transplanted gardener

19 years ago

My body moved to Chicago in mid-Dec., leaving all gardens and my gardening brain behind in Minnesota. The 8 1/2 yrs with zone 4 weather is playing games with where I think I should be in the yearly gardening cycle. I read the recent Midwest Gardening posts and it's weird - I am soooo used to thinking about mid-March being still snow covered, frozen many inches down and definitely not a time to be thinking about annuals.

The new house, which took a while to find and that we move into next week, has about 8 hostas, 10 tulips and nothing else. So, like the artist with the blank palette, I've got some fun work cut out. I guess I'd better get into the IL zone 5 gardening mode and get outside more this weekend!

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Comments (5)

motria
19 years ago
Welcome to the Zone! I can't begin to tell you how many perennials there are which are hardy "Zones 5-8" or "5-10". Crossing the Zone 5 threshold opens a world of possibilities! Depending on your specific location, wind exposures, or willingness to mulch heavily, you can even pull of some Zone 6-ers. I don't have much "zone envy", myself.. then again, that acanthus (bear's breeches) looks awful neat.

P.S. see the separate posting on "Chicago IS Zone 6"
dirtdiver
19 years ago
And this has been a cold March! Usually we've had a few more tantalizing tastes of spring by now. Are you in the city? N/NW/S or SW suburbs? It's true that, depending where you are, you can push the zone a bit. (Motria--I've seen acanthus growing quite nicely on the city's northwest side.) Your blank slate sounds like fun. Welcome.
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Two years ago, I faced the same problem, wanting to move some of my plants when my family moved to another location in the same city. I just did not have time to dig anything up, much less try to save plants that would eventually have to be relocated again in the new home. Looking back, there were only a couple of rose bushes, some irises, and some daylilies that I should have taken the time to move. Most perennials can be transplanted. It is not worth your time or trouble to transplant annuals. If your situation allows you the time and freedom to move some plants, make the most of it. Just keep in mind that the larger and older a plant is, the less chance it has to survive. But it certainly can be done. I have even seen large, old trees relocated by professionals who have the proper equipment. Water your plants well a couple of days before you dig them up; the plants need to take on additional moisture. Too dry soil will fall apart when you dig (unless it is hard clay), and too wet will be difficult to handle. You haven't indicated how quickly you will be able to replant, but if you have to wait more than a day, then you will need to put your plants in pots and keep them watered. The more you preserve root systems in original soil, the better chance of plant survival - this is especially true for the bushes you mentioned. So the bushes will be a lot better off potted. If you have Rose of Sharon kind of hibiscus and they are not too large, you can move them, but it may not be worth the time and trouble. You can dig up many of the smaller hibiscus varieties and keep them in pots until you are ready to rebed them. If you are placing plants in their new location within a day, you can wrap the roots in a wet towel, or dunk the roots in water. This applies to roses, butterfly bushes and lilacs. Small lilacs are done this way quite often in my area. However, you are still better off to keep the soil intact on the roots, so this method should not be your first choice. You might hunt for offspring of most of your original plants instead of moving the parent plants since smaller plants have a better chance of survival. Most mints, lavender, daisies, and sages will transplant very well. If yours are healthy in their present environment, try to give them the same kind of soil, moisture, drainage, and sun as they have now. Just give them more water than they are used to for a few weeks, except maybe the sages and lavender. Best wishes
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WOW! Thanks for the quick response everybody!! Didn't expect that. Anyway, I have attached some pictures and explanations. These plants are all 8-16 weeks old (bhuts started early february). I have really tried not to overwater them, generally waiting until they are either starting to droop/wilt a tiny bit or at least until the container feels super light and looks dry on the bottom vents. I originally was soaking them at that point pretty good but when some of them started yellowing I started being more careful and only watering with the spray bottle which takes forever with all these plants (yes I have way too many peppers, underestimated my success with the first try from seed). I have been using something called BioRoot from General Organics pretty much every watering but only a tsp per gallon so very light - this is what the grow shop suggested I do, is that too much nutrients? I have been hardening as much as weather allows over the past couple of weeks, keeping them inside when too windy (which is often) or too cold or too rainy. I think they are ready to go outside but I was going to wait until around Memorial Day as that seems to be recommended in zone 5a (Chicago suburbs). Anyway, on to the pictures.... In the below image see the wilting dried up leaves on the tomato plant. I have already yanked off the bottom branches on my tomato plants because they have all either yellowed and sagged or just completely dried out http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/153/img20110519131645.jpg/ In the below image see the lower leaves are yellowing... http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/img20110519131710.jpg/ In the below you can see my bunch of bhut jolakia plants...almost all of them are either yellowing or have brown nasty spots either on the tips or somewhere on the leaves http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/715/img20110519131721.jpg/ In the below image you can see a sweet pepper and a habanero that are both starting to curl up - I just watered the sweet pepper last night - the container is pretty light now like most of the water has evaporated but there is still a little bit of moisture! http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/img20110519132743.jpg/
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kec01
Original Author
19 years ago
We'll be in the near west suburbs and the "new yard" consists of the following: 2 concrete slabs (in addition to the garage) on which to park cars - concrete will be going away soon, a privacy fence that goes from the back alley down the side yard to the front of the house - 1/2 of it's going away soon, a disintegrating wooden shed right at the front of the house/just inside the part of the privacy fence that's going soon and the shed's going soon. The movers bring our stuff on 3/31 and I am going to have to fight the urge to grab the shovels and axes and also to hand my spouse the sledgehammer until we get rid of a few boxes. Creating gardens and prepping the soil will be the first project. At least it'll be a good motivator to get out of cardboard! More importantly, we have more outdoor months than we used to! I can't wait!
dirtdiver
19 years ago
Hmm. You have an alley. (So do I.) I'm wildly guessing you're in the Oak Park/River Forest/Berwyn/Westchester area. I hear the Oak Park conservatory is pretty nice, and if you haven't been to the Garfield Park conservatory...well, you should. I live in the near north suburbs, so I don't know exactly what your soil conditions will be (assumedly you won't be gardening in sand like I do), but late March/early April is a nice time to be moving in. You'll be settling in as the trees start budding out (or maybe you'll get a snowstorm--this is Chicago, after all). Maybe your yard will reveal a few pleasant surprises beyond the hosta and 10 tulips. The other western suburbanites will be your best source here for finding resources, but I do know that the western suburbs (I'm thinking Naperville area) have some really nice nurseries. That Growing Place and Planter's Palette come to mind, but I know there are others as well. By the way, there is a Chicago gardening magazine you may find at your local newsstand. It's not even half-bad.
tadeusz5
19 years ago
Kec01;

Save that slab of concrete- maybe they can "cut" it into
nice squares, or rectangles, you can use it for making a wall or stepping stones, etc.

transplanted gardener

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motria

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transplanted gardener

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motria

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kec01Original Author

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kec01
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