Any Of You Grow any Flowers?

[DiO'Bolic]

Pictures please! I don't do a very good job of gardening. It always sounds like a lovely thought. I love to admire everyone else's gorgeous flowers though. I do have some tomatoes that aren't doing very well this year.

I would put a mat of pine needles as a mulch around the plants. They seem to like the acid and it keeps the soil moist. I use Miracle Grow for fertilizer... quick and easy. Keep the watering evenly and don’t let them dry out or you tend to get that brown rot on the bottom of the tomatoes. Cut sucker branches off when they're about 3". Also threaten them that if they don’t shape up you have no qualms of cutting them down and going to the market. They seem to react well to negative vibes.

 

[Spideyman]

I babied those things. They meant so much to my mom, I just prayed every year that I would see them come up again. BUT, they have a powdery mildew issue at the moment. I must jump on this quickly so I don't lose them. In all the years my mom had them, she never had this problem. It must be where I have them planted.

Fel Naphtha brown soap makes an excellent insect/ mold repellant.

 

[Out of Order]

Ah - OK then. I was thinking that I might have to find a field of cows and go around with a bucket and shovel and catch some cow poo, and bring it home and sprinkle it on the plants. Your's is a much better plan. See, I have no green thumb to speak of.

Thanks for the bucket idea. I usually just throw it in the trunk of the car. This must explain the funny looks I get when I bring that car in for service.

 

[Dana Jean]

...my lawn has tons of flowering clover...does that count?.....

Yes, i just read an article how people are growing clover lawns to attract bees for their gardens and it's low maintenance.

 

[Dana Jean]

Ideally, you mix it in the soil before planting, but if you go to your local garden center and buy some dehydrated cow manure fertilizer you can mix that in around the base of the plants just like any other type of granular fertilizer. I've had great success using it.

I've done this too. It works.

 

[Out of Order]

Yes, i just read an article how people are growing clover lawns to attract bees for their gardens and it's low maintenance.

I saw an article about how our hatred of the dandelion might be a contributing factor to the bee population decline. Dandelions are one of the first flowers out early in spring and the bees need them.

 

[Dana Jean]

I saw an article about how our hatred of the dandelion might be a contributing factor to the bee population decline. Dandelions are one of the first flowers out early in spring and the bees need them.

Now that's interesting. I suited up and waged war with dandelions this year. I fought the lawn weeds and the lawn won.

 

[arista]

I have huge sunflowers that are growing red and yellow ones-I find them to be awesome.

 

[Dana Jean]

I have huge sunflowers that are growing red and yellow ones-I find them to be awesome.

In the past I have had huge sunflowers, loved them. And then when the heads dried up, I cut them off and laid them on my patio for the birds to munch on.

 

[DiO'Bolic]

Yes, i just read an article how people are growing clover lawns to attract bees for their gardens and it's low maintenance.

I've got way too much clover and way too many bees. It might be low maintenance, but it's often a very painful proposition.

 

[DiO'Bolic]

Now that's interesting. I suited up and waged war with dandelions this year. I fought the lawn weeds and the lawn won.

LOL me too. I think next year I'll give up and just learn to make wine out of them. Payback's a bitch.

 

[blunthead]

I babied those things. They meant so much to my mom, I just prayed every year that I would see them come up again. BUT, they have a powdery mildew issue at the moment. I must jump on this quickly so I don't lose them. In all the years my mom had them, she never had this problem. It must be where I have them planted.

Causes And Treatments For Powdery Mildew On Peonies

Powdery Mildew on Peonies : Yard and Garden News : University of Minnesota Extension

 

[blunthead]

I have both perennials and annuals in flower beds, window boxes and containers. Love flower gardens but don't have as much time to attend to them as I would like. The peonies this year are really pretty and the lupines are trying to take over the wildflower garden--and other places they weren't planted in as well. Neesy, the David Austin roses seem to do better in harsh climates like ours in case Andy wants to try some of those, although if you're in a zone 3, he'd need to make sure he mulched them well in the fall. Otherwise, I think of roses here as annuals because they rarely winter over.

David Austen roses are renown. I had an "Old Garden" one while I lived in Michigan, which I valued highly enough to transplant to Georgia when I moved here. It had a harder time here. I'm not sure why it tended toward Black Spot, a fungal disease, unless it had to do with humidity. It had plenty of personal space, plenty of airflow as I didn't plant it with any other plants at all. My experience with roses in Georgia is different than it was in Michigan, mainly in being limited to a relatively few varieties, and so far, until I learn more, mostly no hybrid teas, which tend to be less hardy and insect/disease resistant. Hybrid teas tend to like the north more where they have a longer time within which to store energy.

 

[Neesy]

I have both perennials and annuals in flower beds, window boxes and containers. Love flower gardens but don't have as much time to attend to them as I would like. The peonies this year are really pretty and the lupines are trying to take over the wildflower garden--and other places they weren't planted in as well. Neesy, the David Austin roses seem to do better in harsh climates like ours in case Andy wants to try some of those, although if you're in a zone 3, he'd need to make sure he mulched them well in the fall. Otherwise, I think of roses here as annuals because they rarely winter over.

Thanks! - we will look into seeing if we can acquire some of these. He did not mulch his last bunch and I think that is why they did not last until spring
- and yes I do believe Winnipeg is in a zone three
(I just looked it up - we are hardiness zone 3b - minus 30 to minus 35 degrees Celsius)

Thanks to you too Blunthead!

 

[Kurben]

Well, i don't have a garden which is probably a good thing since lawncutting is not a thing i enjoy. And flowers at home..... To give an inclination at the kind of gardener i am my friends when they do give me flowers always take care to give me plastic ones. They noticed that i always forget to water the poor little struggling plants so they die an arid death because of lack of water. But my plastic flowers are real cute. Does that count?

 

[Neesy]

Well, i don't have a garden which is probably a good thing since lawncutting is not a thing i enjoy. And flowers at home..... To give an inclination at the kind of gardener i am my friends when they do give me flowers always take care to give me plastic ones. They noticed that i always forget to water the poor little struggling plants so they die an arid death because of lack of water. But my plastic flowers are real cute. Does that count?

Maybe you could start with succulents and cacti just to get the hang of it. They only need to be watered infrequently. (You can kill a plant by overwatering, too as it smothers the roots of oxygen and then they rot!)

 

[Kurben]

Can cacti have flowers or are they just standing around being green all the time. Some colour is needed to fuel my interest.

 

[Dana Jean]

LOL me too. I think next year I'll give up and just learn to make wine out of them. Payback's a bitch.

You and Ray Bradbury.

 

[Neesy]

Can cacti have flowers or are they just standing around being green all the time. Some colour is needed to fuel my interest.

Christmas cactus - easy to care for and actually does bloom!

 

[Kurben]

Christmas cactus - easy to care for and actually does bloom!

Wow! It's beautiful. thanks, Neesy.