Hardiness report!
Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' has survived the last two winters in the ground without a problem, and with no extra mulch for protection. It looks like it's a true zone 7a plant.
I had other supposedly zone 6 or 7 plants get winter damage in this exact spot where it got down to around 5F. Plant Delights is reporting that it's actually hardy down to 6b.
So try planting it in the ground this year if you're feeling adventurous. :)
Yardening Midatlantic Late april 2015
Another hardiness report. :(
One of my blueberries died over winter, even though 'Bountiful Blue' is supposedly hardy to zone 6. The other blueberry is full of blooms, but it won't get to cross pollinate unless I get another blooming blueberry right away, which is unlikely.
sorry, ssg...do you know if it is a southern type a cross of rabbbiteye maybe?
Seq, I think Bount Blue is self pollinating. Home Depot has bb plants on sale 2/$15 ish?
The one that survived is a northern highbush and the one that died (Bountiful Blue) is a southern highbush. I was told that both did fine in our area. I'll stick with the northern highbush varieties from now on!
The bunnies ate mine this winter they may come back but I certainly don't see BB in my future this summer.
Whoa, bunnies eat blueberry bushes, too? That's interesting; they certainly don't look tasty! I'm very grateful that I don't have bunnies in my yard.
DH did see a mouse in the shed, though. Now I'm scared to go in there...
Rabbits will eat pretty much anything SSG. Blueberry bushes are relished by deer AND rabbits. They pretty much have no chance in the winter unless protected.
Don't be scared of a cute little mouse. I caught one in the work bathroom a couple years ago and threw him outside. It was weird because I didn't notice him until I sat down to do my business and he ran out from behind the toilet...
When I was around 7 or 8 years old, we had a massive flood that chased all of the field mice into buildings, including our basement. And one of those mice ran up my sister's pant leg. I have not been a fan of mice ever since. *shudder*
ssg, sorry to hear about your blueberry bushes. I've had "Rabbiteye" Blueberry hybrids 'Premier' and 'Woodard' for 8 years now. They have always been scrawny-looking (probably not enough sun), but they obviously do well in our area!
Sequoia, deer never ate my blueberry bushes; at least, not the foliage or blossoms. They were one of the few shrubs in my yard that deer DIDN'T like!
I think you mentioned having Virginia Bluebells. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but rabbits have eaten every one I have tried to grow.
Yeah I saw a HUGE rabbit in our yard yesterday. That must have been the one I was unable to catch. Oh well, I'll never catch him now with all the delicious food to eat about. I haven't really had any new rabbit damage; all my soldier daffs are doing their job in protecting the tulips. I'll have a bunch of new pics to share later tonight. I snapped the photos but now I'm busy trying to figure out what each is from my spreadsheet.
I got a lot done in the yard over the weekend. Mowed Saturday and sprayed the pyracantha hedge with Daconil. Yesterday I dug and potted all my swap plants, transplanted a few of them to new locations, removed my Dragon Eye Pine and planted the Magnolia seiboldii in it's place. It was quite lovely. Now I'm all ready to plant next weekend. I'll be taking a day from work and all my annuals will be planted as well as a good chunk of the 44 perennials I've bought. I'm getting a large shipment from Lazy S&S this week. They are supposed to be shipping today. 23 perennials from them. Plus I'll be getting my order from Gardens in the Wood too. It will be like Christmas!
Crossing my fingers for good planting weather, and rain on Monday!
My houseplants are going outside this weekend. Nothing below 50* in the 10 day forecast, and 80s all next week.
It is supposed to be pretty nice out this weekend. I'm heading out now for a long yardening day. I've been looking forward to it all through the work week!
Yes, a glorious weekend and where am I? At work today 10-2, then I 'should' go look at cars before mine dies but I have plants to move so ...
Tomorrow I have to work 11:30 to 6 pm because it's Family Day at NSA and the powers that be decided the Museum has to be open. :^(
Something has eaten *all* of my lettuce, carrot, and parsley seedlings. :(
Slugs? I sprinkled Sluggo everywhere and I'm not seeing signs of them anywhere else.
Cutworms? I've heard of them but I've never actually seen one.
Birds?
I worked 9-5 today, Catbird-- but I do have off tomorrow, sorry!
ssg-- one hungry bunny.
I planted a row of english peas a few years ago. EVERY SINGLE PLANT got eaten off when they had about five leaves. Like a trimmer went down the row- and no it was not an errant husband! Guess who refuses to plant english peas anymore..
Hm... bunny seems so unlikely because of how my backyard is situated, but it's still a possibility. Nothing else has been eaten though, just the vegetables.
I really want to set up a motion detector camera now!
well, they are gourmet greens to Flopsy bunny!. Yes it would be satisfying to at least know if it was bunny, or something else.
Delightful evening and full moon. I started my list of garden tasks for tomorrow...
OK so my white lilac has bloomed. Three clumps of bloom on a six foot tall seven year old shrub. Do I shovel prune? Surely it had as much cold as can ever be expected, this winter. Sun exposure will not improve because I am keeping a dogwood next to it. It suckers. No real charms but the flowers, which are next to non existent. Gentlemen and ladies of the Garden Court jury, what say you?
Last couple of years have been hard on our Lilacs. If you really want them I would give them another year and see, if not you could put something more interesting in.
I have learned that a resident plant, when sensing it is under consideration for downsizing, suddenly responds as if it is the center of attention.
I would not shovel prune the aforementioned Lilac, but rather introduce the plants that are planned for replacement in close to the current resident. Coddle them, cooing approvingly at their every leaf and bud. Add fertilizer in appropriate amounts, and provide water at the very moment that they cry out in stress.
Then watch the "older sibling" resident Lilac rise up in self-righteous indignation, and show YOU that they are/should be the favored offspring. It'll be the best seasons of their lives. Or they'll die outright.
Or - they'll take out half the garden with them as they leave a permanent memory for you...
I am pooped! I was out all day planting my dahlia collection. After digging them last fall in our heavy clay soil I decided that there had to be a simpler way. For this year, I bought some large nursery pots and 'planted' them all the way down in the soil. I amended my soil to be about 60% clay and 40% sand, 3/8" gravel, and vermiculite, all in equal portions. I really like how the soil mixed up, it should be good for the dahlias in regards to drainage and it should make it much easier to extract the tubers in the fall. That's the theory anyway, hopefully it works in practice. I had some help from the neighbor children after lunch. They really like helping me out, it's pretty cute. The girl is 4 and the boy is almost 6.
I find it really hard to remove underperformers. But after I do, I often forget what was there in the first place. :)
I'm seeing some beautiful lilacs in my neighborhood, much more floriferous than in pervious years.
Years with much better drainage?
After weeks and weeks of 11-hour outdoor days at work, I'm finally going to play with some of my own plants at home today. It's about darned time. (after I make some cupcakes first, of course).
HollyAnn, what variety are your lilacs? I'm surprised that the very-cold of the last 2 Winters didn't do them more good than harm. So far this Spring, our lilacs at work are blooming like mad already, smells so sweet while walking past that bed.
VV, I have found that, when *my* resident plants sense a downsizing plan in their future, they simply run away and hide. Permanently. Go figure.
Maybe they're just being kind and saving me some work?
speedie, I have a white lilac that's barely blooming. I don't know what kind, just that it came from a DGer in Virginia who said it is 'heirloom' and thought it worth sharing. She's not too far west of DC, so it should be close in zone here.
Sally, wish I knew why... have you pruned it? When? Or maybe did your "gifter" give it a pruning before he/she gave it to you? Is it maybe infected with something, or maybe it's got some buggy problems? I do know that the heirlooms tend to be a bit more susceptible to problems, with a few exceptions.
All I can think of is to check it out closely for disease/bugs and treat accordingly, and when it's done blooming for this season, do its pruning early, cleaning your pruners after each snip.. then pray for the best for next year. < =/
That's what's got me down on it- seems utterly healthy and grown well each year, never pruned wrong, etc. Just doesn't like me!
We have a cat that's been coming by almost everyday. He makes his rounds all around the perimeter of the backyard, and spends a long while sniffing everything.
DH thought maybe we could use his help in catching the mice in the shed. Both of us are squeamish when it comes to rodent control, but it's getting to be a bit ridiculous, having an ever-growing family of mice in there.
So DH propped the shed door open all morning while I was out. I came back in the afternoon, hoping to do some yardening, but there was the cat, sitting in the shed, waiting for the mice to come out of hiding. He sat there for a couple of hours at least. I didn't want to disrupt his hunting, so I ended up giving up on my yardening plans.
We really need to come up with something better than relying on a neighbor's cat's hunting skills.
"We really need to come up with something better than relying on a neighbor's cat's hunting skills."
ROFLOL
Finally after 3 fruitless years we have lilacs in flower. A few were damaged by the last Arctic blast, but not nearly all. Last year while it was cold enough to form buds the last of the bitter weather killed them off, with the exception of a few. The 2 winters before that were so mild they failed to form buds.
The final blast this year did a lot of damage to our gold dust acuba, possibly dead, and our nadinas. Both were still looking pretty good, then Brrrutal cold.
When does hibiscus (the hardy perennial variety) start showing signs of new growth?
My two are showing a little green at the base.
ssg, what about trying an ultrasonic pest repeller like this one? http://www.amazon.com/Rid-Tech-Ultrasonic-Pest-Repeller-Repells/dp/B00O97CPIK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1430796512&sr=8-2&keywords=Ultrasonic+Pest+Repellers
It's supposed to work against mice and mosquitoes too!
Muddy, we might try that first if the mice were in the house, but they're in the detached shed -- no electricity, no outlets.
If I lived closer, ssg, I would help, be your bag man so to speak. someone at work on Sunday had to dispose of a glue boarded mouse- they say she was quite put out by the event.
Haha, that's a very sweet offer. :) I don't think I could handle a glue board. A standard trap would be a quicker death.
It's been a productive morning so far. I feed all the Azaleas and Rhododendrons, they need beefed up after the hard winter.
Drenched all the Hostas with ammonia, 1 cup/gal.
Treated to front and side lawn with broadleaf weed killer. I use the little squirt gun to treat individual plants, costwise it's much cheaper and does not target my Violas and clover, which I find pleasing.
Now I need to start mowing Alfie's yard and the backyard. Then weeding, blah.
What does the ammonia do for the Hostas? Is it for protection from slugs?