OVERWHELMED ??? Part 3 - Winding Down

Well, I think this may be the final episode of the "OVERWHELMED" series. LOL
(Here's a link to the previous installment http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/462150/ )

I'm not nearly so "Overwhelmed" as when I started talking a couple of weeks ago. For me, the garden is put to bed, just waiting for the ground to freeze when I can give my plants a nice blanket to cover them up and keep them cozy (and hopefully ALIVE!) for the winter.

I just came in from my walk around the yard. Taking pictures of the empty beds, taking inventory of the plants, counting my blessings AND my friends from DG who have contributed so much to my first real gardening season. The last of my plant trades just went to the post office, so I'm finished with the live plant stuff until spring when the weather warms up again. Now it's time to see what kinds of seeds I gathered and get those 2 tons of marigolds cleaned. LOL

Thanks to a *very* generous DG member, I have a bag FULL of seeds to be used for "winter sowing." I'm *really* looking forward to that. It's something entirely new to me...sowing seeds in containers, flats, etc. and the seeds germinate OUTDOORS! ...and in their own time. No lights to pay for, no constant attention, and HUGE rewards! Lots of new plants for my garden next year. "You GOTTA *love* that!" :-D

If anyone else is interested in learning more about the winter sowing technique I'll find some threads and other links to post here.

Later!

~julie~

Sure why not. I have some hibiscus seeds that I am planning on sowing. I guess I need to list what seeds I have and post so if any one wants any they could stat them now. I'll do that soon but not today. LOL Overwhelmed with life in general.

(((( Jim & Bobbie )))) Don't be overwhelmed...we're here to make things easier for you. ;-)

Oh...and when you do decide to sort and list your seeds, be sure to give US the first shot!

~julie~

My list of things to do is actually getting longer.....I have dahlias to devide, mums and asters to move and thin, wisteria to prune (again)....leaves to rake, etc etc etc.
I don't feel as overwhelmed though....I figure I'll get to it as I can.

Hi Marc...I was thinking about you the other day when I lifted my dwarf dahlias. I was wondering about the size of the tubers...are the dwarf varieties more like swollen roots than (about the size of my little finger) or should they be larger? I'm obviously new at saving dahlias...:-D

~julie~

Either, dependant on species,age, etc. As long as they are good strong roots/tubers with eyes they should be fine.

Marc

Hi, Julie! Thanks for starting the new thread.

I am still overwhelmed about all the bulbs I have ordered from different sources and also, overwintering my brugs (first year for me)! I hope to get some of them bulbs planted this weekend but we are supposed to have rain so I just don't know. The next Saturday is our Roundup in Lewisville.

Staci, I have pots in front of my house on each side of my porch just like you do. And, mine are full of asparagus fern! What do you have in the posts with the fern? I had petunias in the spring but they played out in August.

And you store them dry in like peat moss or plantbox mix? Same for Cannas?

Blooms are you asking about dahlia tubers? If so 'yes' you store them dry in peat, sawdust, packing peanuts, shreaded paper, etc.

TNX Marc, recieved a canna root as a present and have two dahlias to dig and will try one more time to get them thru to spring. Have found previous trys resulted in desicated roots come sprng.

Terrie...if that Brug that you show in one of your photos in your thread is only a first year plant, WHERE are you going to put them NEXT year?? (It's gorgeous, btw.)

Oh Blooms! I'm so glad you asked that question! I'd forgotten. I also wanted to ask Marc (Hi Marc!) if there's a secret we should know about keeping the tubers moist while they're in storage? I've also read that Dahlias prefer a warmer (60 deg ?) storage than Cannas...does that sound right?

~julie~

Terrie, great minds think alike! :) In front is Torenia. It was between flushes of blooms at that time, but it looked great when it was full of blooms which happened quite a few times. Here is a link of it way back in May. http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=860566 The Asparagus Fern has pretty much taken over now though. I am scared to dig in - the thorns are painful.

Did you get the bulbs from Alice's Co-op yet? I am hoping to come home to them today so I can get some planted this weekend. I also have to get those Tulips and Hyacinths in the fridge.

Well not so knowledgable about Cannas, but I do know for dahlias that very lightly moist will cause mold and some rot. Dry is better......bone dry not so good.....it's a fine line. Shoot for 98% dry.
I'm fairly lucky in that most of my dahlias are in high raised beds with excellent drainage, so I don't lift mine each year. I only dig to divide, and than I replant (unless splitting to share some).

Well, I got my bulbs in from Alice's co-op. Counting them on the list is 100 plus 5 daylilies. Didn't seem like that many and I got them all put in.

I had to dig a new bed by the exercise building. Cleared away the grass and weeds. (After digging in that root bound other yard for 3 years, this one is such a pleasure.) I laid all the bulbs out in the soil with proper separation, tall ones in the back, then medium, then the shorter ones. Then I buried them.

When these bulbs grow up, people are going to think I have gone bonkers. I normally have a very haphazard way of planting. This bulb bed is going to be so neat and "formal" no one will believe it's mine.

Molly
:^)))

Blooms, by laziness, I left some dahlia tubers in the ground at my old house 2 years ago... also zone 6b. They were about 4" deep, most survived the winter and did well the next year. The bed was NOT raised and only one of the tubers rotted.

I have since learned to plug the hollow stalk remnant with wax so rain doesn't fill it up and rot the tuber.

Sweezel, did you save any seeds from that Torenia? If you did, are you going to trade any? (Hint, hint ;-) ) ASSSpare-ig-us fern!!!! :-O (as in OUCH!!!) I really have to laugh about that one. A neighbor gave me some Draecena plants a month or so ago. In the containers of two of them were asparagus ferns. I've never been around them before and thought they'd *feel* as soft as they looked. WRONG!!! I grabbed one and let go mighty fast! I thought some kind of sand burr had taken up residence in the pot...it hurt *that* bad. I HAD to get the plants unpotted and repotted before DH rolled up the hoses last week. I went out with my "armored" gloves and my pruning shears. I cut off the stems and then *kicked* them into the woods. I wasn't about to pick those suckers up! hehehe

Marc...I think you just explained to me why so many people who have to lift their dahlias dread the task. It's not the lifting...it's the survival rate! Thanks for the info...you really *did* answer my question.

Molly, doesn't it feel good when you can actually lay the bulbs in a bed instead of trying to 'fit them in' in between existing plants? You'll HAVE to remember to show us what it looks like come spring.


~julie~

Staci,
I have Torenia in some containers on my fence in the back. It is doing beautiful this year and is still full of blooms. You are right about the asparagus. My pots are just full of it now and it is so beautiful that I hate to take it out to put something else in.

Haven't received my bulbs yet but hoping they are there when I get home!

Well your welcome Julie....you can always treat your dahlias as annuals and leave them in....hope for the best, and plan on buying new if needed. :-)

Nah...I'll just ask you to share yours with me. :-D

~julie~

:-) I certainly have to get busy dividing some of mine. They were showing signs of slowing down this year, so must need rejuvenated/thinned a bit. I'll keep you posted if I actually end up with extar viable tubers.

Marc

Thanks Marc...but I was really only teasing you. :-)

~julie~

okay :-)

I did not save any seeds Julie. :( Most of the time I deadheaded before seeds developed to keep it looking fresh. A couple times after not deadheading for a while I looked for them and did not find any. I did not try that hard though. I have already removed them too since the fern had crowded them out. I did it so I could put some pumpkins and gourds in their place. I was also surprised to find the thorns when I bought them. The older stalks are covered with them though.

No bulbs today. :(

Hmmm... More reason to go to the Plant Sale tomorrow morning.

Julie, I'm not so sure there is any such thing as "winding down" for a Gardener, LOL.

I think we just switch to other things... compost to make, mulch to put down, seeds to clean and maybe trade, cuttings to propagate, and all too soon seeds to start... which means getting out our light stands to put back together... and it goes on and on...

Plus the tough effort to take all our "wants" from the new garden catalogs into the reality of our pocketbooks, LOL.

Marc, do you prune all your clematis this time of year. I don't prune mine unless they are in the way. Maybe I'm just lazy, I have about 20 different ones. This year they bloomed very well. I think the Planters 2 is finally taking affect. There are still 2 or 3 blooming scattered blooms.

Julie, that is one reason I gave up growing dahlias, it is a job to dig them, but i could handle that, it is the fact that I don't have a good place to store the bulbs over winter. I have one really pretty canna 'Phaison' to dig and hope I can keep it over winter. It was pretty expensive. Donna

Donna, I don't really have any clematis....I have two that I just planted this year. Won't need to prune them for a couple years at least. I purposely looked for only ones that bloomed on old wood so I wouldn;t have to prune much later on.

Now here's a way ya'll can store your plants, it doesn't make any difference what kind. Dig them and send to me and I'll plant them and send you the first peek from the ground come next spring.

Well.. It's about time I found this thread! I was about to go to sleep!! I am thinking this should be a permanent one Julie!!

NIcole

I'm literally ROTFLM(U-nameit) OFF! ~Snort~chortle~choke~snort~

Darius, you started it with all that talk of the routine we're going through...and then that "reality" word...I didn't know that there *WAS* such a thing for a gardener! ~chuckle~ (but, I have to admit, you're RIGHT ON!!! )

Donna and Marc...I think you two are the *only* sane ones in this thread so far. Nice to have someone to us on course...;-) And Donna...I know what you mean, about the dahlias being expensive. I think other than what I can grow from seed I'm not going to be spending any more "premium" prices for something I doubt if I'll be able to keep.

Jim...I almost bit on that offer! But I don't remember seeing you offer to send them BACK! LOL

Nicole...you're darn right...it *is* about time you found us! But then I know where you've been and why it's taken so long. You really *must* put yourself on a DG priority...life *must* take second seat. ;-) As for Permanent??? Good grief, girl! You don't know what you're asking for.
:-D

Nite ALL!

~julie~

Found you guys again! Forgot to mark the new thread as Watched.

Marc - packing peanuts work for dahlia storage?? I wonder if that works for glad bulbs too. I'm tempted to leave my dahlias in ground as I had one I bought a few years ago before I was a smart gardener and didn't know to dig it up. It's come back now for 4 yrs., so maybe I'll risk the others. I put lots in this year. Is it possible for potted dahlias to be brought inside and not dug up? Or would they rot?

I'm waiting on Alice's coop shipment as well and that puts my bulb planting back to ~125 to get in the ground. I've planted nearly 400 bulbs so far so I'm going for the 500 mark this year. Ugh. But sure can't wait for Spring and Summer to roll around.

Sun is shining today.....1st day in 6 that I've seen the sun. I'm heading out after the girls finish with lunch to start doing some clean up and plant a handful of tulips I haven't put in.

I got swooned buy one of those bulb house "last chance this year -- 55% off" sale emails and ordered 90 more bulbs for under $40. 40 of them are the dwarf iris that bloom very eary spring. I vastly expanded the variety of bulbs this year so I can't wait to see my beds next year.

Did y'all take notice of my suggestion to plug the holes in dahlia stalks if leaving them in the ground? Keeps 'em from rotting.

yes Darius, what kind of wax do you use? Like Candle wax?

Susan

I think any kind of wax would do... or maybe even a putty. Really, just anything to plug the hollow step so water doesn't get down to the tuber and rot it.

Iangbr, I've used peanuts for various things including dahlia tubers. I don't see why they wouldn't work for glads too.
Bringing potted dahlias in should work, as long as the soil is good and dry and remains so during the dormant period.
Don't really know though, since I've never tried that.

Darius I just leave my stakes in the groud along with the tubers. Is there a benefit to removing them?

Marc, I only removed the stalks to neaten up the yard, thus needed to plug them.

I'm an idiot....I read your post as 'stake' not stalk....duh, now I understand completely. :-)

I've been wanting to try Dalia's but I really can't see myself digging them all up... But then just a few months ago, I wouldn't have thought that I would be knee deep in horsey poop and glad to get it! So,.... maybe I'll get a few in the spring. There is a Dalia society here in Atlanta, so I could learn more about them. I also like other tropicals that must be dug each year.. but I need to resist getting too many. Thanks goodness I don't have to dig up the cannas that are coming in the spring fromt eh co-op.

Susan McCoy

Susan - you *might* be able to get away with NOT digging yours up in the Fall in 7b. Hardiness says to 8a and as I posted above in my Z6 I haven't dug one of mine in 4 years it comes back every year. I suppose a lot depends on your own micro climate where you are. Might be a good experiment for you next year! Besides I think a lot of us "push our zone".

Susan, I don't dig mine and they are in a raised bed.
Edited to say I don't dig canna's either. Never lost the first one.

This message was edited Oct 23, 2004 8:54 PM

Hey there Jim, Thats good to hear! Your just a little bit south of me though! I saw a gardeners diary show of a Dalia garden in N. Ga and he did have to dig them all up every year... but then again, maybe he loved them so much he never tried to leave them over winter!
:)

Susan