My LS Midight Miss is unhappy
bkay2000
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last monthlindalana 5b Chicago
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Waving my shovel about or Noble Anthony, maybe not so much?
Comments (30)Stlgal: Thanks so much for the report on Austins so I know what to avoid. My regrets here: Pat Austin (healthy but few blooms that shatters, so-so scent) - Mary Rose (annoying prickly thorns). Onederw: Bolero is also great here in Chicago area. The best-looking and best-fragrance at the rose park in late fall. The fragrance is elegant, like an expensive perfume. Now I just have to find a red rose to plant next to Bolero in zone 5a. When I checked on Mayflower and Eglantyne - there are varied opinions. I wonder if some roses prefer acidic soil versus alkaline soil. Some roses with a wimpy start might need some shade, or a jump on nitrogen. I had problems with William Shakespeare's own-root, slow, stunt, yellowish growth - until I fixed the soil: 2 gallons of peat moss with 1 gallon of alfalfa meal (bring down pH of my 7.7 alkaline soil, plus a hefty nitrogen-boost). He's now extremely vigorous, dark green, and healthy in east sun. What Michaelg wrote helped me a lot: RE: Can Roses on Multiflora Rootstock Grow In Alkaline West? Posted by michaelg z6B NC Mts (My Page) on Fri, Feb 4, 11 at 17:28 Maryl, surely own-root hybrids vary in their tolerance for alkalinity and salts; many would be more tolerant than multiflora but less tolerant than Huey. Rugosa and roses of multiflora heritage (some ramblers, polyanthas, and hybrid musks) of course would tend to prefer acid....See MoreDirect Source Hosta closing
Comments (40)Thank you, Mark, for sharing DSH's rationale for cutting the leaves. While it still doesn't make much sense to me, at least it is helpful to know there was a plan. That doesn't alleviate my heightened concerns about the possibility of cross-contaminating hostas if the vendor did not sterilize the cutting equipment between each plant. (Ans since I have not seen any strong evidence to indicate that this practice was used, I will choose to err on the side of caution.) Yes, I agree, we should be habitual in our monitoring of all new plants received until they have passed that quarantine period. That period, however, can be as long as 7 years before visual symptoms appear, and I am personally unwilling to wait 7 years with this particular batch given the leaf cutting - which we all know is a primary method of spreading HVX. While searching that "other" hosta forum for information, I saw several recent threads that seemed to indicate that newly contaminated hostas (such as might occur while cutting leaves off a healthy hosta without cleaning HVX sap from an infected plant) would probably have enough HVX during their second year to test positive using the Agdia strips. I don't consider myself hysterical about HVX - merely aware, informed and prepared to act in appropriate situations. I have over 550 hostas, mostly acquired during the past seven years. To date I have tested two hostas which appeared suspect to me, both of which tested negative. And according to discussions on another hosta forum, Agdia strips are widely considered to be 99% effective with extremely low false positive or negative rates. A new piece of disturbing news about HVX: Dr. Lockhart is apparently now recommending that you NEVER plant a new hosta in a spot where a diseased hosta was removed, as his 18-month study showed HVX was still present after the plant's removal. As most of us are aware, the recent thought was you were safe after a year or so. And back in 2004, it was stated you could plant immediately since the virus couldn't possibly sustain itself outside the plant. So we are continuing to learn about this very unfortunate disease. So, for what it's worth to others who are trying to decide what to do with their new purchases, I have decided to do the following. Given how difficult it has been for me to locate Velvet Moon and Paradise Joyce, I will pot them up and enjoy them in my screen porch this season. If they survive over-wintering in my unheated garage this winter, I will wait for them to leaf out next summer and then test them with Agdia strips. If they are positive, out they go, right in the pots they are planted in. If they are negative, current research would say they are "safe", and I will likely plant in locations where they can be removed at some future point with ease should symptoms appear down the road. I will probably do the same with Royal Flush and LS Babyface, although I won't bother to test them if either PJ or VM tests positive - they'll hit the trash immediately. Those plants are fairly available through other reliable vendors, but I'll hold off on chucking them until I have reasonable evidence to do so. Lesson learned for me personally - I am not comfortable purchasing mutilated hostas, even if the vendor believes he has a justifable reason for doing so. But since the plants are here, I will take additional reasonable precautions to protect my existing hosta collection given the significant opportunity for HVX contamination introduced by the leaf cutting....See MoreHow are you guys doing for your fall plantings?
Comments (33)Fall crops, those are dirty words at my house this year. The past weeks highs have been in the upper 90's flirting with 100 several times. We had a cool spell in early August and I got radishes, haikuri turnips and carrots planted. We have been harvesting for two weeks now on the radishes. They do have a strong radish flavor but not bad. I have also seeded two more plantings after that and some daikon radishes. I want to get another planting in, maybe two, before I start planting them in the hoop buildings. I got a second planting of carrots in and the kids and I spent about 2 hours weeding them by hand. I know I flame weeded about 12 hours too soon, but 13 hours after I flame weeded, we got two inches of rain. That really brought up the second round of weeds. Fall tomatoes are looking ok. We have started picking a few. I wish they were further along because the markets are really low on tomatoes and customers are wanting them bad. Most amature home gardners tomatoes are done for the season. My June planting got stunted by the heat and are just now coming out of it. They would have been perfect to pick now. cherry tomatoes have more blooms than leaves! They are crazy! I hope those sales stay up this fall. I will have tons! I have 1200 plus seedling (various lettuces, napa cabbage, mustards bok choy, Tokyo bekana, cilantro, Swiss chard, 3 types of kale, and other stuff. My new problem is aphids. Not on my seedlings, but on my cucumbers between the two high tunnels I was planning on planting my fall stuff. I mowed off the cucs ( very sad day) sprayed everything excessively and I hope to knock them out. Now I need to tear out all the tomatoes and clean everything out. I want to wait a week after I tear out the tomatoes until I transplant in again.. Till up the ground and get things planted again and hope and pray I don't get another aphid infestation. I need to start another 800 seedlings, but I am behind! It is just so hot that I don't want to work in the high tunnels in the afternoons, after school. I also still am going to two markets a week. I may have to skip one to get caught up. Enough about my worries. Jay...See MoreI hate my Ektorp. Ideas to fix it?
Comments (26)If you only got it a few days ago--take it back. Trying to get into all the elaborate, VERY time consuming and complicated options discussed (new pillows, replacing filling, getting kids to abuse cushions!) all sounds like far far too much time and effort for something you don't like and that isn't comfortable. I know very well that the Ektorp is heavy and very tough to maneuver; we just bought one for my daughter's new apartment. However it really is worth it to take it back to IKEA immediately and resolve the refund as well as you can, then move on. Keep in mind IKEA is not a fly by night operation so tell the return staff and/or manager your situation and hopefully they will work with you. Not to mention you certainly aren't the only person who's ever bought a couch and then didn't like it. They won't be shocked that it's been opened...how the heck else would you know it was the wrong purchase? ;) Then take your time and find a couch you like and that is comfortable. And last but far from least, sorry for this bad experience. I've certainly BTDT with furniture and I know well that sick feeling of having spent a lot of money on the wrong major piece that is now sitting in front of me making me feel like a fool. But I also know that in the greater scheme of life, getting rid of that wrong major piece is probably the best choice. Good luck!...See Morebkay2000
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)