Overwhelmed

I have so many questions I don't even know where to start, so I'll only ask a couple now. I bought my new home last spring (2002) and much to my delight there was a garden the entire length of the back fence: masses of lilys, hostas, iris, a few tulips,one lone peony and a huge bleeding heart, all growing in the sun.

I know hostas should be in the shade so I dug most of them up, planted some under the rear (north) eaves and the others beneath the trees, and left four small bunches where they were. There were seven masses of iris (lavender) about 4' around that I broke apart and moved.

I planted a dahlia, a couple of caladium, balloon flowers, purple cornflowers, foxglove, coreopsis, blackeyed susans and two little -OH MY GOD where did all that catnip come from?

Breck's sent me a catalog and I fell in love with the daylilys, so I had to add another bed to accommodate them as well as the Rembrandt and Monsella tulips. I moved 5 bunches of the blackeyed susans and 11 bunches of iris to that bed also.

1 - Do I have to wait for the foliage to die on the dahlia before I dig it up? It's beautiful and I would like to enjoy it next year. How do you know when it's dry and can be stored in peat moss for the winter? Ditto for the caladium?

2 - I have to get rid of some of these iris. I can't seem to bring myself to just dig them up and throw them away, and I've asked everyone I know if they want some. Do any of you have a problem throwing flowers away?

3 - How do I dry catnip - dig it up by the roots or cut it?

4 - Oh joy, my mom just called to say she was on her way over with a burning bush. Shade or sun? Near the house or away from it?

When I go to work and someone asks me what I did this weekend, my usual answer is, "I got to play in the garden." I LOVE IT!

Thanks in advance for your help.

I can't help with any of your questions but #2. It breaks my heart to throw out good plants. I'm forever threatening to do so, but rarely ever actually do it. I'd rather pack them up and send them out for postage.

I've gotten rid of several large Aloe Vera plants that simply had to go, but I didn't have the heart to compost them. I offered them for postage or trade in the Plant Trading forum.

If you offer your iris, someone will likely take them off your hands, even if it is a bit late in the season.

When someone asks how I've spent my weekend, I like to tell them "Hoe-ing around" just to see the look on their face. LOL

Cheri'

Torquay The Dahila needs to be frosted on and dead prior to digging for best results.

Frosted on is different than frozen. Do not leave it in the ground if it starts to freeze as they are going to rot.

There is a lot of recent thread activiety on storing bulbs and tubers that maybe some one who is more experienced with this forum business can direct you to it.

This computer stuff is Voodoo to me. Maybe you could find it by looking at my home page thing or member page and check the threads I watch.

As for throwing flowers awayI never have trouble giving them away and while I don't like to sometines I will because I just don't have the time ot space to deal with them .

Don't know anything about catnip sorry.

The burning bush around here get pretty big so I would not think next to the house would be good unless you intend to move it or prune it hard. As for the sun here they like full sun. Your zone may be different. I suspect they will stand some shade.

Sorry about the directions but that's the way it is. Hope some of the rest helps some. Ernie

I grow catnip just for my cats.

Cut it off at the base and hang it upside down in a cool place like a cellar for a couple of weeks until it's dry. Take each stem, pull off the leaves into a zip=lock bag and you have catnip for your furry critters for months. It loses it's smell after a while and then they ignore it, but I usually get several months out of it.

My problem is that they discover it growing in the garden and lounge around on it, often killing it before it has a chance to grow enough to provide catnip for them, LOL.

Yes, I have trouble throwing good plants away unless they are the invasive type, then it is much easier to donate them to the compost pile, sometimes joyfully. My iris need dividing, so I guess I will put up a sign on the grocery store bulletin board to see if anybody would like them, but more likely they are not thinking about gardening anymore since the weather is getting colder. Anyhow I can put them in boxes in my basement and try to give them away next spring. Your burning bush will be happy in the sun and I hear that it will only have green leaves if it is in too much shade like mine that are still in the nursery pots and sat in a sheltered spot all summer. Now I'm off to play in the vegie garden, I bought a 3# collection of garlic and split it with my neighbor, there is still so much that if half of it grows I think everyone will get garlic for Christmas in 2004. What was I thinking?

Before throwing away the Iris to the compost heep; I would be very interested in taking them off your hands the ones you don't want. I'm just now starting to get into iris and just planted a few bulbs that I have bought and have received from others. LMK, maybe we can work something out in trade or postage.
Thank you

Torquay, Your Dahlias do need to die down, but as said above do not let them freeze. Dig them up and split them. I believe you can place in straw or mulch in a dry place to overwinter (inside) and then plant again next spring. You will have twice the beauty as you had this year. Someone with more experience can help you more, but I do remember that Dahlias should be split when dug.

CoCo, none of mine have names and are pretty common ones, are you still interested? I wonder what it would cost to ship them by UPS.... maybe less than post office.

Go to bulb forum look at storing bulbs and tubers. Ernie.

I grow my catnip in hanging baskets and the cats don't get it...

however, if you want to send me some of your overabundance of catnip my kitties will be forever grateful. OR you can sell it to the local health food store for their natural pet section - just put in baggies it sells for about a sandwich ziploc bag size for $5 at the store I go to.

ALso someone makes little cotton squares stuffed with the catnip and those also sell for $5 - my cats ADORE these.

Just some thoughts and ideas. Enjoy! SOunds like you're having the time of your life at your new home.

on harvesting, drying, and growing catnip

it does great on a dehydrater but don't leave it on any longer that you have to. it is best just after the flowers start to turn white that is when the oil content is the highest. I usually de-stem it befor i dry it and kinda rool the leaves up in a cigar shape(no it does not get tight like that) and cut every half inch befor it goes on the dehydrater. then as it is dry i have a colander that has about 1/4 inch holes and sits on top of a 5 gal bucket and i just rub it threw the colinder and mash the herb down as i get a few inches in it. last year i got 2 buckets that weighed about 15 lbs. what do i do with all that catnip? i sell it and ppl rave about the quality if you don't have that much :-) use a glass caning jar and store it in the frezer with the lid on tight and it will last alot longer

to grow it and keep the kittys from rolling around on it
make a wood frame-box out of 2x2s about a foot and a half square and staple chicken wire around it on 5 sides and peg it into the groung over the plant then they can only get to what grows threw the wire thus saving the plant

troy... you would take all the garden fun from my kitties!

:-) around here tha catnip gets about 3 feet high. there should be plenty for them to get to after it starts to grow :-)

The regular burning bush can get to be 10' high and around. Unless you want to spend huge amounts of time pruning it, keep its size in mind! Even the dwarf one can get to be 6' in a few years. And be aware that they can re-seed fairly invasively. A good time to prune them is just after they finish flowering to prevent unwanted seedlings.

It took me years to not despair at composting extra flowers, and I would still much prefer to find a new home for the good ones. Invasive or ill-mannered ones are another story. I must ruthlessly pull up thousands of tree seedlings every year or my mature trees would not survive. Neither would our house.

MaryE (:+) I don't care if they really have names, and besides I'm a pretty common down to earth person, so the Iris would fit right in. Let me know what you would like in trade or can pay for postage. Just email me.
Thank you :)

Torquay, here is a link to the thread about storing dahlia tubers: http://davesgarden.com/t/403023/

Noh20 Iwas starting to think no one was going to do the link thing for her Thanks.

I'm afraid my directions for finding the bulb storage bit were pretty lame.Regards Ernie.

Ernie, it's easy to post a link. Just go to the thread (or website) that you want to post. Go up to the address box at the top of the screen and put your pointer over the URL (it starts with http://). Right click and a drop down menu will appear. Left click on 'copy'. Then go to the thread you want to post the link in. Write your message. Place your pointer where you want to insert the link. Right click. On the drop down menu left click on 'paste'. Presto! Your link is printed in your message.

To make sure you posted the right link, left click the Preview button under the message box. Your URL will start with the word Hyperlink. Left click on that and it should take you to the thread or website you wanted to post.

If you would like to practice this (or anything else), there is a test forum you can use.

Noh20 When I was 12 years old I did not have a computer to play with. I spent my time building rockets out of old tv antennas and made the fuel from brown sugar and drug store chemicals.

I tried gun powder never getting it to explode but I did get it to ignite making wonderful smoke.

The point is I am just to stupid to get polished with this voodoo machine with a mind of it's own. I just don't know the basics but I do memorize steps. This memory thing is the problem .As I try to teach myself if it goes wrong it's wrong forever.This buisness is not a stick of wood,steel , or a mechanical thing that stops working it is a monster that was designed to frustrate me.

When linda comes home I will show her what you sent and maybe she can show me. Thanks Ernie.

Noh20 I just tried I better stick to rockets

Thanks so much for all your help guys (and gals). Just got home from work and saw your posts.

Yes, the http worked - I actually found another link on that page (I was there before but didn't see it - you don't have the only voodoo machine Ernie!) that gave a detailed description of lifting bulbs. I got confused about frosting on and frozen and panicked cuz it frosted a couple of nights, but the green stuff is still green so I guess it's ok and I haven't killed it yet. Supposed to be 70 tomorrow. Cheesh

One of my co-workers is Native American; gave me some peace tobacco. One of the ingredients is catnip, so I thought to give him some. I would actually like to find all the plants and grow my own. Next year I guess.

Have a bare spot in the center of the back yard I tried to put the burning bush in. After thinking I was using the wrong end of the shovel I discovered a tree stump, so needless to say I still have a bare spot in the center of the back yard and the bush is settled in several feet behind it.

Ernie, you just print out those instructions and practice a few times and you'll be okay. Look how far you have come already; heck I remember not so long ago when you were ready to quit for good because typing was driving you crazy. And I bet when you were 12 you had to practice a bit with those rockets too. I think anything new is frustrating at first. And if you just don't get the hang of it, holler and somebody around here will post a hyperlink for you!

I just have the feeling you are the kind of person that likes to share knowledge and help others - that's why I think you would really enjoy being able to post links.

Torquay, I had been told that after a frost kills the plant above ground, you should leave the tubers in the ground for 2 weeks to cure. Less than that, and they will rot in storage. More than that, and they may rot in the ground. That link I posted should tell what to do after the first killing frost.

N0h20 there were a few setbacks.I have fond memories of one particular aborted launch that ended up going after a police car that was dispached to halt flight operations.

He was outta his league thinking he was going to catch us.

However a security breach got me the stick two days later when we were all captured.

This did not stop us though,we only fired after that with a tight group that we knew to be loyal to our cause.

The typing is still slower than molasses in a snow storm.

Wow I got it in in ten lines Regards Ernie.

Ernie, you would enjoy a movie called October Sky about some kids and rockets. We found it at a video rental place. One of those kids went on to work for NASA. Don't give up on the computer thing, I have to use those written step by step instructions too but I eventually get it down.

Mary, I was trying to remember the name of that movie also. I remembered it was October. Wasn't it a great movie? I think it was a true story also. :) Kathy

Hello, Lansing--from Benzie County (near Traverse City)!
When I have plants I don't want, I can't stand to just throw them out, so I donate them to one of the many local nursing homes in my area or a local school. I especially like donating them to the nursing homes. I take them and plant them and have created a couple of really sweet gardens from plants I didn't want or had too many of, for the people there---and I feel really good knowing they are so very much enjoyed....
I have been trying to grow catnip for years, but my cats eat it down before I can get it to reseed!!
Burning bushes in this area like sun, but will take a little shade (gratefully!)....I haven't noticed problem any with unwanted seedlings....
Peace tobacco is a VERY cool idea!

Thanks for the suggestion Sierrawoman - there are many nursing homes in the area. I will have to explore the idea with them.

Ernie - I have fond and not so fond memories of potato cannons and a small plane in the side yard my father was patching. After the beatings were over, he had another hole to patch. Needless to say, we were a little more careful after that.

TorquayI love it you made laugh.Whats this some one else owns up to beatings I became immune to pain by the whip.

Oh for a piece of three inch sch 80 pvc pipe threaded one end,cap, and the striker mechanisin from a gas lanteren.

A step up is the steel version with stronger propellant which I just erased because I wouldn,t want kids to get the secret from me on this public forum.

You know what they say what goes around comes around. My own boys decided to help me restore my 57 ford when I was in Alaska one year.

No I did'nt beat them they would have called 911. I just sold the car. Just to sick to work on it.Regards Ernie