Gardeners come hither....

[Tremayne]

Baron, lilac and crab apple are two additions I'd like to make to my yard some day. Not sure lilac will really go down here though. Zone 9/10, northern AL. I certainly don't see them in other gardens.

My gardening is almost entirely a plan in my head at this point, having bought a 1/3 acre lot last Dec. It's going to be an uphill battle. I'm hoping to put bulbs in this fall. I've got a colorful little strip of hastily thrown together flower garden composed mainly of pansies and petunias. I'll post pictures at some point (need to take them first and then turn them into image files). I'm fairly happy with how the hodge podge of colors has turned out considering I was buying cheap from poor selection.

Anybody else out there a grass/lawn-hater? My goal is to completely eliminate grass from my property. Hate mowing--and down here it needs to be done at least once a week or the growth is out of control.

[Mischka]

Has anybody tried to plants for tea?

Good or bad?

Not actual tea plants, but last week I made tea from a handful of fresh lemon balm leaves straight out of the garden.  Just ripped/crushed them, and boiled.  The resulting tea wasn't bad, just a bit weak.

Speaking of bulbs (thanks for the reminder, Tremayne!), can anyone explain to me how bulbs work??  Silly question, yes!  But I honestly don't know.  We have a ton of irises and tulips in our yard, but are going to have to relocate them in the fall.  Can I just dig up the bulbs this fall and plant them where I want them in the spring?  Our neighbor also gave me a bunch of bulbs he dug up...I never planted them, didn't have time...but am hoping I can use them next year.

Btw, my rose bushes and peonies (I think they are peonies?) are going crazy with blooms!!

[Tremayne]

I'm not the best person to answer the bulb question, so anyone feel free to add to or correct the following:

It's best to plant them in the fall. plant them shallowly with the very top of the bulb above the earth--it needs sun in the spring. Cover them with mulch or leaves for insulation over the winter months. Or maybe that's just iris specifically that enjoy that treatment?

I'd always heard it was important to follow that planting ritual with bulbs yet this spring my mother (from whom I get any gardening wisdom I possess) gave me a pot with daffodils in it for my porch. I put it on the steps and the rain kept the pot soil too moist. So I committed gardening sin and replanted the bulbs in a newly created garden patch. And then two weeks later when a ditch needed to be dug on that same spot, moved them, along with 1/3 of the bed, yet again. They still bloomed. 

Other plants in my wee flower garden have shown resilience. The snapdragons were frostbit early on but are coming back nicely. Some salvia was frosted right down to the ground the same week I put them in, yet new foliage has come up at the roots. 

[Tipsy Gypsy]

I was hoping to take a look at the pictures, but it seems it is a private password protected area.  Mayhaps you can make it public?

I definetly enjoy my little project.  I am going to try and take some new pictures this weekend, since things are blooming.  I never knew that squash plants had big yellow flowers.

Ooh, sorry...I didn't password it, so I'm not sure what happened there. Hopefully this'll work; I just didn't want to take up a lot of space on the thread. Photobucket says the thumbnails are supposed to be clickable, if you want a closer look. Hope it works  .

 












I din't realize how big squash blossoms are either, but a coworker showed me hers, and a recipe that she got from Rachel Ray's show (I think...) to deep fry them. Interesting!

[Kruzar]

Very cool pictures there....

I am so surprised at the blossoms, and then this morning I saw some baby squashes on there.  I can't wait, I love to grill up squash.  I also have done it in a casserole, but I really like to grill them.

My dad said that supposedly you can eat the blossoms as well, but I am not that adventurous...will just wait for the full veggies...

[Baron Doune]

White Nicotania Gypsy! (2nd from the bottom)

Grown as an annual here in zone 4a.  I just love this plant.

Just as the sun is gowning down they produce the most wonderful fragrance.

Will be getting some pics of the Dogwood soon, in full flower.

Need to get some pics of the ferns too.

We have several Blue Angel hostas.  Six foot across.

More weeding this weekend...take care.

Not sure on the bulb division....I just take a hunk of them in the fall and replant them.

And roses!  My fav is the Oklahoma Tea Rose.  Dark to Black Rose.  Impossible to overwinter here.

Hoping to maybe attract a master gardener here. 

Plants, flowers and I know we got a few in the forums.

[Tipsy Gypsy]

Yup Baron, that variety is called "Only the Lonely". I'm not sure if it's perennial here, but if it's not,  it's s'posed to self-seed anyway. I didn't know until after I planted them that they could get up to 5' tall- wow! They're almost 3' already. I dashed outside as soon as I read your post to sniff the blooms. How nice; I'm glad you mentioned that!

Most of my ornamental plants are Turk's Cap, native pink Lantana, several varieties of perennial mallow hibiscus, a few St. Joseph's Lily, and a couple of mimosas. I use dwarf Mexican Petunia (Ruellia) as a great dense groundcover under the taller plants. They've almost eliminated weeding, and the lizards dig it.

I tried hostas, they're lovely plants, but they don't like it here or they don't like me...
Do dogwoods propagate from seeds, rooth growth, or how? I know they'll grow in this climate, and I'd love to have one in our own yard, they're so charming.

(I really need a bigger yard! )

[Baron Doune]

The funny thing about the nic Tipsy...they only really smell at dusk or near dusk...temp change maybe.

Have no idea why. 

[winterland]

Winterland do you can em?

No just eat a lot of tomatoes during the season. My 2 year old loves them. Pics the cherry tomatoes and eats them off the vine.
Give to friends also. The wife did talk about maybe trying to can some. 
Nice pictures everyone.

[Anna Iram]

Has anybody tried to plants for tea?

Good or bad?

Not actual tea plants, but last week I made tea from a handful of fresh lemon balm leaves straight out of the garden.  Just ripped/crushed them, and boiled.  The resulting tea wasn't bad, just a bit weak.

Speaking of bulbs (thanks for the reminder, Tremayne!), can anyone explain to me how bulbs work??  Silly question, yes!  But I honestly don't know.  We have a ton of irises and tulips in our yard, but are going to have to relocate them in the fall.  Can I just dig up the bulbs this fall and plant them where I want them in the spring?  Our neighbor also gave me a bunch of bulbs he dug up...I never planted them, didn't have time...but am hoping I can use them next year.

Btw, my rose bushes and peonies (I think they are peonies?) are going crazy with blooms!!

How lucky are you to have a yard full of iris and tulips Mischka!  When you move them look for a well drained spot with plenty of sun. Some afternoon shade will help the flower to last longer. Tulips should be relocated in the fall for a spring bloom and iris can be planted either spring or fall. Note there are two types of iris: bulb and rhizomatus.  I don't know what the other bulbs are and it's a bit tricky to say when best to plant them off the cuff.  Some bulbs are hardy and once planted can be left alone to propagate, some need to be pulled and stored in a cool dry place until time for the fall planting.

When you see the first shoot come up in the spring, give them a dose of fertilizer so they'll have plenty of nutrients to make a new flower once the current one is spent. Cut off the dead flower so the plant won't waste energy on seeding, but leave the greenery until it has withered and turned brown. That's a huge source of nutrient for the bulb to make a new flower next year. Just braid the leaves neatly and tuck them under other existing foliage.

Tremayne, I had an Ammaryllis like your daffodil. It bloomed and then was left in it's pot on the patio. Did absolutely nothing to it. The only water it got was if it rained. I really thought it was a goner, then in the fall out burst a stem and soon thereafter a flower. Did that for three years. Who knows with bulbs?

Okay, can you tell I am a fan of bulbs? Now if I only had a yard to putter about in.



Here's a good site that will give some more of the basics:
http://www.plantingflowerbulbs.com/

[jmkhalfmoon]

My grandfather was a master gardner and president of the men's gardening club of america in the 80's....I learned a lot from him as well as my father, but I'm far from being a master gardner.

I've never had much luck with bulbs, but I did transplant some iris this year.  All I did was dig them up, pull apart the roots that had branched and planted them in a large bed more spread apart.  They are thriving now.

Quick question....has anyone tried their hand at grapes?  I was thinking of planting a few vines this year.  My biggest challenge is we live inside the DC beltway and our lot is the size of a postage stamp but we get great sun and I have a fence line that might be perfect to line with grape vines.

Thought I'd share a pic of my indoor gardening that I took this AM.  The average age of the orchid collection is about 5 years old and they flower annually. 

[Baron Doune]

Grapes yes!

White ones in zone4a...that's kind of a shock.  But they grow well.  Hybrid made for this zone.

Main root is facing south and I let them vine out on a west face.  About 30' long now.  I mostly leave the grapes for the birds but I do get quite a few of them.  Care is almost non-existent after the first couple of years.

Just a 50/50 mix with peat when I planted them to add a little acid to the soil and retain the water.  Very firm believer in peat.

And I've always been scared to death of orchids.  Does a lot of care has to into them?

Would that be a south facing window in the pic?  Full sun?

[Mischka]

Anna Iram and Tremayne...thank you for the bulb info!!  Anna, the website looks great and I am looking forward to getting educated    Btw, you are welcome to putter in my yard any time! 

We decided today that next year we're going to do a vegetable/fruit garden.  A friend's wife offered to teach me canning, and I'm trying to learn about composting, too.  Thus I shall hopefully be prepared!

[Lady L]

We built a pond in our backyard in 1995. My son and I hauled all the rocks up there in a wheelbarrow. I bought six cheap goldfish then and now I have about 3 dozen. They have a lifespan of about 10 years. The plants in the pond are just getting started, but the ferns have really grown. I took these photos today.







This is a purple columbine in our garden.


This trillium is in our woodland garden, on the north side of the house.

[jmkhalfmoon]

Lovely pond!!

Baron, I've found orchids to be pretty easy.  They like indirect sun.  The window in the photo is actually a west window, just looks bright.  Putting them in direct sun with actually "sunburn" them.  They don't like to sit in water so you need pots with holes.  I just put them in the sink, give them a good soaking making sure all the roots are wet and leave them alone until the next week.  I think mine also do so well because our dryer actually vents into the basement (pre WWII house) and that warm moist air rises up the stairs right where the orchids sit.  I feed them with orchid food maybe every other month.