Growing New in 2008 Pt. 2

i'm looking for black, purple or magenta sun coleus. Basically anything w/o green.
^_^

I a;ways wondered how that skier had the courage to go through that jump every week LOL

Amy I was just using it as an example. In other words what ever I was doing it would end up being backwards.

Funny, Sherrie!
Even backwards gardening still turns itself upright, towards the sun, dontcha know.
So chin up! We are all learning, and teaching, and learning still more every season.

Speaking of backwards and idiotic......yesterday I jumped the gun and planted some tomato plants, cukes and peppers, along with tons of onions. Well sir, I went back out and dug them up this morning (but NOT all those onions that will be fine anyway) since it wil be in the 30s here tonight. Now that's moving backwards, don't you think??? I also planted lots of little coleus cuttings from my new coleus plants in my porch whiskey barrels, so they now have sheets and tablecloths on them. I mean....they don't even have any roots yet! Way to go, Louise...!

Chilly spring this year.

I know I'm at the southern end of the NE, but it has been a chilly spring. Every morning I'm running to the car to go to work AND get warm again, but there was no freaky killing frost like last year. Just a bit too cold for me. But my dahlias that I planted too soon out of ignorance are coming up splendid. Shrug the shoulders!!??

I went to a garden store yesterday and they even have the shade perenials in houses and no huge displays of annuals anywhere. This weekend is the big weekend for gardners both amatures and pros.

My gardening buddy in Southold has a dahlia, which she forgot to lift last fall, up about 12". Some years it works and some years it's called compost.

Thanks for the reminder. This IS the big weekend coming up, isn't it? Guess I'll count my extra pennies and see what I can find that I want to have, or just plain need to have!

Lobelia! This is the last chance (around here, at least) to buy lobelia or alyssum. After this they put in mixed hanging baskets where it will last half as long and cost twice as much.

I just used my gift certificate to White Flower Farms and ordered 2 plants....a pink carefree wonder rose and a Black Lace Black Elder. Does anyone have a Black Elder? I like the flowers and the berries that follow, and the dark foliage sort of looks like a JM. I hope WFF comes through ok after their rough bumps. I'll let you know!

Donnybrook: Did you mail order from WFF?
Thats where the problems are. I will be anxious to see what happens ,keep us posted.

Just arrived jm beni kawa

Very nice!

Donnie Brook I have the black lace black elder - actually a couple - i ordered on from a catalog - it was tiny - then at home depot they had both kinds you see in catalogs and they were bushes for cheap $$. As much as the catalog. this was last year and I still have not "planted" them. Put them in larger containers and set them in the ground in my holding area. They are looking pretty good right now.

Own-Root Roses. Three years ago, I had never even heard of them. Then I thought they were only available via mail order. And I love them. My earlier problem this season w/ cane die-back is simply not a problem with my current own-root roses. My beloved "La Belle Sultane" is now throwing huge canes like crazy, clearly shrugging off this year's problem.

Today I found own-root roses at Adam's Fair Acre Farm...a local nursery and gourmet food store. Can you believe the trend has spread that fast?

So, naturally, even though I'm on a budget, I bought 3 Coffee Bean roses. They are the offspring of Hot Cocoa x Santa Claus and are 2008 cultivars from Weeks Roses. I love Hot Cocoa!! The Coffee Bean roses are big miniatures, and I am planting in big terra cotta pots. Which will either match the rose or clash with the rose, but whatever. The pots are in the "hot garden" where I have all kinds of oranges and hot colors like that.

In the fall, I'll be back on the board wondering how to overwinter potted roses. Actually I overwintered Red Cascade on my front porch last winter...it never went 100% into dormancy, and right now it is looking happy...

It DOES look very happy! Good job with that!

Oh, Candyce, this photo is the standard one released by Weeks Roses to illustrate the Coffee Bean rose. Believe me, mine look nothing like this beauty! But thanks, anyway.

Victor: You should see the coloration of the just the leaves with Coppertina growing in the background! Purty.

That would make a great themed garden-DRINKS!

Bill - glad to hear your Black Lace Elders are doing well. We planted two yellow elders in Florida this winter and fell in love with them. I spent some heavy duty dig-up time this morning pulling out some maverick oregano that is no longer good for cooking, and has taken over my "Friendship Garden". Here's where my Black Lace will go (right where the shovel is)........

Such a pretty area. Love that rock...or is it a boulder when it's that size? The colors of the shed (huge!) and bird house are lovely, too. So is the wheelbarrow. I guess I just love the whole view.

Thanks, Arlene. We do have lots of large boulders all over the farm. The shed is my potting shed that I call Cuppatea (because it's just my cup of tea - LOL). I just finished cleaning up the inside and getting it ready for Molly and I to inhabit it again. Here's the inside:

...and this is the outside of Cuppatea with my gardening supervisor in attendance as always!

Think I'd love a Cuppatea. Just gorgeous. Lock stock and farmhouse. Is that a bijan frise? High maintenance if you throw in the gardens!
L

Nice little club house Donnybrook.

Louise ~

You are doing a bang up job getting the beds all ready. You and Molly 'work' so well together. She makes a great supervisor - LOL!! Yes, Arlene. That is a boulder sitting there. Don't you just love how Louise is working with Mother Nature's landscape, rather than trying to work against it? I know of some hoity-toity homes that would 'kill' for landscaping like that.

It's wonderful, Louise! What an ideal way to spend time with Molly as you work in such a lovely setting. If I saw it in any gardening magazine I'd think it was staged. Great job!

Great place to relax! I love it.

Great place to enjoy the garden, Louise. Very inviting. Wonderful.

Your "potting shed" is my cup of tea too, Louise, very nice. So organized! And the flowers blooming already (wink, wink)!

Thanks so much, everyone! Cuppatea is my adult play house that I never got to have as a kid. LOL I do feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time in a place we both love so much.

Laurel - yes, Molly is a 15-year-old bichon, but she is one low maintenance dog.....she just does whatever we want her to do and wags her tail all the while. Now that she is deaf, she stays pretty close to my side, but she is a joy to pal around with, and we are lucky that she is such a great traveler. She loves being in the car and at Cuppatea most of all. That may be because she has a chipmunk cookie jar in there that has her treats in it. LOL

I've posted this pic before.....of Molly helping me pick beans in the garden last year. All of our dogs have been big fans of snow peas and bush beans when they "help" us at picking time!

how cute

very nice indeed!!

Anybody do dahlias?

Al is our Dahlia King here but a few of us dabble in them. Pirl has some lovely dahlias she grows from seed!!

Jen - I planted 36 of the big dahlias so far and still have the little ones (from seed) but I need to find out their colors before I plant them. The ones I bought from Corralitos were SO easy to plant that I may not ever buy from anyone else again.

what made that place different Pirl?

I'll show you a dahlia I dug up last November. It was a seed when I planted it in April. You'll immediately see why Corralitos are easier to plant.

well compact size does make it easier.... but won't those multiply this year?.... unless you aren't saving them I guess it would be easier