Re: hi, a few questions....
- Subject: Re: [SG] hi, a few questions....
- From: m*
- Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 01:59:35 -0400
Hi, Marge, so nice to hear from you......was hoping that you would find
this and send on some ideas. Thanks so much! I hope you are having a
wonderful summer, and that your gardens are blooming. I am really
enjoying having a combination of sun and shade in my new garden. Most
things are doing very well, and although the area that I have planted is
not all that big, I find that I can easily spend six hours or so
deadheading, weeding, and just general puttering. Being near a lot of
trees means that there is a constant need for weeding. Anyway, it is
lots of fun.
I was quite pleased....today a friend from Cambridge, where I used to
live, stopped by to visit and brought me some "grandchildren." I had
given her some plants from my first garden, and she brought me some
divisions from these original plants. Nice to have them come full
circle.
I was very interested to see your answer about the nests....it helps to
explain something I noticed....at least, I think it does. Yhe soil in
this area seemed VERY dry and did not look at all like the rest of the
soil, which has had composted manure added to it. Does that make sense?
Take care, and again, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
marilyn
Marge Talt wrote:
> Well, Marilyn..FWIW..
>
> 1) You can plant container grown plants any time the ground isn't
> frozen. I've been planting Hydrangeas in this awful heat and they're
> doing fine. I puddle mine in, however and make sure they don't get
> dry.
>
> Usually, you'll get purple when you buy a blue flowered form and your
> soil can't decide whether it's acid or alkaline...like you have acid
> soil but amended it with lots of compost and composted cow manure or
> something.
>
> 2) Ants don't damage plants unless they mound soil up on them when
> excavating their nests...or build a nest directly under something and
> you don't notice and don't water it - ant nests provide very sharp
> drainage:-) Do not worry about them. Fire ants are another story,
> but don't think you have those?
>
> 3) Could be your soil is too loose to support the weight of the
> flower stalk? Where mine seed into an area with pure rotted
> woodchips a foot deep or so, they will tend to lean in full flower -
> they get very big in that "soil" and simply don't have enough weight
> on their roots to anchor them in. Some do this even in clay...just
> seems to depend on the plant and whether it develops a strong enough
> stem to stand up to the weight of its flowers. Particularly happens
> after a heavy rain...those flowers just get too heavy for the plants.
>
> You can simply stake them if this is a consistent problem. Or
> scatter seeds around shrubs so they grow up through them and let the
> shrubs support them.
>
> Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
> mtalt@hort.net
> Editor: Gardening in Shade
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> ----------
> > From: marilyn <marimuse@earthlink.net>
> >
> > Hi, very quiet around here lately, guess everyone is in the
> > garden....but I have a few questions, so am hoping that someone
> will see
> > them...
> >
> > 1. I want to plant a few hydrangeas under a mountain laurel. When
> is
> > the best time to plant these? Also, I really love the ones that
> are
> > purple more than blue....do I buy a particular one, or is this all
> done
> > by amendments to the soil? And if amendments, what exactly should
> I do
> > to get this marvelous color?
> >
> > 2. I just was about to plant something, when I found that there
> was a
> > swarm of ants- some with and some without wings....at least, they
> look
> > like ants. Millions of them! What do I do? and will they harm my
> > plants in any way? They seem to have nibbled at me a bit before I
> > realized that they were there.
> >
> > 3. I am having some problems with my foxgloves. I really love
> them,
> > and have seen them in other people's gardens standing up straight
> and
> > tall....but mine, the minute the flowers start to come, bend over
> and
> > lie on the ground. Any thoughts on what the problem may be?
> >
> > Thanks, and hope everyone is having a terrific gardening season!
> >
> > marilyn
