Your All Things Plants weekly news
May 24, 2014

This Week's Gardening Ideas:

By dave May 24, 2014 Dave's Super Easy Two Person Weeding Technique In a podcast episode a couple weeks ago, Dave mentioned his technique of weeding using a sharp shovel. We recently had to weed out a pretty bad bed of tall grass, and we took a video so we can demonstrate the technique for you.

By dyzzypyxxy May 23, 2014 Tropicals That Keep Blooming There are so many gorgeous tropical bulbs and rhizomatous plants, it's hard to choose. I have moved away from the one-time bloomers to those that continue blooming through the warm weather. (1,168 words - Read the full article)

By Sharon May 22, 2014 Stake the Dahlias I grew up loving wildflowers, their little blooms, their foliage, their purpose in life. They seemed to grow and bloom with absolutely no care or attention. I discovered quite early that none of that was true for my mother's prized dahlias. They had to be staked and tied and needed daily care. I wasn't very fond of a plant whose bloom was too heavy for the stalk it grew on. (1,396 words - Read the full article)

By dave May 21, 2014 ATP Podcast #57: Summer Bulbs Week This week is Summer and Tropical Bulbs Week at All Things Plants, so today we're going to talk about our own personal favorite summer bulbs. Trish will tell us how to know the difference between the different genera of elephant ears. After that, we'll talk about our usual farming adventures in East Texas and finally we'll talk about our exciting new feature on the site: The Green Pages.

By greene May 21, 2014 Alstroemeria psittacina aka A. pulchella Alstroemeria: beautiful or invasive and irritating? (967 words - Read the full article)

By drdawg May 20, 2014 Gingers Gingers, also called "ginger lilies," make great landscape or patio plants. They are tolerant of temperature extremes, will grow in poor soil, and can even grow in those wet areas where little else will grow. Most species are grown for their beautiful, fragrant flowers, but there are varieties used as condiments and varieties used as natural shampoo/conditioner in Hawaii. (517 words - Read the full article)

By Dutchlady1 May 19, 2014 Gloriosa Lily Gloriosa superba is a striking plant, and the only climbing lily in existence. (183 words - Read the full article)

By SongofJoy May 18, 2014 Four O'Clocks Most people who have experience with these tuberous plants that thrive in the heat of summer seem to have definite opinions about Four o'Clocks. Because they are prolific re-seeders, some find them an annoyance to be yanked out of the garden asap. Others love them, as I do. (304 words - Read the full article)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Lily (Lilium 'Tiny Padhye') by lovemyhouse: Photo of Iris (Iris 'Carnival Ride') by Dodecatheon3: Photo of Sage (Salvia x sylvestris 'Mainacht') by dirtdorphins: Photo of Iris (Iris 'Pretty Kitty') by Patty: Photo of Plumeria (Plumeria rubra 'Waimea') by RobertB: Photo of Pink Lantern (Medinilla magnifica) by mjsponies:

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week: Multi-plant photo by valleylynn: Multi-plant photo by clintbrown: Multi-plant photo by bonitin: Multi-plant photo by dirtdorphins: Multi-plant photo by valleylynn: Multi-plant photo by kosk0025:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

6 people gave for the idea "Tropicals That Keep Blooming" by dyzzypyxxy 5 people gave for the idea "Stake the Dahlias" by Sharon 4 people gave for the idea "Four O'Clocks" by SongofJoy 4 people gave for the idea "Alstroemeria psittacina aka A. pulchella" by greene 3 people gave for post #616668 in "Banner for May 18, 2014 by 4susiesjoy" by 4susiesjoy 3 people gave for the idea "Gingers" by drdawg 3 people gave for post #619644 in "Banner for May 22, 2014 by Newyorkrita" by Newyorkrita 3 people gave for post #617274 in "Banner for May 19, 2014 by Horntoad" by Horntoad 3 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #1331 by valleylynn 3 people gave for post #615976 in "Banner for May 17, 2014 by Sharon" by Sharon

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
Brightest Colored Daylilies	Seedfork	Daylilies forum	75
OT - The Porch Swing	daylily	Daylilies forum	71
The late show	Henhouse	Irises forum	43
Acorn Auction # 2	Xeramtheum	Classifieds and Group Buys forum	28
Ohio Burgundy	valleylynn	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	28
Gunther	gg5	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	24
Count me in as loving them.	Newyorkrita	Four O'Clocks	22
Good deed of the day	drdawg	All Things Gardening forum	20
Confusions about species, and no wonder, it's on the labels!	purpleinopp	Purslane and Portulaca forum	18

Some new reviews from the ATP Green Pages:

woofie recommended Iris Sisters Farm and wrote: This is a small, relatively new company in Oregon. I ordered three irises last year from them and they sent me six! Nice healthy looking plants and so far, two of the new plants have buds forming on them. Reasonable prices, reasonable shipping charge.

dorothythomas98 recommended Sandy Mush Herb Nursery and wrote: Sandy Mush Herb Nursery has a good selection of herbs. They ship promptly and all plants were received in good condition in a timely manner. Great customer service and friendly staff. They have a great handbook online for downloading.

mom2goldens recommended Santa Rosa Gardens and wrote: I received my 2nd order from Santa Rosa Gardens today. Every plant was packed well and arrived in great condition. I was amazed at the size of the plants for the price -- better than anything I've found locally or at other on-line nurseries. What I really appreciate is their $5.00 flat shipping rate. I ordered on the weekend, and had my plants by Thursday. Awesome service.

petruske recommended Sterrett Gardens and wrote: I just got my daylily order yesterday from Sterrett Gardens. I was VERY pleased with the size of the plants. Had to dig the holes much larger and deeper than usual because of the great root system. Two to three fans per daylily. Chesapeake Crab Legs was a free one and it had four fans!!

Hemophobic recommended Raymond's Garden Center and wrote: This was one of my favorite nurseries when I was living in Asheville, NC. They have a wonderful selection of plants not found at the big box stores and knowledgeable staff to help in selecting the right plant for your location. Loved Raymond's!

We keep growing, because ATP is where all the excitement is these days! Check out these numbers from last week:

• 493 members joined.
• 5,206 posts written.
• 1,760 images posted to the plant database.
• 909 plants added to personal inventory lists.