Paul, I have a small curly spider plant and a regular spider plant. They'd look pretty in hanging baskets in the classroom.
Fall Swap 2013 Sallyg's DISCUSSING haves and wants
I think my spices are all quite orderly--does it matter if no one *else* can find what they're looking for? ;-)
Speaking of spices, would anyone be interested in fresh bay leaf cuttings? My bay tree is need of pruning and the leaves dry so well.
thanks, SSG--I'd love to try some bay leaves! I also have herbs in my garden that I'd be happy to share: rosemary, chamomile, lemon verbena, peppermint chocolate, cilantro, sweet basil, lavender (Hidcote & Munstead). I also have creeping thyme, ornamental African Blue basil, rue, meadow sage, and variegated basil.
ssgardener -- Really? I didn't think bay was hardy here. How does the taste compare to the ones from the store?
This message was edited Aug 22, 2013 5:04 PM
Fresh bay leaves are SO different than dry store-bought ones! A lot of the flavor compounds just sorta evaporate over time. Sweet Bay is NOT hardy in our area, although from time to time somebody mentions getting it to survive in a sheltered location right outside their door. I overwinter my little tree in a sunny window. I'll try sticking some cuttings also when I bring it inside this year. I just picked up an African Blue Basil and a variegated Columnar Basil to enjoy for now and try to overwinter/propagate. Hopefully I'll manage to do a lot more with those light shelves this winter!
Gita, could you please put my name on a little Brazilian Plume Flower? I got one last year, and I think I overwatered it when its roots were still small. :-(
Typwc, I'd love to try your crocosmia, if it hasn't all been spoken for! I've got some "full on blistering sunlight" for it. :-)
I've got several big pots of a vining plant that's definitely jasmine and definitely hardy, but it's different than my Stephan's Jasmine. I got a pot of what I thought was "American Wisteria" until it bloomed with delicious-smelling white flowers. It must have bloomed unseen last summer in my pot ghetto, because I had several volunteers in the moist gravel there. I'll try to figure out exactly what it is before adding it to my list!
I do know I have a number of Hibiscus syriacus (Rose of Sharon) seedlings that I spared when I was pulling weeds in the side bed. They could be white with a red center or a lavender-violet color.
Jill--
I will tag one or two Braz. Plumes for you. They are rooted....
Water wise--when they grow big--they need watering regularly. Thirsty plant.
Also--someone here REALLY wanted a white Rose of Sharon with a red throat.
Might have been Donner???
The sweet bay I got from you 2 years ago(?) for Olga has grown one new stem.
It is still in the 4" pot you gave me. Maybe I should re-pot it
IF it has to go inside for the winter--bummer!
G.
Critter, I have been enjoying the African Blue basil and variegated Columnar Basil in my herb garden. They are very attractive. I have had to cut back the African Blue a couple times this summer, though, as it keeps trying to dominate my whole herbal area! It is very pretty, though, and such a nice fragrance.
Critter, I have enough crocosmia for you too. I'll add you to the list! :)
Sally, got a dazzleberry for you! It's beginning to bloom. I have to put another plant files pic up b/c it's really pretty in flower.
OMG, typwc, I just looked at a photo of Dazzleberry and I've fallen in love! Could I have a tiny start?
http://www.avantgardensne.com/catalog/product.cgi/565/5445/P1/default/N/0
Would anyone like my Agastache Purple Haze? I am coming to the conclusion that it is a cultivar that I simply cannot grow. :-( Its leaves keep turning yellow and dropping off, even though I planted it in a higher mound and put a sandier mix of soil in for it. I think it would be happier with someone else. I'll take a photo of it tomorrow. Maybe someone will want it?
wow, that dazzleberry sure is pretty! do you have any left, Typ?
Yes of course! How could I say no to you, Happy?! :)
Editing to say yes to you too, Cat!
This message was edited Aug 23, 2013 7:30 AM
wowzers! Thanks typwc!!
I found rooting bulbils on my Tiger Baby petite tiger lily from aspenhill, so I am offering a pot with five bulbils planted- that may or may not have amy leaves by swap time. Its all half the scale of a regular Tigerlily Tigrinum, and a pale orange, dare I say peachy color, with the brown freckles.
Thanks, Typ!
Happy--
Question---You asked for a Swedish Ivy from me.
I can give you the started 4" pot--OR--would you like a started 10" HB?
How are you at growing HB's of houseplants????
Your choice! Indoors--they like pretty good light.
LMK. Gita
Happy, I picked up an old, bushy bay tree from someone who was moving to CA. It's not hardy here, but I think I only brought it indoors a few nights last winter when it dipped below 25 or so. It seemed much happier outside in a protected location, since I don't have a sunroom or a greenhouse indoors.
It's just too bushy now and needs to be thinned out a bit. I don't know if it's the right time of the year to get it rooted, but I bet it would dry very well for you. You can sort of replicate the rice from Chipotle by using a bay leaf and cilantro! :)
Catmint, I got you down for bay leaves!
ssgardener- I think most of us would like trying those fresh bay leaves from anything that you have to prune off!
Ok Sally, I'll bring a bunch!
Me too...please! Some Bay leaves....
I use bay leaves in almost everything i cook or roast...
Even in my delicious Pickles....
Thanks, Gita
Catmint, I'll try your Agastache 'Purple Haze' if you're really ready to give up on it.
Gita, I'll bring a whole bunch! I'll prune them that morning so they're nice and fresh.
That would be great, Typ! Here's a photo of it. Don't know why in the world I can't grow this cultivar. :-(
I'm afraid the Walker's Low may be beyond rescue at this point. :-( (photo omitted to protect the guilty...)
So, 2 plants that are supposed to grow easily and spread freely--and I just can't grow them!
Thanks--SS...
Any advice floating around here on how to best dry bay leaves?
Would it be as simple as just spreading them out on a cookie sheet
and putting them somewhere to dry????
G.
Cat, it looks okay to me. I've never grown agastache personally. My peppermint does this, but probably because the plant is rootbound and doesn't get enough water/fertilizer. It bounces back every Spring though. Maybe it's just having the plant equivalent of a bad hair day?
Here's what I'll do: I'll take it and then if it thrives by next fall I'll give it back to you. If it dies at my house, you can take comfort in the fact that you would not be the only one that can't grow agastache. :)
that sounds great, Typ! :-) thanks!
Catmint: I strongly think you aren't giving your Agastache enough of a chance - or your Nepeta. You only just planted them this year, right? I'd just cut the Agastache down to the basal foliage. The Nepeta that I planted this year doesn't look as if it has grown an inch. The Nepeta I planted last year is lush. Sleep, creep, leap.
I 100% agree with Happy on this but I am trying to be respectful of your determination to be rid of it at least temporarily. Whatever you decide is fine with me.
Of course, didn't mean to be so pushy.... I just hate to see you give up on something you are going to love....
FWIW, I didn't think you were being pushy, Happy! I agree with you that she should keep it.
Gita, yes I would think so. THey may not end up totally flt like the commercial ones.
No you're not being pushy Happy! I'm just not sure how to stop the leaf yellowing and drop off and I hate to see the plant continue to languish. :-(
cat--
leaf yellowing is going on in everyone's gardens. Not just yours....
It is THAT time of year. My big Maple is dropping a lot of leaves--
they are covering my lawn. This happens every year--and I know it.
SO--I just "Let it be!" . Yeah! I may need to rake--or just mow over them.
Look at the weather we are having! Hot one day--cool the next.
Rain and storms predicted--so I do not water--and then the rain never comes...
That means--the plants had to put up with an extra day of no watering.
SO--plants suffer a bit and have a 'tizzy ft"....
Your Agastache looks OK and normal to me. Bottom leaves yellowing is
a regular occurrence this time of year. You should see my brugs!!
Some of them have almost NO bottom leaves left at all. Do I worry? NOPE!
Pull them off so you don't have to look at them...
Gardening requires a LOT of patience--and a LOT of just "letting be"...
I "let be" to most of my plants--inside or out--and they do OK.
I DO NOT fuss over them.
It is ONLY a plant! Repeat this 10 times a day!!!
Gita
Jill, could I have one or two of the Rose of Sharon please?
Catbird, you can have all the ROS seedlings you'd like! I'll see if I can find you some bigger (probably 2nd year) ones so they'll bloom sooner and you can tell what color they are. Potting up a few together would also give you a chance to select the one you want and prune the others. My violet-ish one is on a double shrub with the white/red one, and that one is in the middle, so I really can't guess what any of the babies are. :-)
typwc, thanks so much for the crocosmia! That sedum is indeed dazzling... hopefully it'll do well for those who get a piece so we can spread it around to all our gardens!
Re. the fresh bay leaves... although you can dry any herb, the quality often ends up being less good than store-bought (assuming it's not old on the shelf), because the drying process is less precise. That's why I like to freeze herbs like basil, oregano, even rosemary. (Mince as for pesto in a food processor, add olive oil, freeze in blobs or ice cube trays.)
I'm thinking that might be a good way to preserve the extra flavors in fresh bay leaves, also... light coating of olive oil, then pop into a freezer zip bag. Should be easy enough to take out a couple whenever you want. You could even cut the "backbone" out of the leaves before freezing so they'd be ready to use.
Thanks for the perspective, Happy, Typ, and Gita! :-) We have a couple more weeks before the swap, so I'll wait and see how it does.
Catmint -- I doubt it will look better this season, but I have high hopes for next!
Re the Bay--I would think if one has it growing in the pot--there would be
no need to freeze any. Just go and pick off as many leaves as you need.
Of course--like SS has--seems these can grow BIG! And IF you have to bring it in--
then this would create a different problem.
Once they get past the small stage--will they not survive the winter outside?
Like--in a nice, sunny, protected spot?
Gita
Gita, I recently visited several local gardens that overwintered various tropicals outside with no problem, but never saw a bay tree. I wonder if tropicals that die to the ground fare better compared to the bay tree, which stays evergreen and has to deal with winter winds and snow/ice.
I don't know....
The small bay start that I have is meant for my neighbor, Olga--
who is NOT a gardener and quite negligent with plants.
I myself do not need a bay Tree....but have been tending this little Guy
until I deem it to be big enough to pass on.
Gita