Plant propagation - the Basics, April 2017

NC has specific milkweeds (asclepias) that grow best for that area, when you try to sprout plants that aren't usually native they can give you fits. Which ones are you trying to grow? Also, it's a bit cool yet for the asclepias plants...

The only luch I am having is Coneflowers , Echinacea ,, Meaning I am even having difficulty growing plants ,
Echies Grow theirself ,
White ones , pink ones , yellow ones red ones , purple ones , large ones , small ones , double ones . all growing like dandelions lol ,

It's a good restart though ,

Milkweed are about a foot tall here , their running everywhere here , ooops ,.

I lost one or 2 of my asclepius tuberosa over the winter, but 2 lived. Wild milkweed grows in fields hereabouts, it is white

Ooh white Milkweeds, that sounds exotic! I'm going to have to google it to get an image.

Ju, did you find Erigeron difficult to germinate? Perhaps a stratification would have helped me.

all the milkweed seeds I threw out in Fall are up. I am pretty sure they need a winter on ground. I did start some one year in a water bottle ( winter sow) and it is now a nice plant in someone elses' garden.

Robin some I planted early no results , kept a few to try again shortly ,
I have been getting anything done slowly , and another frost coming means tomorrow or the day after I will be trying to cover plants ,
Only three or four of my False nettle are remaining , one Tithonia , I have the White and red Erigeron growing , only in answer to you once again No Blue Erigeron that I can see for now ,
Been raining here since I have had time so no pic's

I think I am going to refrigerator start some of the Asclepius in either wet perlite or wet potting soil, in chinese food dishes with lids (I eat a lot of takeout in spring when I am working too much to cook). Do you think they will be confused if I take them out of the refrigerator in August?

no, typically 6 weeks is all that is needed. I will be having the kids thin out my milkweed from Ju in the barrel this fall, I will send you some at that time, just keep the roots in the back of the fridge in a bag of peat and plant them in January. Make the medium you are using moist, not wet, tho.

This message was edited May 4, 2017 8:45 AM

Debra, I love your new avatar , it's so sunny and you're so beautiful.

White milkweeds? Antelope horn?

The white one here is Swamp Milkweed , (incarnata , I have seen Antelope Horn in warmer zones ,

Wet windy cold about 45 degrees ,
My new Frog Pond , "once I had a Garden" (music playing ) 1 & 2

3 The iris road drive river ( I have seen this 3 ft. deep twice
4 reverse angle of the iris
5 what the entire lawn area is like ,

Ju you certainly can't have to worry about drought!!!!!!

Thank you Keith , Only lets not get to Mushy ,lol

Yes I take this weather like a eight year old , only too much or to little water ,as it is, all you can do is sink in or make mud pies , and it is a little cold for either .

Reflecting for a minute

This message was edited May 4, 2017 7:48 PM

White incarnata, green viridis, curasavica, are 3 common- think viridis does better in whiterock...
Rain is following me, JU, York, Pa is temporarily dry, but the rain is due.
Ha! They served me a maraschino cherry on my coconut creme stuff pie. Chuckl. Keith, we can be 3' deep in water and a month later in full drouth. That's why that Midstates Lake we are experiencing from Louisiana thru the Ohio Valley region isn't expected to hang around. Just long enough to mess up planting scedules...

Ju, we just finished with our rain and flooding and have two more days of dryness and sun, so I am hoping the next round won't be as destructive as this last round. Farmers have lost huge herds due to fire and now floods and blizzard. So sad for them. I like to get muddy by the way, am not happy unless I have tracked i enough mud to put in a pot. LOL We have seven kinds of milkweeds native to us, I planted green, spider and whorled so waiting to see if they will come up. Here is my orange from seeds just getting started. and a few other pics of sunny days here..jack in the pulpit has three more plants in it's colony, new columbine for me, ( from seed put put put last fall) wild columbine, south west patio corner with other milk weeds including Ju's.

the patio yesterday, I have moved the tubs away from his bean patch since then.Our back yard faces west. I miss my arch on the north end and I miss my morning glory tubs. *whine* and I really miss all my sunflowers. oh well, I have lots of pics to remember with. last pic is off the south side of the patio under the one arch there..here is guessing what all is coming up since I must have planted a thousand things last fall.Joe trimmed the north fence arches and bushes down for me, we have to wait for the three dogs next door to be inside when he trims the north fence bushes.

55 and feeling warmer here wind is warmer I will cover a few plants the next two nights after tonight's 38 it goes to 34 the weekend
Debra My wild sunflowers did not germinate correctly , weather thing I guess
Nice that something of the seeds grew I sent you , I have three or four coneflowers from you that will bloom later this season
The milkweeds here
On the end is a swamp milkweed ? it is what I marked it as the edible herb is the little intruder

Cold for sunflowers Ju, maybe when heat goes up and ground dries up a bit. Seems like a LOT of flowers are slow but its just still too cool.

Yes, someone called me today to ask why their mimosa wasn't leafing out.We just had several nights of high 30's and low 40's . I told her they will start to feather out when it is above 80 for a week. that will be this next few days before the rain storms come again. I noticed that my mock orange is blooming on the bottom and not the top. Joe must have clipped them too late last fall. I told him not to clip so late after they bloom, so now he knows. My mom in law has a huge rhododendrons in front of her house in Buffalo,NY and my sis in law clipped them in October. They didn't bloom that following Spring. My Nanking cherry just got clipped since it just bloomed. I told Joe no more clipping on it this year. He did clip back all the spireas. They come back fuller and bloom more when he clips them back after blooming.My clematis are huge and the blooms are larger than ever. I have never cut them back. Should I? I clipped the mums out front, they had buds on them already. Took the cuttings from those and the Nanking to make new plants. My poor Roses all died back to the bottom and are just now coming out of it. It was a very dry winter. I had him clip back the arches where the sweet autumn and honeysuckles are going crazy. they will just make new leaders and bloom more.
Love your intruder, Ju.
Here are my intruders- I am about to have Joe use the twister on this area. Can you guess what they are? he got the big mamma Alocasia up and out and I had to have him break her babies off, now she is pouting just like they are. Her summer home is always in front of the lilac bush facing East. The second pic is her spot. Now she is in it. when she perks up I'll take another pic. The passion vine didn't like the cold the other night. can you see her pouting? Pineapple I started from a cut top last fall is liking it in it's summer home.Lastly is my Baltimore oriole pigging out on the hummer feeders.

This message was edited May 5, 2017 10:09 PM

Debra your intruders look like Violets Mine is purslane ,
Debra what Sunflowers are you missing ?
Too short a day at home today and I have a cold . not bad , only a what else thing .
I may set that little milkweed in the intruder pot in the garage tomorrow night I will try covering the tomato plants with green mulch
Debra I love that little Birdie lol

Debra ~ Do you know what kind of bird that is?

hi guys , one is a Baltimore oriole on the hummer feeder and the other is a flicka. :D
Ju, everything is re-arranged from new patio and last year w didn't have a bean patch so I had sunflowers morning glories and tomatoes growing crazy there.

Looks great Debra. The bulbs arrived fine btw and both are planted in pots for now, I see sprouts. Thank you

Debra I remember reading and seeing that last season ,
Several plants look okay here Had a few Early perennial Sunflower seeds start to germinate a few others , Put some in pots to grow a while

Tomato plants after frost , yeah we survived ,

weeds

I miss the wildflowers the highways once had. Now they poison them so all that is left is grasses. Or glysophate killed dead branches.

I'd be propagating those weeds Ju. Pretty Nice!

very nice weeds

I love those weeds!!!

Thank you all , little cold here to do much ,
1 Garden Mustard
2 Self sow Spinach Mustard
3 Beets
4&5 Peas .
Some things like the cold weather , redundantly , I don't ,,

Plants not considered weeds blooming except maybe the Daisy

Needed a fifth pic , A " Mingles ) Catbird " A sleep in it's nest (lol)

awww, I love those "weeds". I love to see blooming wild flowers along the roads and ditches. I don't like it when they are eradicated/ I love that cat weed, too.

Wildflowers along the roads aren't to common anymore , I made some shredded mulch today , finally got the shredder back up and going
I learn things ,I forget things , I think I am way to weather sensitive ,
I will show some seedling pic's shortly , however here is a soul surviving sunflower after that freeze
I still have the preal Yarrow and a perennial sunflower growing , I think a little Malva also ,

Seedlings
1 Lupine
2 Baptisia
3 Cup Plant
4&5 Helianthoides Sunflowers , Perennial

I wish I had a Love button and a heart icon LOL. Love your babies. Ju. I am happy my ferns are waking up. Wild Black berry is loaded with berries.Century Plant seems happy out in the back 40.

Debra Watching and seeing your babies during the seasons I was thinking the same about the icons , Love 'em ,
What is the Variegated plant ? and the fern and flowers are delightful ,.

Iris this morning , only a small fan last season when I moved it , Only iris I have that likes mostly or filtered shade , it does take sun though , morning and evening ,
Toad , is for hopping on ,

Nice iris Ju.
First signs of spring in Oxdrift
1) self seeded marsh Marsh Marigold on my floating island amongst last year's dead Fibre optic grass. Not sure what I am going to do with the island this year as so far I have not found anyone either Fibre optic grass in a small enough pot and am not sure what else to use.
2) very thick clump of daffodils adjacent to my small pond in the back. When I bought these 100 years ago they were supposed to be pink. Seeing pink in there requires a vivid imagination

Keith That is nice to see , extends our spring I also ,have a few plants that are not what I was told they were ,
Summer is almost beginning here , temperatures in the 80's

Pink daffodils? Not pink muscari? Have to go find a pink daff...
Texas wildflower and prairie grasses