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18 Aug 06 - 01:06 AM (#1812834) Subject: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie From Zone 7 in the North Carolina Piedmont. My late summer garden is doing better than I had expected it to. It is dry now, but after a winter and spring of drought, we actually had more or less adequate rain this summer until just a few weeks ago. I really miss all the dahlias. They would be at their peak right now. I'm not sorry I took them out--I'm making serious strides toward a lower maintenance and drought tolerant garden--but I do miss all their extravagant color. To all of you to whom I had promised tubers--I dug them up this spring, cleaned them off, pagkaged them and addressed the boxes, didn't have the money to mail them right away (they are heavy and expensive to mail,) and then forgot about them until they died! I'm sorry--both to have let a couple of hundred dollars worth of lovely dahlia tubers go to waste, and to not have followed through with my promise to you. Right now the Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' is the biggest show. Also tithonia, garden phlox, bronze fennel, echinacea (I put in some of the new cultivars 'Harvest Moon', 'Sunset' and 'Sunrise', this spring and added some "White Swan" and 'Fragrant Angel' to the mix.) A vivid orange montbretia with a scarlet throat is blooming now--I have forgotten which cultivar it is, or it might be common montbretia. I did keep a few dahlias and the bright red 'Smarty Pants' is looking nice with the orange and yellows of the rudbeckia. tithonia and bronze fennel. My red salvia greggii has bloomed all summer as have two tall blue salvias, one deep blue and one sky blue. I am blanking on their species names right now. The moon vine scents the night air, competing with the tuberoses. I have a stand of salmon pink ginger lilies in their 3rd year that are putting on a good show for the first time. Some of the ammi majus is still blooming. I let tall, white wild asters establish themselves and they are branching out now, also bidens from wild seed. The joe-pye weed is doing well, and the rampant wild goldenrod I made the mistake of planting a few years ago, as well as the tartarian asters are just starting to show buds. A few of the perennial ageritum have small buds. I have really tall perennial sunflowers (10 to 12 feet) that bloom in very late fall. They may be maximillian's but I have never been able to definitively identify them--anyway--they are diseased and I am going to have to try to pull all of them out. Last fall I planted some native hydrangea (same species as Annabelle)and they have taken right off. This spring I planted 3 Tellar Blue lace-caps and two Endless Summer mopheads. I look forward to seeing them bloom in the years ahead. Been messing around in the shade garden also, but I've gone on long enough. I would love to hear about your August garden! Janie |
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18 Aug 06 - 01:24 AM (#1812838) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Peace The red petunias in my neighbour's garden are doing very well. |
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18 Aug 06 - 02:01 AM (#1812848) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: MAG tomatoes are starting to blush; I got a pound of bacon in anticipation. my roses are screaming of neglect; I did finally deadhead them and need to feed them gathering lavender seed into sachet bags. friends tell me they can't grow the stuff; mine is spreading all the time. groundcover woodruff doing great. i just pull the weeds out ahead of it, and it does the rest. artemisia groundcover doing way too well. choking out the pinks. never, never plant horseradish. overflowing with oregano. basil only in a pot. |
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18 Aug 06 - 09:40 AM (#1812928) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Where are you, Mag? Janie |
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18 Aug 06 - 09:58 AM (#1812942) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: MMario hmmmm- i'm house sitting for a friend - so don't know what's blooming in my garden(s) but in hers: yarrow. Garlic. rudbeckia dock. jeruselam artichokes |
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18 Aug 06 - 10:07 AM (#1812948) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: bobad Anybody want some pickling cucumbers? |
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18 Aug 06 - 02:35 PM (#1813176) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: dianavan I have no cucumbers, corn or potatoes but I have everything else I need. My tomatoes are ripening (picked seven yesterday) and have lots of lettuce and beans. Tomorrow, my Mexican friend is coming over to help me make hot sauce with the tomatillos, cilantro and jalapenos. So much for the myth of the "Great White North." |
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19 Aug 06 - 02:03 AM (#1813597) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: MAG I'm in the Inland Pacific Northwest, US, Janis. Plucked my first slug off a tomato. Now it's outside at night with the flashlight. |
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19 Aug 06 - 02:59 AM (#1813608) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Not my best photographic efforts for sure, but here are some recent photos of my garden. Janie |
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19 Aug 06 - 03:03 AM (#1813610) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Thanks, Mag. I figured you were well north of me from your first post, but wanted to confirm. I like to learn about latitude based seasonal differences. Janie |
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19 Aug 06 - 04:34 AM (#1813636) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Liz the Squeak Mine is so full of spiders that I daren't go out there.... and the slugs have started to come in doors!! LTS |
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19 Aug 06 - 04:12 PM (#1813979) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie SRS--I really don't think I could last in the heat of a Texas summer, the Piedmont of North Carolina is bad enough. And you are from the Northwest? Hope the heat and drought break for you soon. Janie |
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19 Aug 06 - 04:18 PM (#1813988) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Beets are edible:O? Sez who? I thought they were put on earth to use for pickled eggs. |
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19 Aug 06 - 06:51 PM (#1814090) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Stilly River Sage link |
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19 Aug 06 - 07:35 PM (#1814113) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Oh Boy, SRS. That's awful. (re: my post above of 4:18, I wondered why it didn't show up on the thread I thought I posted it too!) Posted more garden pictures from today. They're right here, iff'n yer interested. Janie |
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19 Aug 06 - 08:30 PM (#1814145) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Sorcha Nice pics, people! I have almost NO flowers at all this year....60 + days of over 100 here in Wyo too...... |
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20 Aug 06 - 08:30 AM (#1814373) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Liz the Squeak I've been out in the garden today and discovered that the hot spell has done for one of my holly bushes, the yew tree and three roses. : ( Looks like a lot of digging and a couple of trips to the garden centre for me next month. LTS |
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11 Nov 06 - 09:49 PM (#1883584) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie We have had a couple of 'semi-' hard frosts--enough to partially blacken a lot of things but not cause complete winter kill except for the tenderest of my perennials. The temperature fluctuations are beginning to stress some plants. I don't dare go ahead and cut back much-we keep getting long series of warm days and mild nights that induce plants to sprout new growth, or cause bud-swell, that later get frost-nipped. The leaves are just coming off my mophead hydrangeas, but there are new buds swelling on the newly bare stems. I have violas in big strawberry pots on either side of the lower drive, and they are thriving. All but the latest and hardiest of the chrysanthemums are finished or frostbit. The self-sown larkspur and opium poppies have sprouted and carpet many of the beds. I need to go ahead and do some thinning now. We are having salads full of chickweed I have weeded from both the vegetable and the flower gardens, and I am trying to talk myself out of weeding out the common speedwell from the flower beds--it carpets the yard in late winter and early spring with tiny sky blue flowers that look utterly charming with daffodils. I spent this morning mulching leaves and piling them on my neglected veggie garden. I didn't plant a fall garden because hubby has not yet dealt with the resident groundhog. Now I wish I had done so. We do have a little kale that I planted in spring. Red Russian Kale is my choice for our area, and the leaves have turned a lovely wine red with the frosts. If the weather continues mild, I may at least go ahead and seed lettuce under a plastic tent. Janie |
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11 Nov 06 - 11:54 PM (#1883654) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Stilly River Sage My autumn garden is doing a lot more than my summer garden. At least it is alive. I have some potted flowers that are lovely (until the first hard frost) and I put some Swiss Chard in a protected flower bed in the front yard. I've had it weather the winter before, so I'm hoping for some fresh veggies for a few months. SRS |
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12 Nov 06 - 11:09 AM (#1883777) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Alice Snow here. Gardens dead weeks ago. Wish I could afford to live in two different places/climates. |
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12 Nov 06 - 05:45 PM (#1884161) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Stilly River Sage I put in two Italian stone pines a couple of weeks ago, small ones that were intended to be living christmas trees. I'll put some more in after payday, assuming I can still find them for the same price ($16 each). Each year I think about transplanting stuff, and this year I hope to actually get to it. The pattern I've been working toward in my yard is pretty obvious, and I can transplant to fill in that pattern. Gotta wait till the first frost, and cross my fingers that rather large plants will make the transition. SRS |
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12 Nov 06 - 10:01 PM (#1884341) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Janie Pattern? You have a pattern? (she said with a touch of envy.) I have a jungle. Actually I do operate according to a plan. It is Oh, look, a tiny bit of bare earth with nothing growing in it. Oh, look, a interesting plant I haven't tried before. Oh dear, that color will absolutely not work. Oh well. I'll just put in one, I can always pull it out if it clashes too badly. Oh, gee. The color combo looks awful, or it is getting way to crowded, but it is otherwise so pretty, hardy, carefree, etc.... Hmmm....I wonder if I could squeeze another bed in over there..... Janie |
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13 Nov 06 - 04:14 PM (#1884939) Subject: RE: BS: Time for Another Garden Thread From: Joybell Thanks, Janie. I always like coming here. We try to live in a jungle too - well a woodland-wetland it's supposed to be. We're in drought too. Victoria, Australia. Our wetlands - all over the country drying up. Here we had almost no Winter rain and none at all this Spring. This followed 10 years of well below average rainfall. Late frosts did for the commercial fruit crops and all our own soft fruit. I worry about the wildlife. Scientists are talking about it being the worst drought in maybe 1000 years. BUT our prime minister (not a scientist) tells us it's only the worst in 100 years. GREAT! So far we are doing OK. We have full water tanks and we're careful. The place is full of baby birds - Willie Wagtails, Magpies, Honey-eaters. The native plants are surviving well - although I'm having to hand water newly-planted ones all over the paddocks. It's a huge job. We'll share our water with the birds and frogs. Rain, rain don't go away And come again another day. Every day for a month would be a good start. Cheers, Joy - who is usually a Pollyanna. |
