Another North Carolina Hosta garden in early spring and a question
Hi All! I have been on the missing list I know. I check in now and then but I missed the whole alphabet. I have a question about a garden problem and I’ll share some pics from this month. I covered about 8 hostas that had just started to unfurl because we had a freeze last night, but you’d never know it today, it’s a gorgeous day in the garden here.
So first the question. I have a Winter Snow that has had Southern Blight three times. I posted about it at least twice. I’ve decided to put a whiskey barrel in the spot where it grows, hoping I can keep the soil uncontaminated and maybe I can have a Winter Snow in that spot without the misery of looking at it suffering again. Here’s the question. Do you think the plant itself might have Southern Blight in it? I don’t want to go to the work of putting the barrel there and getting the barrel contaminated by a sick plant. If Winter Snow was readily available I’d just buy another, but it seems to be rare right now.
And here’s some pics from my oh so fragrant winter garden.
Edgeworthia in full bloom.
One of two daphnes in full bloom.
Winter honeysuckle also called Breathe of Spring in full bloom. I planted a twig in an azalea row where one of the azaleas had died and now it’s six feet tall right next to where I park.
And this camellia Greensboro Red isn’t fragrant, but it doesn’t apologize for it. I just received a new camellia Sadaharu Oh to plant based on the rave reviews from under the oaks gardener.
The sweet olive is twelve feet tall these days, but I can’t find the pic. I have three plantings of sweet box which has finished blooming, but the hyacinths are coming online to keep the perfumed air flowing. I figure why live where the winters are generally mild and not have something to entertain me until the hostas come up?
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Breaking dormancy early for potted hostas
Comments (7)Hi Jen - I live in Minnesota - the Minneapolis area. You don't say how big the pots are. Are they 6"-8" that they came in? Or are they planters? In another thread titled "A Really Mild Winter" I wrote: "I always find myself buying at year end and over wintering in large planters that get moved to the garage. I place them on the wall that is attached to the house. Although the garage is not heated I have found that when the temp hits 45 or more outside, I have hostas coming up in the pots in the garage. Which is not a bad thing because I will pot them up and put them in my sunroom. One year I had a Blue Mouse Ears in full bloom for Easter!" The last few winters have been wacky here that's for sure. I think it was 2003 that we hit 72 one Saturday in mid-February and I was tanning on my deck. If they are in larger planters I think you could leave them out covered - and then bring them inside the garage in February for some early green! Good luck and keep us posted on what you do. Teresa...See MoreRyegrass dormant or dead in North Carolina?
Comments (20)Okay so you don't have prefect timing. Had you asked the question last August, timing would have been perfect and you could have done the reno. But if you follow the following guidelines, your weeds will be much nicer than anyone else's weeds. Basics of Lawn Care After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct. Watering Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds. You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week. Mowing Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush. Fertilizing Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it. Too much is better than too little*. At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide. * This used to read, "Too little is better than too much." Recent test results show that you cannot get too much organic fertilizer unless you bury the grass in it....See Morenorth carolina japanese maple source
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Comments (66)three of them made a mess in one room. It was all sticky, and bugy so i washed them in bathroom and took it outside. It was hell to do. They grew along the windows without real support so when i took them down....with all those bugs...hell. Now they are outside on 5th floor. Wasps come by, have some lunch, some lady bugs as well. The nums od aphids is droping, but plants are loosing leaves rapidly. Htere were some cattepilars as well, but i guess that they didn't like neem oil, and me taking them down so there are no caterpillars. It is interesting that lemon chilly pepper doesn't have many of aphids, even when the leaves of infested neighbor habaneros are touching. There is some chemistry that someone should investigate. Three other plants were without aphids until recently, and numbers are growing incredible. I sprayed them on window sills with neem oil stronger than 2%, and i can see effects pretty quick...but i put also more organic dish soap. They are not pretty anymore, loosing leaves, sticky. pods are sticky, some are soft to touch...not the plants "that i used to know ". Talking about bad luck, i have some requests to sell them. By now I had more than 600 pods, approximately one kilo of dried ones. I had some experiment with those few pods that grew mold on stings when drying. I washed them all in diluted peroxide 3%, than in vinegar, water and dried them allover. No mold now, and aflatoxin i guess. I learned that that repeated drying process can give an extra flavour, like Urfa pepper ( Turkish/Syrian stuff )...See Morezkathy z7a NC
3 years ago
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agozkathy z7a NC thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5zkathy z7a NC
3 years ago
Those big shiny chartreuse leaves contrast so well with the English ivy, poison ivy Virginia creeper etc hillside it’s planted on. This is visible from my back deck where people at parties are leaning on the railing looking down at the creek. Anybody got suggestions for a comparable visual effect? My garden is on the other side of the house and not so visible from the deck.
zkathy z7a NC
3 years agoIt’s amazing how sharing thoughts with people who care about the subject matter can make a difference. All of a sudden I knew what I wanted to do. I got my sharp shovel and dug up a chunk of the crown, a cube about 6 inches on each side. I hosed the dirt off and pulled a bazillion little roots from the ivy out of the crown. Then I took it inside and worked on it with a tweezer to get every little piece of alien root off of it. After about an hour I was left with this.
I soaked it in a mild bleach solution while I took an extensive shower because I’m sure some of those roots were poison ivy to which I’m very sensitive. I rinsed the crowns well and put them in some potting soil. Good luck Winter Snow, you have a nice barrel home awaiting if you survive.
And by the way at one point when I was hosing off dirt I think I saw two little sclerotia (the fruiting bodies of Southern Blight) in between two roots close to the crown. So I don’t think a Hosta can be “infected” with Southern Blight. It might just be living in a contaminated bed.
windymess z6a KC, Ks