What MONEY WASTERS would you recommend others avoid?

Lavatera is a shrub I love. Purchased several different kinds and they were all gone a year later. Nasty April freeze did then all in. I would never buy them again.

Huh. Mine lasted through last winter's freeze in a difficult area. It died to the ground, but then came back and it's not that old. I'd give it another try, really. I love it, too. It has such an old fashioned look.

Sharon, thank for posting that photo of the pyracantha. Would it do ok with mostly shade in the summer? It would be under a tree and the shrubs around the area would block the sun when they are not winter-bare.

I will look up lavatera, since I have no idea what it is.

Thank you for the suggestions - you guys are great!

Rarejem, I have been trying to find the thread you were discussing the seed book in but couldn't find it. I just wanted to tell you that I got mine today. Bought it thru Amazon. $14.01 but the shipping was another $3.99. I haven't had time to look at it much but from what I did, it is pretty good. It tells you a lot about each plant without giving a long drawn out article.

Thanks for telling us about it.

Jeanette

I also got that book from Amazon - but haven't had a chance to open it yet. I want to try doing thing from seeds this year instead of spending mucho $$$$$ on things that are easily grown from seeds, so I can spend that $$$ on a few shrubs and vines.

Will the leaves of a castor bean plant make my dog sick if she chews on them? I haven't started those seeds yet...

Judi, I have grown them the last couple of years, both in the garden, and because of the decorative value, in a container on my deck. I have 2 dogs and a cat. I haven't seen any of them near the plants. Don't have any idea what there would be about the plant that would attract the animals. All I know is that I haven't had any moles, voles, or gophers in the area of my garden in those couple of years.

Then I will start those seeds! Both my dog and cats like to chew on a potted palm on the back deck. I always worry about them gnawing on something that is not good fro them. I have not seen any of those pests like moles, voles, or gophers around here and neither have my neighbors, so I am feeling very lucky about that!

Well, why did you want to grow them then? For the decorative value? They are very nice. But, if you don't need them for keeping the varmints away, maybe you might want to look at other plants?

I want to grow them, well maybe one or two, for the decorative value - I love the leaves!

Castor plants are beautiful, but they're extremely toxic. If there's any chance that your animals might nibble, then I'd avoid them.

My dogs surprise me all the time with the things that interest them. Rudbecka, Brunnera, and Pulmonaria are the latest. They seem to be attracted to leafy things rather than berries, which is good.

This message was edited Feb 25, 2010 12:53 PM

Judi, I'm not sure the pyracantha would like that much shade. Mine get full morning sun with the reflection from the house behind. Come to think about it, I had one in the shade and it didn't do very well and never did bloom.

My pyracantha is in partial shade and it doesn't do nearly as well as PNW Mountain girl's. It does have berries, but not nice like that.

My mom has a gorgeous one in a fairly shaded area - behind her house with a huge hill rising up steeply right behind it. There can't be more than 3-4 feet between the house and the hill. Of course she is in Calif where they seem to do better.

LOL, think everything does better in California, Gwen. Wouldn't it be nice to have a longer growing season? Maybe not as long as theirs but a little bit? Course, you have a longer one than I do, but not as warm as theirs.

A longer and warmer growing season would definitely be wonderful here!

I agree that a longer and warmer growing season would be nice, but I still wouldn't trade the PNW for California. :|

Gwen I have been able to grow some amazing plants..............Bananas, Gunnera, palm trees and bamboo all are amazingly shade tolerant. A lot of the sun in my yard is seasonal and most of that is on poorly drained soil----love that swamp stuff!

Portland, I have about 20 baby castor plants in the greenhouse, growing like little fiends. All parts of the plant are toxic, so if your dog is a plant eater, beware. My dogs are not plant eaters, except for my grasses. Nothing else. Kathy's dogs seem to eat everything. I think it depends on your dog. You probably already grow a whole lot of poisonous plants and don't even know it. But rat poison is made from castor beans. The species name is Ricinus, which you will probably recognize, as a nurse.
That being said they are awesome ornamental plants and completely worthy of growing for their beauty. Some things I learned about them this year:
Knick and soak the seed overnight in water for best germination, like any other bean seed. Some of the seeds are so beautiful they would actually make lovely jewelry.
They need plenty of light, food, and water. They are fast growers given the right conditions.
As long as their roots have room to grow, they will continue getting larger. Therefore, when starting these from seed, you have to pay attention and keep potting them up to the next size pot until you are ready to put them in the garden. Do not let them get pot bound. I probably already need to put mine in gallon size pots. (But where will I put them?)
Wash your hands after you handle the seeds and plants, or wear those disposable gloves.

I would love for our growing seaon to warm up faster and stay warm a little longer.

Thank you for all this information! I am starting seeds this weekend. Would a castor bean plant survive as a potted plant?

Well, not everything, but a lot of things for sure. I guess my point is that many people tend to walk around thinking that animals have perfect knowledge of those plants that are poisonous and will stay away from them. That just isn't true.

OTH, as Melissa says, if you try to stay away from everything poisonous, there's not much you'd be able to have in your yard. Digitalis, a native, is a great example.

I just try to stay away from the "extremely" toxic ones, like Brugmansia and Castor Beans and ones for which every part is extremely toxic (leaves, stems, roots, berries, seeds, etc.). The consequences of anyone nibbling on those is just too high for me. But it may not be for you.

I think they do okay in pots. I want to say that I saw one last year in a large pot at a garden tour I took. I'll see if I can't find a picture.

Koka does like to chew on grasses and who knows what else so I think I will not put the castor bean plants outside. Maybe one up on a tall stand in the window. I would rather play it safe with my animals! I think it will make a spectacular house plant!

Yeah - my nibblers make me nervous, but our "talks" about eating plants haven't panned out. I read that all parts of the plant are toxic, but especially the seeds. A single seed can kill a child and that's way too much liability/consequence for me. I am very risk averse. :-)

More's the pity because I think the plants are so beautiful.

http://ky-dan.com/images/summer2001/castorbean.jpg

http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/POW/castor_bean.htm

Castor beans are not going to do well inside. They will do fine in a large pot outside, but indoors, I don't think they will do so well.
Many dogs eat grass. They like the fiber, I guess. I'd be watchful to see if Koka eats things other than grass. My dogs eat grass, including my ornamental grasses if they can get them (only the nice soft ones, though). But they've never touched any other plants, and they scoff at berries. Frankly, they don't even eat plant based food that is people food. They turn up their noses. (Unless it's a pan they can lick. Then they don't care what was cooked in it.) But, again, different dogs do different things. Kathy knows her dogs and is likely being wise to stay away from castor plants. (plus, it's true, she is way more risk aversive than I am). I know my dogs aren't going to eat them, and I've grown them before, so I'm fine with it. But Koka is fairly new to you still, in terms of the garden. You have to know your dog.

Since I have so many voles, I am going to grow castor beans to deter them, and in particular, I am looking forward to planting them at the edge of my concrete patio and allowing the poisonous roots to infiltrate the area underneath the patio! Then, when fall comes, I will cut them off at the soil line, leaving the roots in place. Take THAT you voles!

Koka does like lots of vegetables, like sweet potatoes, avocados, carrots and apples. I am pretty sure she nibbles on things in the garden so perhaps castor beans are not the plant of choice for me. However, she is never left alone on the front porch so perhaps one in a big pot there will be ok. In fact, there is a dead something that I put in a pot on that porch last year - I forget what it was - something very fragrant with little white flowers. It got frozen to death during the 14 degrees spell. I will use that pot.

Pix, you would be a good military strategist. Get those voles!

Hey, Judi - you may want to read up on avocados. I knew they used to put them in dog food and I know my folks had friends who owned an avocado farm/ranch and their dogs would put avocados under the porch to ripen and ate them year round. I'll just risk attack hear from those who may disagree with me, but something in recent reading leads me to say that they are not good for your dog. I don't think it's the pit - almost all pits have cyanide, but you have to chew them up. I don't think it's the fat. Anyway, it's worth looking into.

Also, do you get the Whole Dog Journal? You seem like someone who'd be interested in it. It's a paper publication with great articles on nutrition, behavior modification, etc. for those of us who are always reading up on dog stuff . . .

This is my list from the newspaper vet column-Never feed your pet....
Alcohol, Apple cores, Avocado, Bones, Caffeine, Cheese, Chocolate, Dough, Fat, Garlic, Grape, Ham, Liver, Milk, Moldy foods, Mushrooms, Onions, Potato peels, Raisins, Tuna.

Bones ?? What's a dog without a bone?

The last time Koka had avocado she had digestive problems (to put it nicely) for 2 days so I no longer let her have them. I found out she liked them because I had tossed a brown & yucky one into the compost pile and she found it, but did not eat the pit. So I can see that they might not be good for dogs. No more avocados for Koka!

I get the BARK magazine and really like it. I am constantly amazed at the capacity of Koka to understand what I am saying and what I expect of her. Dogs can be so perceptive.

In keeping with the subject of this thread.......there are many hebes in the neighborhood that appear to have frozen and show no sign of life. I don't think I will get any of those!

LOL I don't give Koka real bones but she has one of those nylon ones that she gnaws on every day. She loves it and it keeps her teeth clean! I heard that real bones splinter and can cause problems. I don't know if that's true but I'm taking no chances.

Yeah - what is a dog without a bone???

Alive and healthy. I give my girls Bonz and Jumbones. They like those.
I have had Amber and Mindy almost two years now. Mindy just started to really look me in the eyes and listen to me. She is fast learning language now and recognizes when you are speaking to her. And she is getting a good sense of fun. And they are both pretty good at playing with toys now. And Mindy actually chased a ball and picked it up, but ran into the bedroom instead of to me.

Patricia, you've done wonders with those girls. What a nice life they have now!!

Bones vs no bones = ongoing discussion. M friends feed turkey necks and their dogs' teeth look fantastic. The vets say that they see lots of bacterial illness from that. I'm on the fence . . .

I think we all jumped on the Hebe bandwagon a few years back, but some things just don't work here. It seems like there is a shift in focus back toward plants from the mountains of Eurasia and China rather than Australia. They have some fabulous plants, but our winters are just too wet and cold.

I have 2 hebes that made it through the freeze, and both are small leaved and dark stemmed. My blue-green hebe with beautiful light purple flowers is half live and half dead. I don't know what to make of that. I may take cuttings from the live part to see what happens.

I have just started making my dogs a casserole of chicken rice and vegetables that they love. My sister told me about it. She has been doing that for years. It's exp[ensive, but they sure do like it and I am sure it is better for them than the stuff they get in the bag. Also then you give them a spoonful of cottage cheese on the side. Yup, a milk product.

My SILs Hebes make it through the winter - she lives in Northgate in North Seattle, about 45 minutes from me. I'd take a cutting and see what they do!

What are hebes?

Hebes are a small evergreen shrub from New Zealand.

Julie and I each have a hebe that survived nicely. They have been around for several years as she first acquired them as a filler in her spring bulb planter boxes. I can't say the same for the variegated one I got at Heidi's last spring, however. Toast!

I saw the variegated one when I googled hebes. Very pretty. Are you saying they didn't survive? Weren't the variegated very hardy plants? Or just that one that you got?

I have a small blue-green hebe with a red line around each leaf. It has been struggling for five years. I lost the mother plant but found a start below it. It is now about 10" tall. I just cut off about 5" on each branch and stuck them in the ground. They are still upright. Maybe they will root.
Maybe a south-facing walls with bricks or stones around the bottom would give them more of a chance. Sometimes they come back from the roots.

Hebes do well with protection from the wind, super well-draining soil, & as much sun as you can give them. I have better success with the small-leaved varieties.