Frank,
Some very nice conifers there, you seem to do everything on a largish scale. I live in a city though, and only have an acre to play with. Even that is a lot at present.

Spent part of the holidays potting up lilies, fritilliaria imperialis, cannas. Weather not great though wind and rain.

Happy new year to you, and all on the forum.

Peter

@Cantillon, Peter, I live in the city also if it makes you feel any better. I only have about a third of an acre and half of that is under the house. LOL.

Happy New Year to you also!!

Yep, no complaining from me @virginiarose, we are lucky to have the hobby we have and any time and health to do it. Just ordered up fifteen or so roses from David Austin , including three standard "Pat Austin", and planning to put them on the drive to go with the standard "Arthur Bell" I have there and which I photographed for the roses database.

It is already January there is a lot of growth going on already. Have to dig up about fifty primula (secundiflora, denticulata, bulleyana), delphinium and Dierama for the garden society plant sale in May. Best to pot them up now so they are ready and in great shape. Potted up some Lilium Speciosum "Urchida" for the society as well. Have to say it is really something to look forward to.

Planting up two quince and two cherry trees for my better half. So far they are potted up as I try to figure out where to put them.

I have enjoyed the forum this year, and looking forward to next year.

Sounds great Peter! What state do you live in? I gave up on roses long ago, well maybe not that long ago but they are a full time job trying to keep black spot from taking them. At one point I had almost 20 rose bushes and was spraying every day and still had black spot and it is certainly ugly and discouraging. I will certainly be looking forward to your pictures!

This spring I will be adding a lot of new plants, Lilies, Hostas, Daffodils, Tulips, Daylilies, Butterfly plants, and Huge dahlias!! Yahoo!!
I also have enjoyed this new dahlia forum, It is great to have you hear! You have great pictures, your roses and dahlias are gorgeous! I also will look forward to next year and we'll have lots more pictures and lots more to talk about.

Hi virginiarose, I am in Ireland, it is zone 9a or so, also island weather, very pleasant altogether. Travel to the USA on business quite a bit.

I only have about three different rose and a dozen plants, but they have done quite well over the last few years, so I am going to add to that this year.

Starting with great plants from the best suppliers or national collection holders always helps, then perspiration on ground preparation. May have to spray, but don't really want to.

The extra dollar on a great plant instead of an ordinary one is turning out to be a late realisation. Some great advice on the various sites here, and some very sound people.

That's wonderful! What are your average temps? I can see your Dahlias are very happy and your roses too. I do agree the ground prep is very important. I had rust in the fall and should have sprayed but I opted to whack everything down and put a systematic down in spring like the Bayer 3-n-1. I am hoping for the best. I purchased some neem oil and I am using a insecticidal spray that is made from dish liquid. I have other tricks up my sleeve, stay tuned. LOL.

Cantillon said:Hi virginiarose, I am in Ireland, it is zone 9a or so, also island weather, very pleasant altogether. Travel to the USA on business quite a bit.

Peter, now when I read your posts I will have to imagine your lovely accent in my head!

You know, all the folk on here are much nicer than me, I love it, as we say over here, it puts manners on you.

I bought some neem oil in the USA last year and am planning to deploy it this year. My biggest issue with the dahlias is earwigs, they nibble on the petals. I am afraid that if I dose the plant I will kill off the bees and hoverflies so I am wondering what level of defacing by the little munchers I can live with.

Weatherwise we get about 1.5 inches to 3 inches of rain a month, with the mean of about 31 inches a year. It rains every few days, if not a little each day so once a plant is in the ground for a while it tends to be able to look after itself. Maybe a few deep soakings a year is all that is required.

Air temperature is an average 50F, with variation typically between 40F and 60F. We rarely see 75F for long, and rarely see many days below freezing.

Soil temperature is a few degrees warmer or colder than the air, lagging a couple of months.

The upshot of this is that plants are not dormant for too long, tend not to die of extremes, and then when we get a surprising amount of sun for a week, or snow for a week, we are astounded when plants we have had for a decade suddenly up and die. A lot of everything grows.

It is a pretty pleasant place to live, culturally intact, ten minutes from the sea, the mountains, the golf course and as we say ourselves it's a good job it rains or the place would fill up with foreigners. When I first came to the US for any extended period I didn't pay much mind to the weather, as I assumed it was pretty much like ours plus or minus a few degrees, but I have experienced 50 degree shifts in a couple of days, rain the like of which I have rarely come across and snow like I have never seen, humidity that makes you want to just stay in the house and stand in the shower, and this recent polar vortex was just downright scary.

I wasn't afraid of God, since in Ireland he is really more of a pal, but the weather over here is pretty Old Testament and now I assiduously watch the weather before I stir from the house and travel with snow shovel, wiffer, waterproof boots and a blanket.

Check this out, plus you could spray at night when the bees are not around.


http://www.discoverneem.com/ne...

Peter - I don't know if you can get Ortho products in your area but Ortho's Bug Geta Plus will kill earwigs and slugs. I have used it and it works. Earwigs are known to favor white tipped dahlias, such as Duet, and solid white dahlias of any form. Last year I grew many colors but none that were white tipped and no solid whites. They didn't even bother AC Rainier, which is mostly white!

Good link, Susan!

Thanks Susan for the link.

That is pretty persuasive about neem oil, and it makes me feel much more optimistic.Do you think the oil blocks the pores of the plants? It seems the plan would be to spray late in the evening, to let the neem dry, and as a by product the mini chompers are likely to be out and about. I found the earwigs specialise in chomping on dahlias that were not the single /misc type, ie: they loved cactus and all the multi petalled ones, and oftentimes there would be a caterpillar grazing as well. I am beginning to not like killing anything in the garden though.................except weevils and their grubs.

I think I will capture a weevil or two and see whether it does a job on them. I get issues with the weevil grubs chewing on my heucheras and primulas some times.

Thanks Arlene, and for the fine dahlia as well, makes me think of summer again. The busy season is nearly upon us, and Trish and Dave are already podcasting about seed planting.

Been a mild winter, all but the polar vortex.

Yes, a little goes a long way and you only spray every few days. It takes up to three weeks to kill certain bugs like mites. So as long as you do not coat them heavy in the sun light, because that would cause the leaves to burn.
For purpose of the good insects, spray very early or very late in evening and it will be fine. Will not clog any pores.