After event questions and answers and chatting

Lovetopaint---

Wanted to let you know that Rosemary is a PERENNIAL--and can be left outside all winter in a pot or ground.
If it is just s tiny cutting--then, yes, you can keep it inside. If it is in a pot, and good sized--
you need to leave it outside...You can even harvest fresh Rosemary all winter from your plants.
It will not thrive inside--it needs the cool and moist and no heated homes will fill the bill.
Please reconsider your plans.

Most Lavender is also PERENNIAL--and will grow year round in a sunny spot tucked somewhere.
Don't know if some varieties need to be brought in--but the big clump I dug up and gave
ssgardener has been growing outdoors for years.

I emphasize with you digging near a Maple--I have dealt with it forever!
That is why I call my back corner bed my "YUK" bed, because it is full of roots.
Also--you having dug up all the mesh of feeder roots will not even last the end of this season.
New roots will grow right back, with gusto, in your new fresh soil you provided for them.

Sorry to be the bearer of all negative things--but I know all this from years of experience...

Gita

I was reading too quickly, didn't see the "easier to bring inside this winter" with the rosemary & oregano... there are only a couple of rosemary varieties that are hardy for me ('Arp', 'Hill Hardy', 'Salem' I think ), and I have mixed success overwintering them (don't overwater!). If you got a Greek Oregano from me, it's definitely hardy and will do best left outside, even in a pot. If you're thinking that you want fresh herbs for cooking in winter... I harvest herbs in summer, strip the leaves and mince in a food processor then add some olive oil (like making pesto, but without adding the nuts etc), freeze in ice cube trays. Outstanding flavor. :-)

Don't know about the different varieties of Rosemary.
Mine is the usual one sold everywhere--like by Bonnies Plants.
It is very hardy. In ground or in large pots.

When I visited my daughter in Seattle (2008??), her street had Rosemary
shrubs on the median strip by the sidewalk. Big, huge shrubs of it.

I never shop on-line--where, perhaps, other varieties are available...

I don't cook a lot--so my spice stashes sit there for years and years....
Yeah--I now they lose the potency of flavors....
Need to clean out my spice racks....

G.

I usually get my rosemary at DeBaggio's, where they have oh probably 20 varieties. Of those, only 2 or 3 are hardy to under 20'. I've seen 'Arp' (hardy) at box stores, but I'm not sure fi that's the one Bonnie's Plants sells.

Last year was the first year I had rosemary overwinter outside. I had some parsley overwinter, too. That happens more frequently.

And for the life of me I can't grow lavender. Or Russian sage.

My rosemary came from Chantell, and is hardy- in the zone 8-ish bed on the south side of the house. I have one already potted to share, and probably another branch rooting.
My lavender died and I haven't felt optimistic about trying a new one without a good sunny spot for it.
Russian sage never lived up to its potential for me- too wispy- needed to be a large mass to make a statement.
My Greek and hot(Jill) oregano are both hardy in the regular garden zone 7.

Russian Sage is absolutely invasive for me!! I started out with one, let it turn into three and now it wants to be all over. Not easy to pull out either.

I have about 8 lavender munstead seedlings and a couple of "Ellagance". Too small to put out yet. The one established one that I had did not survive the winter.

This message was edited May 27, 2013 7:30 PM

Dumb plant- i bought it because it got an award that was some years ago.

We need some more chat going!

Now that the Swap is over--there is this deafening silence...

I get used to 6-10 "watched Posts" every day--and now there is almost none...

I KNOW we are all out in our garden busting our butts to get stuff planted.
I am SOOOO far behind......sob....sob.....

Gita

Wondering if some of us would like to move our discussions and chatting over to a new Neck of the Woods Chat thread for Summer over here ?

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1314969/

Cool... but let's keep this thread going please for "what is this, again?" or "who gave this pretty to me?" or "where should I plant this one??" questions from after-swap. :-)

Wind - I bet that was a surprise to find out a bear is in your neighborhood, but don't worry about it. Remember they were here first and people have invaded their space. They are just trying to survive like the rest of us. One thing to remember too is that the black bear is a very flighty type. They are not aggressive unless cornered, or you get between them and their young. They are honestly as afraid of humans (and should be) as many people are of them. A grizzly will attack, but 99% of them are the same reason - frightened by a human, cornered or fear for their young. The only bear that will actually track a man down if he crosses their scent is a Polar Bear and I doubt you'll see one nearby. LOL

A friend of a friend in VA, came home and found a mama black bear sitting in her kitchen floor eating a box of cereal. She just backed away and went out the front door and waited until she saw it leave. A little while later it went out the back door it had broken into. Damage was one broken door, a broken glass that had been on the counter, and 2 empty boxes of cereal. ^_^

Gita - thanks for the info..... Regarding bringing in plants - I wasn't specific (my bad). I have no intention of bringing any of the plants into the actual house for several reasons. When I meant "bring them in" I meant onto my breezeway. It is more enclosed than not and between the house and garage. Even though it is not heated, in the cold winters it has never gotten below freezing in there. I think the lowest the thermometer ever read was 35 degrees and that was several years ago when it actually was a cold winter. I know both are perennials, but they are small and in pots. My SIL has tried several times to grow lavender in pots and left them outside only to see them die. In the gound the results may differ, so my thought was to keep it in a pot for now, perhaps next year when it is bigger, transfer part to the ground and see how it does, keeping some in a pot just in case. As for the Rosemary my thoughts were also the same. I have no idea about varieties, but regardless, I think I would try to do the pot thing until they are larger and more established with any of them. I could be wrong and likely am. LOL It's not the first time and won't be the last.

RE: Maple roots - yup I feared as much, but I will be putting in a deep edger to help a little. If all goes well, we may be moving in a year or two anyway. I will have to take small cuttings or parts of my plants when we do. If the plants I put in the beds I made these last 2 days will last that long - then it's not my problem afterward. I will make sure not to plant any I start from them near a Maple at the new place though!! Oh and that's another reason to keep the herbs I have and the Lavender in pots. They will certainly be moved with us.

Uh-Oh - coffee cup is empty and the bladder is full.... time to go reverse that - be back shortly to write more...

Diana, that's a little scary....

My Rosemary died :( I don't know what variety it was


I still have a bunch of thing I need to plant. but had to put it off in cleaning the house for company

Potted and in a breezeway should be perfect for rosemary & lavender, even the more tender varieties! A little extra perlite in the potting mix wouldn't hurt, but they get much better drainage in containers, so they'll do great as long as they aren't watered too often.

After 2 days of digging, de-rootng and planting I am glad to see the painful rain today to make me take a break. I still have a few more plants to transfer but they are going in the back yard where there is no Maple tree! Yay!!

Critter - Looking back I think it may have been you that gave me the Oregano. I recall when I ask, I was told it was a _______ Oregano. But "old timer's" just can't keep track of all the new info I got from all of you sweet and so helpful gals, so I forgot what the _____ was. Now I know, and Thank you! A special thanks too for the ice cube tray/spice idea. I reckon that would work with others too like Basil, Cilantro..... I love spices, herbs and teas both to enjoy and for medicinal purposes. I even have dried corn silks....no, not to smoke LOL but they make a tea that's not bad (actually good to many especially with some honey) and is great for treating and preventing UTI's. I will dry some oregano to use, but the fresh idea sounds better. I'll attach a picture of my "medicine cabinet". Thanks for clarifying my faulty memory bank. Now I know what I have and what to do with it. Thanks for also continuing this thread becase I do need to take a picture or two and ask "what's this?"

Ruby your Shasta Daisy, Black Eyed Susan and lamb's ears are planted. Holly the left over mum's you gave me are in the ground. We'll find out what color in a few months. There was another plant from Coleuslover that I don't recall the name of but had varigated green leaves. It's in the ground too. I have to say most of them have doubled in size since the swap or at least grown noticably, even still in pots. Thank you all. I will enjoy each one.

Holly - you gave me a Sedum, which I had never heard of before. It is a perennial and after seeing info online it has some pretty blooms too. I liked it before, but really like it now! Thank you. I know it is usually in the ground, but I was wondering, have you ever had one in a big pot and have it somewhere like my breezeway for the winter? Or does it spread well and best in the ground? Obviously that is one yet to transfer.

Thanks Critter! Little water - they should do fine, since I do best with those plants that thrive on neglect.

Critter, I'm definitely going to pot up all my lavender seedlings and try to keep them dryer than the other pots or use something in the pot (vermiculite) to help them drain thoroughly!! As I said, I'm growing munstead and ellagance sky. Wish all my winter sowing had been ready for the swap!!

During summer, my little lavenders don't seem to mind getting watered with everything else, although they are in an extra-well-draining mix. I happened to buy a plant that had self-layered when somebody up-potted it and partly buried the lowest branches without (thankfully) covering the crown... now I have enough plantlings that I can replace my aging lavender hedge in front!

Lovestopaint, That is a hardy perennial in your area. It will do very well in the ground. I have never tried it in a pot but I would think it would do well that way as well. It has very pretty fall blooms and makes a nice addition to the winter garden.

1. Someone among you (I'm thinking greenthumb99) gave the this plant at the swap. I wrote the name on a marker with a delible (is that a word?) pen, and the rain that fell the night of the swap washed the info away. Is it Salvia Lyrata? Which of you gave it to me? I want to thank you!

2. Someone gave me some Shasta Daisy cuttings in a baggie? Who was it? I want to thank you!

3. Someone gave me two kinds of creeping phlox in the same pot for my awful front hill (where it now resides). I think maybe Pixie or Wind? I didn't keep a record! Help!

Happy I had a Creeping Phlox it was pink. But I don't have you on my list of who I gave it too.

Im guilty of the creeping phlox. :)

It was you, Pixie! Thank you so much. I remember you handing it to me and explaining that it would work on my awful front hill but I was in such a state of sensory overload and deep gratitude that I didn't remember to look at your face! The phlox is looking very content at the base of the hill, and now I will know who to think of every day when I look at it!

Happy - The plant in your photo is not from me, but I would guess it to be Lysimachia ciliata 'Firecracker'. I believe that the Salvia lyratas I passed were potted in red plastic cups labeled on the outside with IN-delible marker. S. lyrata shown in photo below. Plants all had distinctive flower spikes evident at swap time.

Aha -- Greenthumb99 to the rescue. RubyW brought that plant to the swap -- I bet that is how I came to have it. Now I vaguely recall a conversation with John that must have been about this plant.... It sounds as if it can be a bit invasive, though, so I may keep it in a container rather than putting it on my awful front hill -- I'm going to have to be very careful about invasives there, because weeding it is a real pain due to the steep incline.

Yep, that Lysimachia spreads sort of like Monarda, although the dry conditions of your hill may help keep it in check. It's easy to pull, but hard to pull it completely -- shallow, fragile roots.

yeah I know that story.. slope weeding is the pits!!

Thanks, Critter -- does that mean I should avoid Monarda on my hill? I didn't realize Monarda was invasive.

Onewish -- slope weeding IS awful, isn't it? Half the time (or more), I just sit down to weed, hoping I'm not crushing anything too precious, because I get so tired of balancing.

I wouldn't call Monarda invasive in a taking-over-the-world sort of way, it just spreads outward to make a bigger & bigger clump... pretty rapidly, sometimes. Same with Lysimachia, although it will runner a short way, then pop up a few stems, and so on. I think a common name for it is "circle flower," presumably because of its spreading pattern. "Thuggish" might be a better word than "invasive."

I usually do it in sections.. each day.. have to split it up.. my ankles are bad so yeah it's horrible to me.. said if we move the property MUST be flat!!!

Hmm. I really need the awful front hill to be reasonably well-mannered, so I'll scratch Monarda off the list. I don't think it was on the list, anyway (I don't remember just now), because it requires more water than I will give the front hill....

This message was edited May 29, 2013 6:49 PM

Diana, I'm happy you are planting my tomato plants. You have me beat--I have planted only two and did it yesterday. Tried to beat the rain but ended up working in "drizzle" and came indoors "chilled to the bone." Last week I was clearing knee-high weeds at my community garden plot--quick work using a pickaxe--and disturbed a nest of small bunnies. The other gardeners looked ant said they were unhurt. They advised me to leave it alone; the mother will come back. Haven't gone back since; will wait the three weeks or so the internet says it takes for bunnies to leave the nest.

As for the bear, hopefully they just stun it?

Jill, so sorry to read about that little girl...it IS every parent's worst nightmare. I'll tell Ellenora and we will both pray for the family.

I actually came on DG today to share this joke. I read it on myfolia and the person who posted it there said it came from Pinterest. It might indeed be an old joke, but I laughed and thought MAG gardeners would be the people to share it with:


An old Italian gentleman lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard. His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament: Dear Vincent, I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days. Love, Papa A few days later he received a letter from his son. Dear Papa, Don’t dig up that garden. That’ s where the bodies are buried. Love, Vinnie At 4 a.m. The next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son. Dear Papa, Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances. Love you, Vinnie

Of course, it HAD to combine NJ, Italians and prison in the same story. Seems it's impossible to shake NJ's reputation!


This message was edited May 29, 2013 10:37 AM

I just loved that. Thanks for the smile

That's very funny!

Heard that one when I lived in Chambersburg, Trenton. I remember a co-worker who was getting married being upset that his bride to be's uncle was Sam" DeCavalcante. LOL

haha Nisi, thanks. good one!

Back in my younger days, when I was partying, I found out we were at Nicky Scarfo's nephew's house (I think it was nephew, but could have been cousin - too many years ago to remember) Trust me, anything you wanted was there and free. I didn't want to owe anyone any favors, so as soon as I heard that ...I was like "man I gotta get going - I'm due at work soon" - and as George Thorogood (also an acquaintance) said ..."out the door I went..." ^_^

lovetopaint: More stories, please!