A Gardening Thread

[Cas Stark]

48 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

What zone are you in?  You may need to dig them up every year and stick them in the fridge for them to “set”.

7a?  so I don't think so, although one of my friends dug up all her hyacinth bulbs last year, put them in her basement, replanted in the fall and she said they all bloomed.  I keep meaning to dig the non blooming ones up and replant them about 1 or 2 inches higher but never quite get around to it. 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1 hour ago, Cas Stark said:

7a?  so I don't think so, although one of my friends dug up all her hyacinth bulbs last year, put them in her basement, replanted in the fall and she said they all bloomed.  I keep meaning to dig the non blooming ones up and replant them about 1 or 2 inches higher but never quite get around to it. 

So I am no expert, but I think part of your problem is your zone.  I think you are too warm for tulips.  My understanding is that tulips CAN perennialize in zone 7, but do best in zone 6 or cooler (in zone 7 the period of cold dormancy isn’t QUITE long enough).  If you want good blooms, pull them out, and refrigerate for 3 months in containers, then you can set them out and they bloom like a month later.

[S John]

11 minutes ago, Mlle. Zabzie said:

So I am no expert, but I think part of your problem is your zone.  I think you are too warm for tulips.  My understanding is that tulips CAN perennialize in zone 7, but do best in zone 6 or cooler (in zone 7 the period of cold dormancy isn’t QUITE long enough).  If you want good blooms, pull them out, and refrigerate for 3 months in containers, then you can set them out and they bloom like a month later.

You can definitely do them in 7. I’m in 7 and the city is actively trying to make tulips a thing akin to the cherry blossoms in DC (which we also have in abundance!) and encourages everyone to grow them in their yards. They are everywhere right now.

That said, we have not tried them yet and I cannot provide helpful information on whether or not extra work is required in this zone. My guess is probably not, because I don’t think they’d be getting the level of participation that they are in project tulip if it was particularly difficult. But that is just a guess based on my perception of human laziness.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

2 minutes ago, S John said:

You can definitely do them in 7. I’m in 7 and the city is actively trying to make tulips a thing akin to the cherry blossoms in DC (which we also have in abundance!) and encourages everyone to grow them in their yards. They are everywhere right now.

That said, we have not tried them yet and I cannot provide helpful information on whether or not extra work is required in this zone. My guess is probably not, because I don’t think they’d be getting the level of participation that they are in project tulip if it was particularly difficult. But that is just a guess based on my perception of human laziness.

Maybe?  Grew up in VA outside DC and we always had issues getting year after year return (and was actually discussing it with my mom last night).  They do ok in in 7, especially 7a where you are, but won’t necessarily be perfect.  7b is further South, and so may exacerbate the issue.  Also, there is a varietal native to Crete that does better in more Southern zones, I believe.

[Alarich II]

On 4/13/2021 at 7:32 PM, Cas Stark said:

I have poor luck w/tulips, much better results w/hyacinth bulbs.  One year I must have planted 60 tulip bulbs, the next year they all came up.  Fabulous.  But, after that, because I think I planted them too deeply, most either don't come up at all or only show leaves but no tulip.  Out of that 60, right  now only about 15 bloomed

Remember that tulips are high nutrient-demanding plants and if planted closely they tend to exhaust the soil if no regular fertilizer is used. The result will be, that they only shove out some leaves but leave out the more nutrient-demanding bloom. I would produce a nettle slurry, which is a great natural liquid fertilizer and fertilize the soil when you see the first leaves are about to come out. 

[Elder Sister]

@lady narcissa, here’s a good link for cutting back basil. 
 

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/herbs/basil/pruning-back-basil-plants.htm

 

[Iskaral Pust]

Because the spring has been so dry, our town is already restricting garden irrigation to just two days a week.  I’m still trying to save some trees that have suffered from dry conditions (and insufficient care by the prior owners) in recent years.  This is when they should be drinking deep ahead of summer.

Our new plantings look very well.  We’re going to add some more shade-tolerant shrubs and ferns along our tree line for a better border between wooded area and lawn.  It’s sloped area, so good visual space for tiers of plants.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

Today I went and spent money for the second time this spring at a garden center (well, the same one - Isk - Pound Ridge Nursery is truly worth the trek for you).  Anyhow, bought two hanging baskets and some other assorted flowers for pots on my patio, as well as Brussels sprouts and broccoli.  I’ve sprayed the latter two up but good with BT.  We shall see.....

I also was bedazzled by the Burpee display on the inside.  I bought lots of seeds....

[DireWolfSpirit]

So my front yard perennials look like deer are picking at what little has been sprouting so far. Unmistakable little hooves marks out there.

Someone has suggested trying cougar urine to ward them off. If it's not already too late for their prospects I'm not sure?

Back patio peonies sprouting unmolested so far!

[Cas Stark]

Bought mulch, petunias, impatients, snap dragons, coleus.   Did a manure/potting soil/top soil mix for the in the ground plants and dug in some of the mixture around the bushes and perennials, mostly hostas, some coneflower and few other random flowers/ferns. 

[Larry of the Lawn]

Just noticed that a bunch of agastache naturalized on my hillside next to the patio.  My roommate had one in a pot last year and brought it with her when she moved but apparently it had a productive year.  Pretty excited as it smells and looks great and the bees and hummingbirds love it.  I hope it takes over the entire bank.

[Elder Sister]

So it might frost here tonight in the Deep South. Two weeks ago I covered my hydrangeas and some other things. This week I’m tired and just can’t be bothered. 

[Mlle. Zabzie]

7 minutes ago, Elder Sister said:

So it might frost here tonight in the Deep South. Two weeks ago I covered my hydrangeas and some other things. This week I’m tired and just can’t be bothered. 

I’m sorry-that just seems wrong.  Mind you I think we get that Thursday, but I expect frosts up here until at least mid-May.

[lady narcissa]

On 4/18/2021 at 3:32 PM, Elder Sister said:

@lady narcissa, here’s a good link for cutting back basil. 

Thank you! I have embarked on horticultural experiments and snipped snipped snipped away!  Hoping the basil and mint survive my snipping.

[DireWolfSpirit]

So hopefully we can start warming up here in our area. This weekend I finally planted 3 more Lilac bushes and transplanted a pine sapling. Sprayed these and my perennials with a generous solution of deer repellant.

First time trying the repellant so am quite curious to see how well it works. Directions say to reapply every 30 days, fingers crossed.

[Elder Sister]

On 4/20/2021 at 7:10 PM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

I’m sorry-that just seems wrong.  Mind you I think we get that Thursday, but I expect frosts up here until at least mid-May.

It didn't do anything, thank goodness.  I was so disgusted because two weeks prior, I had covered EVERYTHING and my Dear Dolores hydrangea STILL got burned by the cold.  She's just not happy, period, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to move her.  As much as I like the hybrids, you cannot beat the old-timey, tried and true heirlooms...they just perform so well.

[Tears of Lys]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:47 AM, lady narcissa said:

Thanks @Fragile Bird and @Tears of Lys !  I think what I am really trying to understand with both the basil and the mint is if I cut off a branch or a stem, will that cut off growth at that point or will it split and start again from that point? For example, I have a jade plant and a branch broke off but now I have two new branches growing from the cut point - will basil and mint do this?  Or will from the roots, the plants generate and send up new branches?  I have a shamrock/oxalis plant that is constantly sending new shoots up from the roots as the old ones die off.

My mint is in a pot and there are 6 branches that have grown 11" high. They are very orderly and contained just getting to the point where I'm wondering how much higher they can go before they start leaning over. And I'd like to use some. But if I cut off a branch is that the end of it? Or will it regrow?

I don't know about mint, because, frankly, I don't care whether it lives or dies!!     But basil I know.  If you cut carefully just above where two leaves are, nestled in on both sides of the area you just cut will spring new growth.  Elder Sis's link probably explains this better than I could.

On 4/13/2021 at 12:56 PM, Zorral said:

I have been reveling in the new varieties of tulips with petals that ruffled, 'pinked', pointed -- and the new colors too.  Tulips had become one of my top favorite flowers, but these have kicked them into a whole new category of favorite. Are any of you growing these?

 

I would LOVE to grow tulips, but the bunnies and deer have crossed that one off my list.  I found two BIG deer munching on a hosta we had carefully covered with netting.  They just took it off and had their way with it.

On 4/26/2021 at 11:41 AM, Elder Sister said:

It didn't do anything, thank goodness.  I was so disgusted because two weeks prior, I had covered EVERYTHING and my Dear Dolores hydrangea STILL got burned by the cold.  She's just not happy, period, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to move her.  As much as I like the hybrids, you cannot beat the old-timey, tried and true heirlooms...they just perform so well.

Hydrangeas are one of the main things I'm jealous of the South about (among quite a few others!)   You guys seem to be able to grow gorgeous ones down there despite the heat and sun.  We can grow them here in the Midwest, but they never seem to be quite as happy as they are in the South.

[DireWolfSpirit]

I'm watching keenly for my morrel shrooms to start popping up, should be any day now but nothing yet.

I feel really lucky to have these spring treats on my own property as I've known a lot of people that have driven miles to find a harvest of them.

I like them in omelettes.

[DanteGabriel]

Hello, fellow gardeners. Mrs. Gabriel and I spent a few hours today uprooting bittersweet from around our property. Some of it clinging to fences, some of it threatening the black raspberry patch in our front yard. It is endemic to the property. We're going after it before it seeds or flowers. We know we'll never fully eradicate it because it's just so deeply established and the more senior root clusters are so deeply anchored we'd need a backhoe to get them.

Since we moved here we've been trying to name our house/land. The previous house was Dragonfly Dell because of the amazing dragonfly swarming behavior we'd occasionally see in the sky above our heads in late summer afternoons, and the house sat on a small ridge overlooking a beautiful little dell. So we decided today that this house will be named Bittersweet Farm.

We hates the bittersweet, preciousss. Kill it with fire!

[Mlle. Zabzie]

50 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

Hello, fellow gardeners. Mrs. Gabriel and I spent a few hours today uprooting bittersweet from around our property. Some of it clinging to fences, some of it threatening the black raspberry patch in our front yard. It is endemic to the property. We're going after it before it seeds or flowers. We know we'll never fully eradicate it because it's just so deeply established and the more senior root clusters are so deeply anchored we'd need a backhoe to get them.

Since we moved here we've been trying to name our house/land. The previous house was Dragonfly Dell because of the amazing dragonfly swarming behavior we'd occasionally see in the sky above our heads in late summer afternoons, and the house sat on a small ridge overlooking a beautiful little dell. So we decided today that this house will be named Bittersweet Farm.

We hates the bittersweet, preciousss. Kill it with fire!

My fight is against honeysuckle. We hates it.  Also I dug up a lot of burdock today.  I will need a winch to get me out of bed tomorrow (but did plant the peas :)).