Yardening Dec 2015 into 2016

Gita, those look like very desiccated tubers. Better ones are plump and firm.

Anyone else have dogwood berries turning black and shriveled up? I posted this question in Native and Wild Plants forum. I've googled to no avail. Most of the berries on my common dogwood have turned black and shrivelly. It doesn't seem they'd be any good for the birds to eat. The dogwoods in question have a lot of sun and decent air circulation, and don't seem ill in general.

Yes, Sally. I noticed a lot of dropped black berries on the driveway yesterday when I went down to get the paper. Don't recall that in prior years.

I'm wondering if that has to do something with the mildew that has effected natives.

Wonder if it has to do with the longer warm weather?

Perhaps, for whatever reason, squirrels and birds didn't eat them while they were still red; e.g. maybe there was better-tasting food around, or they didn't ripen until the birds had already migrated. That's assuming that the berries were red and healthy-looking before they turned black.

Maybe the berries didn't ripen early enough because of our mild fall.

This message was edited Dec 7, 2015 7:39 PM

Heard on the news today we will be in for a couple 60*days again next week....

Great--but I am sure it is messing up all the plants. G.

Sally, I don't think that's to worry about. My pyracantha berries aren't looking the best right now either. They too barely got touched by the birds. I have seen squirrels eat them occasionally but for the most part they aren't looking that good. Some of them have been falling off on windy days.

I took a look today and yes, there are some black, shriveled berries on my old, non-cultivar Cornus florida (Dogwood). Scientific name posted so I can add that there aren't any lingering berries on either my young C. florida cultivars or on my C. amomum (Silky Dogwoods).

It had the normal amount of healthy-looking red berries this fall, though, so I think the ones I'm seeing are just the relatively few berries that the birds and squirrels didn't get around to eating.

In some years, I see flocks of birds feasting in the big old Dogwood, or hear the constant cracking of berries as squirrels sit up in the tree eating them. There wasn't much activity there this year, though.

This message was edited Dec 10, 2015 9:00 PM

This is odd. On my Chromebook all the posts are the same white background, making it harder to keep them separate. On this Macbook, posts are in alternating white and beige background.

Anyhoo, what an insanely nice day today for December! Still looking at what might be moved now before any possible garage construction. I tried to find five Asiatic lilies (can you say needle in a haystack?) and only found two. Found tiger lilies but didn't really need them. Found milkweed roots but no idea what to do with them now. Maybe on Sunday I'll cut them in pieces and pot them. I guess they will sprout for possible giveaway in spring ( common MW). I'm actually thinking the garage could be a good thing, I might have room for a south facing bed on the far side. Not for viewing from the house, but valuable warm zone bed. We'll see.

Garages are always a good thing! It's so nice not to have to remove snow and ice from cars in the winter.
If I didn't have a garage for storing gardening stuff I would never be able to get by with my little shed. We covered 2 of the interior garage walls with pegboard, gaining lots of space to hang all sorts of stuff, and bought freestanding shelves from Home Depot to store larger things (e.g. pots, bird houses, small bags of fertilizer, etc.)

Mark's really torn about how wide to have it. 24 feet or 18 feet. 18 is for being able to pull in one car, and get a lift to work on it. 18 is a little less money.
I was wondering if anyone has statistics on how many '2 car garages' ever actually can have 2 cars parked in them. Most I see are one car and a lot of yard stuff LOL.
And while I will be sorry to lose shade on the deck in summer, we will at the same time get rid of a Norway maple that makes tons of seeds that get in the gutter.

Our garage is only 20' wide, and we have always parked 2 cars in it with room to spare along the side for bikes, a yard waste bin and stuff we'll probably never use like extra shingles. Maximizing the use of the vertical space is very key. The largest cars ever to share the space were a Subaru Outback and a Subaru Forester.

Being able to fit 2 cars in 2-car garages does seem to be the exception, though!

Muddy--
I have a Subaru Outback and I would NOT call it a big car! It is small...
I have had it since 2003 and have always wished for more cargo space.
I am always lugging bags of mulch--lumber--and other garden stuff. Too small!

In the past--We always had Station Wagons-- but they used to be "boats".
The kids used to sit upright in the back and play games or sleep.
Now--I can barely get 8 bags of mulch in it.

I LOVE my car for its reliability---but it is too small.
Is the "Forester" any bigger??? I do not want to NOT have a Subaru!
G.

I didn't say it was big, Gita; I said the Subarus were the largest cars we ever parked in the garage. It's all relative, of course.... the Subarus are pretty big compared to our Miata!

Meatballs and Wurst at Schoenbrunn Gardens.

haha Lisa. I suppose the area is much prettier with spring and summer blooms!

Or, not so much. Link didn't work.

This message was edited Dec 13, 2015 5:38 PM

duplicate

This message was edited Dec 13, 2015 5:38 PM

those look like some big meatballs!

still digging holes, a few at a time until the ground freezes.. then anything that remains will go into pots. :-)

btw, speaking of pots, I'm no longer looking for caladium containers. Not sure of the logic, but ymca finance committee said no fundraisers. Maybe they think the bills will all be paid by soliciting large individual donations? No clue. Shame, as I think the dance kids could have paid for the new studio floor.

Lol, meatballs and upside down drinking cups, that's how I used to make sandcastles.

Gita, the Foresters are smaller inside than the Outbacks. A new Forester is probably comparable to your 2003 Outback. The Outbacks have gotten bigger since your model year. One of my #1 vehicles if I had to buy one right now is the Outback. My Mazda 3 is small so I will definitely be getting something larger whenever I need to get one....probably in 5 years or so.

Well, duh. I just realized/ figured out I can take pictures with this chromebook. I'm just experimenting. ...
Nope, not ready for prime time. I can't find the picture that I just took and cropped and saved. I need to read up. Yet another new thing to learn- or not. Maybe I'll just keep using the phone camera.

Jeff---
I heard some time ago that they were making the Outback roomier. Nice!
Wish I could get a new one....but it is not in the cards. I drive so little (distance-wise)
that I will have this car till the cows come home. Not that many miles on it.
I bought the one I have at Car Max--it was one year old but already had 35K miles on it. It was also the ONLY Subaru Outack in their lot. It must have been destiny.
I figure it may have been a lease car--or a salesman's car to put so many miles on it
in just one year. Saved me about 6K as it was used...

If I ever did--it will be another Outback for sure. It is such a good car that it is hard
to find a used one. No onegets rid of these ...
I have spent a lot of $$$ for maintenance--wear and tear--new parts and such.
Just normal stuff... G.

Yeah they are definitely good cars that's for sure. I used to have a WRX but I did something stupid with it and the clutch was never the same again....

Jeff--let me guess.....
You gunned it in 1st gear and tore up your transmission.

I have always had automatic transmission cars--even though
I have driven stick-shift cars too--now and then....are they still called "stick shift"?
G.

Yeah I was trying to show off and I ended up dumping the clutch at redline while going uphill...

Hmmmmp-How did I know that?????????? I have never had a clutch car...

Maybe I just guessed as you hinted at "doing something stupid".....
Tat is what young Guys do to show off--something stupid--ROAR up the road like crazy--just for the sound effects....
I always wondered how long their cars could deal with that??

:o) Gita

Well like I said, it was stupid. I didn't have the car but a little more than a year. My car now can only spin the tires if it's in the snow...LOL

Glad you have settled down, Jeff...
Since you will,soon, be a Dad--you will settle down even more.
I KNOW you will be a great father. And Darcy will blossom as a Mother.
Such an exciting times to come. Gita

Amaryllis ???? So I know that somewhere there was a discussion on Amaryllis bulbs but I can't remember where it was of what was said? The bulbs that I put in my garden this past summer have those red splotches.
Gita you were talking about cutting back the neck I'm pretty sure I need to do that?
Also can I cut back some of these roots, they have a lot of roots? In comparing mine to the new ones from the Co-op I don't think they look much different maybe more root and just not as clean.

Does anyone have any currently flowering trees in their area? I saw a cherry or plum tree in bloom today. It was about 1/3 bloomed all over in pink blossoms. That's something else! Never saw that before.

Last month the Dogwoods in my Mom's development were in bloom There is a row of them down one of the avenues and about 1/2 of the trees were in bloom. Not the entire tree but like you said a good 1/3 of them.

Thanks

I've seen Forsythia in bloom, and there's a Cherry tree blooming near my house. It's crazy!

yes, I think I saw a cherry tree blooming today, too!
Totally crazy!
Plants are so confused...

So what are the implications of an early bloom like this? I guess the tree wouldn't bloom as much or at all in the spring right?

Gita, I missed your kind words earlier, thank you.

Every bud that goes now is one less for spring, I feel sure. I don't know that the general health of the tree is much affected.

My climbing Hydrangea is budding out