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Post by islandgrl on Oct 24, 2021 4:09:49 GMT -5
We had our killing frost two nights in a row. Annuals have had it for this year. I am still enjoying my tropicals indoors. Now I am doing the clean up of dead plants. I have collected the annual seeds that will bloom again next year. Many have cross pollinated and for instance my pink zinnias have produced beautiful red, this year, which I didn't have before. Red and white zinnias should be eye catching next Summer.
Yesterday I cleaned up my rock garden and removed weeds and, what I call, farmer's grass. It runs underground and pops up all over. I divided some day lilies. I raked and shredded some poplar leaves for my compost pile. The maple are slower and are still mostly green but the frost of two night should speed things up a bit.
The lawn is no longer brown and needs cutting about every two days. It is a beautiful green and very lovely with the red of the burning bush shrubs. Might be a little late to get a good picture but I will decide at daybreak.
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Post by campy on Oct 28, 2021 9:20:16 GMT -5
My zinnias did poorly this year. Too hot.I couldn't keep them watered. Growing from seed is a surprise. I think what you call farmers grass, we call "twitch grass".
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Post by islandgrl on Oct 28, 2021 19:06:57 GMT -5
My zinnias did poorly this year. Too hot.I couldn't keep them watered. Growing from seed is a surprise. I think what you call farmers grass, we call "twitch grass". You could be right. It is a very coarse grass. Picture of my burning bush shrubs.
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Post by islandgrl on Oct 28, 2021 20:00:12 GMT -5
It was a beautiful day here today. I cut the lawn and worked on cleaning up the vegetable garden. I picked some shepherd and bell peppers. Got some nice bell for making stuffed peppers. Tomorrow is supposed to be another nice day, without rain, so I will finish the vegetable garden. I also dug my dahlia tubers and will pack them in saw dust tomorrow for storage. Here is a picture of my zinnias before the frost and clean up: _
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Post by campy on Nov 3, 2021 8:47:57 GMT -5
Do you get a heavy winter there? So nice to see flowers and landscaping.
So sad to see them go.
I'm working on indoor plants. By accident I have an avocado tree growing in a planter. I just stuck the seed in there about 6 months ago and it just popped out on its own.
I also have a ginger plant and an onion. Instead of buying green onion bunches for cooking I just cut off a few of the sprouts.
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Post by islandgrl on Nov 3, 2021 18:05:18 GMT -5
I am finished my Fall routine for indoor plants. I have repotted some of the smaller ones. I have cleaned out most of the stuff destroyed by the frost. I have about five citrus seedlings to repot into larger pots. Not sure what they are individually but I know what I planted. There are a couple pink grapefruits, a sweet lemon, several sour lemons, clementines and maybe a couple oranges. I am hoping they become dwarfs because they tend to be tall plants. You have an avocado? They too grow to be over 30' or 40' tall. They will take a lot of room and may never produce fruit in your lifetime. I could be wrong because I don't know what variety you have. I have tried growing ginger a couple of years ago but when I put it in the garden, Hubby accidentally trampled it. He didn't know it was there because there were no leaves. I found the tuber in the garden the next Spring when he tilled the garden. I was growing it for the beautiful red flowers that I remembered when my Dad grew it. I have the perennial green onion (scallion). Such an easy plant to go. I plant them in the Spring and Fall. If you plant one plant in the Fall you will have a bunch with as many as 3 to 6 plants in the Spring. I grow lots each year and chop/slice it up, bag it and freeze it. I combine it with other herbs for cooking. e.g. hot Scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, ( this year I added celery, bell peppers to a couple of bags) Will be interesting to see how it works in soups, stews and meats. Use according to taste. My hibiscus plants are petering out with blooming but this week I had two flowers of the one pictured. This plant is kind of slow and it still has a number of small buds.
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Post by islandgrl on Nov 23, 2021 13:25:08 GMT -5
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Post by islandgrl on Nov 30, 2021 9:42:41 GMT -5
Are you decorating for Christmas? How is it going. I have gathered one ingredient so far. Pinecones, more in another container somewhere. I am drying them all and will make some of them white. I have ribbon and other supplies. _ Will forage for some greenery and dogwood branches (red) (to put in my urns out in front). All growing along the roads in my area. A couple years ago I made a pine cone tree. It's a little roughed up because my youngest grandson had an accident with it. It has a string of white lights. My favourite colour of lights to use. Great contrast with anything red. (for some reason I cannot move down to post the picture of it, so I will post it next to the cones.
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Post by islandgrl on Jan 25, 2022 12:15:11 GMT -5
Orchids are blooming again and so are a couple of hibiscus. A bright spot when it's cold outside.
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Post by islandgrl on Jan 25, 2022 12:22:59 GMT -5
Two orchids are in bloom and others have spikes. I guess this is the time of year for them to bloom when it is cooler.
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Post by Admin on Jan 25, 2022 16:07:09 GMT -5
Wow...
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Post by campy on Jan 26, 2022 9:08:54 GMT -5
Two orchids are in bloom and others have spikes. I guess this is the time of year for them to bloom when it is cooler. <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> <button disabled="" class="c-attachment-insert--linked o-btn--sm">Attachment Deleted</button> Very nice. I'm looking at my poinsettia from Christmas. Pretty pathetic looking. What does one do with it after the blooms stop?
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Post by islandgrl on Jan 26, 2022 9:17:21 GMT -5
There isn't much you can do for a spent poinsetta. Having a greenhouse would probably help. In the tropics they grow big and tall. They are beautiful and bloom profusely around Christmas time. They are green the rest of the year.
I have tried saving them in the past but no results with flowers. They just got bushy and I found plagued by spider mites.
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Post by campy on Jan 26, 2022 13:10:59 GMT -5
There isn't much you can do for a spent poinsetta. Having a greenhouse would probably help. In the tropics they grow big and tall. They are beautiful and bloom profusely around Christmas time. They are green the rest of the year. I have tried saving them in the past but no results with flowers. They just got bushy and I found plagued by spider mites. In order to bloom poinsettias need a short day. This is done artificially in greenhouses. For an amateur. He would have to put the plant in a dark closet every day at the same time. I guess we have to treat them as annuals.
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Post by islandgrl on Feb 8, 2022 13:14:01 GMT -5
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