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My favorite tulip is Princess Irene because they smell like tropical citrus.
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Apr 21, 2023 05:29
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Flowers with a color gradient are just so good. Those orange tulips look like a sunset.
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Apr 21, 2023 17:48
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Just put my grapes outside and it's gonna fuckin snow tomorrow. 
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Apr 22, 2023 01:05
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Thats wining
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Apr 22, 2023 01:07
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I planted a Japanese plum tree the day before WI did its usual spring thing and sprung a freeze, a snow, and then multiple days of low temps. I sure hope the poor guy makes it.
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Apr 22, 2023 02:54
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They're the first things to bloom in Japan (as early as January? that's when I've seen them), so I feel like it'll be okay.
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Apr 22, 2023 04:04
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That Old Ganon posted:Just put my grapes outside and it's gonna fuckin snow tomorrow. I hired a guy to redo the outside of my growing shed and put all my plants except the drug ones outside because he said it would take two days…instead it took 8 days and this is the second night it’s snowed in that time
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Apr 22, 2023 05:24
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Christ, what an rear end in a top hat.
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Apr 22, 2023 06:57
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Hirayuki posted:They're the first things to bloom in Japan (as early as January? that's when I've seen them), so I feel like it'll be okay. I know I've seen them blooming in February around Tokyo and Kyoto but this is in Wisconsin (colder than Hokkaido). All the leaves have died back from the frost. Still, fingers crossed it pulls through (though it's chances at surviving next winter are low, I'm outside of it's hardiness zone but I'm trying to see if I can do enough to keep it alive in 5a... So far I'm not doing great)
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Apr 22, 2023 16:15
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If I'm going to buy a couple of apple trees, and I choose carefully what varieties are good for my 4B, is there a big benefit to buying from a local nursery for $130/tree vs. Home Depot at $30/tree? I support the heck out of my local nurseries, but the price differences on large, mass-market stuff like apple trees is a bit too tempting unless there's a terrible flaw here.
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Apr 22, 2023 18:03
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There's a big, big benefit. Depending on how long it's been at the box store, it has probably been overwatered or underwatered for a lot of its life; if it's been there a long time it may well be root-bound, which is hard for a tree to recover from. But even leaving that aside, the box store is buying from the cheapest vendor. A nursery you trust is going to be buying from known-quality growers. A good grower doesn't just stick the bud in the rootstock, then water until grown. A good grower is keeping an eye on the quality of their scions, switching rootstocks when a better one comes along, and pruning appropriately for a fruit tree. A young fruit tree needs a lot of space between its branches so that they get maximum sunlight and don't rub together. It also needs, as much as possible, to have the branches pointing away from each other. When you look at a fruit tree in a nursery, it shouldn't look like a bush. It should have clearly-defined branches separated by air. I ordered my last apple tree from Raintree Nursery (sold out for the year, sorry.) It has multiple advantages that you won't see on the big-box lot. It's dwarf (key for my small yard), it's self-fertile (many apples require you to plant two different varieties in order to set fruit). It's an improved cultivar of the famous 19th-century apple "Cox's Orange Pippin"; unlike its predecessor, it's not only self-fertile but has better disease resistance. If I went to a big-box store and they had a Cox's Orange Pippin (doubtful) it would be the old cultivar, not the improved one Raintree is selling. Furthermore, my gardener asked where I'd bought it, because he said it was the best-pruned tree he'd ever seen coming out of a nursery. eta: If your local nursery is great, they'll also be able to tell you which fruit varieties to buy, because you can't pollinate a late-flowering variety with an early-flowering variety. eeta: I actually prefer to order fruit trees by mail. A fruit tree is shipped bare-root (no dirt) during the cool season of the year, and then somebody sticks it in a pot and waters it. When you buy a tree in a pot you get to see the leaves and flowers, but you also are seeing a plant whose roots have been clipped to fit the pot. If you cut out the middleman and order bare-root trees yourself, you're closer to the Home Depot price than to the nursery price, have access to many more varieties, and can dig a hole in the ground as big as the root system of the tree. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 18:32
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Thanks for a super informative post! If even the friendly local nurseries are only selling them in pots, it sounds like I should also pass on those and either order online or drive a couple hours upstate to places that sell bare-root?
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Apr 22, 2023 19:44
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Honestly, I'm a big ol' fruit nerd, and your local nursery can do you fine. e: Ignore me, because I'm thinking like a Californian. Nurseries are probably still shipping bare-root things to New York. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 19:57 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 19:54
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I'm in southern Minnesota, zone 4a. It looks like bare root season here is RIGHT NOW but I'm moving next week to a home on a couple of sunny acres and was excited to get some trees planted. By the time I get moved and have time to actually focus on this it's probably going to be a couple weeks too late for bare-root. Local nursery is probably alright even if they have them in pots? How can I tell if they are doing it right vs. doing the same crap as home depot but more expensive? Just because they're local doesn't mean they're good, I imagine.
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Apr 22, 2023 20:00
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Lakitu7 posted:I'm in southern Minnesota, zone 4a. It looks like bare root season here is RIGHT NOW but I'm moving next week to a home on a couple of sunny acres and was excited to get some trees planted. By the time I get moved and have time to actually focus on this it's probably going to be a couple weeks too late for bare-root. My advice has someone who just moved a year ago and had all kinds of plans for the outdoors is to follow the common advice, grit your teeth, and wait a year regardless. Even after just one year here, I don't have a large backyard and I live in a city but I understand so much more about drainage, sun light patterns, and of course I have a much clearer picture (discussed with my partner) of what I would want the land to look like anyway. View it as an opportunity to learn more about where you want the trees to go.
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Apr 22, 2023 20:21
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Local nursery should be fine; like I said, I'm a big ol' fruit nerd. The things I look for are: 1. Healthy leaves. That means green, without insect holes, not wilted, and not browning at the tips. Apple leaves aren't bright green, but they should be green. You don't want brown dots, a sign of apple scab. 2. The bark to be in one piece, with no to few scrapes. 3. Ideally, the tree should look "clean": no branches that are touching each other, no branches that are going to be touching each other in a couple of years, and branches that are distributed evenly around the trunk instead of mostly being on one side or the other. It would be nice if it were pre-pruned so that there's a couple of inches of air separating branches, but your nursery may or may not do that. A good nursery may provide planting sheets; if so, follow the instructions. Most critical: nursery staff who know trees. You should be able to ask "Is this self-fertile?" without their going blank-eyed; it's okay if they have to check the tag, but they should know what the question means, or refer you to somebody who does. If it isn't self-fertile, congratulations, you need two apple trees. This is not a problem. This is an awesome opportunity to have more apples. If it isn't self-fertile, ask "What is the best apple to pollinate this with?" They should be able to look that up. Stay away from standard trees, if you even see one. A standard apple grows to 30 feet tall, and you need machinery to harvest anything but windfalls. A semi-dwarf grows to 12-18 feet, depending on the rootstock; you won't need a cherry picker, but you will need a ladder. Most commercial orchards now plant either heavily pruned semi-dwarf or dwarf, because it's much less faster to pick if your workers stay on the ground. Dave Wilson Nursery, another grower I highly recommend, suggests a backyard orchard where you never let any tree grow higher than you can reach from the ground. (BTW, if your nursery trees have Dave Wilson labels, you're in excellent hands.) For maximum beauty, I'd pick a semi-dwarf; for maximum fruit, a dwarf. This is because most of the semi-dwarf apples are going to be outside your reach, which means they're going to fall, hit the ground, and bruise. e: If you can get to either of these easily, I bet they'd treat you right. The Apple Tree Guy in Carlton, or Gilby's Orchard and Nursery(may be mail order only, but you can call and ask about local pickup). Both of those nurseries are going to know what grows and doesn't grow well in Minnesota, and what's right for your yard. ee: I normally vet all mail-order garden sites on davesgarden.com, which will warn you away from notorious ripoff artists like Gurney's. The two nurseries above are too small to have reviews. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Apr 22, 2023 |
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Apr 22, 2023 20:40
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Arsenic Lupin posted:The things I look for are: I'm looking to get some apple/fruit trees next year. I visited my local nursery today (which is actually one of the largest garden centers in the mid Atlantic that I am very lucky to live by!) and they checked all these boxes. Their answer to the pollination question was just "any tree that blooms at the same time", and they had the times listed on cards by every tree, so question answered I guess. Arsenic Lupin posted:It has multiple advantages that you won't see on the big-box lot. It's dwarf (key for my small yard), it's self-fertile (many apples require you to plant two different varieties in order to set fruit). It's an improved cultivar of the famous 19th-century apple "Cox's Orange Pippin"; unlike its predecessor, it's not only self-fertile but has better disease resistance. They only had the old cultivar of Orange Pippin though, based on the tag saying it's not self-fertile  .
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Apr 23, 2023 21:39
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Lakitu7 posted:If I'm going to buy a couple of apple trees, and I choose carefully what varieties are good for my 4B, is there a big benefit to buying from a local nursery for $130/tree vs. Home Depot at $30/tree? I support the heck out of my local nurseries, but the price differences on large, mass-market stuff like apple trees is a bit too tempting unless there's a terrible flaw here. Goes for anything, but you're going to put way way way more than $100 of your labor into growing and harvesting trees, so why shortchange yourself? At least by me, Home Depot doesn't even pay to keep forklift ops working after the contractor rush is over; they're certainly not paying for a qualified arborist.
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Apr 24, 2023 04:48
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Okay, I think you all have convinced me not to buy these from home depot, but my journey continues. Some things seem to suggest that dwarf are less cold hardy than semi-dwarf (seems important in 4B; we're at 30 below for a few weeks/year), and pretty much everyone agrees that dwarf don't live as long. We have lots of space. I think I'm going semi-dwarf. Calling around, local nursery #1 only has potted, local nursery #2 only has full-size trees, and local nursery #3 only has semi-dwarf honeycrisps but literally nothing to pollinate them with. Overall, local is a bust. I could drive some hours, but it's hard to fit into the next few weeks with my moving schedules. Raintree is actually not "sold out" for the year, but they aren't shipping new orders until roughly 5/22, which seems pretty late to plant a bare-root plant even in Minnesota, and they're going to arrive probably while we're on vacation so that becomes a rather bad idea again. What's the goon opinion on Stark Bros? They seem to be one of the biggest names in internet fruit trees. I can get a semi-dwarf "supreme" honeycrisp and a semi-dwarf "supreme" golden delicious, both bare-root, nominally shipped this week for $130. That seems to tick all the boxes for me. Reviews on Daves Garden are not 100% perfect but about 3/4 positives reviews is pretty darn good for internet review standards. Most complaints are about stuff taking longer to ship than they say it will, which can be annoying but beats "my plants are dead and poorly grown". I think I'm going to do it?
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Apr 27, 2023 12:03
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Makes sense to me. I've planted Stark Bros myself, and they performed well. I've never planted trees in an extremely cold climate, so I think you're smart to be cautious. E: huh. This Old House thinks Honeycrisp is more disease prone than other apples. Ignore them on "plant a plum instead". But fireblight is no fun at all. Often -not always- commercial varieties require more intensive care, which professional growers have the tools and chemicals to provide. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Apr 27, 2023 |
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Apr 27, 2023 16:35
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Is it not common to go to a tree nursery in America? Maybe I'm just spoiled because I live near some good ones, but if I want a good tree I go to one and pick it out. I get the convenience of shipping, but every time I try it I am disappointed.
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Apr 27, 2023 21:51
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Dedicated tree nurseries are rare. IIRC there was only one in the entire San Francisco Bay area that was open to individual customers, as opposed to landscapers. Otherwise, you go to the tree section of an ordinary nursery. By contrast, there was at least one rose specialist, probably more, and a peony specialist. Arsenic Lupin fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Apr 27, 2023 |
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Apr 27, 2023 22:34
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I still have to fill these guys with various yard waste and bagged soil but I am so thrilled the initial weed killing and pulling, tilling, edging and un-lawning parts of the work are done. White ones will be roses. Dark ones will be berry bushes (I had little luck planting them in ground between very hungry rabbits and too much soil to acidify) Plans are to cover the hedge-side of them with native perennial flower seeds to make them look less stark and industrial. Also a low raised mound bed for my favorite annuals (snapdragons, dahlias and zinnias) along the long edge of the bed next to the edging. Please excuse my spring new-growth-less hedge murder. They needed to be cut back really hard to get straightened and shaped again. The experts assure me there will be leaves again eventually. 
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Apr 28, 2023 02:32
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That sounds both cheerful and edible.
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Apr 28, 2023 03:04
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Makes sense to me. I've planted Stark Bros myself, and they performed well. I've never planted trees in an extremely cold climate, so I think you're smart to be cautious. Thanks! I ended up submitting the order at Stark. From what I could find, most of the susceptibility of Honeycrisp to fireblight is with particular rootstocks that are all full-dwarf. With a semi-dwarf it should have a more average-level resistance.
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Apr 28, 2023 09:14
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ScamWhaleHolyGrail posted:I still have to fill these guys with various yard waste and bagged soil but I am so thrilled the initial weed killing and pulling, tilling, edging and un-lawning parts of the work are done. White ones will be roses. Dark ones will be berry bushes (I had little luck planting them in ground between very hungry rabbits and too much soil to acidify) Couple small suggestions! Berries that require special pH considerations are prime candidates for container growing, and it's easier to shield them from animals that way as well. A really great annual for your flowerbed are lupins like lupinus succulentus, they will improve the soil for the other plants around them and bees loving love them, particularly the bumblebee and carpenter bees, who are very generous pollinators compared to honey bees.
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Apr 28, 2023 09:41
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I hope I can attract all the carpenter bees, especially as berries start coming in. The "northeast all perennial mix" I grabbed has a lot of flashy versions of plants listed as ones the pollinators love so I hope it works in this spot -- a few milkweeds, aster family that bloom at different times, lupines(looking forward to these now). I'd love to have the type of yard where I could use the spindly native varieties of those plants, but this seems like the best compromise to get the variety and the color.
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Apr 28, 2023 14:53
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da fuq is this cyberpunk motherfucker The branches were all hexes and the very spikey pods were jam packed with seeds ready to ruin my day. This particular example was dead already. 
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May 1, 2023 10:37
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Jaded Burnout posted:da fuq is this cyberpunk motherfucker The structure looks a lot like an Eryngium of some kind, but it could be something else.
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May 1, 2023 16:05
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Maybe Jimson Weed - Datura stramonium. According to the internet the leaves can get you high but in a really unpleasant way.
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May 1, 2023 17:50
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Yup. Both Google Lens and inaturalist say datura/jimsonweed. Eradicate it. You don't want it in your garden, and if you're in farm country, it's poisonous to cattle and you don't want it seeding.
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May 1, 2023 18:17
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Huh. Yeah that looks like bad news. Fortunately this one seems to have died of natural causes and I dumped it in the garden waste bin spilling as few seeds as possible. I'll keep an eye out for the living version, though it may be hiding out in the many patches of nettles.
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May 1, 2023 21:10
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Life is always intense when you're with a horticulturalist. My first year in my current house I found a big ol' poison hemlock in the back garden, and those suckers are poisonous to touch as well as to eat.
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May 1, 2023 22:06
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Found this cool creeping purple petunia for my garden boxes. Hopefully it grows like a skirt outside the boxes instead of choking my other plants in the box - thats the goal at least. Untelated question: im drying my daffy and tulip bulbs now...do i trim the long roots off before storing or leave them? Real hurthling! fucked around with this message at 01:55 on May 2, 2023 |
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May 2, 2023 01:50
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Hello friends. I'm a relatively new homeowner and extremely uninformed about plant care. Over the winter, it seems some plants (I believe they might be Bloody Cranesbill?) I had in front of my house appeared to have died. Maybe I should have been brushing the snow off of them or something, but can anyone confirm these are fully dead and in need of removal? They used to look like this:  Now they look like this:   I also had some of these:  Over the winter and some very windy months, the surface of these plants basically blew away. Over a rainy weekend this appeared:  I'm guessing I need to cut away the old dead branches -- how deep do I need to go as far as removal? Finally, I had a rose bush. Is this salvageable? If so, what should I cut away?  Appreciate any advice!
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May 3, 2023 01:17
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peonies and geraniums are -deciduous- perennials, meaning they intentionally die back down to their rhizomes in winter in order to not bother spending resources trying to eke out sunlight in poo poo conditions. As long as you don't have sustained long periods of frost, they should come back. Generally you just want to clear away any of the dead foliage so the fresh stuff can grow through.
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May 3, 2023 01:40
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Your plants are doing what they are supposed to do. Cut away the dead stuff every spring and they should be fine-they all look to be putting out new growth. You don't need to go deep, just clip the dead stems at the surface or just above any green new growth. Your plants would probably be a little happier if you used bark or leaves for mulch instead of those rocks. Not only does it hold water better, it also helps give them a bit more insulation against frost. But if you like the rocks, they are clearly working well enough! Don't feel you need to change them unless you just really want to min/max your plant growing.
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May 3, 2023 02:23
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Definitely agree on the ornamental gravel/mulch; at least (if removing it is not on the table) remove a circle of it around each plant, but in a barrier to stop it 'falling back in' as it were (I'll put in a picture to show what I mean if I can find one), fertilize and mulch with something more appropriate. Cut back the dead rose shoots, fertilize well and give the new shoots some space to come up. It's strange that all the old growth looks like it died back, so I'm guessing the wind/cold was pretty bad
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May 3, 2023 05:41
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Do y'all like hostas? I want somewhere to post about my hosta collection. I'm hoping to add a few new types this year.
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May 3, 2023 15:01
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My slugs like hostas.
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