For what it is worth..........someone here suggested cutting the thistle off and giving the cut stem a drop of Roundup. So far that seems to be working here when all else seemed to fail. I do not know for sure this worked yet. Not enough time has gone by since the treatment to tell for sure.
If this works my next event will involve a drop of kerosein to avoid the Roundup.
I have been working on a relatively small outcropping of thistle for years. Roundup on the leaves does not seem to work. If anything leaf treatment may have excited more seed to germinate or did not get the root well enough to stop the growth. Having read that some weeds have become imune to repeated use of Roundup this to could be in the picture. Weed Be Gone is not the answer either. In my case I blame the birds. It could simply be more birds and seed being brought into the picture day in and day out.
Rules of Gardening...
The year after you spend $350 on Milky Spore the Japanese Beetles decide to take a sabbatical and you can't tell whether or not your investment was worthwhile!!!
The large thisle I used to cut off near the ground and salt it, about 1/2 tsp on the stem. That seemed to kill them. I also had goats which would nearly dig them up after wilting to get the salt. Ric
My goodness have we not heard. Someone in Norristown got them all. There are not going to be any more Jap Beetles. LOL
LOL, You're right about that Doc. I've had to dig them out of every bed this year. It used to be that they were only in one bed. Maybe I circulated some dormant seeds or root bits when I recycled some Native soil into my planting soil. Or maybe there are more birds crapping in all of my beds and planting them for me. Ever since I planted so many more Coneflowers, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of birds in my bed.
The ones that I cut down and applied Round up directly to the cut stems did not come back. The last two weeks I've been lazy and just pulled them up, so they will be back.
Maybe not Doc, but the Cicadas and especially the Locusts are here in force. I can't recall ever having so much Locust noise before. Some days it gives me a headache just trying to tolerate it's incredible volume while working at my potting bench. Even inside with all of the windows closed, you can still hear it.
I spend more time and money fighting thistle than all the other problems added up together. I think that is my rewward for having a bird haven. Surely a lot of birds enjoy thistle. Somewhere I read they all poop. Along those tree and shurb lines are where my problem has always been.
There's another "rule"? ---the more you feed the birds, the more they "plant" for you
Our birds plant plenty of poke weed and mulberry, poke weed is eaily pulled or hoed out but mulberry roots to The Great Wall in China. LOL I usually leave some poke and mullens in out of the way places for the birds but the finches will have to get their thisle silk elsewhere, I'm content to provide them a meal of some niger but nesting preference is out of the question. I even go to the neighbors to pull thisle before it goes to flower. Ric
The biggest shipment of plants you are expecting always arrives on the day when you have no time to unwrap or care for them.
LOL stormyla
You know your plant addicted when...you go to try on shoes and get excited because you get to bring home some of those footie thingies to put on your Datura pods.
Now Sally, That's almost downright sick. But isn't that what you just said?
The footie things were more exciting than the selection at Clarks 'outlet' . But my pod is covered! If I was really sick, I'd have stolen a handful of footies }: ^)
Rule of shoe shopping: they'll have what you don't need and not have what you DO!
Well, Sally right now I'm boycotting shoe shopping, but if I get to do some, I will save those for you.
Oh Sally...step on up...come on you can say it....."Hi, I'm Sally and I'm a plantaholic"....
Whenever I come home from HD or Lowes with a car full of gardening items, invariably later that day, I pick up another can or bag and find it's empty and I have to make another trip.
Chantell- now don't rat on me! oh well...Kind of like this one flower bed where I "decided" it would only be fall pansies and summer daylilies. Let's see, rosemary, four o clocks, peruvian daff, jewel of opar, ornamental peppers, wax begonias, a self sown datura, lambs ear...
I still like the joke you started the thread with!
~~~
oh, stormyla- don't try to hide it--that's your excuse to see what else they got in since last visit !!!!!
Not so Sally. I actually hate going to those 2 behemoth stores. But they usually are a good bit better on prices than the nurseries for supplies. The bathrooms and chicken wire and builder's sand are always at the other end of the store, nowhere near the garden center. If DSO is with me he disappears into one of the aisles. Not Fun. I buy very few plants at them, maybe some at Lowes when they have their sidewalk sale.
Invariably plants that you ordered in the spring, but were back ordered until fall shipment, will show up at your door just after you've placed an order for the forgotten plants with another vendor.
A couple of things about Lowes...
Give a look at things they getting ready to discard -- their sale items at the back. Quite frequently all these plants need is a little TLC -- water, removal from the pot where they have become rootbound, and some fresh soil. Give them a home and they will love you for it. Until a week ago, we had a little area we called the "Recovery Garden" and would put plants there until they perked up. Gotta find another area now because the "Recovery Garden" expanded.
Hit Lowes on a Saturday morning from late spring through most of summer. Get there early, just as the Garden Center opens and head directly for the sale items. IF you can beat the rush, you'll be amazed at the things they put there. And if you pick up several items try asking the manager (or whomever seems to be in charge) if they will give you a discount for multiple items. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Now here's a really cool tip... IF you are early enough to get there before the Garden Center employees show up, rush inside with your selections and check out at a regular cashier. We've done this several times and it seems the regular cashiers and registers are not set up for the Garden Center sale items! On one occasion the cashier got so frustrated she checked my wife out for roughly $4.00 when she had about $50.00 worth of items. The cashier was extremely friendly toward my wife, but, boy-oh-boy, she said she was leaving the register for a few minutes to go chew on the store manager a bit! HA HA HA HA HA
My wife was also able to pick up some climbers (can't remember the name) for $0.14! They were out of season, dying or nearly dead, and she figured that at $0.14 she see if she could revive them. They grew and provided us with blooms for at least a month! ^_^
Thanks for the tips, Lethdun. I daresay there's not one person in this forum who's afraid to rescue a distressed plant, especially at a fire sale price. I believe that SallyG has elevated it to an art form. LOL
She, rightfully so, will buy the $.25 and $.50 plants just for the pots. I've done the same with some of the larger or less common shaped pots.
We all love a bargain. So what's with HD, they never have great bargains.
Um-m-m-m-m, I didn't want to be the one that said they would buy plants just for the pots. ^_^ BUT for $0.25 or $0.50 you just can't go wrong with some of the larger, more ornate, just plain different pots. So now you know that we have a small pot collection too. HA HA HA HA
I don't know about HD. They didn't seem to have anything to fight over on the sale racks this year. And Wally World had even less than HD. Roses (on the Eastern Shore) had a little bit, but it was still too pricey and the selection was very, very small. Thinking about it, Lowes seemed to be the one place that actually had something to offer this year (at least here in Newport News).
I got a new weed wacker at the Lowe's sidewalk sale for $11. Can't beat that!
Lethdun, I didn't even ntoice that you were from NewportNews until you said that. I visited that fabulous Maritime Museum. It was time well spent.
Stormy, I live about 4 miles north of the Mariners Museum! I'm glad you liked it. I'd like to go again, but my legs won't let me do that amount of walking; plus I have to save them for my other hobby -- genealogy. My wife is the one that tends to the gardens and all, while I do the computer stuff and hobble around figuring out where to plant things. It works for both of us and we love our "transforming backyard" so much.
Gita will chime in eventually on the lowdown with Home Depot- I thnk the difference is, HS garden stuff is run by another company for them, so they save (almost) everything for the other company to count up.
Thanks for the early-Saturday tip though! Yup, sometimes its like buying the pot and the sick plant is free.
I just got two pots of No-label (NoID) asiatic lilies at my grocery store. $2 each. (A bit pricey for my cheapo blood )They were in pots with orange plastic pot wrappers, so I'm expecting yellow or orange. Eh, whatever! When I pulled them apart, I had six nice looking lily bulbs to plant.
More later- a child is clamoring for nachos...
Lethdun, sounds like you have two hobbies that let you each enjoy together and alone time. We love to see new posters and ask if you might tell us a little about yourselves on our Roll Call thread. Link is here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/865911/#new
You can also read all about us there.
Another rule of gardening
Ugly pots are indestructible, nice pots break.
LOL So true Sally. Also whatever really nice decorative pots that you have a pair of, one will break!!!
When you work full time 80% chance of rain every weekend
LOL, and no rain on weekdays even though the weather service calls for it every week! Don't even think of taking a few vacation days to garden or a monsoon will ensue.
Sure fire rain stopper--transplant a bunch of things and don't water them in.
case in point ... I am off for the holiday Monday... and of course they are calling for rain
...Wish I was more clever----can't think of anything to add here!!!
Hmmmmmm..............think.............think.............thnk...........I guess I do not live by any "rules".....
G.
OC in 2007.....
that's the best way!!
Gita, You probably just make up your own. Cute date you've got there. How did you meet?
A friend of mine introduced me to Lowe's bargain basement plants. I was able to aquire some very nice orchids in dire need of TLC , took them home and they all have bloomed so far ,some had a foot in the compost pile but I was able to revive them... $2.00 is much better than $20.00 anytime. I also got some very nice hydrangeas for $3.00 a piece, some lace caps and some plain pink they looked like they were through blooming. I planted them and they bloomed again... Home depot does not have a bargain table it is too bad I live near one and I would be there all the time, I dont need any more plants I have a whole group still waiting for planting for the past two months. Just like in the hospital they are waiting for a bed to be ready, I stated one today.... tomorow planting....
I am tempted by the old orchids all the time but am never sure I want to commit or which one to get. Phaelenopsis,Cymbidium...?
A true gardener always has a backlog of plants to plant. Or divide, or move etc etc
SO! Sally--I am supposed to "chime in"???? For the NTH time? Have I NOT already written about his forever???
Will try to keep this succinct....for those who have never read any of this before.......
I have worked at my HD for almost 12 years now. Needless to say-I have been through many "rules" and "policies" and Managers and "CEO's"---and about 8 Store Managers in our store by now.
We are a Very LOW volume store--a "Training Store"--so they send Managers and Assistant Managers to our store to "get their feet wet". On the avaerage--they stay about 2 yrs.--and then move on. Pretty hard on us all, emotionally--as we get attached to some--and hate others.
Overall--we get a new Store manager every 2 years. About 3/4 of all the 130 employees we have right now will go into a deep mourning when our current Store Manager leaves. Our current Mgrt. is close to his 2yr. term. We are all bracing for the emotional upheaval if he is transferred to another store any time now. AAAAGGGHHHH!!!!! Sob!
His name is DONN--and he is the one I have been trying to turn into a gardener for the last year and a half. I have grown tomatoes and basil for him. Shared many seedlings with him. Introduced him to Daturas and Brugmansias and many other plants...and--the love of his life--my "Broken Colors" 4 O'Clocks. He is fanatic about them--just after one season. Next year--he wants to line his whole driveway with them.
I will be giving him ALL the 4's roots I will dig up this fall. All I need is about 2 of them.....
I digress.......
HD does NOT "own" any of the plants it sells. Not in Garden--NOT in the Greenhouse. Not the shrubs or the trees or the sod.
They are all on "consignment" from a "Grower" that supplies them, merchandises them, makes sure they are always displayed nicely and trashes them when they become so-so--and brings too many new plants to sell--that just sit there until they get trashed.
A recent example is two HUGE table-fulls (in outside garden) of 1 gal. Rudbeckia Goldstrums. They all went down the chute! The were, originally, $12.97---and then when they all went out of bloom, they got marked down to $5.97"--so 1/2 price. Because they were no longer in bloom---people never bought them. Same as they never bought them at $$12.97. I wouldn't! That is ridiculous for a plant that self-seeds and multiplies at the drop of, say, 10 seeds.....
I collected a lot of the seed-heads for seed....AHEM--Just dead-heading.........
As the season is winding down--HD has lowered the prices of all their remaining perennials--by 50 cents! WHOOPPPIE!!!! Another brainstorm by someone!
Good deals to be had right now are 10" HB's of Boston Ferns for $5.97. They are HUGE! IF you want to deal with shedding ferns in your house....
As far as the Mark-Down scene--forget it at the local HD's here. The suppliers---who "own" all the plants, just will not do any amazing mark downs. It all has to do with allotted %'s of mark-downs.....vs. what selling anything at a marked down price does. It is quite complicated to explain.....I have done so in many other posts.
Basically--it is more "practical" for HD to throw things away than it is to sell it at a 50% or whatever mark down.
It all has to do with sales plans and profit margins and how a mark-down differs from a discard.....I DO understand it---but it is hard to explain to those that do not work for a HUGE retail store.
Lowes has a different supplier and different policies. I, personally, do not know what they are.
My closest Lowes is about 2miles from my HD. (on the way home, BTW!). I have NEVER found any good deals there on plants! EVER!
I will walk to the back of the Outside Garden area to see their mark-down racks--and there is nothing there--except dying annuals and they are still priced at $4-$5 a pot. HUH??????
I keep reading on DG about all the people that rave about the deals at Lowes. All I can say--it seems NOT to be an across-the-board policy. Surely--not here!!!!
One thing that they do is sell broken bags of soils/mulches at 50% off. HD no longer does that either. SO--I buy those at Lowes.
Our supplier here is "Bell Nursery" whose HUMONGOUS Greenhouse/Growers complex is just outside of Silver Spring, MD. I do not know who supplies all the plants at Lowes--nor what their policies are re mark-downs....
Gita
GITATAL: I live about 1/2 mile from home depot and couple times they had mark down that were worth while . Cannas that they had mark down to a $1.99 in small pots I bought 5 of them and now I am invaded with cannas. As soon as we have the first frost I am digging them up and transpanting them where they can spread happilly I probably will offer them on DG .I found some good discount at the end of the season for shrubbs. But those are rare. Rules at home depot seem to change according to the store manager when it come's to gardening.
As soon as you buy a plant, you'll find nicer and bigger ones everywhere else cheaper.