Mid-Atlantic Gardening: VA Eastern Shore Get Together/Plant Swap, 1 by bonjon

bonjon wrote:
well -back to work - yesterday I paid for my trip with feeling headachy and stomach flipping all day and still some today - I'm with you, Ruby, probably just the heat. I realized something was wrong - something in your face, that you didn't feel well. Glad to hear you're better. Tell John a thousand thank yous for helping me load up my car. My husband burst out laughing when he saw the boxes of berry bushes, said," what, you get rid of the roses, you going to stab me with these now?"

everything came out of the car, went under the "sacrificial tree" as I didnt' feel up to planting. Got the pink budleia divided into thirds and in cups with lightweight medium and rootone. One the way home they dried out despite all efforts. The three hostas you pulled at the last, Jody are in little pots and didn't dry out - I sat inside to do that. Can't find the rooting of the shade vine you pulled for me, Jody, I remember putting it in the car - oh well.

Hope this photo of my overflow "pot" bed before the iris bloomed goes through. Photo is labeled "for sale" POTS!

The Tall Bearded iris Pink Magnolia is known as a "flat top" or "flat form" - and yes, it looks like a Japanese iris or Magnolia bloosom. It's a very old variety, and I probably have more a few more in pots.

That photo of Decadence is not mine and I've got to figure out how to get it off of here - I forgot when I posted it that DG would stick a copyright from me on there! Not OK with me or the copyright owner, I dare say. Jody - it's much prettier than the photos.

Decadence's "mama" got crown rot, so remember to: scrub the rhizome with a soft toothbrush and Comet cleanser. Yup - that's what ya do to "cleanse" it. Rinse and set it out to dry for a day, then plant it - you may want to pot it and quarantine it, as rot is contangeous, but not terribly so. You can also use an antibacteria mild handsoap - I use walmart's store brand - squirt a ring of it on the soil around the rhizome - that should ward off any soilborne rot - that's all the rot is, a soil borne fungus.

Everyone with new irises - bearded irises like well draining soil and a bit of bonemeal added at planting. You can keep them damp, not wet, for the first six weeks. After that, let nature do it all except in severest drought. They don't like wet "feet." The rhizome or "foot" is an on-the-ground stem that breathes, so don't bury them deep or they won't bloom. They like a soil pH of 6.5-7 best, but can handle lower or higher. I have acidic soil and have to add lime. Your pots have a mix of well decayed mulch and builders sand (for drainage), compost "dust" (organics) and pulverized clay (minerals), with a touch of bonemeal (phosphorus for growing roots) and gypsum (aids in water uptake). for BAREROOT - If you can't plant now, set them on dry ground in the shade - they can wait that way for a week or two - after that you may find they've rooted without you. for pots- they need room, so unpot and plant as soon as possible in ground or a larger pot, at same depth as they are now.