13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
I grew up reading and re-reading an uncle's copy of 'Crockett's Victory Garden'. At some point I guess I appeared so obsessed he just gave it to me!
Lots of great authors and books and even catalogues mentioned here. I love forums and blogs and online reading but it's really a good book that I want to sit down with. Maybe the feel does have something to do with it.
I'm a big fan of Timber Press. Here's the motto off their website: "Our mission is to share the wonders of the natural world by publishing books from experts in the fields of gardening, horticulture, and natural history". How can you go wrong with a place like that?
I wouldn't be without my horticultural library! And it keeps getting bigger, although much more slowly now than it did in years past. When I downsized a number of years ago, I got rid of lots of extraneous belongings that were not needed or seldom used, including many books (even most cookbooks - you can find any recipe you could ever want online!). But not my gardening books........they'll follow me into the old folks home :-)
They are old friends. Many are bedraggled and falling apart from constant use - one copy of Dirr, my A-Z encyclopedia, my hort dictionary - but many are cared for tenderly with stickies noting important places, paragraphs or photos. I use them for reference, I use them for inspiration and I use them to illustrate to clients various plant selections or planting combinations. Tablets and online images are fine but nothing can replace a well considered published photograph of a mature plant growing in context. Which are darn hard to find online.
I have a complete set of Heronswood catalogs from when the nursery first opened until they stopped publishing after Burpee's takeover. These are a wonderful reference as well as being some very entertaining reading. Dan Hinkley's humor and writing style cannot be beat. And I am fortunate to have collected a number of signed copies of publications from some great plantsmen which I think are priceless (although they probably have no value at all to anyone else) - Michale Dirr, Dan Hinkley, John Brooks, Ken Druse, Ann Lovejoy, Guy Sternberg.
Individual plants and even gardens may come and go over the years but my garden books are a constant. And very treasured.
I don't know a name for that kind of pruning, Its done when for whatever reason the grower/gardener wants to accentuate an aspect of a specimen plant for competitions or a particular aesthetic, such as bonsai..
I selectively pruned when a summer azaelia when it was young and the blooms were hidden in the leaves.. The plant and the garden have grown and I no long have the time or interest in that kind of pruning.
I understand why you do it and think it is creative to be able to assess a plant for its aesthetic presentation. Not everyone is is interested in that kind of analysis
I grew Moonflower vine (Ipomoea Alba) for my Mom 3 years ago. She was from El Salvador, and Moonflowers there are called "Galán de noche" ( "Handsome by night".) The Moonflowers I grew here are not the same as in El Salvador, but they were close enough for Mom. I germinated the seeds in April, and planted them at the very beginning of May. By the time July rolled around, they had taken over! They are beautiful, and smell delicious, but are horrendous to cut down when the season is over. They dropped seeds everywhere, and 3 years later, I'm still getting Moonflower seedlings popping up! Here's a pic from 2012:
Trying them this year (Ipomoea alba). I started them indoors on a window sill in early spring and planted them out within a week of germination. I have two vines about 18 inches tall so far and two more that haven't started to climb yet. Not sure they're getting enough sun where I put them. If I get any blooms this year I'll be back with pictures. I also tried Datura but had no luck with germination.
Each time a plant is moved it suffers a bit of transplant shock. But if I am not pleased with the location I move it and sometimes more than once. Shade them with a lawn chair or other item if possible and be sure to water well.
Catkin, not long. maybe a couple of years.
It has a reputation for smelling bad, which I had never noticed. Yesterday I kept smelling really strong cat pee. Realized it was the polymorpha. Don't want to move it, so I'll just exhale in its vicinity.
So I've been going with texasranger's suggestion of dri-fit pants for almost a month now. I wear long ones vs. capri's because of bugs, poison ivy and ground-in dirt. I absolutely love wearing them for gardening!!!!!!!! They're super-comfortable, reasonably cool, don't show the dirt as much as other pants, wash well and seem to be wearing well too. Until it's really cold and I switch to sweats, I doubt I'll ever go back to other pants. Thanks for the great suggestion!
When I was starting out I learned a lot through books and from my sister who likes to garden. This was before the 'net. The 'net is ok to quickly look something up, but I prefer my tried-and-true books, and of course the GW forums for personal experiences/advice. I also learned a lot by doing and observing.
Now that I think of it I do use Garden Web first when looking for information, I find different people's personal experiences with certain plants are much more helpful than anything I can look up. How they grow in different locations is very helpful when I'm deciding where to plant or if it is even worth trying it. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here. Also when looking for certain plants or seed usually someone on here can head you in the right direction :).
Annette
I just found some very small ones on eBay, from a seller in Arkansas, for $6.95 each. They have 100% positive feedback, so I bought two, as the price was right.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371351440172?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I planted one today, we'll have to compare notes as they grow :). I'm hoping mine will go up a plant pole I used to hang fuchsia baskets on, since we took down the big cherry tree it's too sunny for fuchsias now. I still have the clemie Rebecca on this pole, although mine is not the right shade of red the two might look good together, if not it can be easily remedied.
Annette
I have a few also but I have such dense shade, so mine do not bloom as well as yours. I just have to add......so my husband can never remember the name of this plant. He knows it has an animal in it, and the second word starts with "B". He continually thinks it is called "donkey's breath" - I die laughing every time he says it.
Emerogork..you can go into your posts, even an older one, click the little edit feature and xxxxxx out the entire post.
I keep a pair of garden mini snips in my apron at all times, along with the secateurs. In most (not all) instances, the act of cutting is far preferable than ripping. Plants have a very strong reaction to injury....the greater the injury, the more stress for the plant.
A few years ago my son bought a bird feeder that was supposed to be squirrel proof. We were visiting and sitting out on their deck after dinner. We watched a squirrel come to the bird feeder. It had a bar on the bottom that closed off the seed opening when weight was applied. Birds could land on it and feed but a squirrel was to heavy and would close off the opening. This crafty squirrel laid on top of the feeder and with his paws worked the bar up and down and fed heartily on the seeds he extracted from the feeder. My son and daughter-in-law came out on the deck after putting their toddlers to bed and asked what we were laughing at. We pointed to the feeder and said your squirrel proof feeder doesn't seem to be squirrel proof
always curious about a phlox's mildew resistance. If it is not bragged about on the plant tag, I'm skeptical. Really, I'd try one for a season to see if it melts by mildew.
Looks interesting. To me the flower form looks like 'Tiara', another somewhat recent Verschoor introduction.
Having many garden phlox, including many Verschoor phlox, I'm not so sure that buying garden phlox on the basis of a few (very?) recent photographs is a good strategy; that in the interests of getting the hardiest and showiest garden phlox (my motivation, at least).
To be sure, most of the Verschoor garden phlox I have are good plants, all seemingly have been mildew-resistant. However, they haven't all proven equally long-lived. I only bought one 'Tiara' which just petered away within a couple of years. On the other hand, say 'Peppermint Twist' has proven itself exceptionally vigorous.
Perhaps it's more efficient (and cheaper) to wait a few years to read about a garden phlox' performance and to see if it's (been selected presumably by customers) to still be around.
'Crème De La Crème' is a good play on words and a good sellers' name. That it's the best garden phlox ever ( (words-to-the effect) as I've read on-line) is, from my expectations, a preposterous claim that says more about journalese and/or about marketing.