Viewing comments posted by sallyg

I think this is very pretty. It pops up here and there. Some winters it is evergreen, turning bronze-y and pretty.

I agree about its aggressive nature. Lots of runners. It is pretty through bloom, with the yellow flowers on red foliage, but then the leaf color fades and it isn't much to look at.

Use with caution. Vinca is a very popular groundcover and has been around for decades. In my garden, in one place, I have one patch very well behaved under a big tree and surrounded by lawn. In another area, it is creeping under the fence from a neighbor, and very sneakily embeds itself in my shrubs, iris clumps, etc. So it seems bright shade, where you can easily get to all the edges, may keep it better contained, whereas protection of other plants helps it to creep and invade. Once rooted in the base of a shrub, you cannot pull it and it sends runners out every year.
It is listed as a non-native invasive plant of eastern US, according to the invasiveplantatlas.org.

I first bought them to force in pots and was successful. Moved them to the ground and had blooming every year (several years) in my Maryland garden. I give no special care, but they are in a west facing bed with an overhang which tends to keep the area on the dry side in summer; I have read that helps tulips. This year, only a few blooms, my luck may have run out.
2022 sure enough, I had zero bloom this year. But they had a good run.

I've had this lovely daffodil for over fifteen years, it is hardy but does not multiply much in my Maryland garden. Because it does not multiply, it does not need thinning like some others I have, so that can be seen as a good thing.

A lovely and reliable daffodil in my Maryland garden, I have had them for decades.

This is a gorgeous plant with a reputation of being difficult. as a houseplant. I have bought small starter ones twice and not kept them alive long.

My specimen is about ten years old, in a shrubby, mostly upright shape. It makes a lot of stray roots in my sandy-loam soil, with suckers coming up every few feet; that makes it easy to share. In fact, I got mine in a box from another gardener in Tennessee. The Illinois wildflower site lists a number of insects that use the flowers or foliage, but says birds are not that fond of the fruit. Fall leaf color is nice.

I grew Emerald seed from a Ferry Morse packet in a store seed rack. I was very happy with the production, flavor, and tenderness, as described by others here.

One name for this is "stringy stonecrop." Compact in early spring, after bloom it makes long stringy stray stems. Give it room, or chop it off and dispose (carefully, to prevent starting new plants.)

The taste is not to everyone's liking, according to a few users on this thread The thread "Papalo - has anyone grown?" in Herbs forum

Popular in tropical landscapes, they seem to be difficult for many when grown indoors in cold zones.

I have only seen this for sale once here. Baby plants may still have a big green 'bean' showing at the soil level, almost like an avocado pit. Quite novel.

I've been growing these since buying my first as a 3-inch potted plant about 9 years ago. From that plant I now have two multi-stemmed plants in deep 8 inch pots from which a number of pruned rooted stems have also been taken. I find it a very forgiving plant, growing well in my workplace and also able to hang out over winter in a dim corner of the home waiting for summer outside in shade. It develops tall, unbranched upright stems and strong offshoots from the base. Leaves become larger and longer on more mature plants. I like the narrow 'footprint' that can fit into a corner. As I said, I have cut off long stems, cut those into sections, and easily rooted both sections and end pieces to give away. I recommend these as easy plants.

Apparently you may grow a small date palm plant from pits out of edible dates. The pictures here show roots emerging. I have two seedlings sent by a fellow gardener. Some palm seedlings such as these have a single leaf blade, sort of grass like, and develop a fanlike leaf later.

I bought a "Santa Rosa Semi Dwarf" plum from Lowes store in spring of 2011. Beware, semi dwarf seems not meant to be small- despite chopped off roots it took off and grew like crazy. It's about 20 feet tall now. Don't be lazy on pruning, you don't get much of a chance to fix that later. After a couple years we had blooms and fruit. One year we collected a number of freshly fallen fruit and got to eat some small tasty plums. Other years we have been overrun by brown rot. I haven't pruned much and have not sprayed for disease control. It blooms very early, briefly, in spring so I consider it a help to pollinators. It's a nicely shaped tree, got that lollipop feel of Callery pear. The falling fruit in summer makes for a mess for several weeks. It also suckers, and has been a problem for the asparagus that I planted it too close to. Sited at a distance, it might be useful for insects and wildlife and not unattractive, but not really beautiful either.

I grew these from seed in 2019. Everything as expected based on my experience with other sweet peppers. Nice sweet flavorful pepper.

I kept my white Mandevilla inside last winter, brought the whole pot in a cool basement with a little window and kept it from completely drying out. It pulled through and rebounded once it went outside in spring, and did great. Now it is climbing up a six foot bamboo stake and I have to decide how much to cut off, and bring the pot in again.
Update, 11-2020-- Mandevilla rebounded and grew well this summer in a pot. Needed frequent watering.. upon pulling it now after a month drying out I find it really did not grow roots out much or fill the pot, which may explain why drying affected it so quickly. I took a few long thin, green cuttings end of summer and put them in water. One has rooted, and I potted it today. I will take more cuttings, use hormone, and pot them, but am going to let this 3 or 4 year old plant go- it has orange aphids and I don't need to bring any more of those in than I may have already.
Update April 2022 - I can't remember what became of that last posted idea (pandemic brain) but I think I kept the original rootmass after all and let it grow. And I still had a big white Mandevilla last summer - I would not have bought a new one. I saw very little regrowth this winter (just two very skinny vines) so I thought I would toss it all. But on pulling and prying off soil and roots, I find the original plant has a number of thick tubers. I am again letting it regrow if it decides to.

I have been growing and dividing potted specimens for several years now, until now I have five medium-large pots of it. I keep them on my deck in summer. Tree frogs hide in the pools created by the leaf rosettes. Each new rosette will bloom once, then create two side shoots, and decline. So you do want to periodically cut out the older leaves and rosettes, or divide. Tough roots, don't count on pulling by hand, I think I had to saw them apart, I used an old electric knife blade. But the plant never blinked an eye. I keep them inside over winter here in zone 7.

Wintersweet is a fast growing, large, rangy shrub. Give it plenty of room! The scent is powerful, however, winter weather can interfere with the show, cold wet weather can quickly ruin the small flowers. Easy to grow from seed, that is how I got mine. Fall leaf color is yellow.
I grew the straight species from seed and had the shrub some years until it outgrew its space. Meanwhile I grew a double-flowered improved one from seed also, and still have that one. It is blooming late January into February (2021). Flowers are the same size as species, certainly not the 1-2 inches listed on the 'Luteus'. But the flowers on this are double, seem a little sturdier, and seem to have more buds than the species. Still, bud count could be location difference (more sun.)
2024 update- still doing well, more flowers each year, and this year they are lasting quite a while (weeks).