Growing New in 2008 Pt. 2

I planted an order from Rosy Dawn (thank you pirl) and have pinched back twice the plants have been in two weeks.
Ordered another bunch ,mostly trailing to fill in the containers. Can't wait. I'll put the freeby in the shade garden along with "Psycholeus" just HAD to have it.

Two separate things at work here. Pinching the flowers saves the energy that would go into seed production (major stress). This saved energy can be used for more foliage production. Pinching back the growth (even before any flowers are produced) stimulates side branching and a bushier plant.

So, do you think it's ok for me to pinch the flowers off my lotus vine? i really just like the foliage...

Racing bushy slugs? lol

'Ludwig Spaeth'
I have had this lilac for almost 5 years and it looks like this year I will get to see it bloom, I can't wait!!!!!
Also noticed there are no photos of this one in PF, will have to add one when it blooms.

So what does DH buy me for our Anniversary??
French Lilac 'Charles Joly'
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55637/

I saw a baby slug doing the oddest thing the other day... I had left a shop cloth near the kids swing set to clean off the bird poop if they happened to go on the swings... Well I picked up the cloth and hung it on the rungs of the ladder for the monkye bars. A little while later I noticed a slug dangling from what looked like a string about 5 inches from the cloth. It then reached then next rung and proceeded to let itself down to the ground. It looked like a a spiderslug using a slug web/string thing....very weird, never saw anything like it.

Nice, Celeste. I see the number of reviews shows up in the thread watcher now.

Wow - Slinkyslug!

Ahhh so it does Victor...kinda neat.

Lotus vine? anyone?

That's a beauty, Celeste! Hope it symbolizes many more years of wedded bliss!

Thanks Louise!!

In general, Amy, it shouldn't hurt to pinch off flowers you don't care for - think of it as advance dead-heading. People snip off the blooms of some hostas and some heuchera quite regularly because, for them, the flowers don't add to the appeal of the plant and it doesn't hurt.

With coleus, an annual in the NE at least, we pinch to trick the plant into thinking it needs to keep going; its life cycle is not yet complete. Same goes for herbs like dill and basil, where you want to harvest the leaves and not the seeds, and in fact, "going to seed" or flowering may turn the flavor if the leaves bitter. Leaf vegetables, like lettuce, and cabbage, "bolt" when they flower - you'll see it on seed packages as "slow to bolt" meaning "will resist turning into a flowering plant and remain a leaf for a long time."

I'm afraid I don't know about lotus vine - but it's your vine, and if you like the foliage and not the flowers, then go for it! Flowers are generally for reproduction; leaves are for the health of the plant. So I wouldn't recommend removing leaves you don't like!

I do the same to my chives, Carrie. I pinch off the flower buds to keep the chives tasting fresh.

That's a good idea, Candyce. I think I'll do that with some of mine this year. I use the flowers to put in herb vinegars to turn the vinegar pink, but I have several plants, so I'll pinch them on a couple of my plants.

If you do pinch off the flower buds, Louise, see if they don't taste differently than the ones you allow to blossom.

I will definitely do that, Candyce. I use chives in so many things I cook. like potatoes, soups, chicken salad, potato salad, and on and on. I couldn't cook without my herbs! Everything would be blahsville! LOL Had to buy a new rosemary plant today. I took mine to Fla. and the rosemary do great there. One of our yard guys loves to cook with herbs too, so he and I shared my herb garden all winter.

I have asked and asked for a 'true' herb garden of my own, but to no avail.
I am thinking that I just need to 'stake a claim' somewhere and call it mine.
The chives were here when we bought the house, so they don't count.

Yes, Candyce!!!! Stake your claim! It doesn't take much room for an herb garden. You can even do a small one in a whiskey barrel. You'd be surprised how much you can put in one of those. Go for it!! Many herbs are perennial here, so they'll come back year after year. If you are worried about some spreading too much and choking the other herbs, you can compartmentalize them by sinking a metal strip of some sort around the roots. I think I used an old metal blind when I did that, because it could be bent into a circle easily. Oregano/marjoram need that or they will spread unmercifully. Thyme and basils (annual though) also work well....parsleys and sage too. Oh Yeah!!

By the way, I went to the Wal-Mart in Rindge today and they had some coleus plants for $1.10 each. There weren't many, and I bought what was left. BUT, the Hannafords next door had them 6/$2.20. I got a couple from there too. The other Wal-Marts with garden centers may have them too. My DH gave me some mad money for Mom's Day, and I went crazy. I won't need to buy much more. I really wanted to buy some coleus from Rosy Dawn, but the shipping charges on top of the plants put them out of reach. They have some wonderful cultivars. I may break down and order a couple, but the shipping makes them about $7.50 for each plant if you buy 4. Ugh.

You've certainly given me some 'food for thought', Louise. (pun intended)

I'll have to check out the Keene W*M for some coleus.
Maybe Shaw's or Hannaford's has something interesting too. Tomorrow is grocery shopping morning.

Blahsville, Louise, LOL! Yeah, go for it Candyce!!!

Once you've been there, you recognize it....right, Carrie?

Oh, yeah. DH does much of the cooking (his "Lemon Chicken Mush" will go down in history) but the zing of fresh herbs can't be beat! And they don't take up much space, some basil, some thyme, some dill, and some rosemary I consider necessities. All those can grow in pots, either individual pots or together. Maybe mint as a garnish for drinks, but make sure that's in a pot for sure. Last year I had two pots of basil, one to flower (for the bees and butterflies) and one to pinch for food. Or maybe three.

Yes, i don't know why it would be any different for the lotus vine... i pinch the buds off coleus and basil regularly. (duh) i guess it just seems "wrong" to take off the flowers when that's what people mostly want. i just don't want red and yellow flowers amidst my pinks...

Donnybrook: thanks for thr wakeup call on Rosydawn coleuc shipping.
I've been living in a "compulsive shoppers dream" in my new place and have made two orderes w/RD . I'll plan better next year an do one big one. I can't hold cuttings over the winter where I live now, so the economy of your tip is great.

No signs on my gaillardia - I did pick up Amber Wheels. I also bought some generic euphorbia to put somewhere.

Well, did the grocery shopping and saw nothing at the local Wal*Mart, Louise. I didn't have time to really 'shop' anywhere else as I had to get back home for my weeding duties. But I will take up herb gardening real soon. I even have a whiskey barre planter that's not in current use.

How much sun do I need? I may have to move the whiskey barrel to a better spot.

Candyce - herbs do best with full sun. That is so cool that you have a barrel already....that would be just perfect. If it's pretty deep, you can fill the bottom third with those styrofoam peanuts to save on soil. I've done that with mine and there's plenty of soil for things to grow well in. Many herbs don't like a lot of fertilizer, so they couldn't be easier to grow. Fear not - I've got you covered on my WM plants. I'll share them with you.

My newest passion is Coleus, as I've mentioned a few times. They are the easiest plants in the world to multiply with cuttings, so my game plan is to grow them here at the farm for the summer, then take beaucoup cuttings to Fla. to plant instead of impatiens. I used my Mom's Day cash to buy 4 nice plants today, and then snipped off a few stems to multiply them in the barrels. All together, I now have 10 varieties, only 5 of which I know the names of. Here's a sample collage of my new cuttings and plants....

the vivid pink & green looks like fairway rose.... but all beautiful

Thanks, Allison. That's one I don't know the name of! I'll check it out in one of the online ID sites.

Looks great! I like coleus a lot myself. Way more variety now than years ago. Lots of sun-tolerant varieties.

I have grown that one from seed many times

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37728/

That's it for sure! Thanks, Allison!

Victor - I agree - there are so many new cultivars and all are so colorful together. The sun varieties make it much easier too.

My luck it would say FULL Sun and I would have a bed ready for Full Shade. Par for the course on this side of the fence. grrr.. I think I am feeling shoveling all the sod earth stuff up and planting today. I think I have to take smaller baby steps.

Find your own pace, Sherrie. Took me years to get my garden halfway decent looking.

Sherrie - stick your six-pack in the sun and then buy some more that take shade! LOL Double your pleasure! Nothing wasted!

Thanks Louise and Victor. Remember the commercial The CBS Wide World of Sports "I think thats what it was" Victory of winning and the agony of defeat and the skier goes tumbling head over heals down the slope after a bad jump. Ouch I remember that. Anyways that is where I am. Started at the top and now, at the bottom of the hill. I want something and I want it NOW.... You put your heart and soul into growing from seed and you see something that is big and beautiful and its not that way. They are young ones trying to get started with a life, but not what you invision. Gardening is time and patience, get knocked down and get back up and keep going. Learn as you go, as you do with everything in life. Agnoy of trying, working and defete you dont get what you want with a click of a finger, but then in time Victory but victory dont come over night.

I got knocked down with the little project today , I will get back up - maybe tomorrow ^_^
If I can stand up......... arghhhh

Experience will teach you more than anything/anyone else.

Sherrie, what says full sun, hon?