New plants!

[Babble64]

I just recently read the trick of putting banana peels at the base of your rose plants and never even thought of taking the nutrients by having them leach into water! NEAT! This particular rose bush always grows plentiful and beautiful blossoms, but I figure it can't hurt, I'm eating the banana anyway!

I have never been able to grow a gerbera daisy successfully. I think I've only ever had them in pots in the house, though, and maybe they wanted to be transplanted to the great outdoors? There's no doubt, Chanell, that you are a much more involved and accomplished gardener than I am. I should listen and learn!

Maybe tomorrow I'll have time to go hunt down some milkweed and look for eggs. I did notice two monachs while biking on our rail trails yesterday. Maybe I'm too late. Do they lay eggs and hatch all summer? I meant to look up their life cycle/life times, etc. but forgot!

 

[ChanellG]

I laid a banana peel on top the soil of my large hibiscus just yesterday. Supposedly using the peels in the garden repels mosquitoes. (I'll try anything for that!) I've been using aspirin spray and banana spray for a little while now (aspirin more recently) and it seems to be helping (definitely not hurting). I've also used coffee tonic with success, though I don't have that many acid loving plants. Next up will be epsom salts as soon as I am certain which plants will benefit most. (Thank goodness for Pinterest).

I'm not sure about the caterpillars; I have a few babies (found two more today) and that one that formed a J made a new cocoon today, so I guess as long as there's still leaves on the plant they'll keep laying eggs and repeating the cycle until migration time. Just examine the underside of the leaves carefully. If there are little holes in the leaves that is a sign they have been busy chewing so if you don't see them they are either too tiny or are hiding.

This is my first experience with the gerbera daisy. It's in a medium small pot for now and I've been reading up on the care. I think the biggest thing so far is to not over water it. Same with the dahlias; no flowers there yet, but I see little buds so I am hopeful

 

[Amalia]

Very nice! I will go out to look for some new plants but I will be just looking as my pay day is next month :|

 

[ChanellG]

Amalia, do you have friends who have plants? Maybe you can get new plants by propagating from them. A lot of times people have plants that need to be thinned out or pruned and not everyone will save the extra plant material. Also, many flowers produce a seed pod which you can collect and use to start new plants completely for free.

 

[Babble64]

Amalia, do you have friends who have plants? Maybe you can get new plants by propagating from them. A lot of times people have plants that need to be thinned out or pruned and not everyone will save the extra plant material. Also, many flowers produce a seed pod which you can collect and use to start new plants completely for free.

I second that motion! I like sharing my plants and like getting plants from others willing to share! It sure can't hurt to ask. One of my favorite parts of doing this is having something in my garden that has a friendship story attached to it!!

 

[ChanellG]

I second that motion! I like sharing my plants and like getting plants from others willing to share! It sure can't hurt to ask. One of my favorite parts of doing this is having something in my garden that has a friendship story attached to it!!

Guess what I just got yesterday? Lemongrass! I also got more milkweed for the starving caterpillars. Not a moment too soon either! Some have crawled off, but I manged to find a decent amount of them and I am hoping to find the rest in the morning.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

Nice haul, Chanell! I'm dying to check out the discounted plants at the local nursery, but I've spent so much on the garden this year I don't even want to mention it to my husband! LOL. I'll probably give in and go sometime before the fall, though. Mind you, I've got a shipment of fall bulbs and roots coming next month, so maybe I shouldn't.... I think I'm an addict!

 

[ChanellG]

Nice haul, Chanell! I'm dying to check out the discounted plants at the local nursery... Mind you, I've got a shipment of fall bulbs and roots coming next month, so maybe I shouldn't...

I plan on getting more herbs, and I'd like a couple more zinnias, but that's about it for now. If the sun/heat where you are is anything like here, you may want to wait until things start to cool off. One of my begonias is just about done for, and one of my dahlias seems to have committed suicide. I have been shifting plants around almost daily trying to find better spots with less intense sun exposure.

 

[Shellyann36]

You are quite fortunate! Great haul. I have not seen any clearance plants here this year. I looked the last time I went to Lowes and more recently at Walmart. I will keep my eyes peeled though.

 

[TheCrazyPlantLady]

I plan on getting more herbs, and I'd like a couple more zinnias, but that's about it for now. If the sun/heat where you are is anything like here, you may want to wait until things start to cool off. One of my begonias is just about done for, and one of my dahlias seems to have committed suicide. I have been shifting plants around almost daily trying to find better spots with less intense sun exposure.

We're late in the season here - warm days, cool nights. The only thing to plant at this point is annuals to replace exhausted ones in planters or beds. It's still a bit early to plant perennials for next spring as well. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to go check out what's on sale!

I did get a great planter - rectangular about 2 feet by 1 foot - on clearance for $4 the other day though.

 

[ChanellG]

You are quite fortunate! Great haul. I have not seen any clearance plants here this year. I looked the last time I went to Lowes and more recently at Walmart. I will keep my eyes peeled though.

Of course I am itching to go back and see what they have, but those plants always need to be repotted immediately and I need more containers and more dirt. I did bring home some salvia today from my mom's. Have to figure out what they are going to live in, lol.

I did get a great planter - rectangular about 2 feet by 1 foot - on clearance for $4 the other day though.

That is always a plus! I need to start looking around soon for larger containers for everything that needs repotting. I have a huge hibiscus and a couple other plants that need to be moved to semi-large pots.

 

[ChanellG]

It's that time again! Went to Lowes last week and found some great deals on clearance plants! Spent part of the weekend dividing and repotting and am dying to go back for more!

 

[Philphine]

i've been checking. it's almost automatic at this time of year now. at the moment i'm hoping to grab three magnolia trees if i can catch them being cleared out. i'm usually trying to get fruit trees so i don't know if they sell fast or they have some left towards the end to mark down.

 

[ChanellG]

@Philphine, I don't know, but the discounted inventory seems to be different at different store locations. I saw magnolia and fruit trees yesterday, but they were not on sale, only the early spring potted plants. Last year when we discovered the discount racks in the back of the store, there were a few edibles, but that was late may.

I'd be careful about clearance food plants/trees though. My grapevine never came out of dormancy, even though I followed the instructions precisely to the letter.

 

[Philphine]

oh no, the tree clearnaces are near the end of the sale season each spring and fall. i'm just in the habit of looking through the garden center. this time of year i'm liable to use the garden entrance weather i'm buying plants or not (i'm in lowes pretty often).