The Horror that is Wax Encased Bulbs
jamesthepeach
9 years ago
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zachplantguy
5 years agozachplantguy
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What are your favorite small bulbs?
Comments (10)I enjoy reading everyones suggestions. I planted a few ornithogalum and then read horror stories of them taking over lawns and being impossible to eradicate. SO, I am trying to research any small bulbs I plant from now on. I started a few cyclamen from seed this year and hope they overwinter. I do love them! I grew what were probably tender varieties when we lived in California. I am waiting for van engelen's sale to order since I went a bit overboard on tulips and daffodils early in the fall. I see already 5 of their chiondoxa varieties are sold out. I haven't seen these for sale locally except for one bag of mixed colors at Costco and I'd prefer to have separate colors. Hoping the stay in stock and that VE actually does have a big sale sometime in Nov. Last year I think it was 25 % off mid Nov then 50% off at Thanksgiving. It seems colder than usual here though. Soil might freeze too soon. Anemone blanda, white, third year in my garden this spring, was wonderful. They finally filled in enough to provide a good display. I hope to add a few more this fall too! Muscari/grape hyacinth foliage gets eaten by deer here. The plants go on to flower but look a bit awkward with their half eaten leaves. I hope to get more aconite established. Three years ago I planted 100 dried up corms from Van Engelen and only about 10 grew. This was from an early purchase too, not a later in the season sale date. I have read they are particularly sensitive to drying out. I have read some sellers claim to dip them in wax to for better survival rates. It'd be lovely to have them reseed. The ones I have do produce seed and I have sprinkled some around. Galanthas also had a low survival rate from initial planting for me. Not sure if it is bulb viability/transplant issue or critters. Hope to add corydalis this year too. Oh, and ipheion. Looks like such a charmer. My fritillaria meleagris has done well but I planted them too far apart. Plus, we redid a large portion of the yard and I had a hard time digging up the bulbs in my clay soil. The bulbs were growing up to a foot deep; definitely didn't plant them that far down but I can only assume they position themselves in a way that works for them. Hardy glads do very well here. They bloom same time as my peonies and dutch iris, a combination I enjoy. I am so eagerly looking forward to spring already it is a bit sad....See MoreShow us your stonework
Comments (60)Duh. Jayco's photo reminded me that I did indeed try my hand at some stonework. This is my very first garden, made about 15 years ago, and while I was happy with the visual results, I didn't do any homework regarding building pathways, and therefore no kind of prep work, and so this pathway is now uneven and sunken in spots. And the garden itself is incredibly overgrown and neglected, being in a little side yard that no one EVER goes in. Around the birdbath you can see some little shrubs - those are dwarf azaleas which were planted way too close, (but whichh are still gorgeous in spring) underplanted with some rockcress which has almostly completely overtaken the pathway, which is probably l why I forgot about it, lol. Where the rockcress hasn't spread, the weeds (as well as spreaders/reseeders such as foxgloves and toad lilies) have. This garden was actually on my list to be redone this year, including toying with the idea of digging up and moving/redoing the pathway, but time constraints and weather have put this project on hold yet again. In looking at this photo, I kind of like the new, clean look to the garden here (at least compared to what it is now, lol) but it could just be nostalgia kicking in, lol. Hope the photo shows okay. I actually taped three of them together instead of uploading separately. Dee...See MoreSurvey: Cold protection for in-ground citrus in z8
Comments (23)Softmentor - You are very right on the many number of factors that determine cold hardiness (others we did not mention: acclamation to cold and overall health of the tree)...there is certainly no "magic number." I have found that upper 20's for a few hours are fine for oranges, grapefruit, and meyer lemons. Other lemons, citrons, limes, etc. wouldn't like that I am sure. From my understanding, Trifoliate orange rootstalk actually does add some protection because it is the only citrus that goes completely dormant in the winter. According to John Panzarella (a local citrus guru for Southeast Texas), "PT goes dormant in the winter, so reduces the water flow to the scion and gives the scion a few degrees of cold protection. PT will not start growing and producing tender new growth with a few days of warm weather in the winter." The last sentence is especially important for Texas, as in the winter we have frequent gulf breezes battling arctic cold fronts. So far, here are my unprotected lows for my varieties: Rio Red Grapefruits (2 trees planted at the same time by previous owner)- 26 F (4 years old, south side of house, pine trees overhead) -- tree was covered in snow (maybe insulated it a bit??), I was very surprised that there was no damage. Okistu Satsuma - 29 F (planted fall 2008, north side in the yard, no overhead protection at all) Meyer Lemon - 28 F (planted spring 2007, north side of house, no overhead protection) Moro Blood Orange - 28 F (planted spring 2007, in yard with no protection) Lakeland Limequat - 29 F (planted fall 2008, north side of house, 2 feet from brick exterior of house) As you can see, this is a very small sample size and only a brief history of data. Last winter was pretty warm, as has this winter so far. I wish I had a better way of measuring the length of the freeze and other variables....See MoreNew release... H. Boo!
Comments (14)I got my Gardner's Supply Company catalog yesterday (holiday edition) and it's offering several variations of the wax-death bulbs for the holidays. UGH. On a more interesting note, they are offering H. Magical Touch, which seems to be widely available in the EU, but limited in the US....See Morezachplantguy
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jamesthepeachOriginal Author