What's new in your garden this year?
 

So what's new in your garden this year?

I'm trying some pink Knockout roses in front...they say that they hardly get diseases. I'm also trying lavender and rosemary; the rosemary at school blooms all through the winter.

Has anybody had any luck with heath?

After ten years of my mother trying to grow a crepe myrtle, she gave up. For some stupid reason, I've decided to pick up the torch.

Realize first that I have not one, but two brown thumbs. I can kill silk flowers! On the other hand, I have been known to start a few rose bushes via RootTone and mason jars. So, this is a major undertaking for me. Oh, I also have neighbors who are such maniacs about their yard that not only has it been reseeded this spring, but I've watched them pluck ONE blade of grass that somehow offended their yard. The urge to grow dandilions & wild violets was quite strong, indeed!

I've picked out the crepe myrtle that I think my yard can handle, and will pick it up in two weeks. I will have the transplant hole all mulched and ready to receive said crepe myrtle. It's in the sunniest part of the yard, not exactly where I want it, but where it stands the best chance. You'll probably see this listed in the Prayer Concerns of our forum the day it's planted!

I'm also trying the groundcover roses on my hillside!

Oh, I hear you about the neighbors! We're surrounded by retirees who either have lawn services or spend 23 of 24 hours in their yards. Then there's um, us. I'd dearly love to have a beautiful garden but hey, with a job and all these kids, something has to give.

The neighbors are probably horrified by all the touch football games and multi-cheerleader back handspring practices in our front yard. If they ever find out I have a doctorate in horticulture, I'll crawl under the porch.

I have crepe myrtles all around my back yard. I swear I never do anything to them and they bloom every year. I just ignore them. I am not a yard-work person per se, so it's just a miracle that they grow at all.

Honey, I can top that. I have killed silk greenery!!!
Silver

And you're sure we weren't separated at birth?!


I am really, really worried about this crepe myrtle thing! I've had one nursery not LET me buy one! And they are just so beautiful! FWIW, what finally let a seller realize I meant business was that I have a Mountain Laurel on the side of my house which is literally taller than the house! Sending the photo was a great idea!

I'm growing some random ass tree that just sprouted in the dirt in my very small backyard. Damn thing is growing like a weed. I have no idea what kind it is. Bout 15 feet tall now tho.

I put down some new bulbs last fall, so I had plenty of daffodils earlier this spring. :)

A previous owner of my house did a beautiful job in the garden, so I've had to do very little. Over the past few years, I've put in a few roses, some hostas, some lady's mantle, the aforementioned bulbs, and that's about it.

I mainly grow annuals, and mainly do container gardening (*#$&@#$ deer). I'm trying a new breed of tomato and several new herbs this year.

That crepe myrtle is an interesting idea. Maybe next year I'll give it a try, if I'm not too far north.

My Bamboo I got from the store is growing well.

crepe myrtle?

http://www.floridata.com/ref/l/lager_i.cfm

Darn it, I am too far north. :(

We planted quite a few things last year which are really starting to take off now. I had two peonies bloom (one little blossom each!) that we started last year from root; two of our hydrangeas are getting huge; I had a good showing of iris this spring and the hostas we separated from my grandma's garden are coming up nicely.

For containers, our peppers are finally starting to sprout (jalepeno, serrano and anaheim) and my chive is looking much better.

The newer varieties will grow (or so they say) in all 50 states. I'm literally on the border between zones 5 & 6, so you'll have to take a few more precautions, but supposedly, it can be done. This is what I have waiting for me:

http://www.lagerstroemia.com/Tuscarora1.jpg

Ooh that's pretty! :)

I'm also on the border between zones 5 & 6. I tend to err on the conservative side and stay away from anything that isn't hardy to zone 5.

Please let me know how yours works out... if they really are that hardy I may try one next year.

Those plants are so ugly. :o

They look nice, but are overrated. I have one in my front yard. They're ok if they are out in the middle of the yard, but if they are by a sidewalk or drive they are real messy. Seems as if at any time of the year they are dropping or shedding stuff and they stain the concrete.

If I had a decent sized yard These are some of the thing I'd have in it....


http://andromeda.cavehill.uwi.edu/Pa...m1%205inch.JPG

http://andromeda.cavehill.uwi.edu/Aq...lant%20use.JPG

http://www.tradeaplant.com.au/Conten...nsplaters2.jpg


http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/shoyak...24Hibiscus.jpg

You can have the palms, ya just gotta take care of them. It looks like shit to see a nice palm that still has all the dead fronds hanging on it for years.

The sego palm sucks tho. All sharp and people always forget how fast they grow and put them right by their front doors. Then its like ya got in a cat fight every time ya go to their house.

Sagos grow VERY slowly, they are the slowest growing of the palm trees. It takes them forever to get to any kind of real height. And if you do find them at 5ft-6ft tall....you can bet your ass that they cost somebody a lot of money.

I actually had the pleasure of working on the largest Sago Palm on record for the state of Florida at a Botanical Gardens by the name of Kannapaha. I trimmed all the spiny leaves off of it and made way for the new ones. It was one of the most beautiful trees Ive ever seen.

Ive always had a passion for Botany and an understanding of plants and their siginifcant uses. I don't know if it comes from living in Florida or what, but knowing the names of plants when I see them and knowing (if they have any) their medicinal uses always fascinated me. When an opportunity arose for me to donate my time to a Botanical Gardens center, I took it and volunteered there for a whole summer. I worked 8 hours a day, learning all the different plants, trees, flowers, to studying the turtles that layed their eggs in the turtle nesting center they had to assisting in the Harvesting of Alligator eggs on the site with the Univeristy. I had so much fun and my tan was awesome.

Here are some pics from the gardens I'm talking about where I volunteered:

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/thingstodo/kana1S.jpg

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/thingstodo/kana6S.jpg

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/thingstodo/kana4S.jpg

http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/thingstodo/kana2S.jpg

http://www.southerngardening.com/images/kbgpond1.jpg

http://www.environmentaldesigns.org/...-pool-page.jpg

http://www.environmentaldesigns.org/...al/37-page.jpg

http://www.environmentaldesigns.org/...al/38-page.jpg

This is the Palm Hammock where the oldest/largest Sago in Florida is:
http://www.kanapaha.org/gardens/palm.jpg

http://www.kanapaha.org/gardens/bamboo.jpg

http://www.kanapaha.org/gardens/rose.jpg

http://www.kanapaha.org/gardens/fern.jpg

Edited to Add:
Here's the link if any of you are interested in buying plants from them..... http://www.kanapaha.org/

We're also trying a palm outside that's supposed to be hardy for north Georgia. We've had it in a huge pot outside through the last 2 winters and it made it so we're going to plant it in the yard pretty soon. It's a pindo palm.

Yea, Pindo Palms are extremly hardy and grow VERY fast. The problem with Pindo Palms is that if you end up with a female tree you're going to have a huge mess with what is the equivilent to a female being on the rag for a palm tree. It attracts all sorts of insects during the summer months and leaves a huge mess. And I hope you like bees because they attracts bees like crazy. If not, don't plant the tree near the house or close to a door.

Here's an example of what you have to look forward to....

http://www.horticulturalconsultants....iaCapitata.jpg

Well, there are many different factors that could have contributed to your failed Pumpkin crop.

First, when are you growing/planting them? Are you doing it after all chance of another frost is gone? You need ot plant them after the danger of frost has passed.

Secondly,what type of soil are you planting them in? You need to have good soil to help ensure a good crop of pumpkin if the weather there isnt favorable. We get away with having shitty soil in Florida because we usually have excellent weather for growing pumpkin and squash during their particular growing season.

You need to be sure to give them plenty of space as well. Keep the rows about 8ft apart and keep the "hills" 4 to 8 ft apart in the rows. Also, be sure to water them slow and deep.

It should take about 4 to 6 days for the seeds to Germinate and about 90 to 120 days till harvest.

If you want really big pumkins you should allow the 1st and maybe the 2nd flowers on the vine to become pollinated and begin developing and then cut or pinch off the other flowers to only allow 1 or 2 pumkins to the vine.

If possible, the pumpkins should be started inside for a few weeks before being transplanted outside. This isn’t necessary, but works well. It’s easier to control where the vines go this way. They should be started indoors sometime in April, outdoors in mid-May.

Hope I helped.

Cashmoney.

If you cannot run over it with a Riding Lawn Mower it aint shit!:p

I am A Purest!!!!

Being the sillyheart that I am, I was excited to see the mint in my parents garden back again for another season.

My new houseplant is called a campanula.

I live in a condo so I do not have much space to plant. It stinks too because I LOVE to garden.... Even though I am a Interior Designer, I took a bunch of landscape classes and LOVED them... I only have a small flwoer box outside my house and on my back patio I am putting a bunch of containers out. We'll see how that goes, I am not so sure about container planting for the veggies I have. I planted Carrots, Onions, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Green Peppers, and green beans.

I also planted these flowers out front.
Malva ,Trumpet Creeper,Heliotrope, Poppy 'Bombast Rose, Lily of the Nile, Radio Calendula, Chinese Bell Flower, Sweet Pea, and Cathedral Bells - Cup & Saucer Vine

We'll see how they grow. I can't wait to buy a house with a nice backyard. I am going to plant so many flowers... I love to see flowers, they are so beautiful. I may not totally have the green thumb, but I am learning and trying a lot of new things.


Here's what a few of them will look like.

This is the Malva http://www.prestogallery.com/graphic...d10884_th1.jpg

Trumpet Creeper
http://www.prestogallery.com/graphics/35_pd11376_1.jpg

Radio Calendulahttp://www.prestogallery.com/graphic...d25094_th1.jpg

Sweet Peahttp://www.prestogallery.com/graphics/35_pd9517_th1.jpg

If anyone likes to garden and likes to plant seeds over the winter so by spring they are ready to plant, the place I got all of my seeds is great. They send you info on all the seeds and instructions and they are good priced and very friendly.
www.seedsandmore.net

I'm trying to grow two varieties of tomatoes on my patio, we'll see how it goes. The patio doesn't get a lot of sunlight because of all the dang trees but I love tomatoes so I'm giving it a whirl. It might work if I can keep the stupid squirrels from eating the plants. I hate squirrels.

i have a bunch of flowers from Hawaii that a friend sent me. I'm trying to grow them out here in Nevada. The packet says they just wont grow in Arizona... and im not Arizona so i think they should work. Pretty Bird of Paradises, Macadamian (sp?) nuts, those big hibiscus plants ... i'm excited. The most I've ever been able to grow was a spider plant :rolleyes: I'm not too much of a green thumb. .. I'm excited though, they are so beautiful in Hawaii, so hopefully they'll look beautiful in sunny Las Vegas! ;)

What's new in my garden? Well... the garden. ;) I moved to a new house last fall.

I've put down some bulbs in what had been an empty flowerbed, and re-seeded the lawn, which was in sorry shape - the previous owners did NOTHING. Other than that, I'm going to wait and see what appears.

I'm also doing container gardening again. We have deer here too, so this is the only way I can grow veggies and herbs without the deer getting at them. I'm growing tomatoes, onions, basil, mint, cilantro, chives, and rosemary, and I'm planning on putting down some cucumbers too.