LOL. burning bush is something i can not live without.
had one at my old place.... cant recall when my mom planted it ... but it was as tall as my garage.... DH fell off a ladder once while trimming it... he got up, dusted himself off, got a chain saw and whacked it down. I was devastated. THe bush was probably 15-20 yrs old or so.
so when we were doing our landscaping the first Spring we were in this house, I said i had to have one on the corner ... and he said it had to be a dwarf.
aint it a beaut??
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #19
tcs, What beautiful color on yours. We have one about your size, but I have to trim it back 6 or so inches each year to keep it that size.
Yanno -- i dont think i've even trimmed it 'height-wise'
when it starts to over hang the small retaining wall.... like when you mow the lawn and get whacked by small branches... that is when i trim it... maybe 3 times in 6 yrs, [probably the past 3 yrs] and only a few inches at that. no major cutting.
its' been a well 'behaved' bush... not like my Spireas.
I have been enjoying the coversation about burning bushes. Have never heard of them before. Does anyone know if they will do well in central Texas?
>>Hardiness: USDA Zones 4 - 8.
So- i really do not know what it would do in your climate.
And if it needs the cooler temps to get that vibrant color.
Mine is just stunning in the Fall.
I'll see if there are still seeds on my lavender ROS... very pretty, and single bloom, so maybe it'll last a good long time.
Hey, if anybody is so inclined, please pop over to this Welcome Mat thread http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/927553/ and say hey to my sweet mother-in-law. I've been trying to sing her up for a while, as I think she'd love the discussions here, but she's pretty new to the net (email, yes, web surfing, not so much). I think last week's article on e-communities convinced her she wanted to be part of this! :-)
I've put this on a couple of "chatty" threads, so sorry if you've already seen it. The Cottage Garden forum is one of my favorite DG places, so I hope she'll find her way over to it... and I know some of you "do" roses, which are one of her favorites.
She brought her laptop, and hopefully I'll get her logged on this morning. Thanks!
Thanks Terese, It could be that it would not be so pretty here. That may be why I've never seen one!
Critter, That is so nice of you to have such concern for your MIL.
Happy Thanksgving.
She's having a good time with it, Lynn! She loves "her" welcome thread, and she's learning to click her way around the forums and hyperlinks. I'm hoping she'll jump into some of the discussions... I know she's got a lot of expertise to share!
I hope she pops in here Citter. I wanna know what knot herbs are, or somethign like that I read she has or does.
A knot garden is carefully planned and tended so the plants form an intricate "knot" design. She has more patience than I! :-)
quick search turned up these links for ya:
Wikepedia link with a couple photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_garden
Cute "garden design" sketch of a simple knot garden: http://www.superbherbs.net/design5.htm
OH -- that is so awesome... and yes, i bet a lot of patience involved.
And lots of time too!
neat. Looks like alot of prunning and such. but sure is something different. if ya have a locke dknot, though how do ya maintain the center parts.
Hope you MIl has some pics. Maybe she would consider a tutorial for us on how to make some small ones.
There must be some old photos somewhere... We'll see what we can do!
I think you have to leave spaces where you can put your feet. :-)
Anyone that does those knot gardens have my respect lol They look way too intimidating for me! I would love to see a picture if she has it :)
Have a Happy Turkey Day everyone ;0)
Hey! I was just showing my DMIL these comments and talking to her about her knot garden design of long ago... and I've got good news! She says her approach is not nearly so complicated or labor-intensive. Instead of forming the "knot" pattern with trimmed little hedges and filling in the gaps with other plants, she creates a "knot" of brick or flagstone walkways and fills in the triangles and other shapes between the paths with plants. :-)
I wanted to pop in to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a great one. : )
ooo - I like that idea - making the knot out of hardscape stuff. Brilliant!
Hello Cottage Gardeners! I've been hanging out on the "new to WSing" thread and have been thoroughly ruined by tcs1366 amoung others... I have only ever gardened veggies, but now I am very eager to start a cottage garden in a raised bed, but I am having trouble deciding what to put in the bed. So here is your chance! Help a newbie start her new bed by suggesting what you couldn't live without in your garden.
If you think of it, I'd also love to know your favorite resource for seeds for your favorite plant. I have some generous DG friends sending gift envelopes of seeds, but I don't have enough to trade around yet so I'll probably need to start this first year buying some packets.
Thanks so much for your recommendations!
-GB
Oh GB... you will be a pro at Cottage Gardening in no time flat.
glad you found the thread... lots of great stuff in here.
Terese
GB - I think for my CG there are so many things I couldn't live without it's rather embarrassing!! Snapdragons, zinnias, various sunflowers, castor bean, hollyhocks, pinks, celosias, bulbs for all seasons, plume poppy, herbs...and that's just off the top of my head. I'd plant veggies, but the squirrels are just too clever for me and my pepper spray :-) Welcome!
Glad you travelled over here GreenerBeaner!
Tonya
And one thing that i learned, especially when i was planning on planting for Birds, Bees and Butterflies .... gotta have those herbs - the butterflies love them.
I think i also wanted to mention that too LaLa....
Ditto on the 'bulbs for all seasons'. But I love my Maynight Salvia.
I'm new to clematis. I bought many 2 years ago, but have had Polish Spirit for several years and will never be without it.
Here is a pic.
Thanks for the welcome, and for the ideas! I've done some reading through of this thread and the pictures are worth a million words! Thanks for the pics of your amazing gardens.
oh, you gotta get cheap seeds here http://www.valueseeds.com/
Has anyone ordered from Hazzards Wholesale Seed?
I've read good things about them any anyone can order. They only charge a $4.95 flat shipping rate. The selection is mind-boggling!
http://www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=Hazwho
I've not bought from them.....yet....... You enabler you....
Ah... another site to visit! I've just been looking through my 2009 Fedco catalog... they have some nice discounts on bulk packs of seeds. I bought huge packs of zinnias and bachelor buttons from them one year and might do so again, for the area around my dozen tiny fruit trees, then use seeds and seedlings from the "piggy swap" out there also.
Since we're posting about other great opportunities... if there are any orchid cactus fans here (they're tender, and my inside space is full, or I'd jump on this), there's a great offer for cuttings for postage: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/931983/
Value seeds has great stuff cheap that wil germinate and if ya go to park's seed site, click on there $1 seed sale. Everythign runs from 49 cent to 1.00 there too.
I check value seeds and Parks dollar sale link every few weeks. always somethign new listed and cheap and they viable seeds.
Gosh you all I'm trying to be good and not order seeds for this year and you are making it soo tempting! Stop it LOL I still have so many seeds from last year and about 40 packets from our piggy swap, it's so hard to be a good girl!
I guess I'll go check Hazzard out I haven't been in that site, and my arm is hurting where you twisted it I just want you to know LOL
OW OW, you're twisting my arm, too.
I didn't go back and catch up yet but I wanted to pop in and say hello to everyone. I just got my power back on. We had some nasty ice storms around here and a million people were without power. I am very thankful to have it back already, as they were saying a few days. It only ended up being about 36 hours for us. Last year we had no electricity for 60 hours from a similar type of ice storm- so this is much better : )
Meredith -- I did read about that power outage. glad to hear you are 'back in business'.
Danita - I had never heard of Hazzards before and they are only about 2 hours away from us. Now it looks as if they are online only. I really want the China Town Celosia. I grew it or something really close to it several years ago and loved it, but never saved the seeds.
check out this page for some nice photos.
http://hayefieldhouse.com/2008/09/14/three-neat-plants-mid-september/
This message was edited Dec 14, 2008 5:49 AM
toofew -- neat link... great photos over there. I too love Celoisa - and that one has great coloring..i love the burgundy foliage. and as for that Elephant Head Amaranth...i actually have those seeds. I'll have to try them this year.
oooo - that China Town Celosia looks good - the same leaf color as castor bean! We are terribly good at enabling, aren't we? Hoping everyone in the NE is doing OK with that horrid weather.
Meredith, glad to hear your power is back on, we did without it when we had those hurricane winds for two days and though I would go out of my mind lol At least it was in the summer so we could at least be outside during the day, that's got to be hard to cope with, what about the businesses did you get a vacation :) Those ice storms are really nasty!