Seriously Ric, now I feel inadequate with my trellis! I absolutely love yours.
Yardening continuation May 2014
Ric, I just love that 4th Philly 2013 pic with the Clematis Fleuri and the False Cypress(?)!
Yeah Typ, me too, that combo is really lovely! Thank you Ric, gorgeous photos!!
Y'all are making me want to go out and trim up my Clems out back a little bit. I never did it this early Spring like I should have, and I have some old dead-looking yuck from last year.. I think I'll spruce her up a bit tomorrow. =)
Actually Paul, you could achieve the same effect with a skill saw and rip guide and just round the sharp corners on a sander. The metal inserts were relatively cheap at JoAnn fabrics. They have a lot of gardening stuff, like the coir lined baskets and window boxes, fact is their coir liners are 50% off.
Has anyone seen those really annoying spring themed Home Depot commercials where the couple goes to Home Depot to get flowers and then they plant them all the same day. Afterward the plants are magically full grown and looking great? I'm watching tv right now and just saw it, it is very annoying....LOL. First of all, these people are buying annuals and just jam them in the ground. Planting annuals is great, when they're to compliment perennials. Perennials is where the level of difficulty is. We work hard on our yards all year long and these people in the commercial just do it in a day?!?! And (no offense Gita :P...) but every Home Depot in my area has terrible plants that are usually half dead and poorly cared for....sorry just a rant that I think is hilarious.
But Sequoia, whatever would we do if we didn't have our gardens to slave over? There wouldn't be as many excuses not to do boring chores inside!
Quote from Muddy1 :
But Sequoia, whatever would we do if we didn't have our gardens to slave over? There wouldn't be as many excuses not to do boring chores inside!
that is MY story and I'm sticking to it--like we're sticking to my unwashed floors..
I agree Seq. I DON'T want to just throw a cookie cutter bunch of annuals in, and have them look the saem for tow months, then pull them all out for a new round, X three for color, and then shut the door on Oct 1 and ignore. I garden TO garden, the doing....and the occasional stroll with food or drink or friends, or sit on the deck listening to all the birds and bugs waxing poetic over my creation....
I'm not an apologist for Home Depot, BUT I was there today and got some really nice and healthy perennials at fabulous prices. All plain vanilla stuff, but I like vanilla. I think the sale continues through tomorrow -- and I'm going back tomorrow to get a few more things I wish I'd picked up. The had really lush Verbena Homestead Purple in large pots, for example, for I think $3.33 a plant. I think mine bit the dust over the winter (if they didn't, they are now microscopic) so I am happy to replace them.
And you all know I'm way too cheap to buy annuals. That being said, an awful lot of the perennials I put in last year chose to act like annuals.... Grr.
Plus I LOVE (shouting now) the fact that my yard changes almost daily as the season marches along. Daffs are all but over now, but the irises are plumping up, the variegated Solomon's Seal is strutting its stuff, the azaleas are exuberant and my beloved deutzias are about to burst into bloom. And then in a few weeks those will be history and another course will present itself. My DH and I regularly take glass of wine in hand to peruse the yard to find its new offerings and surprise combinations. How dull would it be if it were the same old plants, week after week, just getting bigger?
Happy, do you have any viburnums?
I noticed that the Korean Spice viburnum blooms lasted a good month, but the leatherleaf blooms barely lasted a week. Is that normal? I'm looking forward to the berries now, but that was an awfully short bloom period.
I don't know if I'm going to try Homestead Purple again. It didn't bloom very well for me in either part shade or full sun.
Sequoia, I saw that same commercial just last night! As a matter of fact, I was in the kitchen working on dinner and DH came across it and paused the TV so I could come in to see it.. he was like "LOOK at that deck!!" and my response was "yeah, just imagine how much that cost, and next year it'll all be gone... then what?" ;) While I am an avid HD lover for a trillion things, (including my corner-trellis planters!), I never was much of a one to plant-shop there, and that commercial is misleading... no, sorry, it's not all gonna look that good on the same day of planting unless you buy a grazillion plants and start installing them at 3:00 in the morning. I'm with Sally, I garden for the DOING of the gardening. Watching my babies grow up, caring for them, loving them, talking to them... Aaaaaah, that's the fun of it! =)
(Photo: My HD corner-trellis planters out back) :)
I find that there are 2 ways to buy plants at the big box stores, when they arrive, especially the specials or draws, and on clearance.I stroll in and check them out and many times leave empty handed. We use quite a few annuals among our selected perennials (which increase every year), but then again we are covering large areas. I also use annuals and a few perennials in the veggie garden to brighten it up, or as companion planting. We grow many of our own annuals every year also. Since the veggie garden may change every year using perennials, other than my glads, would limit the open style, which allows rotation of certain crops which is a necessity. I already have two perennials beds in the garden, strawberries, and aspergras. Yeah, I hear ya' bout the ads, I see the one for Lowes all the time, but find them humorous, as in fantasy. Just think of the ads as a visit to Longwood or Rawlings, where the change the beds with full grown plants, like changing the sheets. LOL
Haven't seen the commercial, but I'm with you all in enjoying the process! :-) People who want only the 'product' of visual appeal are definitely not gardeners--LOL! It's like raising a child--the 'product' is ever-changing, ever-growing, there is always *something* that needs work! And of course sitting back and enjoying the blooms, birds, and pollinators is the icing on the cake.
I've been running about 18% annuals and tender perennials among the plants in my yard. I prefer to invest in perennials but there are some annuals/tenders that I just really like--the coleus, caladium, lantana, certain herbs, marigold, pentas, alyssum, and others. There is also some fun in the creative space left to me when annuals/tenders are gone and I-can-do-whatever-I-want-with-that-space.
I actually _really_ freaking love annuals for lots of reasons:
1. I have gardening ADD.
2. I don't have a big yard so most perennials are too big for me to grow and look nice.
3. I don't have money to buy the fancy perennials I want.
4. I like to keep my neighbors guessing about what I'm going to do every year (even though 99% of them don't give a crap what is growing in my front yard as long as the grass is mown).
5. I garden for overall "wow" factor and for creating bouquets, not necessarily for the challenge of growing things that are rare or fussy.
6. I like growing things from seed.
But mostly it's the gardening ADD. :)
Quote from Muddy1 :
But Sequoia, whatever would we do if we didn't have our gardens to slave over? There wouldn't be as many excuses not to do boring chores inside!
Muddy, that was sort of my point. I don't want to be done in a day. I'm with all of you; I like to garden for gardening! It's great to be out there and relax while planting things all the time wondering how they'll look in a month or so. I planted 140 annuals this season. I think it was a little less the last two seasons. I buy that many, not with a plan in mind, but just to throw color everywhere. Annuals to me are an essential part of the summer garden. They are especially useful when the perennials start waning in late summer. I'm all about color so for me it's zinnia, petunia, vinca, NG Imps, torenia, dianthus, marigold, etc...With all the amish places around here, I only spent about 70 bucks for all those annuals, which is way worth it IMO. Now that I'm done planting everything (for now ;P) there are always more things to do, which is lovely :)
Soil temps haven't warmed up all that much yet so I'm in no hurry to plant. Did get some very nice Zinnias (short and tall types) to border and mark the Monarch Waystations while the Milkweed and Asters and Goldenrods growup within and begin their show July thru Nov.
Interesting to see some impatiens available out there...am reminded though that righ now weather with cool damp nights is perfect for their disease to show itself in our gardens even if the growers have managed to bring 'healthy looking' plants to market.
On Invasive Removal Day last week I cleared my yard and surrounds of Garlic Mustard to further decrease the 5 year seed bank. Also cut thru the thick vines of english ivy climbing neighbors trees, even though it was impossible to pull down the vines 30 - 50 feet up! No Allianthus seedlings, Rosa rugosa at end of road showing signs of rose rosette disease, not sure what I will do about that or the Lesser Celedine. Wonder how smotherable it is? I still have bags of leaves I collected last Fall I could use.
Ditto for me on everyone's comments on the "instant garden" discussion. Whether perennials, annuals, or a combination of both, the gardening activity itself is the major draw - "instant" in a day would be no fun or challenge...
On the "One Neurotic Gardener" blog that typwc mentioned in another thread, his latest discussion was on the same topic regarding HGTV and their programming choices. HGTV got rid of "A Gardener's Diary". I don't know if any of you watched it - the concept was touring established home gardens across the country with the home gardener showing and talking about the gardens to the show's hostess. These were true gardens in every sense of the word. I thought it was the best gardening show ever. HGTV now only has those "instant garden" shows. I wrote to HGTV when it went off the air, but I got a form letter response about their programming trends. I HATE those "instant garden" shows - they are just like those "instant garden" commercials that the big box stores put out.
Coleup, I no longer plant regular impatiens but stick to New Guinea Imps because they don't get the Imp disease. I got hit with that summer of '12 and haven't planted them since.
I was noticing the imps in the stores also and wondering whether they are vulnerable to the same virus that kept them off the market last year.
From what I've been told, the disease gets in the soil and pretty much stays there for a couple years. Once you've gotten it, planting imps there the next season will likely result in more dead imps.
Jeff, here is a link to our discussion on Impatiens disease from last year. Haven't had time to research the latest yet for recs for this season. Most of the disease was spread by infected plants from growers who were able to keep them 'symptom free' with chemical and environmental controls not possible in a garden. Given this optimin weather for symptoms to appear, I would watch those on retail shelves before bringing any home. I miss them! New Guineas are too fussy for my style but Sunpatiens fill part of the void.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1298071/
Interesting...what are Sunpatiens?
NG Imps fit my style nicely and now that they are the same price as the regular ones, I no longer have to pay a premium for them. The NG Imps definitely thrive in a moist location though.
We are carrying regular Imps at work and I inspect them regularly and thoroughly; thus far, they are all OK. I heard.. oh, about a month or 2 ago, that the disease is now "under control' as far as new plants are concerned; that it is possible to find healthy plants for sale, HOWEVER,we gardeners should be very careful as to where we plant them. I tell ALL my customers who buy them that they should NOT, under ANY circumstances, put them in the ground where they've grown Imps for the past SEVEN (7) years... (just to be on the safe side).. if they want those Imps, they need to grow them in containers ONLY, and ONLY with brand new fresh soil, AFTER the container has been thoroughly washed and rinsed.
For those who tell me that they've never grown them before.. ever, I tell them that they should probably be ok, but keep an eye out and if they have any questions, take pics and/or bring any suspect plant parts in for me to check out. It's the best I can do. < =/
That's really responsible Speedie! I heard a garden center owner tell a customer who asked if the impatiens were OK this year, "Oh, they're just fine. It was just a big scare!"
"Just a big scare"!?!? Shame on that person!!!! Oh my gosh, if anything, I scare the carp outta my customers about them, LOL!!! Well, I try not to be too overly-scary, but just make sure they are informed. People can, and DO, learn eventually about the diseases and problems out there. The last thing we want is for them to learn about what's wrong with their plant and remember "Hey, she told me it was fine! Last time I ever shop THERE!". I want them to think "Hmmm, that nice goofy broad at that nursery really knew what she was talking about.. I'll go back there again!" =) I may scare the pants off 'em, but at least they leave my place informed. It's just wrong wrong wrong to not inform people, tsk tsk tsk.
Thanks, Coleup and Speedie. Last year I used NG imps and vinca for some annual color, and really liked them both. My first two springs in the house, all was weeds. ;-) So, I got a couple small imps recently to see how they do in the garden. Fingers crossed!
Speedie, good for you for keeping your customers informed! I'm always grateful for sales associates who let me know things I should know. You're right--it builds trust and keeps the good customers coming back.
This message was edited May 7, 2014 11:25 AM
Oh no it's pouring out! I left all of my seedlings outside. I hope they don't drown.
I thought about keeping some imps in containers but decided to just go with begonias instead.
Oh, Begonias are nice too, which ones did you go with?
I'm not happy with the idea of more rain (none here yet that I'm aware of).. only one of my Caladium bulbs has sprouted anything yet. I understand they don't like to be too wet before they sprout.. is that right? Should go out and put little umbrellas over them. =)
Raining here, too. Hope all my seedlings make it as well! :-( yes, little umbrellas and plastic ponchos! :-D
LOL plastic ponchos!! I can just see me now.. out there putting little ponchos on the little babies! The neighbors would REALLY think I'm nuts then!! < =D
Just peeked outside - no rain yet. Looked for a minute there like a neighbor across the street was taking his squirrel for a walk. Too funny, he was walking across his yard, and there was a little squirrel right beside him just strolling along next to him.. LOL!! .. the moments ya wish you'd captured on video but didn't....
Speedie, I got a tray of pink begonias that look just like Dragon Wing, so I'm hoping that's what they are!
Those look really great in containers, YAY for you! Only just last year I've learned a proper appreciation for Begonias. They really are a wonderful plant, huh?
I loved my begonia Kaylen from last year, and am sorry it did not make it through the winter. (It was zone 7) I hope they carry it again at the nursery!
I always used impatiens for our back border alternating shades of pink and white. Last year I tried begonias and they were really nice, so this year I bought a few flats of begonias again even though I did see impatiens at one of my fav garden centers
I buy plants from any place that has healthy and reasonably-priced plants, including Home Depot. The one near me doesn't have a lot of plants, but the ones that are there are healthy.
I loved imps and was so excited about being able to plant them again after I had a fence built to keep out deer. I planted about 60 imps and they died. I didn't have a clue about the disease, so I bought another set which of course also died. After getting on my hands and knees and planting 120 plants and having nothing to show for it, I decided that those beds would become perennial beds.
I used Marine Heliotropes and NG impatiens as fillers last year, but I don't think I'll need any annuals this year thanks to all of those NC plants!
The Imps I had in 2012 also succumbed to this disease....
I had NO idea what it was--and kept thinking bugs or slugs were chewing
all the leaves off my Imps. But--the stems looked weird--kind of barren and "slimy"...
I had Imps in a HB by my front door--and they died in that too....
By now--there was talk starting on DG about this disease...So--I took some pictures.
Last year---in the same beds--I planted Petunias as a border plant.
Slowly but surely--they also died of some kind of a crown Rot...We discussed that too--
and I was told to dig up all the soil around the root-ball of these plants and get rid of it.
Not sure if I complied totally....but I tried.
Because the Downy Mildew lives in the soil-I will not plant any more Imps in those
paces--not to propagate this disease. Bit--I DO miss terribly not having them.
What will I edge my beds with now??????? G.
Here is the Downy Mildew on my HB of impatiens.
Could not find the sick Petunias--looked and looked...kind of late...snooze time.
Sally, is your native passion vine coming up yet?
Mine was planted in a container and I'm afraid it didn't make it.
ssg, I have not seen any yet, but I feel sure it is there, it is such a thug. Will save you some.
Thank you, Sally!
Have you seen this new research out of Va tech?
They've discovered an effective trap for stinkbugs!
http://www.wtop.com/120/3618558/Homemade-stink-bug-traps-better-than-store-bought
All right now they just need one for Japanese beetles. I'm already dreading those!