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If you do end up planting azaleas, DO NOT get Encore ones. They look like ratty poo poo. Azaleas are a pretty big deal where I live (we have a whole town festival for them every year) and the only kinds I ever see anyone plant around here are the normal kind that bloom once in the spring, where they cover the entire bush in flowers so much you can't even see the leaves for like 6 to 8 weeks and then go back to looking like a regular shrub the rest of the year. Encore azaleas SAY that they'll bloom year-round, but they won't put out a lot of blooms during any one season, and in my experience they always look like they're on the verge of death even with proper care. Don't buy them.
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May 10, 2022 17:55
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ha i didnt even know the encore azaleas were a thing every year im so blown away at the rhodos/azaleas around me as they're typically the first to bloom and the flowers are so pretty but then the rest of the year they are kind of underwhelming... still i wanna get one just to join in the fun someday
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May 10, 2022 19:40
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I. M. Gei posted:If you do end up planting azaleas, DO NOT get Encore ones. They look like ratty poo poo. This has been my general experience with remontant cultivars of shrubs. Reblooming Lilacs also look like crap (I think the biggest name cultivar is Boomerang).
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May 10, 2022 20:54
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Is this Euonymus Japonicus?  I've never seen flower or fruit but I love it in that corner
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May 10, 2022 21:34
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Brawnfire posted:I hope nobody minds me sharing these tulips from my garden that make me deliriously happy These are gorgeous. Where’d you get them?
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May 10, 2022 23:37
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Bloody Cat Farm posted:These are gorgeous. Where’d you get them? poo poo, uhhh... well, you know how bulbs are. It could have been the neighborhood garden store, the display at the grocery store, or a gift from our local plant friend. Fairly sure this was from a pick-and-mix pack of bicolor tulips we picked up a number of years ago. Possibly along with these:  I love tulips <3 I also love focusing on the background of a photo and not the foreground element
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May 11, 2022 00:27
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I sowed a few zinnias. Any idea why the seeds appear to be coated yellow?
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May 11, 2022 23:10
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Hello, I am hoping some amazing obsessive horticulturist (is that what you call them?) will see this post and gift me with the knowledge I desire. I very recently fell in love with plants. I want lots of plants, but I want to grow the plants, unless someone wants to convince me that's not financially (or otherwise) sound for some reason I wouldn't have thought of. I have a west-facing apartment near west coast in WA state, I'm high up and I get great light in the day despite facing west though it is obviously not coming into the windows (direct). Then it comes in hard in the early evening presuming it's not cloudy. I have a good amount of space adjacent to the windows and plant shelving. What I'm hoping for is a recommendation of a bunch of indoor plants that will thrive in this lower light exposure (both for floor and shelf) and if they can be planted from seed, and what ideal pot size should be used. I'm envisioning like 2-3 big floor plants and then like maybe twice that many smaller ones for putting on a shelf of some sort. I also have an exposed balcony (also west-facing) that I'd like to place 2-3 permanently outdoor plants. If what I'm asking is too much/specific just tell me to fork off and google it but I'm hoping to land advice from someone with passion who can get me on the right track as I kind of feel a bit lost at the moment on where to start. TIA
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May 12, 2022 01:34
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Eeyo posted:I sowed a few zinnias. Any idea why the seeds appear to be coated yellow?
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May 12, 2022 01:57
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Start yourself off with Babby’s First Plant, a snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue. You can buy these for cheap, they are extremely difficult to kill, and they have nice dark green leaves. You can find these anywhere including IKEA.
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May 12, 2022 02:00
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Jelly posted:Hello, I am hoping some amazing obsessive horticulturist (is that what you call them?) will see this post and gift me with the knowledge I desire. I wouldn’t start out planting from seed. It’s very difficult for even seasoned horticulturists and time consuming. Most of the plants you see for sale have at least a season or two or ten of greenhouse growth depending on their size and species. Any large houseplant of the sort you’re describing will need at least a few years to get up to size. Also most houseplants are tissue cultured or propagated from cutting. Many reproduce via difficult or environmentally sensitive means. Many are variegated or mutant forms of wild type plants that are either sterile or don’t breed true to phenotype from seed. If you’re willing to do seed-starting and whatnot I’d instead push you toward supplementing your apartment lighting with artificial lights so that you can grow a truly diverse array of plants.
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May 12, 2022 02:04
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A lot of plants are hard to grow from seed. Most houseplants are probably grown from cuttings/cloning. That's actually a good & cheap way to collect houseplants though -- buy cuttings for cheap on Etsy or wherever and grow legit plants from them.
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May 12, 2022 02:08
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Eeyo posted:I sowed a few zinnias. Any idea why the seeds appear to be coated yellow? Zinnias are my wife's favorite flower! Looking forward to swapping our pics later this summer 
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May 12, 2022 02:09
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Fitzy Fitz posted:A lot of plants are hard to grow from seed. Most houseplants are probably grown from cuttings/cloning. That's actually a good & cheap way to collect houseplants though -- buy cuttings for cheap on Etsy or wherever and grow legit plants from them. or shoplift the cuttings, if you’re shady (don’t do this from a real nursery or independent plant store, pls)
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May 12, 2022 02:22
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I can't help much with indoor stuff, I've only got a handful of house plants. What kind of temperatures does it get in the daytime/evening? I had decent luck growing things on my East-facing balcony in my old apartment, but the biggest problem was the heat. I'm in suburban IL, so 90F+ weather is relatively common, plus our landlords made our balconies out of very dark brown composite (they deserve to burn in hell for this decision) so the heat was a very big stress on the plants. But if your balcony is lighter colored and the temperature is buffered by the coast then it may not be much issue. One other issue is pests. I remember one of the brassicas I grew got totally demolished by cabbage moths. My suspicion is that since there's only like a few plants on the balcony, when the moth gets there it just lays all its eggs and then your plant gets totally inundated by the caterpillars. IDK if this will be much help, but here's a list of what I tried to grow on the balcony over the years (all grown from seed): Cynoglossum amabile (Chinese forget-me-not, chinese hound's tongue). Gives a good long showing of light blue flowers (some varieties have purple I believe), and big, soft, light-green leaves. Worked pretty well, but definitely prefers cooler temperatures. Tolerates the half-sun pretty well. Only problem is that the seed has burs so it's a real pain in the rear end to keep them off yourself. Those things will stick to your jeans even. Ipomoea alba (moonflower). Really nice flowers; big, pure-white morning glory like flowers. Neat looking seed pods. Usually described as having a pleasant fragrance but mine really didn't smell like much. Heart-shaped leaves on a vine. Worked pretty well. Averaged a bloom every night (they open starting in the evening) for maybe a month or so, can't remember how long. Only real trouble I had was heat stress, and taming the vine. You'll definitely need a trellis or need to figure out how to keep it in check. Ipomoea purpurea (morning glory). Smaller, purple flowers on a vine. Quite similar to moonflower, but everything's scaled down and more colored. I found volunteer morning glories in a community garden I was a part of so I saved the seeds. Mine was probably a bit more weedy than a cultivated variety. The flowers lasted until the morning sun/heat came up and then they drop really fast. Again, taming the vining habit is the most difficult. Popular with the hummingbirds. Ipomoea quamoclit (cypress vine). Dainty, needle-like leaves (hence the name) on a vine. Tiny red flowers, much smaller than morning glory. This one didn't do so well for me, even though I thought it would adapt. Maybe it just got too crowded in that pot (shared it with a morning glory), or the heat was too much, or I just got a less robust plant. Or the watering regimen? It definitely flowered, but only grew to about 1/4 to 1/2 the size of the morning glory vines, dropping a lot of leaves on the way. Phaseolus coccineus (runner bean). Small, bright red flowers on a vine. This one was a bust for me, just too hot for it. They really like it cooler so the sun burnt up the plant and any time it tried to set beans it just gave up on them. Could work with a more temperate location. Raphanus caudatus (rat's tail radish). Radish plant grown for edible pods rather than roots. I was actually surprised by how much I liked the look of the plant. Big robust leaves, the typical 4-petaled Brassicaceae flower, but with a nice splash of purple. I thought it looked pretty nice, plus I got to eat the pods. Definitely a thing to grow in the spring or fall since it's quick growing and won't like the heat. Seemed to do fine with only half a day's sun. Brassica rapa (turnips). Grew this one for food so idk about the flowers. Worked ok, got a few turnip bulbs and some greens out of it early in the season before it got really hot. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (blue porterweed). Nicely textured leaves, small purplish flowers that grow on a long-lasting spike. This one worked really well for me. It not only has shade tolerance (good since I got half a day's sun), but it also good heat tolerance. Probably minded the heat the least out of everything I grew. Plus it flowered for a long time and was popular with the hummingbirds. N.B. it's invasive in some places, but I believe that it's not really invasive up north where it's cold and grown as an annual. Could be wrong about that one. I think I also tried to grow some kind of choi sum but I can't remember how well that worked. I think that's the one that got wrecked by cabbage moths. When I grew the turnips and the rat's tail radish I just checked the leaves every day to kill the eggs or the hatched caterpillars. Seemed to keep them at bay. Had a bit of an issue with leaf miners on the radish but wasn't too bad in the end. Here's the porterweed and the rat's tail radish:   Bonus picture: This guy (Charidotella bicolor, the golden tortoise beetle) stopped by my balcony one day. Convolvulaceae is the host plant for it. Just a brilliant gold bug, it was incredible to see up close. 
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May 12, 2022 03:12
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Generally temperatures are pretty mild. Western Washington is like spring/fall almost year round though it's been getting a bit more extreme in past years and we might get a couple of weeks of very hot or very cold temperatures. Sounds like going from seed is definitely not the way to go for apartment living indoor plants if I'm expecting results while I'm actually living here, so thanks for that help. Maybe I should just go to Lowe's and grab what catches my eye after taking these recommendations into account.
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May 12, 2022 03:24
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Yeah the balcony space would be a better place to start things from seed, if you don't mind doing annual or annual-ish plants. Plants with an annual lifecycle are evolved to germinate, grow, and flower within a year so they'll give good results quickly. You can often save the seeds too, but of course you'll be working with a pretty small genetic pool.
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May 12, 2022 04:42
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This is probably more of a landscaping question, but I've been redoing the front of the house and there's a big blank section of dirt about 3.5-4' wide and ~5' long I'd really like to plant an ornamental tree in: I'm looking at Eastern Redbud or Kwanzan Cherry trees. I went to a local garden center and they have both in stock. This particular spot gets morning shade and afternoon sun. Is there much of a difference in the way of hardiness between the two species? With such a small spot, what would you think is the largest diameter transplant that would be successful there? The local garden center has everything from 1"-3" diameter trunks. I plan on having them take care of delivering and planting the tree. I also plan to dig out that crappy clay and rocks and have them put better soil in, as well as mulch. I know long term the sidewalk slabs might get lifted etc but I'm not really concerned about that. Given the constraints, am I overthinking this and everything is 6 to one half dozen to the other?
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May 13, 2022 03:42
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Soul Dentist posted:Is this Euonymus Japonicus? Anybody got a guess? ID app has it as "probably a box" of some sort
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May 13, 2022 03:55
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OSU_Matthew posted:This is probably more of a landscaping question, but I've been redoing the front of the house and there's a big blank section of dirt about 3.5-4' wide and ~5' long I'd really like to plant an ornamental tree in: There's a lot of redbud around here, too, which I like very much. That seems to have more branches that are much smaller on average. Our neighbors have one in their south-facing yard that's happy as a clam. Both trees seem to have no problem in 6A/B weather.
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May 13, 2022 04:26
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Jelly posted:Generally temperatures are pretty mild. Western Washington is like spring/fall almost year round though it's been getting a bit more extreme in past years and we might get a couple of weeks of very hot or very cold temperatures. I'll toss in a recommendation for spider plants. They're another easy mode option, but in my experience they produce much more noticeable growth than snake plants. Plus they are incredibly easy to propagate once they start throwing plantlets out there, which is almost as fun as starting from seed. I started with 3 plants in like a 5-inch pot back in October, and now those plants are all in their own bigger pots and I've got a second generation established from each one even after I gave a bunch away. It sounds like I've got quite a bit more exposure in my apartment than you do, but I have yet to find a window they haven't done at least ok in.
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May 13, 2022 07:43
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OSU_Matthew posted:This is probably more of a landscaping question, but I've been redoing the front of the house and there's a big blank section of dirt about 3.5-4' wide and ~5' long I'd really like to plant an ornamental tree in: i think you'd be ok w a 3" trunk but the concrete around the spot will get messed up within like 10 years, thats a tight opening (:giggity:) are you sold on a tree? without seeing the rest of it i feel like a shrubby type thing might look more proportional
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May 13, 2022 11:18
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BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:are you sold on a tree? without seeing the rest of it i feel like a shrubby type thing might look more proportional Something like a Heptacodium miconioides would be nice and proportional if it was pruned appropriately, or one of the upright cultivars of Amelanchier alnifolia.
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May 13, 2022 11:48
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Hirayuki posted:My parents planted a Kwanzan in our north-facing backyard when I was a kid; it probably reached the roof of our quad-level before it rotted from the inside maybe...thirty years later? But that trunk got HUGE, which could be an issue in that space. Awesome, thanks! I forgot to specify this is zone 6A, so that's really good to know. BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:i think you'd be ok w a 3" trunk but the concrete around the spot will get messed up within like 10 years, thats a tight opening (:giggity:) Yeah, I'm thinking I might try eventually cutting a relief joint of the concrete in the driveway so it can lift up around there without taking out the rest of the drive. More than happy to fix concrete and have a nice tree, I hate having so much hardscape, but it's a tight lot and I had to compromise the space to put in a driveway. I'm pretty sold on a tree because the house is about 15' back, and my office is up on the second story right behind, which gets kinda hot in the afternoon sun baking it. A little bit of shade from the west would be a huge quality of life improvement imho, plus I think a tree would frame the lot nicely. This fall I'm going to put a dutch garden bulb variety in the elevated planter I'm building behind that spot. Wallet posted:Something like a Heptacodium miconioides would be nice and proportional if it was pruned appropriately, or one of the upright cultivars of Amelanchier alnifolia. Those both look really nice, thank you for the suggestion! I'm going to head over to the garden center later today and ask about both of those and the trees and see what they have For thread content, have some photos of last years plants and landscaping: Side Garden - lambs ear, pawpaw trees, hostas, ferns, oak leaf hydrangea bush:  Volunteer Cedar that random started growing in the retaining wall along with stringy stonecrop:  Some Zinnias I sprinkled from seed pods my mom gave me alongside some Comet and Centennial Hops in a flower bed I cobbled together with recycled bricks I dug up on the property:  Some Tiger Lilies I just transplanted from my mom. She got the seeds from her mom, who got them from her mom in turn   It's all small and a multi year work in progress, I just really like plants and am loving building new beds to have more 
Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 18:26 on May 13, 2022 |
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May 13, 2022 16:24
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Looks nice! The place I moved into last winter is kind of a mess landscape/garden wise. I think I need to make peace with a lot of it looking like poo poo for many years until I can slowly tame the beds again.
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May 13, 2022 21:14
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OSU_Matthew posted:Awesome, thanks! I forgot to specify this is zone 6A, so that's really good to know. Your garden is super. I especially like how you're hiding the AC unit. I have bad (good?) news about what those hops are about to do to it. you can definitely train them to grow horizontally, but you'll still want about 12-20' of space for those bines.
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May 13, 2022 21:27
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Jhet posted:Your garden is super. I especially like how you're hiding the AC unit. I have bad (good?) news about what those hops are about to do to it. you can definitely train them to grow horizontally, but you'll still want about 12-20' of space for those bines. Thanks! I see what exactly you're saying, the Comet rhizome really exploded this year, though the Centennial has been a bit slower to put out. I need to trim some shoots like two weeks ago. Fortunately the perspective on the photo is just catterwampused, the hops are planted decently away from the condenser. I trained the Comet up along some twine and T-Posts, and the Centennial up to the arch on the right:  Obligatory hops photos:   Eeyo posted:Looks nice! The place I moved into last winter is kind of a mess landscape/garden wise. I think I need to make peace with a lot of it looking like poo poo for many years until I can slowly tame the beds again. Thanks! It's taken about six years to put things in and get it mostly under control. Even so, I'm still fighting wild onions every spring and fall. Those are the weeds that truly drive me up the wall, and I feel like a madman furiously clawing away at the dirt with my bare hands to get the stupid bulbs out as I see the bastards come up. I suspect my neighbors probably think I'm insane. Speaking of insanity, I went to the garden center and after a good long look at the trees and shrubs as well as talking with the lady there, I settled on a Kwanzan Cherry Blossom!  Altogether spent 666$ on Friday the 13th   I feel like I need to bury a pentagram under the tree for good fortune or something
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May 14, 2022 05:03
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Flowering cherries are awesome trees. Hardy as gently caress too.
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May 14, 2022 05:44
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I. M. Gei posted:Flowering cherries are awesome trees. Hardy as gently caress too. (for about 20-25 years)
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May 14, 2022 10:38
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Ok Comboomer posted:(for about 20-25 years) Serious question, what is the District of Columbia doing to maintain the cherry trees donated in 1912 that are still kicking? Proactive trimming? Luck?
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May 14, 2022 12:32
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OSU_Matthew posted:Serious question, what is the District of Columbia doing to maintain the cherry trees donated in 1912 that are still kicking? Proactive trimming? Luck? Employing world class arborists I would imagine. Brown university has a collection of American elms that survived the blight and they spend an incredible amount of money keeping them healthy.
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May 14, 2022 12:34
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OSU_Matthew posted:Serious question, what is the District of Columbia doing to maintain the cherry trees donated in 1912 that are still kicking? Proactive trimming? Luck? I have no idea same thing goes with cherry bonsai I see these gorgeous trees. I lust for my own. And then everyone’s like “oh yeah cherry trees and willows have naturally short lifespans and become ridiculously sensitive to anything + everything after like 15-20 years and die. If you’re not a pro and you want flowering trees just stick to like azaleas and crabapples” and then I go spend my money on hinoki cypresses instead
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May 14, 2022 12:37
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BigFactory posted:Employing world class arborists I would imagine. Brown university has a collection of American elms that survived the blight and they spend an incredible amount of money keeping them healthy. In retrospect that was a really stupid question wasn't it? I was hoping there was some practical stuff/one weird trick arborists don't want us to know that I could do to prolong the longevity because I'm a dumbass and have had the most luck with plants that more or less look after themselves E: It didn't even occur to me to check the expected lifespan, I just figured most trees kept going so long as their conditions were good and they weren't pruned stupidly to pool water and rot the inside. poo poo, should've gotten the redbud or something else Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 13:50 on May 14, 2022 |
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May 14, 2022 13:46
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I'd love to have a flowering cherry for my yard but in my bits of research I never came across one that can cut it in 9b. At least we have my neighbor's bradford pear for their flowers (  )
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May 14, 2022 14:23
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I think I might have the only two healthy Bradford pears in the whole world: They need a ton of thinning out and to be trimmed up a hair but they are huge and sturdy and won't even drop a twig in 50 knot wind. Unfortunately they do smell like poo poo and drop gross fruit but here's a neighbor's tree from that same windstorm:  It may help that they are original Bradford and not the hybridized Callery versions that grow wild but not much. I can't wait until I can tear them down and open the southeast side of my house to sunlight.
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May 14, 2022 15:36
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OSU_Matthew posted:E: It didn't even occur to me to check the expected lifespan, I just figured most trees kept going so long as their conditions were good and they weren't pruned stupidly to pool water and rot the inside. poo poo, should've gotten the redbud or something else
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May 14, 2022 15:42
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Soul Dentist posted:It may help that they are original Bradford and not the hybridized Callery versions that grow wild but not much. I can't wait until I can tear them down and open the southeast side of my house to sunlight. Top work them sumbitches with edible pear scions.
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May 14, 2022 16:42
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Fair, but I think the Bradfords are at the end of their expected life so I'm gonna need to pull em soonish
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May 14, 2022 17:29
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I really hope I live to see the day some bougie plant pushers blow millions on artisanal moon pumice to kill their expensive plants in https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03334-8 PDF for the paywalled: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03334-8.pdf tl;dr: the leading experts of growing plants in space spent 11 years begging NASA for some moon dirt. They finally got their hands on 12g of the stuff and grew some arabidopsis in microassay wells, with what I think are relatively expected results--they germinated but they def didn't like it
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May 14, 2022 22:12
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Has anyone dealt with common buckthorn removal? Just ID'd it in my yard, I've got one tree (probably 15-ish feet high) and suckers around the perimeter of the house. For the tree I'll cut it down in the fall and apply herbicide to the stump. However, what's the best way to deal with suckers? The previous owners just cut down some buckthorns a while ago, but apparently when you cut them down they just pop up suckers. I've got a bunch of small, ~1' sprouts clustered in various areas that are tied into bigger roots, which were presumably from a big bush at some point. I can pull up the suckers, but it's pretty hard since they're all tied into a pretty big root system, and there's no way I'll get out the roots.
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May 15, 2022 01:53
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