Mumsy's Romantic Garden Advice

[MumsyII]

Hello, I'm pretty new to gardening, so I'm gonna ask a kinda green question. Should you plant roses in the fall?

This is actually a very good question. If the rose has been growing well in a pot over summer, then the answer is yes. Dig a hole twice the size of the pot. Add some good compost to the bottom of the hole and work it into the natural soil. Plant it deeper than the books would advise. Water well and keep watering if Fall rain is insufficient.

If you want to transplant a rose that is already growing in your garden, it is best to wait until it is dormant. In my region that would be around Feb. and March. The plant hasn't started into new growth. It can be pruned of dead or diseased wood. Thinned a little and planted the same as the potted rose. Being very careful not to break the brittle roots of the rose.

Bare root roses that you can order by mail or buy early Spring are treated and planted differently.

In all cases, mulch the base of the rose with a couple inches of compost, DL, or bark chips. Not raw shavings or straw. These take a long time to break down and rob nitrogen from the rose. Also they can be a good hiding/nesting place for munchers like mice that will gnaw the rose bark.

 

[MumsyII]

congrats on the fair win Mumsy! as always the flowers are beautiful. I'm admiring everyone's morning glories and thinking of planting them on part of my garden fence. They can take over there to their heart's delight with no harm to anyone, and will disguise the ugly metal fence

I hate that fence. It's such an eyesore.

I love the fair too! I don't think my veggies are good enough to win anything but I used to win ribbons with Jams and baked goods every year when I was a teenager and a young adult. I nver entered in the 4H competitions with anything but sewing and yarn. After going this year with the kids and looking at the exhibits I decided next year I'm entering handspun again, and maybe some knitwear. I'd love to see them have a bigger display of those items, and I think I could win some ribbons, which would be fun.

My friend here planted her potatoes in towers. She put straw around the outside and then layered the inside with dirt, compost, and seed potatoes. I will report her findings. They have not been terrible to keep moist because the straw sort of insulates the dirt inside. My potatoes look great, but I forgot to hill them up, so I doubt that I will have that many.... Ooops....

I pulled up all that dead nettle from the stump. I have lots of time to weed because I take the kids outside every day. I can't work in the veggie garden, but I can potter in the yard and weed the flower beds. My kids are so small that I have to watch almost at every moment while they play, and I can't do that effectively out of the vegetable garden, sadly. Both to referee and because we don't have fence up yet, so the creek is twenty feet away from their play area. My older son doesn't have the sense that the good lord gave green grass, and is too young to really understand the danger. It's kind of a scary combination. Hopefully next year we can put up the fence. Maybe even this fall with some luck. Anyhow, back to the stump... Maybe I could plant some sort of Ivy on it, and then some flowers around the base? It's very rotten and things are growing all over it. What kind of Ivy could I plant that wouldn't take over?

Yes! Entering in the home economics department is a blast! I had made jam and pickled beets to enter but missed the deadline. Next year I will know to look on line at the cut off dates sooner. I love looking at it all. The barn with quilts hanging from the rafters and the sewing and fiber arts blow my mind. So wonderful.

I tried growing potatoes in straw heaped on the ground as a mounding source but it didn't work for me. I had better luck this year using my DL.

I can't advise planting ivy because of the twenty year fight I had to get rid of mine once I did. There are creeping ground cover perennials that would be pretty without turning into monsters that engulf every living thing in it's path like ivy does. I will make a list when I get a chance later today.

 

[armorfirelady]

My funky pumpkin growing in the fence

 

[flitter]

My funky pumpkin growing in the fence

Specially shaped for Halloween... by the fence?

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: Yup thats my theory. Cant wait to see what it looks like when its done. I will have to be creative and carve it cool

 

[MumsyII]

Yup thats my theory. Cant wait to see what it looks like when its done. I will have to be creative and carve it cool

That is so strange. I wonder how much bigger it will get while it continues to wrap itself into the fence? Carving it and putting a candle in it while it's stuck in the fence would be very cool.

 

[AletaG]

Asked something similar on the Fermented Feed page but, since some people using LAB (I figure filtered scoby (the fermented feed broth) probably similar) to spray on mildewing plants in the garden... I'm going to try that... Also, what about a 'living' foot bath, vs. using Chlorheximine or bleach water on your 'chicken shoes' for quarantined birds, or any other more natural choices? I'm upping my game in that department, but was wondering what else might be out there that would be a little more friendly. I had a chicken try to drink out of the foot bath with Chlorheximine in it (must smell great, 'cause she REALLY reached for it) I caught her just in time and moved the bath a bit further away from the gate. That stuff would really mess her up. Plus, I've got 2 young children who are pretty good at following directions, until they aren't. The volume of bath wouldn't poison them, but sure would make them feel pretty icky. I'll track down the natural stuff thread again and post there, too.

 

[armorfirelady]

Quote: I have been checking it and I saw a little moisture escaping where the fence is in it but its solid and no bugs so I am going to let it grow. Thats a great idea to carve it and put a light in it there

 

[MumsyII]

Asked something similar on the Fermented Feed page but, since some people using LAB (I figure filtered scoby (the fermented feed broth) probably similar) to spray on mildewing plants in the garden... I'm going to try that... Also, what about a 'living' foot bath, vs. using Chlorheximine or bleach water on your 'chicken shoes' for quarantined birds, or any other more natural choices? I'm upping my game in that department, but was wondering what else might be out there that would be a little more friendly. I had a chicken try to drink out of the foot bath with Chlorheximine in it (must smell great, 'cause she REALLY reached for it) I caught her just in time and moved the bath a bit further away from the gate. That stuff would really mess her up. Plus, I've got 2 young children who are pretty good at following directions, until they aren't. The volume of bath wouldn't poison them, but sure would make them feel pretty icky. I'll track down the natural stuff thread again and post there, too.

I have no experience using LAB, Chlorheximine, or the scoby with my chickens or the garden. If anyone wants to fill me in on whether this would work as a spray for controlling mildew, I'm all ears. I personally don't spray my plants for anything. But I know others try different things. and it sounds like LAB especially has some benefit in some areas.

 

[Kassaundra]

LAB is used in Korean natural farming to control powder mildew and other noxious mildews on plants. It out competes w/ the noxious mildew and is not harmful to the plant, it is beneficial in the soil, it encourages and grows many beneficial micro organisms in the soil.