seems like it's been this size since i put it in the ground years ago.
hmmmm what am i doing wrong here?
(if it looks like something has dug it up, it's because i used a spade to gently get a little osmocote to the roots)
what's wrong with my cape honeysuckle?
May not be happy where it is. What kind of spot did it say to put it?
it says sun to partial shade (which is where it is)
says it's drought tolerant, although this is the first time I've actually been watering it regularly.
from the comments I read, seems like it'd like it better it a pot in full sun. i'm going to try that. just hate to think of losing it.
but it also said it needs to be protected in winter or it will freeze. i'm certain it's been in below freezing temps a number of times--maybe it stunted its growth (?)
here's to trying again...........
Last year was a super bad year on plants. Dont count it. This year all sorts of plants are on hyperdrive already. May want warmth with its partial sun...
it's been in the same spot for years... maybe the soil is just depleted... I think i'll try putting it in a pot with some fresh, good soil and see what happens... oh, and in the sun.
thanks.. .i'll post again WHEN it gets better.
Use some rose type fertilizer on it as well...
Excellent. Will do!!
Usually drought tolerant means once they are established.
I do not know anything at all about the plant but from the pic it looks to be planted very close to a large tree which is likely stealing all of the water as well as the nutrients from the soil Big trees are GREEDY
Oh wow. I've always seen gardens around the base of trees, and didn't think about that. Guess what they had planted didn't require as much to start with. Hmmmmm could be what's wrong with a LOT of my plants. Darn!! I've done that because of the intense heat and sun exposure here in south Texas.
wow.... Now I have some thinking to do..... Maybe pots with saucers would help???
Texas plants do fine in Texas sun. Most folx plant under trees to hide the base of the tree. They want room to have their grass in the sun. Stuff like tradescantia, hostas, vines you WANT to grow slow do well under trees.
Well, I have good news. I transplanted it to a pot and put it in the sun. I've been feeding it and it's more than tripled in size!!
I had to come in before I could snap a picture of it, but I will try to post tomorrow evening.
Thanks to all your good advise, it's thriving and growing well now--yea!!
I had a Golden Rain Tree do that. I finally took it out this year after 12+ yrs in the ground and still not an inch in diameter. My Cape Honeysuckle grows really well in morning sun and afternoon shade but it also gets watered well every few days with a ton of other plants. I am agreeing on the too close to the tree to thrive from the tree using up the water unless you make a good point to water it. If it by chance doesn't make it I have some I can share and my son doesn't live to far from you. Went to Tarkington Middle school for a concert tonight with my 12 yr old DGD.
That's very nice of you ;-) i think mine will be ok now.
funny, i have a Golden Rain Tree. i didn't know i had it though.
my MIL had planted it but didn't remember what it was.
it had gotten spindly and looked dead, so we cut it bad. now i regret doing that b/c now it's growing kind of funny.
but... it did bloom (?) and seed for me this past year. i was really tickled to see what it was!!
I'd transferred my Cape Honeysuckle to a large pot, rocks and good drainage on the bottom, with good, fresh, healthy soil on top, and have been feeding it fairly regularly so it recovered nicely. It looks so good now! i did drop in a few rooted pieces a friend gave me of purple ruffled basil in the same pot. IT is now doing so well that it's almost overshadowing the honeysuckle!! ha!
anyway, have a look:
We were able to pull mine right out of the ground. Maybe there wasn't enough dirt to hold the moisture in. I got a Princess Tree from a swap in Fort Bend county and I really want a Confederate Rose so I am not sure what else will fit in my yard after those oh and I have a fringe tree to plant, and some orchid tree seedlings. There is so many beautiful trees I can't help myself. I need about 10 acres for what I want to plant....or more :)
i have a Confederate Rose i wish i could give you.
i like it, but it gets white flies so bad, and gets so tall, it's nearly impossible to stay ahead of them.
i end up having to cut it all the way back every year. i don't even get to see the blooms any more ;-(
am lucky enough to have a fringe tree growing wild in front of our house. i love it!!
have seeds for so many i want to try. i need to get busy, huh?
my problem is when i think "tree" i have to think where it should go, since i'd not want to move it after i get it going.
seeing all the mimosas in bloom, makes me long for some. again, just trying to figure out WHERE to plant them.... i finally put a dogwood seedling i'd gotten in a trade into a pot for now. i need to get it good and healthy before i can put it in the ground anyway... and it needs more shade, so.....
i'll look and see if i have any seeds for the Confederate Rose. i think i actually grew mine from seed here; i know i did when i lived in Benbrook.
We just take cuttings and water and the confed roses will root- 2 yrs ago cost me my dbl pink confed roses...
Cajun,
When I had a confederate rose it had white fly also. If I get one again I am going to give it Ortho® Rose & Flower Insect Control Plus Miracle-Gro® Plant Food Granules. I don't use insecticide much but will use this for the canna worms and I would use it on a Confederate Rose. You just sprinkle it around the base and it keeps bugs away around 6-8 weeks. I have used it on my white epi when it got scale or whatever it was. I figured it would kill the bugs or the plant but either way no more bugs. :)
I had a huge one about 10 yrs ago and I came home one day and it was laying over. Several weeks later I was talking to a dear friend and neighbor and she told me a funnel cloud was spotted descending on our street but luckily didn't touch down....Yep it only took out my Confederate Rose. Of all the luck...but it could have been so much worse. I wouldn't have believed it either but my sweet friend wasn't a story teller and I loved her dearly. She passed a couple yrs ago from cancer. :(
I have been trying to get one ever since.
good to know about the Ortho® Rose & Flower Insect Control Plus. i'll have to get some and try it. actually, my MIL may have actually have some out there in the plant shed. sure beats the heck out of trying to use a spray bottle with soap & water... of course i could have always put soap in a hose end sprayer, but still... that'd be almost daily. i like 6-8 weeks way better!!
i have never been successful in rooting cuttings. i'll be happy to try, but... i make no promises.
Where we live- stick a shovel in ground, wiggle back and forth as deep as the dhead shovel. pour in a cup of willow water, stick cutting in the ground and stomp the dirt solid around the stick. water every 4 days and be patient. first year will prob be slow.
cool! but what's willow water?
Ju does this best. Willow water is basically an aspirin, but better. The green and yellow living tips of willow twigs chopped to an inch long, soak in water - 2 to 3 days if in cold water, 24 hr soak if you boil them in water and cool. - it has the rooting hormones as well as defense mechanisms that kick start cuttings. Enuff water to maybe make 2 cups. My twigs usually make it long enough for me to chew them to paper... strain, clippings in the compost, water tagged and stored for 2 months in fridge. Give a confed rose room to circulate air- some shoot up every winter to as big as a roof by fall. Leaves can be as big as meat platters- OTHERS arent that big - if anybody else is watching did i leavr anythin out? My eyes are burnin today..
Very interesting! I just learned a lot!! i don't have any willow on the property, but if i see some, i may have to take some cuttings ;-))
I've always wanted a real, old-fashioned weeping willow like my aunt had when i was growing up.
ok i just looked that up... i think i'm looking for Salix babylonica.
This message was edited May 25, 2013 9:41 PM
Plant it near water or get ready to redig the plumbing every year. Roots can travel 20 miles looking for water. They are GREAT for clogging anything they find water at. Seriously.
The willows are great at tearing up plumbing. I started one from a cutting out here and in the first drought (2005) it leafed out in spring then died, not enough water in the plumbing, lol, or not enough time to get there, it was 3 years old. . I did not know about the willow tips trick. If I still had room I would plant another wild black willow just for that. They are easy to find, visit any drainage ditch in north texas, and will root in winter from a twig easily. Never tried in summer.
Told my DH about the Willows. Told him his mom & I always talked about how we would love to have them on the edge of the pond we plan to put in. Do you think if I waited until we get the pond, it would be ok to plant one near it? That way, it would not have to go running all over my property to find water?
(still want at least one before i die. can you tell?)
I have 3 confederate roses, double pink. They are as tall as my two story house. The white fly got so bad it was either get rid of them or use a chemical. I got the Bayer imidocloprin granules and sprinkled around the bases in Jan. It is supposed to last 12 months. So far this year, no white flies. I dont like to use chemicals but I did just this once. It's funny. For several ;years I did not have white flies then two years ago they came and stayed. Now they are gone. I will root cuttings for anyone who wants them. just let me know. This plant blooms in the fall so if you plant this fall, you wont have blooms until next fall. Kitt is right. The leaves are the size of dinner plates. I grow 2 of them on the south side of my house and they shade the end with those big leaves. Then in the winter, they lose their leaves and the sun canwarm the house.
Imidacloprin may be harmful to honey bees but this plant does not seem to attract honey bees at all. Besides I have loads of other plants for the bees to nectar upon. I hope I am doing no or very little harm.
Marty I would love you to start me a couple of confederate roses. My neighbor dug up a ton of variegated ginger and had them on the carport. I sent a note with David to put on the door as he was going to town. He knocked and the guy said we could have them. They are blooming size but will have to be cut back I am sure but will have some to trade in the fall. :)
If you are putting in a stock tank without a liner a willow on the edge might be ok, subject to the "going to suck up a lot of water" fact. Next to a lined pond it will puncture your liner.
Sandy, I will start you some and have them ready by fall RU or earlier. Anyone else?
You do know that a pond has to be watched for gators down there? Otherwise , no liners and I would plant on the bank itself. I think there is the fancy garden weeping willow and it might not be as bad to chase roots all over town grabbin water, AND attempting to propagate itself by runner roots.
Is that variegated ginger the kind that is useful in gingerbread or as a dietary supplement?
No variegated shell ginger is not edible. Thanks Marty :)
Never hurts to ask. Can be fatal to try, lol Thank you.
Guys. watch your plants. southern army worms are all across Fl to here in north side of Houston. Sigh. They have just popped up and are on the move...
oh NO, Cat!! what can you tell me about them?
what are they most likely to attack?
are we talking about bag worms or something else?
best way to treat?
I wonder what makes army worms show up in one place one year and not the next? I can only remember them that one time.
Mine are different this year, and just starting! There are now army worms, and fall army worms. Cajun- they seem to be starting on beans and tomatoes, but arent excclusive. WEATHER is now hot, no cool spells, and the commercial growers are treating along the Ark delta with planes etc, so now is when they have come into season.
good to know. i'll keep watch now for them.
but i want to ask another question... about my Cape Honeysuckle.
it seems to be doing much better, and has at least tripled in size.
however... the purple basil i have planted it with it, i had not anticipated would be so overjoyed and overzealous!!
it is about to take over the pot and is now at least 15x its original size!!
it's SO hot out there now... i am really hesitant to try to move it to another pot at this stage of the game.
but i'm afraid if i don't, it's going to thwart the growth of my honeysuckle.
do you think i could maybe move the basil to another pot, put it in full shade until it gets over the shock?
i should take a new picture, but it's huge now!
Take cuttings of the basil and root them in water in bright light, then you can do what you like with the honeysuckle.