Autumn Plant Update

LOL!
I would have said, 'just around the corner', but it's a whole season and a half away.

I live on the newly-developed Optimist Block.

Is it half finished??

DawnLL - I've had the pink Moonbeam Coreopsis for many years now. They self-sow. They're not as full and bushy as the yellows, but are very pretty. They're a keeper in my garden. Here's a pic of them in one of three locations - this pot I totally neglect and they look so nice spilling over the side.

I haven't been lucky with Larkspur seeds yet, but I still try because I love them. Maybe it's location or soil quality.
Started Love-In-A-Puff (first time) from seed this year - very nice!
Candytuft - from seed first time. Fell in love with it!

Sue:

Wow! Even neglected, that looks good!!

Hey Michael! Welcome.

Amy, Are you mulching over bulbs? If so, I suggest you wait until the ground is frozen. Otherwise voles will come for the mulch and stay for your bulbs.Once the ground is frozen the mulch protects from freeze-thaw cycle and the voles are settled in for winter.

Good advice, Dave47. I had forgotten about that.

Voles? Heard the term before, never saw one. What are they?

I hope someone knows the answer, although I am sure that Google can tell us.

I understand 'moles'. Not sure about 'voles'.

Googled voles -- they look like mice and eat your plants.

Wikipedia: A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, and smaller ears and eyes. There are approximately 70 species of voles; they are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in America. Depending on the species, the vole's diet consists of seeds, tubers, conifers needles, bark, various green vegetation such as grass and clover, and insects.

ooooohhhhhhh.
Thanks for the definition. I've seen a couple of 'meadow mice', so those little guys are really voles, huh? Darned things! I haven't seen them in my yard, though. Thank goodness.

They're freaky looking things. I don't seem to have a problem with them. They can do lots of damage to woody plants.

How do you know if you have the little critters in the garden?

Here's a good link on them:

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7439.html#IDENTIFICATION

Thanks victor! Based on that info, looks like I don't have a vole problem

You should see how fast they run after they've tasted the tips of jalapeno peppers!!!

OH MY GOODNESS!! Michaeljo, you have left me speechless - not an easy feat, lol!

What are voles????? How do you know if you have them in your garden???

Whah!!! Can I come garden at your house? LOL!

I'll tell you what a vole is. Voles are the bane of my gardening existence. Voles are what destroy whole beds at a time. Voles are why I spend $$$ on oyster shells (not to mention replacement plants!). Voles are why I'm outside mulching my beds in the howling winds of December and January instead of sitting by the fire with hot chocolate like other normal people. Voles are my archnemesis.

Ah, lucky, lucky you. I am indeed envious. But then again, I know there are others who are envious of me because I don't have a deer problem, or a rabbit problem, etc. I guess we all have a particular critter to bear, lol.

:)
Dee

Dee - please tell us how you really feel about voles!

Sure DiggerDee, anytime, I need all the help I can get ... new to gardening. No voles, lots of deer and rabbits - cute but destructive.

Please don't say deer are cute Michael!! Ever.

never again!

Good!

I am loving this enthusiasm!!

Not so much enthusiasm as it is painful experience.

Some days more painful than others. I declare today as a 'pain-free' day.
(Think it'll work?)

I was only referring to deer.

I know I'm a little late but I just wanted to say thanks for posting the link to Fairweather Gardens. They look like a great company and they are only a few miles from where I grew up in Jersey. My grandparents lived in Greenwich and all of my family is still in the area. It'll be nice next spring to order plants from a company "back home". Now I'm homesick. Perhaps I'll just drive in and pick them up myself in the spring. Thanks so much for posting that link!

You're very welcome, vel! What a coincidence. They are great guys and they have a number of Open House days when you can go and buy on the spot or pick up what you ordered.

So, Victor, I'm getting the feeling that deer are to you like voles are to me, lol! Well I hope for your sake you don't have both!

:)
Dee

Or if I do, that deer find voles tasty.

The voles couldn't move too fast if they found the deer tasty.

Candyce, Voles aren't field mice, though they must be related. Mice look a few million years more evolved then voles.

Dee - do you have any cats? We have three cats who keep the mouse population in check and, boy, do we have mice! I can tell this by how many the cats kill. They haven't been a problem to my plants, though.

The cats have also killed a few rats, which surprises me because I didn't think we had rats in the 'burbs. They don't look like the city rats, but just like "really big" mice.

Now, back to the subject at hand - I put those last three primroses in the ground this afternoon. Then went to to watch our Patriots win! Huzzah!!!

Yeah voles are just teeth with some fur.

I'm not a Pats fan, but that was a good win!

Sue, I don't have cats, but my neighbor does. The funny thing is, one of his cats is constantly on a big rock in the middle of one of my beds. It's the bed I have the biggest problem in (most likely because it has several large rocks - I think the voles like to run along the rocks). Anyway, this cat is always there, in "pounce" position, just sitting like that for hours.

He is either a really lousy hunter, lol, or I have so many voles he can't keep up with them!

I had forgotten about the cats. While all four of ours are indoor cats, there are several cats that hang around the yard. They mostly hang aroud the birdfeeders, but I bet if a vole came into view, they wouldn't be too picky. So, I am thinking that's why I see the meadow mice, or voles, or whatever has fur and teeth and looks like mice scampering across the pavement, only ACROSS the road.

I tried an annual, Sweet Annie, for the first time this year. She is a very sweet smelling artemesia. I was so pleased. She grew to 5 feet and all summer had soft, delicate light green ferny foliage. In late September she put out tons of tiny, tiny yellow flowers. At that point I picked some bunches and hung them to dry in the kitchen. The whole house is perfumed. And now, she has given me her final present. She has turned gold with reddish brown branches for fall. She is famous for reseeding but that doesn't always happen in this zone and I definitely want to see her next year. I saved some seed in the packet just in case.

bebop2:

Sweet Annie is gorgeous!! It looks so delicate, yet brilliant. I'll have to try finding some of those seeds, I guess.

bebop2, you should write advertisements. your picture is beatiful, but your description makes me want to run out and buy one right now.

I agree. And thanks, bebop2!!