I would lay down some shredded paper damp, place plant on top and then cover with more damp, not wet shredded paper. Then place something in box to hold plants still. I do not think you can kill that plant. Maybe packing peanuts or just unsalted popcorn.
I am off to bed. See you all tomorrow my friends.......Photo is Todd, Heather and family at San Diego beach two weeks ago.
All that sounds good Sharon. I don't smoke and hate it too.
I got a box of plants sent in wet newspaper, some send in news paper and in plastic grocery bags to help retain the moisture in the box. You could put a few gel crystals at the main root and then put the wet news paper on it? maybe?
I am good for all of those colors Merrymath. I don't like orange and yellow much either but they do look nice with purple stuff. I will keep all those tips in mind too.
Well, I am not sleeping in late today.
I have only sent plants twice. I used priority mail/ Both mailings consisted of over 50 Rose of Sharon each. Both parcels were sent on a Monday.
I am definitely no expert in regards to shipping plants.
Here is what I did. I rinsed all traces of soil from the roots. The plants were place in plastic sandwich bags (several plants per bag) containing wet sand. I used string to tie the baggie tightly at the base of the stems.
I used crumple newspaper in the box to keep leaves away from plastic and to stabelize plants in the box. I used whatever boxes I could locate.
At the post office I placed some priority mail tape on each box. Outside of box marked FRAGILE/LIVE PLANTS ( A shoe box would be fine) I also poked a few holes in the boxes for air.
The plants were sent on July 6 (102 weather) and arrived in tip-top condition.
DAWN …. HOW MANY ROSE OF SHARON PLANTS DO YOU WANT?
QUESTION - do any of you use homemade sprays or fertilizers? If so please share recipe(s).
Yesterday, I sprayed the cantalope plants and my roses with the following: ½ tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. ½ tablespoon Pinesol and 1 quart water.
LOVE YOU ALL
MARY
Hey Mary- Thanks for the tip on the Rose of Sharon pruning- I have 2 but they are tall and narrow, and I was wondering what would happen if I pruned them!
Also have some from Rose of Sharon seeds that I started this past Spring- anyone know how many yrs it takes before they will flower when started from seed?
When you take cuttings from your hardy hibiscus, do you use rooting powder, or just put it bare in damp potting soil?
Yesterday, I sprayed the cantalope plants and my roses with the following: ½ tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. ½ tablespoon Pinesol and 1 quart water.
MARY
Jillann .... the Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is to kill fungi and pinsol is to kill insects such as aphids.
The next time I spray I will switch to 1/2 tablespoon baking soda, 1/2 tablespoon pinesol, and 1 quart of water.
I have never taken cuttings from Rose of Sharon .... no need to ... they are so self seeding to the point of being like a bothersome weed.
I do not know how long it takes for Rose of Sharon to start blooming.
Now to pruning those tall lanky Rose of Sharon..... Prune as much as you want ... it is very hard to kill the plant. The husband of my next door neighbor cut some of their tall lanky ones to 6 inches ... and they are now about 2 to 3 ft high but most without blooms.
A few weeks ago I had their permisson to prune some tall lanky ones bodering the rear of our properties .... I took off as much as I could with pruning shears (over 2/3 of each plant) They are doing fine but I am hoping the huspand uses a power saw to cut them within 2 feet of the ground.
Some people are afraid to severly prune an overgrown bush ... not the case in my family. My older daughter lives in North Carolina. Two years ago they inherited a house two houses away when her mother-in-law died. The house had overgrown azeleas 2/3 of the way around it. They took a chain saw and cut them back to 18 inches.
When I visited them (May 8 to 23) of this year they were overgrown again. My daughter and her husband are planning to move to this house. Her husband was so annoyed over how much those azeleas have grown (blocking view from windows) that he was talking about getting a backhoe to get rid of them.
I was granted permission to prune them. I cut them back about 50%. Most of the cuts were 6 to 8 feet long. I also severly pruned other azaleas on the property. I used a hand card to take the cut branches and pile them next to a large flat bed sitting in the driveway. My son-in-law was estacic that all he had to do was use a pitch fork to pile them onto the flatbed and cart them to the dump.
When I spoke with my daughter today she informed me that the bushes I pruned are doing just fine and her hubby wants to know how soon I will visit again so he can have everthing ready for me to prune away.
Shoot ..... I forgot to add this about the azeales on that property.
There are a lot of large overgrown azaleas on that property. When I visit them again I plan to propagate by layering using these landscape staples. Then on another visit prepare and ship them to their new home in Morrisville, PA.
lol I fogot to include the picture of the landscape staples
50 for $3.49
4 3/4 inches long
1 5/8 inches wide
Sharon, I would love to see the 2 coleus that you mentioned. I fell in love with coleus back in '04 when I started my real gardening here in NE FL.
I had at least 6 very old and tired looking native azaleas along one side of my yard.
One time when I was off working for months I came home and my neighbor had trimmed them to neat balls. (Gag)
Azaleas only bloom for 3 weeks so I dug them up and replaced with Crepe Myrtles. They bloom for 90 to 120 days so they give me more color.
My yard is one tenth of an acre so each plant has to do it's 'thing' to earn it's space.
Jnette, you ask why I steam everything a week or so ago. I steam because more nutrients stay in the veggies, instead of water. And as far as roasting asparagus I don't care for anything roasted. It seems to just dry out the veggies. Just personal taste there.
My DM loved to squeeze fresh lemon juice on broccoli, asparagus and other veggies. She was a size 12 when she went to the happy hunting grounds.
Lemons were her secret to staying trim. I still like olive oil based margarine on mine.
I believe the ajuga will do just fine with a damp paper towel on the roots and bundled with a plastic bag holding the roots. A small very stretchy rubber band holding the bundle on the outside of the plastic bag. wrap with bubble wrap, box and mail Priority.
I mail plants on Saturday mornings. They have less pkg on the week-end and they usually deliver on Monday.
Rosy Dawn does that and results are always spectacular.
I need to top off almost all of my coleus and root the tops next to their mommies. It is hot here, but rain is forecast for this afternoon. I watered to make sure we'll get that rain.
Sidney
Sidney, I can't put the roots of these ajugas in a baggie as the roots are right next to the leaves so the leaves would be in the plastic too. I guess I can use press and seal. That works pretty good but we are only talking about an inch or so on a lot of them.
Like you said tho Sharon, you can't hurt these things. LOL
I use an insecticide recipe posted by Al Tapla that I think is real good. I will have to find it for you. Here it is.
Al Tapla’s spray
1 pint rubbing alcohol
1 pint very hot water
1 tsp pure, cold-pressed neem oil
3-4 drops Murphy's oil soap
Add neem & soap to hot water & shake well. Add alcohol. Spritz plants thoroughly, covering all surfaces - especially underside of leaves & leaf axils. Be sure to shake vigorously as you use the spritzer to keep the neem mixed with the solution. Works great - the neem oil renders all the insects it contacts unable to complete metamorphosis or reproduce, while the alcohol provides reasonable knock-down for current generations.
I am sure I can get these to you Mary, will send tomorrow.
Sharon, such a good picture of your family. They are all very photogenic. Very nice.
Did they live in Las Vegas before moving to Spokane? I can't remember if you said. So, if they did, they must be fairly familiar with all parts of the West. i.e. Calif., Ore, and Wash. Sorry Lee, and Mont? Why did he pick Spokane?
Jeanette .... how often do you use that spray?
LOL, Mary, are you asking how often I use it? Not enough. Only when I see something bad on my plants. And then I only hit where I see them. But, my plants look pretty good. I have an aphid once in a while but that is about it. Knock on wood. However, I do have to say I use the Bayer Rose 2 in 1 (also, I think someone said they have a 3 in 1 out now) on my roses and brugs. Those are where I find the aphids. Glad you reminded me I need to do that again soon. I have to admit I have only used the Bayer once this summer. Gotta do that.
NOW, if you are asking how often you should use use it? Well, I suppose once a week or every other week? Don't know and I don't want to go back to Al's thread 'cause it is really long. If you are interested, he has a wonderful thread on container plants. Think he wrote the sticky for it. But, if you go thru quickly you should be able to find the recipe and that info should be close to it.
Maybe someone here would have a better answer for you.
I would love at least 4 or 5 Mary, if you can spare them, so I can try them in different locations, plant some in ground and some in containers to see what works best for them here. Thank you. I bought this gallon plant, it looked like a vine, but it says it is a shrub that gets 20' x 20' and it continuously has yellow flowers on it. It is a nice bright green but I did not see anymore when I went back and I chucked the pot somewhere. Good grief, what was I thinking, now I don't know what it is and it is doing well, where I have it.
I have posted several recipes here for natural tonics. I like alfalfa tea, made in my wheel barrel with molassis for a good kick start.
Black Spot remover for roses.
15 tomato leaves
2 small onions
1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol.
Chop the tomato leaves and the onions into fine pieces, and steep them in the alcohol overnight. Then, use a smal, sponge-type paintbrush to apply the mix to both the tops and bottoms of any infected rose leaves.
All season clean up
1 c of liquid dish soap
1 c of antiseptic mouthwash
1 c of tobacco tea*
* to make tobacco tea, wrap half a handful of chewing tobacco in a panty hose toe or a piece of cheese cloth. Soak it in 1 gallon of hot water until the water turns dark brown. Pour the liquid into a glass container with a tight lid for storage.
Dawn, those recipes sound like Jerry Baker. LOL, I look at the flyers he sends out but don't buy his books. Oh, I take that back. I bought one at a garage sale for 50 cents. I can go along with a little bit of his stuff, but I think a lot of it is in there to get you to buy groceries at the store where they sell his books. As long as it doesn't hurt the plants. A waste of money.
But I thought he had backed off of using tobacco because of complaints from readers. I don't think that is good for a lot of plants, including tomatoes. Or maybe I should say especially tomatoes.
Hi:
Shipping plants... I ship on mondays during the heat. priority only..... I recieved a shipment of ajuga from a lady that mailed them on a monday night and they arrived the following monday... HALF of them were melted and smelled horrid. I fear they are gonners. use only dry papers shreaded balled or whatever. wet paper will melt the plants in this heat. Its the sitting in a truck or warehouse over the weekend cooks the little buggers toasty crisp. I will not order plants in july or august or ship out unless its an emergency
Rose of sharon will spit out little babies all year long. they can be cut back really hard and they should come back nice and full. Typically a plant has the same amount of roots as they have foliage above. Its strange....Any one want seeds I have plenty They are a year old though. qt bag full of minerva and a white with red eye. they are littly baby makin machines....
grandbabies are all great. had great fun chasing them arround the stairs....its way past my initial bed time... might be back later tonight who knows.... stay cool we are in the lower 90's this week yeah..... we are going to be installing ground cloth and sorting the dead stuff out.
managed to get roots on spirea in 10 days ..... They are going to be nice.... I am planning to do more next week.
nighty night
Dave
Dave, remind me in September or October and I will send you some ajuga.
Well, I had a good day. Did not do much. I did take photos of the Coleus and the Cannas that were blooming this morning. I have a manicure and pedicure tomorrow so there will be gardening tomorrow but the rest of the week will "Nellie bar the doors". I am going to get the irises all planted and identified.
I had a summer sandwich for dinner. Fresh tomato, cucumber and Vadelia Onion, lettuce, cheese and bacon. On Multi-grain whole wheat with mayo and mustard. It was magnificent.
I checked the EZ Clone today and the Lantanas were fully rooted. That took 6 days. The Magnolia is starting to show roots after 12 days. The sweet potato vine rooted in 4 days.
A Rose of Sharon is not a hardy hibiscus. It is a mallow. I have another Hardy Hibiscus baby getting ready to bloom. This one is a cutting from last year. I will take a photo tomorrow.
I have the names of the coleus but they are not posted with the plants. They were all purchased from Rosey Dawn.
This is another Coleus with a Cordeline (sp) in the background.
Next is Cordeline mostly by itself. This plant is 2 years old and lived through the winter.
Another Coleus. I have about 25 different Coleus, so only showing you my favorites.
This is Picasso Canna. Sill blooming after two months. It is in the filtered shade of Mimosa tree from the West and Street scape tree from the East.
This, I believe, Firecracker Canna. Again been blooming for over two months.
Last Photo today. I wonder who?
I love those pictures especially the handsome man on the last one. I know that hardy hibiscus isn't Rose of Sharon, but I was saying that I have bad luck with them, and Hibiscus talk made me think of it. I never saw a tag that said hardy hibiscus but everyone seems to acknowledge that term.
That is because no one has figured out that they grown in our climate. They do need a filtered shade or the bloom only last for a few hours but that is if your temperature is above 100. I have so many thing growing in my landscape that do not grow here I must be a witch.
Sharon ~ Great photos! Wow! It sounds like your cloner is working quite nicely.
Jeanette ~ I am with you on the Jerry Baker school of plant medicine...he should be arrested!
Dave ~ Glad you have fun with the little ones...they grow up quickly and then they are busy! I did get a call from my oldest granddaughter today. She recently graduated from college after putting herself through college, part time for ten years. Talk about persistant! I am really proud of her.
Dawn ~ Be careful with your remedies, as jnette said...tobacco is harmful to any tomato plant. Tobacco Mosaic Virus is quite bad. It is rarely even thought of these days, as most gardeners either don't smoke or know they should wash their hands and/or wear gloves when handling the tomato plants. The virus can affect other plants as well.
Sidney ~ Crape Myrtles are blooming all over CA now. I bought two one gallon Cherry Red ones..oh they are very pretty.
Mary ~ You had better get a pickup truck as everyone in your neighborhood will want your landscaping services...especially the pruning!!
Lee ~ You probably don't want to "make the rounds" visiting all of us in the summertime, but surely you might want to escape during the winter...maybe to Sharon's or Dawn's place since they seem to have the warmest winters. Our is OK, at least a lot warmer than yours, but we do get snow up here in the hills.
I have ajuga as well if anyone wants to reserve some for fall. It is just bronze ajuga. Nice blue flowers in springtime.
Good night all!
~ Evelyn ^_^
Smoke Get's in your Eyes~~~ ♪♪
Jeanette ~ Thanks for the reminder of what to do with the Neem oil...duh! I need to use it on my peppers. Speaking of Bayer...have you heard that aspirin is suppose to be good for plants? I read it one one of the forums, but I do not recall where.
JB ~ What are you up to these days??
Sharon ~ Your grandson looks delightful.
OK, now I really gotta' go...'nite all!
The pictures were nice Sharon. I like the green coleus. Have never seen that one. But none of them can come close to the last one. LOL, he is sure a happy baby isn't he?
I know Evelyn, I bought a quart of 100% neem oil on the coop a month or so ago and you know when I die it probably will not have been opened. LOL, just kidding, but I don't use it nearly as much as I should. Someone told me they use it for a fungicide also. I had never heard that before. Have you?
JB, you must be so busy since your temps have cooled off. Are they still lower? You just don't have time to get on here and tell us what you have been doing?
I always buy the smallest spike, Cordyline, that I can in the beginning of the summer Sharon, then end up throwing them out a few months later at the end of summer..
Sorry, it was in the shade when I took it. Haven't figured out how to make the picture stay the way I adjust it, when I post it.
I took pictures yesterday, if I can find one I will post it.
Sharon I have one coleus that I really like but it is such a slower grower. I have never had one like this that just sits there. One of these days I will take a picture of it. Maybe it needs a larger pot, huh Mary?
This message was edited Aug 16, 2010 2:46 PM
As you can see, other than my tomatoes and peppers and my perennial garden, the rest of my plants are in containers on my decks.
Most of them are annuals that change every year.
Good afternoon everyone. I am sitting here patiently waiting for the pizza delivery guy. I had lunch but I was in town too early to pickup my Pizza that I freeze for emergencies. LOL
I am trying not to dehydrate again. I really do not like that feeling of not having control. The chiropractor and my DIL both said I should keep gateraid on hand but believe me, I do not want to do this again for many years and the gateraid would spoil, at least I hope I do not do it again. It scared me. I swear the BP meds have something to do with this sweating because I never sweated like this. Of course, this year has been different heat wise.
I have finished my inventory and have lots to do to get ready for this coming year, but today is another 90 deg. day with very high humidity. After the Chiropractor and the Grocery shopping, I am not in the mood to get all sweaty again just to make some cuttings that will wait until tomorrow. No rain in sight again. They are calling for it but it keeps missing us. Rain in Philadelphia but by the time it gets East to us , it is all gone or it turns North or South and misses us completely. I am so frustrated but some of the farmers are having a banner year, not those near me, but the ones in the North and South Jersey.
We are still irrigating christmas trees and others that look like they are stressed from heat. Yahoo, gotta go, Pizza guy is here. Yummy....Hugs. JB
I want to know about the Bayer....hopefully one of the people on the other list can tell me how it is mixed for mealy bug. That would be great.
Can anyone tell me what to do for those tiny white bugs. I have an influx of them on my outdoor plants. When I disturb them it is like snow flying. Under the leaves they look like white scabs, but then they fly. Don't want to bring in any of the winter-over plants, my house would be overcome with them. Ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Lee you have white fly. they are horrid to get rid of. use a systemic to get them out.
Tobacco also attacks the geranium. its the tobacco mosaic wilt virus that is common to plants in the tobacco family.
we are having a great week this week. only in the low 90's but next week back in the furnace....
oh well getting the remodel going. we have a guy doing the drywall stuff now. we had pieces of drywall behing our panelling. the builder used all the scraps from the other rooms to cover the walls that gave the panelling something to hold onto. what a mess.
I have 2 boxes going out this week. unfortaniately I posted hostas on ebay when it was a bit cooler and now I have to ship but hey it could be worse I could have not sold any.
Dave
Lee, Dave says to use a systemic. If the plants like a rose food the Bayer 2 in 1 rose food should work. It has a systemic in it. You didn't say what the plants were.
That is awful Dave, having things torn up. I want to paint before winter so better get started soon huh?
JB, do you use 6 inch pots for your plants? If so, where do you get them?
It's suppose to get up to 90 tomorrow I think. We have really had an easy summer so far.
Mary, Bob mailed your plants a bit ago, priority mail. PLEASE let me know when they get there and the condition.
Good evening peeps
Since I am feeling like a blabbler mouth at the moment ... I am going to do a few consecutive posts.
First .... what is a systemic?
Information regarding aspirin for plants
http://www.ehow.com/how_5383365_use-aspirin-plants.html
and
http://www.plantea.com/plant-aspirin.htm
Picture of Rose of Sharon severely pruned in the spring.
Thanks Jeanette for sending the plants. Maybe your pictures will be more clearer for me after my eye surgery.
I am situated in the borough of Morrisville. It is like a very small town. I just noticed all the blue postal mailboxes that use to be situatuated on various corners are GONE... KAPUT!
I went to the local post office to obtain a postal money order and dummy me forgot to put the letter with the money order in the mailbox there. Well I thought no problem .... just put it in one at one of the locations that previously had one of those blue postal mailboxes. To my dismay, they no longer exist! Shoot had to drive back to post office. Grrrrrrr
Picture of Rose of Sharon that I just pruned .... I hope they take off more.
This message was edited Aug 16, 2010 11:51 PM
That little light informing me that gas is low kept going on.
The prices at the nearest gas station is $2.989 for regular and it is one where you pump your own.... so I went across the river .... to the Jersy side (2 miles one way) and filled the tank for $2.589. New Jersey is a state where attendants are suppose to pump the gas. Where my daughter lives (Maple Shade, NJ) gas is as low as $2.459
How much is regular gas in your area?
Picture of Rose of Sharon that has yearly pruning from my side only. My house is in the background.
All pictures taken in neighbor's yard.
Yesterday, my neighbor gave me several seed pods from this black eye susan plant.
She also potted up 3 plants that had self seeded from it but did not bloom this year ..... lucky me!
She has black eye susans in another area that are not as large.
LOL ... I did not know there are different varities of black eye susans.
LOVE YOU ALL
MARY
Mary, systemic is a pesticide that you normally dissolve in water and pour on the plants roots. It goes up through the "system" of the plant and any bugs that chomp down on it will die.
There are different Black Eyed Susans, yes. But, I have found that a lot of them come out like the original. I suppose reverting back.
Interesting about the aspirins. I got a kick out of it tho, they said for houseplants and the best time was to wait until the dew was off of the plants.
Our regular unleaded gas is $3.05.
On what and when should one use a systemic pesticide?
See how little I know.
But I am real good at math. hehe
