Re : kalmias
- Subject: Re : kalmias
- From: G* C*
- Date: Sat, 12 May 2001 08:54:00 +0200
Susan,
I'm a bit late in reading all my messages and as nobody made any post about
yours, can I warn you about one thing : The mushroom compost is no good at
all for acid loving plants as it's alkaline.
I never use it for my rhodos and azaleas, but I prefer home made compost
(oak or beech leaves).
Perhaps I did not understand your posting and the kalmias are not growing in
the mushroom compost? Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy their flowering.
Chantal
Ermenonville, france, zone 7/8
----------
>De : Susan Campanini <campanin@ntx1.cso.uiuc.edu>
>À : "'perennials'" <perennials@mallorn.com>
>Objet : kalmias
>Date : Jeu 10 mai 2001 16:55
>
> Last fall I posted some questions about growing kalmias in the
>Midwest and got some encouragement and some hesitations both. Well, I've
>done it and we'll see what happens.
> This spring I ordered three small young inexpensive starts from
>Bluestone in Ohio (Olympic Fire, Galaxy, and Jayne's), figuring that small
>ones might adapt bettter to the extremes we have here in zone 5b.
> They are in new beds in my north yard in areas of high light all day
>but not much direct sun and a fair amount of wind protection. The beds are
>slightly raised (logs around the edges) and are based on a mix of leaf and
>mushroom compost.
> Especially for the kalmias, I made a small raised bed-within-a-bed
>by making a square of big logs, planting the kalmia flat on top of the bed,
>and then adding material to build up a small mound around the root base.
>For this material, I used some really rich loose leaf mold from our own oak
>leaves (rather than the bulkier mix we get from the landscape recycling
>center in town) combined with quite a bit of a heavy nonalkaline grit
called
>red granite grit. It was available for the first time from recycling, and
I
>was happy to get it since it is heavier than turkey grit but not alkaline
>like pea gravel--the two usual options.
> My reasoning is this: the kalmias are supposed to need to be
>planted high and well-drained with good root aeration and acid soil, but
>they need to be kept moist and cool also. We water the raised beds
>regularly. I also placed a large flat rock on the side of the plant base in
>the direction that heat and wind come from, hoping to keep a cooler root
>run. Wish me luck :)
>
>Susan and David in Urbana, Illinois, zone 5b
>
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
>message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PERENNIALS
