In praise of regular, ol’ wax begonias….
5 months ago
Just the kind you buy in the little 8-packs at Home Depot or garden centers. They require almost no care, just water a couple times a week. This window box is on the north side of my house and gets absolutley zero sunlight. Deer don’t bother them either. The caladiums are from the local farmer’s market, as is the creeping jenny. The ivy is from the fiery depths of hell. 🤪
First pic was taken May 25, second pic Aug 14.
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Overrated? Underrated?
Comments (29)I agree with Harry's post above - good to see you chiming in again, Harry! My favorite underrated roses are the whole class of shrub roses, which includes the Knockout family. When I think of the roses that are the most frequently blooming and trouble free, it's almost always a shrub class rose that comes to mind. Some of the shrubs have HT or Austin-like flowers (like the Renaissance series that I love), but I find a majority of them have flowers that are individually unexciting. However, they are the kind of truly constantly blooming mass of color that we wish the rest of our roses would produce. I do respectfully disagree that the shrubs, including Knockouts, don't belong in the rose garden - since all of my rose gardens are mixed beds anyway. If you're building a formal HT bed like those in the public gardens, then yes they would look out of place and not stay within their specific boundaries. For me, I'm always looking for blocks of color to add focal points to my garden beds, all of which have mostly roses but many other perennials and other kinds of plants. We often talk about mixing in things like Salvias and perennial geraniums into the rose beds, and I have shrubs including Knockouts mixed into all of them too. For me it's the best of both worlds - the shrub roses keep the bed as a whole from looking boring during down times between repeat blooms, and the more traditional large flowered roses provide the up close interest and scent that's largely missing in the Knockouts and other shrubs. As always, to each their own, but I find that rose gardening isn't "either/or" but "AND", each type of rose used for the purpose they best fill. Cynthia...See MoreSo, do you use many tropicals in the garden?
Comments (37)Eric oh, I'll be honest with you, I haven't a clue. I bought the first one because it was discount rack and it was in bad shape. I didn't know if it was going to make it. It took awhile before I got my first white bloom. I've been trying to find out the name because white is really rare around here. The second one I got was also discount rack save but it didn't come with a tag. This one is kind of fuschia with a wonderful scent. Its petty common around here so I should be able to find out the name. The last one I got is from a group I jokingly refer to as the New Orleans minis. There is Bayou Marie, Bourbon Street and Baton Rouge. I think there is more in this group but not sure. So I got Bayou Marie because it has the most beautiful pink flowers, which slightly darken when the temp drops. Anyway, I have yet to find a real red dwarf. They say they are red but its more of a dark pink. My secret is once the leaves have drop then don't prune them. I wait until I see new buds on the old wood in the late spring before I cut away any dead limbs. Last winter was one the coldest in over ten years. Most of the thick branches made it. I also mulch in the fall. All three are rated for zone 7 are suppose to die back to the ground but somehow they didn't get the message. I wish some school in the midwest would do a crape myrtle study to see which ones are hardy to zone 5 or possibly lower....See MoreInspiration needed for blank slate
Comments (37)Your Meyer will not do well in a pot that size. By nature they are an 8x8' bush, round and very full with criss-crossing branches, extremely vigorous. For consumer purposes they graft them onto dwarf rootstock that is usually 2-3' tall. At the ten year mark that Meyer if in-ground would be at least 6' high and far wider/deeper. The pot you have it in would be suitable for a gardenia bush, but it is way too small for the Meyer. I'm not saying that you can't keep a Meyer in a pot, I merely don't understand why you would be trying to keep it miniaturized. There are better evergreen mini-shrubs that would be just fine in such a container size, whereas you are more likely to kill the Meyer trying to force it to stay houseplant-sized. That simply isn't natural for a Meyer, which is bred to be highly productive and is one of the hungriest shrubs existent. A half-barrel is the minimum size container to use with a Meyer. If you don't want the lemons, then use another shrub and buy the Meyers at the grocery store. In CA a lot of stores carry them. If you have friends who live in the EBay they are happy to give them away - virtually everyone in the EBay lives within 50' of a citrus tree of some sort, because this was all citrus orchard farms at one time! Success with gardening depends a lot on listening to the plants and using the right plants for your site and conditions. Sometimes you can force plants to do what you want, but it's never easy and seldom successful....See MoreWhat type of cutting (leaf/stem/semi-hard/hard/root) do you take?
Comments (3)Hi everyone! and thanks in advance to anyone that replies! Hi, and welcome to the discussions! I'm on a super tight gardening budget this year - and by super tight I mean the only way I'll be getting flowers/plants for my container garden is from taking cuttings/seeds from what I already have and what my friends/family are willing to let me take little "snips" of. Anybody with cash can go buy a truckload of beautiful blooms - even have someone plant and care for them. What you want to do takes love, patience, consistent effort, forethought, determination, and IMO, can be extremely satisfying. I'm fairly new to propagating from cuttings - I have Purslane and Blue Daze (Evolvus) down pat, but I don't know what type of cutting and when to take them from ... pretty much anything else, I don't know if it's even possible to take cuttings from some stuff. Here's a list of the plants I have at my "snipping" disposal - Here's my experiences with some of your list... Clematis ... I had 'the president' but it pooped out the first day it was 100 degrees - boo) Clems like to be in full sun with their roots cool. Next time, try placing a potted plant so that it shades your clem roots during the hottest part of the day. This may help it get going. Remove flowers after the petals fall off so the plant does not waste any energy making seeds. Clems take a few years to establish. They make seeds but it is uncertain if seeds will make the same flowers as the parent plant. Mulch is very helpful for Clems. Balloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus - just the regular one and P.g. 'Mariesii') - makes seeds that are ready when the seed pods develop openings at the top. A long-lived perennial. Hosta (32 jillion varieties) - divisions as soon as the summer heat passes or early spring. Hostas live for a LONG time. Columbine - makes seeds that are ready when the seed pods develop openings at the top. Individual plants are short-lived perennials. Canna (My grandpa is going to mow over them if I don't come dig them up this weekend - can you move them any time or will they just die? Most of his don't have flowers and I don't know if it's because he doesn't water or if it's because he mows over them almost every year - can you grow them in containers?) - makes tubers that can be moved about any time. If grandpa mows them, no big deal. I think the ground (vs. in a pot) is preferable for anything perennial in your zone. Try to put them somewhere where they won't be soggy all winter but will get plenty of water in the summer. Mowing and/or lack of water could both lead to lack of flowers. You can cut large tubers in half to make more, and each year the tubers get bigger and make "pups." They also make seeds but people don't always have an easy time trying to get these seeds to sprout. A long-lived perennial as long as the tubers don't rot in the winter. Jasmine (not sure on variety, it may have......See MoreRelated Professionals
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5 months agoLOL mxk I agree completely! :)
I've posted these pots before, but here's a recent photo
(pay no attention to the broken fence lol). You can see the geraniums trying to peek out. The ageratum gave up I think, and is lurking somewhere underneath.
If these came in a pink just a tad softer, paler, instead of this .... I don't know what kind of pink it is lol - begonia pink??? - If they came in a softer pink they would defintely be one of my new favorite flowers. As it is, they have climbed the ladder to near the top in one or two seasons!
My grandma's begonias never looked this good haha!:)
Dee
lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan thanked diggerdee zone 6 CT- 5 months agolast modified: 5 months ago
- 5 months ago
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