Garden photos 2011

front yard new begonias

and more new begonias

more new.....

One more new group...

oops, sorry for the above, I don't know how to rotate!
Next photo......the enemy!!!
The caved in brick.....his doing!

This message was edited Aug 26, 2011 8:31 PM

Now for the rest....a little off topic but the back garden 2011

and another...

and another

and one more, I know off topic, but one of my new favorite dahlias...."Akita"

Beautiful gardens! (and cute little chipmunk). May I say, your begonias look fantastic, and I like the arrangement in the front yard on the bricks. Now I need names on a few:
front yard, left bottom step, cane with pink flowers
New begonias, middle table, behind paper snowflakes
More new, white table, behind Ester Albertine
Sideways photo, back row, next to clay pot
The rest - love lies bleeding?

If you are ready for me to ship, let me know. I have a plant of Texas Tea Sipper, Winning Way, maybe a few others. As plants break, I just stick them down in the pot, and voila, new plant. And you have my begonia list for cuttings. Most of the plants should be large enough. Send me an email.

Re Gryphon - I saw a year + old plant at the Griffins Greenhouse show last week. And what a difference a year makes. I wish I had taken a camera. I used mine as annuals this year, but I'm going to dig them up and overwinter in the greenhouse.

Looks very good Shifty. You've got a very nice selection of begonias there. I agree that Gryphon is not all it is cracked up to be.

Here is some of mine this year.

One more:

Would you give us the names of canes please?

Gorgeous photos - what do you all do when it is time to bring in your begonias? Do you use any types of sprays or methods to keep the insects from coming in as well?

Carolyn, I do spray with insecticide, I like Concern multi purpose and now that I have canes again I will use a fungicide as well. I tried Green Cure this year and really liked it. Now I just need to use it more consistently.
DB, these are in order, hopefully I understood which plants you were referring to: Josephine, Coral Sea, Ginny and Kristy.
Yes, Amaranthus "Opoped" is what the seed packet said (in the photo with the dahlia) It was supposed to be all red but I like the other with it as well. Still, I think it should be called "Bed Head" because it looks kind of messy. My favorite Amaranthus is below, "Dreadlocks". All so easy from seed.
I will email you tomorrow. Family coming for dinner later so time to be domestic.

db, you already know the names of most of the canes in the world. Anyway Looking Glass, Silvermist, Little Miss Mummey, and probably Lana in the second shot.

Carolyn, I spray with Bayer Advanced Insect Killer. It does a pretty good job. I can't get rid of all the bugs but most are gone when I bring them into the basement in late October. The only thing I really hate bringing inside are the anoles since most starve to death.

One more, I am stalling on being domestic.
Little Brother Montgomery with Begonia grandis "Heron's Pirouette" in front.

LBM looks great.

Here is one of mine.

Thank you all for the info - right now, my begonias are inside, but I am having issues with spider mites. I do have some epis and hoyas outside, that I will have to eventually bring in and I know I am going to have to get things sprayed down, both inside and out, before the cold weather sets in.

Most of my begonias go in the greenhouse, so I only worry about major pests like scale, aphids, mealybugs and spidermites. I bought incredibly expensive pesticide to get rid of the mealy bugs, and I use biological control on the rest. The scale can be difficult, but that's why I have a spray bottle with alcohol at the ready. If things get bad, I treat individual plants with the Safari that I have left. Very good pesticide, but the price....

There was a thread on using bat as a systemic - the real name was bayer advanced tree and shrub, different than Butch uses. I used it once and found it effective on everything except the mealy bugs - my plants are large and woody and the uptake wasn't sufficient. The thread had all the directions on how to use it.

Glad I took the pix last week. Had to dismantle the gardens today and get ready for Hurricane Irene. We're getting wind and rain tomorrow. Pulled the boats and took the docks out of the lake. I passed 50 - 75 utility trucks from Michigan on the Thruway today - headed for Massachusetts, I presume.

I didn't see your message before I typed. For spider mites, I swear by n. californicus predatory mites from IPM labs. You can use them inside or out. I have to order several shakers for my brugmansias which are hosting a spider mite convention. Easy to apply, just like a salt shaker, and they get control quickly.

You will have to call to place your order - they always do phone call orders because they are shipping live bugs. Carol, the owner is a wonderful resource. There are several types of predatory mites on this link. The n. californicus survive after they wipe out the spider mites. They may recommend something different for you. They deal with small orders all the time and are very nice.
http://www.ipmlabs.com/cs3b.php
Here's the link to the main page: http://www.ipmlabs.com/home.php
I think it was 12.95 for a shaker the last time I ordered. It's the shipping that's a bear - maybe $10? But I think they are closer to you than me. They ship on Tuesdays in a stryofoam box with ice packs. Well worth it - no chemicals and the bugs do the work for you.

The tropical storm is here. It's not good. I wouldn't survive a hurricane. And why are all the koi on top of the pond looking around? Another branch just fell...

Diane


thank you for the link. Interesting - I have never heard of Locke NY and it is less than an hour away.

I will have to try them.

If there was any way for you to pick up rather than ship, it would be very economical for you to try the predatory mites. She has control for other pests as well, but I don't think you want parasitic wasps flying around your house to control aphids.

Beginner begonia grower here, thought I'd chime in with my first experiences from this season. Went for Gryphon when I first saw them at Home Depot, on sale. I bought one, planted it in-ground, waited two weeks and it just took off! I rushed back and bought 3 more to make them a nice landscape feature clump. The foliage is beautiful, they are 3 ft tall, but I have not had any flowers yet. It sure seems to like the conditions here - hot and steamy, high filtered shade, acid soil under a big oak tree. I'm very curious to see how they go through the winter.

Very nice dyzzypyxxy! They didn't seem to be crazy about my climate in a pot. We had a very wet spring, hot, humid summer with no rain and so far a very wet fall. Glad to see it looks good somewhere. I will try it again one more time next year.

Above picture is from mid-June about a month after they were planted. As soon as the camera charges up, I will post a pic of how they look now.

I was so excited about how well Gryphon did that when I saw this gorgeous big 'Looking Glass' plant . . well it followed me home of course. It's still in its pot, but sunk into the border across from the Gryphons, and seems very happy. Two canes have touched down, and rooted, so I am going to spread them around this shady border. Very exciting!

Have not had any insect issues at all with my begonias - who knows? There must be other things more attractive for the bugs, because I sure have every bug in creation in my garden.

Just finished treating the spider mite convention on one of my brugs with the soapy water, and it seems to have worked. Not sure if I can release the predatory mites into the garden or if that's just a good solution for greenhouses?

Love it, but LG is too much for me. I think that would be too hard for me to deal with indoors for the winter. I prefer the rhizo's and so far the canes. This is my first year trying canes again after a big powdery mildew problem indoors. The canes are my favorite so I hope I can overwinter them well this year inside.
dbsmith, on this forum, can probably address your question on predatory mites as I believe she uses them in her GH, however, since she has been dealing with never before experienced weather conditions here in NYS, so it may take her a bit to check DG.

Yeah, you guys have had it really rough for a couple of weeks. We, on the other hand, have had it incredibly easy. The storms pass by and draw all the humidity along with them. Leave us dryer and windier than usual, which is just wonderful weather for here, in September. Today was/is the peak of hurricane season here, so hoping to see the pattern continue for us, and ease up for all you NY's and PA's up there!

Agree with you on Looking Glass, it is pretty flashy. But I have this long, shady border that's full of boring plain green foliage, and the jazzy silver leaves are a nice contrast in there. Even my Gryphons kind of fade back into the greenery a bit, but LG sticks out. I've been trying some bright colored Caladiums and Philo 'Prince of Orange' for color, but nothing impresses my visitors like those silver leaves.

Any IDea on this poor old fellow? I planted three of them 4 years ago, and they have survived, but really look pretty terrible. This one is the best of the three, and would look better if its protector, a nice brug, had not died back in the last two cold winters. It's had 'way too much Florida sun for two summers now. I'm truly amazed that they have survived at all! The green on the leaves is usually darker and they are glossy, plain green. Deep red reverses and red/orange blooms.

Hi -
I release predatory mites on my brugs when they are outside for the summer. They aren't the most mobile bugs, so they have to be released right on the leaves that you want covered. I use n. californicus in the greenhouse, but n. persimilis outside. Here's a link that explains some of the differences, but the company you order from can recommend which would work best. I need to order now so I have a nice population when they go in the greenhouse:
http://www.ipmlabs.com/cs3b.php
Have you tried Pink Princess philo? It would give you both black and pink, and the leaves stay that color. I like the young leaves on prince, but then they fade to green. Is that begonia Torch red? It can take sun.
I have to go spray more Milstop and Cease. The begonias didn't enjoy the wet cold weather.
Speaking of wet, we drove down by the Mohawk river and parts of the Erie canal last night. I have lived here all my life, and I have never seen anything like it. The river has actually expanded, probably permanently, leaving lock houses on islands and locks only partially spanning the river. How are they ever going to use the system to get the snowbirds back to Florida?

I agree about the last begonia - definitely looks like Torch.

db, the rivers will recede in time. We had a big flood 2 years ago (23 inches of rain in a 24 hour period) - hard to drive anywhere without a bridge flooded or a road closing. Six Flags was underwater as well as parts of I-20. Droughts, floods, cold, hot, etc. Part of nature, life, and gardening.

dyzzy, that is one gorgeous Looking Glass.

Here is a bed of Torch at Discovery Cove, FL. Almost as good as a bed of Dragon Wings.

Thanks, all. I will move my 'Torch'es into a spot with less than all-afternoon sun and see if they recover.

Db I have 4 large brugs, two 4-footers still in pots and two 7-footers in the ground. Do I have to treat every single leaf with the predatory mites to protect them? Phew, that's a lotta leaves!

Here's a shot of my Gryphon clump this morning. Must admit the silver spotting has faded out recently, hope it will come back with the cooler weather. Lower leaves have more. Still, I love the leaf shape and nice clumping habit of the plant. Some of the leaves are 10in. across. I have taken a division of one plant and been successful in rooting it, so if they don't survive winter (let's hope it's more normal this year) I'll have starts for next year.

Here's the mothership 'Looking Glass' this morning. I amputated one cane from the right side for cuttings, as all my friends want starts of this, it seems. Must cut the other side to match, but the one cane in the left foreground has rooted itself. Once the baby plants start putting up new leaves is that when I can cut the cane?

It's one big greenhouse out there in summer! Everything makes new baby plants without even being asked!

D'you suppose I'd get flowers if I give them a bit more light? They get 'peeks' of sun through the oak branches, but no direct sun. I really need to call my tree trimming guy anyway, so we can get the oak branches thinned above that bed for a bit more sun in there.

I've had good success keeping powdery mildew at bay with just a baking soda/water spray on my two hydrangeas. Is it ok to use this on the begonias if I start seeing PM on them? I know they like to be acidic, generally.

So many questions, here! Sorry, I'm a relative newbie to begonias. Elaine

Oh Elaine

that is gorgeous!

I have been using Green Cure this year for fungicide and the active ingredient is potassium bicarbonate and it has worked well on the begonias this year, at least so far; and really well on my dahlias. I like it because I am sure I will have to continue to use it when they come inside and I won't feel badly using it in the house this winter.
Beautiful pic. I'm so jealous you can leave them outside year round!

I would love to grow them outdoors as well....

Shifty - I lived in your area for a number of years - at least I don't have to deal with 'Lake Effect'.....

Yuk, lake effect, we will be hearing those words too soon!

I lived in Salt Lake for over 20 years, and we had lake effect there, too! As you say, YUK! Daughter wants us to come for the holidays, and the very thought of leaving here in winter has me shivering.

However we sure do have our share of bugs and fungi here, year 'round. They like it here for the same reasons that the people do, of course. My fungus spray, 1/2tsp. baking soda to a quart of water is just sodium bicarbonate, of course. Pretty much the same thing as your Green Cure.

We've also had a couple of record cold winters these last two years. When we have a cold night predicted, my back yard looks like a chinese laundry with every old sheet, tablecloth and towel in the house out there protecting the plants.

Years ago....I lived in Naples Fla. ; I transferred for my job, so I remember the bugs very very well. I also remember those little lizard things. Back then I only had a few house plants and no begonias. So, I traded a lot of large bugs year round for snow. The older I get the more I question that choice, but my family is back here. Of course now I think of the begonias I could have without the seasonal migration inside and outside! So much less work!