ABC Wednesday - K Kousa Dogwood Cornus kousa ‘Ed Mezitt’
Oriental or Japanese Dogwood is one of my favorite trees. Not only is it beautiful it has almost none of the cultural problems associated with our native Flowering Dogwood, Cornus florida. There are many cultivars of Kousa each with it special attributes but all have wonderful flowers, unusual fruit, exfoliating bark and good fall color. There seems to a little confusion on some of the cultivars as they maybe from the same gene pool. . . .
Yesterday was the day I became famous ... I think. I got home at about midday and checked the blog. There were a few messages to post, and then I thought I'd have a look at my statistics. They were well over what I'd normally expect for the whole day. Odd. Monday's usually a good day, but not that good. . . .
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Posted by Sue Swift Reblogged by Old Roses to blogs on 2008-04-03, 06:24:53
When I was in high school, my mother handed me a mail order bulb catalog and told me I could pick something out to plant. (I guess I had done all right by the daffodils and she wanted to encourage me...
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on Apr 1, 2008, 7:58PM
Posted by Kathy Purdy Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs, soil on 2008-04-03, 06:24:32
There are certain questions that bind us together as gardeners and Why doesnt my hydrangea bloom? is in the top 5. Generally when hydrangea fail to bloom it either...
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on Apr 1, 2008, 9:01PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to hydrangea on 2008-04-03, 06:17:40
Thank you, Karen, for hosting me today! This blog tour celebrates the launch of Nightshade, the sixteenth China Bayles mystery. China (for those who haven’t yet been introduced to this mystery series) is a former criminal defense attorney who has opted for a quieter life as the owner of an herb shop in Pecan Springs TX. Each book in the series includes a signature herb that has something to do with the story, the characters, and or/the themes of the book. In this post, I’ll be telling you something about the herbs in Books 7, 8, and 9. (For posts on other books, check out the tour calendar.). . .
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Posted by Rurality Reblogged by Old Roses to books on 2008-04-03, 06:17:32
It may seem odd to admit to this, but every spring at around this time, I begin to wonder if my garden will completely fail to appear. Especially this year, when much of the beds are covered with a matted carpet of leaves and we really don’t know how much havoc was wreaked by the roofers when they cleaned up. I know they pulled a sweet autumn clematis out, chopped the mock orange to hell, and they scraped away a layer from almost every bed in order to make sure most of the nails and debris were gathered up. . ..
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Posted by EAL Reblogged by Old Roses to plants, spring on 2008-04-03, 06:16:14
I messed up the sequence again using the multiple photo uploader. I have to remember that the last photo of the five entered becomes the first photo of the blog. Annie in Austin suggested I try moving the photos using Internet Explorer by click and grab but it didn't work. I'll leave it as it is and will try to do better next time.
This is the early red tulip in the previous posting, fully open now. This seems to be a specie tulip. It is very early and the flowers are not very large but it is one of my favorites. . . .
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on Apr 1, 2008, 10:01PM
Posted by Ki Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers, spring on 2008-04-03, 06:15:15
Anybody know what this is? It's really pretty. I haven't seen one like this before. The body is about 1/2 inch long (13 mm.) and the wingspan is about an inch (27 mm.). Found it dead on the floor. I didn't kill it. . . .
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on Apr 1, 2008, 10:37PM
Posted by La Gringa Reblogged by Old Roses to insects on 2008-04-03, 06:13:14
I dodged raindrops and got quite a bit accomplished today. Go me!
I repaired the cracks in the pond stream. I hope I got them good enough. This winter was a real pisser on the concrete. We've never had a problem before, but this year beat the crap out of it. The stream wasn't the only thing to heave - every freaking perennial I have is sitting a few inches higher than it was in the fall. . .
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Posted by Tina Reblogged by Old Roses to weeds on 2008-04-03, 06:03:21
Here's a picture of the one time we had foxgloves bloom in the yard. The next year, nothing. So I put in a dozen more last spring as seedlings, and now, a year later-- it appears we will have blooms again. Here, via Michele over at Garden Rant, is a good explanation of how foxgloves (biennials) work in the garden. And it's looking like, if I want to be sure I'll have blooms next year, I should plant more seedlings now. Just to be sure. (Our winter climate being more hospitable than hers).
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Posted by LisaBee Reblogged by Old Roses to foxgloves on 2008-04-03, 06:03:20
In this box, I'm growing heritage seedlings of peas and beans, (thanks Rebsie!) and several varieties of sunflowers and cabbages. They were all coming along quite nicely. I put the box outside every day to give them sunshine and outdoor life. In the evening, I put them back inside.
Yesterday I watched another episode of Recreating Eden. If you’ve never seen the show, and you get the channel (VisionTV here in Canada), I highly recommend watching. Some of the episodes are about grand, formal, meticulously groomed gardens, and some are community plots or back yard gardeners. The show’s official website states. . .
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on Apr 1, 2008, 9:37AM
Posted by Amy Reblogged by Old Roses to shows on 2008-04-03, 06:03:14
My childhood is expressly remembered reaching into the limbs of our pineapple guava trees and filling our faces with this gorgeous fruit. The supply never seemed to wane nor did our appetites, and we would often chase down the plumpest specimens to gorge on.
So it was with fond memories that I purchased our own guava tree and planted it in the backyard. This feijoa, a member of the Myrtaceae family and a resident tropical fruit, was perfectly suited to our garden. The climate, the soil, the annual rainfall - all good. . ..
Gardening, by nature isn't known for dealing out a lot of instant gratification (well, maybe trays of pansies from Walmart might be an exception). There are even some things in the garden that require almost a lifetime's work: take my dream of a hillside covered with Adonis amurensis. . . .
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Posted by IBOY Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-04-03, 06:00:44
The big April Fool's Day joke here in Minnesota was last night's snow storm. As Spouse and I watched the Twins beat the Angels 3-2 in the home opener, the snow raged outside the windows. This morning, this is what we saw.
The front yard
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on Apr 1, 2008, 2:26PM
Posted by Talbin Reblogged by Old Roses to weather on 2008-04-03, 06:00:42
Does this look familiar? Now is when I officially might start repeating myself - exactly one year ago tomorrow I wrote Blithewold’s first ever blog post - I kid you not. It’s Blithewold’s anniblogiversary!! And it’s truly déjà vu all over again because it looks for all the world like we’re on the same track as last year. Here’s my first post - should I just say “ditto”? This morning a few regular Deadheads, a couple of new faces and Joel potted up about 200 cuttings and transplanted at least as many seedlings. (What would we do without the volunteers?)
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on Apr 1, 2008, 3:50PM
Posted by Kris Reblogged by Old Roses to blogs on 2008-04-03, 06:00:41
I've got two soft cuttings of Jostaberry that have been sitting in water for a few weeks. They just began to sprout roots and the buds swelled up and have begun to burst with green. I decided it was time they get a pot in the incubator...which is just my small area where baby plants stay until they are big enough to get a permanent home in my yard. So, what is a jostaberry? Glad you asked. It's commonly thought of as a cross between a blackcurrent and a gooseberry. Here's what that online encyclopedia says (it's actually accurate this time).
My Misty Challengerblueberry cutting is in the family of southern highbush blueberries. It's been here in this pot for a few weeks and is sprouting leaves from the buds that were dormant. These are soft cuttings. This variety of southern highbush blueberry is good for Florida because it only requires 150 chill hours. Chill hours are an accumulation of hours where temps are between 30-45 degrees F.
Here's what IFAS has to say about the Misty Blueberry (scroll to bottom). If you live in Florida, check out the IFAS website to see how many chill hours your zone gets. Also check out Gardening in Central Florida for lots of good info on blueberries.
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Posted by ldybug Reblogged by Old Roses to berries on 2008-04-03, 05:57:32
via The Compost Bin on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
