HollyAnn is probably our resident expert on propagating the ornamental sweet potatoes (Gita just likes to eat them! LOL), but I did do an article on them: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2801/
SHOPPING LISTS, Spring 2014 What are you getting?
Jill, I tried saving the tubers in the basement one winter, but they were all shriveled up and dead by spring.
Last year I planted them in a large tub (from Costco) and bulbs got HUGE! I would say twice the size of sweet potatoes you get at the market. But I didn't trust myself to save them. I would've given them to Holly and Ric if they lived closer!
Oh they are easy and so much fun to propagate, I haven't done any OSP propagating for the last couple of years. Think I will buy a few plants this year and take some cuttings to root and hopefully I will have a few potatoes to save next fall. The dark type and lime green type grow true from the potato. The Tri-color don't.
I saved mine in brown paper bags.
As Jill mentioned that I eat them---ALL these potatoes are edible...
The big red ones from the lime-green vines--are especially good.
Microwave them--and enjoy with butter....great flavor!
G.
Oh my gosh...I seriously think I have an addiction to shopping for plants. I just bought a ton more plants including a few shrubs...I'll post the list later...it doesn't help that we got a decent amount of money back for taxes :)
grrr. we got good money back from taxes but its all spent. We get home and car insurance bills this time of year.
Sequoia, what are you going to do when your sequoia trees get big? Buy adjoining properties : ) ?
Eww...tax bills. We have ours escrowed so no big bill for us.
I'm not sure, it should be an interesting ride as things get older that's for sure. My wife an I often joke about buying the neighbor's house for more space :)
Had my appointment today to have a nerve scan to see whassup with
my right hand--always tingling and going numb. Worst when I sit here typing...
Diagnosis---I have a severe case of Carpal Tunnel. When didi THIS happen???
I know I have had problems with all this in the last year...now--surgery coming up!
Hope it is soon--gotta be 100% Ok to garden and dig...
Anyway---this is about shopping---
On the way home--I stopped into the wonderful "Savers" Thrift store and made out
like a bandit!!! LOVE this place....If you have one nearby--go shop there!
Here's the loot:
1--These two goofy, metal frog musicians...cute!! $2.99 each
2--Two wrought iron Rooster wall hangings--$1.99 each; The apple key hanger--
very well done...heavy--ready to hang---$2.99.
3--two sturdy wood shelves for hanging....$2.99 ea.
4--This adorable, well-dressed doll. She has undies and kinckers and shoes...
and the most beautiful dress--could'nt put her down--I have NO small kids
and NO grandchildren....soo? Can't answer....Just $4.99.
5--Here is her undergarments....awwww...
3--
To continue---
1--Saw this amazing, hand-made and exquisitely finished cradle.
had to think hard--but i decided to take it....just $7.99
2--The legs fold up and become the handles to carry it by. How neat is that?
3--another angle....
4--Now--for the most INSANE bargain!!! Whoever does the pricing has NO clue!
Must have been good timing....This HUGE 100% virgin wool blanket made in
Belgium--bigger than King-size--as my bed is a Q.--and the blanket hung down
almost to the floor on both sides. It says on the tag--90 x 108. inches???
It is about 1/2" thick and the binding is a soft, thick satin.
It does have some very small cigarette ash burn spots. Very few and small.
Wonder if i should just trim it out with cuticle scissors--or, does anyone know
how to clean something like this??? I WILL have it fry-cleaned.
Here it is--spread over my Queen bed...
5--Here is the tag---
Besides all this--I got a pair of "Eastport", brown leather low work shoes--
with a thick sole. (mens)...
Fit me great--just need to clean and polish them up and i will have very
presentable. year-round work shoes in Garden at HD. Cost--$7.99
I also got a new splatter screen to put over a fry-pan and a new "Good grips" peeler
My total bill------$42+change..
AHHH--what a wonderful day! You all can shop for plants---and I go to Thrift Stores
for my "high". G.
Thrift stores are great, Gita! Congrats on the great bargains!
Sally--
Also--on my way home from the Dr.'s--I stopped into "Watsons"---one of the most
expensive and fu-fu garden centers in Baltimore...
The other one is "Valley View Farms"--in Hunt Valley.
Saw the Cobra Plant there in the GH...asked the man working there what the real name
of it is? He had never heard of it being called the "Cobra Plant...
.SO--sally-O--Now you will know that--your and my plant's real name is:
,b>Calathea Lancefolia.
Also--that it is a native of Central S. America (Brazil) area and is considered
almost a ground cover there--kind of like Lariope here.
He said it needs a lot of humidity but not necessarily to be watered a lot.
You can divide it by separating the root ball--but be careful bc it may have a
thick tap-root. It likes filtered light.
They had all kinds of neat plants there--I liked the Heart fern..
The hard goods were ridiculously $$$$.
6" pamsies and Primroses were $5.69. Bird feeders--out of sight.
One we also have at HD for $9.98 was $16.99 there.
OH, well--that is THE area for people with money. Looking is free......
G.
Nice finds, Gita!
This message was edited Mar 11, 2014 7:08 PM
Gita I have had problems due to too much computer mousing when I played a certain addictive game where I clicked a lot. So I quit the game which was just as well.
But listen: I had a lot of relief by wearing a wrist brace, a cloth wrap with soft splints and velcro straps that I got after I broke that arm six years ago. And I never had to have surgery. Why not try to get a brace and immobilize that wrist as long as you can every day or night? Wear it overnight. It really helped me fast. I hope this helps you and maybe avoids surgery.
I know "they say" that Cobra plant needs high humidity but it made it through winters in my house fine, as you know. Thanks for the information! The root ball was super tough and wiry when I divided that.
Sally and Gita, I found that light weight fingerless glove with the velcro to be helpful, especially if I wore it at night. Seems I curl up my hands ans sleep on them over stressing the tunnel.
I also liked the velcro wrap brace made out of a thicker material as it kept my wrist warm even when sticking out my arm in all sorts of weather to deliver papers. On Sundays the papers are so thick (and heavy) that I have to hyper extend my thumb and fingers to grasp and lift... this hyper extension can then be agravated by 'clicking' and mousing. If I treat my wrists with Arnica gel or rub in Ruta salve after a Sunday delivery I have very few problems. We learn to lift by bending our knees to protect our backs, but we don't do much for the 'mechanics' of our wrists!
I find plant watering to be particularly hard on the wrists..combo of weight and fine motor adjustments...have worn a wrist brace, the kind with splints at times if my body is vulnerable. I guess what I am saying is that awareness of what movements or activities sets things off give ways to act preventively or protectively.
On another note, HD here has just gotten in major shrub and tree shipments from new supplier. They have the Goshiki Holly, and the huge Linwood Gold forsythia ($25) and a few American Hornbeam trees and some blooming Witchhazel if you want to smell it. So o o nice!
Oh, and did I say Dawn Redwoods?
This message was edited Mar 12, 2014 9:54 AM
Since some of you were talking about Blueberries--we got in 2 carts full.
Here are the cultivars we now have. These two are i smallish one gal. pots
--Blueberry "Vacinnium"
--Blueberry Highland "Jersey". Both--$8.98
The "Highbush "Elliott"--are in 2 gal pots--$14.98
I also saw a Pussywillow tree....something pendulata (um)...
It was about 7'-8' tall--all the branches hanging down, gracefully, covered in "pussies"...
I think it was $69....(?).
Did some watering today--so I noticed it. I should carry my camera with me....
We also got shrubs and trees in--but I never got to check them out.
I was the only one in garden from 5:30AM-1:30PM. Someone called out..so...
Judy--sally--Thanks for caring about me and my wrist....
Re the carpal tunnel----I know the wrist brace would help NOW--but it won't fix anything
and it is already too late. I cannot put up with this numbness-even tho I do not have any pain.
The upper portion of 2 of my fingers is numb--continuously. Thumb and 4th finger.
I am dropping things for no reason...
I spent an hour at the Docs yesterday--who had my arm wired to electrodes to see how much
electric signals the nerves carry--and where it is interrupted....I suppose...?
I was being given 400W of shock--and I jumped every single time...
Then he stuck slim Acupuncture needles in several different places in a muscle
and then he made me move my arm or thumb or wrist....while i watched the graph jump
like crazy.
Then he told me I had pretty severe Carpal Tunnel--and surgery would be needed.
No biggie--Me and surgeries are well acquainted...Right now--I just have a follow up appt.
with the Dr. who will do it. March 24th. Hope the surgery is soon after that.!
I understand you both avoiding having to have surgery--as it would cost you.
I KNOW that every penny of mine will be covered---Medicare-- plus my supplemental
insurance I pay for.
Seems it is no big deal nowadays---probably done endoscopically--and I will be back
to normal activities in a couple weeks.
SO! I want to get it over with. Need to be OK to garden... G.
I am sorry to hear about your wrist Gita. I hope the surgery they recommended will be helpful. Did they give you atime frame for that?
Not yet--first I have to go to the "Follow up appt. " from the testing results...
Will keep you informed...No need to feel sorry--It has to be done--it will be done...
and life goes on. I've had too many surgeries to worry about this small one...
But--thanks--G.
Gita, those are excellent prices for those blueberries!
And you got some great deals at that thrift store. I can never find anything worthwhile when I go bargain hunting.
I think I'm going to order Colocasia Elena from Eldon Tropicals.
http://www.eldontropicals.com/catalog/item/7318612/7611179.htm
Not the best price I've found on line, but great reviews.
Very cool, SSG. I ended up ordering some seeds for hard-to-find herbs/plants: golden marguerite, caraway, Solidago altissima.
Saw such a pretty herb garden layout at Homestead on Saturday. Wish I were that creative! :-D
Oh I want to check that out! Mine's going to be in a 4x4 square box. Not very creative at all!
Looks like I lost some of my EE's, I put some in the house but most of them went into the GH and that incedent we had damaged them pretty good I think a few might rebound but some of them aren't looking good at all.
Coleup, Sad to say that I haven't done very well overwintering some of those lovely plants you gave me.
My EE's are half-submerged and sitting under some fluorescent lights in the basement... they seem to be limping along and hopefully will rebound once they get out into the summer sun! I think 'Elena' might be among them, if that's one that Coleup passed along... if so, you're welcome to it, SSG!
Also, you can get creative with a square box... put your biggest herb in the center (sage, maybe?), then put a "ring" of herbs around it (oregano, marjoram, etc, filling in first-year spaces with basils)... that leaves you 4 corners (more or less triangular to fill with one larger herb (french thyme or lavender?) and two smaller ones on either side (creeping thyme?). Tah dah!
great idea, Critter. Also wanted to mention that Homestead was using Irish moss for green space in between some of the herbal areas, as well as decorative stones. So the herb garden had sort of a geometric shape, with circles, squares, etc of herbs separated by stones and/or Irish moss. Very pretty. Okay, now I wish I'd gotten some of the Irish moss while we were there!
I'm also trying to think strategically about some of the biocontrol properties of the various herbs--maybe have a little herbal patch in each of my garden areas, plus try to group host and nectaring plants together...
Stepping stones - definitely, even within a 4x4 square, so you can easily get to herbs in the center. I tend to forget this, but it's well worth "sacrificing" a little garden space for stepping stones and designated pathways!
I think I should be adding rocks or cinder blocks & concrete to my garden "shopping" list this year. More 'tufa mushrooms, too! I've got peatmoss & perlite, but having had 1 bag of portland cement harden up on me I'm going to wait to pick up cement until I'm actually ready to spend an afternoon doing hypertufa!
SSG if you do go down to Homestead they have lots of small evergreens 3-5 inches tall that you were looking at in the Fall.
Homestead also has the 'Shooting Star' Hydrangea that Catmint picked up in two sizes. small $19.99 and large $29.99.
Ace Hardware Outback has a truly lovely weeping Red Bud 'Ruby Falls' that stays small and keeps its dark leaf color.. It's branches were totally covered in sweet red buds very charming.
They also had a new Pulmonaria called 'Dark Vader'! Hreg the garden center manager repeated that he is happy to search for and procure any special requests any of us might have in trees and shrubs and is quite knowlegable.
Holly, EEs "elena' and 'Mojito' are both very slow and late to emerge from even semi-dormancy...they like soil temps consistently above 50 degrees. Remember Lariann's use of cinnamon on tubers to prevent rot. Also, can trim away any rotted parts and then dust with cinnamon. Might try unpotting one and see what you've got, pull off any yuk and repot in fresh, water lightly and give some bottom heat and some time release fert, (As I recall, they are like spring onions as opposed to the tubers of Portadora!) If they don't show signs of life in another month you can plant something else in the pot. I don't look for mine til end of May. The only plant I passed on to you all that I have 'attachments ' to is Big Mama Banana! Hope the babies fared well by the compost heap. Most of my porch overwinters are languishing more than in previous years and need it to be Spring.
I am anxious to see if the Babies come back this year, too. They sure did have a huge pile of leaves over them, but the temps were really low and stayed low for a long time.
I love the beautifully designed displays at Homestead, but I rarely buy anything there unless it's on sale.
One plant that I'm looking for this year -- and will purchase even if not on sale -- is Thalictrum "Splendide." It's such a neat plant with an unusual habit. Has anyone seen it locally?
SSG, we mostly looked there, too! I did get one of the small Shooting Star hydrangeas, but aside from that we mostly got packets of seeds! :-D
coleup, did you share Mojitos with us? I have a large and a small plant , both are trying to wake up. Now that DD is back at school, her bedroom will get more plants (warm and brighter)
Since you mentioned Ace Outback, I'll repeat myself here. I went to Ace Glen Burnie and they showed pictures of a trial that Ace Outback did with potting mixes. Gardener's Gold seemed to get markedly best results.
If anyone is going to Homestead Gardens, can you take and post a photo of that herb garden display? Sounds so interesting.
Aspen, sorry I didn't think to get a photo of the herb garden while we were at Homestead! Someday we should plan a group field trip there--what a huge selection they have!
Sally, I got a huge bag of Gardener's Gold last fall from Coleup's Ace. I used it with a soil builder and a mulch to finish off my new full sun bed--where I now have absolutely enormous tulips sprouting up. I'll get some photos once they're finally blooming!
The Ace guy also recommended Espoma organic seed starter soil, and I just used it to pot up my caladium bulbs and tuberose. It is truly a beautiful soil--light, fluffy, rich with organic material. Mmmmmm.
My caladiums will be coming in on Friday and I will be getting all our plugs on Friday as well. I will be surrounded by plants. LOL
SSG, Just love that Thalictrum "Splendide." sounds like it might be a floppy plant. PD states Because of the immense floral weight, the stems slanted , so a support structure of strong neighbors is suggested.
I was thinking about planting it next to my neighbor's viburnum, which is pretty when in bloom but kind of a green blob for the rest of the season. I think the popcorn flowers of the thalictrum would be so pretty next to it -- or on top of it, or leaning next to it!
... or tied to it! 9 feet tall, OMG
I liked the rest of the description on the Plant Delights page, too:
Holy S...! This giant meadow rue from French heuchera breeder Thierry Delabroye popped up as a garden seedling resulting from a midnight rendezvous between the Chinese Thalictrum delavayi and Thalictrum elegans...oh, those hot French liaisons! The result is a 9' tall stalk, composed of lacy, deer-resistant foliage, with the top 3' a massive 4' wide cloud-like cluster of lavender-pink dangling flowers starting in late June (NC) and continuing until late summer. Because of the immense floral weight, the stems are more slanted than the politics on MSNBC, so a support structure of strong neighbors is suggested. Thalictrum 'Splendide' also had its tubes snipped (legal in France), so don't worry about having unwanted meadow rues to support. Rich soils, like relatives, are highly recommended. - See more at: http://www.plantdelights.com/Thalictrum-Splendide-for-sale/Buy-Splendide-Meadow-Rue/#sthash.DFn3vJAg.dpuf
Someone must have had a great time coming up with that description!
Their descriptions are always so great.