What strange weather we are having this year! Last week, it was too cold for the coleus to be put out, and too cold for me to go out gardening too, with this arthritis I have. This week, it's too HOT to go out and work in the yard. Amazing. I actually got up at 5am this morning so I can get some work done. Of course, I still have to have coffee and sit at the computer awhile first, but I'm going out there - soon! I still have some mulch left in my driveway and now I"m more motivated to get it out of there, since I'll be getting a new driveway in a couple of weeks. I was surprised to learn that I can't put my car in the driveway for 27 days after new driveway is put down. Wow! It's gonna be a job lugging groceries, etc.
Neck of the Woods CHAT Summer 2013
Thanks, Happy---
Yesterday I, temporarily, potted all the DL in gallon pots. They cannot stay there..as many of the
bunches were more than one plant. But it will be better than in a plastic bag.
I know things are growing in leaps and bounds at this time--but has anyone else noticed
how MASSIVE and LARGE the daylily foliage is this spring?
Everywhere I have some--the foliage is just gigantic..
No--I have not fertilized any or done anything special....Are yours the same?
Any observations on this? G.
They must be situated in great conditions. I have some that are really happy and look like that. I also have others that I know sit in a dry shaded area that aren't as lush and full. They are resilient plants and often need just a few hours of direct light to bloom
There is a local source for daylilies, Ellicott City MD, 2/3rds of an acre and 1100+ daylilies I have never been but I've looked at it a few times.
http://www.briscosbestblooms.com/index.php?p=1_4_Our-Gardens
My daylily leaves are overly abundant this year, also, Gita. I split them last year but they're back with a vengeance!! Still didn't get my camera from my DD's house, but she said it's in the mail.
I have put in 1/2 my seedlings and potted plants but it looks like there are so many more to deal with!!
DH bought 4 sections of black wrought iron (look like) fencing from Lowe's to curve around the 2 air conditioning units. Really nice looking, but I'll have to go ahead with my plans to plant 3 Honeysuckle Vines, 2 Red Wing Virbunum and 2 Ghost Weigela around and behind it to conceal the units. The fence will be concealed also, unfortunately.
My DH sealed the deck and railings with a product so much more attractive than the one he chose last time. I'm sure it was an accident because he was surprised when the color was different!! Tables and chairs are on the deck. All the huge tropical pots are out of the house and onto the deck. Tomorrow we'll take the windows out of the covered part of the deck and put the screens in. We'll be busy for the next couple of days trying to get everything done, but come Sunday, our guests arrive and we'll spend the remainder of the week eating, drinking and relaxing as much as possible.
RRR, sounds wonderful!
Been out digging and cleaning beds and planting....In for a short break....Whew! I need it...
I can now consider the Shed-Bed (almost) done....
Next will tackle the bed where the Dr. used to reside...this will be easier--NO tree roots....
Have a semi-plan in my mind what will go in there....
Tomorrow--weather permitting, I will try and tackle the L-O-N-G side bed.
That is totally full of Daff foliage--all over...Not too many spots i can plant anything in at this time..
Need some containers re-potted and also just new ones potted up.
Need to find a smallish vine that likes some shade--as I have a small trellis by my shed door that is still bare...
too late to start seeds....HD had a beautiful, double, red MG. on a small trellis.
Probably $15....Hmmmmm.....
Re the DL--I should have mentioned that it is mostly the red DL's have these massive leaves...
These are the old-fashioned reds with the yellow throat...I like them...
The others are also doing VERY well---but the reds have them beat.
None of them have any buds yet--just the Stellas....
Here are a couple pics of the old, Red DL. They sure are prolific....
I think that red daylily may be Red Volunteer. One of my very favorites. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/8321/
my daylilies are looking very lush this year so far.
Ellicott City is not too far from me...
I have a question about tall hostas that have really long stems.
Are they called vase shaped hostas, or is there another name for this form?
Does anyone in the MidAt grow this kind of hostas? Which cultivar do you have, and how do they do for you?
Terri,
I grow 'Krossa Regal' - it is very pretty vase shaped cultivar. Odd, it was hard to find any pictures that really show off the vase shape. This is the closest I could find. I can do divisions later this summer if you want any at the fall swap.
Another name for vase shaped hosta is 'upright'. I like the vase shaped form better than the mounding. I find I can plant smaller plants and mini hosta under some of mine, They seem to have more 'substance' overall and don't get looking raggedy in mid-summer. Krossa Regal is a good one. I have six or seven different ones but don't have names handy right now. And, yes, they are all in containers.
Here are some Hosta lists
http://www.pwk.resteddoginn.ca/lists/hosta_list.php
And a hosta side by side comparison photo gallery to play with
http://www.pwk.resteddoginn.ca/compare.php
I don't have any hostas that look like that. I wasn't even aware they grew like that, I always thought they looked like that as they were leafing out.
Krossa Regal is one of my absolute favorites. I had it on my swap list. It is a late bloomer too, which makes it even more special
Teri--
That Hosta is kind of pretty----I like it. I have never seen anything like it either..
Besides--the slugs have nowhere to hide, right? .............:o)
Besides--I live in my little development garden and do not get much exposure to different things.
And--as you said--you can plant some small plants below it...
I have always owned just ONE Hosta--the big-leaf, variegated one--which is sore need of dividing. (hint...hint...)..
It has lived in a 16" , square pot, by my shed door for several years now.
BTW--I have not yet planted the 2 Hostas I kept from my neighbor. Been trying to get my beds planted...
It is exhausting!!!
Today is day #4 I am have been working away--from morning until 5-6PM or later each day.
NOT today--as I have to save my feet and energy for working in garden at the HD tomorrow.
Today--I was working only on the small bed by my front door.
One more to go--the one by the decaying stump--then i will concentrate on finishing up with the containers...
So--I am leaving the last bed for Monday....
It has been difficult choosing what to plant where. I had all these plants purchased....
Some were intended for certain locations--but too many were just impulse buys.
Now it is--like--looking at the beds and saying: "What can I plant in here???"
Still trying to coordinate colors and heights and so--I DO want it to look pretty.
I do not think I have EVER had this many plants to plant---started all these things from seed...
Got several at the Swap--it is killing me!!!!
There are a few I cannot plant yet--as they are just tiny seedlings...the "Lady in Red Salvia" from Wind--
and my own, WS Columbines from my neighbor. I also have a few Snaps. left over---short ones...
and a few short Zinnias. These are slowly deteriorating in their small cell-packs.
Maybe when the bulb foliage really dies off--I will need a few more to plant.
It has been a marathon--in this heat--working in the sun--NOT easy!!!
I just keep telling myself--"This too will pass"......and then all I will have to do is water, weed, and mow my lawn.
And--dead-head--and, later on, start the whole seed collecting "marathon all over again....
There, actually, is NO end...............is there?
Gita
Gita: I know what you mean -- I've been on my awful front hill -- exhausting!
The photo of Krossa Regal that Aspenhill posted slightly exaggerates its vase shape, but not by too much. That is -- don't expect it to look like a tree...
I learned a long time ago, as we get older it is more difficult to take the heat and the sun. Last thing I ever thought about was dehydration since I was one of these people who could be in the sun all day and just keep getting browner, nothing else ever bothered me. A few years ago I found out I needed to drink water more often when working in the sun because I came inside, feeling good but warm and got very confused for just a second....it was scary and when my kids, both EMTs came home and I told them, first thing they said was DRINK MORE WATER MORE OFTEN. So, please be careful Gita...I too thought I was indestructable but it ain't so.
I like the little hosta but there are too many to choose from considering I know nothing about them except how to plant them. LOL I could buy ragweed if they said it was miniture hosta and not know the difference. So much to learn and so little time left to do it. JB
Gita, when you are at HD tomorrow see if your store has Krossa Regal Hosta, Mine did and you could tell the form difference from mound type hosta. Most hosta is the mounding form.
JB, I'm glad your kids look out for you! Some times it is reassuring that they know 'better than we do'
Happy, you could probably have made it up Mount Everest for all the effort you have put in on your awful front hill! This heat and dryness has to be a challenge for those new perennials that survived. Do be careful.
Aspenhill is your pond open for the swimming season?
Any one have one of those personal misters?
So interesting reading about upright hostas! Thank you all for the info! Coleup, that's a very useful website.
I was at HD today and was *this* close to getting the Krossa Regal but ended up getting a June instead. Aspenhill, I'd love a small start of the Krossa Regal this fall.
I'm going to end up moving around ALL of my hostas this fall. Right now they're just in the ground wherever I have shade, without any regard for design or color coordination. Oh god, what am I getting myself into...
Coleup, yes the pond is officially open. We had four kids and a black lab mix swimming most of the day. They had a ball. I worked outside this morning and then relaxed on the porch under the ceiling fans during the afternoon, re-reading my favorite book - Anne of Green Gables. I never get tired of that one, and even though I think it was meant as a kid's book, it sure is enjoyable to read as an adult. My mother gave the series to me for my 11th birthday, and I've re-read them over and over again thru the years.
My daughter has read and re read all of the Lucy Maude Montgomery books. We love the PBS series, too, My Vet visits Prince Edward Island and Green Gables every summer. So so sweet. You all sometimes feel like 'bosom buddies' and "kindred spirits" to me.
"I've dreamed of meeting her all my life...a bosom friend -- an intimate
friend, you know--a really kindred spirit to whom I can confide my inmost
soul."
Anne of Green Gables
Wind gave me 2 of the Krossa Regal I plant one out in the new Shade area it sure looks good out there. Not sure what I will do with the other one. I have it potted in the driveway for now.
Judy---
I will check tomorrow for the upright Hosta--but you know how it is with names..
The little tags just say "Hosta"....Do they come in just all green like in your picture?
Allthe Hostas are, most likely, jammed on a table or a cart.
As for the Cobra mister--we have had those for the last 2 years. Haven't seen them yet--
but I am only 'out there" on Sundays....Will check....They come in all different colors.
They are neat! The mist is so fine that you just feel like some cool air is touching you.
When it is this hot--they usually mount a couple near some tables just for people (and us)
to see what it feels like. I don't remember the price....
I checked on line--says we have 66 on hand--so they are IN! $7.79 (?)...I did not look carefully...
Here's the link:. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Cobra-Mistand-10057W/100373188#.Uaqf7djJZMg
Supposed to rain and have T-showers later in the afternoon....so much for running around garden...
I need the break--as I have been at it for 4 days straight planting stuff in my beds...
Gita
At my local Home Depot, the tags just sat Hosta, but if I look on the bar code label on thde pot it will sometimes say what king of Hosta or Heuchera, or what ever.
Every year seems to be less and less attention given to plant or cultivar ID. I guess 'what sells' now is color or a look with little emphasis on what plant/species provides it. The lines are blurred between annuals and perennials and between sun and shade as if every potted plant on display will grow equally well any where for anyone! Well, maybe they do and I'm the old fossil exception. It is just such a bummer to me to see and be around mistreated plants.
Anyhow, below is a pic of another vase shaped Hosta I took this am out on my route.
Holly, that new shade bed by your road must be starting to come together pretty well now.
Judy, I am so glad to hear you say how you feel about lack of ID on plants you purchase at HD, Acme and other outlets like that. I just do not buy them if I want to propagate and sell them because they could be patented or even worse, I would not be able to ID them at all.
Not all HDs are fortunate enough to have people like Gita working there and I just can not even go into those departments. Years ago I was at HD and they had racks of terrible looking orchid plants. It upset my friend and I so much we made a deal with them and we bought them all. They were going to throw them away or something since they did not sell when they reduced them. The majority of plant shoppers at HD here in NJ want a pretty plant NOW and not an old one. People like us, we know the value of them if they are able to be brought back. Most of them were not marked either. They were so sad and sick looking. I swear I think plants can talk to some of us. LOL. Anyhow, we had orchid plants everywhere in our houses and we laughed about that for years. We lost half of them since they had been so neglected, but we had a slew of plants and at that time I had a bigger house in a mostly shaded area so I had a great time playing with them and making them better. Never sold a one, gave most of them away because they had no NAME or cultivar or anything.
As much as I love a good bargain, usually there is a reason for selling an unmarked plant cheap. Another thing that upsets me is the fact that if you do get lucky and get a healthy plant and you know what it is, most likely you have mealybug show up or some other little critter eventually from that plant. That can happen with the bigger growers also, but at least those of us who sell plants go the extra mile not to have any insects on our plants at the time of sale. It is something you can not help but I have had it happen even from very good nurseries and the made it good in the end. I never heard of any of those chain stores taking back a diseased plant. (unless Gita works there).
I just filled a large muck bucket with disinfectant and put all my dirty pots in there to soak for a few days. After I am sure all the gook is off of them, I will rinse each one at a time, inspect it and then put it on the wagon to air dry. I do not recommend you lay them out if the weather is calling for windy. I have had pots all over the field when a storm came up suddenly. Not fun. I have so many to clean over the winter it will take me a month or more to finish so I do it this way and it cuts the time in half.
I think I have talked too much. Just had some things I wanted to share and thank you all for listening. Have a great day. JB
We love to hear from you, JB!
That is so nice of you to say that happy....I enjoy you all so much. You are like an extended family.
BTW, I got those keds we spoke about earlier in this thread. Thanks to you all for helping me find them.
And, did you like them?
Yes I do like them. The left one was smaller than the right one so I just put it into the shoe stretcher overnight and it worked fine. They have so little arch I can only wear them as slippers around the house. I like them because I can go out with them on if I need to and with slippers I sometimes forget I have them on and walk outside and they are shot....wet, full of grass you know!
Yay for happy feet!
You are so funny Critter, if you could see the condition of my feet that is the last thinig you would say. I get a pedicure once a month and the girl that does it breaks out laughing everytime she tries to move one of my crooked toes to where she can see it to cut my nails. She is looking for a smack beside the head one of these times, but we have been friends for years and I do not want to hurt her. LOL. Actually we both laugh and we call them happy feet.
they look like they have been drinking?
It really is Coleup, The 3 Jap Maples I got from you went out there. There are several Azealeas that were put in last year and bloomed beautifully. Several Hydrangeas one is an Oak Leaf, an Acuba, Leucothoe, Rhodie, as well as the mahonia and old evergreens. I added a few hosta and hellebore. It is really shaping up nicely.
JB--You are such a trip!!!!!
I KNOW you think I walk on water---but not everything is magic just because i work at the HD.
I have NO powers to take back damaged plants (I am not even cashier certified) and no one else will
either--unless they are Trees, Shrubs, Evergreens, etc--or perennials. WITH a receipt!!!!
as HD DOES guaranty all these for one full year. Nothing else is returnable---receipt or not...
BUT--then there is always the "keeping ALL customers happy" and many people get by with lying and cheating...
*****BTW--Our HD now has ALL trees (Except Jap. Maples and Crape Myrtles) and shrubs (except Evergreens)
at 50% off npow. Not sure this is across the board with all HD's--or just our Store.
You can call yours and inquire...
Judy--YES!!!! We have piles of the Krossa Regal Hostas. Lots and Lots...
They were on a rack as well as on a table. And, YES! The name was on the little sticker in the pot....
This makes me think back to another plant that was just EVERYWHERE foe that ONE year--
and no one has seen it since. That is the Kopper King Hibiscus. I bought 2--one made it and now
dazzles walkers by when it blooms....The other petered out...
Honestly--Not pone year--nowhere--have I seen the KK since....
Hoping this New Hosta does not fall in that category....
Sale still going on until Wed, night--ALL 6" annuals (in the white pots) --4/$10.
Such pretty plants available.....we have racks and racks--and a couple tables full too....
I picked up 3 pots--2 of a beautiful, wine red--with white eye--Vinca--and one pot of PURE white petunias.
See here....
1--"Regal Hostas"--one side of the rack--showing stickers properly ID'ing them--
2--The other side of the rack...I think they were $7.97--or something....
3--The 3 pots of annuals I bought
4--A close-up of the pretty wine-pink Vincas.
I'm having some bad luck with tropicals. :(
How do you know if brugs are totally dead? I planted Gita's Dr Seuss in the ground over a week ago and I'm seeing no sign of life.
None of the caladiums (that I overwintered or ordered this year from Bill) are showing any growth at all.
The huge elephant ear I got from Judy last year is showing no green growth.
The calla lily I got from donner is not doing anything either.
On the bright side, the cannas and bananas are doing great!
SSG, I have only 1 rooted brug cutting from last year that survived aphids and spider mites during the winter. It has already got flower buds on now. It is bad news if your brug still doesn't have leaves. Sorry to hear that. If the stem looks dry and a bit shriveled, the plant is probably a goner.
All the tropical 'bulbs' you mentioned are in different stages of growth in my garden. They do take time to come out of dormancy. Just give them a few more weeks. You will be fine.
My tropicals are slow this year. EE'sare just in last two weeks putting on usual new growth. Have you fed yours? That is part of my 'wake them up' routine. I also think it helped that I stowed them in my van when temps weren't getting above 60 or 70 during the day. Without warmth water and food they just don't rouse as quickly.
My hardy banana 7 foot pseudo stem broke in half during some strong winds a week or so ago. Sad. But last night I noticed a new leaf emerging! Ah, shorter but wiser.
SSG--
Was the Dr. S. Brug cutting from last fall? Or is it one I gave you this year?
Did it have leaves on it, and was growing, when I gave it to you?
--Could you tell me in more detail just how you overwintered the brug?
--Did you do anything special to it?
--Did you water it when needed?
--What kind of light did it spend the winter in?
--Even if all the top stems look withered and dry--is the lower part of the plant
showing any new green nubbies?
Could you post a picture?
I have to say that, my cuttings from last year were not as robust, or grew as well
as they had in other years. I think I took them too late in the year.
BUT--all of them "made it" here.....
Caladiums take a while to grow from the bulbs. Sometimes a few weeks. Don't give up!
It helps if you can give them some bottom heat....
Same goes for calla Lilies....
Remember--Gardening is an ongoing exercise in PATIENCE!!!....
Nothing is WHEN you want it--or HOW you want it--or even IF you want it.
Gita
I'm on my phone so this is quick. I got the brug last spring from Gita and planted it in the ground. It did really well and was dug up last fall. It was put in a shallow container with peat in a dark cool half basement. It is now planted in the ground again in amended soil. I see no sign of green. I can post a pic after I get home. Thank you all for the helpful info!
How long has it been back outdoors?
Hmm... 2 weeks?
Everyone's gardens are beautiful! I have lots of pots and bare, rocky, clay soil at the moment.
We have had bears in the "sanity gap". They are drawn by the bird feeders and overflowing garbage dumpsters. One was on my patio while I was cooking with my window open and my sliding door locked open about 8". I called the police, animal control and made suggestions for increased safety to the townhome management. I was treated with indifference by the police and animal control and harassed by the townhouse manager. Locking garbage cans/dumpsters and refraining from using rodent aka bird feeders or at least bringing them inside at night would keep all of us safer! At least we have black bears. they are big, strong and unpredictable, but less dangerous than the grizzlies and kodiacs on the west coast.
This is no longer my problem because I am moving! I found a really cute house with a garden shed and garage. I am busy digging up my garden, packing up my stuff and moving to a new place! I am leaving the Sanity Gap by the end of the month (June) and hoping to be settled in by the fall. Maybe I'll be able to host a get together during the fall colors. The Poconos are beautiful, especially in the fall.
Funny how your friends tend to evaporate when you are moving...I may end up hiring help. I'll do whatever it takes at this point. I have been wanting to move for a while and looking forward to a new start in a new place!