We're continuing here from this thread The thread "What's blooming in your garden?" in Tennessee Gardening forum

Finally, a lot of things are popping up and greening up, and opening up! There's still a lot dormant, and of course we'll get more cold weather to torture us, but overall it's really starting to feel like spring. Just having the sun come out for the past 2 days has made a world of difference. Neighbors we haven't seen in months are all out mowing.

Well this week I found that I had peonies and just now I found two shrubs of forsynthia (am I spelling that right???). I've always wanted those but they always died on me in NY where I lived (zone 4). Also found a quince. Still have several shrubs that haven't bloomed yet and some haven't leafed out. My first daffodil bloomed. A very uninspiring little thing. Don't think anyone fed it.

Red those bulbs I mentioned to you on your other page are now about 18" tall and still no blooms.

MollyD

Close - it's forsythia, no 'n'. They really come out big time in my area, the flowering quince, too.

Uh oh, you're supposed to feed Daffs? Here's mine today...

Hmm...18" of foliage seems a little tall for hyacinths. Try agapanthus on for size. http://davesgarden.com/guides/...

Zone 4, huh? Yikes, there's such a limited plant palette that can take zone 4. You are going to be simply amazed at the things you can grow now. You've entered a brave new world!

Could be red. Some of those leaves have the rounded tips to them mine have. Wouldn't mind them though I've never had them before. Whatever it is I have tons of them I'm either going to be blessed or cursed!

MollyD

17 out of 44 WS containers are showing significant activity! Grass is greening up...I'll probably get in another mow tomorrow to tidy things up a bit. It's time to get weeding again too.

I spotted what looks like a small purple lilac starting to bloom today. I had been told that lilacs didn't grow down here. Was that wrong?

MollyD

The northern-type lilacs have a tough time here, but it's possible. I think the problem is meeting the chilling requirement. There are some other types of lilacs, with cultivars like "Miss Kim" and "Evangeline", that do pretty well.

Not sure what cultivar this is since the person who most likely planted it is now dead. The whole plant is no more than 2 ft tall but I have no idea how old it is or when it was planted. I can't imagine it's been more than 3 years tops. Would Miss Kim fit this? Color is a really dark purple in the bud.
Do the French lilacs grow here?

MollyD

I didn't catch that before when you mentioned seeing purple buds. It seems early for Miss Kim to be showing color. It usually follows the French ones in bloom time. Try one of the hybrids with S. hycinthiflora in it. http://www.google.com/imgres?i...

It is possible to get a French lilac to grow here, but it's not easy.

will have to see once it is in full bloom. Only the tips are showing right now.

MollyD

i have 37 gallon jugs and six 2 ltr bottles ws'd. well, spring sowed.

i'm sowing cucs and melons for the first time. and squashes. usually we do seeds in hills, etc., but I'm trying this this year.

I ws my leaf lettuce yesterday. Found that the daylilies I did ws with seem to like it. At least one cross did. The other hasn't responded yet but that's the way it is with daylilies.
My spinach mustard is growing in leaps and bounds. Later today I plan to ws my tomatos. Those I plan to bring inside whenever the nights will be very cold (30's) since those plants tend to be very tender.
I want to grow squash (yellow and zuchini) this year as well as eggplants but because those plants produce way more veggies than I would ever be able to use (or find a home for) I will buy the seedlings instead of wsing them.

MollyD

since I started ws my tomatoes in milk jugs, i'm of the mind it's plenty of protection unless the temps realllly get low. but i'm not always in my right mind, haha.

i had plenty of squash seeds, etc., so thats why I thought I'd try my hand at it. according to the WS site, veggies are easy. so i'm trying. i sowed yellow crookneck and then my favorite pattypan. thats my new favorite.

i'm going to sow a small patch of spinach and black seeded simpson lettuce (??) as soon as its dry enough.

Yesterday I planted out some of the WS sprouts. Painted daisies, lupines, and lobelia are now done. There are a couple types of dianthus ready to go, but I don't know where I'm going to put them yet.

I also cleared out last year's dead plants from the deck planters and sowed cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce. I've never grown a decent carrot in my life. I'm trying the Purple Dragon ones this time, so even if they turn out to be about 2 inches long like my previous efforts, at least they will be interesting because they're purple.

I would say 80% of my WS jugs are sprouting. the cucumbers are so darn cute,
so I started another jug yesterday.'

I pulled out dead leaves, weeds from another bed yesterday. planted shallots. one bunch of dianthus looks like it tripled. same for columbine.

and thank goodness for the rain this morning...my jugs needed it.

I pruned roses at my dad's earlier this week and am trying something new; I used rootone on the stems and then put them each into a 2 ltr bottle that I had punched holes and cut the top with a hinge like I do for my WS jugs...we'll see what happens.

and I did the same thing for a limb from a Japanese Maple that somehow he knocked off when he was moving.

think I'm wasting my time? i figure the bottles will protect it from the wind, cold.

You've got a decent chance - you'll probably want to keep the bottles out of direct sun while you wait for rooting.

I don't know what the deal is with the Japanese Maples, but I do know most of them are grafted - but what da heck, why not give it a try?

Sheryl I haven't lived where JMs did well for me so I passed on them (too pricey to see go belly up!). I'd love someday to add one or two to my garden but wasn't aware about the grafting. All of them or just most??

MollyD