Spring is here.....what made it, what didn't?

Looked great when I brought it home from FW and when I planted it. I sort of forgot about it and don't know how it was by fall.

Plant neglect! Bad boy!! LOL

Lost several Jack Frost brunnera. My ace of hearts redbud is not doing great - not gone, but several dead branches and very few flowers :(. I don't see redbuds around here much; I wonder if zone 5 is pushing it a little??

This message was edited Apr 22, 2010 9:27 PM

Oh, so sorry SOJ, Jack Frost is one of my favs!!! I'm leaning towards the 'Appalachian Red' redbud for that reason, it's bit hardier than some.

This message was edited Apr 22, 2010 9:23 PM

Hey, Songs!!! How ya been?

Fortunately, I didn't lose all the Jack Frosts; I have another mass planting by my stream that are doing fine. But, this is the second time I've lost some over the winter.

Hey Jen. Just got back from CA. Glad to be home; hate the thought of missing something blooming :)

I lost one of my favorite clems, Lincolnshire Lady. Boo, Hiss. I have a couple of questions for my gardening pals. (1) Last year I got Euphorbia "Tiny Tim" Tim is NOT tiny. He is very cool looking right now, but he's a big boy. When to prune him??(He didn't flinch under the weight of all the snow) What a guy!
(2) after spending 2 weeks spreading mulch and overextending many muscles....any suggestions for good groundcovers ??
(3) after losing 3 magnolias, should I attempt one more???
(4) maybe another flowering tree suggestion????

Hey miss, you ask a lot of questions! (In my best Emily Litella voice.)

1) If pruning does not affect bloom (or you don't care), do it now. I have a euphorbia that gets real big. I cut it back tot he ground in early spring.

2) Many. I have posted much about my dislike for mulch. Sun? Shade? Dry? Wet? Paper? Plastic? ^_^

3) I'd give up or try a late-blooming one like sieboldii.

4) What size / conditions?

victor sorry to here about your don egolf redbud - mine is in full bloom right now - must have been neglect although i did nothing special with mine - have you scratched it to see if it is green inside?

soj - i have over 10 redbuds here and they do fine, you should be ok. celeste is not in a good area for them though.

Not neglect. Perfectly sited and no problem with rain last year. It's surrounded by thriving plants.

no reason for it then - i would give one another shot - great tree - although mine is more shrub with multiple stems.

Why Thank You Victor! (in my best Mae West voice) Is that a pistol....never mind
I think I'm going to trim Tim now. He's in full bloom but has alot of basal growth. Maybe I'll get another bloom from him. I was thinking of you while posting the ground cover question. 2 that I remember you suggesting are creeping jenny and sedum. I think(!) I have very sunny locations and very shady. All I know is that I have to come up with an alternative to mulch. My back will not be able to handle it in a few years :(

I'm going to Rarefind on Saturday. I'm going to have to find the surfer dude and ask him about sieboldi. It's a part sun spot (full sun at midday) and I wouldn't want anything over 25 feet. There's so many luscious Magnolias round here....sigh.

Hee hee!

My back was one reason. Also, the expense and effort involved with mulch.

Golden Creeping Jenny works very well, as long as it does not dry out. I would not use it for a large, open expanse as the color can overwhelm. It does not spread as quickly as the species.

Sedums are good too. I like hardy geraniums, hosta, hellebore, vinca, and lamium (though I don't use it). They cover almost all possible conditions. Jenny can take foot traffic. My other approach is to plant densely.

From a different perspective, that's my approach to dealing with unwanted, invasive groundcover, like chameleon, which is impossible to remove. My plan is to use plants (mostly shrubs) that will provide a foliage 'canopy' at a low enough height to hide the offender.

Forgot to say that sieboldii will be well below 25 feet.

Some ferns make good groundcovers.

moving 10 yards of mulch right now:) love the smell and color.

i also use rocks for ground cover - have been adding a few large "viewable" ones (granite with lichens, quartz and lots of mica) to the bed along the driveway. the creeping jenny i added last year has really grown although the space it is in encroaches on wide expanse i think.

Was doing the "walk" today...a few varieties of my german bearded iris...BUDS...what the

I don't think any of the Iris that are going to bloom in the next week or so are rebloomers...not 100% sure...but SERIOUSLY...now?

And I counted, every herbaceous peony has buds, not swollen buds, but buds. The tree peonies are about ready to burst forth...another week or so...

A few DL varietes sending up scapes???

I have a few species of Hellebore. Not sure of the species, it's the one with the extremely jagged/serrated leaf, white flower...holy mole. That thing is one impressive clump! If Victor can identify it by description alone, EVERYONE should go out and find one...if you have a shady sorta place for it!

Since I am sorta doing things cheap this year, I just repotted my crimson leaved Castor Bean plants, and a flat and a half of 4'ocklocks. I would have just scattered the seeds like I've done in the past but I PREENE'd the bajeepers out of the beds this year.

Weeze, Here's a sedum at rare find that actually likes part shade and moist soil
http://www.rarefindnursery.com/index.cfm/action/productdetail/product_id/5438.htm
They didn't have a pic...they should borrow Dave's
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/83953/

Wow, Thom, your flowers are blooming way ahead of schedule! I have buds on some of my peonies, but not all of them....& I finally have buds on my hellebore....been waiting all spring...oh, & my amaryllis that didn't bloom this winter is about to in a few days! I've been weeding one of the garden beds---3 days...still not finished, the weeds are everywhere,.....and 2 tiarella looked so bad, I just yanked them out.

Wow that is crazy about all those buds! I thought it was odd I have some small buds on my Crystal Fountain clem. This will be the first year I see it bloom. I got it from Bluestones in 2008 and it was very small.

Victor, sorry to hear about your Redbud :( Bummer

Songs, I'm sorry about your Jack Frosts! I was nervous that mine would be goners after our snowless, mild winter, but they made it.

flowerjen, I have lots of sedum ternatum all over my shady garden and I love it. It even blooms in the shade- it's behind the hosta in this pic. I stick it in every rocky crevice I can find.

I lost my favorite Heuchera, Gypsy Dancer. And one more hosta that I left in a hypertufa pot. I guess I learned that I need to have much better drainage in those if I'm going to leave things in there all winter.

Really like both the sedum & hosta, Noreaster....I just planted Gypsy Rose...guess they're related.

That's really nice Noreaster. I wish I had remembered to ask about it when I was there today.

I planted another Magnolia. This is my last dich attempt at Magnolia growing.

I hear ya weez, bought 3 in the last 2 years and have lost one already :(

y mom said her Jack Frost died out too. She thought it was from her dog. Maybe not if others have lost them too.

Oh, my dog is responsible for the death of an astilbe! He evidently was peeing on it all winter and I didn't notice until it was too late. The fortunate thing about Jack Frost Brunnera is that it grows relatively fast. Although is sucks to have to keep buying new ones, at least once you do buy them, they fill out quickly so you don't have to live with that newly planted look for long.

Which one, Weeze?

Weeze bought green bay

That's good. The virginianas are also later blooming and they stay small.

They suggested Virginians, also

The star varieties are very hardy & early, & there are yellow magnolias at the blueberry farm now blooming---if they live in that ice box, they'll live anywhere.

I thought my Eye of the Tiger Dutch Iris didn't bloom but realized they don't bloom till May, lol

Needs Rocky soil.

Yes, Green Bay is a virginiana. The woman who worked there, Anne, was extrememly helpful and spent quite a bit of time finding the perfect tree.

Did anyone get the deep purple rhodie we all liked?

no couldn't think of where to plant it

Doesn't match my house.

Only 2 of my 4 tiarellas made it....still looking for my oxalis & agapanthus...hepatica made it, but only had one blossom.

one of my foam flowers looks like it's on it's last leg... I thought they were long lived.. guess not

Allison, the 2 that lived were the same age as the other 2....don't know what happened.

the ones in the front of my house are the same age as the other.. different location though... both stay pretty moist.. but the back can get a lot of water flow in that spot.. might be my problem.. and the reason the pussy willow, hosta & astilbe love it there

The 2 that died might have had roots eaten....they were dried up.