2014 N Central TX RU May 18th (Arlington) TRADE THREAD #2

Great Carol, I think the guys enjoy talking and catching up and the food, as much as we do.

OK Sheila I am signed in and eally enjoyed my self today. Thanks for letting me know. Ted Rogers

Ted! I didn't relate you to your screen name!!

We enjoyed you, too, Ted. Welcome back. I'll bring you a boatload of perennials next RU.

I woke up yesterday feeling sick and ended up sleeping most of the day. I am sorry I didn't get the plants to Dennis. I am glad you had such great weather and as usually wonderful company

Anna, you were missed! Definitely need to plan to attend in the fall. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Feel better and hope to see you in the fall

Yes we missed you Anna, get well soon.

Hi, everyone, especially if you are new. I have found that often plants received at an RU are in transplant shock. To take it out of the pot and place it in the ground in Texas heat is often deadly for mine. Also the plants are often small volunteers, another vulnerability in our heat. I have had better success when I have left the plants in their RU pots until roots come out the bottom. That means keeping them in shade and keeping them grouped together in prominent place where you wont forget to water. If they are small, I grow them on like a commercial grower would, up-potting as they grow and letting them build a big root system. Then in the fall when it is cooler and there is some rain, Im able to plant strong plants with a good root system and this has made a huge difference in my success and their survival rate. Hope this helps at least one person.

Good advice, Marty! I always place mine in a shady spot when I bring them home until it's time to plant. I've already planted a couple of things, though.

Glad I just read this before going outside. Thanks, Marty. And thanks to all who so generously shared their plants with me. I'll be pestering some of you soon to find out how to grow some of 'em!

Also got a big thank you from my guest, Susan Graham. She thought everyone at the RU was so friendly and sharing and was very happy to have been there. Maybe I can gently nudge her into joining.

Ted, I was thrilled to see your smiling face after so long. I showed Herman my pot you made and we are planning on making some, it is so cool looking. We were discussing on the square small one that I got. I know you used two pots, but did you cover the small one with the bigger one opening down, or put the small one inside of the bigger one bottom down? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anna my dear do get well, you were greatly missed! We started to eat and someone said but Anna, Smockette, and Gypsi aren't here yet. But as soon as the Sopapillia Cheesecake arrived we had to dig in sorry!

You are so right on the RU plants Marty! I might not wait that long but definitely don't plant right away. I had just dug a lot of my plants so they definitely needed TLC for a few weeks. Thanks for bringing Sandy along with you and glad to see you have your computer working again.

Joan, tell Susan thanks again for her help distributing my trades. Thanks to you too Sandy!

Sorry to whomever brought the mushroom solar lights that I had been holding upside down! My bad!

Josephine, Frank, Stephanie, and Brian thank you for making the event run smoothly once again!

Post #9842670
Made that pot right side up, pouring in a cement slurry

Hi all :) I first want to thank everyone for the warm welcome at roundup, I really enjoyed myself and so did my guest. I hope to be a little better prepared next time (that is, if you'll have me again)! I spent the day yesterday planting the bare root plants I received and I still can't wrap my head around the generosity.. And how cool to be able to put faces to names now :)

I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone (my fault), but I really had a blast meeting and learning from those I did meet. So much information to absorb. DG is wonderful for that!

Marty you are right about what you said about transplant shock, I hope everything I shared will make it, I definitely learned my lesson about waiting to dig, and also to be more careful about where the plants spend their "limbo" time between potting and roundup. I burned so many things, I kind of felt stupid for having such crummy looking plants to share, lesson learned!

Yes I appreciate, Mari, your sharing that lesson !

Every time I go, I learn so much from Round Up !
...and of course from all you lovely peeps !

Thank you for your kindness, generosity and friendship
to all of you from me and my family.

And it was a fabulous day that ya'll picked.

hugs, Becky from Red Oak.

Becky! Great name btw ;)) I sooo wanted take a few minutes to chitchat with you and dig through your seeds, but before you know it roundup was packing up! I hope you bring them next time :)

And I forgot to say, I know you advised to wait to pot up the cacti, but the spineless already had roots shooting out of the pads so they were ready, and the SPINY one I didn't want you to have to handle. They are wicked! Plus I was hoping it would help the bud stay on and bloom. I do so love cactus flowers!!

I love that you are named Becky :)P

Its OK about the cacti, they are tough little boogers and will make it !

I wanted to schmooze with you too, but there was too little time and
too much going on.

Now that I got Ed to come to his first one, hopefully we will go always.

I'm already thinking about the next one.

And the cheesecake was to rejoice over !
(I never say to die for: life is too precious)

I was worried about my raspberry sopapilla cheesecake.. I didn't realize I had already changed my recipe to reflect a double cheesecake layer, so that was a triple filling! Ai ai ai! And the red sugar on top gave it a funny coloring that I didn't expect.. Oh well, it got eaten so must not have been that bad LOL

I hope my hub comes to the next one, I told him everyone there was so nice, I felt like I was at a family reunion! :D

Its much better than "some" family reunions
I have attended over the years !

Most of what I brought is ready to go in the ground. Some of the items had been potted up for a month and were getting rootbound. I've been out planting stuff yesterday and today. Also go the hubs in on the action. I know how to work it!! LOL

LOL Stephanie! Sure was nice to pick your brain on Sunday! Especially since you do a lot of the things I am trying to do in my garden, and even more that I'd like to do eventually. Youre right.. the blackberry plants look great, I plan on planting them when we get back from vacation next week. What conditions do they like? Do they need any shade? Should I water them regularly or do they like the dry heat? I usually water my rows and raised beds every other day, wonder if I can get away with that once they settle in? Sorry to bombard with so many ???s!

Once established, the blackberries need very little attention. I have mine in my backyard next to the shed. They rooted there and took over. I don't usually water them too much and pretty much ignore them. Mine do get some afternoon shade, but they can do full sun all day long. They will spread like crazy and try to take over the universe, which is fine until you get the number you want, but after that, once you've harvested berries, cut off all the canes that have borne fruit. They grow fruit on 2nd year canes.

Ok that helps tremendously! I want them to eventually spread along the fence like their naturalized brethren, but wasn't sure if they would be more finicky.. I copied and pasted your tips to my journal :))

My experience with BB's is that when you mow
near them, apy little spring that is severed from
the mother will root itself.

They love TX. Wish raspberries felt the same !

Glad you all devoured the cheesecake...hey you guys must keep your priorities straight!

I actually had dessert first, the first time ever for me.

I had them at the same time.

I have a strong belief that it is very important to have dessert first. Wouldn't want to get too full and miss out on it.

:)

Who ended up with crocosmia ?


Planting Instructions for Crocosmia (montbretia):

Bloom Time: Summer

Light: Full sun to part shade
Soil: Average to loamy, well-drained

Moisture: Average
Planting Depth: 5 to 6" deep, mulch lightly

Spacing: 6 to 8" per bulb, 18 - 24" apart
as a group

Upon arrival:

Unpack box and check that you have everything
on your packing list.

Plants packaged in bags should be free from
excessive moisture, so if a lot of condensation has
formed on the inside of the bag, open and let it air out.

Plant everything as soon as possible.

Soil/Location: Plant your crocosmia bulbs in full sun to part shade in average to loamy, well-drained soil. The soil should be well drained and can be somewhat moist but never wet. Add compost or peat humus to enrich the soil and help with drainage if needed. As with most perennials, remember to keep the soil light and airy, so cover them with loose soil and don't pack it in after planting.

Moisture: Crocosmia are very drought tolerant and only need occasional moisture when it is very dry.

Spacing: Plant your bulbs about 6 to 8" apart when planting in groups and the groups should be about 18 to 24" away from other plants.

Depth: Plant the bulbs with the thin roots pointed down about 5 to 6" below the soil. The soil below the bulbs should also be well-draining, especially in the winter, so sometimes you will need to dig deeper and then backfill lightly to make sure the bulbs aren't sitting on bad soil. In warmer zones they don't need to be quite that deep but this helps with winter protection in the north.

General Instructions: Enrich soil with compost or peat humus if needed. Mix a couple teaspoons of garden food or bone meal into the planting hole and mix lightly into the soil. Plant the bulbs as listed above, backfill, then water in once. Once they are actively growing it is alright to give them supplemental water once a week or so, as needed, allowing the soil to dry out between watering.

Landscape Uses: Crocosmia is a bold plant that can be used as a focal point in the middle or back of the garden. Plant it with other summer blooming perennials like coreopsis, tall garden phlox, daylilies, lilies, bellflowers, balloon flowers, and hardy geraniums. Crocosmias add a brilliant accent with brightly colored daylilies, lilies, or coneflowers, or you can cool them down with blue geraniums, lavender, or the silver foliage of caryopteris and butterfly bushes.

Plants can self seed occasionally, especially when they like where they are growing, so in time they can form a dense colony.

Bulbs can be transplanted in early spring or fall.

I ended up with a lot more bulbs than expected. I was busy, but when I had a chance, went by and saw there were crocosmia bulbs on the top of your table still so I took some not knowing you had already given me some! If anyone didn't get any and want some just tell me.
I have plans to plant some in a large pot, so glad you added the instructions Baja!

Sheila
Great ! I really wanted you to get them.

Hope your flying critters enjoy them !

USO: Msgrubbyfyngus , Kate

Anyone know how can catch up with her ?

I sent a Dmail after RU, but still no answer.

She doesn't owe me money :),

Please dmail privately if you can help.

thankx Becky

We had a RU at her house once, but not sure I could find the address but I will look later. I know she is not on DG anymore but you might try the other website.

I should have looked around more. Just searched crocosmia and saw white, yellow and red (lucifer) Maybe I could get a couple of bulbs in the fall?

Sheila if it was a ziploc baggie of crocosmia I gave those to you It should have said Orange Crocosmia on the bag. :) My David bagged them and I did ask him to take some out and he did :) One of mine bloomed and I will post a picture soon. A firend was throwing them away and I got Tons of them.

Next time I need to put mu name on the bags and such as anyone could look up what I was giving them. Would have been much easier for the reciever

I did get the bag, thanks Sandy! My red ones (only have three or four left) that you gave me at Jacksonville years ago have leaves but no blooms yet.

Baja, what color were those in the box?

Sheila, thet re Joey Hoey : variegated red & apricot