Hallson Gardens

If you are looking for something spiky and grass-like that will tolerate some shade, I recommend variegated carex Ice Dance. I like as an edger along the path through my hosta. I am on the line between zone 4 and 5 here and this carex seems perfectly hardy. It does get good drainage (sandy to loamy ...

It looks like poor drainage to me. Whether it is crappy ball and burlap stuff that has not rotted away, overwatering, or mulching too close and high, something like that, but I have seen a lot of stuff like Chris mentioned first, twine aroung root or wire that is not girdling the main roots, or some...

From what I have know 3 times with dormant oil at 10 day intervals, around here definitely done by the May 20th or so. It is cold enough here the curculio (what is the spelling on that!) isn't prevalent. It can't live over. The WI University Extension office here has done some amazing testing and su...

I am struggling with the whole orchard tree care issue, too. I have been trying to maintain my few trees with organic methods. Luckily, I planted dwarfed stock, so I don't have the overgrown issue to deal with. I can, if I desire reach the entire tree. Also on dwarf stock the trees begin bearing fru...

Nice color! I am so often dissapointed by the actual colors of zinnias. They always seem to end up that garish pink or an orange. THis year I picked out the reddest red I could find only to have them flower a sort of orangey-red.

As a teenager I spent way too much time out in cucumber fields harvesting cukes. Pumpkins and melon and all their ilk can de easily trained to go where you want them to go by pushing and lifting against the sides of their vines with no harm done. Jusst try to keep the leaves right side up as to not ...

Sometimes they grow peppers here commercially. I think they like hot weather and sandy soils. I know bud count/drop is affected when temps at night drop below 50 degrees. My jalapenos I planted in limestone scree off my driveway and never get water look great and are loaded. The heirloom Chinese Red...

My Little Wonder is a fairly evenly concentric circle maybe 8" wide by 3" tall, with scapes 6" to 8" tall with darker purple flowers.

Never thought of thrips, they're nearly invisible, except for the damage they do! Later blooms have been normal, so with that dry spell we had, maybe. I guess I'll keep an eye on it rather than summararily ripping them out.

Hmmm. That sorta looks like poor pollination. What with the bee shortage, I believe the cones and petals on coneflowers only develop completely correctly when properly pollinated. A county ag agent mentioned it to me as well when we were looking at something similar. Not sure though. I'd keep checki...

Is there a virus that visibly attacks only the flower on daylilies? It gives the bloom a mottled look very much like the virused toad lily blooms have. IT doesn;t seemto affect the leaves, or at this point, plant vigor.

Anybody seen or heard of anything like that?

Spruces?

Spruce.

It's like two deers in the headlights

I planted a 5 footer five years back and it is over 20' tall.

Tree Rats...

Tree Rats...

When you said Dee's Golden Jewel...I though no, that's not right and thought I have seen this hosta before! I thought immediately "Dee's Golden Goose" or just "Golden Goose". And I could have swore there was such a hosta, but alas, not in the hosta library. It does look a bit like Golden Waffles, th...

Is it the plants or the weather? Everywhere I look the annuals just seem to be "sitting." Usually the petunias are starting to looklike guerilla warriors and marigolds normally would be in full flower. This year annuals sem to look just about the way they did when planted; mine, my neighbors, the on...

I had them in a raspberry bed and surprisingly used a 6" layer of mulch on April 1. When the nettles finally broke through about June 1I put down another 6" layer of mulch.

Raspberries lived. Nettles did not.

Didn;t think that would work!

I mulch continuously, whenever free mulch is available! I usually wait until the ground temp has stabilized for the summer and prefer to mulch after heavy rains. I mulch my untreated lawn clippings into the garden as well as any non-perennial weeds, plant clippings, and non-seed head weeds. It's pre...

Yellow flower and leaf shape says ranaculus to me, but I can't be sure from the picture.

This has certainly been the year for them! I even had morels come up in my hosta bed!