tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post4500329008710939479..comments2023-03-29T05:20:30.623-04:00Comments on Wooded Paths: Should You Buy Shrubs At The Supermarket?DWPittellihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02809996471988559374noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-20145010431130606032007-05-05T03:51:00.000-04:002007-05-05T03:51:00.000-04:00They are still in pots. I did bring them in but n...They are still in pots. I did bring them in but now I have to waite for daylight to see what damage was done. One stem, the one with the bud on it, looks like it had a hard night out on the town, it is lying over the edge of the pot, a position I found myself in on several occasions. I think the wind may have snapped the stem. We will see when the sun comes up.Southviewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241852600497036151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-30082208465007796222007-05-04T19:19:00.000-04:002007-05-04T19:19:00.000-04:00Southview,Roses do need sun, generally half a day ...Southview,<BR/><BR/>Roses do need sun, generally half a day at minimum to bloom. But plants which have been inside need a break-in period to harden them off. It's risky to skip this hardening off period, although you can often get away with it if cloudy and at least occasionally damp weather is predicted for at least 4 days.<BR/><BR/>I thought when you wrote that you "decided to hardy them up a bit and put them outside this morning for a breath of fresh air" that you put them out in their pots, and thus it would be trivially easy to bring them back out of the sun. If you buried them in the ground in full sun, and digging them back up would thus be another trauma, then you should, if possible, put up some sort of screen or partial shade, such as a piece of trellis made into a "coffee table"-like form over them, or a lawn chair placed to block at least the afternoon sun.<BR/><BR/>I have done this with one level of a plastic shelving unit from Home Depot, and its 4 plastic pipe feet; from the kind of shelving that goes up 3 or 4 levels and is sold as holding 1,000 pounds. One level with its feet is the size and shape of a coffee table, but its slits let through about half the light. You can also throw a towel, tarp, sheet or something over it if a frost or near frost is predicted (as is the case tonight with a low of 35F. in the report for Adams).DWPittellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02809996471988559374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-87349748930835152012007-05-04T17:43:00.000-04:002007-05-04T17:43:00.000-04:00DW....The soil had plenty of H2O, maybe too much?,...DW....The soil had plenty of H2O, maybe too much?, my black thumb observation concluded that all though the sun was bright and shiney the roses don't want to respond to the photosynthises? Upon reflection...When the plants arrived I thought they were DOA, but I stuck them in some dirt anyway and to my ammazement they actually started to grow. I was under the impression that roses liked lots of sun? DAH...My observations conclude that you are the man....Roses like subduded light, not direct exposure! Silly me! Don't believe everything you believe to be the truth! That's the problem of being an old guy...you rely on burnt out brain cells that like to lie to you and then sit back and have a good chuckel. :~)Southviewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241852600497036151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-38946528839204490372007-05-04T15:54:00.000-04:002007-05-04T15:54:00.000-04:00Southview,1) I'd bring them in ASAP. Water if the...Southview,<BR/><BR/>1) I'd bring them in ASAP. Water if the soil is dry. Cross fingers. Even if they lose their leaves, they are likely to make a second leafing attempt (roses are hardy perennials).<BR/><BR/>Next time you put plants out to harden them off, put them in high shade (little or no direct sun, but with bright sky in their "view") for the first few days. Bring in at night at first if it's to get below 40F or so (even higher if it's a tropical like a Coleus).<BR/><BR/>Pine needles are reported to lower pH somewhat, but I'd use something stronger if you suspect you still have alkaline soil, such as Holly-Tone or sulphur or other acidifier.DWPittellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02809996471988559374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-82322887487858208802007-05-04T13:09:00.000-04:002007-05-04T13:09:00.000-04:00DW...Just me again, the black thumbed pest...I hav...DW...Just me again, the black thumbed pest...I have a nice, well almost nice, well OK a living Rhododendron that has defied all my attempts to knock it off (not intentionaly). I spread a nice blancket of pine needles around the base which in turn gives the soil an acid Ph. Am I doing good?Southviewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241852600497036151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-41513005220876706432007-05-04T12:13:00.000-04:002007-05-04T12:13:00.000-04:00DW....I had a black thumb question that I think yo...DW....I had a black thumb question that I think you answered for me in your post. I have a couple of rose bushes started from stump cuts that were doing just great even had a bud. But being mister know-it-all, el plant-o-man, one with nature, I decided to hardy them up a bit and put them outside this morning for a breath of fresh air. Well you guessed it...They look like I have slit their thr oats and doomed them to death! Wiltage has set in and I think I killed them. The sun is hot enough but was it the cool wind that did them in? Should I bring them in or just give them a descent burial?Southviewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02241852600497036151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12487577.post-54826183957933943242007-05-04T06:49:00.000-04:002007-05-04T06:49:00.000-04:00Thank you so much for all the plant info, not just...Thank you so much for all the plant info, not just in this post but it others as well. I am a novice gardner with (believe it or not) acidic soil! So my rhodies do okay, except for the excessive wind, but a lot of local plants do not do well for me. Plus the problem of a neighbor who owns the treeline between our property, and his 60' tall white pines shade my lot, which eliminates most sun-loving plants.<BR/><BR/>But it is great to get truly local info. Thanks again.kchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06839964231203087221noreply@blogger.com