We moved into our new home in May, just got the yard cleaned up, mulch laid doen, trees trimmed, and so forth. When will it be too late to put out my Caeselpinia, Buddleia, bottle-brush, Opuntias, and so forth? I live up the side of one of the hills around Canyon Lake (North side); my house is east/west facing, steep slope.
Late plantings
Which zone are you in? It depends on whether you have freezing temperatures in winter, if you do, some of the Caesalpinias, and Bottle Brush might not make it outside, but the Buddleia and Opuntia will be fine.
Otherwise fall is a great time to plant perennials, I keep my frost tender plants potted so i don't have to worry about it.
Josephine.
Fischer is just west of Wimberley and San Marcos (between Austin and San Antonio)
Zone 8, I think. I grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, but I don't really know what the winters are like here. The Pride of Barbados may indeed freeze back, but it grows so quickly that I can plant it every year if necessary. Thanks for the response.
You have pretty mild winters. Every once in a great while there will be a freeze....not often.
I'm having a blast. I've never had the opportunity to do a yard from scratch before. The only plants on the place were the ash juniper and some Texas live oaks. We cleared out most of the juniper, took a weed eater to the other vegetation, got some landscapers to build a water feature and move some of the really large rocks to where we want them, then spread a layer of mulch over most of the yard. Now I'm planning, planting, potting and preparing. I've found some Coryphanthus sulcata, which I rescued, as well as some lace cactus, about 3 or 4 different Opuntias (leptocaulis, microdaysis, a nopal, and a couple of unidentified seelings), a Cylindropuntia and Lord knows what else. I've put out some Parodia and Mammillaria and more stuff to come. Man, I'm working harder now than I did before I retired! What a trip!
Yes, but this kind of work is fun, right?
I think you are probably zone 8b Clathrus. BTW welcome to DG and to the hill country.:) I have come to the conclusion that finding out what is normal weather for Texas is to some extent a waste of time. Considering this past year, I think we've broken just about every record, except the maximum highs. DH told me he thought we've had 40 inches rain, which is twice what it "normally" is. We had our first ever white Easter (I think), which is saying alot considering how little it snows here even in winter. We made it all the way through August without hitting 100 degrees even once (I think), compared with last year when I believe we hit 100 many times very early in summer and it stayed pretty much that hot all summer. Except for worrying about everybody being flooded out, I have actually enjoyed this summer.
Silver nailed it on the head.
Clathrus, I'll bet you are having a blast with that 'blank' canvas. How exciting to start from scratch!
Yeah, well I do have to "blast" sometimes to dig through rock so I can plant something. Just a little while ago I swong my mattox on the ground and it practically vibrated out of my hands. There was about a half inch of soil and I don't know how much rock. I chipped out enough to put my plant in, but had to find some soil to put around the root ball. How much do jackhammers cost, anyway?
Oh oh, looks like you might be having a little too much fun? Dealing with rock can be tough.
I dont know which is worse, rocks or roots! At least once you remove the rocks, they are gone. I have these huge roots running thru my soil from where trees were cut down. I need a AX and a max strong enough to handle one.
I prefer the rocks also; I spent much of my career (Forest Pathology) digging up (actually, letting students do the work) pine tree roots. At least with the rocks you can use them to beautify the landscape. Pine roots are pretty much useless once they are removed from the tree. I intend to never, ever, have a pine tree on my property. The pine tree is my absolutely least favorite tree.
Clathrus, were you teaching at a university somewhere?
Yes, LSU at Baton Rouge. Had a lot of research in Alabama and Ft. Benning, GA also. Most of that was my last grad student's work. She did some groundbreaking work, probably the best I was associated with in my career.
BTW Clathrus, we have a discussion going on in the Daylily forum about why they produce proliferations. It seems nobody knows. I realize this is not what you studied, but do you have any idea or do you know how we could find out?
Thanks, Mary Lee
Silver, I can think of several possible causes for daylily proliferations. I assume that what you would really like to know, is how to stimulate their production. I'll check with a colleague whose speciality is ornamentals and get back to you with what he says.
I don't know about the proliferation yet, but my friend did send the following. I make no claims about edibility or taste.
Since we're talking daylilies, you may be interested in this recipe for Daylily Bud Casserole.
2 qts daylily buds
3-4 strips of bacon
2 onions
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can water chestnuts
Cook bacon until crisp and set aside. Brown onions in bacon drippings. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water. Bring to boil and add daylily buds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until tender, being careful not to overcook. Add mushrooms and water chestnuts and slowly fold in undiluted soup. Turn into a casserole dish, garnish top with crumbled bacon and bake at 350 F until bubbly.
A couple of websites that address proliferation:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/daylilies/3538
http://www.ca.uky.edu/HLA/Dunwell/DYLYPROP.html
Both sites reference Lee Pickles; you may want to find this paper which he wrote: Pickles, Lee. 1997. Forcing, Growing, and the Ethics of Proliferations. The Daylily Appeal, Spring/Summer 1997: 22-23
Hope this helps; you probably have seen all this already.