oh, i have so been there...my need to oversee my daughter and our very somewhat violent neighbor has yielded and really finely clipped garden this season...at the time when my already wild garden is practically a rain forest.

Hahahah! I read this, "Rather than lose my head (or take off his) I pulled the pruning shears from the shelves in the garage," and thought your intent was to simply stab or maim rather than kill. Glad I read further. :)

My son had a friend over to play yesterday.

How can I be kind about this?

The friend made some very "bad choices" in terms of his behavior.

Rather than lose my head (or take off his) I pulled the pruning shears from the shelves in the garage.

While the kids rode bikes, I took out my frustration on the boxwoods and other shrubbery that had grown rampantly out of control over the summer.

When it was lunchtime, I had 6 wagonloads of branches. And I was only about 1/3 of the way through.

Still, I was pleased with the start of the project, and it really WAS a good way to put my "bad" energy into a "good" cause.

Plus, the kids were outside in the fresh air, and that's always good.

I highly recommend it for any other Gardening Moms out there.

 

Yay! Don't you love it when things work out like that. :) I have a pineapple sage that I planted in our front flower bed in May, which is supposed to have nice red flowers. Nothing yet though. We'll see.

I planted several seeds in my back deck planters around the first of May.

Then, summer happened.

Kids went to camp, we spent time at the pool, we battled the drought...

And I sort of forgot exactly which plants went where.

But this morning I was given a cheerful reminder - scarlet sage!

 

 

 

 

 

The pink phlox (seen below, about a month ago) got hammered in a Southern thunderstorm.

But the sage enjoyed my hot deck, the sometimes brutal sun, and my constant devotion.

 

 

Hummingbirds have been enjoying our feeder all summer, but I have hope now that they will have fun frolicking in the flowers.

We shall see!

We bought a "mosquito" plant (Pelargonium citrosum) from Home Depot and put it on our patio. We haven't had mosquitoes around our patio all summer -- not sure if this is because of the plant, but we will do this again next summer!

If it were me, I'd just let it keep going. But that's just because I have too many other things to do. :)

My hardy salvia has REALLY grown over the summer. Look at it now, compared with how it started!

 

But it seems so "leggy" now. Almost as though it's too heavy for itself. Should I cut it back? Or let it go on?

 

I've always heard that it's a good idea to slowly acclimate indoor plants to the outside by keeping them in a shady place for the first few days, and slowly giving them more and more sunlight. I bet your basil rebounds in a week.

I went out of town this weekend, and rather than ask my husband to water my kitchen window plants (NEVER a good idea) I popped them out on the deck for 48 hours.

I have two small, seemingly healthy pots of basil and Max's incredibly tall green bean plant.

Well, we had 5 inches of rain on Sunday, so water was surely not a problem!

But both the basil and the green bean turned a yellowish color. (however, the bean put forth a blossom!)

I brought everything back inside when we returned yesterday. (draining excess water from the basil pot)

Do you think it was just too much shock to move the plants into the fresh air after they had "grown up" in the window? Or do you think they just got waterlogged?

And will my basil ever go back to it's pretty green color?

 

 

 

 

Neat! Isn't it so much fun to have flowers from your garden in your house? I finally picked some for myself - instead of the restaurant - yesterday. :)

Your gardenia is gorgeous! We had a gardenia bush, but I killed it. I love the way those flowers smell.

Hey Sarah! Yeah I've actually heard of that trick before (or some variation). For me I don't really care for feeling of anything under my fingernails so I've never tried it. But yes, thats a great idea!

Instead I typically keep my nails short (or use to). I got in the habit of doing that when I use to play stringed instruments.

Dreaming about weeding? wow! If only that worked for getting rid of weeds. ;)

At the doctor's office today, I picked up a copy of "Real Simple" magazine.

They had a very clever tip for gardeners!

Before donning your gardening gloves, rake your fingernails across a bar of soap.

The soap beneath your fingernails blocks dirt from getting under them, and washes right out!

I don't know about you, but to me that seems like a real common sense solution to a prevalent problem.

 

P.S. On a wholly unrelated note, I actually dreamed about WEEDING last night. How sad is THAT??!?

 

 

I've been having a lot of fun this year with cut blooms as well. I also like to use interesting dead plants. My grape hyacinth looks great now that it's all dried up; and I have a curly willow that drops some really neat twisty twigs. Maybe some pictures are in order.

You know I am no June, but last week I tried something I have never done before -- I used my own flowers for decorating a party I was hosting!

I thought my pink & purple verbena looked festive with my polka-dot napkins.

 

 

 

And I loved how my gardenia looked in this cool glass vase. Very elegant. (And fragrant! I had gardenias in the kitchen and powder room also)

 

 

 

And my pretty blue hydrangea made a lovely addition to my foyer.

All in all, I was really pleased with the outcome. I know that I didn't have armloads of blossoms gaily scattered about, but my little vases made me happy.

And I never would have thought of using them without y'all Greenthumbrs!

I have heard - though I don't know any more than hearsay - that it's extremely difficult to attract bats. One thing you may want to try is guano in and around the bat house. I've heard that you can have some success with that.

Although I checked the tubes, and this page says that guano is not a sure-fire thing. They have lots of good tips though.

I don't know much about attracting bats but I did hear that they can eat their weight in bugs. I imagine thats a lot of bugs. We don't have a bat house but I have definitely seen them in our neighborhood often.

The purple martin house is also on our to do list. Aaron has wanted one for awhile now. Of course he is the mosquito magnet while I they hardly bother me.

Have you thought about a purple martin house? They are voracious mosquito lovers, and easier to attract, I think, than bats. Even here in the urban bat capital of the world, bat houses can go unnoticed. The only requirement for purple martin houses is putting doors on them until the martins migrate through (so the sparrows don't set up house ahead of time)

Our backyard is a mosquito-haven too, and I don't quite know why! A purple martin house is on our to-do list.

This afternoon was really pleasant -- funny, how, after a week of 98 degree temperatures and smog alerts, an 85 degree day can seem almost cool!

So after the kids had dinner, we went out into the backyard. They to play, me to weed.

(I have confessed before that I prefer weeding on shady, cooler days. I just don't have the gumption to sweat so hard over a darned weed)

Maggie's garden is the perfect size for me weed-wise because I can get a thorough job done in 45 minutes to an hour.

But I digress.

With the rainstorm last night (huzzah!) the weeds were loose and easy to pull.

And the mosquitoes were looking for blood.

Specifically, mine.

I am sweet meat for those suckers, and I came in after weeding covered in big red lumps and extra spots of dirt on my face and arms from swatting them.

Has anyone ever installed a bat house successfully? I have one (I hear bats love mosquitoes) but I haven't put it up yet.

Dang! As I was writing this, one just flew in front of me! It must have traveled inside on my hair.

*swat*

 

 

So nice, Sarah! I'm really jealous. We planted a gardenia in the front bed at our old house. When we moved it was only about 8-12 inches tall. Now it's huge!

I suppose that means, I'll need to be planting another for myself sometime - once the dogs have learned to stop destroying everything. :)

My beauties, my treasures, my wonderful gardenias are gracing me with blossoms and even a growth spurt!

I've written about these ladies before. Of all the plantings in both front & back, these are the bushes I tend most carefully.

This winter and spring I even "fertilized" them with the water I took out of our fish tank, and I do believe my larger one liked the fish poop :)

It's now peeking over my azaleas by almost a foot!

I am filling my home with the delicate fragrance. In all the bedrooms, in the kitchen, here by my desk...and it's a wonderful thing to fetch the mail every day.

 

 

You can try to take this approach which is what I do to thin most everything I plant, but you might want to close your eyes while doing it. Take a small garden rake with a medium spread between the tines and gentley rake through the seedlings.It's fast and easy and will save you lots of time trying to thin them by hand. You'll be amazed with the results in the long run.I promise!!

Sarah - I'm just curious what you keep all that water in! We have a rain barrel and it's completely full after only a shower or two. Where do you store it?

Sarah - For me it would depend on the dishwasher detergent used. I'm currently using something by Seventh Generation and on the box it specifically says "safe for septic and greywater systems."

Sometimes the "natural" products can be more costly, but we are lucky to have an outlet grocery store that often carries overstock from the health food stores.

Sorry, Ad only covers text in IE Firefox is OK.

If you use "acceptable" soaps the rinse cycle and wash cycle, I would presume, would be OK.

We use "soap" to spray veggies and flowers", and many Cultures use Gray Water exclusively and have good luck.

Years ago we farmed with "Non-potable" water commercially

Sorry I can't read your post. Ads keep covering it up?

At what point does "grey" water become too "grey"?

We are back in Drought World here in GA. Rain was promised for 3 of the last 5 days. Not a drop fell.

My accumulated water is running quite low, and so I find myself "discovering" water throughout the house.

I am saving the water from the bottom of the steamer pot (maybe the broccoli vitamins will help the plants, right?)

Also I'm collecting the water from rinsing out the coffee pot, the milk jug, and basically anything vegetable/organic.

But what about the water that gets left in the dishwasher, when cups turn over, etc.? Do you think that's safe, or not?

I know that there is a rinse cycle after the main soap cycle, but do you think it gets the chemicals out or not? I mean, we eat and drink off the plates and cups, so presumably they're okay....

But I hesitate.

What do YOU think, oh Gardening Gurus?

 

To pretty much echo what Bob said. I chop the extras (above the soil) with scissors.

Sometimes I'll attempt to dig up the whole bunch and gently separate them. But I do that knowing that I might end up with no seedlings.

Clipping away the extras (without disturbing the roots) is the best way to go if you want to increase your odds of ending up with a at least one strong seedling.

I had a metric boatload of coleus germinate and faced a similar thinning problem.

With the soil moist, but not-too-moist, I was able to identify the plants to keep, and pluck the ones "far enough" away right out of the dirt. Ones closer, I just snipped their tiny little heads off.

It's painful and difficult to pick a plant to live and a plant to die. But ultimately, it's for the best.

The remaining plants will say "thanks" and get all growy on you.

Good luck!

I'm not exactly talking about my figure here, though of course I'm always wishing I were slim and trim.

No, against all odds I seem to have successfully sprouted some basil seeds!

Yes, that's right. Me, the Seed Antagonist.

But I have been SO successful that I have loads of little sproutlets all clumped together.

How do I thin them out? Is there a science to it? I'm so afraid of hurting everything by doing it wrong or not thinning at all.

Please advise. :)

 

 

Sorry I miss posted my response here http://greenthumbr.com/members/145/journal/2008/5/31/seed_too_small

The one pre-packaged plant I've had success with so far was a little cup made by Jiffy that had a watermelon seed embedded in a peat pellet. Just add water. It grew, but the other 3 or 4 we bought didn't.

I agree most of the stuff packaged for kids is crap - whether it's gardening kits or breakfast cereal. I think Bob is right, make your own experience.

The watermelon plant is in my garden now. Renny is very interested in it and tends to it regularly. But what has been the most successful approach with the kids so far has been to just apportion some of what I'm already doing to them.

So, some of the plants I started as seeds early this spring became property of the kids when we put them in the garden. Of course, the way that works is that I tend the plants 99.5% of the time, and the 0.5% of the time the kids spent there with me becomes the focus. It kind of goes like this:

Me: Hey you guys, I'm going to plant some of those seeds, check out what I'm doing!
R/C: Ok (loses interest in 5-10 mins)
-- 6 weeks later --
Me: Hey you guys, remember those tomatoes we started that are growing in the basement, let's plant them this weekend!
R/C: Ok, sure.
-- The weekend --
Me: (digs bed, applies fertilizer, brings starts to garden, gathers tools, then...) Hey, you guys want to plant those tomatoes you are growing?
R/C: Sure!
Me: Cool! (digs hole and instructs kids on planting)
-- Subsequently --
Me: (water, weed, fertilize, mulch, prune and tend tomatoes)
R/C: (watch me from afar while playing on swingset)
-- 2 months later --
Me: Mmmmm - these are awesome tomatoes you guys grew. Thanks!

I recall, as a child, being annoyed at the childish way things "for children" were presented.

Personally, I think you can make your own experience for the kids, and just focus on one task at a time.

Why do they use the pellets? So the kid doesn't have to think about soil. So, instead, just mix up your own potting mix before inviting the child to the table.

I think growing something from seed is still good. Starting with a plant has less of a "wow" experience, and it's more like keeping a pet alive (or not, depending on how it goes). With a seed, your child is giving life to a new entity.

The coleus has been fun, germinated well, but they are super-tiny seeds, too.

Maybe sunflower? I know this really nice website that's giving out sunflower seeds...

Forgive my small rant.

Why is it that seeds and pots designed for children are so geared toward failure?

The pots never have holes in the bottom.

They come with "peat pellets" that you expand in water.

And the seeds are so minuscule that not only can you not scatter them properly (even if you are a so-called "grown-up") but you can't see where they landed.

Inevitably, little pops up and then the child (in this case, my daughter) feels like a failure.

I'd love to have some sunny, fun, blooming plants in our kitchen window that she could tend.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

And should I start with seeds, or a starter plant?

 

 

 

 

Good work Sarah! I think you have to attack your weeds with approach of a yogi. Every day, you simply work towards eliminating them - perfection is relative. You are right about #4 - the work never ends. :)

ha ha. I like #4. I was just thinking that today.

Good job digging up the blackberry roots! We have a row along the back of our yard that we want to keep, but they've been popping up in other parts of yard...and I've yet to dig them up.

1. It's much nicer to be weeding on a breezy, cool-ish day than in the blazing sun.

2. The right pair of gloves can make weeding, while not exactly pleasant, at least less tedious. I have a new pair of gloves with those gripper-things on the palm, and I was delighted by how much "hold" I could get.

3. Weeding is like ironing. You can see what you've accomplished when it's over.

4. Weeding is never over.

 

All this being said, I did make some good headway amongst the Insidious Blackberry Vines today.

I'm sure all you NC gardeners know this already (I'm looking at you June, Lance and Razroots!) but I tried going at the vines from "underneath," as it were.

I dug around them with a trowel and gripped the vines just underneath the ground.

Not only did that make for much more significant root balls getting tossed into the wheelbarrow, but I emerged with far fewer thorn prickles.

I am under no delusion that I've decimated the vines, BUT, I do think that it when they return next year their numbers will be reduced!

You are all remarkably impressive with your conservation efforts. Brava! Bravo! I just installed our first rain barrel a few days ago and with only a few showers each day, it's already full! I'm ready to fill another now. I think we can do all of our vegetables with the rain water this year. And it helps that the garden is downhill by 15 feet or more from the rain barrel.

The soap I use on the kids is homemade. I never use bubbles in the tub.

I will say that bathtub water is a last resort. When the long dry days are at their peak, though, it seems a shame to waste it.

Of course, while i am good at water conservation, we all know I am not a great gardener. How ironic it will be if I discover it was the soap all along!

(won't that be a great excuse, though?)

Sarah - wow! you are the queen of conservation!

I try to do things that are more conservative (Like fill a bowl of water to wash greens instead of a sink of water...then use the water to water plants) but I find that I'm inconsistent and am not as dedicated as you. :)

Claire - I think the soap is ok as long as it is mild biodegradable soap. Some of my natural insecticides include soapy water.

In looking for information about soapy water, I came across a lot of resources that suggested chlorine should be more of a concern. How much chlorine a plant can tolerate varies from plant to plant and can sometimes be the cause of burnt/brown looking leaf tips.

The soap from the bath water doesn't damage the plants? That's the one thing I was concerned about reclaiming bathwater...

Oh yes, I empty bathtub water, fishbowl water, pasta pot water, rinsing out the milk jug to recycle it water, waiting-for-the-water-to-get-hot water....everything goes into my yard.

It's fascinating how easy it is to "find" water in your everyday life.

Actually, it's the containers to hold it all that are more difficult :)

At our first house, we had hydrangeas, and we apparently had completely neutral soil: the flowers were always green! I love how they're such an accurate litmus test. (and beautiful!)

How pretty! My mom's hydrangea is blue. According to the NC Extension she must have more acidic soil:
http://tinyurl.com/4oafro

I'll have to put some blueberries in the vicinity of her hydrangea!

I'm glad your hydrangea is doing well!

Even though they are small. Those little seedlings are looking really healthy! I'm sure they'll have some growth spurts as the weather warms

I lean toward watering in the evening. From what I've read plants do most of their growing during the night...so its a good idea to replenish their water in the evening.

I've also heard that watering an hour before the sun goes down is good too. That way the sun has a chance to warm up the cold water a little bit...reducing the shock to your plants.

With regards to using saved water, I've done my fair share of emptying bath water into the garden. :) I've seen video of people setting up grey water systems to make this easier...although I don't think these systems are legal in most states.

@Claire: Hah! You might've just answered my problem regarding "burns" on my pansies. They look like the plant was attacked by a magnifying glass, and I do water during the sunny hours.

Maybe I should try evenings.

I think current wisdom is to water very early in the morning, before the sun really starts heating up the world.

That'd give the water a chance to seep into the ground before evaporation cranks up.

Plus, it'd allow the foliage to dry throughout the day to avoid mold, mildew or other ick if left wet overnight from an evening watering.

Dripper hoses or other close-to-the-ground methods of water delivery also prevent evaporation and wind from causing problems.

I prefer to water at night, so that the water has a chance to get into the ground before the sun comes up and bakes it away. Also, it makes sure that the plants don't get fried by the magnification of the sun through water droplets on their leaves.

From the parenting perspective, it's very zen-like to water after my son has gone to bed and it's peaceful and dark outside. :)

Seed pod. The evolutionary purpose of a flower is to attract pollinators (basically it's insect porn). Once the pollination happens, the flowers can make seeds, which is what you see now. The head will dry out, fall off, and spread the seeds, hopefully (from the tulip's point of view) making more tulips.

As the days get warmer, and the drought gets worse, I want to get the most out of the water I give my gardens.

We can only use saved water -- no hoses, no sprinklers, etc.

What's the conventional wisdom here?

Water in the morning so give it a good soaking before the heat of the day?

Water at dinnertime, to refresh the plant after a day in the sun and give it the night to recover?

Or, (given that I have 2 kids and a crazy schedule) water whenever you can?

It's definitely not catnip. Catnip looks like http://tinyurl.com/4yetg8

Does your planter have drain holes on the bottom? Wouldn't hurt to drill a few if it doesn't. Then you don't have to worry about the rain flooding it; any excess will just flow out the bottom.

Can anyone tell me what this...THING...is atop my tulip?

The tulips all blossomed weeks ago, but here is this bud-like looking protuberance.

Is it another bud? Is the plant feeding itself?

None of the other tulips in this garden have anything like this.

Should I be worried? Or delighted?

The little seedlings have sprouted near my hummingbird feeder.

Given my complete lack of success with seeds, I remain skeptical as to whether or not this will grow tall enough for even a teeny hummingbird to notice.

But I soldier on!

I could have my botany all wrong, but...

I think catnip is a dicot, so the veins in the leaves should be all branching, like you'd find on a tree leaf or other normal leaf.

Grass and grains are monocots, so their veins will all run roughly parallel with each other along the leaf, and not branch from a central spine.

But like I said, my botany could be bogus.

The hydrangea Mom planted has gorgeous blossoms. I think it's happy in its new place.

(by the way, the reason for the intriguing moniker is that my children call my Mom "Hummy.") Hence, Hummy's Hydrangea.

 

 

 

I thought that this planter was doomed -- rain completely flooded it a few weeks ago. But now I have some green things growing....

Of course, I'm not sure what they are.

Can anyone with catnip tell me if that's what this is? Or is it just grass?

(this is SO embarassing...)

 

Thats great!

Congrats! It looks beautiful.

One thing I DID manage to do over the winter was to keep this tiny rose alive.

I huddled it near the house (I tried keeping it inside but my crazy cat kept eating the leaves) but I also mostly let Nature take its course. That seems to be my main mantra when it comes to gardening.

I gave it a little fertilizer once the days started warming, and it grew back it's kitty-bitten foliage.

And it's okay! It even gave me one perfect little bloom.

It's sitting out on my back deck enjoying the lovely day.

 

As you know, the gardening gene runs in my family...just not in me. In my constant hopes to have a voluminous hydrangea bush, I picked up this little beauty a week or so ago. I wandered it, in the container, around my backyard.

I almost killed it.

My mother, taking pity on the plant, and on me, decided to give it a nice big bed to live on.

She cleared a 4x6 patch of grass with her trusty pickaxe, then dug an enormous hole which she filled with topsoil, water, and food. She covered the entire area in pine bark mulch, and not even 24 hours later the sweet little plant opened its first blossom.

So, I wish this story were relating my personal success, but it's really an ode of gratitude to my Mom.

 

I picked up the new hydrangea from "Gardeners Confidence" -- it's a lacecap "Midnight Duchess" macrophylla. There seem to be pretty good instructions on the tag. I'll write in my plantings once I decide where it will go...

I planted some for my mom last summer and haven't had much luck with them!

We have a few hydrangeas around our yard. Some do better than others. It seems like those that get a little sun in the morning and then maybe a little (perhaps filtered through a larger tree) again in the afternoon do the best. Also, I think all of them are planted near a wall, but I'm not sure that matters. Good luck! What variety did you get? Our best ones are the oak leaf.

I've had my hydrangeas for 3 years now. I realize that in those 3 years we have had late freezes that stunted their growth, not to mention a level 4 drought. Also, I sort of suck at growing things.

But why won't they grow into big spreading bushes? That was my hope and vision when I planted them, but it has never come to pass. Each fall I'm left with a little pile of twigs no bigger than the year before.

My sister (gardeness extraordinaire) thinks it's because they end up getting too much shade.

So, to that end, I have just purchased a new, healthy-looking hydrangea. I really want it to grow and develop into something large, wild, and wonderful.

Can anyone suggest an optimal location? Should it be close to a wall or fence? Sun in the morning, afternoon, or all day?

I promise to dig it a $100 hole if I can only find the right spot!

@muffy Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I have been told by my personal slave/Mom that you should just leave them to die there. They need all the greeny goodness they can get. They are apparently still working some stuff out blossoms or no.

I don't touch any of the bulbs I have planted until they are sticks or truly dead. Then I will snip the brown stalks back to the ground. This year I had even more bloom then I planted so giddy up!

Katie, I don't know what you mean about digging them up? Are you transferring them somewhere? Or simply anti tulip??

Which is a valid lifestyle choice. :)

If you're doing any sort of hardscaping, sand is nice to have. Even if you're just laying a dry brick border around a bed, putting sand in the bottom of your brick trench will help keep things from shifting around as much.

If you also follow my "piles of stuff" gardening theme, a pile of sand in one corner will just enhance the effect. I have one, right outside my back door, where the patio used to be.

Funny! I was just thinking today that I should go pilfer some sand from the kid's sandbox. You can use it when planting things that need really well drained soil. Lavender comes to mind, for example. Mix it in - maybe 1:4 with your soil to promote good drainage.

I've been outside all morning, shoveling the sand out of the kids sandbox.

Is there any way to put the sand to use, other than for my son to play with on his excavator toy?

Will it kill weeds, or help plants? Serve as mulch?

Or is play sand basically good for nothing, other than sand castles and the like?

Oh ok. Hmm. I wonder whats causing them to go limp. I wouldn't say you're less greenthumbry :)

I think some people just have better luck some plants over others.

This is actually the first year I've had a lot of success with spinach.

Maybe just try different seeds. Even with super soil and super duper grow lights I've found that my herbs seeds germinate slowly.

These are the seeds in my little square containers. I don't know how much more room I have to add soil, but I will give it a try.

But you may have to face the fact: I'm not as "greenthumby" as you two!

I don't know if this is any consolation but I've been gardening for a long time now and I've yet to have any luck with cilantro!

I've also found that some seeds are just harder to grow by direct sowing them. From my experience it seems the bigger seeds direct sow much easier (ie, cucumbers, zukes, squash, sunflowers and so on)

Wait- your post makes it sound like an outdoor garden, but lance said containers. Did you put these seeds directly in the ground?

It sounds like your cilantro might be just a little leggy? Can you add more soil to the container to give them more support? They'll grow!

Does anyone grow cilantro? Can you tell me if it stands up straight and tall, or does it sort of "creep" more horizontally?

I am afraid I know the answer.

The ONLY seeds in my herb garden that sprouted, the cilantro stalks are so thin that the leaves cannot hold their little heads up. And I don't think there would ever be enough to even sprinkle atop a single taco.

I seem to be okay with bulbs, and with plants that have already started, but seeds thwart me every time.

(sigh)

I think you should consider having a section for Terrible Gardeners. We could share disaster stories, and maybe talking to other TG's would cheer us up.

 

Yes! Also, when are you suppose to dig up the bulbs? The fall? I have never done this, the tulips just appear every spring. I wasn't sure if eventually they would just give up...

Yes! Also, when are you suppose to dig up the bulbs? The fall? I have never done this, the tulips just appear every spring. I wasn't sure if eventually they would just give up...

Good question! I was wondering the same thing myself now that we have a bunch of barren tulip stalks in our front flower bed.

Now that the tulips have blossomed and blown away, what should I do with the stems? Anything?

I wasn't sure if I should cut them off near the base, or just let nature take its course and have them do as they may.

 

Sorry -- yes, that's my hardy salvia and my verbena. It's only been 3-4 weeks since I uncovered them from winter's mulch, and they are as happy as can be.

Sarah - I hope you have good luck with your seeds! We have a huge lantanas bush (http://tinyurl.com/6hxcuv) in our front yard every year. And its always been a favorite among butterflies and hummingbirds

That first one looks like it might be a salvia? Do you know what the second one is?

It's so pretty to look at this corner and see the riot of color. I highly recommend these plants for ease of upkeep with big results!

Even though my "from seeds" gardening has been mostly unsuccessful so far, I have decided to try, try again.

This time, I planted varieties full of color that will hopefully attract hummingbirds. We've had the hummingbird feeder up for several weeks now, and have already seen some ruby-throated lovelies. (I love wild birds as much as I love gardening)

I planted 3 varieties of plants in 2 separate settings - pink phlox, lemon mint, and scarlet sage.

I took two of my planters on the back deck and lined them with a few rocks for better drainage. Then I added lovely potting soil and Moo-nure (my favorite fertilizer). Rows and rows of the little seeds, and then a good soaking with water from our rain collection.

I had some seeds left, so Maggie and I also added rows to her garden. Phlox along the front; mint and sage along the back (they need a bit more shade). We covered those with a layer of potting soil as well, watered them, and covered them lightly with a little cypress mulch.

Keep your fingers crossed! We would love to have bright blossoms for our feathered friends.

 

I agree with lance. Just buy some thick leather gardening gloves and pull them out buy the roots. Then I would suggest some landscaping fabric found at your local gardening center and place a layer or two of fabric on the ground then a nice thick layer of mulch should keep them at bay. June and I have the same problem at our house. I have them under control, but the battle has yet to be won.

I think vines take lots of vigilance. Katie and I had English Ivy - a completely different plant, but a vine nonetheless - in our backyard at the old house. And without regular maintenance it would take over. I imagine blackberry vines are similar - but thornier!

We did finally manage to eradicate the ivy. But it took many, many hours of pulling up vines by the roots, digging them out, hoeing, tilling, then hauling in new dirt to cover what had been there, then planting grass, etc.

Several bouts with poison ivy later, it's ivy free. Of course, someone else lives in that house now. Doh!

Anyway, June, I'm sure has some super organic companion planting method that involves yarrow extract and rabbit compost. But if it were me, I'd just keep pulling it up hoping to one day get it all.

Signed,
Sisyphus

I inherited this border with the house in 1999. Mostly it maintains itself, so it's a great garden to have front and center.

It's a little too pale for my taste -- white azaleas, white dogwoods...you get the idea. But I've just never gotten up the energy to dig up perfectly healthy plants just to add color.

Now my gardenias, on the other hand....

These are my "babies." I actually transplanted them from our first house because I could not bear to let them go. They are really large, healthy bushes, with lovely fragrant blossoms usually in mid-to late June.

BUT.

When I transplanted the gardenias, some of our neighborhood birds very kindly dropped blackberry seeds on them. So now throughout the border I have blackberry vines threatening my plants.

I generally just keep a watchful eye and hack back the vines as they grow, but is there a better solution? I don't want to harm anything that's growing, but I'd certainly like to be rid of those pesky thorns.