Plant Propagation part XXVII based on my own experience

Meconopsis betonicifolia T&M says is hardy in zones 7-8, though not at all in hot summer spots, though it probably could be grown as an annual. (My thoughts...)
T&M says Meconopsis grandis is hardy in zones 5-8.

As I look in the Chiltern Seed catalog, they show M. betonicifolia as being a hardy perennial and the easiest to grow. They grow 3-5' and have 3-4" wide azure-blue flowers in June and July. They have other species as well ranging from the blues to orange. M. cambrica is yellow as well as a double M.cambrica, M.cambrica var. aurantiaca - the orange one, which they also have the double and A violet M. b. 'Hensol Violet'. In addition to all of these I found one that is new to me - M. integrifolia - which comes in a mix of pinks, blues and golds. As well there is a new one with double chromosomes which bears substantial sky-blue flowers 4" or more across and grows 3 -5' tall, called M. 'Lingholm', which is also rated as a hardy perennial. There are others, but you can go to their website and ask for a catalog. I am not sure if their online catalog has pictures of them. The last time I went to their online catalog it was rather slow-going. I know that the T&M catalog has pictures of both the M. betonicifolia and M. grandis.

(edited for spelling errors...)

This message was edited Jan 19, 2011 10:35 PM

Jen

S*** s*** s*** AND I AM NOT SPELLING SNOW. NOT KIDDING. It is to start tomorrow evening and go into Friday.

I'm sorry JB, I was just kidding. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy let alone my bestest buddy. If it will help you can get a teaspoon and send me some snow in an envelope.

Evelyn, they sound almost like cosmos. I will get my T&M catalog and look them up and get back to you. Thanks.

edited to add: Evelyn are you looking in the new T&M catalog for 2011? I couldn't find them. What page are they on?

Jeanette

This message was edited Jan 19, 2011 4:35 PM

I checked my favorite seed place www.jlhudsonseeds.net and they have the blue poppies with information on growing them. They say the blue poppies are not as difficult as is rumored.

Mexico, like the USA, has lots of microclimates. We get much more really hot weather than we do cold but we have several months when flannel nightgowns are perfect. Remember, we don't have central heating. When it gets down in the 40's and there's no central heat a flannel nightgown is very helpful.

I've had a good day. Tony didn't come to work so he probably has the flu. He is so dependable that if he doesn't come I know there's a good reason.

Got two flannel nightgowns almost all cut out. Went to town and had a visit with my friend Saul. Did a little work in the yard. This is our really nice gardening weather. It's still chilly at night but during the day we have t-shirt temps.

Think I will go to bed early tonight. I've been so laid up for the past months that I have to take it easy til some strength comes back. Much as I'd like to catch up on a year's worth of chores I will take my time. When I moved in here there were only cement block wlls. One room had a rough cement floor. Otherwise - no roofs, windows, doors, etc. Having these basics taken care of has allowed me to pace myself on other work. I also got my citrus orchard planted right away. I like being able to take my time on work. We often work in one spot for a while, then work on something else while thinking about how to proceed on the first thing.

I have seeds for cobea. They are among the thousands that I haven't planted yet. I'm going throuh all of them now and gradually getting things in the ground or starter pots.

hugs, katie

Well today was a good news day. My baby brother had a visit from the human resources department of the Police Department. They delivered his deceased wife's last check and then a copy of benefits he will start receiving Feb. 1, 2011.

He will be receiving close to $60,000 a year in retirement and full medical coverage for $400 per month. This is good news but sad news. She was going to retire next year and they would continue traveling. But now I do not need to worry about his health insurance. He has always been successfully self employed but they always used her employee provided insurance.

Another beautiful day. JB, I saw your pending weather on the national news. Makes our pending wind look good.

I discovered 8 boxes full of junk today. Tomorrow is suppose to be cold and windy so I am going to clean out those boxes. Should be interesting to see what I find.

Don't you love the way Evelyn jumped in with the Blue poppies and said, "Sharon, they do not grow in hot areas".

Katie, all the work you and Tony have accomplished is fantastic.

Dave, Evelyn, JB and I are the "shrinking people". So now that we have shrunk in height, maybe I will try width.

Dave, I forgot to tell you I love the photo of you and Kim. Nice to see who we are talking to.

Have a great Thursday. I will be busy finding treasures in boxes and re-potting. Also getting close to the time we prune back the roses. Come on Spring. But of course, we get Spring two months before you.

Cross Post.

Katie, please plant the Cobea. You will not regret it. It is such a wonderful strong vine. I was just sorry I could not keep it going thru winter.

It would be a great erosion control feature for you in your tire wall. You must have worked awfully hard to make those cement block walls livable. Do you have any heat at all now? And, how do you maintain the heat? i.e. Do you finally have it all enclosed? Please don't think I am nosy. You brought it up. I am just interested.

I had no idea it got down to the 40s in your area. Even at night. In that case, I can imagine the flannel would be wonderful. When we were children we used to open the window about 5 inches in the winter (when my folks thought we were asleep) and the snow would cover that and higher at night. There were 5 of us girls in our family and we were all 2 years apart in age. Four of us youngest girls slept in one bed to keep warm in the winter. (obviously this was when we were quite small) We loved the cold air from the open window. (Have you heard the song when one rolls over you all roll over? that was us) To this day I love a cold fresh air bedroom at night.

Orange juice is really good for strength. You might try that. How is Tony?

JB, I'm sorry you are getting the snow. We were suppose to get it yesterday but nothing. They keep saying we are going to get it, but still nothing. Fine with me.

Lee ~ Regarding blue poppies. One t-ville member from Alaska from zone 3-4 grows them and even has the poppy as her avatar. I think you can grow them. Hurry, get some seeds quickly!

Guess we crossposted again Sharon. Must be this time zone. LOL

I will look on page 76 tomorrow. I just might try them this year. I never have sowed my poppy seeds. Guess I had better try them.

Darned Raccoon just came out here looking for the suet bag he got the other night. It is driving these dogs crazy but I refuse to let them out. I do not need to take dogs to the vet and another big vet bill.

Sharon!! You did not include me in the "shrinking people" and I was the one that started it. I want to be one of the club. I also want to know what is in the boxes.

Jnette, I am sorry. of course, you are the President of the club. I double checked because i could not believe i forgot you either.

Evelyn, I thought it was hilarious what you said. That just shows you know how I think.

I need to get ready to go to bed. Tomorrow is the "What is in the Boxes day".

Hi guys just a drop in so if I make no sence it is on the count of my Ambien. Jibberish. My screen looks funny, was going to comment but I suddenly have moving keyboard and screen. So I bit you all goodnight.

Tony is back today, His gall bladder was acting up yesterday. I went to town yesterday and wrote a check for my friend Saul who has been loaning me money while I wait for my new ATM card. No new card yet but it's been a month and I didn't want the debt to drag on and increase, both for Saul's sake and mine.

Two nightgowns are almost all cut out. Just the yokes to go. I may have enough of the heavy flannel I got to make a third.

Slept until 10:30 this morning. Was tired as yesterday was my first day of feeling well in a ong time and even the little that I did tired me out.

There's always lots of strainghtening to do as we are still working on some of the walls. I've brown bagged the walls in one bedroom and started on the second. You can read about brownbagging in the Trash to Treasure Forun or google it. It's working well to cover the cement block.

Horizon Herbs has some blue flowers, including salvias which grow lots of places.

I will research bone spurs for my ankle and then finiah cutting out my nightgowns.

Gorgeous day here. I'm in a shortie nightgown and a lightweight sweatshirt.

Sharon, that is great news for your brother. It won't end the pain of his wife's death but relief from financial worries is huge.

hugs, katie

LOL .... dawn you sure that was ambien???? did the pharmacist mix in a little bit of fairy dust???

Just kidding i know how those side effects can really mess up the plans for the day. When everything looks fuzzy like that i just sit back and relax and try not to freak out at the critters coming after me.... ok that might be the movie I was watching but I specialize in jibberish.
Some of the descriptions in the seed catalogs can be way off so try them anyway. they tell me crape myrtle does not grow here....I think they have it all mixed up at times.

well we got about an inch and a half and they called off school for the entire area. its not so much the snow as it is the iced over bridges and overpasses. the school superintendant says if they think even one kid could get hurt they cancell school, which is not bad as they factor the time into the school year.
not so funny is we are over 8" behind in rain from the past 6 months. we really need a good spring rain session.

not much to add just wanted to say hi
Dave

Katie you might not like what you find on bone spurrs. i have them all over my body and they are not fun.

Sharon just a thought... could your sister-in-law work part time to keep her benifits???? I know thats a huge chunk of money for health insurance.

Sharon:
sorry for missing your questions on hibiscus. Its kind of strange how my brain does that sometimes... it will get the thought oh yea you need to answer those questions. The problem is when the though enters my head.... Its kind of scary in there.
anyway on to the questions. Hibiscus wintering over. we used to dig all the tropical hibiscus from the gardens at the aurboreatum, wack off the tops and cut back the roots. once they were ready we would pot them up and put them under the bench in the greenhouse to over winter.
I would say for the ones you brought in I would cut back the tops to the main limbs coming out of the top of the main stem. as a general rule I like to keep a balance of roots to top as equal as possible. They will drop leaves and freak out in general when brought inside because they are not used to that envirornment. the light levels have changed the humidity is way different and their watering needs have drastically reduced.
I wacked the whole top off my hibiscus I brought in this year. it was like 8 ft tall and now its 6" tall. I only trimed the roots poking out the bottom holes in the 1 gallon container. he really needs to go into a 3 gallon pot but it will keep till I have the desire to mess with him. I think he was lucky to make it inside this year. I don't know why but my admiration of the tropical hibiscus has wained quite a bit over the past few years.

Jeanette: I am not sure what I am looking for as for buds on the "y's" you sent to me. I see what looks like tiny flower buds but they are way too small to be the ginormous bloom they are suposed to be. I just uped the light timer to 14 hours and I have been feeding them regularly along with a foliar feed I spray them down with. I just figuire they will really take off once they go outside and into the ground. I am thinking I will transplant them into 3 gallons and then plant the hole container so moving inside in the fall wont be that big of a deal.

not much to add to the questions except for more questions ... where is the blue food????

Ok, Sharon, I did look further up the past posts and did find that I said, "Sharon they do not grow in hot areas".

I have been reading that statement for many years so I never bought any for that reason. I did, however, give you a plant that produces true blue flowers, that may survive in your area. At least I hope so. I just did not want to lead you astray and have you spend money and time to try and grow something, knowing that it has little chance to do well. The Sunset Western Garden Book seemed to say that the Lithodora would grow and do well if not in full sun all day, so shelter from the hottest part of the day sun.

Have any of you ever used worm castings? Do you mix them with other products such as soiless mix, etc? Do you think they are worth buying?

Oh, BTW, have you ever raised worms for the castings?

I have red worms that I grow for worm castings. I just mix the castings into the flower beds. I am going to make worm casting tea but just have not got around to it. There is good info on the vericomposting forum.

Did not do much today. Did some cooking and laundry. Only went outside to walk the dogs. Just was not in the mood to do much.

JB's weather made National News again tonight.

Hope all of your are well. Looks like everyone took the day off.

Sharon.

I like this source for info about what kind of pre-treatment each type of plant prefers to maximize its germination rate.

Virtual Seeds Seed Germination Database
http://www.virtualseeds.com/Germination.html

You can copy the "database" part as a plain text file and then search it. Or, import it into an XLS sheet.

The following seed germination guide is property of Thompson & Morgan.
This guide is out of print and not property of Virtual Seeds.
This guide is provided for personal information only.


Corey

I thought you would find this interesting. Sharon.

Sharon where is the T&M germination guide you were sending?

JB where are you? In a snow drift?

Jeanette, are we the only ones who know how to survive in this weather. I think everyone else is asleep, trying to get through it. :)
Lee

I am here. I had one of those days yesterday. Really felt old and depressed.

Today was better. I got up and did my morning Yoga (Honest to God) I have a tape for easy Yoga to keep you relaxed and your muscles moving and I have not used it for months because I was unable to lay flat on the floor without getting dizzy. Since , my chiropractor is keeping me steady and balanced, I thought I would try it this morning. I was so surprised. It worked and I love to start the day with that tape. Then I showered and took the dog for a walk in the snow.Yes, snow.................another inch but it covered all the grass again and now we are back where we were two or three days ago before the thaw. It is to snow again on Thursday of next week. Another storm coming, so I guess you will have it sooner than I.
The computer guy called and we worked on the computer for a few hours. He is at lunch now and will call me later to see how I am doing with my clean up efforts. It is costing too much to backup my system and I want to clean it out so I can get a cheaper rate. This is like filing. I hate it.
That brings me up to now. Here I am. I was going to transplant CC today but due to the snow, I did not get to the GH to do it. We are to have extremely cold weather with wind the next few days. I can hardly wait.

Lee are you getting this snow? Gee JB, an inch of snow in a day? Not bad Lady. We are getting an inch an hour. Yes, we have gotten a couple inches since the plow guy did the driveway. Another $40 shot. About 7 or 8 inches in the last couple days. LOL, my computer goes down when the satellite fills up and then it gets so heavy it slides off and I am on line again while it fills up again. Good grief what a life.

The TV satellite is under the eaves so no trouble. There wasn't room and still get a shot at the satellite under there for the computer dish.

I used that steamer on my kitchen floor while waiting for it to come back on line and got the popcorn popper ready to make some caramel corn. I love it and have never made any so am going to see what I can do.

Well, Bob just got home and says he isn't going any farther, which would be another 15 miles to get the mail. He says no way. He is glad he made it to the house.

Well, better send this while I am still on line. I think.

Hi Everybody - I got two nightgowns cut out and the first bit of sewing done. Should be ready by the time cold weather arrives next October. It's still a little chilly here but the worst of our winter seems to be over.

Tony and I worked in the arroyo today. Also prepared beds for my yacon crowns. We moved a bunch of palm logs and laid out the tires for a path and filled the first couple of tires. Tony does three or four times the work that I do but I like to do what I can and we enjoy working together.

I've been getting some seeds started. I have so many old seeds that I'm dumping a lot of them together in a plastic container. I'll soak them with a mild peroxide solution and scatter them in my two old wheel barrows that are filled with potting soil.

Picked a box of red grapefruit and yellow lemons for my friend Saul and delivered them to his store. Saw my friend Tim on the way and waved him down to give him a lemon. He was very happy as his friend Lily loves them.

My morning glory seeds have responded to a warm water soak so I'm getting them planted.

Can't believe the number of seeds I have.It seems that every time I clean up and area I find another box of them.

I am feeling pretty good and I'm grateful. Arthritis in my right hand is making itself known but I can still type and dig so I won't complain (much).

hugs, katie

If you live in NJ you need to take in your Brass Monkeys! Single diget temps and storm coming again. LOL.....I am going to turn to drink , I swear.

JB you wouldn't drink i've been thinking???

Since some of us are interesteed in Hibiscus, does a Hib that looses all leaves and is inside the house for all winter go dormant or is is DEAD....

Guess i lost 1 of my 2 Hibs.....gotta start all over.

If it makes any of you feel comfortable, we are having weather in the 20's tonight. BAH Humbug.

Peg, I have a variegated Hibiscus I think. It is in the house and loves it. But doesn't grow real fast. It did not lose any leaves. Think yours must be dead. So sorry.

Mine isn't very big either tho.

I'll have a drink with you JB. Not gin tho, Don't like junipers they stink. You must have a winter drink. Bob says gin and tonic are summer drinks. Don't know, I'm not a hard liquor drinker. I like a hot buttered rum once in a while. And a white Russian too. Those are very fattening tho. Both.

Well, whatever, have one for me then you can have two.

Had an absolutely gorgeous day. High temperature was 62 and no clouds and no wind. Low to be 47. I worked in the garage with my protected plants. Re-potted and deep watered. Several were really dry. I have several double bloom oleanders that need to be re-potted because they are outgrowing the pot they are currently occupying.

Is your hibiscus a hardy or tropical? Hardy hibiscus do lose their leaves. Tropical should not. I actually have three tropical in the garage and they are growing and blooming. So are the bougainvilleas.

Some place in Michigan, near Canada was -47 degrees. Fargo was -27.

Jnette and JB, a winter drink is either Crown Royal, Brandy, Grand Marnier, Southern Comfort. They will make you nice an warm.

Lee, I do not know where everyone is but they are not on Dave's Garden or Facebook.

You all have a great day tomorrow. Love, Sharon.

Morning, this is a very cold day here in the East. Not as bad as some of you are having up there in them there hills I am sure.

Peg, the Hibiscus I have looses its leaves several times a year. It comes back just as nice as ever. I have no idea the name of it because it was a hand me down and never had an ID. I thought I had posted a pic of it before. I also have a red one that looks like it is half dead, but it will come back. These must all be hybrids of some sort. They are both in the GH in the winter and outside in the summer. Growing in Pots. The one in the picture is very big and takes a man to move it. Yes, it gets yellow leaves before they drop.

I have not been enjoying the hard stuff lately. I am happy with a cup of tea or a glass of wine. I do not work hard enough to work off that hard stuff during the winter. Of course, if we get another foot of snow Tuesday (they say it could be just rain) I will no doubt go back to the gin bottle. LOL I love coffee brandy..............ooooooooh that sounds so good if I did not have to take my medicine and it was not so early in the day. I do not drink before 4 p.m. and I quit by 6 p.m. on normal days. LOL

Jen are you o.k. out there? Looks like you are having a miserable time of it.
Dave, are you feeling o.k. My toprol is working at 12.5 mg That has to be the lowest dose.
Stay well and warm friends. Love you all. Hugs. JB

Mornin:
yea i have been hit really hard. I am up and down most of the time so far from tuesday to now. pain keeps wakeing me up every hour on the hour.

mexican coffee???? pepermint schnapps???? b52's????

most of the tropical hibiscuits leaves turn yellow and drop. peg scratch the bark on the lower trunkif its green then its got a "vibrant core".... The comedian Ron White does a bit on his tree and how the landscaper says its got a vibrant core. when its dead by all indications.

I have a hibiscuit in a one gallon pot that is leafing out after i cut it back hard to store over the winter. it was like 6ft tall and 4 ft wide now its 6" tall

well I think its time to start seeds for spring. I will most likely inventory and then sew and order needed seeds.

Its suposed to rain/snow tonight again and I can really feel it. foooey on that. well its off to lay back down... please try to have a better day than I am???

jb that is a beautiful triple peach

Dave, are you saying you start your seeds this early? What seeds? But your greenhouse isn't heated is it? So I suppose that means they don't grow real fast? Gosh if I started mine that fast here in the house I would run out of room in a month.

Do any of you know anything about gingers? I have one that was given to me in a swap, don't know what kind it is but it sure does grow fast and very healthy looking.

We got another couple inches of snow last night. And it's only January. I do need to take an inventory of my seeds and decide what I'm going to supplement them with. I haven't even looked at the seed catalogs yet. Just can't seem to get interested.

Hi Jeanette:
yes i am thinking about starting some seeds on my cart in the plant room in the garage. the garage gets down to about 57 degrees and the plant cart has 4 florescent bulbs per shelf and can hold 4 flats per shelf. I have a plastic cover over the cart as well as heat mats so temp wont be an issue. I am thinking some of the slower stuff that gives me fits early on. maybe some dianthus -pinks or some of my grass's like muhly or pampas grass they seem to take forever to get up big enough to transplant and I run out of time before I can get some of them moved up.

ginger yes she is a nice lady............... lol I have a few different ones. i am trying one in the ground this year to see if it might be hardy enough to over winter. here is a pic of my peach butterfly. I don't know the combination but i do know they need long days followed by shorter day to bloom ...well thats what it seemed like to me for mine. we were into late october when it bloomed. I will reread my small book ... what do you need to know about it????

That's a good idea to start those grasses early Dave. you are right. They do take a long time. I started some stipas last year and they did take a long time to get any size to them.

I will have to look to see what ginger I have. And then maybe you can tell me about it. That Butterfly is beautiful. I would love it if mine bloomed. Do they like to be potbound? or big pots, or what? For starters. LOL

Morning Everyone! I am waiting on snow ! I feel sorry for all of you that get it by the tons, but this is the 3rd time this year we have had snow and I don't ever remember that happening before.
Dave that peach butterfly is beautiful. I have some white ones that smell heavenly, but the others that I have haven't bloomed.

Jnette, I have some of my gingers planted in the ground, so I don't think being pot bound has anything to do with it blooming. Maybe it is the amount of light it gets.
I only have a couple of gingers that are not hardy here.


Ok, Who has crown royal? I will drink that with you any time! LOL I actually don't remember the last time I had a drink, but crown royal sounds good and if I had any, I would drink now. ( ok, maybe later today).

I am starting seeds in little ghetto greenhouses. ( ie. 2 liter bottles and milk jugs) and just letting them come up when they will. I am having a hard time staying motivated too. It must be the cold..............

The unrooted cuttings I was thinking about were different varieties of lantana and mini petunias. those are the toughest little plants. I have decided to wait though, I really don't have enough heated space to root them well right now.

I took cuttings from 4 different lantana before it froze, but I put them in water ( just till later) and they bit the dust! I know they won't root in water, but I just couldn't get them potted in time.

Well, hope all of you have a great day, I will check in again later on.

Stay warm,
Linda

OK, Linda. I have a stocked bar. Crown Royal is a sipping drink. I do not drink either. The night my sister-in-law, I called Vern on the way home and told him to make me a stiff vodka on the rocks. It did help calm me down. I use to have a drinking problem, so I stay away from it intentionally. Therefore, I have the bar stocked with drinks you could not afford to drink a lot of or you would go broke.

I am just doing some banking and thought I would drop in and say hi. It is suppose to be 67 today but right now it is cloudy. I am going to finish re-potting the rest of the plants in the garage, wash the dogs, change the sheets and make a bunch of pancakes to be frozen.

Tomorrow is a big day in Las Vegas. The town is packed with football bettors and fans or the playoffs.

Have a great day and I will check in tonight but by the time I check in the majority of you are in bed.

Dave, I have a Tropical Hibiscus in the garage that is very leggy. I will cut it back today to see what happens. thanks for the info. So sorry your pain is still with you.

Later friends. Sharon.

Laying on the floor kicking and screaming at 67 degrees in Las Vegas............Oh how I envy you. Hugs. JB

Me too, me too, JB Oh what I would give to do that outside right about now. It is about 20 and snowing so that ain't goin' to happen. Cars are off the roads cuz of the ice, and some roads are closed. Guess I will just have to stay in and work on quilts and rugs. The flower garden quilt is almost done!!! doesn't get the old hands dirty tho. Later, Lee