I'm giving up on Garden Phlox
kurchian
6 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (29)
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
6 years agokurchian
6 years agoRelated Discussions
It Is TOO Hot and I'm Giving Up On The Garden
Comments (53)Carol, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to Ardmore.....we did arrange that one cool day just for you....LOL! Be glad you are not here today....it is currently 102 with a heat index of 108 and I have the hose running in the lily pond because it is down about 6" since the beginning of the week. We just came back from Ardmore few minutes ago, and there was little six-point buck in the driveway, making his way toward the garden. I guess he was going to eat anything growing out through the fence. The half-inch of rain we got wasn't much, but our fire dept. hasn't been paged out to a fire today, so it must have helped a little. People here do not pay directly for fire protection, but the county gives each dept. some money every year--it isn't even enough to pay our annual gasoline bill, but every little bit helps. We do lots and lots of fundraisers and it is never-ending, you know. Our citizens are VERY good about supporting Love County's 14 volunteer fire departments, though, and we always appreciate that. Dawna, It broke my heart to stop watering, but I swore I wasn't going to run up an outrageous $350-per-month water bill like I did during the 2005-006 drought....remembering that all that water didn't even keep the garden alive then, so what's the point in doing it this year? Only a little over 16" of rain here this year, and I think less than 3" combined for June, July and August so far. Combine the drought with the long string of days over 100 degrees (it's been as high as 106 to 108 here with heat indexes up to 116 degrees), and the garden (and the gardener) just can't take it. We've had lots of the usual hayfield fires started during either cutting, raking or baling, but its so dry that they have been burning lots and lots of acres per fire, instead of only a few. Lots of fires along the highways too, of unknown origin, but probably started by cigarettes thrown out of windows. I've spent as much as 10 hours at fires in one day, but usually only 2, 3 or 4 hours or so on most days. I'm just too tired. Between the drought, the heat, and the fires, the garden's just sitting there withering up and dying. It's OK, though, surely next year will be better. : ) Right? Moni, I bet Montana was wonderful! Well, I'm not giving up on gardening permanently, just giving up on keeping the veggie garden alive this year. Love County is in what the U. S. Drought Monitor terms a "moderate drought" and I believe our rainfall has been "below average", and sometimes severely below average, for 11 of the last 12 months. Our rainfall is roughly 10" below what it should be at this time of year. Even when rain does fall, we normally have severe drought conditions in July and August anyway, so without the "usual" rain, we are really hurting. The garden has been very productive thus far....tons of big, huge, softball-sized onions, a lot of potatoes, zillions of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, a moderate amount of beans (less than most years) and I'm still geting okra, melons and pumpkins, although the plants look pretty bad at this point. Both our freezers are full and I have lots of onions and potatoes in the cellar. I'm still getting ripe tomatoes because the plants had tons of tons of green ones when I quit watering. At this point, I don't have much time to garden. Fires are happening with a frightening regularity....mostly grassfires and a few of the larger wildfires, a couple of car fires, and one major structure fire (over 10 hours long) at a wooden pallet factory earlier this week. I've been gone to fires so long, or in town on fire business, or running to Sam's and Costco to get food and drinks for the 14 fire department's firefighters, that I wouldn't have time to work in the garden even if I were inclined to try to water and keep it alive. I've also been on-line designing and ordering custom safety vests, hats, and t-shirts for our fire dept., so lately its been all about the fire department. That's OK. The work the VFDs do is very important and I don't mind diverting "gardening time" to "fire department time" every now and then. I just hope it all settles down by next spring (we need rain and a lot of it between now and then) so I can start over with fresh plants in a new season. : ) What about y'all, Moni? Did you sell the house yet? Did you move? Somewhere in the madness of trying to survive the heat and drought, I lost track of what's going on with y'all. Let me know! Dawn...See MoreI'm about to give up on my garden :(
Comments (8)I just looked at the first 4-5 photos. That does look a bit pathetic. My concerns would be how much moisture they have been getting. Since you are in Illinois, I am not sure if you have had as much rain as we have had up a bit further north or not, but it could be too much moisture. The other issue might be your fertilizers. A lot of the time, in ground with decent soil, you need little to no extra nutrients. You might have over done it by tilling in the fertilizer into the soil. The 12-12-12 ratio might be a bit high on the P and K parts. Normally people use ferts that a bit higher in the N than the P and K. There isn't a whole lot you can do now since your plants are already planted unless you wanted to pull all or some and try then in containers for the rest of the season. But it sounds like something happened since last year since you said you had good luck in that spot in prior years. The curling leaves could be a number of things but fertilizer burn could be one of them...Pests or virus's also can do that. I hope someone else has a bit more guidance for you. Keep us posted on how it turns out. Bruce...See MoreI'm giving up on growing roses in my yard (phoenix)
Comments (4)Change your schedule. My dad grew fabulous roses: he pruned in early October (not spring, as recommended for other areas) and we had lovely roses all winter and into spring. During blast-furnace summer all he did was dead-head them and keep them watered. They were deeply watered and heavily mulched and the foliage protected the plant from too much sunburn. The fall pruning removed the sun-scorched leaves....See MoreI think I'm giving up on Mme. Antoine Mari - Lisa?
Comments (22)Sheila, if you've put your pictures in files on your computer (for instance I have files for different years and different seasons) then it's not that to transfer pictures on houzz, it just takes a little getting used to. Even your "flat" MAM looks better than any of mine and the first pic is marvelous. I wouldn't be giving that rose away. So much is location, which includes any number of variables. Nik, I would be worried that your location is too hot, or will be in the future for this rose, but I don't think your place is usually as hot as mine. I'm glad some of you appreciate Mme. Leon Pain, and she is definitely growing on me. Right now she has 17 buds and that's not too bad. I actually think she's here to stay. Marlorena, you may be quite right, in spring she might be a wonder. Maybe I'll slip her some fish solution. Lisa, Happy Birthday! I just measured MAM and she's about 4 feet tall and 5 feet wide. I feel that it may be possible to pretty much keep her at this size and still have her bloom and thrive. Of all my roses this one is the most graceful and beautiful bush, with gorgeous leaves, but the flowers are so disappointing here. I'm glad the lump on your elbow is not something serious, although no doubt not much fun....See Moremad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
6 years agokurchian
6 years agosunnyborders
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoBarrheadlass
6 years agoroxanna
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoroxanna
6 years agokurchian
6 years agoroxanna
6 years agoperen.all Zone 5a Ontario Canada
6 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
6 years agoroxanna
6 years agosunnyborders
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoPaul MI
6 years agoMarie Tulin
6 years agokurchian
6 years agosunnyborders
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoroxanna
6 years agokurchian
6 years agoUser
6 years agosallywideas
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
Related Stories
DECORATING GUIDESI'm Ready for My Close-Up: Beautiful Building Materials
Look closely, and soak up the beauty in some favorite details of fine home design
Full StoryLIFEYou Said It: ‘Just Because I’m Tiny Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Go Big’
Changing things up with space, color and paint dominated the design conversations this week
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNStep Up Your Garden’s Design With Planted Geometry
Add structure, highlight forms and direct the eye with plantings in blocks, bands, cones and spheres
Full StoryWINTER GARDENING6 Reasons I’m Not Looking Forward to Spring
Not kicking up your heels anticipating rushes of spring color and garden catalogs? You’re not alone
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGive Your Turf the Fall Tune-up It Deserves
Treat your battered lawn to a little TLC this fall, and it will reward you with lush, healthy grass come spring
Full StoryLANDSCAPE DESIGNGive Your Garden an Industrial Edge
Create intriguing contrast by borrowing from the factory to dress up your organic setting
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGreat Design Plant: Callirhoe Involucrata Wakes Up Hot Garden Spots
Give a dry and sunny garden a jolt of violet-pink color summer to fall — and watch bees and butterflies flock to the nectar
Full StoryLIFEYou Said It: ‘Give the Kitchen a Little Wake-Up Call’ and More
Design advice, inspiration and observations that struck a chord this week
Full StoryGARDENING AND LANDSCAPINGGussy Up Your Garden Shed
Outfit your garden shed with salvaged finds for a double dose of storage and style
Full StoryFALL GARDENING7 Reasons Not to Clean Up Your Fall Garden
Before you pluck and rake, consider wildlife, the health of your plants and your own right to relax
Full Story
User