Blooming in April

I too hope it is just a rumor.

Welcome Lussah, you have joined the most fun bunch on Dave's Garden. Bet your sweet shrub smells wonderful.
alice

Thanks, Ardesia! I've noticed how nice folks are here and it's wonderful. It's not like that everywhere. Update-That sweetshrub has another bloom and the other tiny sweetshrub has one large bloom and several tiny buds. And my confederate jasmine and gardenias have set buds. It's gonna be smellin real good around here before long!

If any of you are interested in attending a personal tour of Elizabeth Lawrences gardens on April 20th please send me a dmail! We already have approx. 15 people from the tri state area meeting there, but thought I would mention it again now that a date has been set. Her home is located in Charlotte and I know many of you may recognize her name as one of the early 20th Century top female gardeners...she was a woman way ahead of her times by attending and graduating from Brevard University and later becoming the first woman to obtain a landscaping degree at NC SU at a period in time when women were supposed to stay at home and have children :o)

Deanna

The Woodlander's thing is probably not a rumor. They've been trying to sell the operation for years but couldn't find an acceptable buyer. As is typical in these situations, the alternative to selling is to close the doors. I suspect Ted Stevens will pick up some of their rarer material, since they've worked together closely for years. So ALL may not be lost, but Woodlander's knew stuff and grew stuff no one else did, so I consider it a major loss. Another sad note, ardesia, is the rumor that Pete's Herbs is closing. Official word from Pete is he's "cutting back", not closing---but that could mean anything... Didn't have the usual varieties/quality this year that has been his trademark in the past, and they're closing for the summer (which they never did before). I hate this whole thing, but the hard facts of life are that it's tough to be a niche marketer in a "Big Box" market...

Oh BTW not sure if I saw someone mention it, but Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia is having their annual plant sale April 26th from 9-12....

http://www.riverbanks.org/

wow two nice back to back weekends of plants...be still my heart...

Oh my, not Pete's too; that is sad to hear. I hope Nancy Hart can hold out. The price of fuel to heat greenhouses and deliver plants has hurt so many it seems.

If you need a great place for herbs,we have Inlet Culinary Nursery up here.It's been around for years but wasn't worth much until new owners took over.They get better each year.

They were at the BrookGreen event yesterday.It continues today.

I second Nancy's recomendation on the Inlet Culinary Nursery although it can never replace the ambiance of Pete's. Driving down a country dirt road, the charming gate and Pete himself made going there an event.

hey i inherited a meyer lemon, and need to know about them so i can plant it in a good place

Mine is near the house on a southeastern exposure. Lot's o'lemons the past two seasons. Not sure about the soil that's best, though, since mine is in a big old pot.
Deb
(Knockout bud)

You leave your Meyers out year round, Deb? I've been lugging mine in and out of the GH for the past 8 years...and it's gotten too big to manage easily.

Yes, year round. The are about a foot out from a red brick wall. The first two years I wrapped the trunks and, when there was frost or freeze, I threw a sheet over them.
This year, I wrapped and covered them a bit less obsessively.
Deb

Debin - love the rose~!

Stono there is no need to bring the meyers in. It's planted outside all over the place here. It will do fine with frost.

Diehard just stick in the ground with lots of sun and the meyers will do fine. Easy plant to grow.

do they like a good amount of water, and how fast do they grow

I have also been bringing in my meyer lemon and my ponderosa lemon in the winter and both have gotten too heavy.I will leave them in the pots and try covering them but I don't think that they can stand the 16 degrees we had this winter.The poderosa is just an incredible plant.It is a small tree that is always in bloom and or has huge fruit.The fruit isn't the best but I still love the tree for it's uniqueness.

The meyers and ponderosa lemon are both hybrids. Meyers are true lemons crossed with a mandarin orange so where a mandarin will grow so will a meyer lemon. The ponderosa lemon is less cold hardy but will grow outside in the low country. Stono and Diehard are both in the same climate as myself and can grow both of those outside but Debin if your going under 20 degrees I really don't see you being able to grow either lemon outside year round. We only get to about 25 degrees on a cold night and that doesn't happen every year so we're quit a bit warmer than you.

Side note: I planted a harvey lemon last year which is a true lemon and supposed to be the most cold hardy. It lived through the winter and let's see if it fruits this year. It should be old enough this year to fruit.

Diehard you're thinking a little to much as far as the meyers lemon. It's an easy small tree to grow. Stick in the ground in full sun and it will grow. If you go a couple of weeks without rain you should water it but other than that don't worry about it. I usually see them growing about 6 ft high by 4 or 5 ft wide. Plant files said they get bigger but I haven't seen one around here any bigger than 6 or 7 ft at most. They grow fast once you plant them in the ground, couple years and you'll have a 6 footer

mmk thanks

Forgot DH. http://www.plantfolks.com/index.html Check through this site for cold hardy citrus. They're up in Port Royal and that's where I bought my citrus trees.

Beautiful flowers ladies.
Gotta get all my stuff from Raleigh and plant it down here and see if it will grow better.

Lavina

thanks core. i have heard of them, but never have made it up there. i'll try once i cam make plant purchases again

I see the weather is supposed to have some cool nights next week, I have already planted several musa's - any advice DHS on if you think I should pull them back out of the ground? I just got done planting my Bluestone orders as well as the most of the phlox from the co-op..argghh those will just have to tough it out under some pine straw but what do you think on the bananas? you grow alot so that is why I thought to ask you :o)

Musa's? I wouldn't worry at all about those.

nope... musas can fend for themselves.... here at least... i might cover a plumeria and sambac jasmine

okay cool - I just didn't want the leaves to die all the way back at 34 degrees as I got it at Parks, kept it in the GH and it is already opened with several leaves - planted it last weekend so I just wanted to be sure I didn't have to 'start all over again' from the ground up if the cold weather would destroy the leaves etc..thank you gentlemen!

Anemone about to pop.....

dianthus raspberry swirl doing a twirl for me...lol

Kwanzan Cherry putting on a show...

Lilac smelling real good right about now...

several of the Clematis are ready to pop open..this one is the largest of buds out of the 6 I have planted around the yard....

still have tulips popping up here n there...their color goes great with the cabbage blooms :o)

and yes...the angel trumpets have woken up...

love purple...my fav color....

and the Centaurea continues to love the weather

and these little buggers keep popping up all over the front from where I planted wild flower seeds three years ago...first year I got nothing...second year these started coming up so I kept transplanting them to a bed...they actually overwintered and although I am guessing they are in the dianthus family I love the mop type head they have prior to blooming...

nice pictures... your yard is really coming alive.
ps even if the leaves do die back, the pseudostem wouldn't....in lexington, they usually go all winter w/o killing any of the pseudostem.... at least thats my experience with them. if the leaves get damaged, it wont be but a few weeks til you wouldn't even know it happened

I see what u r saying...just being a mom here LOL...knockout roses are getting ready to bloom too. One of the big box chains had Spanish Lavender on sale for two bucks a gallon container...several somehow made their way into my cart when I wasn't looking...along with a bunch of 50 cent phlox...I must stop shopping with a cart...I must stop shopping with a cart...yes that should be my new mantra...

whats a mantra

lol...diehrd...you're kidding right? wow, SC, that one might be worth looking up

surely you jest....it's just a sentance or a few words that one says over and over again to ones self to imbed an idea...you know ...like...I will get off restriction...I will get off restriction... :o)