C’mon, sit a spell

Do you know what the active ingredient is in that stuff? Just curious how it kills bermuda grass and not plants.

Maggie, I looked at that d-mail I sent you and it's not even all there. Maybe I'm not all there either. LOL That might explain part of the problem.

htop, did you say something once about some sort of cover that you had put around your Snow Queen Hibiscus to keep it from freezing? Or did I imagine that? I know this is August and the danger of a freeze is something most people are only dreaming about, but I'm trying to figure out what to do with some of my hardier plants that are in huge pots. It would be nice if I didn't have to put them in the greenhouse. I have some in 22 and 24 inch pots and I was thinking maybe I could put them on the southside of the greenhouse and wrap them up with something.

Mary Lee, you have a very good memory. I used some stuff that I purchased at Rainbow Gardens that I am sure is probably available at other nurseries. It is a white sheeting that allows sunlight through it so that it may remain over the plants for several days. I think it is called frost cloth, but I am not sure. I bought it by the foot from a large roll that they had. Being very light-weight, it does not crunch the plants. But, I used long wooden dowels I purchased at Ace Hardware to keep the material from becoming heavy and hurting the plants in case it rained or sleeted. I cut the dowels so that they were about 4 inches above the plants and then stuck 3 or 4 into the container around the plants. Then, I cut the material in lengths and widths that would cover the plants and at least the top 3 or 4 inches of the container (some containers were covered all the way to the ground), wrapped it around the plants and secured it with clothespins. It works very well and is like having small teepee-like greenhouses around each plant. I used it to cover plants that are in the ground too. I have not had a plant receive any damage when I have used this the past 2 or 3 years. Of course, the winters have been mild. I do not know to what temperature that this material will be effective.

Thanks htop. I will start looking for that. In the meantime, I'm going to keep working on DH to build a cold frame on the south side of the greenhouse. I think maybe we can make a "tent" like you had and put on the patio in the back. It'll get lots of sun there and I'm hoping that the flagstones will hold in some of the heat of the day and keep everything warmer at night.

Mary Lee, you're welcome. That sounds like a good idea to me. Bob's aunt passed away at 4:30 on Sunday morning. He was getting dressed to go to Victoria when he received the news.

Oh, htop. I really sorry. Every time I know of someone going through this it brings back many menories, most of tearful but not bad. I know people have to go sometime, but that doesn't really make it any less painful. I'll continue to pray for you.

Thanks.

Hazel, I'm sorry to hear about Bob's aunt passing away. I know what it's like to lose someone who has been ill for some time - expected, but still tough. I also have a very hard time with "letting go" of people. Please tell Bob we are thinking of you guys, and praying for you.

Mary Lee, lol girl, I don't know what to tell you about the d-mails. I know that when you first write them, the only option is to Preview, and then you have to Send. Sometimes I forget that I have to Send after I've Previewed, maybe that's what happened to you, too. (When posting on the forums, you can Preview or Send right away.)

I intended to go to the Arbor Gate sale yesterday, but ended up at Nelson's Water Gardens in Katy w/a friend from work. They were having a sale also, I bought more than I should have (that's nothing new, I'll go on a diet for the rest of the month, lol!)

I bought a Cat's Whiskers plant http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/2085/index.html , it's so neat! I'll pot it up a little later, it's too hot in my real garden right now. :-)

What is everyone else up to this weekend?

how funny, maggie. I go north to shop for plants and you go south! (well, SW) I went to cypress to purchase some wonderful plants from Flowerjunkie. She has the neatest plants. Then I went to RCW. Then, suggested to DH that we stop at Enchanted Gardens near our house and he just raised an eyebrow and kept driving... what did you get at nelsons?

htop, I hope the love of friends and family comfort you & DH at this time

Maggie--by the way, cat's whisker's is incredibly easy to root. I have several that need good homes!

dmj, yeah, I read that Cat's Whiskers are so easy to root, even I may be able to do it, lol! I'm looking forward to making more to share. The flowers are really quite striking!

Nery, I have been wanting to check out Nelson's for quite some time. I was looking for a local source for barley straw to control the algae in my small water feature (I have dragonfly larvae and don't want to kill them.) I found out they have it, so off we went! In addition to the barley straw and Cat's Whiskers, I got my very first water plant, Water Mosaic (picture below.) Also salvia guarantica "Colbalt", pigeonberry, bat-face cuphea (Donna gave me some, but I am so inept at propagation, and they were only $1, so...), and a piece of glazed pottery that was reduced (don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I just couldn't pass it up!) The barley straw and water plant were not on sale.

dmj1218 how do you root cat whiskers? how long have you had? are they perennials for you? I got some in trade, planted in shade and didn't come back, well, except for one that is trying hard to show its pretty face. if you go to the houston nursery date I would love to get some of your excess.
maggie was the pottery on sale?

Maggie, I am going to send you a really short email and see if you get it.

Ok, I sent it.

Nery, there were just some select pieces of pottery on sale.

Several people in the Plantfiles for Cat's Whiskers said cuttings can be rooted in water and moist soil very easily, and some even said that it can survive in up to zone 7.

Oooo! We've been having plenty of thunder for a while now, and now we have rain! Yippee!!

I just sent the first email (for the third time). Hope you get it.

Vossner--I was definitely planning on the plant date! I just used rooting hormone and they all took! So now I have many many whiskers! Alot are still in pots if you are in west Houston before the date let me know. I have not been able to ever over winter one here; the frost just sorta settles in on this "little house on the katy prairie" LOL. But someone I know in Tomball has and down in the heights. By the way I rooted them in late Oct. I think and kept in garage under plant lights because they will freeze on me.
Debbie

Maggiemoo, I'm so glad you posted that link for Cat's Whiskers. I secretely took a piece of one at our Botanic Gardens last fall (don't tell the plant police) and kept it inside. Then I put it outside and sort of forgot about it. The plant file I see that it needs continuously wet soil tho, and it's not going to get that here without my help. It's growing good now but I'll be watering it more now. For the longest time I had no idea what it was, the finally found a correct name, but never looked it up here. I can't remember if mine was from the white or purple plant. It's so easy to forget little things like labeling when you are seed snatching with friends. :)

debbie (dmj) thanks for the info. richmond is west houston and I consider Katy (on the I-10 side) and Sugar Land (on the 59 side) my stomping grounds as there isn't much going on in Richmond. so I must not be too far from you.

So are you saying you replace with new plants each year? My experience with them was that they weren't hardy and that you do have to water (not religiously, but certainly keep an eye on them for moisture)

If I get an opportunity to meet you before the houston date i will send you a private email.

From what I read in the PlantFiles, they should overwinter here, and @ Nelson's they said they are hardy in our area. I am going to operate on the premise that they will make it though the winter. Maybe I'll take some cuttings to root inside over winter just to be safe. :-)

Just love those little kitty whiskers!

Say, does anyone here smell the fragrance of purple petunias? I've been told they are fragrant, and I have a couple of friends who have commented on the fragrance of the ones in my garden, but I can't smell a thing! They just smell like plants to me.

Of course, in this garden, I can smell them! :-)

Oh My what a wonderful thread! .......and I am so behind...I will never catch up because I cant stop reading. The Mojitos are still on because i have more kinds of mint than I know what to with. .....hmmm....maybe make mint Jelly and scones.
sylvia

Sylvia, I seem to be addicted to mints, they make great container plants! I picked up and orange mint recently (did I already say that? I'm so forgetful.)

Yes, purple petunias do smell sometimes. There is a variety they've come out with that's much hardier in hot weather, but they are the ones that don't smell. It's the kind that you see in early spring that smell like grape koolaid. And it's only the solid purple, not the striped ones. The HEB here has them sometimes and I can smell them from the parking lot! Not very many places have them, but they're easy to find if they are there.

Maggie, did you get my dmail this time? Are you getting dmail from anybody else? I suppose it could be my computer, or maybe yours.

'Laura Bush' Petunia (Petunia X violacea) has a heavenly scent. I plant them each year in the spring. The one in the ground is still blooming and I haven't cut it back. It receives afternoon shade. I cut back the ones in containers to about 4 inches tall and placed them where they receive a few hours of sun until they come back out after I fertilized them. They are coming out nicely and I hope they will make it until the weather cools. Maggie, haere is a bouquet of them. Can you smell them?

The VIP Petunia - Violet in Profusion (Petunia violacea) is another of my favorites, but I don't think that it has a scent. Both of these are Texas SuperStars.

All I can say folks is that they (cat's whiskers that is) have never survived a winter in the ground for me....but they are super easy to root.

Vossner--yes I put out new ones every year; I treat them like annuals. I'm on north Hwy 6--so I guess you would consider that extreme east Katy (lol)--I think Barker Cypress is the dividing line and I'm a stone's throw from Barker Cypress!

Hazel, I CAN smell them!! :-)

Really, I have the Laura Bush in three different containers. I was looking around when I got home this evening to see how much of the evening shower hit home. I thought, "Okay, I'm going to try one more time..." and when I sniffed them, voila!! I think God just knew how much I wanted to smell their scent.

I have a VIP, too (I always wondered what the VIP stood for.) Thanks for telling me how you pruned yours, and that they get some shade. Mine tend to always look a little leggy or pruned too much. I just hate to prune them, but I don't want them to be leggy, either.

A friend from down the street just got back from a couple of weeks in Calgary. She was telling me that at this "castle" place they went to, there were huMONGous petunias draping over all along the walls (like, about 5' wide, draping down about 4'). She tried to feel up in there to see what kind of containers they were in, but they were so thick she couldn't even feel the wall, much less find the containers! She was surprised by the heavenly scent, and then proceeded to comment on the scent of my petunias (that I couldn't smell at the time.)

silverfluter, I got your "test" d-mail last night, and responded to it. I have been getting other d-mails, too. Go to the top of the screen, click on the tab that says "my info", then click on "view your d-mail". You will see messages that you have sent and that you have received. If you successfully sent me a message, it should be listed there, like a thread.

Yes Maggie all the dmails I've "sent" are listed there. I just can't understand why you didn't get them. Maybe if you come to Fredericksburg, I'll turn on my computer and then you can read them. LOL Or else maybe just print them out and send them snailmail. LOLThat kind of defeats the purpose though.

Just exchange regular E-mail addresses

Maggiemoo, My computer geek son said maybe my dmail wasn't sent because it was too long. Is there a maximum length for a dmail?

I don't think there's a maximum length. I've gotten some really long ones.

Anyway, I think we're connecting now.

Trois, too obvious, lol! Did you get any rain today?

No rain for a couple of weeks. Lots of thunder every day.

Oh, I'm sorry. We've had light rains (heavy in some spots) for the last several evenings, just like old times.

We've been getting rain here too. I've been trying to take my kids to a small waterpark before school starts again and twice now we've slathered ourselves in sunscreen, packed up our stuff, and when we got outside the sun had gone away. We went ahead and tried driving towards it both times only to run into the unexpected rain. No rain during July and now I can't get away from it! My plants are happy tho. :)

We had rain on Saturday - around 2" in as many hours. It seems to be feast or famine, no half measures here. Since then we've had loads of thunder but nothing else.

We've got lots of thunder and now a good, steady rain that looks like it's settling in for a while. Yep, feast or famine. I've been trying to mow my lawn, want to get a new batch of compost started, but it's always too wet to mow. But those plants are sure smilin'!

It's fun to watch that weather from inside this garden. :-)

We are getting a lot of thunder and a few big drops.

We had a chip floater rain -- 5.2" -- from 2:00 this morning until late morning. My seventy pound Great Pyrannes pup is storm phobic and hit the outside door to our bedroom like a battering ram when the lightning and thunder started. I spent the rest of the night on the sofa with her on the floor beside me. I think I slept between 4:00 and 5:00 because it seemed like the clock chimed those two times back to back. She's sleeping on the porch now getting ready for tonight in case there's another round of storms. After no rain for two months, we've had over 7" in the last week. I hope all of you still needing rain get your share soon!

This is a very unusual Aug. My roses are beginning to bloom their hearts out. Madame Alfred is beginning to cover the top of the arbor finally and has probably 30 blooms! Love that rain! Now if I could just run all the mosquitoes out that would be awsome.