PLANT ADDICTS CHAT #3

I think a seedling Sequoiadendron would be spectacular!

I hope you do (have a baby) Jeff....a baby changes your life forever--in a good way.
But--it does not mean it needs to be the end of gardening!

Just get one of those papoose-type baby carriers and garden away.
A good way to raise a new gardener....a little dirt never hurt anyone.

Have you ever heard of the "dig a ditch--and throw in the bulbs--cover with
dirt--and DONE!" method of planting bubs?

***************

Jan--YEAH! The bulb display in the spring may be spectacular--BUT---
the 6 weeks of looking at the yellowing leaves can drive you crazy.

Of course--it is likely--that those that plant by the thousands never have to worry
about those same bulbs coming up for another season. Just buy new ones...

Personally--I am a bit sick of daffodils and all this c--p I have to go through
watching the foliage yellow. Need to expand my horizons....OR--my beds....:o

G

What kind of bulbs did you plant, Seq?

I used to plant bulbs every fall, but have taken a break for a few years because my garden is too much in flux. I am constantly cutting into the big ones and digging up/losing the small ones.
Now that my beds are full of perennials, maybe it's time for a few hundred crocus bulbs!
.

Lol 'sequoia seedling'. Yeah it's something we're trying to plan for so we will see what God wants when the time comes.

I'm planting tons of daffs and tulips mostly but a few specialty bulbs too. I can post my list once I have my spreadsheet updated. It should be pretty though.

I can't imagine planting several thousand. That's crazy.

When daff foliage starts to yellow & droop, I think it's already done most of the good it can do for the bulb... just chop it off. A quick sideways yank will often do the trick. Last spring, the foliage held on for such a long time that it was smothering other plants trying to sprout... I ended up making quick, big braids of it to get it out of the way... but this coming season I'm just going to get rid of it once it starts being a problem. As long as I fertilize this fall (soon!) and again this spring -- once when foliage emerges and again when buds/blooms appear, according to our own "Bleek" (Bert of eflowergardens) -- I think they'll do just fine.

I'm trying out the notion of putting smaller bulbs (whose foliage shouldn't be an issue) on top of late-sprouting perennials (like the new lilies!), in part just to mark their locations so they don't get stepped on. Kids picking daffs might step on a partly-emerged lily stem, but they wouldn't step on a clump of muscari. Probably. LOL

Terri (Aspenhill) should be here soon. We're doing a little nursery-hopping this morning! :-)

Jan, does she plant the bulbs all by herself?

At Keukenhof, the gardens in The Netherlands where millions of bulbs (mostly tulips) come up every spring, the plants and blooms are always in perfect rows, evenly spaced and exactly the same height. I decided they must dig up every bulb every year, sort them by size, dig trenches of uniform depth and then replant them.

Critter, that's a great idea. I should do that to mark where I've planted things so that I don't dig them up by mistake, although I'm putting in lots of markers this year which I've never done before.

This message was edited Oct 18, 2014 5:24 PM

I was on a mission today! had to do this as the weather is going to be very cold.
Tonight-42*--and 38* Sunday night.

Today--I HAD TO get all my Coleus cuttings taken, trimmed and planted.
It took a long time--and it was windy and cold outside--AND--I was freezing
my buns off sitting outside doing this for a couple hours.BUT--I am so glad this is done!

The bummer is that I promised myself not to take more than 2-3 cuttings of each.
I failed!.....They are all so pretty. Hope I can give away some of these next spring.
Also I hope they all root and grow. I trim them right...so--usually it is all OK.

Stashed 3 big pots in my shed for tonight--brought the 2 Clivias inside for the winter--
brought my 3, still blooming, non stop Begonias inside too.

Put a big plastic bag over and around, the Acalypha, Don't want to lose it.
I will TRY to take some cuttings from it--but I had no luck last fall. However--
the plant made it through the winter--amazing! I had a pile of leaves arounf it.
It is such a splash of color in my bed!! A real, rare gem! The colors are amazing!

Walked around my garden several times to see if anything needs to be still taken care of--
and I can say--that I can now relax a bit . The Coleus cuttings were on my mind
to get done for a long time already. What a relief!

Still have my two Brugs--both in bloom. Can't do much for them. I am sure they will
be trashed after tomorrow. Later this week--I will be cutting them up and potting some
of the cut stems, and then hauling the Mamas into the Shop for their winter's snooze.
Donner is waiting for a couple cuttings of the Maya. She has waited 2 years now...

Any requests? Be glad to take some extra cuttings. My space is limited though!
I have Dr. Seuss (yellow and insanely fragrant)--and the "Maya"--has variegated leaves
and cream white blooms that fade to a pale apricot.

Still want to take cuttings of the small Dragon Wing Begonias--they were in all kinds of
planters this past summer. It is in my shed. Will do it another day.
Need to find someone to baby sit my big Hibiscus, I bought, for the winter.
Olga offered--have to ask her if she meant it and if she is up to it. I have NO sunny spots.
***Should I cut the Hibiscus back now--or in spring? I've never grown one.***

Was hoping to mow the lawn today--but that can wait another couple days. I'm pooped!
All this rain just made the grass grow really tall--really fast. Hate mowing!!!

Up at 5 AM tomorrow. Have to be at work by 7AM. They sure "jerk us around"...
Some of the really early openers start at 5:30AM. NO regular hours @ the HD.

What does one do that early you may ask? The opener has to sweep the WHOLE
Lawn Fertilizer aisle and pull out and clean one of the bays. Then--fill out the Sweep-log.
One also has to walk the whole Dept. (inside ans outside) and make sure everything
is secure and OK. Then fill out the "Safety Check List" on the computer.
Sweeping is good exercise--I always work up a sweat doing it. Burn lots of calories too...

If I (or whoever opens) doesn't do this--they can get in deep doo-doo.

As of today--everything is inside--YEAH!!! Been working on it for days.
Not everything is "staged" yet--but that also takes time to make sure all plants are in an
appropriate spot for the winter.and not too crowded--HA! that's impossible in my house!!!
Once more--my LR and DR look like a jungle...I just breathe deeply walking through them.

Still have to locate a bunch of the CC's as they seem to multiply like rabbits.
And--they all have grown so big! So top-heavy they tip over. Most of them are in bud!
I refuse to propagate them any more--but how can I refuse a yellow CC--or a white one?
They DO need to be trimmed back after they bloom. I have so many different colors now--
thanks to JB. and my trash-picking.

OH, woe be me!!! What to do...what to do....????? Can't throw out the trimmings...:o(

Early to bed tonight. It is getting pretty cold in here. May turn on the heat for a couple hours..
then tun it off. Got my down comforted on the bed.

Thanks for reading my musings from today. Long as usual-- oh, well...
Gita

The "Acalypha' in August.

Muddy, they replant big new bulbs every year at the Keukenhoff, generally changing the displays around a bit also. The gardener I talked to there said with the way they plant them -- close together and then pulling the tops off as soon as the blooms fade to make way for whatever is blooming next in that bed -- the bulbs are pretty well exhausted when they're dug up at the end of the season. I wrote a couple of articles after our visit there... :-)

Gita, that's probably what I should have been concentrating on as well, today! Now I'm checking the forecast to see how many things I need to rescue before midnight... LOL!

A friend of mine brought me a cutting and asked for an ID. I have NO idea.
Put it on Plant ID Thread--and it was I'D as "Podocarpus macrophylus".

I checked it out on PF--and it seems to be a small. shrubby, TOTALLY no care plant,
no watering--no feeding, nothing. Can grow into a small tree.
It blloms with small, blue blooms and makes a lot of berries.

Jeff???? Maybe someone here wants to look into it????

Podocarpus macrophyllus

I've heard of Podocarpus but had the impression they are more southern

Looks like something that I'm not going to be planting anytime soon. The berries are pretty though.

Thanks for the info, Critter! And here I thought that an army of elves went through Keukenhof every night pulling the short tulips just a little higher so they would all be the same height LOL

Gita, I'm glad you mentioned the weather; I hadn't realized it was supposed to be in the 30's tonight. I just went out to throw some mulch on a shrub I transplanted today.

Oh, I've got markers galore out there, too, although I fell behind in making them last year and now have a good number of "Oh, I'll remember where I planted that" noids.

Aspenhill and I had a fun nursery jaunt today! Among other things, I came home with 5 nice bushy little Ilex glabra "Inkberry" shrubs in 2 gallon pots... I think they were around $15 each, and if anybody is interested in 1 or 2, I'm OK with planting just 3. I'll have to check the tag for the cultivar.

I finally found the "perfect" shrub for in front of the living room window! Just in time... I'd just cleared out a couple clumps of Felicia's Phlox and was preparing to put the too-small Bird's Nest Spruce in there. It's such a cool looking thing. Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) 'Spiralis', with needles that twist around the branches. It'll get to maybe 5 feet tall and could be topped if need be.

I picked up 2 new hydrangea mac. cultivars, rebloomer 'Peppermint Swirl' and compact 'Wedding Ring'. I put in several hydrangeas several years ago, and those that made it are starting to hit their stride, so trying these seemed like a good bet.

I found a couple other unique plants, including a groundcover version of St. Johnswort that gets just a foot tall and looks like it spreads outward by sending up new shoots... tag says 3-4 feet diameter, but it looks to me like it could keep going, and if not I think I could propagate some new plants to get a "patch" of it.

I've also been jonesing for the dark-leafed heucheras with pink (rather than white) blooms, and I found both Bella Note and Fire Chief. They're H. villosa hybrids, which should give them more stamina in our heat/humidity. The ones that do well for me do really well... but others just peter out the first season or so, and now that I know about H. villosa hybrids I'm wondering if that heritage might make the difference.

I squeezed 2 trees into Terri's car, a Cornus sericea "red twig" dogwood 'Cardinal' with lovely red branches and a 'Jiro' persimmon that had a big ripe fruit on it for us to sample. YUM Just looked up the dogwood and found it will sucker & spread when it's happy in a moist spot, so will have to consider its placement...

I thought I had a pink & white Exbury azalea, but Terri spotted its tag when we were unloading, and I let her have it, because she's not as behind on digging as I am, LOL.

I have another perennial I need to look up, a dwarf scabiosa, 'Vivid Violet'. I didn't know scabiosa's came in dwarf forms, but I really liked the compact rosettes of foliage. Hmm, I see it wants really good drainage in winter... maybe I'd better just up-pot it for now, might be a good candidate for a hypertufa container.

I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow!!

Yes that was a great sale - 50% off all trees, shrubs, and perennials at the Ace HW Outback in Edgewater. It is the place that several of us got great finds last fall. I've been up for an hour, waiting for the sun to come up so I can get out there to start planting. I need to get as much done as I can before heading for a family get together out in Bluemont at noon.

My finds - a large size double mock orange 'Minnesota Snowflake', a mountain laurel 'Minuet', a lilac, and that exbury azalea that I started plant lusting after when we were unloading the car. I also found some nice perennials - will post cultivar names after I take stock.

I had a mind that I was done planting for this season, but these 50% stock clearance sales are nearly impossible for us addicts to pass up LOL.

Sequoia, that sure is a lot of bulbs to plant. I've done similar numbers, but after a big volume I usually skip a few seasons to mentally recover.

Oh boy Critter and Aspenhill, do you ever have a lot of digging to do, but you'll be richly rewarded next year!! On the definite plus side, it'll be easier to dig on a cool day than in the heat of summer.

On the negative side, in my yard at least, the ground is still really wet. There are large hunks of gooey soil that has to be separated and amended, much to the chagrin of the earthworms.

The amount of planting I need to do is finally getting down to a no longer overwhelming level, although I have 8 large plants I want to plant in our HOA's forest and that will be time-consuming because I can only carry 2 plants at a time.

My plant addict confession is that I bought 3 Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink). Every site I check has different recommendations with regards to the amount of sun they need/can take, but I'm going to make a decision and get them in the ground right now! I'm keep telling myself that I can always move them next year.

Jill, you just LOVE digging and planting and getting new stuff, don't you? LOL I still need to pick up those blueberries sometime.

Terri I read about Minnesota Snowflake when I was researching mock orange. Should do well for you.

You could, you've probably considered, Muddy, plant the three in three different sites and see which does best.

I do love digging! :-) And it seems there's always an area with bare spots (especially after last winter), or a way to expand... My perennial bed has now turned the corner to occupy the end of the "veggie bed," giving my 3 new shrub roses some really nice dirt. And I have this pond liner from Bluespiral to place, so I'm extending into the "orchard" and putting in irises and other perennials around it.

I missed the iris sale this year (almost killed me, since we hosted Regional meeting and there were so many awesome cultivars), so I'm actually making progress on reducing the number of pots on the patio! I'm consoling myself with the thought that in a few years, the hosted irises that do best in our area will have multiplied enough to be shared at the rhizome sale. LOL

Sally, you could join us this Saturday for the pick-up party! Or see if there's somebody I could send the blueberries back with, for a future rendezvous.

Saturday the 25th... that might work. Are details on a thread somewhere.?

Group buy thread is here, Sally: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1364646/

I just posted an "extras" list, too, including up to 10 of the amaryllises from my stash. (I'll use them for gifts if they go unclaimed, but $5 each is a pretty sweet deal)

:-)

I am SO proud of myself. Everything I bought yesterday is PLANTED!!! Also, got 200 more tulip bulbs in the ground. I started as soon as it was daylight. Mike dug the trenches for the bulbs and dug the holes for the shrubs and I planted them. After that he was done helping (I can't believe he actually helped as much as he did LOL) and I kept going digging holes and planting about 15 perennials. Finished up just in time to come in and take a shower and am now heading out to Bluemont.

Muddy - the soil here only seems to be still wet on the really shady north corner of the house, so it wasn't too bad digging.

I think I'm done shopping for the season, mainly because other things have come up that have kept me busy. I just need to concentrate on getting the bulbs planted!

Muddy, the bottom of the hill in my backyard is still very wet so I'm waiting to plant a few things in there.

Muddy, the girl on Nantucket gets help from her hubby. They use a power drill tool to help dig the holes faster.

You guys are getting some great buys out there.

I'm impressed, Aspenhill! I did not get up early, so I only got a net total of 6 perennials in the ground.

I planted the Spigelia marilandica in a part-sun area by my fish pond after transplanting the yarrow and vinca that were there. I was surprised to find that the soil was really dry there, because it's just inches above a part of my yard that stays soggy for up to a week after a heavy rain. I think I'll add more clay so it retains more water.

I still have some bare spots here and there, but I'm not buying any more perennials this fall; I'm just going to re-arrange some plants, sow seeds, and see how it looks next year.

I spent more time today on the deck than in the garden... cleaning up plants, repotting, taking cuttings, spraying, etc. in preparation for taking plants in for the winter. I'm crossing fingers for no frost tonight, as I didn't get to everything.

Hey Muddy, I too am very interested in the Spigelia and plan on getting some for the spring. Santa Rosa Gardens has them the cheapest I've seen on the internet so I'll probably get them from there.

Santa Rosa does a nice sale during the holiday season, ending Dec. 31.

I should look at wish lists from the fall swap to see what I might be able to get ready for people who are coming on Saturday... I know I missed things at the swap! I did just dig some rosettes of 'Chocolate Chip' ajuga for SSG...

OK, time to go plant something, even if it's not the next thing on the list... I think I spend too much time planning & prioritizing sometimes, when it would be better just to grab something and put it in the ground, grab, dig, repeat... Maybe I should be a little more random in my approach. I know where my spots for shrubs are,and I know I want to plant a clump of ferns, astilbe, etc. near each shrub, with some daffs and crocuses. So... grabbing clean gloves & heading back out!

Thanks, Jill! There's a narrow spot by the new pathway where the regular ajuga is just a little too big. Chocolate Chip would be perfect!

I remember your asking for some this summer, and I didn't get them dug for you... I think mine originally came from you, and now I have a nice patch of them around SalllyG's "Bubby Bush."

Has the Bubby bush (Calycanthus floridus) started suckering? Jill. It suckers wildly in a moist area but seems much more tame in drier sites, I am wondering if my observation of this is consistent or just my limited experience at play.

Calycanthus floridus sure is pretty! Anyone have any extra?

JEFF!! Where have you been all my life? HAhaha As I said above, I have experience with that suckering freely. I can give you some . Guaranteed good scent.

And I think Aspenhill has bought other cultivars..if hers starts to sucker, or can be rooted from branches, she might have other offerings aside from my old fashioned straight species.

LOL! I'll take some. Do you think you could bring it to the bulb pick up?

Speaking of bulb pick up party this Sat.

Sally, if I cannot make it could you 'fairy' some of the Milkweed, Goldenrod and Aster plants that some have been asking for or would be willing to plant this Fall?

Also, Ace Outback sale still going on and a few noteworthy plants, trees and shrubs still available at half price:
Clethra 'Vanilla Spice' very fragrant!
Groundsel shrub
Weigelia 'French Lace'
Paw Paw
male Winterberrys
Prince Holly male
Aster 'Snow Ball'
Smooth Dogwood
Red Oak
Ninebark 'Summer Wine'
Mock Orange double flowered
Sumac ??
Going by there today if there is interest can procure like I did last Fall. LMK

We have 4 beautiful, tree-shaped Pee Gee Hydrangeas at the HD in beautiful bloom
Huge clusters of dark pink blooms (late fall color) at 50% off. Now $29.99-5gal pot.

I am SOOOOOOOO tempted! Used to have one years ago...

IF I get it--it will go in the corner where the Mockorange is now growing...the one
I grew from my "mystery cutting". I don't really care for it....small, single blooms..
and, if i dig it up, will gladly give it away. Stay tuned.......

Should I---or should I not????? Eeeny--Meeny--Miney--Moe...
It would be a nice corner denizen in my YUK bed...Lots of digging...but so what?
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM???

OH, my...decision time....I work tomorrow.... G.

Gita Do it. I will try the Mystery Mock if it needs a home.

coleup I'll help any way I can with transport. I can bring iris I forgot to give Catmint.

Seq- Pretty sure yes I can- there is a nice small cluster of stems I may have (hopefully) already primed by cutting them from the mother earlier but leaving them in place to fill out the roots.

Sweet, thanks Sally! Does Mock Orange berry?

no fruit/berry on mock orange. Grown for pure white fragrant flower

Well that's boring.... ;-)

Ooh, those tree-shaped hydrangeas are so pretty! I could put one in the corner where I was trying to train a butterfly bush into a tree-form... (it croaked last winter).

wavering... wavering...

Gita, should we jump together? If there's only 1 left, though, it's yours!

Sooo???
What if there are two--or three? are you saying I should buy one for you?
If there are still two or three--is it worth your time to drive here to get it?

Perhaps. you could call around your local HD's and ask if they have any.
Can't say anyone has been overly interested in them at my HD.
That would be easier...

Watch them be gone by tomorrow--and then I will be sorry I did not get
it Sunday.

G.