At least here in Athens, they are predicting 27 and 28F for Thursday and Friday night, respectively.
Time to bring in the tender perennials and tropicals.
ROX
Times up...First Freeze possible Thursday night
Bleah.
Noooooooooooooooooooooo, I'm not ready!
Me neither. I'm dreading the time when we have to break down and turn the heat on. And I still have stuff I wanted to transplant. Guess I better get busy and have the mulch ready.
Oh my gosh, you just reminded me...I have some lavendar to still get in the ground - whoops!
Lavender's one of the things I need to move. I've also severed a hydrangea baby from it's mother plant, and I want to move it to it's own space. And I thought I'd divide some periwinkle and move it to a sloped bed I have to hold the soil in place.
A few things I want to try air-layering on.
A few things I should have divided.
Bulbs to plant, but that's not too late. I do need a design for them. Oh, and I need to decide where. :)
I'm sure there's much more on my list. Time to start prioritizing.
w
Yeah it's that time again.
Good news is it's a fast blast w/ a lot of warning.
Bad news.......cool rain after it.
Anything that's tropical and bulb, caladiums, colocasia, bananas, are very prone to rot in those conditions.
Oh well maybe the forecast will change.......................lol
Ric
Fortunately (or unfortunately, perhaps), I don't have any tropicals to worry about. I do have some roses in containers that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with. One is a climber, Blaze of Glory, which for some reason was not thriving in it's spot. Actually, I was worried it was going to die off eventually. I dug it out about six weeks ago and put it in a container just to see if it liked that better. Now it's growing like a weed. Not sure if I should keep it in the container til spring and then replant it (I amended soil like crazy after I dug it out). Or if I should just plan on it being a container rose since it's a smallish climber.
Anyhoo, I think it's the garage or basement for it. Any suggestions anyone?
w
Thanks for the reminder! I must get with it and bring in some of those tender plants. So much for procrastination!
Will get busy today in the garden. Want to move a lot of stuff around and even build a new lasagna bed this week.
Also had 400 tulips from Van Engelen delivered to find safe places for. And where would that be, I ask?!!LOL The deer and squirrels seem to be everywhere these days!
Beautiful day here. Great time to be outside!
t,
W/ that many bulbs to plant get a Bulb Drill.
Just attach it to a corded drill and go to town.
We planted that many a few years ago in no time at all.
w,
Just plop the pot and all in the ground until Spring.
Or leave it outside, let it go dormant and then plant it permenately after the ground freezes.
Ric
Geeeeesh!! And I thought my 2 little bags of Crocus bulbs was a find ... LOL
Do my 10-12 Amaryllis count?? and I do have my Paper white Narcissus to force in the crystal bowl for Christmas.. LOL
D
We're going to be in the Smokies. I will probably be even colder in the mountains. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr......
Karen
Oh, but the Smokies are so beautiful! And I bet even more so with the changing colors.
w
OK I'll get a drill--now is that to go after the rabbits and moles/voles?
I'd like to drill some voles/moles!!! Nasty creatures!!! They ruin everything!!!
Whew! I just got through transplanting about 300 pots since Saturday (maybe more haven't counted them yet), everyone in the house is mad at me cause I told them this is my week lol I heard that it was suppose to freeze and it freaked me out, always in denial until about January lol
I still had a bunch of plants to get into the ground and I'm worried about those voles too! Do you think that sprinkle stuff works? I put some down this summer, but think I'm going to have to use the mouse traps with peanut butter, who has the time for this, this time of year, only the people on here understand! These voles are everywhere this year!
Karen, I want to go to the Smokies with you! I need a vacation just after going crazy the last few days lol I bet it's going to be beautiful there!
Lea
300 pots! Into the ground or out?
If out, where are they going? Into a GH, house, garage?
ROX
Our anniversary is Oct 13 and we usually go to the Smokies on that weekend. The foliage is usually spectacular. I hope it's as good this year.
We have a sugar maple whose color also usually peaks during that long weekend when we're in the Smokies. It has barely started turning to orange now. Seems late this year.
Karen
The colors do seem late this year and we have had rain, I think that has something to do with it, don't understand either, I'm a little closer to the Smokies and our trees haven't turned very much, maybe by the time you get there.
Lea
Aaaaaugh! Rox, you are the bearer of ill tidings! Shaaaaaaaamme! :P
All I still need to dig are my ears. My basjoo will either live or die at its new location.
I do have a 9' tall bird of paradise to dig from someone else's garden & hide somewhere though. :(
-Joe
Today was plants, plants, PLANTS.
Heaviest and hardest first.
Rolled the planter boxes into the LR then lugged the Musa 'Bordelon' onto the porch.
We covered the Iron Frame in the backyard w/ plastic as a temporary GH.
The 10 X 10' structure is now crammed full.
We have been bringing the Tropicals into that area for a few weeks now.
Now it's full of Brugs, EE's and Musa.
The shame is the Brugs have just now started to really flower profusely.
They are REALLY heavy and brushing the roof at 8' tall!
(Had to stop typing as the new stucture's top had filled w/ water that needed drained. Now I do! lol)
Tomorrow will be us hauling plants up into the Hoophouse Balconey.
We also will be taking cuttings, digging up a few planted EE's and generally finding potted Tropical plants buried in amoung our other plants.
Those of you who have been here know of what I speak! lol
Then the fun begins.........as w/ Chele. Transplanting down to Winter Pots and finding homes for them here.
Remember the last few years we stored them at Work.........................no Work=no Storage...........
Ric
If you run out of room, I might have a little space in my basement for anything that doesn't require light and heat. I'm not a tropical plant grower, so I don't have that much to bring in.
w
Thanks winging!
I think we will be able to cram it all in here but a backup is nice!
Ric
I think everyone should post pictures of how and what they've crammed inside the house or in the GH or in the garage. I think it could be pretty humorous!
ROX
I'm game! I posted these on the C&S forum, but this is my winter storage:
1 of 3, in my Kitchen
2 of 3, in my office
3 of 3, in the basement
What has everyone else done?
This is when I started yesterday. I took a pic while you could still see inside.
As time ran out, I just started cramming stuff in there! LOL I just posted on another forum that it looks like one of those vaccuum bags today. From the outside, all you can see is leaves and flowers crammed against the windows. When it warms back up a little, I have to get out there and cut a bunch of stuff back.
When I am brave enough to open the doors, I'll take another pic....
MaryEv-
Great looking cacti!
Michelle-
All jam-packed I see! We fellow tropical nuts approve! What is the EE next to the door?
Alright, I'll take some photos tonight!
ROX
PS Think warm thoughts. Many might escape the originally predicted freeze, but it looks like we might get a frost!
Burgundy stem, front left? That's Royal Hilo. Do you have that one yet? :)
No, its really pretty. If ever you have an extra.....please!!!!!!!!!!!
ROX
Well two days later everything is under wraps.
The second story Hoophouse had a bit of a problem this morning.
We keep our 100 or so cactus and succulents up there year around now.
Too wet here in the Spring and Summer for them outdoors plus they love the 90-100 degree temps.
We were going to start taking the other plants up today.
Then our cat Emmit fell through the roof! Seems the Plastic had gone brittle.
Quick fix was a 10 x 8 tarp lashed over the hole.
New cover going up Satrurday.
On to the Plants.
Backyard:
10 x 10' temp GH of crammed in EVERYTHING! LOL
Sealed in till the weekend.
Living room has a walkway and view to the TV left.
Other side
Front Porch/GH has a path to the door.
ALL our tropical water plants are in there too.
This message was edited Oct 12, 2006 8:42 PM
Ok..here's SOME of mine...notice the emphasis on the word some!! LOL!!
no. 1 back porch
no. 2 south kitchen window
no. 3 west kitchen window
no 4 north bedroom window...lol..I could go on and on. My front porch is full..my upstairs is full...west bedroom window is full...den window is full...bathroom window too!! They are EVERYWHERE!!!
