29july04 Lamb's Ears, Hops
Temp Sunny and clear high of 82º. 64º at my thermometer at 9:00 am.
Lamb's Ears. I was worried about them becoming invasive for the first couple of years. Now they barely hold on and are not my favorite border plant in the decorative front yard beds. Yesterday I prepared a flat of them to transplant down at the church. They need to be transplanted. Roots get old and they grow too far from their roots.
If I want to use them to expand the borders of my beds by taking over grassy areas, I need to replant the tips and discard the old roots. It will refresh their vigor. Also I no longer worry about their becoming invasive. All I have to do is neglect them for a few years and pull them out, if I don't want them anymore.
I like this plant. My friend Yvonne gave it to me over 5 years ago.
Hops. I ordered some hop plants to climb up the "clubhouse" #2 son and husband made over ten years ago. It is 8 feet off the ground and no longer sturdy enough to let the grandchildren play there but will make a grand trellis. The little hop rhisomes came at a bad time, so they were potted and put out behind the garage until the garden party was over. [behind the garage, where the compost pile and raspberries are has gotten quite exuberant this summer with all the rain. Squash (planted) and tomatoes (wild) are growing out of the verdant soil, despite the bunnies.]
When the party was sufficently over and I had energy for the orphans, only one rhisome had survived. My friend David told me they needed water and gave me a whole book about growing hops. There are more than one variety and two kinds of hops. I put the thing in a 16 inch pot with Pansys and Curry plant where I had room. I have to stake it. The tendrils, there are many and supposed to be limited to two in spring for hop production, are quite sticky and climb up the stake well. I may plant them out on the clubhouse or I may leave them in the pot next year, easier to keep watered. They need a neutral ph. I'm having second thoughts about hops. Maybe I want to grow quiwi instead. What ever I put out there, I have to do it early before the Wren family nest out there. Papa Wren protests mightily when I do much out there. Those Wrens are busy, with three broods a year all making their racket. I love it.
Lamb's Ears. I was worried about them becoming invasive for the first couple of years. Now they barely hold on and are not my favorite border plant in the decorative front yard beds. Yesterday I prepared a flat of them to transplant down at the church. They need to be transplanted. Roots get old and they grow too far from their roots.
If I want to use them to expand the borders of my beds by taking over grassy areas, I need to replant the tips and discard the old roots. It will refresh their vigor. Also I no longer worry about their becoming invasive. All I have to do is neglect them for a few years and pull them out, if I don't want them anymore.
I like this plant. My friend Yvonne gave it to me over 5 years ago.
Hops. I ordered some hop plants to climb up the "clubhouse" #2 son and husband made over ten years ago. It is 8 feet off the ground and no longer sturdy enough to let the grandchildren play there but will make a grand trellis. The little hop rhisomes came at a bad time, so they were potted and put out behind the garage until the garden party was over. [behind the garage, where the compost pile and raspberries are has gotten quite exuberant this summer with all the rain. Squash (planted) and tomatoes (wild) are growing out of the verdant soil, despite the bunnies.]
When the party was sufficently over and I had energy for the orphans, only one rhisome had survived. My friend David told me they needed water and gave me a whole book about growing hops. There are more than one variety and two kinds of hops. I put the thing in a 16 inch pot with Pansys and Curry plant where I had room. I have to stake it. The tendrils, there are many and supposed to be limited to two in spring for hop production, are quite sticky and climb up the stake well. I may plant them out on the clubhouse or I may leave them in the pot next year, easier to keep watered. They need a neutral ph. I'm having second thoughts about hops. Maybe I want to grow quiwi instead. What ever I put out there, I have to do it early before the Wren family nest out there. Papa Wren protests mightily when I do much out there. Those Wrens are busy, with three broods a year all making their racket. I love it.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home