So what are you growing new in 2008?

Oh no, I was just looking at the JM's I got from Wildwood, and I think there might be some aphids on one of them. I have them inside, near some other house plants. I don't see them on anything else. What should I do?

Take them to the kitchen sink and flush them off. Keep an open eye for another hatch which could be considered normal. Simple water flush will do you a good job. Keep flushing them off to break the cycle.

Thanks doc, probably a shower job as the tree is about 4 ft tall.

Very nice phals, doc! ngam - yes, in my garage with everything else! Sounds like a nice collection starting, wha! Here's my Fairweather order.

Your shipment appears to be packed as nice as I have ever seen one packed. Doubt that any problems should show up.

It's always packed incredibly by them. I should have taken a shot of them in the boxes. Tape, strings and large staples. Takes forever to unpack them!

Some of the many bulbs I planted in my raised planter in late fall. I'll be transplanting these to the garden. Throwing them in the box was a lot easier than planting in the ground since it was pretty cold already.

Good idea with the bulbs, Victor. Nice orchid, Doc--I have 5 & none are blooming--weak fert every week, & bloom booster once a month--filtered sun--nothing! They act like my computer--hateful! I'll see if I can get one new pic to print.

Well, the amaryllis is on--but I can't find the granite & brownstone posts!

Thanks Victor - really adding to the JP's I already have (2 crimson red, 2 green lace leaf, 2 coral bark, and a couple variety's of bloodgood, and another one I have to dig in the snow to read it's name). Just now getting around to cataloging what is in the yard. Pretty scary when I went throught the tags this winter and thinking about the $$ spent.

What is in the batch of plants from fairweather?

Cryptomeria (two varieties - though they look similar), a tree peony, a pitcher plant, hydrangea Pinky Winky, Viburnum 'Molly Schroeder', V. 'Fireworks', a deodar cedar, a sweet fern, and a mulberry.

Thanks - I have never heard of Fairweather, read the watchdog reviews (yours included), and just was on the site. Not a very friendly site to navigate - I only got to about h for scrubs and trees. I'll have to take a look at your variety's, some I am not familiar with.

They are 'old school'. Only added the site a couple of years ago and still have no online ordering. Their stuff is top-notch though and I've been ordering twice a year for ten years now.

That sounds like a good bunch of interesting plants Victor. I thought I saw a pitcher plant there, that one is on my someday list, it's a long list. You will be pleased with h.'Pinky Winky' I think. Mine was new last year and it bloomed like crazy. I am of course assuming it has come through the winter okay and I will give you an update on how it does this season. The sweet fern grows wild around here, it will spread and can be a real tug of war if it gets where you don't want it, so I hope you have a nice big corner for it. The cultivated ones may have better manners than the wild cousins. I looked up your v. Fireworks and that looks really nice too. Yep, I would say some very good choices there.

Thanks. I have one or two small Pinky's from last year. They did not bloom last year so hopefully this year. I have sweet fern around here too - especially where I hike. I love the scent. I tried pitcher plants twice before and lost both of them - too dry I think. I might try this one in a pot.

To keep the ferns from spreading I use the big plastic pots from trees bought at a nursery and cut off the bottom half and put it into the ground around the fern. The pot can't be seen and the ferns have not escaped - not yet at least.

I have everyday ferns (christmas I think) that the previous owner planted into a couple retaining walls. It looks good except now they have moved up to the top and I'm constantly pulling them out of azaela's and whatever else is up there.

I planted a pinky winky last year that didn't bloom yet... it's was very tiny.... can't wait to see how it turns out

Maybe it was the itsy bitsy pinky winky variety. ☺

clever!

ROBINDOG..........I have read that over watering, over feeding and to much light are the three major reasons why orchids sometimes do not do well. We feed ours very lightly every two weeks with various teas diluted to almost tea. Water from the bottom only every two or three weeks and keep them out of direct sun placed where the violets also do best.

wha - sorry I'm late getting back to you, I wasn't on DG yesterday.

The long stone steps are from our old house's foundation. We rebuilt on exactly the same spot. My dh was determined that they weren't going to get buried or hauled off, so he used the backhoe (before new house was up) to put them in place.

Then he decided to make stone walls to go with them. With no prior experience, he did a pretty darn good job! That was five years ago, and now he puts walls everywhere!

I'm getting blueberries. way too many new roses, and I have more to order when I find them. I, too, hit a couple of co-ops, so tall phlox, heuchera, ferns and verbascum. then there's the seed insanity. I have planted almost 200 varieties of seed... all things that I don't currently grow, and a good percentage of them perennials. I'm sure that they won't all germinate. I expect probably a 40% failure rate (I hope it's not higher than that).

When I write this down it's very scary. What on earth is wrong with me?? forgot I have also ordered some perennials; some of the new echinaceas, a sambucus, a weigela, a couple of small alliums for my rock garden, a campsis for the hummers, a passiflora for the b'flies, a few other odds and ends.

I want to grow everything and I'm out of control (guess that's obvious LOL). All of these plants are new to me. I have some young people lined up to help plant for a few bucks. And a couple of people to take extra seedlings off my hands if I have any success with the winter sowing.

I wish you the best of luck with the planting of seeds and good weather for planting everything outside. It will be worth all the work.

I took some petunias in and over wintered them... can't believe they are still alive... I rooted some cuttings... any idea if they will bloom?

There's no reason I know of why they shouldn't bloom.

Wow - 200??!!

by next week I will be up to 178 varieties of seed so I am not far behind you.... mostly annuals

Here's what I mentioned about replying to something 30 feet up, on these fast moving threads.......


Thom, I would love to see a thread where you (and others), post pictures of what you've received. I think that would be a great help for us to know where to order from.

Jan, you are now certifiable! But that's great...cause you fit right in.
I already know I am, this is JUST my Lily bulb list:


Black Spider
Cecil
Ebony
Eye Liner
Madame Butterfly
Montezuma
Nymph
Robert Swanson
Socrates
Tigermove
Corrida
Lavender Joy
Volendam
Cavalese
Music
Novita
Aubade
Garden Party
Starfighter
Sumatra
African Queen
Penthouse
Purple Prince
Strawberries & Cream
Kiss Me Kate
Angelique
Purple Sensation
Time Out
Cancun
Cappuccino
Double Sphynx
Matrix
Monte Negro
Orange Art
Reinesse
Pink Pixie
Dwarf Farolito
Acapulco
Casa Blanca
Conca d'Or
Sorbonne
Starfighter
Stargazer
Tom Pouce

pretty impressive!

No, pretty well nuts......but some are my daughters(I keep telling myself this so it doesn't look so bad! LOL)

Pretty crazy! That would be a 24/7 job with all your other stuff too.

Yes, it will be.....and I couldn't just buy one of each, Nooooooo had to have several of some. Like Garden Party, bought 10 of those Dwarf Lilies! Good thing DGD is great a digging holes for bulbs, she's going to be very busy this year!

Holy cow Pixie, that's a lot of lilies. It will be wonderful in your yard this summer. I have stopped buying lilies for now and moved most of them together or near each other so I can monitor for the red lily beetle easier. They are definitely worth it still even with this extra effort they require now. What perfume you will have out there. :)

I've stopped with lily's as well because of the red lily beetle. Curious to know what everyone is using to keep them at bay?

Impressive list, Pixie---I have Madame Butterfly & Conca D'Or, but don't know the others--are they a mix of Asiatic, Orientals, & hybrids of both? I got hooked on OT's--they make quite a show in the garden! You should have loads of hummers & butterflies!

Robin, ALL of the above! Some Asiatic's but mostly Orientals, OT's and LA's.

wha, I used this last year and it did a good job. http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Dual-Action-Rose-Flower-Insect-Killer/rtu.html
You still need to watch for them and spray every couple of weeks, but my lilies looked good last year!

I don't know what to look for with those lily beetles. I assume I don't have them because my lilies look great. What kind of damage do they do?

I just hand pick and hose off any of the disgusting grubby babies with soapy/ oil water. If you start early in the season getting the red devils their numbers are reduced substantially. Neem oil is supposed to be effective too. I don't use Bayer because it is a systemic and will kill anything that nibbles even any good bugs. Try not to use insecticides if I can avoid it. If you have a lot of plants to protect you may have no other choice at least initially.