Viewing comments posted by sallyg

I've had a Burford for decades. It gets berries all over, was really loaded this winter, but no birds have eaten them even now in April. I'm disappointed - passively feeding birds is something I value in the garden.
Insects do love holly flowers though.

Bought one on clearance, already a full pot, and it has been an easy plant. After a year and a half, it's suddenly stressed out. I split and repotted the two halves today. Will try to update on how it does.

This plant appear on lists of 'good natives because birds like the berries,' but all in nursery trade are female so berries can be very hard to come by. I have 5 of these (4 'Shamrock,' 1 'Gem box') installed a few years ago. Full sun, sandy clay soil, average to good moisture. They've grown well, bloomed well, zero berries. Burford holly and American holly don't pollinate this at all. And I have never seen berries on nursery plants either. They have a sort of loose growth, may need to watch and prune if you want them to stay fairly tight. And they will sucker a bit. They did suffer attack of a leaf miner this spring, but have grown out and don't show any bad effects. Male cultivars are hard to find if they even exist commercially. If you have a few years and room to experiment, you can buy small plants or berries and wait to see which end up male.

I've been growing this for some years. It does well as a potted plant or summer 'annual' here in Maryland, once adjusted to part or even lots of sun. As stems grow, it branches from the base. It will grow indoors with much less light and have a very different, loose look with much smaller, paler leaves.

Bought a starter size maybe 2021. Grew OK but at some point all new leaves were curled, and then dried up. I treated with systemic but could not find insects. As of Sep 2023, it seems to be better and I've made cuttings for swap.

A very aggressive growing grass native to Asia. Not suitable as a lawn grass. It is widespread in state parks in Maryland and is found in most US states in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the South, east of the Mississippi. It is a weak stemmed, lush looking, shade tolerant annual grass that carpets the forest floor. Look for the silvery midvein as an ID feature.

This species can be weedy, aggressive, invasive. It now grows in huge patches in many places in central Maryland. Blooming in August, the extent of the growth is very obvious. Wikipedia says parts are edible- do your research before eating.

An Asian species, regarded as invasive in some regions, widespread enough to earn warnings in several Midatlantic states in US.

Celastrus orbiculatus is very common in the state parks in Maryland. I also find seedlings often in my garden under shrubs. Birds apparently drop the seeds. ID of seedlings can be confirmed by the bright orange roots.
Don't ever collect and use berries for decor in your yard, or you'll likely see seedlings later.

Incredibly invasive in some state parks I visit in Maryland. It has spread to my yard from a neighbor. It is virtually impossible to hand pull- leaves tiny tubers behind. After bloom, it sends out runners, with new rosettes and their own new set of tubers. https://www.invasive.org/alien...

I bought a starter plant ( 2 together) of Gold Rush. Good yield, plants got big and finally succumbed to borers today, early August. That is good results for my garden. Agree I like the color, taste, tenderness, ease of picking, for some reason most of mine had some to almost half the fruit green along with gold. Would grow again.

I have just a few growing. The beans are slim and straight as advertised, and plentiful, and do not seem to get as big as many other bush beans I have grown. A nice, well-mannered bean. So far so good.

I bought Avonblue in 1990 and as of 2023 it still bears well. Blueberries are virtually problem free in my central MD garden. Today I tried to find links about this variety and only found references to it being a parent variety of newer hybrids. It seems to be not out in the marketplace, and is not on the list of recommended blueberries from U Maryland.

I planted a Sunshine Blue at least 20 years ago, and it's still going strong. Blueberries have been virtually problem free to grow in my central MD garden. Once they begin to have a sizeable crop, I haven't had birds take too many here. The birds seem to wait until I'm about done picking, fruit is getting small and tough, then they come finish the harvest.
Not among current recommended types from U MD, maybe newer cultivars have taken its place.

Described as native to eastern North America, I know it as a perennial shared among gardeners. It has bright yellow spring flowers on stems about 12-18 inches high. It will gradually spread from the roots, making new rosettes and then new flowering stems in following years. Not an agressive spreader. Hardy to my zone 7 garden in partial shade.

native to South Africa, per wikipedia

I planted some for a cover crop this fall, it had just begun to bloom, it is one of the first things killed by frost last night. Very frost tender.

Some care, summarized from RHS website:
During the growing season, keep above 60F, bright filtered light, strong sun may cause sunburn. Keep moist, likes humidity, fertilize gently. In late fall/winter, a cooler period but above 50F, and less water. keeping the soil just damp, should encourage budding. If repotting, use a well draining mix and do so after blooming, during the growing season.

Personal comments- Amazing blooms, I think one may want to propagate stems (summer) and get a lot of stems per pot to try and get more blooms. The stems(?) can be long, gangly, some spineless but other may have a few tiny spines to watch out for. I have some bloom each year using above care, though I don't fertilize regularly.

Planted my 1 /2 pound (4 heads) of Lorz Italian today from Mad River Garlic Growers. Each head had 7 or 8 or more good cloves. I did 5 rows of 7 spaced about 8 inches apart both ways, in a newly prepared bed.

This is a long vining type, vines up to 15 feet, bush types may yield better.