22,153 Garden Web Discussions | Roses
" three to four feet deep"
Holy mother of god, and you call that "the lazy way?' LOL My back hurts just from reading that. I dug trenches last year, not as wide and deep as recommended, but as wide and deep as I was willing.
I started with compacted black clay and basically threw the kitchen sink at it. It still has a lot of clay, but it seems to be doing OK. It gets mulch and compost, but it's still young.
Okay, it's easy to forget about the digging since we only do it every two years or so. If you want a permanent compost hole for waste collection and composting, you'd only have to do the digging once. After that it's so convenient to blow or sweep or toss our healthy garden and kitchen waste in -- much easier and better for our gardens and the environment than hoisting it up into the garbage bin. We don't turn the stuff in these holes or do much of anything else for a year or more as they transform from waste into beds with lovely friable soil.
.One identifier for Music Box the petals quill as the bloom ages. I went out to look at the thorns. They are mostly straight and very pointed like a hypodermic needle. The pedals do quill a lot. It's the one thing about this rose that I don't care for.
Hi Carol, Yes there are thousands of different orchid variaties and if you choose those that suit your climate they really do thrive on neglect. For me the cool temperate orchids such as Coelogynae and Miltoniopsis are hard to grow as it's just too warm here but you may find those easy for you! Most of my orchids flower in late autumn through winter to Spring which is great as there are less roses during the colder months. If you like the smell of vanilla and chocolate than you'd love Stanhopea. These produce striking flowers that hang down and smell strongly of dessert.
The miracle gro did that. A high nitrogen chemical fertilizer will give big plants without fruit.
Compost and or balanced natural fertilizer is better. Right now a teaspoon of fish seaweed concentrate in a water with will be gentle and get you some blooms will be a good treat for the plant.
UPDATE.. pics show what has happened to my beautiful knockout since my last posting. My husband had to use a power saw to cut off the main stems they were so hard, like oak. Pics show the interior of the cut off stem. Our extension agent says most wilt will show discoloration inside the stem and this did not. Note the new growth coming. We plan to keep observing and see if the remaining stem dies like the others. If it does, we will submit the plant and soil samples for testing. It's a real puzzler, wouldnt you say?
What hasn't been mentioned is the rest of the pruner, beyond the blade. It's easy for resins, etc. to accumulate on the blades. They need to be cleaned off and they need to be so smooth that nothing accumulates there.
Then the blade (for a secateur) needs to be sharp, as sharp as you can make it. And the side it moves past needs to be equally clean. Clean of everything from plant gook to rust because rust can hold and then spread microscopic problems.
To me, the most important to stop and clean secateurs is when you're working on a rose that has a problem. It's bad that that rose has a problem, what is worse is rushing through and spreading the problem (and I have spread fungi and worse from one rose to the next by rushing stem cuts in spring.)
Karen, I'm glad your roses did well! Queen of Sweden is one of my favorites, and Lady of Shallot is newly planted in our gardens.
Well -- I did it again. After three months in the hospital I was so revved up to create beauty (and also had a 25% discount code), I ordered a number of David Austin bare roots, mostly own root, and they arrived a few days later. I was still too incapacitated to inspect or plant them myself, but they're leafing out and one has even bloomed -- Princess Alexandra of Kent. They were planted in April with temps in the 90s, and I figured if they failed it would be a learning experience.
I had another bout in the hospital last week, and since I didn't get my fingers burned with the first round of roses, I ordered again after I was dishcharged (I suspect David Austin's marketing team has taken control of our hospitals here, and they hypnotize patients into uncontrollably craving their roses). Last night I found the bare roots on my doorstep, and with help, I inspected them and bucketed them in pond water. I thought they looked fantastic -- lots of green canes, good, long root systems. I'll post a picture later if I can. At Humpty Dumpty House we get donations of plants other people don't want -- roses that don't bloom, puny bare roots, and this year we even got my dream plant -- a bare root David Austin rose tree with a big greenstick fracture. So I'm used to looking at things that don't look so good. Our philosophy is to take take things (and people) that are considered broken and useless, and give them a new life; a chance to be beautiful and to serve a worthy purpose. Not saying that anyone who pays good money should have to accept an inferior plant. But reputable companies will replace it, and you can send the bad one to us (big smiley face symbol) because those ugly ducklings really can become stellar swans. I find the challenge bittersweet, and it makes me love these gardens and plants all the more. Plant donations are tax deductible, and your facebook likes are helping us reopen the gardens in June, after my lengthy hospitalization. Lots of pretty pictures, design ideas, garden advice:
https://www.facebook.com/HumptyDumptyHouse
Princess Alexandra of Kent. Planted from a David Austin bare root early April with temps in the 90s. I know David Austins don't do well everywhere, and feel sad for those who can't grow them 'cause they're magical here -- at least the ones we've planted so far. All our roses get fertile soil which we've been amending several years, and drip irrigation. Hot, blazing afternoon sun with morning shade. Many are planted against a white wall with a great deal of reflected heat. No spray. Great soil and adequate drip irrigation seem to overcome the negatives, because the roses are heartbreakingly beautiful. Many came from bad looking bare roots. Please see our website and facebook links in the post directly above.
I have the three Austins mentioned. Two will not do well not sprayed. Teasing Georgia won't defoliate, but gets spotty. Plus it's a monster. A friend has Julia Child and it does get spotty. The other yellows I have are Golden Showers, which is a climber. It gets blackspot. I have Kordes Caramella Fairy Tale, and that also gets BS. I just bought a bunch of yellows, but I plan on spraying them. It depends on what your tolerance for spotty leaves is. I haven't tried Carefree Sunshine, if Michael says it's good, maybe that should be the one you try.
I am growing Sparkle & Shine(The Golden Child) here in Australia for the first time and have found it good in my climate, I thought it might suit, here is a link to it,
The virus by itself cannot survive in the soil. The last lecture I went to they recommended waiting 7 days for the virus to die. But yes, the roots can carry it if it got down that far. I dug up a Reve d'Or last year and I'm waiting to see if any roots survive before replanting. It was own root, but in a confined spot so I could not get all the roots. I have had luck killing Dr. Huey sprouts with RU for woody vines. If you have RRD, I think that would be a good idea before replanting.
And honestly, the woman making that statement is a Parks and Recreation spokesperson, not an RRD expert.
Ryan, sorry to hear you have lost one. I only got one Sir Lipton Thomas, it's doing ok. I went crazy with Therese Bugnet this year, saw some at HD too, picked more there, now I have 12 of them. :-) Hope they have good fragrance. Good luck with your other SLT and Mister Lincohn. I got 2 Mister Lincoln from Aldi's this spring.
It can take more than one application of Grass-be-gone to get rid of the grass completely.
Thanks for everyone's input, may be it's easier just spray Grass Be Gone a couple more times. :-)