I just saw that ima posted a pic of a plant (from Annie's) she thought was dead, but came back to surprise her... reminded me of a Eryngium 'Jade Frost' I got from Annie's last year.
It's lost it's pink, but it came back so I'm not complaining! I thought it'd be fun to compare notes on those we thought were lost.
here's another one, when I noticed this in February before it started to send up buds, the foliage was gorgeously pink - not so now, does anyone know if the pink is a colder weather thing?
LOL---love the thread! I think I may have a few things to add.
Typically I think the pink foliage I've seen is either new, or cold. May have something to do with photosynthesis----bio was not my strong suit!!
Here's my first "undead" plant---a campanula. I'm hoping I may have a brugmansia to post here, too!
Garden Crossings says that the pink on the Eryngium shows up during times when there are cool nights http://www.gardencrossings.com/plant/Eryngium__Jade%20Frost.
thanks ima & ecrane... it was really pink during the winter months, in fact that's how I noticed it coming back. I can't wait to see it bloom.
You know how happy I was that Dad's Pride of Barbados survived the winter. I took photos, I spent extra time mulching and making sure it got watered. Then my goat dog (Spirit) ate it down past all the new growth. I sat down and cried and figured I needed to get some seed started.
Then I found this, sorry for the blurry photo. It's hard to get back up once I lay down on the ground. At the very top you can see where Spirit chewed the bush off. I covered it with the wired thing which helped along with him being in quaranteen. Let it recover. You can also see the new growth. I guess it'd going to be a really bushy low growing plant. LOL!
I'm really happy it survived.
WIB,
SW
SW, I have learned to utilize any unused wire baskets as plant protection from my 3 cats. I put them on pots and in my garden to keep the cats from sleeping on or digging up any small plants. I tried chicken wire, but not only is it ugly, but it's hard to remove when the plant starts to grow thru it. I'm sorry for the damage Spirit did, but puppies are like babies...everything goes into their mouths! Just hope he outgrows it soon! Only one of my three cats eat the plants, but I have seen one of them removing plants that she felt were in the wrong place. Just grabbed it in her teeth and pulled it up! While I know that nepata (cat mint) isn't cat nip, I have one big boy who munches on it constantly, and just as it was looking really good, some one has made a bed in it...I suspect the same one. Oh well! For obviouse reasons , I don't sow seeds anymore, and any small plants get a stake or a wire basket. Also, anything I want to eat is in raised pots...out of spraying range, I hope! Ya gotta love your pets! Agaaaaa
Carol
I gave up growing nepeta, and if I grow catnip at all, I put it in a hanging basket. Although my 3 felines are only out during the day (and I never actually catch them squashing plants, we have about 4 strays in the neighborhood that apparently find my yard "cat-friendly". They have the run of the place at night when mine are locked inside. There's a big cat-shaped depression in the middle of a clump of my alstromerias, and they're all mashed down....GRRRRR.
SW, maybe I could borrow Spirit for a few days????
imapigeon,
Sorry, you'd have to borrow me too! Spirit is a good dog, but I've been teaching him not to chase the cats. He is getting much better and doesn't do it very much. Mostly the cats just stand their ground and he gets bored and goes and chases the next leaf that blows by. LOL!
I usually use an old birdcage, without the bottom, but they seem to have disappeared. Now I pen up the pup when I have new plants to put in the ground. He can't help it. He's had to be left alone or in quaranteen too much. Doesn't stop them dogs from digging or laying down on my flowers even though DH's lawn is just across the sidewalk. Critters will be critters.
I'm just grateful that it is one very tenacious plant (Pride of Barbados). If it survives this summer, I probably won't worry much about it ever again.
I've been catching and neutering or spaying all the stray or feral cats around here. Only one left that I know of.
Don't blame you for raising your food in raised containers.
Here's a photo of one who has almost died a couple of times now.
WIB!
SW
He sure is a tough pup, isn't he??? SUCH a pretty boy....I'd LOVE to borrow the both of you~~
I wish I knew if all these cats that hang around here are abandoned or not. If I knew for sure, I might try to catch them, but I'd hate to catch somebody's pet. Worse yet, I'd hate to pay a vet bill for spaying/neutering somebody else's cat!
Well, some people should learn to at least put a collar on their pets. I used to have neighbors that would capture the neighbors critters and get them spayed/neutered. I don't think any of the neighbors ever noticed.
I kept my pets in the house or my yard. I guess that would be one answer, but cats being cats! What cha gonna do? Get a meaner cat?
My sympathy for your plants, and cat problem. Dad used to spread cayenne pepper around the plants they kept picking on. Worked short term, but eventually they developed a taste for it.
WIB,
SW
darn felines! I We neutered a orange tabby that hung out in our yard in OR, he was a big ol' sweety (except for his voracious bird appetite)! I don't like it when they sit on my plants either, broke off some of my salvia last time.
Glad your Pride of Barbados survived - it's always fun to see something come back when you didn't expect it.
gotta go pull weeds !
Okay, I thought for sure this puppy was a goner. It's a photo of DH's prized African Mask. It's had babies, but none survived the winter in the unheated gh. Drat! Or so I thought. I was going to reuse the pot when I noticed this.
Close up of the main stalk. I see that it has a friend visiting. Are roly poly bugs good or bad for the garden?
DH is very happy. Next year I will have to find a place for it to live inside the house since we won't be able to afford to heat the gh.
Update on the Pride of Barbados. It's awfully close to the ground, but it is putting on green leaves now. ^_^
WIB,
SW
roly poly bugs are fine for soil, but I think bad for plants. Congrats on your 2 "revivals"!
ima, thanks. I'm real happy about the POB. Spent all afternoon whacking down things by hand and deadheading my roses. Then DH pulls out the chainsaw. Good news is he finally whacked down those trees that were growing in my B.fly/Hummer garden, next to your Cannas that I planted before they (poplar tree starts) showed up. Will Dmail photo.
Am I the only one who has plants they thought were dead?
Or the only one willing to admit it?
Hmmm.
WIB!
SW
I ran into another one a couple of days ago, but I've forgotten what it was....LOL! I tossed 3 this weekend that WERE dead, and weren't coming back....
Is POB outside or in your greenhouse?
and no, I have waaay more ! lol, time to take some photos - you plant geniuses can help me remember what they are.
ok, I have 2 of these I thought we goners (from Annie's) and they are the bluest-blue blue I have ever seen, just stunning!
I'm sure if I spent some time on the website I could figure out which.
here is my mountain cabbage tree Cussonia paniculata , which I thought was dead - surprising me with a bunch of beautiful leaves. They were serious about it being slow-growing!
Red, I don't know what those blue flowers are, but they are keepers.
The POB lives in my front yard. Will send a photo of it. But should take a photo of the whole yard so you can get an idea of scale.
A few years ago, right after DH ripped up the lawn to put in new leech lines for the septic tank, I refused to let him plant anymore grass on that side of the walkway. I wanted a Butterfly/Hummingbird garden. I've been working on it ever since. In a way, it is a Memory Garden. My Dad's plant is the POB, the purple b.fly bush is my friend Star (not from DG), the Honeybird Bush is for my brother. Then they get to hang out with me still. It's turning out nicer than I thought. It's evolving as time goes on. My grass allergies are better too. Now if only I could get rid of the rest of the grass! DH has to have his patch of lawn, so that isn't going to happen.
I'm just thrilled that Dad's POB survived getting frozen a couple of times, then when it was first starting to bud, my pup, Spirit goes and chews off all the new growth and most of the remaining plant.
Most of my plants were affected by unusual (for us) freezing temps.
So happy that your plants came back too. I see we have something else in common. I can't remember names unless I practice, and even then I'm likely to confuse it with something similar. On your mountain cabbage tree, Cussonia paniculata, did they say how long til maturity? Still nice to see it come up.
WIB,
SW
The blue flower looks like Salvia patens--Annie's sells the straight species and couple cultivars of it as well.
oh, I LOVE that salvia. Mine really IS dead, tho. Apparently can't take our winter temps....sigh.
I haven't had too much luck with them here either--although they were in a bed that gets the worst of the winter cold so maybe that's why. I did have a white one that I bought two years ago--I thought it died that winter, but then halfway through the summer I saw it starting to come back up (not sure if it was the same original plant or maybe a seedling) but it never got big enough to bloom and I haven't seen it yet this year.
well then I feel lucky they made it, they are on a sunny slope (not because of good planning, lol) just my desperate attempt to fill it up last fall.
Thank you to ima and ecrane, I knew you'd id this in your sleep/s... I'm going to try to remember!
SW - your front garden sounds lovely, love to see another picture. I'm not sure on the mountain cabbage, but it's funny little round rootball is sticking up out of the dirt , gotta check if that is ok - it may be happier that way I know it doesn't like to be wet.
Well here is one of part of my B.fly garden. I thought I lost the Sea Lavender, but it came back early. I still have to trim off the dead leaves and flowers, but didn't want to disturb the spider who lives there. At least not without gloves on. LOL!
I thought I lost the cannas too, but imapigeon explained they'd come back. And they did! : )
I'll try to get some better photos. Overcast and gray today, some things don't show up well without the sun.
Hope you like it.
WIB,
SW
When my plants die, they die good, so I don't have anything to add. :-(
I have a sure-fire method for bringing things back to life (at least potted plants--not sure if this would work for things that are in the ground). You bring the dead plant into your garage, and leave it alone for several weeks without light and water. My Deppea splendens and one of my Mexican weeping bamboos both got a bit too much frost damage over the winter, and after giving them several months to show some signs of life, I gave up on them and tossed them into the garage. After about a month in the garage, I noticed some new green leaves on both of them, so they've now moved back out to the front deck. I'm sure some of you are going to say that they would have come back to life if I'd left them outside and taken care of them too, but I really think the knowledge that they were about to go in the green waste cart scared them back to life! LOL
I agree, Liz!
LOL! ecrane, I'd try that but we don't have a garage. Sending a couple more photos. Of DH's African Mask, it must have been scared because until I put the pot with the plant I was going to put in that pot on the pot, there was no sign of life. Now I think it's overdoing it a bit! LOL!
WIB,
SW
And the main stalk I was going to pull out. LOL!
WIB,
SW
You don't necessarily need the dark garage--I think anything you can do to make the plant think you're about to throw it out ought to work--sounds like you've got a good trick there with showing it the new plant that's going to take its spot!
I suddenly have a lily in the meadow garden. The last time I remember planting one was about 10 years ago. When it blooms I'll post a photo---hopefully I'll like it!
What weird and wondrous world we live in. I hope you like the lily in the meadow ima.
ecrane, I'm going to have to quit laughing so hard. DH is giving me strange looks again. LOL.
Threats work, I guess because right above I've also got a new banana flower growing. Too funny!
WIB!
SW
After weeks of waiting, TADAAAA!!! In addition to being (IMHO) gorgeous, it's also fragrant---not stinky like I find a lot of them to be. I'm delighted with my "undead lily"!
It may be one I bought on eBay 2 or 3 years ago, along with some dahlias and other stuff (none of which came up).
ooooh how pretty, such a nice creamy yellow !
Looks so pretty with the sea lavender around it. : )
WIB,
SW
I like the color combo, too---actually, that's verbena bonarensis. I'd love to grow sea lavender, but every time I've tried it dies in the winter and doesn't come back.
You know your plants better than me. If I hadn't put up the tipis over mine they'd have died too. Still like the combo.
Sending a photo of my Pride of Barbados. It survived the winter, but I thought for sure it was dead after Spirit pup chewed off most of the viable stems. Sigh.
It may end up spreading across the ground instead of up, but it's alive! I put that metal frame work around it to deter further chewing. So far so good.
WIB,
SW
