Via Topics

Required – A High pH And Partial To Lime

viaauthor — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:00:31 +0000

I have never yet regretted a good-bye kiss to a few wretched shekels if they procured me a much-coveted peony root. And it may sound like an extravagance for me to say it, but only once or twice have I purchased a root where, in my opinion, the originator’s description did not prove to be an understatement!

As for new varieties, considering everything, twenty dollars or so is a very modest price to ask for a new peony that is really good. It should be considered a permanent investment in beauty and not a foolish or extravagant expenditure. It usually takes the breeder a year and a half to get so much as a sprout, so painfully slow is the work of propagation. The double kinds are stoically indifferent to his hopes and to his dreams, for they produce neither pollen nor seeds.

The breeder spends a decade or more before he realizes a penny for his work. Most of his crosses land on the scrap heap. His main reward, besides the joy of adventure and the knowledge that he is at least trying to help something more beautiful into existence, is the patience taught him by his unanswered prayers. Sooner or later, however, the patient worker will reap if he faints not. And the joy of accomplishment will be great because he realizes that many others besides himself will thrill to the wonders of his new creation.

Peonies require a fairly high pH rating and are very partial to lime – certainly, we all know that. However, the best and the safest way to achieve this is not through the use of raw ground limestone or of the hydrated product, but through the use of gypsum. This way you Steer clear of the danger of swinging too far over to the alkaline side. The intelligent use of tough old sods is full of possibilities also. They can literally work wonders in the production, one after another, of those magnificent show specimens we all crave.

Dig a trench 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep and, for length, whatever your back and your purse can stand. Fill this with inverted sods and tramp down hard. Then treat this with gypsum, put some mellow top soil over it, and at the proper season put in your roots, observing the time honored rule of “two inches of soil over the eyes.” I did all this, and did I have show blooms? After 20 months, although there were not so very many of them, their sumptuous finish was something to wonder at.

Experienced growers do not recommend digging up a peony for division until it is three years old, but in this case my curiosity got the better of me.

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What Should Be Planted This Month?

viaauthor — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 06:00:54 +0000

Herb borders should be made and planted this month. Obtain plants of lavender (Lavandula vera), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), thyme, both the Thymus vulgaris and Thymus citriodorus, for these are fine for rock garden plantings as well as the herb borders. Be sure to add mint (Mentha) of several kinds. Sow seeds of herbs such as sweet basil, caraway, dill, sweet fennel, borage (for its lovely blue flowers), summer savory, sweet marjoram, sage and coriander. These seeds are limited in supply now so order early.

Keep on planting your gladiolus and to be safe order only thrip-treated corms. Groups of six or twelve each might be planted in the borders through July and will give bloom until October. Root cuttings of evergreen candytuft (Iberis sempervirens), and the creeping phlox (P. subulata, divaricata and canadensis). The lines of your edgings may be extended in this way. Dwarf and giant zinnias may be planted where they are to flower and thinned out as the young seedlings crowd. Use self colors in the groups and both the giant dahlia-flowered and the dwarf or miniatures will bring bright notes to the summer theme.

Marigolds, large and small or tall and dwarf, are also good for bright summer notes. Study your color harmonies and do not mix the palette so that it is too strong for hot summer days. Start spraying roses, even though they have not yet finished their spring bloom. Last May we started to use Neem Oil as a fungicide and insecticide. This proved its worth immediately and cleared the roses of all kinds of insect pests, redeeming them after they seemed almost destroyed by black spot. It is easily dissolved in water, not expensive and certainly is a valuable addition to our rose and other garden remedies.

Iris time is here again and from far north in Vancouver, B. C. and far south in Florida, plans are being made to visit the wonderful displays of Oriental iris (L kaempferi), which bloom through late May and early June in the Swan Lake, Heath and Dunndell Gardens at Sumter, S. C. From about May 20 through June 10 millions of gorgeous flowers are on display. Visitors are welcomed and cameras are invited also.

This iris multiplies so freely in this climate and setting that each year shows an increasing number of the beautiful flowers in their rainbow harmonies agaiist a background of pines and hemlocks and cypress, with swans floating along the clear waters of the lakes and fish diving to find food in the pond at Dunndell.

Skies are blue and the sun is warm and bright and the flowers are supremely beautiful so that many who come once come again and again. Now is the accepted time!

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The Wild Flower Sanctuary And Nature Center Located

viaauthor — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 06:00:42 +0000

The Wild Flower Sanctuary’s Maintenance Program

At the Wild Flower Sanctuary and Nature Center at Greenwich, Connecticut nature is to remain almost wholly undisturbed, consistent with good conservation. This includes much more than maintenance of roads, paths and trails and making some of the wilder sections more accessible by new ones. It also involves intelligent control – the prevention of certain more aggressive species from crowding out others, the occasional thinning out of the woodlands to preserve and make happy wild flowers which grow there. These duties and many others of a similar nature are supervised by the director of the Nature Center, with able assistance by the sympathetic botanist-guardian who is always glad to answer visitor’s questions and conducts field trips through the area.

Spring flowers – Although I have still to explore many of the wilder and more inneressible parts of the sanctuary I know so well the sections I have explored that all the plant inhabitants seem like old friends. All the usual early spring flowers are to be found there in April and early May. But, in the third week of May, The Ledges are at their best.

Summer blossoms – All this is woodland. In the center of the tract a large, swampy grassland known as Marigold Meadow, is surrounded by several pastures and fringed with wooded sections. The many marsh marigolds which bloom there in early spring gave Marigold Meadow its name. July and August bring ninny interesting flowers to this area. The purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) takes possession and makes the meadow gay with the light purple flower spikes. When these begin to fade they are succeeded by large amasses of joe-pye weed (Eupatorium purpueum). These tall blossoms, in shades of crushed raspberry and – old rose, continue the color interest of this meadow and are followed in September by the purple and gold of the asters and goldenrod.

In July two other meadows are aglow with black-eyed Susans (Rudbeekia hirta), sweeping up to the main road. Pasture roses grow along some of the old stone walls in great number. Here and there are large clumps of the orange milkweed (Asclepius tuberose). This is so attractive to the butterflies that it is also called buttefly weed. Purple bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), also grows profusely in various parts of these meadows.

July lilies. Nearby there is an outcrop of rock which is decorate t1 in July by Canada, Turk’s cap and tiger lilies, as well as by their more common cousins, the dayfilies. They make a beautiful sight against the blue-gray background of the rocks. The Philadelphia or woodlily (Lilimn philadelphicum), also grows in the meadow and makes the area bright with its handsome orange-scarlet bloom.

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Rated By The American Rose Society?

viaauthor — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:53:27 +0000

A Fairy Story – The Rose of Many Uses

“A ROSE IS A ROSE IS A ROSE,” the quotation insists, but one rose refuses to be typed. I mean of course ‘The Fairy,’ which while quite definitely a member of that family, is many other things too.

Not everyone has room or time for roses, but anyone with a few square feet of sunny soil can accommodate `The Fairy.’ She sulks not, nor does she demand attention, and she blooms and blooms. If hybrid teas have been your only experience with roses, The Fairy’ has some pleasant surprises for you.

Without question she is the healthiest, hardiest, lustiesi,most prolific flower in my garden.

Not only will ‘The Fairy’ produce her last bouquets of the season amidst the first snow; she will layer herself to mother an infinite progeny, star as the focal point in any landscaping plan, serve as the most splendiferous hedge in the world and never demand spraying, dusting or any special handling.

She was rated 8.6 by the American Rose Society, considered an excellent score.

At this point you may well ask, “What is ‘The Fairy’?” Technically, she is classified as a polyantha shrub rose. Our most mature bush stays about four feet high and nearly six feet wide. Each branch yields large clusters of small, fully-double flowers in various shades of pink. In midsummer the blooms are light shell pink, but it is in autumn that ‘The Fairy’ wears her most gorgeous dress. Then a single branch may bear buds and flowers of every shade of pink from nearly white to deep rose.

Cut short, the clusters are unsurpassed for arrangements, but we have trimmed branches to the ground to provide large trusses at various times.

This wholesale cutting merely encourages blooming and helps keep the bush within bounds. Sporadically in spring we saw out the oldest branches at ground level.

Older gardeners who see The Fairy’ immediately mention ‘Dorothy Perkins,’ and well they might, for that venerable rose produced a sport which became the rambler ‘Lady Godiva.’ `The Fairy’ is a sport of the latter and was originated by Bentall in England in 1932. Conard-Pyle introduced it to this country in 1941, and it has been entrancing American gardeners ever since. Beautiful as she was, ‘Dorothy Perkins’ bloomed only in June, and she was apt to fall victim to dreadful attacks of mildew. Her granddaughter has no such drawbacks.

While retaining all the loveliness of her forebears, The Fairy’ is so hardy it literally requires no spraying, is not even badly damaged during the worst infestation of Japanese beetles. After very wet weather our bushes sometimes appear lightly powdered with mildew, but the condition clears itself with a few sunny days.

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Good Flowering Shrubs – Sweet Mockorange

viaauthor — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:10:39 +0000

We all keep looking for “new” shrubs, when very few of us have, or even know, all the “old” ones. Here are two blooming shrubs which are well worth a place in any garden for their flowers.

Weigela Bristol Ruby, rich glowing red, blooms so profusely that the whole shrub is covered with flowers. It is truly a sight to remember when seen in bright sunshine. Of course red flowers do not show up well in shade or in the evening, as do white flowers. This Weigela was in bloom constantly from that first glorious burst in May ‘until fall frosts. Sometimes there were few flowers, sometimes many, but always some.

Philadelphus Alias is the other. This sweet Mockorange has unbelievably large flowers, to 2 1-2 inches across This is an erect growing shrub. I grew one from a hardwood cutting, and it had four blossoms – when one year old and less than a foot high.

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Is There A Way To Prevent An Aspen Tree From Wildly Growing?

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:22:48 +0000

How many have tried growing odd houseplants? I have a Pineapple grown from cutting off the top carefully from pineapple and placed in damp sand; after it was growing, given care of a cactus. I have a lovely Christmas cactus 15 years old; fills a nice 9 inch pot about full.

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How Many Of Us Like Unique Gardening?

admin — Wed, 12 May 2010 10:09:37 +0000

Each year I try such a mixture of seed myself for the thrill of watching for surprises, and I have always found something noteworthy. One year it was a mixture of English seed. These I separated, and then made a round bed, putting the tallest ones in the center and the next tallest ones in circles around each other, having the dwarf ones for the border. This bed was a constant delight to me all summer long.

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What Do I Try In Each Year For Thrill Of Watching For Surprises?

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:58:08 +0000

Often in a seed mixture, we just plant all the seeds in the same flat, or even in a row in the garden just for the fun of seeing what comes up. In this case it is best to mix the seed with fine sand and sow thinly. The larger seeds should be taken out and planted more deeply. Often we get some of our favorite flowers in this haphazard method of planting. This row should be left undisturbed all summer in order to give all the seeds an even chance.

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What Is The Method Of Seed Planting?

admin — Sat, 08 May 2010 09:13:27 +0000

If a reliable seed catalog is consulted, descriptions of the flowers are found, the height is usually indicated, location as to sun or shade given and whether the plant is annual, biennial or perennial. These directions are all very important. Quite often the germination – days are given and this is indeed a great help, as then those germinating at the same time may be planted in the same box or flat.

We Desined Our Plexiglas Orchidarium. What Is The Measurement Of Theat Orchidarium.?

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What Are Three Specific Subjects That A Reliable Seed Catalog Contains?

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:32:25 +0000

When receiving a mixed packet of seed, empty the contents of the packet on a clean white sheet of paper and with a knife blade separate the different kinds of seed. You can usually figure out the kinds if their names are listed on the package. Or you may use a fine wire sifter which will permit the smaller seeds to pass through first. The coarser ones will then be more easily separated.

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