22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses

I understand and that's a call that's yours to make. I simply didn't want you to undertake this and come to wish you hadn't for fear of transmitting anything undesired. Fore warned is fore armed. What you could also do is use any seedlings you don't think you want to retain, but which have proven themselves vigorous and able to withstand your climate. Mr. Moore did that extensively. There were things popping up all over that nursery as suckers, often quite interesting and beautiful things he'd forgotten were under something (sometimes MANY "somethings") he budded to see what the plant shape would be or to push to increase propagation material. Kim

More "Duh!" today. Several of the stocks I sealed with the Parafilm continued flowing sufficient sap to leak quite badly, no matter how tightly I wrapped the ends. I stopped by my favorite nursery today and asked about the old pruning sealer stick I sold years ago and was told by the chemical buyer she didn't think it was still manufactured. She asked what I needed it for and after my explanation, she asked why I didn't simply use Elmer's Glue. Duh! I KNOW that, but didn't think of it. The sap flows much stronger during daylight hours with heat. I waited until dusk, peeled the leaking Parafilm off and squeezed some Elmer's Glue on to a paper towel and began painting the leaking ends with a Q-tip. I worried the flow might dilute the glue and continue leaking, but less than half an hour later, the glue had set. I painted it over the edge and on to the top sides of the cut ends in hopes of creating a sealed cap to contain the leaks. It's now many hours later and the glue is dry on all the painted stocks. Hopefully, tomorrow when the sun rises and heat begins to build, the dried glue caps will retain the sap flow and begin pushing the buds even faster. Kim

I think the yellow tomato was a Yellow Brandywine?

They sure make good tomato sandwiches

I'd say you are safe growing them outdoors, Virginia. The greatest things about germinating them outdoors are you plant them all at once and don't have to continuously check for newly germinated ones and get them planted ASAP; you just keep them watered and let them do their own things. You don't have to worry about hardening anything off because as they germinate, they ARE hardening off. And, if you use a large and deep enough container in which to germinate them, you can pretty much leave them alone to grow in that container until fall/winter when it's safer and more comfortable to separate them. The varying temperatures are going to help them germinate better and they should continue germinating well into the eighty degrees range, despite the reported "germination stops around seventy degrees". Not here. I find them continuing to come up well into the eighties. You're going to have FUN!

Thank you, Boncrow. Much appreciated! Thank you, Kippy. I appreciate knowing the name of that tomato. It was wonderful! Kim

TKHooper196 -

Are they in pots or planted in the garden?

I would fertilize them, keep them well watered, and make sure they get some shade in the hottest parts of the day.

I have two very very young John Davis roses and I have them in one gallon pots, and I mulched the pots so they don't dry out too quickly. They seem to like the afternoon shade a bit.

Good luck! :o)

Climbing roses:

FIrst year sleeping
Second year creeping
Third year leaping!

Water, light, and some food (NOT Bayer 3 in 1). Then patience. If they grow any long canes, that is when they are starting to "leap". If you train the canes as horizontally on a support as you can, they will bloom more.

Jackie

Filoli is wonderful.

I visited the Luther Burbank home a few years ago. Really interesting. We need to remember that at the beginning of the 20th century many Americans were still farmers. Luther Burbank was like the Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates of his time.

I find the Gold Hill Luther Burbank garden more interesting than the downtown home and garden.
I forgot about Quarry Hill. Those places could be a nice day trip a long with a couple of wineries.
One thing I forgot to mention is the Berkeley Botanic garden. It's a beautiful place and there are roses too.

Kim, since it is now possible to determine if these are the same strain of PNRSV or not, I would expect that that determination would be the next step.

If they are the same, then the determination that you mentioned should be done (of course it also could be possible that infection could go in both directions).

The exact determination of infection route may be more than a scientific curiosity as was discussed in an earlier thread (the USDA's published concern that virused ornamentals could pass viruses to nearby food crops).

The common bind weed here is plain, light pink. It gets knocked down with Round Up but comes back up all over. It's a common component in commercial bird food. The client who grows the large Annie Laurie McDowell HAD a bird feeder in her side garden over a decade ago. That's where the bind weed started. I dig it out deeply. I've Round Up'ed it repeatedly. I don't let it grow more than a few inches so I can dowse it with the herbicide and the blamed stuff still comes back. Too bad the PNRSV isn't fatal to it! Kim

Then you've definitely chosen the right plants to begin learning with! You're definitely NOT an imposter! Just because you may not have been exposed to gardening, or had the time/desire to garden earlier doesn't mean you can't or aren't going to become an intuitive success now. Imposters are those who permit others to do the work for them, producing beautiful results, then accept the credit for the efforts. You've already proven you aren't one of those! Kim

Thanks for your kind reassurances. I guess what I meant when I said I sometimes feel like an imposter is that I don't really have gardening "credentials"- whatever those may be. And so whatever success I've had has just been down to luck.

I've always wanted to grow plants, but somehow picked up the notion that it's an intimidatingly difficult thing to do, and you need to have lots of experience and chemicals to do a decent job of it.

I'm trying to rid myself of that mindset, because it conflicts with my intuition (increasingly a conviction) that gardening is nothing more than helping plants get access to their basic needs, and then paying attention to any signals they send out that they need more or less of whatever I'm providing. (Plus weeding, improving the dirt and squishing bugs.)

Having said that, though, I am pretty lucky to have good dirt, a warm climate, and plenty of rain. And to have found a local gardening mentor who is providing me with plants and showing me how to do things like taking cuttings, etc.

And I'm also pretty lucky to have found these gardening forums where I can get good info from gardeners with a lot more experience than I have if I have questions or need advice.

Thanks again,
Virginia