PLANT ADDICTS CHAT # 2

Another pretty but pricey, with white-tipped branches, variagated Irish Yew

sweet Dawn Redwood, still thinking about where one would fit... might just put one in even if it might need taking down when it gets too big?

OT Lily that might be 'Leslie Woodruff'

thinking about what to put in when the tall but invasive Alanthus come down (didn't know ID of the mature trees until arborist was here). evergreens for screening & winter interest would be nice, not sure we need anything hugely big & tall... maybe eastern hemlocks, which are on the list for being eligible for the $25 coupon from MD...

whoops forgot pics of redwood & lily...

re. redwood, has anybody put in a tree *knowing* it would eventually outgrow its place, just because you loved it when smaller?

i'll give Chaste tree some TLC till we get together. I will post if / when a date is made for a casual impromptu soiree.

Best wishes to Michelle, I hope this finds her ready to get on with the rest of a long happy healthy life

Wow Jill you have quite the collection there. Congrats on your new Redwood. I think one should be in every yard :)

Plant addict story of the day (seriously, I have a problem): I went to the local nursery to get another bag of Biotone and some Neem. I ended up looking around at some plants (big surprise). I know a bunch of the people who work there so I did a little catching up. I found a purple monarda, which I've been looking for casually since the beginning of summer. Just then, someone I know says, hey Jeff there's a $80 Bracken's Brown Magnolia in the yardsale area for $25! I say, sure I'll check it out, doubtful that it will pass muster. Much to my chagrin it was a very nice specimen for the money. They also had an $8 one but they were both huge 5 gallon pots and I figured if I was digging the whole I might as well put the best one in. So I went home with it. I didn't need it that's for sure but I shoehorned it in somewhere :)

It's either you buy it, or it suffers a horrible painful death...you would not want to be responsible for that.
;^D

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a345

True that, in essence I was doing the plant a service by taking it home!

yes, it was an act of altruism, right Seq? LOL!

Exactly 😁

That's a good-looking shrub, Sequoia!

Nice score!

Those photos were of trees that didn't follow me home -- yet -- as well as of a couple that did. I am really contemplating that Dawn Redwood... I'm sure it will go on sale again soon... Sequoia, what are you going to do when yours gets big, or are you just going to "think about it tomorrow," like Scarlett?

Haha...I'm excited for it to get big. It will be limbed up pretty good as to let sun or at least bright shade below. I plan on limbing all our trees up high so that light can penetrate beneath them and I can grow cool shade/woodsey plants all about.

Yesterday (Sunday) the 50% off all shrubs...trees...Roses....etc. went up.

We have several pretty large "Fire and Ice" Hydrangea Panniculata.
Just starting to bloom...big clusters of white blooms...over 4' tall.
i think the reg. price is $29.98--so 1/2 off........:o)

We also have a lot of Hinoki Cypress evergreens. My favorites!
They have that neat, wavy look. grows 5'-6' tall...Great for by the house...

http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/743/golden-dwarf-hinoki-cypress/

Does anyone grow plumleaf azalea, Rhododendron prunifolium? It's a summer bloomer! And it's native to the deep south, so very tolerant of our hot and humid summers.

I checked the local nurseries but this seems to be a specialty item.

I might have to check out that HD sale. I need a hibiscus!

Yeah SSG, I bought one last fall. I don't think it's going to bloom this year though since it's a tiny guy. It did make it through the winter though and put on a little bit of new growth. I got mine at Mountain Mist nursery online.

Hadn't heard of the plumleaf azalea before so looked it up online. My, it's pretty! This also caught my eye:
"The plumleaf azalea, Rhododendron prunifolium, is a wild azalea that grows only in a few counties along the Georgia–Alabama border in the Chattahoochee River Valley. It is considered the rarest azalea in the Eastern United States."
Maybe online is the way to go?

Yeah I don't think you'd find something like that way up here. Most retail nurseries have no imagination, mostly because the people who shop there don't know anything other than boring stuff to buy.

Catmint, it's supposed to be easy to propagate so not that uncommon in the trade: "Luckily, plumleaf azalea, although of limited natural distribution, is readily available in nurseries."

Seq, thanks for the Mountain Mist suggestion!

woohoo, SSG--go for it! :-) It does look really pretty.

Sure thing SSG! They had great customer service and a nice selection.

So... I can't seem to stop myself from "rescuing" plants from work. I rescued a Rhodo (no idea on the ID) a couple weeks ago, it was so sad! The rescue effort only cost me $9, so what the heck, right? I potted her up from the 1-gallon pot she was in to a 3-gallon pot. That was 2 weeks ago. I've brought her home now and want to install her... but now I've got to thinking; since she's only been potted "up" for 2 weeks, and it's mid-summer, should I give her more time in the pot, to "settle down" a bit before I disturb her again? Like, maybe mid-late Fall? Thankfully, since I potted her up, she is no longer dropping leaves and is no longer droopy and wilted-looking, nor yellowing. All good signs. I don't want to press my luck - first time with a Rhodo!

Also,... when the guys (at work) were building the new concrete couch, they planted up the back and arms.. as Bossman was installing the Liriope, he would pull off bits that wouldn't fit and just toss them on the ground for trash... they still had roots on them!! Guess who brought them all home?! < =D (I've never had Liriope before either.. this is really a year for trying new things!) :)

Haha....nice Speedie! I usually won't mess with an ailing Rhodie. I think they are too particular to bring back from the brink. Lol...even though I'm saying this to you, I'm trying to rehab one of my own right now. The Liriope should do well for you. Everyone says how it's a good shade plant but I think it depends on which you have. I have a variegated one and the one I have in the shade doesn't do as well as the ones that get more sun.

Jeff, is your Rhodie in the ground, or in a pot? I'm really nervous about disrupting her again so soon. I think I've changed my mind and will let her chill out (and fill out) in her new 3-gallon home until later in the Fall.

I've yet to get off my lazy butt and get those teeny little chores done and then get outside. When I get just 1 day off, it's so hard to get motivated to do anything!! =/

(at least I'm showered and dressed though) =)

Speedie, Most of my azaleas and Rhodies spend their lives in containers here and do quite well. They also overwinter that way for me. I vote wait and let settle in befor further disturbance and you can check the water/drainage and give better personal care than if planted out. I'd make sure yours is 'planted high' and would suggest adding an inch or two of shreded leaves/ pine needles to further conserve moisture for shallow roots and a shady spot where you can check on it (evenly moist) You can even trim back the top growth a bit to lighten the load on stressed out roots. Rescued ones survive quite well (unless diseased) but may take a year our two to look prime again. They are not in active growth right now so as long as they do not dry out completely they should be ok. Any comments on the soil it was potted in and what you have repotted it with?

Critter you asked a question about Dawn Redwoods." re. redwood, has anybody put in a tree *knowing* it would eventually outgrow its place, just because you loved it when smaller?"

Well, here is a pic of what my neighbors did after they cleared all of the mature trees from their lot last fall. In the center of the pic is a yellow and red fireplug for some size perspective on this island bed that measures 15 x 30 feet and borders the highway.

In the bed they planted 3 Dawn Redwoods, two Serviceberries and a Blue Spruce!
When I asked if they didn't think the Dawn Redwoods would get way too big for that space, they said they would 'be long dead and gone before that happened' Shades of Scarlett.

Thank you Judy, your info is HUGELY helpful! I'll be able to get my hands on oodles of shredded leaves to mulch her with when she gets installed (I've got a lovely brightly shaded spot all picked out for her already), and I've already got some great organic Acid-Loving Plant fertilizer, so I don't think I'll be in search mode for pine needles. (and trying to pick them out of my little wooded edging would be far too difficult, there's too many types of trees in there).

As for the soil that was in her original pot; not sure, she was so root-bound when I transplanted her there was hardly any soil left! In the new, bigger, pot, I used a 2-1 ratio combination of Perlite and compost. I gave her a bit of a root pruning when I put her in the new pot (the roots were pale tan, a good sign!), along with loosening out the roots too, and a bit of top-pruning as well. For now, I think I'm going to just set the pot in her designated location, surround the pot with all the leaves I can find (not many at this time of year), and just keep an eye on her. Oh yeah, almost forgot.. I also gave her a nice feeding with a "starter" fertilizer when she went into the new pot too. (Dr. Earth starter fert., I love Dr. Earth products!!)

If you can think of anything else that we've missed, please let me know, and thank you very much, I appreciate your help. ♥

Oh my GOSH Judy... what, are they deliberately planting a mini forest in there!?!?

Speedie, mine was languishing in the ground where it was due to a sneaky drought in the late summer/early fall of last year and a terrible winter. I yanked it to make room for better performing perennials. It is one of my favorite colors and was headed to the dumpster but I had a last minute change of heart and planted it in a new area for rehab. I didn't amend the soil when I planted it but sprinkled Biotone on top of the soil and treated it with kelp and epsom salt solutions for three weeks after. I hoped those things would help it. It's doing alright now, probably under a little shock but I think it will pull through. I'm going to wrap it in burlap this winter to give it some extra care and see how it does next spring.

Haha...that's funny Coleup. Bye bye blue spruce! The serviceberry might hold it's own a little but that whole area is going to disappear and in a hurry! Long dead and gone?? Do they only plan on living another 7-10 years?

Speedie-
With your rescued rhodo it is best to keep it in a pot. If it can recover it is more likely to do so without competition for water and nutrients.

And develop a more substantial root system before being put in the ground.

All very sound advice, thank you Paul and David. I agree completely, so now she is (in her pot) relaxing in the shady side of the house along the treeline. Sadly, I did too good a job getting rid of the fallen leaves, so I tucked the pot back up to the undergrowth a tad for a bit better protection, while still being able to get rained on. I figure early-mid December I'll go ahead and install her if she's looking ok by then.
Jeff, Biotone and Epsom Salts solution? Please, tell me more! :) Of what sort of help is this?
Thanks! :)

Biotone is just an Espoma fertilizer that I use all the time when installing new plants. It has Mycorrhizae and mild fertilizer. It's supposed to decrease transplant stress and promote root growth. The epsom salt is something I only first tried on this plant. A local nursery owner told me about it and said that it helps a plant grow more leaves and increases magnesium uptake. Who knows if it works or not but he said people use it on sick plants so I said to myself, it can't hurt. The kelp is supposed to help the plants take up fertilizer. I don't know, I figured I had a good guinea pig at least.

Well, sounds good to me! Time to do a little researching to find out how to dilute the Epsom Salts solution, thank you! =)

As for the Biotone, I feel silly now, I sure am familiar with Espoma products, we sell them at work for goodness sake! (need to go soak my head.. tsk tsk...) I have a favourite fertilizer line, totally organic as well, with Mycorrhizae etc; Dr. Earth. I used a handful of their starter fert in the pot when I up-potted her, so I think that much is covered. Will definitely try out the Epsom Salts solution too though. :)

...too many free-range cats strolling rampantly in my 'hood, I think I'll pass on anything that smells "fishy". ;)

Man, I could use a couple of those baddies for my area to keep the rabbits away. Maybe you should put them on your swap list...LOL

Speedie & Sequoia, every chlorophyll molecule has 4 magnesium atoms in it. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, hence its use in promoting new foliage.

Sweet, thanks for the knowledge GT!

I agree very interesting-thanks Greenthumb!

How cool GT, thank you!! We always learn such good stuff from you. :) Tomorrow, when she needs a drink, she will get an Epsom Salts drink.. as will my lettuce and the Caladiums. (and... and...) ;)

The kelp is great for keeping off the aphids too. They hate the stuff. Just start spraying it on before you see them and you will not have any all season. Its also great for high blood pressure because of the magnesium and calcium in it.

Interesting Yehudith. Although I'm not sure I'd want to drink it, it smells really bad.