Hybridizing Hydrangeas, Lots of Questions
13 years ago
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- 13 years ago
- 13 years ago
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General Hydrangea question. (Everlasting Revolution Hydrangea)
Comments (19)Starlight I grow 3 hydrangeas at varying distances from the maple: 1 arborescens (6 feet), 2 macrophylla,Twist n' shout 9 feet, Endless summer 13 feet. The tree is in my neighbour's front yard and is seperated by their pathway from our yard, which is slightly higher 2-4 inches. The maple's canopy starts way up. But the roots are all over the place, and unless we have major showers no rain can past that canopy. H. arborescens is really big and continues to sucker all over the place. It is rarely watered in the summer. but it thrives. However, both macrophyllas are water hogs. Mulched, mulch-less they drooped especially the 1st 3 years. Remember my soil is 100% sand. In the first 3 years, I had to water it regularly. Sometimes every day (especially in heat waves) or every 2nd day. I just put the hose in it's crown and let them drink. However, since this year, 5th year, I have to water it much less. Maybe once a week if we don't have any showers. The plants are healthy and flower. Mine receive dappled light and some 1 or 2 morning sun. And the one that receives the afternoon sun hates it. In retrospect, if I had amended my sandy soil properly with organic matter, I might have a had a better result. SG the worse year with the hydrangea was a freaky one when the snow melted in mid March and then we had a freakish cold weather -4 wind chills etc. That killed all the top buds. Last year, during the polar vortex I couldn't cover the top buds of Twish and shout. Nothing happened to it. From my experience it isn't the winter but a roller coaster spring that can kill the confused buds on the old growth....See MoreNew gardner w/lots of hydrangeas. How do I care for them?
Comments (1)Sugar Magnolia, Since you have so many hydrangeas and questions, the best advice I can give you, is to go to hydrangeashydrangeas.com and learn about what you have and the care and pruning of each type. To a great degree, I think you may be sabatoging your own blooms/plants through lack of understanding the basics of hydrangea care. The site is very user friendly and informative and I am sure you will find what you need there. If afterward, you still have more questions, fire away. Good luck.....yg...See MoreWisteria, Hydrangea and lilac questions
Comments (10)Other vines for shade here are Sweet Autumn Clematis for good coverage, and a mass of tiny white blooms in late August-September that are very fragrant. A lot of clematis will grow in partial shade and some of the best are viticelli hybrids, like 'Polish Spirit'. Jackmanii is another. Honeysuckles will take partial shade, too. Some of the newer cultivars are great bloomers, especially of the ssp. Lonicera sempervirens. Dutchman's pipevines are wonderful vines for shade but may take awhile to become established (about 2 years). After established, it grows very fast. Aristolochia macrophylla (syn. durior) has HUGE heart-shaped leaves, and the flowers are shaped like meershaum pipes. It is also a host plant for the pipevine swallowtail. A. tomentosa has hairy foliage and stems as the name indicates, smaller foliage, but is nonetheless a nice vine, too. Crossvine (bignonia) will do well in partial shade and has the same tubular flowers as trumpet creeper (campsis) without being quite as aggressive. Climbing hydrangeas are beautiful, but it can take up to 5 years for them to really start growing. You can grow ornamental Kiwi vines (actinidia kolomitka). Insignificant flowers, but the foliage is mottled green, pink, and white. Japanese Hydrangea vine (shizophragma hydrangeoides) 'Moonlight' is similar to the regular climbing hydrangea, but the leaves are infused with silver - gorgeous! Some of these hydrangea vines take many years to become established, but you can supplement them with annual vines in the interim, like antigonon leptopus (coral vine--hummingbirds love it); some morning glories will tolerate partial shade. Is your exposure total shade??? I think the Aristolochia or pipevine for the back area is the best idea. They are hardy and will eventually cover the entire area. These are old fashioned cottage garden type plants that southerners used to use for shade on their porches. Confederate Jasmine is another nice foliage vine that blooms with fragrant white blooms in spring. It is perennial. Carolina Jessamine is another perennial vine that has yellow spring blossoms. Hops vines are nice, too, and hardy, and are a host plant for the beautiful Question Mark, Commas, and Mourning Cloak butterflies. You will have lots of butterflies around. Forgive me, I'm a butterfly and moth fanatic, so I'm always thinking of ways to encourage people to grow butterfly-friendly plants. It is best to start these vines from rhizomes that you can order over the Internet, from places like The Thyme Garden. They are very inexpensive, too. I have given you a link to vines that grow in shade. Aristolochia is not among them, but it is just now making a comeback, so it is early in the game for some garden writers. Also, I don't recommend 5-leaf akebia, which can easily get out of control, nor do I suggest the fig because of its marginal hardiness here. American Bittersweet is okay (but not Chinese bittersweet) if you have lots of room for it to romp, and make sure you get a male and female plant in order to get the berries. Otherwise, it is virtually carefree except for some pruning, and I've never seen any pests on mine. Wouldn't recommend the climbing bamboo (smilax) either as it is hard to get rid of once you have it, or the Chinese and Japanese wisterias. The common periwinkle is very invasive as well. Other than those, there are some good suggestions with photos. Susan Here is a link that might be useful: Vines for Shade...See MoreBuying a new home and have a few Hybrid Heating questions
Comments (12)So i had an HVAC guy take a look and here is how it explained it to me... please let me know if this makes sense: The thermostats are so old, there was no system in place to tell the system "hey its below 35 degrees, use oil for heat".. so putting the system in emergency mode is what tells the boiler to generate the heat. He said the current owner isn't using the system correctly, as it sounds like he just puts it on emergency and uses oil heat all winter. For example this past winter was rather mild except for the two storms.. the heat pump should have been used for most of the winter saving oil cost. Does all of that make sense? Obviously I'd like to update the thermostats and I probably need some sort of ourdoor sensor. I've seen that honeywell sells a good system with outdoor sensor, is this the best way to go? Is there a recommended model so I can upgrade and use the system as I should? Thanks guys, this is all a learning experience for me!...See More- 13 years ago
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