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Post by bjd on Nov 3, 2020 20:24:46 GMT
Yes, I like them a lot too. The perfume is wonderful.
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Post by casimira on Nov 3, 2020 22:46:40 GMT
Lugg and BJD, you two ladies are in good company with my mother who loved most flowers but adored freesias which is why I plant them each year on her birthday. They don't repeat here but are available at one of our local nurseries. I planted 20 corms. (they come in bags of 10 and I got the very last 2 bags! Phew!)
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 3, 2020 23:34:46 GMT
They are just the loveliest little flowers
In Oaxaca they're called brisias, a word that can't be found in a dictionary. The official word in Spanish is frisia. I think it's a combination of mis-hearing the word frisia and crossing it with brisa -- breeze. Rather charming, since the little darlings do nod and waft scent in the breeze.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 4, 2020 17:59:32 GMT
My favourite flower too!
When I was a student nurse in nineteen hundred and frozen to death...I got into a lift in the maternity building with grandparents on their way to meet their new grandchild. They had a massive bunch of freesias...must have been 100 individual flowers and the lift was filled with a glorious scent. Loved them ever since
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 5, 2020 14:06:50 GMT
We've been tidying the garden today. Jeff cut the grass, cut back the herbaceous perennials and cleared the last of the annuals. I planted up my wallflowers..three types bought as 'the velvet collection' ruby red, deep orange and a lovely one called 'Vulcan' that is my favourite. Planted up 2 large pots with wallflowers and a few deep red violas. Planted a little pink epimedium in the blueberry bed and put a new persicaria and a little star like ground cover plant (omphalodes cappadocica) in pots for now until I decide where they will go...its too wet to plant in the border really atm. I want to see how vigorous the ground cover plant is before I decide where to plant it. Placed the pot in a sheltered spot near the fence. Tidied up and watered the plants in the GH...fixing the bubble wrap back up with clothes pegs where it had fallen down. I enjoyed myself tremendously.
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Post by bjd on Nov 5, 2020 15:48:15 GMT
I'm impressed by your throwing around all those Latin plant names, Cheery!
My husband just mowed part of the grass to mulch the leaves lying around. I understand it's good for the soil. We also have a gazillion acorns on the ground and flowerbeds this year but haven't finished clearing them yet. My plumbagos, dahlias and a couple of surviving pentstemons are still blooming. I cut back the gauras while I decide whether or not to keep them all. They have invaded and take up so much space.
I was browsing at the nursery the other day and bought a strobilanthes. I had never seen one before and thought it looked nice. Put it in a pot while I decide where I can put it. And I planted a few violas which will stay over the winter and look even nicer next spring.
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Post by mickthecactus on Dec 5, 2020 18:03:08 GMT
Bixa, I would expect it's been mentioned somewhere but are you aware of two series from many years ago with a wonderful old man called Harry Dodson - The Victorian Kitchen Garden and The Victorian Flower Garden. That was an excellent series but a long time ago... 1987 to be precise.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 5, 2020 18:50:50 GMT
Yeah -- raking and hoeing and delving work better in the garden than posturing and posing. More for entertainment than education, I sometimes watch "Love Your Garden". Alan Titschmarch is a giant ham and milks the pathos in those shows for all it's worth, but he's still pretty likable and watching vast sums of money being splashed all over a garden is fun. pee ess to mickthecactus ~ Your comment about wilderness prompts me to ask if you ever saw my report on Lullingstone? Admittedly, England had an exceptional amount of rain the year I saw it, but it was a good example of what happens when good ideas get out of hand.
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Post by casimira on Jan 9, 2021 14:20:34 GMT
Overall, I've pretty much completed for now anyway, the planting of my cool season plantings which will hopefully begin flourishing and in full regalia come March. The last of the sweet peas went in this past week along with a variety of poppies, larkspur, nasturtiums, yellow columbine, borage, lobelia, sweet alyssum, Also, various bulbs and corms of narcissus, freesia, Asiatic lilies, Siberian iris and a few others I can't recall. Interspersed are various greens and cool season herbs. For the time being, the garden looks rather tidy and organized considering my lackadaisical mood.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 9, 2021 15:46:40 GMT
Sounds lovely casi. Look forward to seeing it.
The weather here is so awful gardening isn't possible.
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Post by bjd on Jan 9, 2021 16:15:46 GMT
We had all kinds of plants growing and blooming well in advance of their usual growing period: like arum lillies, Japanese quince, camellias. But this past weeks cold nights have put a dramatic stop to it all. The arums have all collapsed -- I suppose their stems are full of water and they froze during the night.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 10, 2021 17:03:10 GMT
As it becomes obvious that it is time to get rid of my long suffering ficus, I need to find something that appreciates me more. For sentimental reasons, I am attracted to the idea of a philodendron. My grandmother had one in her bathroom/laundry room which did not get much light but which extended itself for at least 5 metres around the room with various support to keep it around the ceiling. Any opinions?
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Post by casimira on Jan 10, 2021 18:22:06 GMT
So true about how finicky and temperamental ficus behaves. Move the plant 2 feet and it acts like you tried to murder it so it starts dropping it's leaves trying to kill itself. That being said, they usually do make a comeback after their "temper tantrum" of sorts. As for philodendron, there are about 500 species of this particular plant. I assume you are referring to the common trailing variety as opposed to the self heading (non climbing) species. Yes, they are very low maintenance and will tolerate most growing conditions. Likely an ideal choice for your apartment. I have a friend who grew a trailing/climbing specimen in her apartment and that thing was wrapped around her small room up and down walls, all along the top of the doorway, window frames, and then some. When she had to move I remember helping her and she wanted to preserve the whole damn thing which in actuality would have measured a quarter of a mile. I assured her that she could trim it down to a more manageable size and root the cuttings while still preserving the "mother" plant. She persisted in keeping it all intact and what a pain in the ass that was although, I passive aggressively let her do most of the tedious work involved. That was over 20 years ago and to my knowledge she still has the darn thing.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 10, 2021 18:57:27 GMT
Or it has her!
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Post by casimira on Jan 17, 2021 15:02:01 GMT
I bought a packet of Lunaria annua seeds (AKA, Silver Dollar plant, Money Plant) nd want to give them a go. I don't think they will take here but am going to give them a go.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 17, 2021 16:01:47 GMT
Sowed my first succulent seeds of the year. Pelargonium longifolium and Bulbine diphylla. They are in my propagator at 20c.
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Post by fumobici on Jan 17, 2021 19:16:00 GMT
I bought a packet of Lunaria annua seeds (AKA, Silver Dollar plant, Money Plant) nd want to give them a go. I don't think they will take here but am going to give them a go. They quickly go feral here and are everywhere in the Spring, so probably utterly impossible in NOLA.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2021 19:48:38 GMT
My principal window box has remained empty for the last several months and since it is mostly just a bunch of tangled roots from last year, I was going to dump it all and put in new potting soil in a month or two. But two little things have sprouted in the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure what they are (perhaps dill), but I am in admiration of their fortitude and optimism and I don't want to destroy them.
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Post by casimira on Jan 17, 2021 22:28:13 GMT
Fumobici, I'm not too optimistic about the lunaria but what the heck, I have the seeds and will sow them and see what happens.
Kerouac, I would bet that the sprouts you are seeing are dill. It has a reputation for reseeding and producing new "volunteers". I rarely if ever have to replant it for that very reason. Cilantro as well, and parsley.
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Post by bjd on Feb 5, 2021 15:20:29 GMT
I need a bit of advice from you professional gardeners. We had some frost at the beginning of January and the leaves of my agapanthuses look awful; Some have yellowed and some look as though they have rotted. Should I just cut them right back to the bulb? I tried looking on the net but it seems there are deciduous ones and everygreen ones. Mine are obviously everygreen because they don't lose their leaves and this is the first winter they have frozen at all. Supposedly the deciduous ones are not frost hardy, but so far mine have been okay.
Same thing happened to my calla lillies, but those I will just cut back. I didn't plant them and there are too many in the garden anyway.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 5, 2021 15:51:55 GMT
Mine look just the same. This the worst time of the year for them but I just leave them alone and remove the dead leaves in spring when the new leaves start to show.
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Post by bjd on Feb 5, 2021 16:21:04 GMT
Thanks, Mick. I'll wait till spring then.
Meanwhile, all the mimosas here are in full bloom already, so maybe spring will soon arrive.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2021 16:40:03 GMT
We had some frost at the beginning of January and the leaves of my agapanthuses look awful; Some have yellowed and some look as though they have rotted. Should I just cut them right back to the bulb? I have read that it is better to leave the ugly leaves, as the nutrients return to the bulb. Don't know if this is true or not.
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Post by bjd on Feb 5, 2021 17:54:45 GMT
Bixa, I know that's how it works for plants like tulips or other bulbs -- you are not supposed to cut them off once the plant has bloomed because the leaves indeed help the bulb get its nutrients. In the case of my agapanthuses, since they keep their leaves all year round, I don't know that it works exactly the same way. I did read that there are agapanthuses that lose their leaves.
I'll just do like Mick suggests and take off the ugliest ones once the plants start growing again.
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Post by mich64 on Feb 5, 2021 18:58:55 GMT
Bixa, I know that's how it works for plants like tulips or other bulbs My dad always told me to also always leave the dead hosta leaves intact and under the leaves. This fall however, my husband (being quite bored) cut everything back. I hope this has not harmed them, we have a couple of months before I find out.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 5, 2021 20:43:05 GMT
I don’t think Agapanthus have bulbs and I always take the Hosta leaves off. They come up again.
Agapanthus are herbaceous perennials and have rhizomes like Iris.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 5, 2021 22:18:57 GMT
Bjd, mine keep their leaves year round, too, but of course some yellow with time. Because they're in a pot, I do remove the yellow ones, but always feel wrong about it. Agapanthus, a popular perennial that grows from a bulb-like rhizome Happy now, Mick? Here is the source, which warns us not to eat the "rhizomes and roots".
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Post by bjd on Feb 6, 2021 7:27:21 GMT
The problem with mine is not so much that they are yellowed. It's that the frost made them sort of rot and collapse. They don't look as though they will straighten up again and become bright green.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 6, 2021 7:54:00 GMT
The problem with mine is not so much that they are yellowed. It's that the frost made them sort of rot and collapse. They don't look as though they will straighten up again and become bright green. They won't. They'll die down completely and a new set will grow through.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 6, 2021 17:20:06 GMT
Here’s how mine looks now-
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