Tag Archives: hosta

Ye Olde Garden

Battle plan

A good general knows when and how to turn the tide of battle in his favor.

Armed with the recipe for a DIY insecticidal soap, I resolved to reverse my fortune on the garden battlefield and take action against the whiteflies destroying the coleus and the young hosta. I had a leftover 5 gallon plastic jug used to store raw garlic. I then combined 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of generic brand lemon-scented liquid dishwashing soap in said container and began shaking. Once it reached a frothy consistency, I grabbed a used Febreze spray bottle which had been doubling as my seedling spritzer, emptied it, and poured my secret weapon into it. Into the cool morning I marched and started spritzing the ravaged coleus. It seems that only 2 of the survivors were hardly affected, perhaps because of their longer exposure to sunlight. But they received the full bath, as well as the 2 Gold Standard Hostas that had been sitting in the bed. The hosta in the back (again, one that does not receive any sunlight) had been targeted mercilessly, having lost most of its new leaves to the attackers.

I surveyed the lawn to see if my previous day’s efforts had taken root. I had tackled the issue of the raggedy, browning lawn and turned loose the broadcast spreader. With a bag of Scott’s Turf Builder Bermudagrass Seed, I overseeded the front and courtyards with seed, in an effort to eradicate the patches. I realize that my efforts might be hampered to the amount of dead and tall grass, plus any hard soil that had not been previously raked. But I was resolved to get the task done and perhaps reseed at a later date in May to patch any remaining holes in the lawn. Let’s see if that 85% germination rate claimed on the label comes true!

Ye Olde Garden

3 bulbs to go, garden under siege

Something is eating the coleus.

They’ve been in their flower beds for almost 2 weeks…and almost every plant is riddled with holes. The holes are small, circular but do not display any browning. I’m concerned that if this siege continues, the coleus will be thoroughly consumed and killed. I’ve been looking into a systemic solution such as Bayer Advanced. I’ve used it in previous years with some success, but it may take time before it goes into effect. I may have to get an insecticidal soap to get faster results.

The most current tally of lily bulbs: 12. Which means only 3 more lilies (mostly Lollypops) have yet to make a showing. I’ve discovered that the Devil’s Wine calla has sent up a tiny spire. The Snowdrift Astilbe is making slow progress, fanning its leaves. With the recent rains, the azalea blooms on Delaware Valley White and Hot Shot are getting washed away, forming something of a papery mess. The other red azalea is finally showing buds, but the Macrantha and the Gumpos have yet to show off any potentials. With the crape myrtles finally fully leafed, the courtyard bed is nearly in part/full shade for most of the day.

In the front yard, the Encore blooms are sparse. Embers has about wrapped up their show, while the Monarch has not made a profuse showing, teasing us with a handful of coral red blooms. However, Twist is about to make a grand showing. The shrub is smothered with buds about to burst. If it doesn’t bloom in the 24 hours, I will be surprised. The rest of the front bed is settling in–the Firehouse nandinas are shedding the last of their winter coats. The 2 Dallas Stars have put out new straps. Still no signs of life from the Hosta Minutemen or the astilbe Fanal and Amerika.

Seed starting kits can dry up, so it’s always important to check the water level to make sure seedlings are getting the necessary moisture. Last night, I discovered that the water reservoir had been emptied, and the dianthus seedlings were the first to show any stress. I had intended to transplant them to their new homes, but it will have to wait until they are revitalized.

Ye Olde Garden

Plants, more plants and hard pruning the salvia

Yesterday’s shopping trip yielded 3 Ideal Select White dianthus from Strong’s Nursery. The felicia from Home Depot now resides in a planter with an Ideal White dianthus, the last Picasso calla bulb, and a Silver Dragon Liriope which has begun to show some leafing.

I discovered to my dismay that my maple had begun to yellow…so back outdoors it went. I’ve plucked the yellow leaves off to stave off any further stress on the maple. I think the extra sun helped sustain the heavy foliage this year. I did notice one or two leaves displaying pink variegation…so I’m hoping the rest will follow suit.

The remaining 2 Ideal White dianthus have been planted in the courtyard fence bed, along with the Hot Lips. I’ve also decided to put Hosta Eternal Flame in the back corner behind the crepe myrtle, where I hope it gets enough shade during summer.

The front fence bed received the flat of Coleus wizard mix that I picked up from Christina’s this past week. They grew quickly in the flats and I feared they would dry out the longer they sat out of the ground…so into the bed they went!

Finally this morning I had the radical notion of pruning back my red salvia greggii. They had grown so gangly and woody during the 2 years in their pots that I felt it was time to cut them down to the ground and let them start from scratch. I’m hoping that they will shoot back from the crown and fill up in time for summer. (I left some softwood on the main trunks to allow for a new flush of growth.) The following blog entry gives me some hope that these salvia will rebound with even greater vigor than before.

Ye Olde Garden

Damp ground, green maple

With most of the flower beds laid out, the weather has taken the opportunity to halt all attempts of finishing the job. My brand new Fiskars garden claw only saw action once this week before the rain decided to wet things down. I’ve been keeping a careful eye on the new hostas that we purchased at the big box stores. I’m worried that they’re not going to thrive much longer in their packing bags. 

New daylilies are in-house and what beauties they are. Large 3-fan specimens of Dallas Star came packed with a bonus daylily: Hyperion, a lemon-yellow flowered dormant, supposedly vigorous and fragrant. Oakes Daylilies also sent some very nice catalogs…which are even now persuading me to buy more daylilies.

My Japanese maple is causing me some concern. I have not seen any variegation on any of the leaves it has budded. For all intents and purposes, it appears like a normal, solid-color maple. I’ve read up on what might have caused this issue, and it seems that only over-fertilizing will cause it. Strangely enough, I have not made any fertilizer applications to it since I got it almost two years ago. The only difference from its old environment is that it gets direct morning sun nowadays, compared to the nearly-total shade it used dwell in. I may have to contact the nursery and see if they can offer further advice.

With all the rain, it seems my weed-and-feed activity has probably washed away. I hope the weather this weekend will allow me to make a new application.