Just want to share some beauty from my Garden of Surprises with you - managed the aphids and these are the results. Of 11 varieties, these have bloomed so far in the order they unveiled their beauty !

Peggy do you have deer?

Those are mighty pretty

Lee Roy, truly, we've all been where you are before, but well, this is a site for gardeners, so of course none of us has given up (at least not for long). Gardening is nothing if not challenging and complicated. You must be pro-active and anticipate problems to prevent them, not wait until the bad stuff happens to react. eg. water more when the weather forecast says it will be hot, don't wait for the plants to wilt. We'll encourage you and help you all we can.

If I may be direct, from many of your posts I've had the impression that you have been starting with some pretty difficult plants. High maintenance, high water use, heavy feeders, tender perennial bulbs that you have to store over winter (you're not alone, lots of people have fungus issues doing this). While of course they're beautiful, you don't get a lot of return for your money and efforts with plants like that.

I'm saying I think you've started on the steep part of the learning curve. Try something easier, like some hardy perennials, so that you always have a base or "backbone" of your garden that comes back better each year, then add accents with your exotics once you have all that going. I'd also investigate the plants that are native to your area - these are plants that are resistant to the plant diseases and bugs that are endemic to where you live. Very dependable.

May I suggest you try some Bearded Iris like the ones shown above? They're very hardy, easy and bloom generously, then the next year the clump will be twice as big, too. (plus they come in every color, shape and size, take a tour of the Irises forum and you'll see!) Once you try some easy things, you'll be asking why you were so hung up on Callas and woodland orchids.

A few things that have taken the joy out of gardening for me (and I don't think its wrong to 'suffer' from anything or everything on this list, this is just what has caused unnecessary worries on a personal basis):

Hunt for perfection - because that basically means I didn't enjoy all the good stuff, just focused on the bad. When I got to be 30 this became less of an issue and now at 40 I enjoy beauty in decay and imperfection. 10 more years and I'll be happy to live on a dump with a beautiful tulip planted on the top - Awesome

Pest and disease scare aka Plant-Hypochondria - Internet is a great way to learn, but sometimes there is too much information and reading up on every pest and disease in existence can take a big chunk out of the joy with gardening. Definitely still need to work on this one a bit, but it's getting better. Somewhere in there I'm starting to realize that I may need to take a break from some plants if pathogens and pests builds up too much - but at one point or another I can return to those plants when the pathogen and pest population has gone down a bit and I find better methods to grow them.

The Lily Beetle forced me out of growing lilies - but I'm back again growing more than ever, as I learned a few tricks and perhaps the population has collapsed a bit as well - less folks around here grow lilies now - so less lily beetles fly into the garden from elsewhere.

When the deer came I gave up on many, many plants - however couldn't stay away from tulips and started growing some in pots and others under net for cutting. Now I'm thinking of adding at least a few back into the open garden as I found a good spray for deer. Will never have as much deer candy as before - there are many maybes with spraying, but perhaps I can manage to have a few.

The killer slug invasion was even worse with me picking hundreds of slugs every night and I was truly discouraged - I much prefer a pest that can be managed during sensible hours, but slug populations go up and down and I have learned to understand slug behavior a bit better over time. It's a continuous problem and will never go away, as these invasive slugs have no natural enemies, are more drought tolerant than our native slugs and lay twice as many eggs. This is something I have to live with. It's not great, but it's okay.

Discovering the narcissus bulb fly made me realize why daffodils never have thrived here. Now I have a few in pots and cover them after bloom for protection. There are other stuff to grow.

I have a tendency to fall in love with certain type of plants (I'm pretty sure I'm not alone ) but with that comes great dangers as it concentrates losses so many gardening dreams can be crushed quickly at the same time and that has sometimes been painful.

Virus - All of the Echinacea was wiped out, had lots of primula that had been here for ages that had to go. Peonies was an almost total loss and had to discard a tree peony. Just to mention a few things. Good thing is that I have no problem rouging out sick plants now and if I should let some of them stay I know the risks and can take an informed decision. There is always virus around, but many plants have some resistance to them and wont suffer much until they have been infected with several. Nothing lives forever.

I do think that growing plants that thrive in the area is great advice and I agree 100% - but sometimes those plants that no one grows has very few enemies and can be surprisingly easy. Other times they of course are 'impossible'(I'd rather use the word challenging) to grow, but if one doesn't try, how is one to know? This is part of the game and eventually one will discover a way to grow those 'impossible' plants as well, provided one think its worth the investment in time and money. Many times after the initial love has settled I find that there are many plants ready to replace that one difficult species and just like the plants I wont live forever either, so sometimes the hard decision of letting a plant go, really isn't very hard.

Good advice and thinking

dyzzypyxxy said:Lee Roy, truly, we've all been where you are before, but well, this is a site for gardeners, so of course none of us has given up (at least not for long). Gardening is nothing if not challenging and complicated. You must be pro-active and anticipate problems to prevent them, not wait until the bad stuff happens to react. eg. water more when the weather forecast says it will be hot, don't wait for the plants to wilt. We'll encourage you and help you all we can.

If I may be direct, from many of your posts I've had the impression that you have been starting with some pretty difficult plants. High maintenance, high water use, heavy feeders, tender perennial bulbs that you have to store over winter (you're not alone, lots of people have fungus issues doing this). While of course they're beautiful, you don't get a lot of return for your money and efforts with plants like that.

I'm saying I think you've started on the steep part of the learning curve. Try something easier, like some hardy perennials, so that you always have a base or "backbone" of your garden that comes back better each year, then add accents with your exotics once you have all that going. I'd also investigate the plants that are native to your area - these are plants that are resistant to the plant diseases and bugs that are endemic to where you live. Very dependable.

May I suggest you try some Bearded Iris like the ones shown above? They're very hardy, easy and bloom generously, then the next year the clump will be twice as big, too. (plus they come in every color, shape and size, take a tour of the Irises forum and you'll see!) Once you try some easy things, you'll be asking why you were so hung up on Callas and woodland orchids.

I don't really agree with what you're saying. I don't find these plants difficult. If anything, the ones I have at the moment, most of them are regarded as easy: Pennisetum, Lavandula, Geranium, Liriope, Hosta, Polygonatum, Iris sibirica and germanica, Salvia, Ferns, Lilium...Yes, I do have bearded irises, 7 of them and they're showing signs of virus. I blame it on the soil which isn't as free draining. But then again, most of the 'wet clay tolerant plants' are not to my liking; I just don't like the looks of them (Astilbe, Aster and what else...)

And I don't mind digging bulbs for storage. Okay, I'd rather have them to stay in the ground over winter, but that's mainly because I don't like to rummage around in a border too much and because I like the idea of the plants coming up in their own time in spring.

But yea.....It's been raining for more than a week now, almost constantly. Even the worms crawl up the walls to evade the wet This is actually worse than pests or anything: the wet weather. But nothing I can do about it....Atleast there's some good news: one of my three martagon lilies has shown up. Thought they'd rotted on me this winter, but alas.

Ah, a week of cold rainy weather will discourage any gardener. Very depressing! When the sun comes out and things start jumping up from all that water, you will feel better. Your lily looks promising already.

I am originally from Vancouver, Canada. Another place where it rains, and rains and rains! You have my heartfelt sympathy. (that's the reason I now live in Florida - I'll take the risk of hurricanes any day over cold, rainy weather for days and weeks)

It sounds like you've learned a lot and are still working at it. Plus you have many more hardy perennials than you did the last time I saw a picture of your garden.

By the way, next fall when you dig your tender bulbs, clean them off and dust with a little bit of anti-fungal powder. This will prevent the majority of the fungal woes, both during the winter and in spring if it's wet again. It's probably the reason they didn't rot on you the first year - the grower most likely dusted them before selling. OR Another trick is to plant them in dark colored pots, then sink the pots a little bit into the soil where you want the plants to grow and hide the pot with some mulch. Then when it's time to rescue them before winter, you just need to let them die back, and lift the pot. I have many tropical " "divas" that I protect in winter this way. (we do get some cold nights in January and I can keep them from going dormant with just a little protection)

Well then perhaps you should take another look at my thread then

I wasn't particularly worried about fungus rot, but as I said before the wet, cold and sticky clay could've killed them. I'm not too worried about the lilies in regards to fungal problems (at this moment). Now I hope the lily beetles don't find them. Never actually seen one here in my life, so hopefully they don't intend to change that now haha.

All good advice Elaine

Lily-beetle larvae caught in action:




Close up of one. Yes they are covered in their own dung (which was once your lily):



Though the parents are actually quite beautiful:



Ruud

@Arico: yellowing, could be nitrogen but also could be magnesium. Add a tiny amount of magnesiumsulfate.

Yellowing can also be too wet with the plant feet, bulbs left in ground like amaryllis, tend to bury themselves deeper each year. Magnesium can also be amended with epsom salts. (Nitrogen would more likely look like a burn- browning)
Houston, where I am close to, varies from drouth to flood. Hard on every plant. Yet we spend more time with chainsaws and backhoes clearing out the underbrush - and gators and hogs- and learn not to shoot ourselves over weather or plants.
All plants leach nutrients from the soil they live in. When those conditions change, a new plant springs up that needs a different set of conditions and so the new plant thrives- For awhile. From weeds, to flower, to prairie to brush to forest each plant provides for the next part of the chain. Just as it takes, it leaves.
Okay looks like I need to know what to do with acorns...

Kittriana!! Nice to see you over here.

kittriana said:Yellowing can also be too wet with the plant feet, bulbs left in ground like amaryllis, tend to bury themselves deeper each year. Magnesium can also be amended with epsom salts. (Nitrogen would more likely look like a burn- browning)
Houston, where I am close to, varies from drouth to flood. Hard on every plant. Yet we spend more time with chainsaws and backhoes clearing out the underbrush - and gators and hogs- and learn not to shoot ourselves over weather or plants.
All plants leach nutrients from the soil they live in. When those conditions change, a new plant springs up that needs a different set of conditions and so the new plant thrives- For awhile. From weeds, to flower, to prairie to brush to forest each plant provides for the next part of the chain. Just as it takes, it leaves.:

In my experience almost all problems are fixed with compost. Too much rain, it drains well. Its is nutritious for the plants and it makes keeping weeds out easier. I use slug bait for the slugs and use it a few times a year for a few years and they will be gone. I don't use pesticides regular, but I do use them if I actually have an invasion I can't get rid of otherwise. There are some organic/green type of things you can try like garlic spray, neem oil based sprays or some swear by mouthwash. ect. In my experience if you do nothing to control the critters or improve the soil, (which most soil usually needs improved) then the garden will fail. I also use Preen, and occasional Round up-with spot application. (killed poison ivy that way, can't get near the stuff!)

Frillylily said:In my experience almost all problems are fixed with compost. Too much rain, it drains well. Its is nutritious for the plants and it makes keeping weeds out easier. I use slug bait for the slugs and use it a few times a year for a few years and they will be gone. I don't use pesticides regular, but I do use them if I actually have an invasion I can't get rid of otherwise. There are some organic/green type of things you can try like garlic spray, neem oil based sprays or some swear by mouthwash. ect. In my experience if you do nothing to control the critters or improve the soil, (which most soil usually needs improved) then the garden will fail. I also use Preen, and occasional Round up-with spot application. (killed poison ivy that way, can't get near the stuff!)

That's a very good description of the way I garden too, Frillyliy !

I agree there is NO shortage of challenges in gardening!

But that keeps it interesting - so many plants play "hard to get", and are so beautiful, that when they finally DO come up and bloom, surprise is added to the pleasure.

I think the secret is to 'focus on what you like".

Either focus on what you like seeing in bloom, what you like to eat, or what you like to do.

If you like challenges and hard work, growing plants that don't suit your climate and soil is always a challenge.

If you like "easy", there are usually some varieties that are easier to grow in each region than others.

If you like perfection, you can pick every weed and deadhead every bloom as soon as it is past perfection.

Identify what you DON'T like, and then plan to eliminate that from your garden.

Good luck, and I hope you keep finding reasons to garden.

Such Wiseness. Wiseosity.
RickCorey has just given some great advice. About gardening. And other parts of life.
My Mom loved flowers and gardens. She loved to pick flowers and arrange them in a nice vase, and she had quite a few vases. She loved to have people over and sit in the shade on the patio, surrounded by beauty.
She wasn't really into spending time weeding, planning, dividing, pruning, figuring out replacement plants. She was terrible at watering houseplants, she would drown them. She hated getting dirty and sweaty, and did not want to be all alone in the yard. She didn't want to spend her evenings reading about how to do it.
She figured this out about herself, she got rid of the houseplants. She hired a pro to design and install a garden in her tiny yard. Instructions were easy care flowers. Her husband made a deck (he loved building things so he enjoyed this). My Mom loved her little yard. She made bouquets of flowers, and had garden parties.
A friend of hers who saw her pretty garden gave her a book called The Adventurous Gardener by Christopher Lloyd, about how to propagate plants, and about oddities he liked. It really was for the "adventurous gardener". My Mom hated the book. She gave it to me. I loved it and have just bought another copy because I wore it out. I love to read all about a subject, try experiments, dig and get dirty, try "iffy" plants. It's all a challenge to me.
My Mom and I both loved our gardens, and as RickCorey says, we focused on what we liked.

Well said!

Iv'e been gardening for more years than I care to remember, and when people say isn't nature wonderful I say no it's not. There is always something trying to eat or destroy your garden. When you get on top of what it is, then something else comes along to take it's place. Gardening has always been a battle against nature and always will be and we must accept that. Many times I have been tempted to pack it all in, but then someone will visit and say, what a beautiful garden, and when you look, it really is, and away I go again. Try doing what I do. Open your garden for charity, and when dozens of visitors praise your work you will go on till the day you die. (Even though you will have a swear now and then )

I do more than swear...I stand over those vole and gopher holes with a cast iron skillet and murder in my heart! But......I am also of sound mind ...and I realize that it is me trying to tame this garden....I should go eith the natives...and they will do just fine...live companionably with the voles and gophers.