Yardening May 17+ 2014

Yeah Speedie, plumbago is super slow to return. Give it a month or so and those two sprigs will have friends and they will be nice and full again.

I have phlox divaricata as well. I planted it two years ago and it's finally blooming this season and it looks beautiful. It is getting taken over by sweet woodruff and tiarella and it stands above them both blooming and looks fantastic. It does spread a little. The first year mine got eaten by the rabbits pretty good.

My phlox divaricata is finally starting to spread after 3 years. It is making nice colonies, but it was slow to take off. My stems are 12-15" - definitely not 2'. SSG and Catmint, I'm starting to think Silver Spring must have fantastic growing conditions :)

That's good to hear Terri, hopefully mine will be an even bigger colony next year.

I came home tonight to find giant holes in the front yard and half of my caladiums dug up.

Those #*&@$ squirrels!

The bulbs were planted a couple of weeks ago, so it's not like the soil was freshly disturbed. They don't even eat the bulbs but just toss them aside. Btw, none of the bulbs that I found had any growth on them anyway. Sigh. This is my first year planting caladiums in the ground. Never again!

Sorry to hear about this, SSG. :-( I have some extra mixed fancy leaf bulbs left, if you'd still like to try.

Thanks, Catmint! I think I'm just going to try different kinds of begonias. Sigh.

Here is my phlox divaricata.

Aspenhill, maybe it is not quite 2'--LOL. Glad to hear yours is colonizing well! Maybe in a few years mine will as well...

ssg, If they are still firm put them back in, caladiums are late this year. Ground temp has to be 50*F for growth, the only ones I have growth on are on a heat mat.
I got my sweet potato slips today and they are already planted. I got the Georgia Jets again. They did so well last year in spite of the ground hog and the condition I received them in. These are so nice compared to the stems I got online last year.

I'm eating a sweet potatoe now. Where do you get your slips from Ric?

Thanks, Ric, I replanted the ones that I could find.

I unpotted one of the Aaron Caladiums to see what hings look like in there---
There were the tiniest little nubs of growth--not sure if it was the top or the bottom
of the corm????

The smooth, rounded part is the bottom--right?
The slightly concave part of the bulb is the top---right?

Having second thoughts if I planted them right--but i think i did...

G.

Farmer's coop in Glen Burnie, which is a Southern States store, has sweet potato slips- not that you'd come all this way for them, Paul. Hey- want to split a bundle? I was considering planting some. I think its bundles of 25 which is more than I really want.

Yes Paul, finding rooted slips can be tough. Farmers coops, Agway (maybe), or a little country store like where I found mine, are the best sources. It so happens the guy at the store knows a lady who runs a GH that specializes in slips. She grows like 15 different kinds, but this year she's sending truck loads to the south because the extreme cold damaged so many places down there.
Sally, mine came as a bundle of 25 also, I think they were something like $5.49. Last year I think I paid $17 and $5 shipping online and was not pleased with what I got. Next year I plan to start my own. I tried this year and started too late, I'm just getting sprouts on mine. I would imagine starting at Christmas may work. LOL

Sally - Yes!

Gita, I was assuming the flat part was the bottom and the rounded nubby part was the top, but maybe I planted them upside down?

I definitely planted at least one of my caladiums upside down, so I would say it's the opposite of whatever looks like it should be. ;)

Cool Terp, I'll have them next week.

I tried to get slips from a purple one from the grocery store but maybe that was treated to not sprout, like I've read about. Ric, can they take a long time to get going?

Weird tubers- when in doubt plant sideways LOL

Yesterday I found the few I had saved from last year- doubt they're going to be much but I potted them. STILL waiting on sprouts. Mine have been potted and in the sunny bed for 3-4 weeks now- certainly they have felt warmth, but maybe it needs to be consistently warm for a period of time.

I don't think it would matter a terrible lot, I don't think they're going to come up in Beijing. LOL Now with your sweet potatoes, remember green side up! When raising chickens it is also critical not to plant the wrong end. ROTFLMAO
With caladiums I can't always tell which way is up, they should come with a little arrow stamped on the side, I mean if they can laser a UPC on fruit, come on... snort,snort


Yes Sally mine have been in water for 3 months and are just now sprouting .

This message was edited May 23, 2014 7:49 AM

Ric--since i dug all these up--I have NO little arrow...

I was going, kind of, by how you plant non-stop Begonia corms...
Concave side up.

Also--maybe I don't remember correctly--but I could swear that I saw sweet Potato starts potted under the Bonnies veggie stand at HD.

I wave to stop by there today--I will check...
Bonnies is everywhere nowadays---was surprised to see all their stuff right outside
my Ace hardware Store at the end of my street... That was a first!

You should see how rough they handle all thew flats! They throw them around...
Their job cannot be fun--they come and re-fill our tables every other day!!!.
Not an easy job. The trays get so picked over--they have to put all things back together...

If I have time--i try to consolidate all the trays before they come. Toss the dead ones too.
Makes it easier for them.

G.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Anyone planning a BBQ?

Back at you getting ready for swap, and just loving the garden. GQ-
I'm glad for the time off and nice weather

cross posted, ahaha what a face!

yes, I think maybe next time I'll just plant the caladium bulbs sideways--LOL!

I am finally coming to the conclusion that my weeping cherry is just not a healthy tree--never has been since I got it--and I should probably think about a replacement. (Photo below of the poor pathetic thing)

So the question is--what to replace it with when the time comes? It's a full sun spot. I'd like something small so it doesn't shade my full sun garden beds. I'd also like something pretty and native that supports pollinators and birds. I already have a serviceberry and a spicebush.

GQ--no bbqs here, just a gym full of girls playing volleyball, and a Super 8 motel! (sigh)

and yes, what a face!! :-o Adorable pic.

Catmint, how about a weeping redbud? Lavender Twist is a cute one.

that is a great idea, SSG! :-) I didn't realize there were such small redbuds!!

I think Ruby Falls is another variety, and it has maroon colored leaves.

Covey is another weeping cultivar.

I read up on the various redbud cultivars when I was researching Rising Sun. Redbuds are such fantastic trees for small gardens. :)

Sally, I followed your advice and pruned the transplanted oakleaf hydrangea. It's looking so much better now! I really thought I had killed it, but it's looking much better now.

I potted up my moonlight caladiums and put them in the warmest places that I could find. They didn't sprout. I took them out of the pot today to check them. A couple little ones were a little soft but the biggest ones were firm. No sign of eyes or roots. I sprinkled everything with comet and spread them out on a tray. I am going to wait for sprouts , plant the sprouted ones in individual sprouts and keep them alive inside next winter so that I don't have to do this again. I think I will keep at least one as a houseplant. I was reading about caladium culture at...
http://www.classiccaladiumsllc.com
They have photos of disbudding. They made a disbudding tool with a dowel and filed nail. Each caladium has photos au naturel and disbudded. I don't see much of a difference, so I am not going to bother disbudding mine - assuming they ever bud in the first place.

That is Winston the pug during our walk around the lake this morning. It is hard to catch him with the digital camera because he keeps moving and the camera has a delay. I was surprised by that photo. He is snoring in his basket under the desk until the rain shower passes.

I have lots of yardening to do in my new place - work and weather permitting.

Your Rising Sun also sounds tempting! Guess I need to stop at the nursery and see what they have available.

I can tell it is going to be gorgeous!

I'd love to visit and go shopping, speedie. Next time I move, I am moving to Marlyand. I am tired of polar vortexes and slate belt rocks! Thanks for the link to yellow peonies. Once I get my existing peonies planted, I will have to add a yellow one!

I have three pink tree peonies starting to leaf out in their moving pot. I also have regular Sandra B. and Sorbet peonies. I love Sorbet but am disappointed by SB's lack of fragrance. I am trying to find the perfect place to plant them. They survived two moves and a polar vortex winter! I had them protected with peat moss and mulch with grated soap, hair from my hairbrush pepper flakes and a hanging bar of soap to deter the deer.

My new place has a lilac, some azaleas, peonies, one non multiflora rose and mystery plants. Rhododendron grow wild around the lake. There are huge colonies at least 8' tall. I am hoping that at least one of the existing peonies is a fragrant one like the ones my grandmother used to grow. The bud looks like the same bright pink color....

I think that the purple petunias in the yellow pot would look nice with Coral Calibrachoas or the new orange African Sunset petunias. If I don't find them, I'll try some nasturtium seeds.

Yes it will be beautiful GQ!

Sounds like you have some beautiful preexisting plants. Colonies of 8' rhodies sounds nice!

This message was edited May 23, 2014 1:08 PM

GQ, your new place has so much room for yardening! And that pug is adorable.

I'd love to live near a place with colonies of rhodies! That's the best thing about the mountains :)

That's a good idea Muddy!

Cat and SSG, I was totally thinking weeping redbud too! I actually just planted a 'Ruby Falls' at my office (I'm the unofficial landscaper). The one we bought is definitely going through an awkward adolescent stage, but I think it'll make a nice tree when it grows a few years. The problem with these trees is that they are new and fashionable and therefore NOT cheap. This was labeled $130! :O