maeve
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Post by maeve on Aug 25, 2022 16:18:34 GMT
Hi rags. I have no doubt whatsoever that you will manage your beautiful geraniums just fine!
As for poppies, it may depend upon species, but in general poppies want a short stratification of a couple of weeks or more. The advantage of planting in early spring is that as snow melts off the seed is drawn into crevices in the soil where they still are exposed to sunlight, triggering germination. Also, one can be slightly more precise about where the poppy plants grow by seeding in spring.
All of my self-seeding poppies that volunteer year after year were knocked out of the capsule (by wind, rain, snow and poppyseed-loving goldfinches) and continue to come through the winter's cold and wet, so I am not concerned about those aspects. I like to toss some seeds from the seed capsules in the fall after weeding, then sprinkle some more in the spring. I don't really mind where they choose to sprout, and if I am diligent about sprinkling a few each week or so in spring, I can spread out the bloom period by a few weeks. I have read of storing the fleshy white taproots in the veg drawer of a refrigerator and replanting in spring, but... no, not going to do that.
Yes, we also hope for good weather a bit cooler than we've seen this summer. Maltese Cross is lovely- I need to plant some more here. Happy gardening!
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Aug 26, 2022 8:12:39 GMT
Hi Maeve, Thank you for the additional information about poppies. I love seeing red and pink poppies them growing. I like the idea of seeding some before winter and additional seed in the spring. I had great intentions of planting seeds in early spring, but we don't have early spring here. When the snow and ice finally melts, everything comes up at once leaving no bare soil for planting. I'm hoping my son will have the time and energy soon to dig out three large Maltese Cross plants from the little backyard bed I look out on from the kitchen and bedroom window. I'm not strong enough so far to do it myself. The end of that bed that has never done well has been given back to the lawn, leaving a much smaller area for plants. The Maltese Cross are too tall for it. I'm hoping it will fill it in with Geraniums and poppies, after the tulips and forget-me-nots finish blooming. My yellow Icelandic Poppies have survived many winters, buried under several feet of snow. No need to use refrigerator space for those. The Maltese Cross have magically spread themselves to many areas of the back yard, forming a colourful border between the lawn and the various shrubs that grow along the fences. Putting the cuttings, complete with ripe seed heads, into the compost has had that rather nice unintended outcome, in the front yard as well. Visiting hummingbirds approve. For fun one day I tried to list the different varieties of trees and shrubs that grow in my small yard. Some grew here naturally, or were rescued from the forest nearby and transplanted when development was imminent, others were purchased or passed on by friends who needed to re-home them. There are at least 10 kinds of trees and at least 14 kinds of shrubs, including one I have not been able to identify that was given to me a few years ago by my birds, and has been thriving and spreading, almost too well. These are the berries and the flowers:
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Aug 26, 2022 19:00:30 GMT
Hi- That looks like a Daphne, possibly rose Daphne (D. cneorum) or Daphne mezereum. All parts poisonous, especially the berries. I have a D. mezereum in an azalea bed.
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Sept 2, 2022 12:54:44 GMT
I think the deciding factor regarding when to plant poppies is whether a species/cultivar is a perennial, hardy annual or tender annual. California poppies and the garden versions of Papaver somniferum are in the hardy annual group, so they can be planted in autumn, winter, spring depending on local conditions. Iceland poppy is perennial, but often treated as an annual. Here, they need a more gritty soil than I currently have in the gardens, which I hope to provide in future around the house once we get driveway and around-the-house crushed stone in place. Until then, I plant them every spring knowing they may not survive more than a year or so. We get the intense cold (down to -24 F) but snow levels have diminished dramatically in recent years. One does what works.
I planted the cranberries into the new blueberry bed, and added the native columbine, arctic raspberry Swedish selections, with 3 Aronia Ground Hug ground cover mini-shrubs to stabilize the long side of the hugel bed. I'll need more, but that will give me a chance to evaluate the raspberries and aronia before placing a wholesale order for the front hill where I'm replacing tatty grass and invasive weeds with groundcovers and bulbs.
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Sept 7, 2022 21:21:41 GMT
Planted two 'At Last' roses and three sharp-lobed Hepatica...nursery propagated. The Cardinal flower stem cuttings I stuck in the bed last summer are short, but rooted and in bloom. Sunshine after a few needed days of rain, and Monarchs are pumping up their wings and lifting onto the breeze for their first flights. They've landed on 'Autumn Joy'sedum, echinacea, and Black cohosh flowers.
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Sept 20, 2022 10:55:57 GMT
Maeve, your garden sounds wonderful! Such a variety of plants. It's amazing how much you know about plant varieties and how to improve soil.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For the information about my mystery shrub. The photos online of Daphne mezereum look exactly like my shrubs. I love it, but now I'm a bit concerned about the toxicity because more plants have been coming up near the first one. At the current time I don't have visits from any small children who might find the berries attractive, but that might change?
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Sept 20, 2022 16:12:56 GMT
Good, I'm glad you've identified your daphne! I have just the one, and although berries form each year, when ripe the red berries tend to fall down through the leaves to the ground beneath, where they are well hidden, sprouting out of sight in that dense patch of shade. Think of foxgloves, rhubarb leaves, rose thorns... the world is full of lessons. If the daphne worries you however, take it out! There are so many lovely options these days.
Many if not most garden plants are toxic, so for us it's a matter of not leaving any young children to wander without an attentive adult. When I was 5 or 6 I impressed yew leaves and berries into flour and salt clay to make little clay plates, later baked in the oven. I knew I must never eat unknown berries (the seeds are toxic) or put my fingers into my mouth after handling any plant/animal etc. by three or four years of age. Teaching moments... We plant our edibles in groupings to one another so if there are children here we can point out the ID and locations and we always supervise closely.
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Sept 23, 2022 6:34:22 GMT
My Daphne plants are safe for now. I love them. When everything else is still asleep, they bud and bloom into delicate pink blossoms. I am the only person living here. I've never been tempted to eat the berries. I will have to remember how deadly they are if there are any small children visiting and roaming unsupervised. Usually their attention is focused on the two level play structure I built for my own children many years ago, and have maintained for the use of the following two generations. None of the little ones live closer than an 8 hour drive away.
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maeve
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Post by maeve on Oct 10, 2022 22:13:55 GMT
I'm glad. I like mine too, and now have a couple of tiny seedlings to nurture.
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ragdall
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Post by ragdall on Oct 28, 2022 9:38:15 GMT
My Daphne seedlings have nurtured themselves and were covered with berries along with their parent.
Today I replanted the tulip bulbs the surfaced when I dug over my backyard flowerbed, and also planted some bulbs of double tulips I bought last week. I created that flowerbed a few years ago in a location where I can see it from my bedroom window when I open my curtains to a new day, and also look out on it when at my kitchen sink and prep area. I'm looking forward to being cheered up by them after the coming winter. The weather is supposed to be above freezing Friday morning and afternoon. I've saved some of the new bulbs to plant them in the flowerbed in the front yard where neighbours and people passing by will be able to see them. Planting there will be a challenge because I haven't been able to weed that bed and am not sure where there are bulbs planted in previous years.
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