GardenArtist Posted September 2015
Gardening as therapy.
Follow
Share
Read More Close
3K Comments
Popular Questions
- I really want my grandmother to branch out--and to cut back the TV! Has anybody solved this problem?
- In the spirit of coping and adapting, let's share methods we've developed or read about to cope with sheltering in place.
- I feel soooo worn out and alone. What can I do to improve my non-existent life?
Related Questions
- Where to find a daycare program for someone that has Alzheimer's?
- Are there services/agencies for the elderly to have "outings' such as art classes or Sunday drives?
- Where can I buy large puzzles for my Dad that is blind in one eye and can barely see in the other?
- Do you have suggestions for interesting "books on tape" or CD's for a stroke survivor, former engineer and computer programmer?
Start a Discussion
October 15 - 17 is the first frost date by my records.
Onions could be planted now. Are you using onion sets or seeds? I would hold off a few weeks on the potatoes unless you mound them heavily, which is recommended anyway to prevent sun from reaching them. In this cold spell we're having now, I wouldn't plant anything.
I assume you're using seed potatoes, or sprouting your own?
And sometimes a one-time spring frost doesn't even affect the plants and flowers.
CWillie, how exposed are the bulbs, especially the foliage, and/or are they out in the open? I probably would cover them just to be on the safe side. Bushel baskets, empty mayonnaise jars, rose cones, empty container pots or even a "hoop house" would work, but I imagine you already have something in mind - I'm guessing you've had to do this before.
I guess it's a good thing that some of us didn't get our spring gardens all planted.
For a long term supply, grow your own; you can get seeds from catalogues that supply wildflower seeds. Google "wild garlic seeds."
BTW, spiderwort is also known as Tradescantia, and can be found in other pastel colors.
There are a few ways of staking the stalks, although I don't think it hurts for them to fall over; it actually kind of enhances the spontaneity of their growth habit.
You can use small branches that you either prune or collect from trees; these don't have to be preserved or coated in anything to prevent deterioration or rotting from moisture. Some people use twist-ems to tie to stakes.
There are commercial stakes that you can buy in stores, but I never know what preservatives might be on them, or whether the paint is safe, and given that so many consumer goods come from China and I mix flowers with veggies, I don't want any lead based junk from China in my gardens.
Thin, untreated bamboo stakes could be used, and they'd add a bit of a color compliment to the green stems. Dowels could as well, but they won't last several years without waterproof coating.
I think tomato or peony cages might be a bit too much, but you could buy some wire specifically for garden use and clip enough for stakes.
Years ago I bought some small trellises shaped in small arch forms, like miniature cathedral windows. They're of wrought iron, and I will coat them with something before putting in the garden as I suspect the paint is cheap junk from China. You could create multiple beds, with these trellises hosting and supporting spiderwort plants on both sides of the trellis.
Depending on how much space you have, you could also make little circles and create wattle fences, used in colonial times and still used today. Mine are going to be made from extra twigs and branches that break off from bordering trees and voluntarily adorn the yard. You can either weave the spiderwort stems in one or two of the horizontal branches, just for support, or tie them with twist 'ems or even just thin cloth scraps, such as from old sheets.
I have so much of this plant that started out a couple of years ago as just about 2 feet not it has spread to cover about 12 feet of ground. And I find shoots of it in odd placed where the seeds must have landed, like one here one there. It's really a beautiful plant the only problem is that the stalks grow so tall now that they tip over so any suggestions on how to keep that from happening? I do plan on thinning it out this year before it completely takes over the whole flower bed, last year I didn't touch it as it was a bad summer for me health wise, so this year I am going to tackle the growing monster. Thanks everyone for your help now I can read up on how to handle it.
I hadn't thought of alliums, but that's a good suggestion.
Send, in Michigan, salvias wouldn't generally be blooming in about 6 weeks - we're still in the frigid north, you know! I don't remember when alliums bloom, but as I recall correctly, mine also don't bloom until summer.
I was thinking of Lunaria, a/k/a money plant, as it's generally 2.5 to 3' tall with a cluster head of purple flowers.
I've grown a few hybrid teas but didn't have much luck with them, although later I realized it was the location. Despite being in the back yard garden, the bitter west winds managed to reach them during the winter.
Glad, an ice storm? So many areas are getting an early spring; sounds like your area is still stuck in winter. But we know that spring will be here in April, one way or the other. Hopefully the ice storm won't take out any enthusiastic plants that are rushing spring.
Ruth, how tall does this plant grow? I assume it's blooming now?
edna only had an on / off switch . proportion was for losers ..