Change of address

Garden Thoughts has a new address, as the blog is tied to my email address, and I just recently got a new Gmail account. The new blog is at:

http://inrudysgarden.blogspot.com

Thank you for your patronage and interest!

Poinsettia pics

Here are pics of the poinsettia I grew at the campus greenhouse. I think it turned out much better than what you'd find in the stores. It was a very rewarding experience, given the strict requirements poinsettias have.

Seeds for spring

This afternoon I walked back into the garden, which is now hunkering down into slumber for the winter, and picked seeds from my Euonymus alatus "Burning Bush" and Nandina shrubs. I decided a few days ago that I would see if I could grow them from seed, MAYBE by chance discover a new variety. So I pulled a bunch of seeds, extracted the seed from the berries, and mixed them with damp Promix soil in large ziplock bags. They'll be in the fridge for a few months, as Nandina and Euonymus seeds require a chilling period in order to germinate. I will report my findings over the next several months. In the meantime, I will have pics up tomorrow or Saturday of the poinsettia I grew at the campus greenhouse, and the Christmas cactus.

Coming soon...

With little activity going on in the garden, I've been putting together a new website that will be less of a blog and more of a guide to plants and shrubs that will grow in zones 6 and 7, specifically, Virginia. Right now I'm working on the sections for various shrubs and trees that are drought tolerant and cold hardy. I already have some pictures and will be including information on growth habit, growing requirements, noteworthy varieties, etc. The site should be up in another few weeks and I will post a link when I have that available.

Knockouts still swinging

Just had to get some pictures of my Knockout roses with the beautiful autumn sun shining down on them. The cold weather has done something to cause the plants to put out bigger, much more intricate blooms than during summer and spring. Enjoy!

A closer look: Sedum

One of the plants in my garden that I have all too frequently taken for granted and dismissed in favor of more flamboyant plants like hibiscus and Knockout rose, sedum is not only one of the most drought tolerant perennials around, it is just getting started in late summer/early fall as everything else is shutting down. Sedum tend to be categorized as succulents for their thick, rubbery texture that allows the plant to hold in water much like cactus do, and consequently they require little to no watering even during periods of drought. According to my books, there are at least 100 different species and varieties of sedum, many of which are groundcovers that folks use in rock gardens. Most people are familiar with 'Autumn Joy', an upright type that forms broccoli-like flower heads that fade from pink to red as the weather cools in September and October. The nectar-rich flowers attrack all kinds of beneficial insects as well. It gets about 3 feet high and grows in clusters that can get 3 or 4 feet wide, and might require some staking after a hard rain, as the bulky flower heads can become top-heavy. Groundcover types only get a few inches high but spread along the ground in neat clumps and mats, between rocks and crevices.



Given their hardiness and heat/drought tolerance, and their ability to adapt to poor soils, sedum deserve more attention and consideration than they get. If you feel like you're always having to run out to the garden in hot weather to rescue wilting plants, introduce some sedum to your garden and spend more time enjoying it than pampering it.

Fixing the sedum

Went out to the garden earlier this afternoon and got started on trying to get the sedum to stand up again, after being waterlogged and top heavy from all the rain the last two weeks. Our sedum is massive compared to most...about 5 feet tall, and 4 feet in diameter. And when it rains, the water hits the broccoli-like blooms and pulls all the stems down and outward from the center. So I took some gardening stretch-tape/tie wraps, stuck a long stake in the middle of the sedum, and tied the leaning stems to the stake. I then cut off several stems, to free up some space and also to have some to transplant elsewhere in the garden. Wonderful plants...never have to water them, very tolerant of heat and drought, not bothered by pests. Provides neat color in the fall when other perennials and shrubs are finishing their show.

In other news, my classes are getting real fun. In Greenhouse Crop Production, we're growing several varieties of poinsettias to sell around Christmas. We have three groups....one is a control group which will only get water. The second will get a general fertilizer, and the third receives a special formulation of fertilizer and pesticide/insecticide. Our project is to take measurements of how the poinsettias are growing in reaction to these conditions. And in my Plant Propagation class, we are learning how to graft the branch of a shrub that otherwise can't root, and attaching it to the under-stock of another shrub that is able to root. The end result is that you can duplicate plants that are otherwise hard to reproduce by cuttings, and at the same time, possibly create a new hybrid plant that shares characteristics of both shrubs. Interesting stuff! And this Wednesday my agriculture class is going up to my professor's farm to look at crop planting methods, how to rotate plantings, all that good stuff. And in between all this I have to keep several journals....which shouldn't be that hard, as I love to blog and journal about things anyway.