Yardening June #2, 2014

Pretty coreopsis, Speedie! That pale pink is very nice--and peeking out from between the leaves all blushing and sweet. :-) My thought for the pink one was also veronica spikes--or maybe liatris?

Sally, my veronica isn't really tapered--they are thin little spikes, though. I've also seen salvia nemorosa like that. Photo?

This message was edited Jun 15, 2014 5:52 PM

Speedie, your pic #4 is a Veronica.

We have a 60' long pyracantha hedge with 30 plants. It was planted last spring. As for the skunk, he didn't hit my newly planted area of the garden. So far so good!

wow, that pyracantha hedge sounds like a sight to behold!!

It is really nice for sure! I didn't take any pics last season when the berries were hot but hopefully they'll look great towards the end of this summer too and I'll post pics then.

Look forward to the pics, Seq! :-)

I have a question about rooting from cuttings. I want to be able to get some of those roses from my neighbor's bush before they're gone. I've never rooted a cutting before, but I want to make sure I do a good job so I have some to share. I do have rooting powder. Any tips for how to root a cutting? Any special place to cut from the mother plant?

I don't know if anyone else has done this recently but I've found myself on Northcreek's website checking things out and getting ideas =}

Cat--
I think rooting a rose cutting depends a lot of what kind of a Rose it is.

If it is an old shrub or floribunda Rose--you may have a chance...
Maybe even with a wild rose.....a Rugosa"--but not so easy with a Hybrid rose.

My Mom had an old rose of some kind in her yard--and she would just take a jar,
put some soil in it, and stick a cutting in it. Put a plastic bag over it for a while-
wait....and it would root.

My Pakistani neighbor can root anything! She just sticks pieces of whatever in
her beds--and by next year--there's a plant! Roses especially! They all root for her.

She believes that the 'secret" is to water the cuttings EVERY day! Must work!

G.

There is some type of trick for rooting Roses, you put them in a raw potato.

thanks, Muddy. I'm thinking some kind of Lobelia also... I did have a Lobelia cardinalis last year. Just have to wait for it to bloom, I guess, and see what color it is! :-)

thanks, Gita--I'll try the soil with a baggie.

I wonder how the raw potato would work?

So, as far as actually taking the cutting goes--is there any trick or guidelines as to where to cut? Or will any place do?

thanks for all the tips!! Hope everyone had a terrific time in the yard today! Perfect weather...

Speedie - I think #4 is perhaps Veronica 'Giles Van Hees' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/47540/

Agree that #5 of your first series is likely a Lobelia, and that #3 is doing a good imitation of Solidago sphacelata 'Golden Fleece'.

Ah HA!! That's the one David, thank you! Come to think of it, now I remember having had some of those seeds (collected from work a few years ago), and deciding last year that I needed to do something with them.. so into a couple pots they went. It's growing well in another pot too.. I think this Fall they will get transplanted out into The Big Bed.. which is too bare this year for my liking.

Sally, pokeweed huh? Funny, I don't remember sowing any of those seeds, wonder how they got in there? Those little things are ALL over the bed, randomly scattered here and there... weird! Oh well, hopefully I won't hate 'em too much. ;)

Jeff, that hedgerow is 60' long!?!? WOW, now I REALLY can't wait to see pics of it!! :)

thanks again for your keen eye, Greenthumb! So #1 Coreopsis lanceolata, #3 is my Solidago 'Golden Fleece', and #5 must be my Lobelia cardinalis 'Black Truffle' which I thought didn't come back from last year. It sort of threw me because the leaves are more green and less dark than last year. But that's really all it can be since I did not have regular cardinal flower last year!

I'm thinking #4 is Scabiosa columbaria, seeds from Gita. #2 is still a bit of a mystery, but maybe I transplanted some Solidago without realizing it...

1) #4 from above
2) #2 from above

Yeah Speedie, the one side of our yard is approximately 150' long and I've planted a hedgerow along the entire side. The first 60' is aronia arbutifolia, which I just planted this spring. The next 60' is the pyracantha. Then my Giant Sequoia and after that, we have 3 Nellie Stevens Hollies. Hopefully all of them grow nicely! Our next door neighbors were renters and didn't really take care of the place, now the landlords are selling the property but it still sort of looks like a dump so we're unsure of the type that will buy it. We're praying it's a nice family or someone who likes a fixer upper.

Speedie, #3 in your most recent series of photos does look like Pokeweed as Sally suggests. Also your comment " Those little things are ALL over the bed, randomly scattered here and there..." is consistent with that plant. Birds eat the berries, then perch elsewhere and leave their droppings. Common to have clusters of young plants at scattered locations. Carefully dig up one of the plants and see if the stem is reddish at its base and that it has a long, white taproot. If it is Pokeweed, you'll be MUCH happier if you remove ALL the plants NOW, being sure to get the taproots. In time they will develop massive, deep taproots that will require serious excavation to extract.

Yesterday was my first opportunity yarden after a week of rain.

I only had 4 hours, which wasn't enough time to finish weeding and deadheading. I have pokeweed growing *everywhere*!

I cut down all the daffodils leaves. They weren't fully yellow yet but I just couldn't stand looking at the floppy leaves anymore.

I finally have caladium leaves that are unfurling. The rest are still just poking through.

Yeah I think I had a bunch of pokeweed too. I pulled out what I could see.

just heard we have a black bear in Mt. Laurel!! spotted just up the street. Last year we had a bear cut through our yard and cross route 38 to the lake. We are by no means wooded lots. Mostly developed areas... poor bear. New Jersey has quite a large population of bears more north than us and they are apparently making their way south. The more I learn the less I fear them, but there are many people so scared though. They had to euthanize a bear in PA because it was injured from people shooting at it with beebee guns and bow and arrows...

another beautiful day today

still transplanting seedlings believe it or not

That's ridiculous. People have no regard for mother nature at all. The woman I work with will shoot any animal that comes on her property for no other reason than 'it doesn't belong' on her property. She lives in the middle of the woods, get real. The bear should be trapped and then transported back to the forest. It makes me sick to hear these things about how humans treat this earth.

Yesterday was a very hard & strange day for me, I watered my plants without my beloved Bandit there for the first time - he got very sick the last couple of months & we had to say goodbye to him yesterday afternoon! I'm heartbroken, but I know we did the right thing!

Aww man, I'm sorry, that's always sad :( I dread the day I might have to make that decision for my two cats. Two of them are 9 years old. I first got them when I moved in on my own in July 2005. They were brother and sister from the womb. At least you can thank God for all the good times you did have with Bandit.

Just to be clear to all, I was speaking about wild animals in the above post.

Oh Becky, I'm so sorry to hear that. :(

Wind, that poor bear in PA. We've had bear sightings very close to DC.

I'm so sorry Bec! I know how hard it is when our furry loved ones leave us! :-(

sorry for your loss Bec; was Bandit a dog or cat? either, or... always so sad, especially when they don't die naturally and you have to make a painful decision. I had to do that with a few of our pets...

Pets are family. I find that making a memorial garden is a nice way to keep the memories close.

I'm sorry Bec. Bandit has been part of you on DG as long as I've known you. That's very difficult, saying goodbye and "see you over the Rainbow Bridge"

Thanks all & Sally, you're right - he was with me all the time in VA and for a year here, my little shadow and underfooter...'we've lost so many of our beloved pets over the last 21 years - losing Bandit was the hardest of them all...I know there is another little guy out there who needs me as much as I need him, Bandit just has to guide him to me!!

Rest in peace Bandit

This message was edited Jun 17, 2014 1:16 AM

Aaaw Becky, I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of Bandit!! :( You will indeed be guided to "the right one".. when your heart is ready.

That poor bear, Wind! And GOSH Jeff, that co-worker of yours needs to get a clue!! What did she think when she moved out into the middle of the woods - there's nothing there but her!?

Greenthumb, thank you, I will dig/pull one out as soon as I can to check it out... if it is as you describe, then I'll remove all of 'em. This is so strange, I've never had these before.

What an adorable baby, Bec. I know he is waiting for you over the Rainbow Bridge and is watching over you right now!

Bec, I know how much you will miss Bandit, that is a sad part of loving a pet their life span is so much shorter than ours but they brighten our lives while they are with us. You are right when you are ready there will be another little guy that will need you.

So sorry about Bandit, Bec. You're right he'll guide you to another.

The price of feeding the birds, poke weed, mulberry, choke cherry to name a few. On the brighter side they also plant rain forest and many trees on tropical isles.

David, I just removed a taproot and stump from an old poke weed, that could have easily supported a 10-12 foot pine.

well, I was up early today! I've had a good dose of gardening already. Got the Geranum Espresso (thx happy) in just the right spot after moving a hosta. Moved some yarrow to the back corner. I've been studying the yarrow every chance and mine hasn't been that much of a pollen bug magnet- still it will get another chance back there, next year. The milkweed is blooming and smells wonderful, and lLittle Gem magnolia.

Youtube is not cooperating , I was going to give you Oh what a beautiful morning from 'Oklahoma!'

I'll s start...
There's a bright sunny haze in the meadow...

Bec, so sorry to hear about Bandit. I have had several beloved dogs over the years, and it is really hard when they are gone. The most special to me was Jordan. She has been gone for two years now. Like you, I feel when the time is right another dog will find me. In a way it has - it seems like I have been watching family, friends, and neighbors' dogs when they go out of town much more than I ever did before. Most of these dogs have been rescues and seem to need an extra kind heart and tender hand, which suits me just fine. The reward is seeing how safe they feel when they are with me. At some point, I am sure there will be another full time dog for me but in the meantime, I am really enjoying the part time visitors :)

Sally, I wish I was outside today instead of sitting in an office building with no windows...

I dunno Terri, it is getting pretty hot and muggy out here!

Hot and muggy in the garden is always way better than being in an air conditioned office working.....

LOL Sally--I definitely see the haze from my office window! :-)

I dunno Jeff, maybe by the pool with a cold beer, but yardening today made me wilt by noon. LOL

jeff--

You love "Hot and muggy in the garden"? I deal with that every day i am working
at the HD. Endless watering! Every hour I am there.....

Today was brutal--I was dripping all over--my hair...my neck...my forehead...
And--all the time me fighting with the big rubber hose which has its own mind...
It is called--"torque"....

I have been watering EVERY day,all day, I am working--with no break for 3 weeks..
That is NOT fun!

They are starting to cut hours--only 2 people are assigned every day to water.
There was no one before me--and no one scheduled after me.

Things are wilting and dying--and there is no one to water them.
I knock myself out to do it "right"--whereas some of the ohters just wave
the wand over the table and think that is OK--

Back tomorrow for more "punishment"....then I am off 3 days.
Sunday--I get to water ALL 8 hours I am there--with just lunch for a break.
WHOOPEEEE!

It is humanly impossible to water EVERYTHING in one day with just 2 people!
We are always interrupted to help customers too--which takes time--but which
I gladly do! I love dealing with customers....I can teach them so much!
Most of them are very grateful for what I tell them.
Plenty "AHA!" moments....YES!!!!!!

Gita

Definitely hot out there! I went out for an hour after getting home this evening and that was enough!

My new adventure/experiment for the day: I decided to take the plunge and took 4 cuttings from my neighbor's rose bush that cascades into my yard. Each one still had nice healthy roses on it, and I cut the stems randomly several inches below the blooms.

Then, I did my best to do what you all described. I took some 4" pots and filled them with very light soil (peat) and some ProMix mixed in. I drenched the soil in water. Then, I wet each stem and dipped it into the rooting powder. Then I stuck each stem in a pot and ziplocked each pot into a storage size baggy. I put them on the northern exposure window where I keep my fuchsia and fussy begonias with the goal of bright indirect light.

Okay, here they are!

So, any other tips? It would be nice to have them root so I can share them. :-)