Yardening along merrily soon into November

When you take cuttings how do you root them?

Check out today's article -- a well timed re-run on overwintering geraniums!

Mind readers!
I want y'all to know- anybody can clean house for company, but it takes madd garden skills to find a shrub that MUST be moved before they come. Guess what I will be doing today.. (I hope- there's a dog wanting a walk)

Bwahahaaaa! Sally, you're fabulous. I hope you point out the shrub's perfect new location as you and your guests tour the yarden!

if it's a big shrub, I wrote about my success with severe pruning & fall transplanting... http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/the-right-move-relocating-trees-and-shrubs-in-fall

Gita, cuttings taken even now should be okay. Just take the greenest to a leaf joint and use Rootone or any other suitable chem. I use Oasis, because I've had a little trouble with damp off. Also any plant that over winters in the GH can produce cuttings for spring. I usually don't have time then with all the other GH work.

How about overwintering verbena?

Sally, ditto what Jill said. That sounds like something I'd do lol. This wasn't a plant, but the morning of the memorial service, I just had to put up this ceramic swallow wall art thingy on the front porch behind the swing. I had it sitting in a box for ages, so with all the commotion and the last minute preps, I can't believe I just HAD to have it up.

Finally got the last bit of fall bulbs planted this morning. The only thing left were 200 muscari bulbs. I had wanted to plant them as companions to the bleeding hearts, but of course the bleeding hearts are all dormant now and I don't have them marked. I planted all 200 in 5 groupings up in the front island bed instead. Oh well, just means I'll have to remember to mark the bleeding hearts next spring and order more of the muscari next fall :-)

verbena, you can treat pretty much the same as lantana, but they don't overwinter well in the house.

I moved my Korean boxwood 'Wintergreen', it's a gem of a plant, has been moved before in it's five year time here, (chuckle). I love the slow tidy growth of this.
I'm sure they won't give a hoot, but I feel better. Too funny, aspenhill!

Still settling pond plants in for rest. I'm also organizing the garage(think big potting shed), and about to move to the barn. I've got to set up the winter equipment so it's easy to access.

Well, peonies are finally cut back. Were they covered with mildew! Now to get Bt. The cursed cattipillars are chewing up the kale and cauliflower. This time of year and still fighting catipillars!

Sally, so what was the shrub that had to be moved ?!

Korean boxwood
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=g400
I just had to put it in an empty corner right by the front walk.

Does anyone grow kale this time of the year? I eat so much of it that I should be growing at least some of it.

Is it a green meatball Sally? I have a good spot for that boxwood..... ;-P

SSG - while we are not currently growing kale, it makes a good fall crop. In fact, there are winter crop kales too, that can be grown in our area.

For an extensive (4 pages) article on kale as a fall crop see: http://www.motherearthliving.com/gardening/plant-delicious-winter-nutrition.aspx?PageId=1

For seeds for 18 varieties of kale see http://www.territorialseed.com/category/kale_seed/a

Thanks, GT! I have some reading to do today. :)

ssg- I have a patch of kale growing, about 3 feet by 8 feet bed. I planted seed a couple months ago though. It's doing nicely. I could be picking some baby size leaves now for snacking or salad mix. But I'm letting them get bigger and strengthen the plants. With no frost, I have some bugs eating some leaves, darn it.

Between kale, spinach, and mustard- mustard greens grow fastest for me.

Hmpph, Jeff, it's a loose and soft natural meatball, thank you very much. I think I need to show a picture so you'll appreciate it....

My problem is that I don't have the room to plant fall veggies in September because summer veggies are still taking up all of the room in the vegetable beds. By the time the tomatoes and basil are done for the season, it's too late to plant kale or spinach seeds. Hmm. I guess I need to expand the veggie beds. ;)

that is my answer ssg!
unless you plant a small patch and then transplant after taking out tomatoes etc.
I planted mine after taking out failed summer squash, a wimpy crop of bush beans...ugh, I can't even remember what else was there, this year has been forgettable for my vegetable garden.

SS--
I get fresh Kale from Richardson Farms here. Huge 2lb. bags stuffed full for $2.50.
I bought 3 of these bags. may use just 2 for the HD dinner.

If anyone is interested--here is the recipe I use. I have NO idea who "SJRJA " is.
Got this recipe someplace on line. It IS very good!
*********************************************************************************

Sweet and Savory Kale By: SJRJA  --DG.
"This quick and tasty recipe combines vitamin-packed kale with both sweet and tangy ingredients for a colorful side dish."

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil + some diced bacon as part of the fat.
1 small-med. onion--diced
2 cloves garlic--minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons white sugar (optional—see notes)
1-tablespoon cider vinegar (add more!)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (home-made or canned)
4 cups (packed) stemmed, torn (and rinsed-if needed) kale
1/4 cup dried cranberries
salt and pepper to taste (I did not add salt)
About 1/4cup diced, smoked ham.
1/4 cup slivered almonds-toasted--a yummy add-on.

Directions:
1--Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted.
2--Stir in the dried cranberries, and continue simmering, uncovered, until the
liquid has reduced by half, and the cranberries have softened. About 15min.
3--Sprinkle toasted, slivered Almonds on top and serve.

Notes by Gita:…This is VERY, VERY good!
--Kale comes in a BIG bag—so that just about quadruples the amounts here.
IF you cook it all. (Why not?) You can freeze the rest in serving-size portions.
Buy local and as fresh as you can—and it will already be washed and clean.
--Now, as usual, I have to add something to a recipe that, I think, will make
it taste better. SO—I added some diced, smoked ham OR diced, thick bacon.
Brown with the onions and garlic-OR- brown the ham or bacon first..
Kale just needs some smoked meat in it! Amen!

Gita

This message was edited Nov 16, 2015 9:10 AM

I picked today. So pretty out. Spinach on left kale on right before picking.

Picked just biggest couple leaves each mustard. Might be picking it again by weekend.

Planted seed September 5 last pic Nov 2

@Jeff
I dug here a lot this summer trying to regrade. I could not stand a big bare spot here after potted tropicals went away.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2015 9:36 PM

Self proclaimed buxus h8r here, I'll say it looks like a nice one as they go. They are my ROS... ;-)

We are entitled to our preferences
;^)
And I will say- the only reason that I like it there is that I feel the front yard calls for more tidiness than my back yard. I doubt I'd ever go buy one for the back.
I just edited above to correct what my helpful phone put in for me.

Haha Sally, would you say you're business in the front and a party in the back?....Like a mullet?

ummm... yeah my landscaping skills probably are about that level!

Another lovely sunrise! It's not expected to be as warm today here though. Yesterday was a blessing!

LOL! I'm a mullet landscaper too... fortunately the front yard is small (lot has that cul de sac shape, like a slice of pie), so there's not much that needs to be tidy.

haha. it's one reason to love our squeezy front yards, ain't it, Jill?
" I CAN be neat and tidy ...only long enough for THAT"

Yep! Although I do need to address the strip on the far side of the driveway... the mint just didn't like all the rain we had this summer, I guess, and weeds & grass are trying to take over. There's enough mint to fill in next summer, but I do need to get rid of the grass, probably by spraying it.

I got the big yew by the front door pruned this weekend... started out as a quick job, getting rid of some "wild hairs" that had sprouted since its spring pruning... then I decided to make some deeper cuts to open it up a little and reduce its size (a gradual process that I started last year).

I picked up a couple bundles of pink marking flags and am setting out one more round of perennials. I like to put the pots around where I want the plants, then go on a digging spree. Especially with all the leaves blowing around, it's easy to overlook a pot, so the flags help. I used t-stakes with pink flagging ribbon to mark where I wanted the bigger trees/shrubs planted recently, too... even wrote the name of the tree on the ribbon... really worked well.

Mullet! That's the perfect way to describe it! I just planted my very first boxwood in the front yard death bed where other perennials and shrubs kept dying. I was trying to think of a plant that was completely different from anything else that had died in that spot and the boxwood fit the bill. Hopefully it'll survive and provide a bit of green to the front yard, which is desperately needed.

Just like the boxwood in Sally's picture! It's a nice backdrop to perennials and annuals.

Yes, I love the mullet comparison.
Hey Jill, How do you winter over your lotus??? I have mine in a large decorative pot with a ton of mud and I'm not sure I want to risk the pot. So my choices are to pot it up and sink it in the pond with the water lilies or pot it up and sink it in the garden with the marginals. I would rather put it in the Veggie garden but I am thinking that might be too dry for it?

We're sort of a reverse mullet then. Down by the road is on its own and things get more and more garden-like the closer you get to the house. The cows across the street don't seem to care.

Ha Ha

Holly, I keep my lotus in their water garden pots (22" across and permanently half-buried). I've lost them in a completely exposed (unburied) pot. I agree the veggie bed would be too dry... Can you put them in the pond on a shallow end? They like to be underwater, but only by 6-12 inches (measured from the crown of the plant to the surface of the water). Overwintering with marginals would probably also work as long as they got back into a water pot after breaking dormancy.

Thanks Jill, Yes we can set them up on a cinder block or two. Thanks.

Haha, that's funny. I don't think I follow the mullet garden. I have about the same style throughout. I like to think of my gardens as 'au naturale'

From what I've seen, you're au naturale in the natural form of the plants, but keep things very tidy. Mulched, edged, etc. I don't keep up with that in the back as well as the front. Again, the front is much smaller and defined space for it.

My house is like that too. I can decorate a bathroom cuz it's so small, but larger rooms, I'm lost.

Haha nice. One day I'll have to have a get together and everyone can see our gardens.