|
Rabbit update: The nest is empty so hopefully they've found somewhere new to live. One of them was hanging around in my garden but I haven't seen any of the others.  I think he thought he was being very sneaky or something because he didn't seem to give a poo poo that I was weeding all of three feet away.
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2021 23:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 19:39 |
|
|
My queen of the night cactus is just going nuts with blooms. All four opened up at the same time last night - I thought I had another day or two and was out being social last night but thankfully checked on it before drunkenly falling asleep.
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2021 19:03
|
|
|
skylined! posted:My queen of the night cactus is just going nuts with blooms. All four opened up at the same time last night - I thought I had another day or two and was out being social last night but thankfully checked on it before drunkenly falling asleep. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2021 19:32
|
|
|
skylined! posted:My queen of the night cactus is just going nuts with blooms. All four opened up at the same time last night - I thought I had another day or two and was out being social last night but thankfully checked on it before drunkenly falling asleep. Are they all facing the sun? I got my first tiny little flower coming on my Adromischus. Slightly out of focus photo:  Also finally got around to commissioning someone to make some copper trays for my succulent shelf things. I had them put little drains on them so that I wouldn't have to move poo poo to get rid of excess water. Works better than I thought but holy gently caress has the price of brass 1/4" fittings gone crazy. Home depot wants like 9$ for a compression fit T. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2021 20:48
|
|
|
Wallet posted:Are they all facing the sun? Yep - facing an East window that gets good sun through it until about 5p.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2021 16:14
|
|
|
Every time I water my plants a mess of baby rabbits bolt out of my shrubs now. Since I enjoy spamming myself in this here horticulture thread, have some pictures of plant things: Euphorbia ×martinii and characias being flower buddies.  Lavender trying to eat the Cheilanthes lanosa I put in earlier this year  Some Aquilegia   Lilium × in the shade of some much taller lancifolium  Allium amethystinum about to open 
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2021 23:27
|
|
|
Wallet posted:
Beautiful! I am so glad you posted this! I had some Aquilegia back in 2018 and have been looking for it again, but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called and I thought better of trying to explain it to someone at the nursery.
|
|
#
?
Jun 21, 2021 22:46
|
|
|
Wallet your poo poo looks great bro, incredible set up. That titty cactus looking powerful af
|
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2021 01:22
|
|
|
Oil of Paris posted:Wallet your poo poo looks great bro, incredible set up. That titty cactus looking powerful af It took forever to root in (they mostly get imported with basically no roots and then people spend the minimum amount of time rooting them before they sell them on) but he finally got there a couple of months ago and now he's pumping out shiny new titties like there's no tomorrow.  Here he is when I first potted him, for comparison:  Edit: Bonus Iris I've waited a year to see flower for the first time this morning. She's so pretty   candystarlight posted:I am so glad you posted this! I had some Aquilegia back in 2018 and have been looking for it again, but couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called and I thought better of trying to explain it to someone at the nursery. Happy to help you find them again! I love the shape of their flowers. Wallet fucked around with this message at 13:35 on Jun 22, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 22, 2021 13:06
|
|
|
I want to get a couple of very large plastic pots for the patio to grow some small trees (or treeish things) that can provide some shade. It doesn't necessarily need to be shade for people -- I just want to keep more sunlight off of the hot stones during the day. What are some cold-hardy things that might be good for that in 8b? Definitely needs to be able to withstand high heat and full sun and do ok in a pot. e: wondering if some sort of palm might be best. Anything lush might be too much maintenance with the heat & sun combo. Fitzy Fitz fucked around with this message at 17:12 on Jun 24, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 24, 2021 17:06
|
|
|
Fitzy Fitz posted:I want to get a couple of very large plastic pots for the patio to grow some small trees (or treeish things) that can provide some shade. It doesn't necessarily need to be shade for people -- I just want to keep more sunlight off of the hot stones during the day. What are some cold-hardy things that might be good for that in 8b? Definitely needs to be able to withstand high heat and full sun and do ok in a pot. The general rule of thumb for growing plants in containers as far as cold-hardiness goes is to take off two zones because the soil in a pot is obviously going to be less insulated, so you probably want to look something at least hardy to zone 6b. Personally I might look at fruit trees. Meyer lemon (Citrus ×meyeri) should handle the cold just fine and should love the sun, there are some fig (Ficus carica) varieties that also are cool with the cold. Given it's going to be in a container even if you plant something relatively drought tolerant you're going to have to see to watering it. You could also just go shopping for full sun trees for zone 6b and pick something you like. There are some other folks that post in here that know trees much better than I do and might have some better ideas. Wallet fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Jun 25, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 14:10
|
|
|
Would citrus trees really be cold hardy down to ~freezing in a pot?? I have a potted key lime tree actually, but I treat it as a tropical along with my philodendrons, monstera, hibiscus, and bay laurel. I leave the trifoliate orange outside without issue though. Fig is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 15:38
|
|
|
I did exactly that experiment and left a couple lemons in pots outside this winter during a cold snap (-8c / 17f) I only lost one (the tiniest). The bigger ones lost all their leaves and various amounts of stem, but are all coming back no problem. So worst case scenario is you've got redo all their shaping and pruning, like on this guy who's doing a huge double leader thing now. Those two giant new stems are all brand new growth in the last ~3 months, post-cold. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 16:20
|
|
|
Fitzy Fitz posted:I want to get a couple of very large plastic pots for the patio to grow some small trees (or treeish things) that can provide some shade. It doesn't necessarily need to be shade for people -- I just want to keep more sunlight off of the hot stones during the day. What are some cold-hardy things that might be good for that in 8b? Definitely needs to be able to withstand high heat and full sun and do ok in a pot. Depending on the cultivar, Japanese maples or even Vine maples will fit this perfectly. I live in 8b myself, have several in pots and in the ground and have a mix of full sun and shaded ones. The difficult thing here is that there are a bajillion cultivars, and no nursery is going to have a full selection at all times. How hot are we talking about here? What parts of the day will have sun? How large are the pots? How tall do you want these trees to get?
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 17:24
|
|
|
Fitzy Fitz posted:Would citrus trees really be cold hardy down to ~freezing in a pot?? I have a potted key lime tree actually, but I treat it as a tropical along with my philodendrons, monstera, hibiscus, and bay laurel. I leave the trifoliate orange outside without issue though. Fig is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of. I’ve always heard that containered citrus trees in my area (New England) do best/survive by being brought indoors every winter
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 17:24
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:Depending on the cultivar, Japanese maples or even Vine maples will fit this perfectly. I live in 8b myself, have several in pots and in the ground and have a mix of full sun and shaded ones. Potentially 100F during midday full-sun on a hot stone patio. The main reason I'm looking into this is because I've found that shading the patio itself is a good way to moderate the hot conditions for everything else (I've added an umbrella and several in-ground trees to one side that have helped a lot.). I'm thinking of a pretty huge pot because small pots dry out really quickly in these conditions. The reason I'm insisting on cold hardiness is that I already have too many plants that have to come in during the winter, and I want something with less maintenance.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 17:47
|
|
|
Honestly I think you'll be much better served by some cute patio sails. More and better shade with less maintenance. Also instant, because you don't have to wait for trees to grow. And you can unhook and fold them up for easy storage during storms/winter. Furthermore, even though Japanese maples are great options for pots, they're pretty slow growers (or otherwise you're out $$$$ for a large specimen tree) and they probably wouldn't do well with 100F in full sun. But they'd probably be quite happy under a patio sail and could provide lovely garden/patio decor and a bit of supplemental shade.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 18:29
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:I’ve always heard that containered citrus trees in my area (New England) do best/survive by being brought indoors every winter They might be marginal in a container in 8b; I don't live there so I could definitely be wrong, I just know some folks that have them down south. Cold hardy fig varieties definitely do fine in 6 in the ground. I think you'd have to be careful with japanese maples. There are some varieties that the internet claims will grow up to 9 but I think the roots might get cooked if they're in a pot in full sun.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 18:45
|
|
|
Queen Victorian posted:Honestly I think you'll be much better served by some cute patio sails. More and better shade with less maintenance. Also instant, because you don't have to wait for trees to grow. And you can unhook and fold them up for easy storage during storms/winter. That’s why smart bonsai dudes put their acers in the ground for 5-10 years to make their trunks fatten up quick. But if you want a sleeker/daintier profile then growing in a container is more than adequate. On the topic of heat and sun, a bunch of my acers got pretty severe leaf blast after some unseasonably hot days in May/early June and lost all/most of their leaves. What you do in that case is just pluck/clip all of the dead leaves off, prune any dried out branch tips, and then let the plant send out a second flush of leaf growth which should take it into like mid-July (also get the plant out of the hot summer sun and into some shadier terrain, obvi). My burn victims aren’t looking any worse for wear at this moment since they’ve had about a week or two to start throwing out new foliage. A lot of bonsai dudes will also fully defoliate their maples in midsummer regardless of whether they’re burned or not in order to do branch and brush/broom refinement/trimming after the big spring flush and to get the second flush to come in smaller than the first. If you’re showing a tree with fall colors and you want the leaves to be small come Sept/October that’s how you do it. WRT shade, I’d look at shade cloth awnings and sails. I’m planning to buy some and mount them in a few weeks, but they’re not super pricey. I’m looking to spend between 60-100 bucks to cover a large swath of my patio but you could get away with spending under $40 if all you want to cover is like a 6’ x 12’ patch to put a bunch of small trees under.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 18:45
|
|
|
Queen Victorian posted:Honestly I think you'll be much better served by some cute patio sails. More and better shade with less maintenance. Also instant, because you don't have to wait for trees to grow. And you can unhook and fold them up for easy storage during storms/winter. Sails are a good idea. I've actually thought about them and gotten to the point of measuring and finding anchor points, but this is a crappy rental house, so everything's falling apart back there. The side of the patio that I'm looking at doesn't really have a good way to put one up. Windmill palms look like they might be a good option. They're supposedly cold hardy down to about 0F and obviously handle heat fine, and the leaves look like they'd offer some decent shade.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 19:57
|
|
|
Fitzy Fitz posted:
I'm in Oregon and our palm tree is one of the only sources of shade in our yard. It's nice but I think they're pretty slow growing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 21:17
|
|
|
At least over here the dome hespot has decided to mark all of the shrubs/trees they have left and haven't managed to kill 50% off now if you're still looking for bonsai material. Picked up a ~7 gallon Cornus sericea for ten whole dollars.
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 22:07
|
|
|
Wallet posted:At least over here the dome hespot has decided to mark all of the shrubs/trees they have left and haven't managed to kill 50% off now if you're still looking for bonsai material. Picked up a ~7 gallon Cornus sericea for ten whole dollars. No thanks, I dropped $150 and grabbed a bunch of half price azaleas, a laceleaf maple, some variegated schefflera and a massive mugo that was somehow only $25 there two weeks ago and then I totaled my car and had to replace it plus I got way more plants than I can really handle now without a bunch of them losing their poo poo in the heat
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 23:35
|
|
|
Ok Comboomer posted:plus I got way more plants than I can really handle now without a bunch of them losing their poo poo in the heat Yeah, I usually try not to get any new plants once it's really hot unless they're deep discounted because of how brutal the sun can be. Most of the stuff I've put in late this year is doing fine but a few things perpetually look like I've been abusing them even if I watered them hours ago 
|
|
#
?
Jun 25, 2021 23:48
|
|
|
Queen Victorian posted:Honestly I think you'll be much better served by some cute patio sails. More and better shade with less maintenance. Also instant, because you don't have to wait for trees to grow. And you can unhook and fold them up for easy storage during storms/winter. Yeah, a sail, awning or maybe offset umbrella is going to be a lot more practical, but I've had a lot of luck keeping away leaf scorch if I'm watering pots every day. I'm 8b in the PNW, but I'm inland a bit, so the weather is always more extreme. I have several of these planted in full sun in the ground and in pots and the only time I had leaf scorch was when I forgot to water one of the pots during a heat wave. This weekend is going to be a hell of a test though. Vine maples are cheap as hell and grow a lot faster, but at least at my local nursery I've had a lot of luck finding named japanese maple cultivars that are 4-5' tall at the 0.75/1 gallon price (so $30ish) or half that for an open pollinated seedling. In fact I got a Radiant that was nearly 6' tall several weeks ago.  But yeah, if you go with some sort of artificial cover, you can just pick and choose which plants you want and they'll look loving awesome with minimal effort. Ok Comboomer posted:That’s why smart bonsai dudes put their acers in the ground for 5-10 years to make their trunks fatten up quick. So do you do a second fertilization for the second flush or to build truck/branch thickness in the summerish months? Or just stick with a late winter/early spring feeding? Also I have a Maiku Jaku (Dancing Peacock or Acontifolium) arriving at the house tomorrow and I can't loving wait. I've been looking for one for a while now. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 00:01
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:Yeah, a sail, awning or maybe offset umbrella is going to be a lot more practical, but I've had a lot of luck keeping away leaf scorch if I'm watering pots every day. I'm 8b in the PNW, but I'm inland a bit, so the weather is always more extreme. I have several of these planted in full sun in the ground and in pots and the only time I had leaf scorch was when I forgot to water one of the pots during a heat wave. This weekend is going to be a hell of a test though. I’m overdue for a midsummer feeding, frankly. A lot of people will do an early spring and then a summer, regardless of whether they defoliate
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 01:20
|
|
|
Re patio plants: Consider jujubes. They’re quite tough against heat, cold, drought. They can grow pretty big and fruit well in pots. They naturally have something of a columnar habit that might work well for you. In fifteen-litre pots from the nursery, they can get well over two metres in height while holding a dozen, maybe two dozen fruits I’m biased toward fruiting plants, but these are some top-tier trees. The one thing I’ll knock them for is leafing out late and dropping leaves early. It’s part of what makes them tough, but it annoys me that they waste perfectly good growing days in my climate. You may consider it an advantage if you want early spring/late fall sunlight on the patio. You’ll need two to pollinate each other, and unfortunately they’re among the costlier trees. Most cultivars have pretty substantial thorns, but some cultivars are thornless.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 01:48
|
|
|
Fitzy Fitz posted:Would citrus trees really be cold hardy down to ~freezing in a pot?? I have a potted key lime tree actually, but I treat it as a tropical along with my philodendrons, monstera, hibiscus, and bay laurel. I leave the trifoliate orange outside without issue though. Fig is an interesting idea I hadn't thought of. Big containers are great and fun, but I'm with everyone else that if you need shade (and soon), big containers aren't the answer. Some 4x4s and some wire or lattice and wisteria/jasmine (carolina or confederate/asiatic)/gourds/morning glory/american groundnut/muscadine/kudzu will do that much better and much faster and probably cheaper too. Maybe bamboo? There are some clumping kinds that are pretty and not very invasive.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 03:22
|
|
|
Platystemon posted:Re patio plants: This is a really interesting idea. I believe you can do blueberries in large pots, and there are columnar apple trees as well. Just promise you won’t plant any loving arborvitae. That’s boring. It’s your yard, no one is judging you. 😇
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 03:46
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:It’s your yard, no one is judging you. 😇 I am. Earth doesn't need more of them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 12:46
|
|
|
Wallet posted:I am. Earth doesn't need more of them. Nothing like than hitting costco in march and watching pick-up trucks full of upper middle class families loading those into the bed by the dozen.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 18:43
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:Nothing like than hitting costco in march and watching pick-up trucks full of upper middle class families loading those into the bed by the dozen. It's so they don't ever need to talk to their neighbors. They do make okay hedges, but they're over used. I have some tiny ones that were planted in the last two years before we moved in. I can't decide if I want to take them out or not. They grow okay in the very little sun on the north part of the house, but I really just need to look at what makes a great shade garden and go with that (but next year).
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 19:34
|
|
|
Jhet posted:They do make okay hedges, but they're over used. They can though virtually everyone I see with them planted prunes them improperly so they look like hot wet poo poo within a few years. There are many other plants that can make good hedges; some of them even flower. None of them are capable of convincing your neighbors that you're dead inside quite the way arborvitae can, but we all have to make sacrifices. Jhet posted:They grow okay in the very little sun on the north part of the house, but I really just need to look at what makes a great shade garden and go with that (but next year). A great shade garden is just a garden in the shade with plants that make you happy, if you ask me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2021 23:37
|
|
|
Jhet posted:It's so they don't ever need to talk to their neighbors. I think you can also get around the height limits of fences as well. Still doesn’t say much good about someone who shades out every one of their neighbors.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 02:58
|
|
|
Solkanar512 posted:I think you can also get around the height limits of fences as well. Still doesn’t say much good about someone who shades out every one of their neighbors. Oh, there’s no problem here. We have a nice fence, and this keeps us from staring at each other too because it’s only 12’ or so. I actually like my neighbors, and they’re nice tall well kept ones on their side. There’s not much room to grow much there, and they’re a type of western red cedar and should be native anyway. I have no idea why the former people would plant their own and leave the home depot tags on them. But they planted them all the way down the fence, far apart, and under the spruce and Japanese maple. So half of them are in the worst place possible anyway. But really, they’re over used and rarely taken care of. I just haven’t figured out what to put there, and it’s my house making all the shade. So it’s fun to see what people put in their gardens, but compared to growing edible plants, I have much less experience. I think the key is not expecting them to survive without me paying attention to them. I am looking forward to putting in a whole bunch of heather along the west wall of the house. I just have to pick out colors and wait 5 years for them to start getting big.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 04:42
|
|
|
Jhet posted:Oh, there’s no problem here. We have a nice fence, and this keeps us from staring at each other too because it’s only 12’ or so. I actually like my neighbors, and they’re nice tall well kept ones on their side. There’s not much room to grow much there, and they’re a type of western red cedar and should be native anyway. I have no idea why the former people would plant their own and leave the home depot tags on them. But they planted them all the way down the fence, far apart, and under the spruce and Japanese maple. So half of them are in the worst place possible anyway. But really, they’re over used and rarely taken care of. For shade I would absolutely say dwarf maple cultivars (lots of folks screw this up), hostas and ferns. Man, out of 11 maples, only one suffered leaf scorch from the insane heat wave the PNW is having right now. Not too shabby and still plenty of time to recover.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 05:06
|
|
|
Opinions: Is it ever a good idea to plant cacti in pots with no drainage? On the upside, they're tidier and you can do trendy poo poo like plant things in teapots or whatever. On the downside, it seems like it would be very easy to end up with them sitting in water. Thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 07:04
|
|
|
No, never. Get a ceramic bit and drill out the teapot if you need to. If you need to be tidy, water the plants, then take away the saucer after the excess water has drained away.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 07:11
|
|
|
With this house I inherited a bunch of awful poo poo in the garden, most of which I've gotten rid of, but there were a pair of lilacs I didn't have the heart to throw in the bin; they're some sort of remontant dwarf variety of Syringa microphylla but I don't know which. Unfortunately the prior owner(s) clearly didn't do any reasonable maintenance pruning so while the lilacs are only three or four feet high, they're 90% bare woody stem and 10% leaves, so they look like poo poo even though they do still flower twice yearly. They're in what should be ideal conditions for them. Any shrub wizards have any advice on how to return them to decent looking shrubs? My assumption is that my only real option is to prune them back to the ground, either all at once or over a couple of years. Platystemon posted:No, never. This. Without drainage you're one mistake from killing them at all times. With many species if they manage to get their roots to the bottom and find standing water things will go poorly. Wallet fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Jun 27, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 13:28
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 19:39 |
|
|
I'm death to houseplants, but I think this corner could use a houseplant: That was taken around noon and that's about as bright as it gets in summer-maybe gets a bit more in winter when the sun is lower. It gets some spillover light from the fluorescent in the kitchen in the evenings. I want something big and tall-ish, more like a monstera or some kind of palmy thing, not like a peace lily. It's pretty humid in my house, and in the winter I let it get down to the mid-50s sometimes-no idea if that matters for tropical stuff. Anything y'all could recommend?
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2021 16:15
|
|