Columbines of all sorts

I moved to Vancouver from Calgary, and first time it rained heavily (the 2nd day I was there, and it then rained for 31 days straight - oh lucky me) there were these slimy THINGS all over everywhere, with retractable antler type projections, and I freaked, and my friend, a native Vancouverite, said casually, oh those are small, give them a few months....ewwww!!

My first night in Kelso WA I went out barefoot to the mail box. I never made it. Whatever squished between my toes was not of this earth. WHAT SUBSTANCE FEELS SO COLD AND WET AND WON'T WASH OFF WITH A BRUSH! I wrote "alien's" outline that night in my dreams. If I would have only copyrighted it. Have you ever seen a slug slime egg sack? Most incredible.

All from trades havent bought a seed yet, im going to now sence those links. most of the ones i have are perennials will buy my annual seed.for some reason i find bought annual seed better them my own.

So Soferdig
You have lovely sounding slugs hate those thing we have whats call a tiger slug man its huge and will eat anything.
what do you use to kill them.
have you ever tryed coffee grounds i find that thay hate them,so do rabbits.

I always used slug bait under large slabs of granite raised off the ground about 1 to 3". I also knew where they came from. I picked every morning with my first cup of coffee. I always built slug killing hardscape around hostas, north side garden areas, Woodland gardens.

digging, you should have a look at Steve's diary. He has a tour of his gardens in there. Reeeal nice. Just click on his name and you will see his diary. (in case you don't know how)

It is nice here in Montana. Aphids and white flies are the only bad things I have had. Now that I discovered wasps both of them are gone. No slugs except in 1 north side of the house location. Maybe 3 a year.

echoes whos steve cant find it anywere.
i love garden tours, was involved in a garden contest last year as a judge loved it.

http://davesgarden.com/journal/d/t/Soferdig/1717/ try this DD it is my montana garden. Steve

Cheryl, I give. Your slugs win. No idea what woodbugs are, but you can keep em.

DigD, I remember where I almost ordered those aquilegia viridiflora that you love. They had them in Plants of Distinction catalogue last spring. I'm thinking they probably still offer them. I must have figured I had enough to start, cause I didn't get them. They have them at Thompson and Morgan (more expensive) and Devonian garden at U of Alberta.
http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/seedhper.html#68.%20Aquilegia%20viridiflora%20var.%20atropurpurea%20–%20Columbine

Now that I think about it I think I may have seen them in the stores that carry T & M seeds. You only see these things when you aren't looking for them anymore.

yes i know what you mean it is like that with everthing , you see it and say to yourself mmmmm maybe later and when you go to get it not there anymore.
last year for example walmart had peonies three for six dollers said to myself ,get them next week went back and none left, i was so bissed of with myself.
and the sadest part is i will do it again i know i will ,thanks for the link im going to check it out.
how to you start your seeds,i use the bag and papertowel ,workes will for me.

Woodbugs look like small segmented ovals from the top, with a hard shell, and when you bug them, curl themselves into a perfect ball - they love damp dark places, so you can lift a pot and there will be a mad scurrying in all directions - gross!

They also get into a pot through the drainage holes, and will excavate the dirt from the bottom up, so the plant sinks lower and lower into the pot.

Singly, they aren't too bad, it's when they are in hordes that they are hard to take.

So that's what those bugs are! LOL I never knew what they were called, but I always knew I didn't like them one little bit - ughhhhhhh!!! Just thinking about them gives me the shivers.

--Ginny

soferdig viewed your pic of your garden wow
what awsum views is it hard to work with all those pine trees,must be realy dry.I read some were that a full grown tree takes about 40 gallons of water a hour, so you must have to water all the time put who cares with a garden like that i would water it all the time. are your winters cold.
it must have took you for ever to do the rock work theres one view of your memory garden i realy like that looks so peaceful.

echoes i think we got off the typic of this tread,lol
i have some columbine seeds got it today its called roman bronze.
suppose to be a marroon color and the center is suppose to hang long.Sounds like a good one, tell me do you trade seeds.

DigD,, I can't remember how I started them last time. Some I think I winter sowed. I start a lot of seeds in paper towels too. They may have just been started under lights too, without any special treatment. Do I trade seeds? heh heah heh......I have been known to trade seeds, but I rarely turn down requests for SASE either.

As far as staying on track with this thread, that is fine. It's nice just to get a chance to know each other(for all of us). It was never my intention that it be a serious discussion. But I would like to see someone elses pictures.

I must look up Roman Bronze. I don't remember that one.

Slugs - ccoffee grounds yes, but I rely most on Safer's slug bait. Harmless to kids and pets, not that I have to worry because my cats stay indoors and I have no small children around, but I want to be nice to the rest of the critters.

i cant find the columbine anywere.could have a different name then the one i was given.
wow never heard of that slug bait,i never yous the usal one because of the reasons you just said i two have two young boys, i dont think thay would try to eat it or any of my plants i try to teach them with ones are poison one of mine is 9 the other is 6,
the nine year old loves gardening like his old man we spend alot of time at it, the youngest just tages along bord out of his tree,lol
what store carries that slug bait safers,
i love trading seed , ive traded i guess you could say all over the world you get to know some realy nice people.
holy smokes didnent realize you were in zone 3 must be cold in the winter, but i guess your summers make up for it.

Joining this thread rather late...

Anyway, here some pics from 2003. These columbines are called "Winky Mix" and they were grown from seed-- blossomed the first season.

... and another shot showing the columbines to the left, the just-planted annuals, the pyracantha (which is now four times that size, and some garden junque on the right.

Pretty!

Very pretty. I like Winkys. Will have to try them next year, especially if they bloom the first year. I hope I saved that old ladder last year. I don't have any good junque for it, but must find a good(garden) use for it. Thanks for showing your pictures Bev.

DigD were you thinking Chocolate Soldiers (Aquilea veridiflora)? If I see it anywhere I'm ordering from, or in a store, I'll get them for you. If you don't find them for this year, I'm sure you'll have them for next. I never did do a big seed order this year. Maybe we could do a group order to Jelitto or somewhere next year. I did one a couple of years ago.

You should be able to get Safer's slug bait at a Canadian Tire or Rona/Home Depot type store. Not very expensive.
Roman Bronze is a nice one, blue with purply bronze leaves. Save that seed for us!

I just planted some Blue Fan tonight. Wonder if it will come up without a cold period. Maybe I'll just stick them outside.

Brenda

thanks echoes, im going to canadian tire this week end must see if thay carry it in that store,sadly all canadian stores are the same and yes i will save some seed. mmmmm so the leaves are bronze soundes cool, were did you fine the pic for it.

Very nice looking columbine Bev.
i have seed for that one this year ,flowered the first year wow i hope mind do to,is the pink one a winky as will ?
It is very pretty as will,not to hot of a pink to be goddy,if you know what i mean.I hate some of the pinks the in your face pink YUK.

Hi...Just enjoy lurking here and seeing some of my favorites. Since relocating from Ontario to Phoenix in 2001, I'm still missing some of my old fav's...columbines for one!! And I've finally created a little spot that they seem to like. They have reseeded and bounced back. They really don't completey disappear, although they look pathetic in the blast furnace summer!! I love some of the colours you people are growing...might need to experiment and see if they would grow here.

Thanks for posting Trillium. You must be fairly new around here so welcome. We have other transplanted Canadians that drop in from time to time. That's a nice one. Maybe some will do better in your heat than others. Somethng to research. Do you mulch around them?

Welcome Trillium! What other things do you have trouble with in Arizona that you used to grow in Ontario? --Ginny

Hi echoes.. No I haven't mulched on that part of the garden. The 'columbine' part is on the north side of the house and rarely sees sun. However, even in shade in the summer, it's over 100 F!! There's a yellow variety that www.highcountrygardens.com promotes as being tolerate of the heat. I planted one last fall and it's doing well so far. I don't see any flowers yet though.

Ginny...I can't grow hostas, foxglove, delphinium, bleeding heart, impatiens (and a few others) past May. Although, I can grow roses 12 months!! And I have bougainvillea growing over a trellis. There are many of these colorful displays throughout Phoenix. And I am growing oranges, lemons, and pomegranates in my yard!! So there's a trade-off!!

wow a hundred in the shade ohhhhhhhhh i could use that right now.Trillium thats a realy pretty columbine is it a Mckana, the yellow one looks like one.I imagen there a lot that has a hard time growing in those temps.
digging_dirt

echoes
looking through you list i noticest that you have dianthus knappi.
i started some growing last year,and thay are suppose to be yellow,a friend said thay were more white then yellow.tell me what color was yours.god i hope thay arnt white.

digging_dirt,
I grew Dianthus - Knappi the last 3 years from seed via winter sowing. They germinated like crazy and I now have lots of plants all thru my gardens. They are definitely yellow. A paler yellow about the same color as Coreopsis- Moonbeam.

Michelle

Thanks Articfire
I'm so glad thay are not white,i find most white flowers thay are nice when thay flower but when thay fade it looks so dirty drives me crazy.

Trillium, maybe mulching around the roots to keep them cool would help.

Digd, mine are a pale yellow too. A plant that looks better in a substantial group, if you know what I mean. Not too impressive by itself. This is not a great picture, a little washed out.

No time to chat much, my son is coming home from Fort St. John for a visit, and I'm going in circles. Just a little excited.

and overwhelmed!!! ;) Did you get all his stuff out of the snowbanks yet echoes???

Enjoy reading what everyone's up to!! Here's a pure white one that happened last year. Are the white's common?

I dont know about being common,but it is a nice looking columbine,to
me it lookes to have a bit of yellow in it i like it ,besure to save some seed from it.

echoes hope you have a good time viseting with your son.

Beautiful blooms, Brenda! My fav is your #3 picture and the one you think you got from Boot.

Trillium and Bev, yours are gorgeous to!

Enjoy your visit with your son, Brenda!!
:) Donna

Had an email from Beautiful Blooms ... the aquilegia seeds I ordered are in the mail. Thanks to whoever recommended them.Jacqui

Pam, they are out there right now getting ready to drag things through the snow. We just finished a big breakfast. DigD and Donna, thanks for your nice comments.

Trillium, I'm not sure the white columbine is uncommon, but it sure is one of my favourites. Cross a white with just about any other and you still end up with a beauty. And a very nice picture of it too.

Jacqui, I'm glad she had seeds for you. What did you order?

Here's a short spurred pink one.

echoes I hope you remember to throw a few Columbine seeds in that package. ;) I always thought it was me that killed em (didn't realize they were such a short lived perennial).