Yardening 8 April 2014 "Better late than never"

SSG--congrats on your new azalea! :-) Just in time to bloom!! What color is it? Looking forward to seeing photos!

Critter, I got some mulching done today, too. Funny how that extra-thorny rose bush seems to get a little less mulch under it... ;-)

Gita and Sally, so glad you had a nice trip! The cheese sounds yummy. Photos of all the new babies!!

I was thrilled to see some new blooms today!

1) Pulmonaria is looking good--several blossoms open now!
2) The brunnera bloomed!!
3) So did my golden bleeding heart!!
4) And my first red tulip opened--yay!!
5) candytuft really opening up now

Yes~! We did!
Always nice to see someone from DG here--and, I promise, no one has ever gone
home empty-handed...

Sally--you had FOUR clumps of my Hosta! I planted mine back in the same
big, square pot. Done!
Then--I mowed the lawn....took a lot out of me....PHEW...
Languished on the sofa for an hour--Now have to get those 4" pots filled for
moving the seedlings over...My Maters are about 5" tall...some others too...

Need to find a BIG square pot to plant my Cardinal Climber into....
The seedlings for those are 4" tall...so are the MG Picotee ones.

Only thing that came up well (lots too) and then totally died off was the Alyssum.
WHY? They were all green--and then Poof! bare soil! maybe they did not like
being watered from above....None of the others complained...

Things are moving on! Better get with it... G.

And a few other spots of delight for me today:

1) I'm loving the chionodoxa near my front porch--the colors are so vivid right now. I'm glad I got the mixture of colors.
2) My Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is really going to town! Love the soft blue.
3) Here's a photo of the yard as I come out my back door. Just over the bed of daffs in the back is the clothesline where the wisteria and clematis are growing. Just thinking how nice it will look in several years when it's grown across and is blooming!! I've also planted some shrubs on the back fence (Beauty Bush 'Dream Catcher' and Nandina), so someday that will fill in, too, and hide the ugly fence. There is also a baby Japanese maple growing back there. Anyway, someday there will be more vertical contrast in the background and make it prettier, but for now I'm enjoying the tulips, daffs, hyacinth, and others.
4) Loving my bed of daffs. I don't see any Tahiti yet, though. I know I got a few of them. Maybe they're among the daffs that haven't opened up yet.

Catbird beautiful daffodils! Looking forward to the rest of it blooming.

Catmint, fr a newbie you have a lot of pretty flowers.

You're right of course, GIta, there were four clumps. I got three planted tonight right in front of the house, and made the fourth into a nice pot for Swap. Or for keeping LOL

I vote for keeping, sally---and then giving it away as a gift to someone special
for something special--maybe a "Thank You" for something...

I don't think too many people have this Hosta....

See!! Now that makes YOU very special.....;o) G.

Thanks, Sally--I guess I have been a little obsessed in the past year with trying to create a patch of beauty for myself--LOL.

And of course where would I be without all the spring bulbs I got through the group bulb buy last fall that Critter coordinated? My yard wouldn't look half as nice without all those beauties!!

Sally, I googled the hosta Francis Williams and it sure looks nice! Lucky you were able to find it!

This message was edited Apr 14, 2014 9:38 PM

Gita is very special= she found t first and shared with me

Oh no, it is that time of year when the birds crash into my picture window...thunk!

I''ve had enough yardening for three days that I am very happy to stay in, get other things done, and listen to the soaking rain.

Sally: I have several huge Frances Williams hostas -- they were among the first hostas I got for my yard many years ago. I love them -- but I have to warn you that they are prone to rust -- not a big deal -- for mine, it comes along mid-season. Maybe Gita has avoided it -- God knows her plant care is a lot more careful than mine. Anyway, if you see rust, don't panic -- FW is just prone to it. I think there are similar cultivars that aren't rust-prone -- I don't recall the names. According to http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hosta/msg0620343431971.html , Olive Bailey Langdon is one. But I love my Frances Williams hostas and just put up with the rust.

Wow you guys, more gorgeous pics, I love 'em all!!

The Paeony has not bloomed yet, she was only just installed toward the end of last August; this is my first year with her. Once it warms back up again and all the eyes are grown up past the "eye" stage, should I cover the roots a bit more with soil or mulch? Which one?
Right now she's got a 3-gallon nursery pot upended over her with a rock on top.. to keep the wind from blowing it away. I'll uncover it when the cold snap passes.

Thank you guys for your advice; I know NOTHING about these things, so I appreciate all the help. Oh, and Gita.. "who are you to tell me different..." someone who knows a HECK of a lot more than I do, that's who! < =D Please, tell me, tell me!! =)

Dear happy---

Gita does not do much of anything to her plants...No special care--no special
products--no searching for cultural information--.no PH testing--none of that!

When it comes to plant care--my motto is--"Ignoring them (to some level) is best"....
Yes--I water them...and, yes--I walk by and look at them all but, other than that,
I SWEAR i do not do anything special.
i DO pay attention to light requirements and-if I get any bug issues--
Then I come here on DG and whine about "What's wrong"? and "What can I do about it?"
I DO plant them properly and carefully. I believe in always watering any plants
you have planted IMMEDIATELY. Started fertilizer works good here...
IF you can afford to buy Kelp Meal--that will be a bonus. Perhaps watering new plants
in with some kind of sea kelp fertilizer will work even better.

Everyone thinks I have some kind of a magic touch. i DO NOT!
I plant them--I water them--I weed...I deadhead--I am very lax about fertilizing anything--
my downfall....I do not grow fancy/shmancy new plants--just the old stand-byes.

I HUGELY respect any plants that thrive and grow and bloom in my YUK bed!
I seldom add any new plants to this bed--as i cannot dig in there w/o a major effort.
Yet--in spring--this bed will be full of color--just from all the perennials that DO
thrive there...most annuals I try to plant there never make it...
Maybe choosing the right plants for the right location is care enough???
Then--let them do their thing....don't interfere....just enjoy...

I DO have a lot of accumulated gardening knowledge. It is just there--in my brain.
Like on a computer--my brain clicks "search" and immediately I can talk to people for
half an hour about what they wanted to know. This usually leaves a lot of customers in awe..
I do not just give good customer service-I educate them at the same time....
We talk and talk until the other person has that "AHA" moment and understands
what i am telling them.
That is my reward--because i KNOW when they "get it"--they will pass it on to other people.
Then those "other people"will come and buy the right product because they also "get it"...
And--so it continues by word-of-mouth.....

Remember my mission to sell Milorganite to anyone that will take the time
to listen to me? I have done it--and will continue to do it...We just need more of it..
I, literally, take people by the hand and say: "Come with me--I want to show you something
that will give you a great lawn....I want to SELL this to you!"

Then we walk by all the $$$$ Scotts and other $$$products in this aisle--and I say;"LOOK!"
I flip the bag over so the customers can read it themselves. Then I say--"Look at the price!"
A 35lb bag of organic, Eco friendly fertilizer--that covers 2500sf. for $12, 37.
They usually buy it. ...........:o)

There are 5 bags left on this palate--and we have no more---it was 3/4 full when I the lawn
feeding season started...now it is almost empty. YESSSSS!!!

OK! I know this sounds like a Self-Promo--but I believe in what I know. Simple and basic
gardening...if it works for me.....it will work for you too...

Need to find the right person to order another pallet of Milorganite......

I'll see if I can sell all of THAT one by the end of gardening season as well....

Pic. #2--my lawn--April of last year....Milorganite fed ONCE!.

Don't believe all of that--- Gita's beds around her house have wonderful dark soil. Maybe it is the magic of real honest humus from years of gardening and good amendments.

Gita, it sounds like your customers are lucky to benefit from your years of experience and understanding about plants, and we of course always enjoy seeing your lovely garden beds. I also totally agree with you about the benefits of finding that exact right spot where the plant flourishes with little interference, and of course terrific soil and the right light are key.

When we first moved to this area in 2006 we rented a house that had tons of mature shade trees in the yard, and boy was it shady and dark all the time! When my daughter started kindergarten we were supposed to do a project that involved growing a sunflower. Hahahaha. Well, you can imagine how much success we had with that in our yard, and it confirmed my sense that I had a black thumb. Then when we moved to our own house in Dec 2011 and all kinds of flowers and weeds grew and shrubs bloomed in the spring and summer of 2012 while I paid no attention. Then in spring of 2013 I looked out and saw weeds everywhere in the garden beds and thought, "Hmm, maybe I should do something about this so it is not so unsightly." I went out and pulled up all the weeds (and maybe some other stuff, too--LOL) and then bought a few small plants and they grew like magic, and I was hooked!

So, I'm a strong believer in the right soil and the right light and moisture--and of course knowledge and experience from a human keeping watch over everything, as I know Gita does. ;-)

That was lovely.

Inntelllicast says my area bottomed out at 32 and stayed there all night, not quite a record low, but close, normal low 45. Our bedroom was 57 when we woke up.
The sun looks wonderful and the grass is so green!

My unreliable car thermometer had the temperature at 38 degrees in silver spring just before 1am.

I just got in from a walk with the dog and there is definitely snow/ice still in the grass. Not a lot mind you but enough to notice.

Same here, Sally. Our low stayed at 32 last night. Hooray for no freeze damage!

Our neighborhood lost power last night from 10-midnight. We used to lose power every time we had a thunderstorm (yay Pepco!), but this was the first time in a couple of years.

I wasn't so concerned about being cold but losing my tropical houseplants!

The temp outside our house this morning was 27.9 :( I just left the coverings on new plants for tonight. I don't think a day in the dark will hurt them at all.

It must not have been as cold as expected here, either, as all the spring-blooming trees are still covered in blossoms. I only got a few things covered yesterday afternoon, and I'll leave their covers on until tomorrow.

I've left things under wraps (sheets, overturned pots, etc) for as long as a week with no ill effects. The only thing you don't want to have is plastic touching leaves (so don't use a plastic tarp unless it's over some sort of framework).

Thanks Sally. I'm so grateful to the previous owner for the wonderful soil beds she left me.

Fingers crossed for everyone's blooms!

Ok thanks for that confirmation Critter. I'll remove everything tomorrow before I leave for work.

Okay, this has got to be one of the most worthless (sorry for my strong language) articles I've ever seen. It's on invasive species and is supposed to warn the public of their dangers. Unfortunately, there's no link whatsoever to any information that would help the public become aware of what they should or shouldn't plant in their gardens! The message seems to be: 'watch out for green stuff coming back with you if you travel.' Right. Also, it warns against stacks of wood where bees can nest--and yet, for those of us interested in preservation of native species, we are urging people not to remove these, because of declining habitat for native species!!
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/54982420/ns/local_news-washington_dc/#.U1EioPnnfcs

Sorry for the vent. :-(

Wow, Cat. "Most worthless" is spot on about that sorry excuse for a news article!!!!!

Good info can be found here:
http://www.hungrypests.com/

Another thread today which has subject matter directly related to my job!

Wow...you're right Cat, that wasn't even worth reading. Next time I fly somewhere, I'll be sure to check my clothes for foreign seeds...LOL

LOL--right, Seq!

Typ, your job sounds really interesting! What all do you do?

Cat, I work for USDA APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine. The mission of PPQ:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2FAPHIS_Content_Library%2FSA_Our_Focus%2FSA_Plant_Health%2FSA_Program_Overview

My actual job is to do federal confirmatory diagnostics on economically significant plant pathogens using molecular biological techniques. I also prepare proficiency tests that we send to state labs to test their ability to screen for these same pathogens.

In a word, I work in a lab looking for plant diseases. But I am NOT a plant pathologist and I can't tell you what is causing your plant to look sick or die. I run tests on DNA samples and get positives and negatives and report them.

It's an interesting job and most of the time I like doing it.

That sounds fascinating!

Catmint that was completely uninformative. I can guess the purpose was "fill 250 words about invasive plants' or "give us 250 words for April is Invasive...Month". Journalism seems like such a tough job anymore. It's pretty impossible to find 'new' topics.

Cool job Karen.

Yeah, it's sad because they could have used the opportunity to provide some truly useful information about invasives and the need to preserve native species, and then provided links to websites about plants *not* to get--e.g., the purple loosestrife, and so on. oh, well. :-(

Good gravy Cat, that article was worse than "most worthless". "Infested areas"...!?!? Infested with what!?!? Plants!? Hahahahaa... oh my... and someone actually got paid to write that!? Tsk tsk.

Typ, that sounds like such a cool job!!!

Yeah, that 'infested areas' language is amazing. You're right, Speedie--infested with what??

Does anyone remember to where the link to the article about forsythia blooms and yardening chores is? Thanks

Is this what you were looking for, Holly? This article is from 3 days ago.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4828/

I copied that out--but not the whole Post-nor who wrote it. It was about 3 weeks ago??

The title was: "What's so great about Forsythia Blooms?"

I bet you can search for it....Gita

Holly, is this the article you were looking for?

http://www.viette.com/v.php?pg=555

That is the one Gita. Found it in a second now that I had the title.

Day #2 of my dedicated garden time. So wonderful and relaxing. And I finally got *all the seeds* sown from the seed swap! yay!!

Of course, now we have all the plants coming from the group buy in just a few days! :-D

Did quite bit of "easy" gardening today....
Hand not so swollen any more--almost back to normal.
Have a BIG band-aid over the incision--which is starting to heal up.
Still oozing a bit--which is normal....

Planted the 2 Blanket Flowers I bough.
Dug up and potted up about 5 pots of my Astilbe--which insists on growing
in the spot where it DOES NOT do well....I thought it was gone!

Spiffed up the place where I keep my Mints--potted 3 of them in uniform pots.
Put down a brick base so they all can sit on there...
Dug up a pile of Dandelions....with this nifty dandelion digger Big Lots sells.

Swept all the maple seedling c--p off my patio floor...and called it a day.
It was lovely outside.....

Called out from work tomorrow--just not sure I could sit and take classes all day--as I take
a lot of notes. Writing is, probably, not so comfortable yet...
Besides--the Dr. did not really want me to go back on Sunday. After Monday--OK.

G.

Gita, it's amazing you are able to do so much so soon after surgery! The astilbe you gave me at the plant swap last fall is sprouting up very nicely.

I have the front bed almost all cleaned up, there is a small bit at the end that you can't see from this angle.

It's beautiful, Holly. I love the terracing!

cat--It is ONLY my wrist--nothing else is affected...

I have been using my left hand a lot to compensate.
My right only hurts if I twist it with some force (accidentally) or if I have
my wrist bent over and am doing something heavy.

Neither of these actions is on purpose--but, sometimes, it just happens
and then it is like "OUCH!"....

I have NO pain if I am just "doing stuff".....being careful...a little bit...
I AM a gung-Ho person and these kind of things do not bother me much.

Back to---"Mind over matter.....etc...."
G.