# My flower garden



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 6, 2021)

I could swear that we used to have a thread about gardening, but I can't find it. Flowers are what I love, and fortunately I live in the Southeast where there's a long growing season, usually from mid-March until mid-October.

Earlier this week when I was doing a walk-around in what I call the South 40 (it's a very big garden!), I noticed that there's a white azalea shrub in bloom. In _October_. It's not an Encore azalea (they bloom two or three times a year); it's just a regular garden-variety azalea.

I love surprises


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 6, 2021)

BTW, anybody know where that gardening thread got to? It doesn't seem to fit in the Outdoors thread, which is all about hunting, fishing, camping...


----------



## Gaer (Oct 6, 2021)

I spread seeds last April for Heavenly blue Morning Glories  and have huge stalks with thousands of lovely leaves but only a couple of blooms. 
Just as they were budding, the temperature dropped thirty degrees.
The next day I had one lonely, brave little flower blossom out of all the thousands of buds.

BTW:  Maybe THIS is our new gardening thread!


----------



## Lara (Oct 6, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> BTW, anybody know where that gardening thread got to? It doesn't seem to fit in the Outdoors thread, which is all about hunting, fishing, camping...


I clicked on Search (toolbar above left). I
 typed "Garden" in the Search box. 
Then I clicked on Titles Only. 

Then 100 Garden threads showed up. You can try that or if you give me the year it was first posted or anything you remember about it, like what member started the thread, then I could narrow it down for you.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 6, 2021)

That's how I figured out to put my post in Hobbies. What I meant was that I thought we used to have a specific forum just for gardens. I really don't remember when it was or who initiated it...just that it was a long time ago...


----------



## Lara (Oct 6, 2021)

Okay. I'll look again for one with flowers..."a long time ago"


----------



## Lara (Oct 6, 2021)

This isn't the one you were looking for but this is the flower garden 
that @Ken N Tx  posted of his wife's in 2015 "a long time ago" lol:
https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/my-wifes-flower-rock-garden.12463/#post-203609


----------



## Lara (Oct 6, 2021)

You have your profile limited as to who can see it so I can't look for you, but you can go and click on your "Postings". You will find all your posts back to the day you joined. Then scroll down to "a long time ago" where you participated in a Garden thread and click on it.

Meanwhile here's one with beautiful photos of favorite garden flowers from members...
https://www.seniorforums.com/thread...row-admire-or-associate-with-childhood.14033/


----------



## Lara (Oct 6, 2021)

Okay, this is my last effort. I think I found it? You started this thread in 2019 in the Hobby Forum...
https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/anybody-here-started-their-garden-yet.40006/


----------



## PamfromTx (Oct 6, 2021)

Lara said:


> Okay, this is my last effort. I think I found it? You started this thread in 2019 in the Hobby Forum...
> https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/anybody-here-started-their-garden-yet.40006/


You are so kind and helpful @Lara


----------



## Kaila (Oct 6, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> I thought we used to have a specific forum just for gardens.


A forum for it....sounds good.  I don't know if there is one at SF.


----------



## Kaila (Oct 6, 2021)

Gaer said:


> I spread seeds last April for Heavenly blue Morning Glories and have huge stalks with thousands of lovely leaves but only a couple of blooms.
> Just as they were budding, the temperature dropped thirty degrees.


That's a disappointment. Those leaves are lovely , but those heavenly blue flowers are so beautiful! That specific type of morning glories,  do usually take months to grow their stalks and vines and leaves first, *before* they begin to flower, but then, they are worth having waited for!

They don't mind some cold, and could flower through the autumn, but maybe not if you get too many cold nights, I don't remember exactly how much cold they can take.

But, perhaps your ground has too much natural nitrogen?  Or is too rich? Those plants are wildflowers and don't do well if you give them lots of nice nutrients, even if it's in the forms of compost, etc.
Just thought I would share my ideas with you.


----------



## Kaila (Oct 6, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> I could swear that we used to have a thread about gardening, but I can't find it. Flowers are what I love, and fortunately I live in the Southeast where there's a long growing season, usually from mid-March until mid-October.
> 
> Earlier this week when I was doing a walk-around in what I call the South 40 (it's a very big garden!), I noticed that there's a white azalea shrub in bloom. In _October_. It's not an Encore azalea (they bloom two or three times a year); it's just a regular garden-variety azalea.
> 
> I love surprises


You definitely do have a much longer growing season that I do, in the Northeast.  I love flowering plants though, too.

There always seem to be surprises, which make gardens very interesting.  Each year, some of the things we expect or hope will grow well, don't, and some of them do well, or even much better than expected.
I too would be very surprised with an azalea flowering in October!


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 7, 2021)

Lara said:


> Okay, this is my last effort. I think I found it? You started this thread in 2019 in the Hobby Forum...
> https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/anybody-here-started-their-garden-yet.40006/


Yay! Thanks Lara. That's the one. I was surprised that I'm the one who started it. Don't know why I didn't continue with it.

Heck...now that this one is started, maybe I'll just keep up with it.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 7, 2021)

I came home early from work because I just wasn't feeling it. Thursdays are slow so it's not like my leaving put undue pressure on anybody else. I do feel guilty, tho.

Anyway, I came home and took a nap and feel much better now.

DD was out and about this morning and brought me a beautiful red & yellow mum. It just happened that I had a spare pot that's yellow and just the right size. Yippee.

At this time of year when most everything in the garden is just about done, I really appreciate having some late-blooming flowers, especially mums.


----------



## Kaila (Oct 8, 2021)

I love mums, too, and have often had some, in the flower bed, I can see from my window.
I do not have any mums this year, but there are still some other plants flowering, here in the North.  Zinnia's, cleome's, geraniums, begonias, iris....All blooming flowers are extra welcome in Autumn!
Also the coleus foliage is still wonderful, bushy and multi-colored.
(And of course, our trees are _grand, this time of year! )_


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 10, 2021)

I live in the southeast, and here mums are perennials. Yay


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 11, 2021)

I'm fighting a war with dollarweed. It used to be called pennywort. Is that inflation at work? (Tee hee...get it?) So far the dollarweed is winning.

I want to get rid of it in the lawn so that I can reseed. There's a product that "kills the weeds not the lawn" that works. It's expensive considering how much I need. So far I've emptied the first big jug and need at least two, probably three, refills. Sigh.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 19, 2021)

A few days ago I reseeded part of the lawn where I may have gotten rid of the !@#$%^&* dollarweed/pennywort. Yesterday I noticed that there are tiny, fine little shoots of grass popping up. Woohoo and stuff. 

And now the azalea I'd mentioned is in full bloom. Nobody told it that this is October. Shhhhh! It's very pretty.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 20, 2021)

Okay, then! I woke the roosters up this morning because I was so excited that it's finally the day my rocking chair money is deposited (and tomorrow is payday at the biscuit shop where I report three mornings a week at 4 am).

At 7:30 DD took me to Home Depot to get lawn soil and grass seed and most of the rest of the lawn has been reseeded and well watered. Yippee. Now I get to sit on the patio and watch for it to sprout.

I wanted to spray the pennywort/dollarweed (inflation weed!) in another part of the lawn, but we're supposed to get rain and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow and don't want the weed killer to get diluted/washed away.

In the General Discussions thread I expressed my surprise that Home Depot has put away all their Hallowe'en decorations and already put up everything related to Christmas. Why was I surprised? The "season" starts earlier every year! The only Hallowe'en decorations left? A display of pumpkins outside the front door There were zillions of evergreen shrubs in pots decorated with red bows. Wut?


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 20, 2021)

Well, fiddlesticks. I was done reseeding and watering about 10am. It's past 1pm now, and even though the sun is out and it's a warm day, nothing has sprouted yet. Do y'all think I'm expecting too much?


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 20, 2021)

It's now past 4pm. The grass seed still hasn't sprouted Patience maybe a virtue and virtue its own reward, but patience isn't my long suit. Sigh.


----------



## RadishRose (Oct 20, 2021)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> It's now past 4pm. The grass seed still hasn't sprouted Patience maybe a virtue and virtue its own reward, but patience isn't my long suit. Sigh.


You might want to give it a few days Georgia. I hope the birds don't get it before it grows.

 We put fresh hay (not salted) over our reseeded patch one year and just raked it off when the grass grew.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 20, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> You might want to give it a few days Georgia. I hope the birds don't get it before it grows.
> 
> We put fresh hay (not salted) over our reseeded patch one year and just raked it off when the grass grew.


Are you saying I'm over-anxious? LOL

The birds haven't been interested in the past when I've reseeded. I think it's because they don't like that the seeds are coated with fertilizer. The first year when I planted the lawn, I spread wheat straw but haven't been able to find clean wheat straw since then and don't want weird stuff sprouting between the blades of grass.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 26, 2021)

There are camellias in bloom in my garden! It's rather too early for them, but I'm not complaining. They usually start to bloom toward the end of November. The azaleas still don't know it's the wrong time of year. The white one is in full bloom, and yesterday I noticed that a red one is blooming as well.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 27, 2021)

Just came in from the garden where I spent the morning from just after I first posted about 8:30. The bulbs and seeds have been planted, some weeds pulled. a mum transplanted from its garden center pot into a "real" one, and the lawn watered. 

Glory be! There are tiny little green shoots of grass popping up. As my gramma would have said "You must have been holding your mouth right". It's supposed to start raining tomorrow and rain for the next few days so by this time next week, I'll be looking at what's really going to be a lawn. Yippee.


----------



## RadishRose (Oct 27, 2021)

Kaila said:


> That's a disappointment. Those leaves are lovely , but those heavenly blue flowers are so beautiful! That specific type of morning glories,  do usually take months to grow their stalks and vines and leaves first, *before* they begin to flower, but then, they are worth having waited for!
> 
> They don't mind some cold, and could flower through the autumn, but maybe not if you get too many cold nights, I don't remember exactly how much cold they can take.
> 
> ...


Morning glory is known to be incredibly invasive. They can overtake and choke out other plantings and are very hard to get rid of.


----------



## Tom 86 (Oct 27, 2021)

Depending on the type of grass seed you put down, it can take from 5 to 18 days to sprout.  This I know as I've planted grass here.  If I just go to Lowes & get standard grass seed mix it has oats in it.  That will germinate in 5 days then the other grass will come later.  

  If I plant straight bluegrass then it takes full 18 days for it to show up.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 27, 2021)

I have fescue and like it because it stays green year round. Depending on the weather, it takes 4 days to a week to germinate. It's been on the cool side here, which explains why it took a week.


----------



## Bellbird (Oct 27, 2021)

I have sown my Sweet pea seeds straight into the ground this year. I have tried seed boxes in the past but it's a bit of a hit and miss affair. So fingers crossed.


----------



## Tom 86 (Oct 28, 2021)

When my wife & I use to have an in-ground garden.  I got cattle fence panels.  Put stakes in the rows of cucumbers, peas, anything that climbed. * I would start up the fence panels & when the stuff came on no bending over.  Just walk through the fence panels & pick your things. * In winter I would put the fence panels & metal posts in the pole barn till the next year.


----------



## Liberty (Oct 28, 2021)

This Lantana completely covered up a concrete bench.  The banana tree is outdoing itself.  First comes the gigantic red flower and then the great big bunch of bananas it produces- 
so heavy we have to put a step ladder there to hold the stem!


----------



## Aneeda72 (Oct 28, 2021)

RadishRose said:


> Morning glory is known to be incredibly invasive. They can overtake and choke out other plantings and are very hard to get rid of.


Yup, they got into my veggie garden a couple years ago.  Very hard to get rid of.


----------



## Kaila (Oct 28, 2021)

Tom 86 said:


> When my wife & I use to have an in-ground garden.  I got cattle fence panels.  Put stakes in the rows of cucumbers, peas, anything that climbed. * I would start up the fence panels & when the stuff came on no bending over.  Just walk through the fence panels & pick your things. * In winter I would put the fence panels & metal posts in the pole barn till the next year.



I enjoyed reading what you wrote about what you and she used to do, Tom. Thanks for sharing that,. I can picture it, in my mind.

@Liberty
Loved those pictures, and your explanations!
I had no idea that banana trees could grow so heartily, in Texas!


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Oct 29, 2021)

Yippee! Almost all of the grass seed has sprouted, and I can tell that it's gonna be a lawn in just a few more days. The sun is supposed to come out Sunday to speed it along Then all I have to do is wait for a couple of weeks for it to be long enough and thick enough to mow.

It doesn't take a lot to please me


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 10, 2021)

Oh, goody! There are two burning bush shrubs outside the back door that have finally started to "burn". Seems like it's happening later this year than in previous years. Once they start, it happens so quickly that there's hardly time to enjoy the bright red color, darn it. They will probably be bare already by the weekend.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 15, 2021)

The burning bushes are still in the midst of "burning" and might last another week. Camellia is in full bloom, knockout roses are still blooming, annnnd...the new lawn can probably be mowed in about a week. Life is good in the garden.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Nov 21, 2021)

As a new lawn parent, I am happy to report that it has already been mowed once! This morning it was fertilized with a fertilizer for new grass and then well watered in.

The rest of the lawn has been treated with weed & feed and also well watered in.

So...we're supposed to get a drenching rain tonight. Mmhmm. Guess I don't need to worry about the fertilizers burning either the new or the old lawn.

Those burning bushes? One is flame red, the other started turning red, then decided to put itself on pause. Go figure.


----------



## GeorgiaXplant (Dec 1, 2021)

One burning bush is still flame red, and the other is still on pause. In past years they've both been bare by now. Mother nature works in mysterious ways.

I went out bright and early to clean up what I started yesterday. It was still pretty cold out so I didn't last very long. In a few hours, I'll go back out and do more. If that doesn't wear me out, the lawn will get mowed. In summer, it needs to be mowed twice a week, sometimes more; in winter it only needs to be mowed once a week.

The lawn was invaded by dollarweed/pennywort this year. Grrrr. I may finally have gotten a handle on it because there's very little still left alive. After I mow, I'll spray again. One more time should do the trick.

ETA at 3pm: The mowing can wait until tomorrow. I'm bushed!


----------

