We did some fun family things today, like going for a long bike ride to the park, having a picnic with all the kids and playing frisbee. But I also got some time in for gardening. I put the Grubex on the lawn today to protect it from grubs. I hope it works well. I also sprayed some Otho Max on the rose hedge to knock down some aphids. I had a little trouble in the vegetable garden, because we had near-freezing temps and some hail on Sunday morning. I lost both the tomato plants I put out on Saturday.…
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I posted a message to Gardenweb.com to see what people think of these cold-hardy camellias. We’ll see what they say. Also, I found a nursery website with a lot of information about camellias, including cold-hardy ones. It’s Camellia Forest at http://www.camforest.com.
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This is awesome! There are camellias that I can grow here in zone 6! I didn’t know that. Here’s one I really like: SPRING`S PROMISE ICE ANGELS(R) CAMELLIA
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Larry Sagers had a column a few weeks ago that discussed new plant varieties (see: deseretnews.com | The dirt on new plant varieties). In it, he mentioned two books I should get: In addition to Nau’s work with new varieties, he is the author of “The Ball Culture Guide,” which is the authoritative guide on propagating annuals from seed, and “The Ball Perennial Manual,” which is the companion volume for perennials. Both books are used by local growers. I’ll have to check around and see where to buy these.
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Today, I ordered seeds for two annuals from Thompson & Morgan. They are: California poppy ‘Summer Sorbet’ – pink flowers instead of the typical orange Cosmos ‘Double Click’ – a double-flowering cosmos I was reading some reviews at Dave’s Garden on the weekend, and it looks like people have a love-hate relationship with Thompson & Morgan. They love their selection but many are disappointed at the germination rates of their seeds. I’ve never noticed bad germination rates, but I usually throw a bunch of seeds in between moist paper towels sealed inside a ziploc bag, and it makes them germinate…
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The Thompson & Morgan seed catalog arrived this month. It’s an awesome catalog, and it has so much information on each plant that you can use as a quick reference for many plants in your garden. I have ordered from them, and the seed is always great quality. They have some interesting varieties you often won’t see growing in the local nurseries. Some of the things I’ve gotten from them are: Catananche caerulea Nepeta transcaucasica Salvia transylvanica Salvia viscosa Malva sylvestris I like Thompson & Morgan quite a bit! And from the looks of those plants I listed above, I…
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Larry Sagers has a new column in the Deseret Morning News on new plants: deseretnews.com | Exciting new plants for your garden. The “Coral Rose” Diascia looks pretty cool.
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One of my garden projects this winter is chilling some bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) seeds outside to see if they’ll sprout in the spring. I collected the seeds in the fall from a grove that had some really awesome red leaves. In fact, here’s a photo of me and Dana (my lovely wife) at that spot. These are native to Utah, and I’m hoping they’ll grow well at my home’s altitude — not just up in the canyons. One reason for wanting to grow them is that the soil here is so alkaline that some other maples get chlorotic. I…