Tips on visiting Williamsburg, VA
sleeperblues
7 years ago
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Comments (6)I'm West of you near Charlottesville just East of the Blue Ridge, 5 degrees colder between our zones. My garden is sited in a clearing of mixed woodlands & the soil is fairly rich clay loam. What's your soil? We're having an unusually hard Winter this year, for sure. Lots of freeze & thaw spells routinely over a more typical season, so grafts need to be at least a couple of inches below the soil surface. Find own root roses cope more easily with the weather here. Winter mulching is important to help modulate the surface soil temp. The major challenge is wild temperature swings - 70 last Sunday & a chilling 1 Monday night - and ice storms, which you probably didn't have to deal with in a more Southern clime. With high humidity you're already familiar, and likely the blackspot pressure that accompanies it. Seems the main adjustment would be selecting roses for their cold hardiness, which may not have been a criterion before. Like to choose those rated no higher than Zone 6, having lost a few roses rated less hardy to prolonged cold over the years... Garden organically & no spray, so roses must be very blackspot resistant to survive & thrive. Basically a shrubbery when we moved in, been working to make this a mixed perennial garden including roses. The soil near the house was a construction trash mess & needed thorough overhaul. The native soil here being high in clay cannot be walked upon when it's wet or compresses. With nearly 70" of average rain & snowfall, the earth is often damp. Stepping stones laid unobtrusively in the beds allow tending & a half sheet of exterior plywood cut into 2 foot squares work as temporary standing platforms on bare soil when creating new beds. What type of roses do you want to grow? The 30-40 roses growing here are a mixed bag, with the oldest Ballerina from the 30's, so no traditional OGR's. Jaune Desprez succumbed to a long hard Winter, although a Yellow Lady Bank's cutting I planted in a friend's garden has done beautifully for years. A few Austin's have made the grade, including Abe Darby, Golden Celebration & The Endeavor. Connie at Hartwood quit selling roses a few months after I first heard of her, to my deep regret. She's opening the garden twice this Spring & would love to visit there, too. Welcome to VA! Here is a link that might be useful: Hartwood Roses...See MoreVisiting Wmsburg in April - looking for nurseries
Comments (3)If you are driving South by way of Rt 301 in MD (east of the DC Beltway) you will pass Ed's Plant World in Brandywine MD, near LaPlata or Waldorf. He has lots of crepes of all sizes for excellent prices. http://www.edsplantworld.com/ Also, Denison's in Indian Head (just south of the DC beltway, near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge) has a wonderful stock of small trees in general; I got to choose my fringe tree from about 30 nicely-pruned specimens. www.denisonlandscaping.com/inter1/about.html There is also Carroll Gardens in northern MD, but they are primarily mail-order -- I was not impressed when I visited a few years back. Woodies were sold by the size of the pot -- and some good-sized trees were wearing theirs like Victorian choker necklaces... LynnT Here is a link that might be useful: Ed's Plant World...See MoreLooking for 09 heirlooms that grow well in sandy Williamsburg, VA
Comments (9)Gosh I'm all ears on this thread. This year I built 3 raised beds (4' x 8' x 20") & have learned that Pleasure Island is the land o' destructive insects (I have also learned that frass totally grosses me out). I used soil for the raised beds we scraped when slating in a formerly jungly side yard - it is quite black & very amended from years of wax myrtle & Iliagnus but still sand. I am all ears for tomatoes which handle heat/humidity & are sweet/tart/umami delicious. Open to all size recs - thinking of Mule Team, Arkansas Traveller, Creole, Black Krim, break O Day, Carbon, Constoluto Genovese, Tomande,Jeff Davis & others (LOL). Would love a big tasty yellow bicolor that could handle our wretched summers. Used to eat these as a kid in western NC - they were 1 slice makes a sandwich - plenty of tart, sweet, meat & gel to soak the white bread/mayo - Mmmm, but that was way up in the mountains & I am now within 200 yards of the ocean. Looking for some info on a strain called "Isis Brandy" - read mention of it but no source (cross between Isis Candy cherry & Brandywine). Have Tomato Growers Exchange catalog, bedtime reading, waiting for more. Thanks folks!...See MoreNC, Greenfront or Williamsburg
Comments (8)If you're in Northern Virginia (as am I), then no need to drive to Farmville to GreenFront as they have a new store in Manassas, VA near the airport, right off the Prince William County Parkway. Lots of choices, its large but doesn't show off the pieces real well as its an industrial warehouse. If you've never been to Farmville, pick your day as there is no heating or cooling in any of the buildings down there. Can be chilly during the winter and stifling humidity in the summer in their facility. Greenfront buys closeout deals. Typically the showrooms after the High Point markets. If you can find something on the floor that you like - just as it is - then you can do pretty good on price points. To order from them, you will not find the savings worth the time vs. a more traditional store where you levels of service are much higher. Carolina Furniture is certainly not worth the 2:30 minute drive from N. VA in my opinion, unless you're already headed to Williamsburg for other reasons and just make them a side trip. My suggestion is don't automatically assume that your local stores are more expensive. It certainly makes it easier to check out and return fabrics dealing locally, as very few customers get the right pick on the first visit. Duane Collie...See Moresleeperblues
7 years agoGeorgysmom
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoUser
7 years agolindac92
7 years ago
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