They are in my front yard and parkway, and I can't put them in one long bed because of the walnut tree.
I'm thrilled.
OH beautiful and healthy. I think mine will be likewise. I still have six to go that only recently got out from the frost and weren't all that great last year. Sometimes if I can remove a cap of ice from the crown of a plant I will find the poor little pip trying to push up against it. Amazing. If the weather continues I should have some that look like yours in a week or so. Leaves unfurling.
It's so bizarre that you are 5b and I am 5a (actually, according to the new charts I am 5b) but our plants are so far apart.
Oh, and by the way, your wonderful speciosum, Mary? I wanted to be absolutely sure that they survived so I put them in the garage in pots, gave them a bit of water at the beginning of each month and they have broken dormancy and are growing!!!
Going significantly off topic, I made a lot of mistakes last year with lilies, putting them in too much shade. The Regales were particularly displeased with me, forming buds and then aborting them. I swear they stuck out their tongues at me! So I dug them up midseason and put them in pots on my southfacing patio, where they got lots of sun. Then I put them back into the ground in fall and they LIKE it! They are all coming back. I marked them with chopsticks so I would know where they were - VERY helpful when you are adding lilies in spring. The funny part is that, since they didn't bloom, I don't know what's White Henryi vs. Amethyst Temple vs. Emerald Temple (wow, trumpets look the same in bud). I won't know what I have until they bloom. I am just hoping to have at least one Amethyst Temple. It's out of commerce (I can't even find the seeds to grow it at NALS) and it's my favorite lily.
Now I know how to correct peony problems (I didn't hesitate to dig them up in the fall and move them) I feel a lot more confident. You really do live and learn. I installed my first peony in 2003, and I only just now really understand them. If they are buried too deeply and you are worried about them, you can in fact remove soil. I did on 4, and it worked every time.
Now I just hope to pass on my mistakes and their corrections so that other newbies won't waste time and money, and more selfishly, so I can see everyone else's glorious flowers!
I have one that I think might be too deep. Removing soil might be problematic though as I don't want to form a pool of water or ice. Course it is on a slope, so I can dig a little ditch on the down side to make sure it drains well. Another I think is too shallow.
I am so happy about your lilies, speciosum. They were so beautiful in the pictures and each year I got buds then nothing. Same with the doubles. That's okay. It leaves lots of gorgeous lilies to grow. I haven't tried to grow them in pots. They do so well in the ground I didn't think I should try. I do have iris in pots, TB, but they were full of aphids which spread to all my dahlias. I finally bought an organic soap type stuff when the home made stuff wasn't getting it. So I don't know about keeping them over in the winter again. I guess I could try to bury the pots in the raised beds then cover with mulch. Then the aphids shouldn't develop.
Pam...just wanted to let you know, Duchess is showing her buds now and also the lilies are peaking thru the soil line....YEAH!!!!
That's great, Kathy. My half of that Duchess started showing buds today. The Iilies are near the surface, but not quite showing yet. Yay, spring!
Lemon Chiffon popped today. Also a lily. I was so surprised. Seems early for them. But these are sort of behind a rock that soaks up the sun and warms the surrounding earth. Guess that is why.
You know I've been telling you about my d--r problem. I didn't realize how bad it was til they had a news story on the problem. The town of Elizabeth is thinking about having skilled hunters come in and do bow hunting on them in the evening...... They will donate the meat to charities... I'm just hoping they follow thru with it, they were saying that the TOWN herd is approx. 3-500 head. They explained people have been having accidents far too often.. They cross the hiway whenever and where ever they want... (As the crow flies I'm about 3 miles from town..) I want to see my lillies bloom!!!!!!!! I've so had it with the Bambi effect....(people who want them to roam freely...eating trees, shrubs , flowers).
Pix..If I remember correctly this is my personal heard of males...I wonder how big it's gotten this year....and then there's the group of females that are usually seperate. I want to see my lillies this year!!!!! LOL...(Ya think I'm a bit opinionated....)
Oooooh Mary, that one sounds pretty!!!
Mary, a lily! Really? A lot of mine are poking up their little heads, but that's it. Just got the most wonderful lilies from B&D. Thank goodness peonies come in the fall. I have been so greedy that things are coming almost on top of each other. I got my five viburnums in - it was surprisingly easy because they aren't near trees. But the hordes of perennials are coming soon, and I managed to grow lots of them. I have 8 digitalis mertonensis seedlings, for heaven's sake!
And then there are the roses.
But then, what a wonderful problem!
Oh yes. Wonderful indeed. I am hoping to fill my yard with flowers this year. Crowding them be darned. The ones I have started from seed are more robust that I have ever had. I am beyond pleased and pleased with myself that I took the initiative to hire an electrician to fix my grow shelves.
Your gardens will be beyond gorgeous with the variety and colors you have chosen. I am trying to grow (and they are doing well) Black-Eyed Susan this year as they are supposed to be perennial. I have such poor luck with Gaillardia but I think it is because I over water. Need to find a dryer spot for them. I had them next to lilies along a path. I think higher up the hillock with better drainage would be better.
Bluestone's Friday 50-50 sales have done serious damage to my wallet. Since I only ordered a couple of varieties each time, I ordered multiples of 3 or 5 of most. And I've ordered several times. Ouch! But I'm very excited for them to come. I want close planting too, and every year I get closer to my goal.
When I left this morning, many peony buds were showing from a few feet away. I didn't have to bend down and search for them. Next weekend I'll see how the new rings look. I already think I need more, lol... Enough is never enough!
My four roses came from Pickering yesterday.Wow, they are wonderful. I had a mild case of food poisoning (my sister's soup) but Pickering was very specific about what I needed to do. And they are right. They said to go dig the holes and get the amendments before I even opened the bags to look at the roses. In past years I have managed to lose perhaps one of four roses because I didn't get them in quickly enough and they dried out. So there I was, staggering around the yard. But they are in. And they are wonderful.
As for Bluestone, I realize now that I have ordered 27 plants! I started in December, and thank goodness I paid for each as I went along!
Oh Donna. How miserable. I can truly sympathize with how you feel, felt. When your stomach is off only a headache can make it worse. but you will be rewarded by your roses when they bloom. Take it easy now. Lots of chicken soup and 7 up and comic books. Oh no. That was what my mother did for me when I was sick. You can skip the comic books. :)
Green tea with pomegranate juice and rye toast, served up by a sister who felt very guilty!
But it worked, because I was called this morning for the submission of an article about small shrubs for sun or shade - and I got it done!!!
Didn't a part of you love being sick as a child? My mother taught at an elementary school only block away, and she would come home and give us chicken soup and oranges and lemon tea while applying warm clothes to the forehead...Ah...
Yeah. that stopped when I got to 11 or 12. Then I got yelled at for forgetting my key to the house and getting sick over the side of the front porch.
Author! Author! Who did you write it for? How very cool.
I am embarrassed to say that it is for one of the Elgin papers with county wide distribution. The have a gardening column every month and Master gardeners were competing to write for it. So we had to audition. I had a fabulous cheat - I sent them my page from All Experts, where I handle perennials, and I have been so clever that over the years I have 10 for 10 ratings. (it helps when you respond promptly and invite follow-up). Anyway, they loved it, so I just did a short article in small shrubs for sun or shade.
I didn't expect to get published so soon. A BUNCH of people signed up and gave three or four topics. I came up with one. I was surprised when she catapulted my article over theirs. One of the funny things about being a MG is that you run into a lot of people with control issues. I just smile pleasantly and walk away.
Did you really get sick over the side porch? I had issues with strep throat so bad that they finally yanked my tonsils and adenoids. NOTHING gets you more sympathy than sitting moaning on a couch turning yellow.
Oh yeah. And oh yeah. I guess I had the flu. I think mom was embarrassed that 1 I got sick out in the cold (it was winter no less) and had to walk to a neighbor's house to call her to come let me in. Kind of put a blotch on her Mother of the Year Image. I suppose a small part may have been worry for me but knowing my mother I doubt it. It is what it is, or was.
I think that is pretty darn important. Writing for such a publication and beating out competition. I am sure it wasn't a shoe in. I guess after the hoo ha a few years ago when someone here referred to themselves as a master gardener when he hadn't taken the courses, but then he didn't mean to imply that he had, and a bunch of idiots responded in utterly ignorant manner. Makes you wonder what they do for self esteem if that is the best they can muster. I have no patience with people who horde their self-perceived power/knowledge to feel superior to others. Okay. Off the soap box.
You, however, are a good kind MG. Like the good fairly or Glenda the good witch. ROTFL
Hurray, Donna is blessed with issue!
Issue?? like progeny???
LOL!
We have a MG who decided that she would be head of the social committee. She puts together events that are near her house, an hour away. She is very loud and pushy, and puts out events people aren't interested in, and then you always have to bring food. I just had food poisoning, thank you. I am always wary of pot lucks.
She puts this stuff out on Evites so that you can see exactly how many people came. Last year she sent an Evite to 85 people, and six attended. She just did an "Earth Day" event today and wrote an email that it was obvious that people were not getting her invitations or emails. Which means few people attended. Then she salivated over the next event that she has planned.
This has happened three or four times in the last year.
The ability to sustain such self delusion fascinates me. What self confidence! (or is it something else?)
On a more cheery and peony related note, Scott's supposedly damaged peonies are my champs in terns of size. They are clearly going to be exceptional peonies. It took a couple of years, but I figured out the sun spots in my shady back yard. Zephirine Drouhin is thriiving there too.
How cool!