I didn't even know it might rain. Didn't listen to the weather that night. It woke me up about 3:30. The light show was so constant I couldn't sleep, so I turned on the weather channel. That's a very good sleeping pill. Put me right to sleep.LOL
Central TX RU 4/23 "afterglow"
Donna, did you get an email from me? I was asking about whether you wanted more brug seeds, maybe a variety you don't already have?
Ok, everybody that was at the CTRU, I have a confession to make. I have done a lot of reading about irises since then. I wish I had read this before the RU. I think a lot of those irises had a fungus caused by iris borers. When I dug them up, I noticed some slimmy stuff, but I didn't realize it was caused by a fungus and that I would be infecting other people's yards. Oh man, do I ever feel bad. Now I have to dig up all these other irises and throw away all the slimy stuff and hopefully figure out how to protect the rest from this awful stuff. I realize now those weird little things I was seeing in the dirt were iris borer pupa. I hope the people that I gave irises to were smarter than I was. I'm so sorry. I thought that slimy stuff was just rhizomes that rotted because they were too old to make flowers any more.
Silver, not to worry. I took so long getty mine planted that I figured that stuff was the irises starting to rot from sitting in water too long. I cleaned them off really well and even cut off some areas of a few of them (spots that had darkened and gotten mushy.) Don't know if that will really help - I'm not sure what they're supposed to look like right now, if they are normal or not - but at least if they don't make it, I'll blame it on a pest. :-)
They are the only irises I have, so iris borers can only hurt them, not the rest of my garden. Hope yours are/will be doing well.
My irises are so congested it's awful. They are long overdue for thinning. I have to be much more careful in the future to check for borers. If you stay on top of things in the spring, you can catch them before they get to th rhizome.
Mary Lee, don't worry about the ones I took. I have them in a container and I too cleaned them off.
Thanks, htop. You probably recognized the problem they had. I can't remember who took the others.
Loudigger (Margie), I think you brought the agastache (purplish blooms) to the roundup. I was wondering if it takes full sun ... I had potted them, but I need to plant them in the ground and want to make sure I plant them where they are happy.
I just had to prune an Orange Hummingbird Mint (Agastache aurantiaca) to the ground.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1881/index.html
Many of the stems were dying for some reason. It did very well at the end of the sunner last year. Maybe it has received too much water or the soil is too rich for it. Has anyone had this happen to one of them?
Hazel, that's a pretty plant, almost looks like a salvia. Wish I could tell you something about it.
I was so proud of myself yesterday, I finally planted the garden phlox I got from Margie at the RU (poor thing has really been wanting a home!), the crocosmia from Kathleen (looking forward to those flowers!), a red rocket russellia (sp?) that I bought the week before the RU, and the beautyberry I bought when my back was hurt (why did I buy something when I knew I couldn't plant it?) Slowly but slowly, my back is getting better.
Now I need to plant the Russian sage, autumn aster, variegeted vinca, and another plant I bought before the RU. :-)
My bat-face cuphea from Donna cooked in its container while I was down with my back. :-( Maybe they have some at one of the nurseries we'll be visiting in San Antonio.)
Thanks Donna, for the second chance. I promise I'll get this one planted RIGHT AWAY! I don't want to get black-listed or anything, lol.
My son came over this evening to help me with some things in the back yard. Boy, if I'd known how fast it would go, I would have made this "appointment" with him a long time ago! Of course, he doesn't do things quite like I want them (not all that careful with mulch), but that gives me something to do after he's done so I can still claim some of the accomplishment! :-)
Maggie, I am glad your back is improving. It is so frustrating when you can't do what you neeed to do. Did you plant the crocosmia in full sun? I went to Rainbow Nursery and they had the 'Lucifer' cultivar that blloms red. The description on the tag said full sun or part sun, but the sign by Rainbow Nursery said part sun.. It is so nice that your son came over to help you.
Donna, the flame honeysuckle is to the roof line now and has more blooms. It is so beautiful. Thanks so much for it. If you have another bat-face cuphea, I would like one too. I almost bought one Sunday.
Has anyone heard from Kathleen lately?
No, I haven't heard from Kathleen at all. I was trying to find her business card, but I can't find anything after the rather hasty re-arranging when my bedroom ceiling started caving in. If anyone has her information, please d-mail it to me, I'd like to call her.
Hazel, I planted the crocosmia in a pot after reading that it can tend to spread, I have it placed where it will get sun from about noon to 4:30 or 5, next to a water feature. Do you think that will work?
I will do cuttings for each of you, if that will work for y'all.
I have thought about Kathleen on and off for the last 7 weeks (like each of you she worked her way deep into my heart) and kept thinking I needed to dig out her card. Thanks for the kick in the pants!
I have faxed her a note. I'll let y'all know if I hear anything back.
Maggiemoo, I didn't realize you'd hurt your back that bad. That was some time ago that you moved that furniture. Is it muscles or spine problems or both? Are you still off from work? I have back problems also, but mine are mostly just weak muscles.
htop, what did you decide to do about the pergola? Are you going to buy that kit? If your brothers aren't going to help you put it up it might be cheaper to just hire somebody to build it for you and not bother with the kit.
Hazel, The agastache is "Heather Queen" and I have them in full sun. I put some in a whisky barrel, and the have bloomed their heads off. Kinda pinky, mauve color and the spikes are quite tall. I have seen the hummers around them, and I am sure happy with this sturdy plant.
Had 2 big mesquite limbs that were the whole tree blow over a couple of weeks ago, so I am dealing with that same loss of shade in the front side of my house. The good thing is that my very kind young neighbor came over and cut the thing up and hauled it off. He left a large log of it that is rotted out , I am trying to think of a way to use it in my hodge podge landscape. LOL
My daughter had my grandbaby girl on Sunday, so i will be spending time at their house, gazing into her beautiful blue/green eyes. SEEYA, Margie
Thanks Donna. I wanted a girl so so much, I am the happiest grandma around. Her name is Samantha Nicole. She was almost 8 pounds, and the Pedi Doc said she was just perfect. Now I can go out and starting buying Pink!!! No more yellow or green for this baby! (We did not find out ahead of time what it would be) SEEYA, Margie
maggiemoo, I have never grown the crocosmia before so I really don't know where to plant it here in our Texas heat. Being in a container, if it is not happy, you can always move it. I think I'll just move mine around until they look happy. Most sites I have found state that they do better with lots of sun because they tend to sprawl over if not given enough light. I have a coupple of the 'Lucifer' (red blooms) if you want some.
Donna, a cutting of the bat-face cuphea sounds great. Thanks.
Mary Lee, I am still not quite sure waht I'm going to do about the sun problem. Thanks for the suggestion.
Margie, some of the agastache are blooming. The color of the blooms as well as the foliage is so pretty. Thanks for the information and for sharing these beautiful plants. Oh, no ... I am so sorry about the loss of shade on the front side of your house. It can be a real dilemna. It is good to know you had spoe help removing the limbs. What a nice neighbor. A new granddaughter with such a lovely name ... even better than a new plant! How exciting. :o)
This message was edited Jun 15, 2005 1:04 AM
Yes Margie, congratulations. New Grannies are lots of fun. I'll be expecting to see baby pictures at the fall RU. Can you come?
Margie, congratulations!! What a great event, have fun (I know you will) gazing into that sweet baby's eyes. I'm like Mary Lee, I want to know, are you coming to the fall RU?
Anybody remember a red-plumed yakosaurus? One who can drive 250 miles with a butt-load of plants and a tire-eating plant stand , but can't work a computer when she gets back to her swamp? One who thinks fondly of her new family but who doesn't communicate? One who SHOULD have a dozen GOOD excuses, but doesn't even have one lame one? Yep, that one......Well, she finally got on-line..let 'em fly!
Kathleen!!!!
It is soooo good to hear from you! Okay, we won't make you make up any excuses. I just assumed you were over on The Continent with some rich clients, didn't have time to get your hands dirty. :-) What have you been up to? What do you have growing? Did you miss us? :-)
I just today moved my crocosmia (it's in a container) after finding out it needs partial sun, not full sun. So no wonder the leaves have been burning!
Maggie ( and ALL the CTRU gang ), OH, YEAH! I certainly did, and DO, miss Y'all! Just can't seem to get as diversified as normal people. I can do one thing at a time, single-mindedly, but multi-tasking, or even duo-tasking on a single day is way outa my league. So what with my parents (Mom broke her hip recently; Dad's been ill for some time...long story...), work , and life-its-ownself, I haven't had the mental dexterity to deal with anything that wasn't on fire while simultaneously falling off a cliff ; anything less dramatic just didn't hit the radar screens . Am hoping to get some semblance of balance established soon. AND, by the way, HOW do you do it? You'd barely gotten home (did you remember to put your car in park first?) before you were posting pictures and clever anecdotes! (Note to self: Observe overachievers, may grasp clue to life beyond mono-tasking!) I don't know how to make paragraph indentations on this evil machine, so here's a new paragraph (am I a dinosaur or what?): Is the November round-up still in discussion? I may have missed someting in that vein while skimming the thread, or is there another thread at which I should be looking ? Don't worry if the crocosmia crispies; there's plenty where that came from. I've quit going outside unless I absolutely have to ( TOO HOT!!!!), but I seem to recall that they do that after blooming. As a matter of fact, if my memory serves (and it doesn't always), I believe it'll decline until it reaches straw-dom, only to reappear with about eleventy-dozen little chirrens, looking like so much grass , in the spring.It's a bulb or corm, related to glads, so treat 'em about the same; they're much tougher than glads, tho, and MUCH more prolific. It's after 1 AM, so I'm gonna shut down for tonight, but promise to check in tomorrow night...Kathleen
We missed you and we were all worried about you. I thought maybe an alien ship had descended and beamed the red-plumed yakosaurus aboard to study your wonderful plumes and gain your vast knowledge. It is great to hear from you. Are your crocosmia in full sun?
Crocosmias are EVERYWHERE! Sun, shade, high, low....Didn't I tell you? That's why no one heard from me; I was trapped under a big heap-o-crocosmias, and only recently extricated myself from their grasping roots...Yeah, that's it. The trauma of the ordeal prob'ly caused amnesia..Yes, it's all coming back to me...That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! Actually, I don't think they care where they are (just don't put 'em on your head or no one will hear from YOU for months!)....they're corms (or is it bulbs or tubers?) related to glads, but much more aggressive (shudder! flashback! post-traumatic-stress-syndrome!). Anyway, they start looking all tattered after blooming, as I recall, so treat 'em like glads you don't respect, only you don't have to dig-n-store; they'll be back with all their children next year, and by about 2008, I'll probably be attacked by a whole round-up of harried gardeners with fists full of strappy leaves......
catbird, can you come to the fall 05 RU? We need you there.
htop, you've got mail.
Kathleen, I'm sure you DID tell us, but by the time we all got home we could barely remember our names, much less what we brought home with us! I'm looking forward to the crocosmia blooms - be it this year or next, I'm easy.
Silverfuter, I may not write, but I DRIVE! Wouldn't miss it, or you wonderful people! Maggiemoo, some of those crocosmias were unceremoniously yanked up at a tender leave-me-alone time, so they may wait till next year to get over it, but, trust me, they'll be in your yard, blooming in summer, 200 years from now. The one that was blooming in April was the first, but I have several blooming now, and they've taken turns between April and now. But they'd been treated cruelly, yanked and moved, often sitting in a bucket of water for days before being relocated, so maybe they're making the best of a difficult mad-gardener situation. I seem to recall that they bloomed closer together, time-wise, in years past. Probably I should journal these things, cuz my recall ain't so recallish these days, and the chances of my journalling are slim to zero, so....patience; your pestilence of strappy-leaved, orange- flowery, eat-the-next -4- acres, Chernoble-proof plants is surely coming!
LOl! Well, it's probably a good thing I planted them in a container. There is such an extensive web of roots about 1/2" beloew the soil surface here, so digging holes is a REAL chore!
I'm glad we can look forward to seeing you in November at the RU. Will you bring your DH?
DH says he may come along; if he does, prepare to talk over and around and through him; he does love the sound of his own voice! Been meaning to mention to you and Kipper (what's his REAL name?) and Silverfluter....What with the set-backs Donna and Ernest have been through in the recent past, I've been wondering if they (or the others in the group) would think it's out of line for us to contribute to the cost of the outing? The brisket alone must have set them back a bit, and then all the other goodies....I know they invited us (even though they didn't even know us!), and if I thought they were independently wealthy, I wouldn't worry about it, but, as we know, that's not the case. Think it over and let me know ....
Kathleen, I'm glad you brought that up. I've been meaning to mention the same thing. I'm all for it. Kipper2 is Kip.
Kathleen and Mary, I'm in also.
PS: I go by Kip, Kipper, Kipster, expletive, expletive, expletive...
yes, definitely count me in.
We will be there along with our daughter and her husband. He teaches school in England but will arrange for time off.
trois, how neat! Good to see you, seems like I haven't seen you in a while.
We're really accumulating quite a crowd this time. We may have enough people for a small village. We can name it Dave'sGardenville.
LOL! Good idea!
Poor Donna, that wretched picture with her mouth wide open just won't go away! :-)