Oh Happy, FYI: That's what the big, slightly blue hosta that you'll be getting from me looks like. They are from the original plant. A *robust* grower.
Yardening May 17+ 2014
Typ, I love that Ruby Falls!
I got my redbud at 50% off last fall. I think the original price was around $100. It was in pretty sad shape after spending all summer in a container, but it's doing great now.
That is such a pretty red bud Typ love the leaf color. I stopped at 1 nursery Friday but they only had the tall redbuds. SSG where did you get your Rising Sun last year?
Catmint, I got it at Behnke's.
But it gets to be 10-15 feet wide. Do you think you have enough space for two serviceberries or a non-weeping redbud? That is, without shading out your sun bed?
Good point SSG. The weeping redbud is probably my best choice. Maybe Behnke's would still have them
Catmint, I'm headed there right now for the bonsai sale. I'll check out their prices for you. :)
Thanks so much SSG! Wish I were in town and could go with you!
Can somebody explain how a 2 inch frog got into my living room? You have to go up about 6-7 steps to get on the deck and my front door. It did amuse the cats until I rescued it and put it outside. My landlord swears he didn't bring it in and sneak it in my room.
Sally, the hawk is still hanging around. I like watching the birds dive bomb it and chase it away, it always comes back.
Off to Richmond for the weekend, visiting my niece in the hospital having chemo and staying with my sister. Her husband is a grill master, everything he cooks is fantastic. Tonight is BBQ short ribs, grilled carrots and macaroni salad. I am contributing hummus, pita chips and snickerdoodles.
Have a safe weekend everyone!
Sorry to hear about your niece Catbird! Hope she is doing okay. Glad you are able to go be with them.
Um, maybe the frog was there before you moved in, and has been eating bugs this whole time?
I'm sorry to hear about your niece, Catbird, and wish her the best of luck in beating cancer.
I'm digging up diseased Cherry Laurels so I can replace them with Rhododendrons. They had "shot hole fungus" as well as some other disease, both controllable with copper fungicide spray.
I'm going to throw out all of the mulch and dead leaves, and will put fresh soil around the Rhododendrons. Should I also drench the entire bed in copper fungicide, or just plant the Rhodos and hope they'll be okay? I'd rather not use copper fungicide unless absolutely necessary because my fish pond is downhill; however, on the other hand, the fungicide would have to permeate the rubber pond liner to contaminate the pond.
Help me decide please !
So sorry to hear you're struggling with the fungus Muddy! :-( no words of wisdom just commiserating.
I finally had some time to read this thread. Hope your niece does as well as my friends who went thru it, Catbird.
Speaking of Redbuds, I'm thinking of moving my 9 year old one to another bed entirely. The winter did a number on quiet a few of the trees and bushes so that some of their placements look odd.
I'm slowly converting most of the perennial beds to hold all sorts of flowering shrubs with the flowers only on the periphery. The poison ivy and weeds are getting too much for me to handle in so many beds.
Catbird, I hope all goes well with your niece's treatment!
Muddy, so rhodies are susceptible to the same kind of fungus? That's unfortunate! That's a *ton* of extra work.
They seem to be only somewhat susceptible to the fungus. I'm encouraged by the fact that a Rhododendron growing into one of the diseased shrubs only had a few diseased leaves every now and then.
The new Rhododendrons were relatively cheap, so I might hope for the best, drench the soil if they show signs of disease, and throw them out if they get as bad as the Cherry Laurels did.
Catbird- safe driving, and glad the food will help make it more fun. You should post a picture of the quilt you made for your niece. Its so pretty! I cannot believe a frog went all the way up there. Then again, some are 'tree frogs'...so...but what a surprise!
RRR, Ortho makes a poison ivy killer that we use to spot treat with little or no collateral damage. It also works pretty well on honeysuckle, and multiflora.
Almost any woody vine.
Catbird, This guy visited us on the 2nd floor while we were in the Bahamas, climbing over 2 stories of masonry in the hot sun.
This message was edited May 24, 2014 11:01 PM
I interrupted Ric's post. Here is his picture.
He's a cute little guy. I wonder what possessed him to climb so high.
Love the frogs LOL
Ric, I'm going to try Ortho's Poison Ivy Killer!!!
Roses---The spray/liquid for the Poison Ivy and brush killer works the
same way as weed killer-that is--the leaves have to be actively growing
for the spray to be absorbed into the roots. Spraying it on old, existing foliage
is nor effective. You need to have fresh growth.
To accomplish this--you need to cut back the Poison Ivy, as low as you want,
and allow it to re-grow a bunch of new leaves. THEN-you spray this stuff on it.
Read the product info on the peel-off booklet on the back of the bottle.--
maybe the newer sprays are effective on all kinds of growth.
My info is a bit older--but it makes sense. I always tell my customers the above way.
Gita
I really don't think it's necessary to cut it back, and I hate getting close enough to spray it let alone cut it. I get the darn stuff to easily and often to tempt fate.
Practically all I have to do is look at poison ivy and I start reacting. :(
I use regular old round up on the stuff, wait for a very hot sunny day when it hasn't really rained in a while. The plant will take it in very fast and die. die. DIE!
This message was edited May 26, 2014 3:31 PM
Ric and I planted the Port Odoras today.
Rains here almost every nite. Sprays are not really working yet. However, I don't need to water as much. Not even the new transplants and additions.
At a nursery in PA. This ninebark coppertina is $19.99 !!!
Cat---
We have those shrubs too--same price.
Almost sold one to a couple the other day--but they could not fit it in their car.
They really liked the fact that it turns burgundy red after blooming (Fall???)
We have about 7 or 8 of them... Nice shrub!
G.
our fig tree is ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!! showing tiny leaves of growth at the base. unbelievable! I was showing a friend our dead tree and low and behold growth at the base has emerged! The newly planted cherry tree just a few feet next to the fig is doing well. I hate to move it. I wonder if they can grow together side by side? fruit tree buddies. what do you think?
Oh Wind I am so happy for you. So is my Banana Grove coming back up.
Ny neighbor, Olga, had someone come and cut her BIG Fig tree down.
It WAS old and dead.
A year ago, I took some cuttings of her Fig tree--thinking someone on DG may
want to have one--if they make it. All but one slowly died out. ONE survived!
THE one!!!
I had it under my lights--and it seemed forever to sit in a 'frozen state" of ONE
green, tight leaf bud.
The other day,Olga was whining how she will miss it (????) and how all the
cuttings her son and grandkids had started. ALL dead!!! And--SHE" being the one
that hated it--as it was too big and sprawled and the falling leaves were a mess....
We were sitting at my patio table and chatting. She was so sorry the tree died....
I, calmly, got up and got my pot with her little fig tree cutting in it , put it on the
table and i said--"This is from YOUR Fig tree"...She almost cried.....
The tight bud had now leafed out and, I think, it has a future...but in MY care for
another year. I read here--somewhere--that new Fig cuttings need to be kept
inside for the first 2 years--and that is what i will do. She CANNOT have it--just yet...
Odd--how things work out. Gita
that is so nice, Gita!!
Wow! Gita. So sweet.
And that's what it's all about.
I have a cutting from you labeled Fig Tree. It may be the one too.
Well--Sally--how old is the cutting? How is it doing? How big is it?
She had 3 Figs. I had taken cuttings in the past from all 3 and shared them
at a Swap about 3 years ago??? (two???)
Do you remember when you got it?
G.
Gita, did the people who cut her fig tree down remove the root stump? if not, it may grow back from the base roots... so many peoples figs are just now sprouting... unbelievable
I'm so glad we didn't rush to chop ours down
it is pretty great that you have a cutting from her sentimental and special tree
Wind, I don't know whether this will help you or not, but here's a link to a Washington Post article about this winter's damage to fig trees: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/as-the-heat-arrives-still-fixing-winter-damage/2014/05/20/89808b46-d6e0-11e3-8a78-8fe50322a72c_story.html
It seems that you might have to cut off the top of the fig tree and let it "start over" by producing suckers from the base, so in that case maybe you can maintain it in shrub form at the base of your new tree.
Gita, You have such a tender heart.
Slowly but surly. Got the big Port Odora Alocasias planted yesterday and a good number of the cannas in as well. Some of the dahlias, and a few of the annuals went in too. Got the other blue pot planted, planted the other one a couple of days ago. The bathtub is drained, cleaned and fixed, the small round pond is drained. Now Ric needs to get some pumps running and I need to clean up the round pond. We have to get the monster water iris out of the bird bath, Ric and Jamie couldn't pull it out so it will have to be emptied so they can get in an get it. We need to finish the tile and grouting on that as well. and clean that.
Holly, you and Ric are doing so much work! Looking forward to seeing some more photos of the results! :-)
Along the lines of the rhododendron chat--Seq (or anyone else), do you have any idea what cultivar my rhodie is? It was pre-existing when I bought the house.
