Hydrangea Lovers Chapter 3

KathyS999 - hope that you saw in the check in list on the Katrina forum that RubaInMS is okay.

I bought 2 Endless Summers in the spring of this year, I'm regretting not buying more. I have them in pots on my back deck and although they got a late start, they have been blooming their heads off for me. I used aluminum sulfate, (1TB per gallon of water) to water them about 3 times, watering with just water in between those feedings. They are a very nice violet color, although it didn't show up very well in the pictures. I want to get a few more of these next year.

And a close up...

Hydrangea lovers, please join me in a little dance for joy! A while back I posted that I had taken cuttings of several of my hydrangeas and had stuck them in my veggie filter attached to my pond. This is basically a huge undergravel filter filled with peagravel. The water from the pond slowly moves through this filter so that the nutrients in the water can be used by the plants in the filter, making the water cleaner for the pond. It works great, and I'd like to report that I have had an incredible 100% success rate at rooting the hydrangeas!
I had not disturbed them since I put them in and today I just had to check. All of them are rooted, and some of them have new stems coming up! This is very exciting because those of you who have seen my posts other places know that I am a 'cuttings failure' in general. They almost always die on me. So this is awesome!
Please join me in a little joy dance!

Congrats, Pixydish! It feels so good to propagate! (don't take that the wrong way) . I hope your little babies keep growing and growing.

I'm dancing the propagation dance for you! Happy Hydrangeas!

Just had a chance to check this thread. Yes, I was 8 blocks from Highway 90 but miraculously only had minor damage compared to those around me. Most had trees on their houses. My trees fell on my plants and gardens. Guess that's lucky! I can't even pray for rain cause so many have roof leaks (me included) that to do so would be selfish and probably foolish. I do feel blessed.

My office is wiped out but we have a new location and are back hard at it. I have one new roommate who lost everything and another coming back tomorrow who is not certain if her house is salvagable or not. Yes, I am lucky.

Thanks for your prayers and good thoughts. Til I can uncover my plants, I will enjoy all your pictures.

RubalnMS, how fortunate for you! I'm so glad that all will eventually be okay for you. Let us know how the recovery goes, and keep us informed about how your garden does, when you get to being able to pay attention to that.

Thanks, Ivy and Pirl! Yes, it does feel good to be able to throw away my 'cuttings failure' certificate! But I'm WAY past that other kind of propogation!

Rubaln - if any of your plants died as a result of the storm please post the ones you'd like replaced and maybe we have them and could send them. God was watching over you!

Ah yes, Pixy, my eggs were scrambled long ago! Plant propagation is so much easier anyhow.

Rubalnms... glad to hear you only had minor damage, you were quite lucky from what I have seen on the tv. But most of all glad you got out and didn't get hurt. I assume your back in the house and you have electricity. Let us know how your hydrangeas faired, I can help you on the varieties I have.

I had another thread about this (http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/544417/), but I'm going to post it here, too.

My mom gave us several hydrangeas (she was tired of them), and we didn't really have a place in mind to plant them. But we decided we would put them inside our gazebo, since we never use the inside for anything anyway, since the swing broke a few years ago. They'll get some morning and mid-day sun, but shade the rest of the time. Since we had grass growing inside the gazebo, we had to dig that up and prepare it for the hydrangeas. We have a heavy clay soil here, so my husband got the idea of mixing peat and oak leaves (that we'd just raked up) in with the soil already there. Oh myyyyyyyyyyyyy. I really felt like the leaf/soil ration was too high, but he's sure it will be just wonderful. So are my hydrangeas doomed now? I could not convince him not to do this!

The odds, I'd guess are 50/50. Why not take cuttings "just in case"?

kbaumle, it might not be as bad as you think. Hydrangeas can do fine in acid soil, might turn them an interesting color. And they can take lots of water, which your heavy clay would have. I would suggest two things: first, get some gypsum that is made to use on lawns. You should be able to find it in the garden dept at Lowes or HD. Turn some gypsum into the top layer of the soil. This will help the clay particles bind together, improving the tilth of the soil, and improving drainage.
Second, put a layer of compost on top of the soil. You don't need to work it in, just spread a good thick layer on top.
Peat moss by itself doesn't add much nitrition to the soil, but of course will improve soil texture. The hydrageas should be able to take the acidity of the peat moss, so I wouldn't worry about that at all. The oak leaves, also acid, might create a problem if you raked them up from the yard and the yard had been treated with weedkiller. If there was no weedkiller used in the area the leaves were in, you should be fine. The only other thing I would recommend is that you pay attention to the nitrogen needs of the hydranges in the spring when they start leafing out.
My shrubs all get a good layer of a mixture of compost, composted manure, and alfalfa pellets (organic, no chemicals) in the spring. This gives them what is really a natural slow relase fertilizer as well as a good soil builder. If your shrubs grow a lot, you can repeat the mulch in the summer.
I'm thinking that your hydrangeas will be okay if you just do these small things in addition to what your hubby recommended. Hey, at least he was thinking about the soil! :)
If you take cuttings as recommend by Pirl, then you are covered either way!

I'm impressed by your knowledge, Pixydish! You really know your amendments and that's one area where many gardeners fall short. How about a sprinkling of Epsom salts? We use it to promote more basal break on roses.

It couldn't hurt! LOL, but I'd wait until spring, right? You can make a good slug killer water with epsom salts. Kills the slugs, adds magnesium to the soil! Great combination approach!

I'll do it in the spring. Today I was using the scissors on the darn slugs. Must have sent 50 or so to slug heaven.

Pirl, you're a girl after my own heart! I, too, chop the critters in half with sharp instruments. I used to feel a bit squeamish about it, but no longer. I just toss as I squeeze so I don't have to see the guts!

If they're trying to escape and they're an inch long they get two cuts. Then I move them, with the scissors to the dead slug pile and try hard not to look. The big ones are horrid so I squint a lot but the little ones are next year's big guys and gals so I like getting them buried now.

I've heard that slugs will eat other dead slugs and that a good way to kill more is to put slug bait on the dead slug. I have never felt 'evil' enough to try that, but you never know!

I sliced up another large number of them today. I took an old cedar daylily sign out of the ground. It's about 3" x 2" and use it as my cutting board but still try not to look. Anything's better than those big mamas! The thought of eating their own dead is gross. But they're so gross it doesn't bother me.

Yeah, they just generally make me mad. Them and those nasty vine weevils. But I've been on that soapbox before!!

What does a vine weevil look like? Is that the one that devoured your cucumber plants?

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wihort/Phenology/BlackVineWeevil.html

Here's a link to a photo of the nasty creature. You must have me confused with someone else regarding the cucumbers. But I don't see why they wouldn't eat cucumbers. They eat everything else.

This message was edited Sep 16, 2005 10:28 AM
Edited because I couldn't get the darn link to work.

This message was edited Sep 16, 2005 10:29 AM

Pixy - it's one I haven't seen and don't want to. Thanks for the link.

Maybe you don't have them in your neck of the woods. Even if you did, you wouldn't see them unless you went out at night with a flashlight. like many evil things, they lurk in the dark! But you'd know they were there because your plants would look like this:
http://www.defenders.co.uk/Adult%20Vine%20Weevil%20Damage.jpg

Yikes! That's just awful. Do you spray to get rid of them or what?

Well, this is the creature that drives me to chemical use, as I talked about in a previous thread a while back. You may remember I am primarily an organic gardener and I'll do just about anything to avoid chemical use, but if a shrub is being really attacked by these critters, I'll spray. Orthene (nasty stuff) used to be the spray of choice, but I was unable to get it this year. Just any nasty insecticide will not do. The weevils must be listed on the label. If the shrub has only a few trunks and they do not touch the ground, you can use a sticky trap on each trunk and eventually rid yourself of the population. I don't have to tell you the problem with this method when weevils attack hydrangeas or azaleas.

They make slugs look "almost" innocent.

Rubaln MS- I am so glad you are OK! I am sorry about your gardens. I f you need anything- seeds or plants, let me know. I have never sent plants throught the mail but I would be happy to do so for you.

You may be surprised at what comes back! You never know what might have an established root system. I have a hydrangea that my husband dropped a tree on two years ago. It was completely crushed and it has come back bushier and really strong. The one next to it was not hit by the falling tree, and it did not make it through the winter last year! It also left a big gash on the trunk of a Redbud nearby, which is growing like a weed.

Anyway, good luck to you and if you need anything at all, let me know.

Rubain - I have extra daylilies if you need any.

Small picture of the endless summers, still going at it in September.

Sorry, but I forgot we had a 'chapter 3', so I posted some hydrangeas I have for trade on Chapter 2. Here is the link should anyone be interested.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/514029/
RubalnMS, how did your garden do?

Thanks for the posts and your concern. Had huge pines fall all over my gardens crushing my shed and its contents and am still digging things out. Hopefully about 75 percent of my plants will survive. My babies though were all crushed by the shed as they were behind it. Don't think I will really know until spring. The ones in pots were all just scattered around and rolled around and crushed but dig them out one at a time and try to revive them.

If any of you have cuttings left in the spring, I would love some. Hopefully, I will have some to share later in the summer. I have saved quite a few and had just bought about fifteen which were still in the pots. Lost some am sure but keep trying to bring them back to life no matter how bad they look.

My brother came down one weekend to help me. He said he had not understood from the things I had told him how I could say that I was blessed - but then he saw the destruction on the rest of my block and fully understood.

Life is tedious. Lines everywhere. You need to allow several hours for a trip to Walmart, and most restaurants - yes, still. Red Cross still has their meal trucks out and some days that's all I can deal with. No restaurants are open near my house, it takes at least thirty minutes to get to the nearest one and then there is an hour or so in line. Still a mess everywhere. It is one of those things you would have to live in to even imagine. But, like I say, I am blessed that my house is livable. Will not get work done on it until Spring. Right now I only want my shed rebuilt. Hopefully before a heavy freeze.

Hope this isn't more info than you want but I appreciate your caring and will certainly appreciate sharing next year. And Pirl, if you have extra daylilies like we sometimes do, I would love some. My addy is listed in the address deal. I will be happy to pay postage.

Thanks again all. Will post a picture or two when I get a chance but am at work now and will have to do that from home.

I'll get some out ASAP.

Oh, I am so sorry to hear it! I am glad you can feel blessed at a time like this. It shows a loving spirit! I will very happily send you some rooted cuttings of my hydrangeas. No worry about postage. It is my pleasure to send them.

I'll include some Japanese irises, too, and Louisiana's.

It was in the 70's here today, I got the leaves mowed and stuff put up on the deck for the winter. It kills me to take the Endless Summers out of the pots and put them in the ground.. they really made the deck seem private the way I had them situated. One is dying back pretty good, the other ones seems to be hanging on longer. Its suppose to rain here tomorrow but be back nice Sunday, hopefully, I'll get things finished up then.

You are all too kind. I am so looking forward to spring. I know, it is a long way off but it will be so good to see what comes back.

Attached is a picture of what my shed and gardens way in the back looked like when I got back home 11 days after Katrina hit.

Hey, before my hydrangeas die back for the year, do you think I could take cuttings and get them going in the house over the winter? Can that be done at this time of year?