lavender

I was at Lowe's today and ran into a fellow gardener. We started talking about the tall grasses and he said not to cut or burn them back the way I always do. He suggested leaving about 3 feet of the bottom uncut. He says this keeps the clump from splitting when the seed heads mature. It gives them some support and doesn't show when the new growth fills in. I'd try it but mine have already been cut. It is true though that the clumps split. We divided about 10 clumps last year because they would split and fall over the path. I cannot tell a lie. I bought one of the yellow carpet roses. They grow so well and I don't think I ever saw a yellow one.

Wow! I pruned back the mock orange. Lifted about 30 plants that I heeled in tor the winter and potted up some companula. Also cut back a couple of 10 foot tall grasses and pruned the rose bush.

All of the wild ones are probably why no one plants them around here. I hate getting into the shower after picking blackberries. Hot water and all those scratches. Ouch!

Let us know how they do in South Carolina. I'm curious about how fast they will multiply in a longer growing season. I usually have some on the greenhouse floor that seeded themselves but I haven't seen them yet.

Pruning is the key to good fruit production in bramble fruit. These fruit on two year old canes so anything older should be pruned out. New canes should be thinned for the biggest fruit. You also, unlike raspberries, trim back the tips of the canes. If you get the trailing backberries rather than the upright ones you might want to trellis them. There are also thornless blackberries which you might want to look into although I hear they aren't as hardy as the thorny ones. Picking wild blackberries is wicked and I don't suppose picking tame ones is much better. http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/g06000.htm http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1431.html We have good conditions for blackberries around here as the wild ones thrive. They even fruit in deep shade. I don't know anyone who grows them in their gardens but I think they would be even easier than raspberries.

Good luck with it! The little ones in pots are so cute. I think that they are a miniature version of pineapple. I won't swear to it but I know there is a miniature pineapple available. The ones I have seen in pots with the little pineapples on them don't look like what you get when you root a pineapple top. They are much cuter. Let us know how big that pineapple gets.

No fair! My radishes aren't even up yet. It's beautiful. Why all the fencing? Do you have critters?

I suppose it is deer. They eat all of the daylilies, irises and tulips off every year. The only thing that it really hurts are the tulips and it ruins those.

I take back the part about nothing eating hyacinths. I just came in from discovering that something did.

You are welcome and that is separate not "serrate". I don't know how that got in there, fingers galumphing around the keyboard again. :B

They are beautiful flowers and nothing seems to eat the bulbs or plant, a big bonus around here. They go dormant fairly soon after blooming so maybe you could wait and serrate them when you move them. That way you won't have to do it some other year. I wouldn't separate if the flower stem is up.

The proper method is to mark them and move them after the leaves have died back. Bulbs should always be moved when they are dormant. That said many people do move them while they are still green just because you can find them then. Since the flower bud is formed in the previous growing season they may not bloom the next year if you do this. I don't know what stage your hyacinths are in but If I were going to move a clump of them on a semi-emergency basis I'd do it now when, If they are like mine, they have just emerged from the ground and are the next best thing to being dormant.

We dig the cannas after the several good hard frosts have knocked down the foliage. That is usually into October. I like to dig when the tops have totally dried or you are dealing with slimy vegetation and these are huge heavy clumps. Let me clean up what I have in the way of cannas and I'll pm you. I usually put the ones that go on the embankment into pots for a month or so to give them a good start. I could keep you a pot or we'll see what the cleaned up tubers weigh. They are stored with some dirt on to keep them from drying out.

You just never know where you are going to find what bug or what those danged groundhogs and deer are going to eat. Unless you are at Treasure Lake where they eat everything. Snellma, I don't know what the canna situation is yet this year. They are big heavy tubers and it might be cheaper to buy them than ship them. Of course parcel post is a lot cheaper than first class if your aren't in a hurry.

Cannas do that. I think we gave hundreds of them away one year at Community Days. There were soooooooooo many after a few years. I've heard that the Japanese beetles are a problem with them. They don't bother the cannas where I have been growing them but then there aren't many Japanese Beetles around there. Have you seen any on yours?

Stop your making me sooooooooo jealous. I'm going to plant those radish seeds I bought even if I have to put them in a raised flower bed. Someone told me sleet tonight. I'm covering my poor crocuses to save the blooms.

Yeah, that too. ;D

Let us know if they come true. I had some gorgeous ones last year and figured they were hybrids.

I don't think it is ever going to get warm to stay. I bought radish seeds yesterday with the intention of finding a dry spot to plant them in. The whole yard is soaked but there must be a spot somewhere. Didn't get home in time to do it and now it is cold again. Dang! I suppose puppies will chew anything and cats all like some greens in their diet. Our dog goes out and grazes on grass and usually promptly throws-up. Nibbling the house plants is a definite no-no. Too many of them are poisonous. Some passionflowers have an edible fruit. I think all have a poisonous root. The other parts vary depending on the species of the plant. I thin mine is recovering from its bad bout with mealy bugs. It kind of went dormant this winter. I have hopes for it yet.

If you do plant one make sure it gets plenty of sun. I'm sure that is the problem with mine as I bought it at Alvetro's. It wasn't a named variety but it should have been nursery raised from good stock. Remember to check for grafting if you decide to take cuttings for rooting of trees or bushes and especially roses. If a plant is grafted it probably isn't going to produce a very strong root system, which is why it is grafted in the first place. Same is true if you dig up suckers. Suckers from grafted stock aren't going to look like the plant they came from. Cuttings are the only way of getting extra stock from hybrids. (Unless you can tissue culture in your kitchen.) That is why so many of them now say right on the tags that vegetative reproduction of the plant is prohibited. Also, why you will often find plants that look very similar to a hot new variety but they will not have tags on them. The plant police are gonna get us if we don't watch out!

It depends on what you are planting. You want to get most seeds in about 6 weeks before you set them out. Our last frost date is May 30 so you still have time. Check the back of the seed packet for the starting date for whatever you want to plant for timing. I always like to give them a couple of extra weeks so you have time to harden them off and if germination is slow they will still be ready.

The easiest way to handle it is to pot the whole thing into a plastic bag and seal it. This way it will stay moist. Put it in light but not in the sun. Make sure you have at least one node covered by powder and soil. The roots will come from these nodes. It can take any where from 2-6 months for the cutting to get enough roots to survive. One of the best ways to root azaleas is to find a low growing branch, scrap off a bit of bark, cover it with rooting powder and pin it back down into the soil. You can cover it with some compost or mulch so that it stays moist. In a few years you will have a nice plant complete with roots that you can dig up. I've done this with great success. Take cuttings only from a wisteria that blooms. Some of them take so long to bloom that it will drive you to distraction or maybe they never bloom. I think I have one of those. They sucker freely so perhaps you could dig up a small plant near the main one. I don't suppose they are very difficult to root. I have never tried as the one I have is a non-blooming freely suckering nuisance. You can use the same method as with the azalea or put some rooting hormone in water. I've been told that they will root that way as well.

Depending on the species and state, native azaleas and Rhododendrons are protected by law. There are both state and federal laws governing protected species. Here is a link that might help you identify which azaleas are native to your area. If it is public property and you dig it there is the possibility of a fine if it is protected. Permission must be obtained to dig on private property and even then there can be problems. http://www.ferngullynursery.com/NativeAzaleaPlantMaps.aspx'> http://www.ferngullynursery.com/NativeAzaleaPlantMaps.aspx Moving a native tree from the woods into your yard is always tricky and does not always end happily. Often there are microbes in the soil that are necessary for the plant's growth. The soil in built up areas tends to be very different from woodland soil as often fill is brought in. A similar azalea that was raised in a nursery would be much more likely to survive.

Sounds very colorful. If they don't fill in to your satisfaction put in some lobelia. I love the intense blue color.

Lowe's was the only place that I saw 'Kong' last year. Lyon's is seasonal. I'm lousy with directions but I'll try. You turn right, off of Rt. 119 heading toward Falls Creek, on DuBois Street. It is a few blocks on the right. You have to turn off and drive back in and it is hard to see if he hasn't put out a sign. It is a large plastic greenhouse structure. I think that is 119 and I'm sure about DuBois Street because if you go left you get to Kohlepps.