13,520 Garden Web Discussions | Perennials
since they are japanese.. one might holler CARP!!!!
ken ...
who sits outside every night for 3 to 4 hours.. reading.. perhaps it smells better out here in the country.. as compared the the asphalt jungle... excepts its sometimes hard to concentrate on the book with the din of those freakin country birds ... so i light an M80.. and than am so deafened.. the birds dont bother me ...
I just read an article that said cedar oil repels/kills them. They suggested a homemade solution - take two Eastern Red Cedar planks and soak in hot water for 24 hours. Use the soaking water as a spray.
you get your straw.. near halloween.. when it is stocked for fall garden displays .. you know.. the bale.. the pumkins.. the cornucopia ... and when the cold weather hits.. use the display .. to cover the garden ... in fact.. i have been known to garbage pick some bales. in early nov ... free for the taking at the curb ...
when they harvest the crop.. the big john deere cuts off the top .. with the seed.. and makes money ...
the 'second cutting' ... is the straw ... which in theory.. has no seed ... it is nearly literally .. a hollow stalk .. aka straw ... adn man.. these things will cut you.. long sleeves and jeans and leather gloves .... when tossing it around
the third product.. is an animal food.. forage ??? ... which these days are usually those huge rolls ... which includes the whole plant.. like the cow or horse.. might eat out in the pasture ... usually with a high percent of alfalfa.. though for the small time operator.. still sold in convenient bales ...
the cheapest of them all is straw.. aka bedding stuff.. it has little inherent value.. as to its food value..
wow.. i know way to much about this.. for a city boy.. lol ..
BTW.. this is one of those trick questions.. where you can really delineate the knowledge base of you nurseryman or garden friends.. if the guy selling it .... doesnt have a clue what you are talking about.. that should tell you something ... like.. questioning EVERYTHING else.. he spreads around as manure.. lol ..
i always ... thought denn was IN MI... so i always thought he was a guy .. but then he said something girlie.. in some post.. and then i got really confused.. lol .. try to man up dude.. lol .. and no.. i dont remember the specifics ... lol
ken
I am asking the same question. I live in MA and my evening primrose has been beautiful for the past several weeks. However they are beginning to look a little spent. Should I try to trim them up now for continual bloom throughout the summer (it is barely June). they are supposed to bloom throughout the summer but mine are already looking a little rangey (sp). BTW it won't be oool again until October!
I am asking the same question. I live in MA and my evening primrose has been beautiful for the past several weeks. However they are beginning to look a little spent. Should I try to trim them up now for continual bloom throughout the summer (it is barely June). they are supposed to bloom throughout the summer but mine are already looking a little rangey (sp). BTW it won't be oool again until October!
Not sure this is the right place for my question but since columbine seem to be the topic here I thought I might give it a try. I, unlike Jayco, do not want my columbine to re-seed. It has taken over the place. It is blooming right now and today I pulled up a couple wheel barrels full of columbine. My question is, looking at all that I thought it would make for a great mulch in some other areas of the place but I don't know if since it is already blooming if it will just go to seed any way and end up spreading even more. Like a dandelion bloom if you pick the flower and drop it, it will make seed even after being picked. Chances are the columbine have been pollinated. I appreciate any help.
Mashell
I am not an expert, but it was my understanding that until the plant produces seed, it wouldn't be able to reseed. In my general experience, I am cautious when using plant material for mulching, that it doesn't have an opportunity to root again in a new location. So I will sometimes leave it in the sun to die before I apply it as mulch. Otherwise, if there are seed pods already formed on the spent flower stems, I would remove those before mulching too. But sounds like good organic matter to improve your soil and it's free too.
Well, mine has flopped terribly. I hate to have to cut it back because it is in full bloom, but it is laying over the top of other plants and I don't want it to kill them. If I give it a good pruning will it grow back and flower again yet this year? I think the soil is too rich in this bed. I have a lot of other plants that have grown fierce in this bed and are flopping all over. I've cut them all back, my ratibida is next on the hair cut list.
Karen
I also have ratibida in zone 7 (Virginia). Each 'hat' contains more seeds than you can imagine. When mine get larger, they flop. It may depend on the soil - mine seems to be pretty plant-friendly. Regardless, I love the plant, and just control how many there are and how big they get. If they flop in an area where I don't like it, I cut them back. They are great natives. Keep in mind that some of the people who responded are in zones 3 or 4.
i am sorry.. i dont see the poppy.. and i think its probably dead ...
and the pot looks very dry ... inserting finger.. is it really as dry as it looks???
you could play amateur archeologist.. and do some very delicate excavating with a brush .. do you see anything viable just under the soil.. or is it shriveled as far as you can find??? even a dormant plant.. will have stout water filled roots .. and NOT be all shriveled like grandma in the hot tub for an hour.. lol .. there is a mental pic that will haunt me tonight ...
ken
Put gravel or rocks on top of the soil in your pots. I do that to keep birds from nesting. You can even make it decorative. I've used round river rocks and I've even spray painted gravel to make it look colorful for a quick fix.
Cameron
Here is a link that might be useful: purple gravel in lavender container
As per the below blog post I came across (not my blog) you might want to scratch the peonies as well. Although the author suspects deer ate them.
Here is a link that might be useful: peony buds eaten by deer
Both of those salvia plants bloomed previously, or were in bloom when you bought them? Nothing mysterious here, they are settling in to their new environs and just need a little time. Cutting off those old flower stalks may help promote new blooms, as would keeping them watered and fertilized.
Mostly though, just time and patience.
Yes, they had a couple of blooms when I bought them, but they quickly went away....I haven't seen any since. Yeah, mostly wasn't sure if I should cut those stalks off or not....if new growth would appear on those existing stalks, or if fresh ones need to sprout in order to have blooms.
Thanks for letting me know of your experience with these beauties ,Eclecticcottage. It seems that we must display utmost patience with them, but it is so worth it. Your experience will be very useful to me in the future, I'm sure. I am a newbie with these, these two being my first bushes which I winter sowed from seeds received in an exchange. I was rather thrilled that I had such success with my first attempt, and I was warned about not cutting them back until spring, but not about the fact that they take their sweet time showing up after their winter sleep !! Of course this one plant will be coddled, and I will know what to expect if we have such strange weather in a future spring.
I'd also make sure to dead head like it's a religion once it starts flowering. I did it with the 14 we put in last year and they were non-stop until frost. My Lo and Behold is covered in blooms that are just turning from green now already. I kind of do the opposite of coddling with them, except for making sure they get enough water when freshly planted, lol (well, and deadheading). I only trimmed one, and I tossed the two branches I cut into water to see if they'd root. Looks like they are-and I just made sure to keep the water full and fresh.
It could very well be that pink veronicas just aren't as sturdy. Ah well.
It might need to be divided. I find that my veronicas go downhill every three or four years - fewer flowers, smaller plants - and dividing them does the trick. Best time to divide for me is fall or early spring.