"Landscaping" - moved from Meet & Greet

[Mosaic]

Welcome back to you, too, Mo. Miss you when you aren't around. Whatcha been up to?

Not a lot - life gets in the road at times, but was recently without a computer, for a while. My old one has caused a lot of angst in the last 18mths. It finally refused to boot up so no choice had to replace it. I've also been doing a bit of work re-landscaping my garden, other than that not much going on.
~M

 

[Shanazel]

Hey, I've been redoing mine, too. It's more than a bit of work, though. I really like that Aussie/Kiwi understatement you've got going on.

 

[Mosaic]

Hey, I've been redoing mine, too. It's more than a bit of work, though. I really like that Aussie/Kiwi understatement you've got going on.

Planted a young tree 10 days ago (just one of many new plants) - It had been in a pot waiting for me to get everything sorted & doing really well, within 3 days the stupid thing turned up its leaves & died, I am at a loss to know why. I use to have a lavender bush there, but removed it (with difficulty) when it became leggy with lots of deadwood, It grew really well there. I still have the garden along the driveway to sort out, I'm not looking forward to doing that, it will be a tough area to remove lots of old plants.

Hope your landscaping is going well.
~M

 

[Shanazel]

What a bummer that your tree immediately died!

I've spent many, many hours pulling grass as well as dividing and relocating perennials. My husband decided to reduce the size of his vegetable garden so at long last I have part of the upper tier of the hill where I can put a brick patio with table and chairs to overlook the mountain. He did some land work leveling the space for me so I can lay bricks on my next days off. I've also started landscaping that area with a rock walk and various plants.

 

[Mosaic]

It seems that the tree was upset from being moved out of a pot so spat the dummy. Your landscaping sounds like it will be really lovely when completed Thought I'd better move our little side conversation elsewhere.
~M

 

[Shanazel]

Cool! A gardening thread. I drove two and a half hours today to pick up three roses that are zoned for USDA zones 2-3. The rose guy lives in Arvada about five hours from here but was going to be in Cheyenne to give a presentation on roses to a master gardeners group. I'd just happened to call the day before to find out what his hours were. Met him in the parking lot of Game and Fish and swapped a fifty dollar bill for three roses. Felt like I was making a drug buy... um, not that I am real familiar with drug buys. Got a Polestar, Rambling Red, and Henry Kelsey, all climbers. I'm trying to fulfill fantasies fueled by The Secret Garden for roses that climb into my apple trees.


Bonus was I called my daughter and she came up from Denver to meet me in Cheyenne. We had lunch, wandered around the bookstore and downtown and had a very nice few hours together.

 

[Mosaic]

I love rose gardens, but my green thumb doesn't extend to roses & they are hard work. I like e3asy care plants that just need a bit of trimming & a feed a couple of times a year. My gardens now have pebbles around the plants to cut down on the dreaded weeds, it looks good as well - all neat & tidy now. I have a mix of plants, Azaleas, Gardenias, Hydrangeas a small busy plant that I only know as a 4oclock bush - the flowers come out late afternoon & are deep purple, slowly fading to pale lilac & in the morning they are white & die, quite an interesting thing & when the small flowers are new they have a lovely perfume, There is also a gorgeous sprawling China Doll bush which bees & butterflies love, a Crepe Myrtle so called mini tree, they are suppose to only grow to around 3 metres high, also a hibiscus & an Aussie native Hibiscus, that has a showy purple flower, oh yes there is a couple of lavenders as well. My back garden is small just a courtyard so I have hydrangeas & azaleas in pots.
~M

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Why, oh WHY do I do this??? I should know better at this age than to try reading without my glasses. I read "eBay plants" (and earlier, "Egyptian Chicken Magazine"). >.>;;

The first year we lived in this apartment, I tried container gardening. Epic fail. I feel ya, Mosaic.

 

[Shanazel]

I only grow roses that can shift for themselves. Anything that requires serious coddling is SOL in my yard. Your garden sounds lovely, Mosaic. Four o'clocks here are Mirabilis jalapa. They also last a day and open in late afternoon but are mulit-colored and not lilac. Most of the other plants you listed grew down south where I was raised but don't have a stick of a chance surviving this far north. Had to look up China Doll. Very pretty!

I got home from Texas Saturday night and twelve hours later was headed to Denver to take care of my daughter who had gotten food poisoning. Just got home this afternoon. The spring bulbs and tree blooms are past their prime now and it has rained and/or snowed the whole time I've been gone. My roses are still in the greenhouse and I am afraid to go look at them. My husband is not as good with flowers as he is with vegetables and I fear what I might see...

 

[Farasha Hanem]

I hope your daughter is feeling much better, Shan.

 

[Shanazel]

Thank you, Farasha. She is now. She texted about an hour after I wrote the post above and was feeling worse. I sent her to the hospital where they gave her fluids, anti-nausea and anti-acid meds. She was off to work this morning, still sore but functioning. I thought for a little while I was going to have to get right back in the car and drive right back to Denver.

Have I mentioned how little I like Denver? Can hardly wait until she moves out of downtown and further north.

 

[Mosaic]

Glad to hear your daughter is on the mend, food poisoning is just the pits Have your roses survived .... sure hope so, or at least with a little "coddling" will live to bloom again.
Here's a couple of photos of my China doll plant. the full view was taken in 2016 after being trimmed back a lot during winter The other one branch heavily laden with the tiny purple flowers this summer.

 

[Shanazel]

Turns out it wasn't food poisoning but very bad gastritis... and guess who got it a day after leaving Denver?

The battle against grass is going nicely but the recent rain and snow brought out the dandelions in force. I give up. The chemicals are coming out and those yellow suckers are going DOWN.

 

[Shanazel]

Hmm. Left off the first part of my last reply.

The China Doll plant is gorgeous, Mosaic. I'd love to have one to tumble down my rock wall.

 

[Ariadne]

The first year we lived in this apartment, I tried container gardening. Epic fail. I feel ya, Mosaic.

I rent so I do container gardening when my health allows. There are tricks to it but it really isn't that hard. Where I live the biggest challenge is just the heat. There are these crystals though that will absorb water and then release it slowly. It helps keep the soil from drying out as quickly. My favorite things to grow are ghost eggplant and okra.

 

[Mosaic]

If I could I'd send you a cutting, they grow quite well from cuttings, maybe you can source one from somewhere in the States. I cut mine back quite a bit during late autumn/early winter, & it goes crazy during spring & summer & constantly flowers. It would look amazing cascading over your rock wall.

Hope both you & your daughter are fully recovered from the gastro bug. Nasty little critter those gastro bugs.
~M

 

[Mosaic]

Farasha, my azaleas, violas & marguerite daisys do very well in pots, with little care. In the heat of summer I do cover the pots with shade cloth because they do burn. I also have 3 hydrangeas and 2 gardenias in pots, they also thrive without too much care. I have one gardenia which is horribly pot bound & it just keeps growing & flowering like nobodies business, I really do have to repot it, it's a wonder it hasn't turned up it toes to be honest
~M

 

[Shanazel]

Today is my last full day off until Saturday and the first day that I feel back to normal. My poor daughter is still not completely well and working nights is not helping her any. She is still in training at the police department and had discovered that she "really, really hates nights: more than no chocolate and dead puppies."

There are a number of things I need to do today (catch up! catch up!) but I am going to treat myself to planting my roses. Yesterday and the day before, what little time I managed to be up and around was devoted to killing dandelions and tiny disgusting tendrils of the field bindweed that does its best each year to take over the known world.

Alas, Mosaic, even if I track down a China Doll it would not be happy on my rock wall. Checking on line I discovered that it is a zone 10-11 plants (minimum temp 30 degrees F) and I live in Zone 4 (at best) with sudden breath-taking dips into Zone 3 (-30 degrees F). In winter, even inside my house would probably be too cold for it. I brought a bougainvillea home from Texas once and it was miserable despite all my efforts to make it feel at home.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Oh golly, I hope your daughter feels better ASAP. Sounds like she's having a tough time getting rid of it. Are you feeling any better?

Speaking of sick, I've been battling something weird since Wednesday evening, and it finally took me down for the count yesterday. Don't know what it is, but I don't want it anymore! xP

If I had more time to devote to it, I would try container gardening again. I love my tomatoes and peppers!

 

[Ariadne]

You can find kits for tomatoes and peppers that give you everything you need. I've always wanted to try those pots that hang your tomato plants upside down myself.

In the heat of summer I do cover the pots with shade cloth because they do burn.

Oh yes, shade cloth! I forgot to mention the shade cloth. It is a necessity.