Best lilac for Central Texas?
16 years ago
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Comments (15)
- 16 years ago
- 16 years ago
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Roses in N Central Texas
Comments (13)Weldon, I live in Ellis Co south of Dallas. The roses that are flowering the most right now are Munstead Wood, Don Juan and Lamarque. I'm astounded at the performance of Munstead Wood since it was just planted this Spring. Archduke Charles and the Maries have been great this year. So have Valentine, Tiffany, SDLM and Betty Prior. Others have bloomed repeatedly, but these have been the best. I'd normally expect more of Mrs Dudley Cross, but she was transplanted a little late in the Spring season. Rebloomers even in the heat, but not as often: Cramoisi, Duchess DB, Mrs BRC, American Beauty (Ulrich Brunner Fils), Spice, SFA, Else Poulsen, Francis Dubrieul. Not doing so well this summer but were planted or transplanted later than they should have been: Belinda's Dream, Maggie, Mrs Dudley Cross, Mdme Joseph Swartz, Radio Times, Sharifa Asma, Tranquility, Titanic. Ducher, Oklahoma. Zepherine Drouhin hasn't bloomed at all during the summer, and Madame Isaac Perrier only did a little. There aren't any of these that I'd shovel prune, though. My Mirandy died, but it was probably my fault and I plan to try again with her. My Sallie Holmes would have bloomed more often, but I planted her where I have to trim her back too often. She's quite vigorous and her leaves are beautiful. I might have forgotten some, but these are the ones that come to mind. Hope some of these comments help. Lou...See Morebest cultivar for central texas(long post)
Comments (4)Yeah I'd say you may have over-did it on the diagnosis as I sure don't see any bacterial canker signs based on the photos. But can always do the stem test to find out for sure. First, symptoms aside, assuming you purchased your seeds from a reputable dealer the odds of infected seed are slim to none. Even traded seeds, if properly fermented and cleaned would be rarely infected. Second, when it comes down to disease vs. unfavorable growing conditions being the cause of symptoms, the odds always favor poor growing conditions as the cause 9 times out of 10. I see some minor leaf miner damage (2nd pic) and the rest appears to just be environmental - windburn, sun scald, some spray drift perhaps, too much water at some point, some nutrient deficiency, salt build up in the soil, etc. are all possibilities. Had any hail or hard rain? Can't comment on the pic with the concrete block in it as can't tell if that is in the ground or a pot or what's with the string. Personally if they were mine I'd just remove all the affected foliage and assuming they are planted properly I re-evaluate my watering and feeding program and monitor the plants for improvement. Then, if your weather has been cool and especially wet this spring as mine has, I'd plan to start a fungicide spraying program ASAP. All that said and knowing that hybrids are just as susceptible to environmental/poor growing conditions damage as open pollinated varieties then hybrids would be the way to go for you if only to increase your confidence in the plants. Consider the following: Rutgers (stabilized old hybrid), Arkansas Traveler, Porter, Celebrity', Big Boy, Homestead as all are proven to do well in your climate. You might also check in with the folks on the Texas Gardening forum for recommendations for varieties. Hope this helps. Dave...See MoreTea (or sweet) Olive Trees in CENTRAL Texas?
Comments (3)I have a sweet olive tree growing in less than ideal conditions in San Antonio. It is planted in heavy clay soil under the eaves next to the foundation, gets a little sun off and on, water from the roof runoff and still manages to bloom all winter. I'd say it is an easy plant to grow. However, the scent while strong doesn't seems to waft as much as some other plants, but my smeller isn't that great. What does waft for me is Kidneywood tree, a Texas native that is seldom without flowers all summer. The bees and butterflies love it. I see it growing wild along Huebner Rd. in San Antonio. Every yard in central Texas should have one. Also I enjoy the Winter honeysuckle which is a beautiful bright green arching shrub if it gets a reasonable amount of water. Without much water it still lives and keeps most of its leaves all winter. Mine is about four feet tall and 6 ft wide. Of course highly recommended for scent is the evergreen Star jasmine which has a long spring blooming period and wafts big time. Night blooming jasmine is another good one that blooms all summer, but you have to stay up late to smell it as the fragrance starts wafting at about 10 or 10:30 pm. Sometimes I bring a branch into the house to enjoy indoors. Not always winter hardy I keep it in a big pot and wheel it into the green house in the winter. Also I enjoy the wafting scent of the blossoms of the tall Ligustrum hedge along the back fence. It blooms late spring, early summer. These are some of my favorite things for scent. Happy smelling :-)...See MoreHVAC questions for new home build in Central Texas
Comments (10)Waste..... Foaming the walls is a waste. Go to any green building forum and it is almost universally felt that foaming walls is a waste of money. The foam salesmen are about the only ones that disagree. In my east facing house with 2x4 fiberglass batts, the walls and attic only account for 20% of total heat gain (energy audit). You are going to spend $10k to make that 20% come down to 15%. I have a similar size house in NC and I spent about $20k on Carrier Infinity 15/16 with heat pumps and 90% NG furnace and zoning and humidifier. So I think the $36k is absolutely crap. But $11k is a bit ridiculous also given the specs. In fact- I just can't believe it. Manual J is required in NC by code - so I don't know what to tell you. It is standard around here for quotes/bids. Oversizing sucks. 2 stage helps compensate. An is an air quality thing more than anything else. It is rarely cost effective. Texas is big - what is your area and ideally what is your HDD and CDD? Here is what I would do - presuming you live in a 90% cooling area. - Build with 2x4s and sheath the house in 1 inch rigid foam. If it really hot, you could go to 2 inches of foam. - Focus on minimizing East and West windows. If you can't - then really focus on low SHGC windows. All windows are low-e nowadays but SHGCs vary considerably - there are basic windows at .2 and .45 - a rather huge difference. Overhang the windows as much as you can tolerate. Big deep porches. Do those things and you should be able to get down to 2 2ton units which you should be able to get for $10k for seer 15 or 16. Most people don't find it worthwhile to get seer 18 equipment. Usually with new construction, you can spend that $5k (or whatever) on shell improvements (windows, overhangs) and get a better permanent ROI. There is no disagreement anywhere that 2inches of rigid foam on a 2x4 wall filled with blown cellulose outperforms a 2x6 wall with spray foam (and does so at a lower cost). Lastly - why an unvented attic? Because the ductwork is there? The best practice is to get the ductwork out of the attic in the first place. It is cheaper and far more cost effective. My personal house (4000+basement) would cost $10k to spray foam the attic at a estimated annual savings of.... $70. How about that ROI.......See More- 16 years ago
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