1200 Step Coleus Addiction Program Part III

As georgiagarden3 said it so well, we'll start this one with her quote from earlier today.

I haven't the slightest idea what type of soil I have. It's a small bed with a tree in it. Shady, shady. It has Kolanche, mexican hedge, asparagus fern and mother-in-law tongues growing there now. I need a place to put the coleu!

And since there are stray cats through our yard every night, I'm not about to TASTE the soil to determine sweet/sour! What can I do to find out what I have.

I truly want to dig up this bed over the long weekend. Suggestions?

Sidney, I'm too busy planting coleus and yearning for more that I can't take time to make lists! LOL

Good to see you!

You need tobeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I have a bed that the neighborhood cats seemed to love for years. This year I started dumping my used coffee grounds around the bed and haven't seen any sign of the cats. Thank goodness, cuz they were driving me nuts!

When my neighbor stops feeding them, and the racoon and the rats, and the possum....

TOBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE,
Help me! It's almost 5:15 and my weekend is about to start. WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

P.S. Why woul HD sell a 40 lb. bag of organic topsoil for $1?

LOL GG...to me, I would think it would be full of organic stuff....like weed seeds! I don't know....I learned long ago to stay away from topsoil, gets me in trouble everytime.

GG,
Get some of that soil and we'll fix it if it's not okay.
Sidney

You can pull those weeds if you keep it in one area.
;)

Thank you, Shug!

It's just a small bed, about 3 ft. wide by 8ft. long. I already have three bags of MG garden soil to put in it.

About 3-4 bags?

Shug,
I'll look for a message tonight after I get home. I have choir rehearsal.

I bought the garden soil from HD and it was horrible. It was so heavy....I don't remember what I did with it. UGH.

Hap

Thanks, Hap.

I have three bags of MG garden soil, and two bags of manure. I also have some compost out in the back (mostly decomp leaves & grass cuttings). Shouldn't this be enough to fill this small bed once I dig up the stuff that's in it?

Sounds good to me Gymgirl.....

GG
It sounds to me like you have enough to do your bed. I have found that most of the topsoil is usually something bagged close to the source. In NC I got red clay like top soil, here in Jacksonville I get more sand. I even got composted cow manure here that was 75% sand. (Poor cow, made to eat all that sand.)
Anyhow I don't think they ship topsoil far, especially if it's $1 fo 40 #s.
Sidney

GG, glad to hear your ear is ok. Ewwww!!

When I was a kid, about 3 yrs old, my older brother Jake, about 17 yrs old, was babysitting me. I stuck a piece of spaghetti in my ear. UNcooked spaghetti. It broke and I couldn't get it out. I finally told him about it. He freaked out. He held me on my side and shook me, it didn't come out. He held me on my side and beat the other side of my head, it didn't come out. He tried needle nose pliers, it didn't come out. He used a flashlight & tweezers, it didn't come out. He told me Mom was gonna kill me, then made me promise not to touch it & went to get ready to take me to the ER. Well....I was 3. I had little fingers. I reached in my ear, it came out. I went into the bathroom and showed it to Jake, who just didn't get that it was the piece that had been in my ear. Finally he got it...I got yelled at, but he was relieved to not have to go to the ER and explain the spaghetti situation to them.

Sometimes when my doctor looks in my ears I wait to hear him tell me I'm eating way too much pasta, because I've got it coming out my ears.

hey girls why not use the cheap soil in the bottom half of container plant pots ....put good stuff on top and dare any weed seeds to work there way up.....I do this all the time....filler soil on bottom and good soil on top...do not mix it just use it so the pot is not so expensive....works for me.... no the roots of most plants will not go half way...anyway you would later add ferterlizer of some type....right.....shirleyt

I think that's a good idea. I've used it in the large whiskey barrels like that. I even use old potting soil to fill the bottoms of my large pots.

I put styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the really big pots I have. Then landscape cloth and good potting soil.
I got over a hundred Hosta liners 2 years ago and I wanted a fertile pristeen bed for them, so I put down 6 wet news papers over the whole area. Then I put a 6" border around it. I filled it with some real good potting soil and planted my babies there. The area is still weed free and the Hostas still getting bigger every year.
That's when I was on the Hosta recovery program. They are greay planted randomly with Coleus.
;)

I've done the peanuts thing too, sugar. why put all that soil in the bottom where it will never be used. I also think it may get sour after while. Yes?

My trailing coleus is beginning to trail. ( Don't laugh folks, it is still early up north, here.)

Don't know its name, the greenhouse lady said it was an old heirloom that she keeps every year. I bought several unknow from her.

Another unknown (trailing)

Colors aren't right, taken in sun. The last one has a pretty green edge. My addiction is getting the better of me. Much as I hate to travel I'm going to make myself go to the Hbg. area greenhouses to find some bright Wizards and (maybe) (if they aren't sold out) some of the extra pretty cuttings.

My daylilies are all planted so the next step is..... and it has been 80 degrees yesterday and 90 today - COLEUS WEATHER. I really feel that hot weather aggravates the addiction

Yep, Seeds,
That's a sure sign of addiction, traveling even when you hate to just to get another "Coleus Fix".
Those are going to crawl all over those special plant steps you have. I have one trailer besides India Frills.
The first India Frills pot I got was 4". Now I have some 3' long.
Happy has it as ground cover and It is beautiful that way. I'm planting it that way.
Sidney

Sugar, you have IF in a pot as a trailer?

Yes Mam, I sure do and when I put it in the ground I will pin it to the ground and see if it roots that way.
;)

Well I'll be.

Hey Ya'll! Great to be back!

I spent all day yesterday in my kitchen, organizing the food pantry and cabinets. Even did inventory of all the food that was there (had never done this since moving into my new DH's (6 months) house. I enjoy grocery shopping far more than malls, so it was not really a "chore" for me. And, he saw all the fruits of MY labor when he could put his hands on exactly what he wanted when he looked for it!

I have a COLEU problem. My COLEU have grown so tall, they're falling over! Duh, why don't I just pinch them back, you say? How do I get them lush and bushy if I keep pinching off the tops? These are the ones I planned to put into that little flowerbed I told you about.

Sugar,
I like the idea of the hostas and the coleu in the bed. I bought six hostas from HD/LOWES and could put them and the coleu into the bed. It has a full branching tree in the middle of it, so it's shady all the time.

Here's a list of what else I have available to go into that same bed. Tell me what will work with the coleu and hostas in the shade:

Geraniums
Foxtail ferns
Ixora
Sweet Potato vine (Blackie)
Mint
Macho Fern
Common Ferns
Hens and Chicks
Wandering Jew (Purple)
Red Flash Caladiums
Daylilies (that are still coming up as baby shoots -- not blooming yet)
Canna Lilies (I could put one or two?) or do they need sun?
Bridal wreath

Ok. That's about the extent of my garden collection. I'm putting a moratorium on plant purchases for the time being, unless there's something fantastic I just can't pass up! Just want what I have to continue growing and staying healthy through the summer.

P.S. I have some hosta babies sprouting.

P.S.S. I chopped up that Persian Shield and stuck the cuttings in water to try to root, but I don't think it's gonna happen. The leaves are so dry and brittle, almost like they're burned. It was like this when I bought the plant. I think the leaves should be more pliable, like on the coleus. They're just dry, dry, dry...

Gymgirl,

Just once I had luck rooting PS. I bet if you do what sugar does with the root hormone, it would happen. Have you done PS, sugar?

Hap

I don't have PS, but it looks like it's rootable to me.
GG, Daylilies (that are still coming up as baby shoots -- not blooming yet)
Canna Lilies need full sun.
If your coleus is falling over it's most likely not planted deep enough in the dirt.
The rooting hormone and shade are essential to getting things started. My last two trays i put entirely up under a bench that has the siding to finish the rest of my house with stacked on top. They only get dusk sun in the late afternoon and at first I put a towel stratigically to shade that out. I am rooting minature impatients there that I got when I visited Hap in Januuary. I WOVE them.
Sidney

I agree with Sidney, plant them deeper and shade is a must for newly planted coleus. Give them time to get used to the temps before putting in full sun.

Great to see you again GG! I thought about you most of the weekend.

Oh btw....I rooted PS without a problem. I had broken a small piece off just to give it a try. Stuck in the water with my coleus and I now have roots. But it roots much slower than coleus. I only have a couple of tiny roots and it's been at least 3 weeks now.

What about trying a bubbler for rooting the PS?

I just picked up my first PS yesterday. I'm looking forward to rooting mine too. GG if yours fails to root, and mine does well I can send you a start. I'll toss some in my bubbler today or tomorrow.

Ok, Heathrjoy,
Remember the kid in school who always wrecked the curve, cause they made a grade soooooooooooooo much higher than everyone else who took the test? And the teacher haaaaaaaaaaaad to justify that kid's effort, so the teacher didn't start an "A" at 65%? Well....

WHAT IS A BUBBLER?????

GG here is a good thread. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/556468/

There are many on the brug forum. A bubbler is a container with water and an aquarium pump in it. Many people use them for rooting.

Yes I have spent much more $$s on Coleus than Brugs. The Brug-maniacs are very sharing with cuttings and all of mine came from them. I have several Brug trees that I circle with Coleus.
;)

Step #16 Never marry a Man that is a Garden Designing NUT.
I came home Monday from work to find a new round flower bed.
Well looks like I`m gonna NEED more COLEU` to fill it up....

Oooooh what fun for you GG3! I have one of those men too, but he just has a tough time finding the time to do it. He definately works too hard!

You are lucky gals. I have a neighbor who dead heads my coleus when I'm out of town and occasionally I hire Jeremy to come pull me over the hump aroud here. It would be great if Frank had any interest in my garden at all!
;)

You are lucky gals!! My dh helps when I need it, but the rest is mine to do. I'd LOVE to come home to a new garden bed ready to plant!! That'd be a dream come true.

OT...I saw a Hibiscus Standard at Wal-Mart last night that I can't get out of my head. A tropical Hibiscus. Never saw one before. I'm still drooling. I think I dreampt about the thing last night. DH gave me the look that said, "Do you want your dog fence and new back door & porch & arbor...or....?" UGH! I hate not being able to work! I'm trying to think of a way to come up w/ my own money....they were so gorgeous...just the form and the few blooms they had left (bad care). I know I could make one of those babies lush and beautiful in a few weeks. They had ones from 3' to 5' tall. They didn't have that many of them, so I've got to quit moping and come up w/ a plan quick! LOL! Any ideas???