duluth, MN

Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)

15 years ago

Bonniejean,
There is a Minnesota forum. You will probably get more answers if you post there. good luck

carpenterlady

15 years ago

Hello, welcome to Duluth! I live about twenty miles from Duluth. I usually plant tomatoes around the first week of June. It can and does freeze after May 15. I only plant varieties that reach maturity in less than 70 days. This year I was unable to start any plants from seed so I was forced to buy plants. I planted Mr. Stripey, Oregon Spring, and Sun Sugar. This is the best I could come up with after shopping at about eight or nine greenhouses and nurseries. I am beginning to believe all anyone here wants to sell or plant is Early Girl. Boring. One factor that you need to pay attention to is whether the plant sets fruit in cooler temperatures. The Mr. Stripey is just this week getting blossoms. The Oregon Spring is doing well with a lot of tomatoes. This is my first year trying Mr. Stripey, so I am assuming we needed warmer nights for it to fruit. Oregon Spring has done well for me in the past. Silvery Fir Tree, and Ropreco for a paste tomato do well. Many say Stupice is a good producer here. I plant my hot peppers in pots so I can move them around in the fall. Many vegetables that are planted directly as seed in the ground further south, must be planted as seedlings here to be productive, cucumbers and zucchini are two examples. You can even buy lettuce seedlings. The city of Duluth is in zone 4, but the further you are from Lake Superior the more likely you are in zone 3. I hope this helps. Welcome to Minnesota!

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I don't have much hope for the yellow. Two things you can do. One, poke the stem with a pin. If white latex oozes out, you may be able to save it by, #2, putting it in warm water to hydrate. If no latex comes out, it is probably toast. As for the red one, as long as the cutting is firm to the touch, don't give up on it. The conditions for rooting plumeria cuttings you describe are far from ideal. Plumeria need bottom heat to encourage rooting. 60-70 degrees won't give them the best chance. A grower friend of mine has a greenhouse with water piped under each shelf at a constant 80 degrees with grow lights above that are on 24/7. So, what can you do? Try to create an environment as close to that as you can. People have used the space above a fridge where the warm air rises. Others have used heating vents or radiators to keep the plants as warm as possible. Try to get light to them as well. You can buy a full spectrum fluorescent tube that will help. It is important to water the cuttings once when you plant them and then not again until they have real leaves. You can mist the tips with water, and, if the soil gets very dry, water sparingly around the periphery of the pot, being careful not to get the stem wet. Good Luck Let us know how it turn out.

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If it's shady, you don't want to attempt lilacs - they need full sun! My experience with Duluth is very limited - visited once on Labor Day weekend and you had frost!........that is so out of my experience zone, I am hesitant to make any suggestions of what may survive in your area :-) I would suggest visiting a local retail nursery or garden center and seeing what sort of shade tolerant shrubs they have on offer. Maybe something like the Northern Lights azalea series. Or Annabelle hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens). And depending on the size of the planting bed now, you may need to enlarge. Most shrubs will require at least 4' of depth and if you need to get behind to paint or wash windows, etc., you will want to increase that to at least 6'. ETA - you might want to post this in your regional Minnesota Gardening forum. I'm sure locals may have some additional suggestions for you.

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duluthinbloomz4

15 years ago

Hello from Duluth. We've always been considered zone 4 (perhaps 4b on the new maps) here, we get a little "moderation" because the city raps around the shores of the Greatest of the Great Lakes.

Usually safe to put tomatoes out around Memorial Day - that's the safe date for just about anything going into the ground since the ground temp is 50 degees or so by then. I don't do seeds, for anything other than zinnias which are direct sown in the ground, or vegetable gardening - if I want a tomato plant or pepper plant I'll buy established plants and raise them in pots on my patio, like I'm doing this year. People do start seeds and have successful vegetable gardens, however.

There are plants you grow in OK that wouldn't survive the winter here, of course - but we certainly don't lack for all manner of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees and conifers. And no Japanese beetles if you're a rose fan. I grow daylilies, Asiatic, Oriental and true Tiger Lilies, delphiniums, platycodon, sedums, Veronicas, Salvias, hostas (can take full sun here), double pink baby's breath, tall bearded iris, Siberian Iris, northern grown azaleas, coral bells, nepeta, peonies, dianthus, artemisias, astilbes, ferns, garden phlox... and the list goes on. Clematis does beautifully here as do lilacs. The beauty of this climate is that it's rare for things to burn out or get overgrown and floppy over the course of the summer.

duluth, MN

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Sue Brunette (formerly known as hockeychik)

carpenterlady

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