The last 2 summers have just been brutal on the garden. Last summer we were in Utah so it didn't get the attention it demands. It's a hard garden to handle without any sprinklers in the intense summer heat, so I'm grateful it survived at all. Then this summer we've had record breaking heat for big blocks of time which really took a toll on everything - including me. The forecast for the next 3 weeks is more manageable with temps only in the 90s, so I plan to give it some much needed attention. Weather permitting we can have Thanksgiving outside as opposed to last year because it actually rained here. So now is the time to start preparing for that.
Garden Goals
1. Remove things that are not performing (lots of plants in the garden have just seen their day)
2. Add more white drought tolerant plants
3. Grow more herbs!
4. Improve the soil - this actually will be first on my list
5. Re-seed and fertilize the lawn
6. Figure out what to do with that little section of dirt next to the front entry. It has always been a hard spot to figure out because it gets intense afternoon sun/heat and everything fries there
7. Try to control the ferns
8. Refresh the painted stripes on the porch
9. Do all of the above without spending much. :)
Do you have any garden plans for fall?
Re your #6: ROSEMARY. Totally carefree, and you just can't give it too much sun and heat. Plus, if it's near the house you can brush up against it as you walk past, releasing its amazing aroma. And once you're growing some nice big wands, cut them to use as skewers for grilling.
ReplyDelete:)
yes! that's exactly what i've been thinking. i want to grow a small hedge of rosemary and fill the interior with white iceberg roses. both grow really well here. xo
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DeleteWould you kindly share your products for fertilizing your lawn.
ReplyDeletei plan to lightly re-seed the bad areas and cover it in cow manure. this will be the first time trying this but i've heard it works wonders in my climate. xo
DeleteAnother vote for rosemary or perhaps consider adding germander (catmint) or even lavender ....or perhaps add paving stones with a large pot in the center -- then add seasonal color or veggies as well as herbs ....
ReplyDeletethank you teacats. i'm loving the rosemary hedge with iceberg roses idea! xo
DeleteEven with drought and heat, Janet, I've had wonderful luck this year with rosemary, mint and basil in a raised bed planter (waist-height; saves the back); hasn't taken much water. Abundant! And, oh, the scent when you hand water; heavenly. My husband is even growing large green cucumbers in conventional terracotta/clay pots (not big pots - I never thought it would work but the cukes are almost as big as the pots) and we had a big output of lemon cucumbers in another raised-bed planter he made out of wood that's more knee-height; simple construction (and, yeah, he used some manure as well). Again, I'm north of you and probably a BIT cooler [15 miles inland] but, still...give it a go; you might be surprised what survives (I do know Redlands gets hot, HOT.)
DeleteI don't think Ohio hot and dry comes anywhere close to your hot and dry but I have a rather barren patch of earth between expanses of concrete and lavdener grows beautifully there. They fry and turn patchy brown more readily than lavender in other spots but I trim them to small globes once a year and that seems to curb that. I was looking longingly at my row of herb pots this morning knowing our time together is limited.
ReplyDeleteI've said it ten thousand times how much I loved your outdoor thanksgiving! I can't imagine a few days in the 90s being manageable. oh-another plant I'm obsessed with this year is a perennial salvia "black and blue". It's not hardy here but it would be for you. It grows kind of wild and scraggly but has truly blue flowers! I would be on the fence about planting it again if the hummingbirds weren't so in love with it. I can't tell you how much I delight in watching the hummingbirds all over it. it doesn't need much water but I think it would get too dry in your problem area.
This is it:
Deletehttp://www.perennialresource.com/encyclopedia/view/?plant=2101
it def is another kind of hot here.:) i have lavender growing there now and it looks really good in spring but awful the rest of the time. just as you describe. it's a focal point in the garden and it deserves better than this one season of looking good. i'm leaning towards a rosemary clipped hedge filled with white iceberg roses. i have several salvias growing in the beds and they do wonderful. i love them bc they are v low maintence and drought tolerant. i will check out the blue and black version. thanks!
DeleteThe black and blue salvia is just beautiful. Such a wonderful deep blue flower. I bought a plant later in the season and while it's growing nicely (I have it in a pot) it is only now starting to get flowers. Don't know what's up with that. I'm hoping I can take it in and overwinter it as Wisconsin is also not a climate where it will survive outside.
DeleteI almost pulled mine from my planters in June because it wasn't blooming! I decided to give it a week or so while I was away and came home to several growing blooms on each plant. I think it likes to root in its new spot and then bloom continuously a few weeks later. I've had consistent blooms ever since! And so so many hummingbirds and a few butterflies.
Deletecan you grow black knight salvia (pretty purple) or joan (hot pink)? it looks so good with succulents and geraniums x
DeleteYour number TWO...........what plants are you thinking about?
ReplyDeleteI may COPY YOU!
oh your garden is gorgeous! but i want to add white flowering shrubs and flowers. i'm looking at plumbago, iceberg roses, rosemary, vinca...things of that sort.
DeleteLove the rosemary hedge with white iceberg roses. I have the spreading rosemary around the white iceberg hedge, and that's nice, but the upright rosemary hedge is a very appealing idea. I may just do that, too!
ReplyDeleteWanted to recommend star jasmine for ground cover. It thrives in my south and west facing garden, and in spring it has fragrant white flowers.
Also, so excited I wanted to share: Last month I finally finished converting the auto-spray sprinklers to drip irrigation. I have fibromyalgia, so it took me about four months in my very tiny garden, but it was worth it! Easier to do than it seems. I'm in north Los Angeles county (triple digits all summer, and last February, too) and the benefits were immediate. Now all the plants are growing beautifully with very few weeds, the predators left to find water puddles elsewhere so the garden lizards are having parties in the plants, the spiders, ants and flies are now at a healthy level instead of taking over, and the water bill is much lower. Wish I had done it years ago!
Please keep us posted on your progress. Love your blog - you are inspiring!
thank you anon for sharing. i would love to do drip irrigation, omg it's inspiring that you did it yourself! i have no sprinklers at all so it would be starting from scratch.
DeleteHorray, this feels like home (no pressure!! ;))
ReplyDeleteAre you allowed to water plants during a drought?
Around here there are just the plants on the balcony. Around late October we are going to change some plants.
Here you can see recent photos, taken at my parent's balcony. The windows and balconies are our gardens. I have been house-sitting lately:
https://ratherthanfacebook.blogspot.co.at/2016/08/staycation.html
Be aware of possible rain-envy, because later photos get very wet.
There is just one thing I dislike at my parents place: my parents chose aesthetics over bees. There are only 2 flowers that make bees happy (sunflower & the potatoe-plant with the white blossoms, you see a bumbleblee on some photos). All the other plants are pink and fuchsia but useless for bees.
A plant the makes a bee happy, makes me happy, too is my credo. This is probably a very vegan attidtude?
;-)
I think the fern looks lovely. Very photogenic.
yes we can water in drought but only 3 days a week unless you hand water (which is the only way i can) then there are no limits. i will check out your link!
DeleteI love to work in the garden and fall is my favorite time due to the cooler Southern California temps. I have great look with lavender and rosemary. I also like catmint. My main autumn goal in the yard is the back yard grass...reseed and fertilize.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.
xo,
Karen
i will look into catmint. i need to re seed and fertilize the lawns too! hoping for nice weather this thanksgiving. xo
DeleteSounds like a great plan.
ReplyDeleteI just must try to sort out new sheds before I think of new planting. But like you, I don't want to spend too much on sheds!
New things I've planted this summer are peppers and chillies. I never realised that eating these a few hours after picking could be so different in terms of taste and crunch. And raspberries and figs have done well this year too. So I'll be planting more edibles next year.
And p.s. I'm thrilled that you're back to posting more frequently, I am a happy bunny!
oh it makes such a difference picking from your garden or store bought. i was just given a basket full of figs. last time i made jam with them but no one really like it that much. so i think i'll just eat the figs as is. i need a garden shed too! xo
DeleteMy garden plans have been on hold due to new neighbors. They are very nice however they have cut down everything in sight and now my nice private backyard has a view that makes me want to cry. The low point was when the 15 foot tall viburnum hedge was replaced with a chain link fence. I didn't sleep for a month. We love our much smaller home and we took down walls so the entire back of the house is glass never thinking our view would change so dramatically. The one high point was planting sunflowers outside my bedroom window. We have a ranch and the flowers face in every morning to say hello. Love it.
ReplyDeleteanon omg i cannot even believe this! this is terrible. were they allowed to do this to a shared fence?! i would be outraged too. i've learned over the years that privacy is prob the top thing on my list for home ownership. can you grow something on your side that will give you privacy again?! keep me posted! x
DeleteAnonymous: I feel your pain...3 years ago our next door neighbor (who we can't stand) built a horrible ugly cinderblock wall in the front yard right between our properties. We call it a "spite wall". My husband asked if we could grow some creeping fig on it on the side facing us. He said "oh, I'm going to stucco it". Never happened. It's so sloppy looking and I get angry every time I look at it. We did get word they they might be selling the house so I'm crossing my fingers. Their (5) annoying dogs are outside barking as I type this!
DeleteLinda
omg linda that is awful. i'd grow the creeping fig to cover it. i bet they wouldn't even notice. fingers crossed they move. x
DeleteThe viburnum hedge was the neighbors and was about 10 feet thick so some came onto my side which I loved. We had all the sun so the flowers and the fall color was spectacular. We never saw anyone from the back. The problem with planting on my side is a curtain drain going the length of the yard and now chain link fence, about 150 feet. We were advised not to plant much so as not to interfere with the drain. 150 ft of fence is a little to spendy for us. Any suggestions are welcome from whoever is reading. I wouldn't dare plant on their fence. I had a long and short term plan for this yard and then remembered the old joke, " you want to make god laugh, tell him you have a plan" :)
DeleteLinda, Janet has let you and I commiserate before on the horribleness of neighbors from h*ll! Guess what...mine are going to move, so take heart. I'm counting the days when I can ever feel again that I can go into my front and backyard or even my driveway and feel 'normal' and safe. (The owner of the house finally passed, so the awful relative living there has to go with sale of the home.) Naturally, I have some wariness of who else might move in but, you know, you can only control this stuff so much in a tightly-packed neighborhood. At the moment, the dude has a bunch of crap stacked up against my fence and over the property line. We've decided to keep quiet because we don't want more 'war' before he leaves. My husband says, if it/he damages the fence, we'll just repair it after he's gone. (It's our fence, on OUR property, which we 100% paid for ourselves.) I usually only go out to tend to my yard as the sun goes down now, or else frightfully early in the morning at sun-up; it's the only time I feel comfortable because the guy is ALWAYS otherwise outside. I've felt a prisoner in my own home. So, take hope from this! "Times passes, things change."
DeleteOh, some of the neighbor stories are just so, so sad. My neighbor across the street had someone move in who also cut down all the plant life...why on earth do people do that?...including a mature/organic avocado tree in the backyard where both neighbors had formerly shared the fruit. Why not keep something so nice as that...good relationship of people, tree for the environment, food to share! In another house a few doors down, the back hill was a wall of lush, magenta and orange bougainvillea...for probably 85 years I calculate, descending from an older property on the other side of the hill...and the people who moved in last year took it all out. True, it's thorny but it wasn't causing any problem where it was located above a retaining wall...just gave beauty...I know, because I lived there myself for ten years...and now they've denuded the hill to where if we DO get any rain, they're risking mudslide because there's nothing to hold the dirt. They're nice folks in this case; just clueless as first-time homeowners. (It's like a new person moves in and they've got to put their personal stamp on the property, erasing who lived there before...when it would be so much better to simply work with what's there because it takes SO long to grow plants and trees.) Also in my neighborhood, another longtime neighbor passed away in her very old age a few months back and someone has now bought her home; the first thing they did was paint it a horrible, ugly, dark brown; again, why? It had been the prettiest, cheeriest house, painted buttercup yellow with white trim and, horrors, she had lush, show-worthy blue/purple hydrangeas all across the front of the home which they let DIE (then ripped 'em out)! It was like a storybook house, meticulously maintained, and now it looks like a dirty mushroom in a dark forest. In the little cottage I had before my current home, the buyer took out the entire front plantings including lawn (it wasn't even a large amount of lawn!) and neatly-clipped hawthorne, laying stonework right to the front door so that there's nothing green; how can people live with such a lack of green things growing? It's an English-style cottage meant to be overflowing with flowers and green stuff, like English countryside. It made me heartsick. We'd had vintage/heritage roses and old-world geraniums, lacy ferns, begonias, tulips, all gone now. Some of those lovelies had been there since early in the 20th century.
My heart goes to anon, above; I feel your pain as well.
Coincidentally he was working on the HIS side of the wall today probably finishing it...it does seem like he's been working pretty hard over there and he needs to if they want to sell that house. Soooo many unfinished projects! I wanted to plant the creeping fig a long time ago but my husband said no. :( If we do we would have to fill the holes/cracks in the wall otherwise it might find its way to the his side. I'll have to send you some pics! It's a real eye sore. :(
Deleteugh vicki and linda. these stories! i don't get it either. what happened to pride of ownership? i'm really sad to see so many let their gardens die. we are on water restrictions but we can water 3x a week still. it's sad. x
DeleteYeah, I don't get the people who just stopped watering entirely, period. We have not yet to my knowledge in at least most of Southern California been prohibited 100% from using water outside. I've wondered if it's an excuse to just not do yard work, but don't they realize if the drought ever lifts how much work they're going to have to do, to restore their yard which, yes, definitely affects their property value and everyone else's in a neighborhood?
DeleteWow, you're lucky, we can only water twice a week, before 10am or after 4pm, and there's a tattle hotline; you can get reported/cited if you violate. At least, so far, we don't get charged (in dollars, on the bill) for overuse. We had that happen 25 years ago (when we lived elsewhere in the county), when they'd monitor the meter, even though we'd barely exceeded the limit (hard to gauge when you're watering, to know). You can't fill an outdoor swimming pool here either. I talked to a friend last week who told me she fills it anyway (I guess meaning, topping it off; I sorta didn't know what to think about that, as we're all supposed to be doing our part).
i agree. how much will it cost to bring those gardens back to life? and what about the property values? in my neighborhood there is a high pride of ownership thing going on so directly no one has let their garden go but other neighborhoods have. in california we live so much of our time outdoors that landscape is a huge part of our lives. and btw bc i'm watering by hand, i have no restrictions at all but i do keep to 3x a week to do my part.
DeleteI would like to do a major clean up...dead head all the hydrangeas and buy a few fall and winter plants for the planters. It has been a hot summer here too...and watering has been an issue. Mulching seems to be the way to go so we may get a load of mulch and spread it after all the plants have shed their foliage.
ReplyDeleteyep, major clean up and declutter of the garden is what i'm up to. mulch is so key here too, thanks for that reminder. your garden is sublime leslie. x
DeletePlease keep us up to date on your garden progress. I have so much to do in my gardens, but the hot weather has really stymied me as well. Your inspiration and a bit cooler weather may be just the "kick" I need.
ReplyDeletei will post all garden progress here! i have so much to do too and it's overwhelming so i just have to break it down into manageable pieces. x
DeleteYou mentioned white drought tolerant plants. I'm from western Oklahoma and the only flower I ever had any luck with were white Periwinkles. (They probably have another name, but that is what we called them.) Anyway, they grew like weeds, survived the biggest drought since the dustbowl and were eye-catching when clustered in the ground or flowing from pots and planters. A rather mundane, ordinary flower, but a lot of bang for the buck in my opinion. And perfect for hot climate.
ReplyDeletei think vinca and periwinkle are from the same family. i'm planning on using a lot of vinca here. it's rather mundane as you say but it is a workhorse and that's what is needed here. thanks for the suggestion! x
DeleteJanet, I just planted about 2 1/2 dozen vinca and lost almost half to vinca wilt. I think when I purchased them the spores must have already been in them. :( But they are very heat tolerant!
DeleteLinda
Hallo Janet.I know i am of topic,but is it possible to recommend a few good vegan cookbooks.Thank you!Efi.
ReplyDeletethe only real vegan cookbooks i have are the 2 skinny bitch books. i use online websites mostly. my favorite is The Simple Veganista. her recipes are quite simple and delicious! maybe someone else reading here can recommend something! xo
DeleteEli, I love Veganomicon...the recipes are a little involved but very tasty. I initially borrowed it from the library and liked the recipes so much I purchased a new copy on eBay.
DeleteLinda
I love white Iceberg roses and I have paired them with lavender. They are around existing bird of paradise that are performing well this summer. I got a lot of inspiration from Patina Farm by Brooke and Steve Gianetti. They created a patch of heaven in Ojai. You should visit and see what a lovely place - easily replicated! Only problem is now I want chickens, goats and miniature donkeys. The Mister said no. Killjoy! Hahahaha. Keep posting your beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteoh i love their garden...if only right?! your garden sounds so lovely. i can't wait to get started!!!!
DeleteDitto with everything written. I am trying to simplify my home life, landscaping included. This summer has been brutal for this Northeast girl and changed my attitude toward outside work. I just don't want to spend the time on it anymore. So, like you, underperforming plants are going, including two well-worn roses. I'm taking out one section and letting it revert to grass. And next spring, I am bringing in a landscaper to advise on low-maintenance plants for a large sunny section that was planted with hostas.
ReplyDeleteI am 67 and have lived here for 45 years. It's time for lazy summers and new experiences.
sounds good kristien. i kinda wish i only had half the property we have except that it provides a lot of privacy. i really love being out gardening but this heat does not make it fun at all! x
DeleteOh Janet, where do I begin? Between the drought, my foot problems and our lack of time lately (in-law issues) my yard has suffered immensely. You should see my rose bushes, just pathetic. I can barely keep up with the watering. :(
ReplyDeleteThat heat must have been brutal for you, I'm hoping that some cooler temps are ahead so you can get back outside!
Linda
xo
that's how i feel linda. everywhere i turn needs my attention like stat! but these cooler temps the last few days are heaven.
DeleteHello Gardener,
ReplyDeleteThe Iceberg roses with a rosemary hedge sounds beautiful. Many places mark down their plants when they are look past their prime. I bought 6 iceberg roses at Lowe's at 1/2 price, gave them a good pruning,fed them and they are doing great. You could also save by buying small rosemary plants, just keeping in mind their full size when spacing, they will look sparse at first, but will have a good start once we get some rain, ahhh cool weather, can hardly wait.
thank you anon, i will keep all this in mind when it's time to purchase!
DeleteHi J
ReplyDeleteI'd go in hard with the succulents. They thrive in heat and look nice in a cottage, esp with geraniums. I have shoved in some perennials and we are about to fix the soil in our caged herb garden (possum proof) and re-sow and replant. We've been fertilising like mad and I think the roses will thank me.
Am seeing our garden tour girls this weekend, R is sleeping over at my house! x
PS wish you could be here for it all x
ReplyDeletethere are some lovely succulents that don't look cactus-y. you know what i mean.:)
Deleteoh i'm so jealous. tell everyone hi from me!!!! xo
I have a rosemary hedge in my hot back yard and love it. Easy. I also love to grow herbs. However, if you plant oregano in a bed,it will take over and choke out anything else. Like a dense mat. I also planted garlic chives. Have a pretty white bloom, but if you let it go to seed, it reseeds aggresively. I now just cut the flowers before they go to see to control. Any of the mints are also aggressive. I put lemon balm in my shady backyard and it reseeds itself each year. Our climate is hot and dry, but we do have a brief winter with freezing temps.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit older than you, but many of my friends are also giving up on the 'needy' gardens and going to something easier. Must be our age.
Can't wait to see what you do.
Connie
thanks for all your tips connie, much appreciated. i'm a little worried a rosemary hedge could get woody. i'm still on the fence. xo
DeleteYou could try some lemon verbena, Janet. Stays green all year and grows well plus, yum, breathe it in. Also is low water...we have it on drip irrigation.
Deletelike the succulents idea but still love the smell of rosemary. What about a water feature (small fountain) by the front that could withstand the heat?
ReplyDeletelove the scent of rosemary too! i do have a non working fountain in that area. i plant it with herbs and it looks ok there. but if it were a working fountain that would be so pretty! x
DeleteWe do have fall plans, Janet. Replanting where we can afford it (won't be much; just the largest "holes" in the landscape). As your fellow SoCal 'gardener' we, too, have had too many plants fry in this beastly heat/drought, including many we only just planted young and new two years ago. It was a lot of research, purchase, planting, watering when we could in searing heat and wish'in & hop'in but not everything made it or could be saved in our HUGE yard overhaul where we took out two thirds of the lawn due to water cutbacks in our town and did our best to thoughtfully xeriscape. The whole experience has been one of such highs and lows; we did get some nice bloom in the Spring but it was for such a short while. What continues to be tragic in my eyes is the large amount...staggering amount...of trees in our area which have died, having been there my whole life. Homeowners (and certainly the City, by law) apparently just couldn't/didn't/wouldn't water trees on the public side of the sidewalk in front of their homes. But it's more than that; even trees in their own yards died. The newspaper would implore, saying, look, by ordinance we're under restriction but not ban, so please don't neglect your trees...but that's what happened, because no one was ever accustomed to watering those trees. Even the remaining jacarandas look so spindly, trying to share with us their beautiful purple glory, and they're like no-water trees...seen so commonly in oldest neighborhoods or empty lots where they never receive water from a human...and some are so ancient, but that tells you too that their deeply-dug roots can't even get to water that low beneath the ground. It looks like a war zone out there. I don't think anyone outside of California can even visualize/conceptualize what we've gone through with this drought unless they see it with their own eyes. And so far, reports don't look good for rain this winter.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with your checklist; wear a hat! I envy those across the country who report they've already got autumn chill in the air and are wearing a shawl or sweater in early morning or later in the evening. Can you imagine? I can't!
now that it is cooling off here it's easy for me to start thinking of other plants to go in that bed but i have to remember just how hot and blazing it is there in the summer. i went to HD and Lowes yesterday to look at tall grasses but neither had any. so i'm still thinking...
DeleteHi Janet, I live over in Murrieta which is about 5 degrees cooler than Redlands due to the influence of the Ocean. However, it has been brutally hot and dry as a bone over here as well. (Over 100 degrees for 5 to 7 days at a stretch.)
ReplyDelete#1. I vote for Iceberg roses. While their fragrance is minimal, they do perform well here AND tend to keep their folliage longer than most other roses. There is another white rose that looks and performs similarly to Iceberg but has a GREAT fragrance. It is in my files somewhere. When I find it, I will send the name to you.
#2. I vote for Rosemary. If you want a hedge, then use Tuscan Blue which is upright and better tasting for culinary use.
#3. One of my favorite, drought-tolerant herbs is Lemon-scented Thyme. It come in solid green or a variegated version called "Aureus". Make a nice filler between other herbs and tastes wonderful in chicken or fish dishes.
#4. Noticed that you use Zonal Geraniums already. They are real workhorses in a drought tolerant garden. Mine can go for at least a week without water!
Don't forget to fertilize. Plants need nitrogen. When we do not get enough rain, plants do not receive the nitrogen they would usually get from rainwater.
Mulch, mulch, mulch! I just bought 20 bags of brown bark mulch at Home Depot. It has been on sale for only $2 per bag. If you hurry, you can still order it on line then pick up later in the week.
Smiles from Charlotte Des Fleurs
hi charlotte, nice to meet you. i love thyme and have it growing elsewhere in the garden. we need to mulch and improve the soil throughout the whole garden and that's number one right now. still undecided on the plantings. i should add that low maintenance is on my mind too. the garden is big and requires a lot of work and we are not getting any younger. so lots on my mind! thanks for the tip on the mulch at HD! xo
DeleteBy the way, do you "worm" compost? Do you use coffee grounds to improve your soil? Both are free or relatively free.
ReplyDeleteWhen I can find them, I buy one-gallon herbs and flowering plants. Most of the time they have 3 plants in them to make them look full. If you pay $5 for a one-gallon container that has 3 plants in it, that is only $1.67 per plant rather than $3.49 to $3.99 for one plant.
It is too late this year, but for about 3 to 4 months per year (April, May, June and July), the ACE Hardware stores in southern California carry 4" potted herbs. They get them from Armstrong Growers which is the same nursery that supplies the Armstrong Garden Centers. However, the herbs at ACE are only $1.69 to $1.99 each as opposed to $3.99 at Armstrong. Talk to the buyer at your local ACE. They can order herbs and other plants for you based on what the growers have in stock.
You did not mention bulbs. My favorite are Freesias and Paper whites. Both naturalize well in our climate and, of course, have wonderful fragrance. Freesias bloom in both spring and fall. Paper Whites (and all members of the daffodil family) are poisonous to gophers and ground squirrels. Even if they only put up leaves and don't bloom, the presence of the bulbs is a deterrent to those varmints! I am sure that our mutual friend Andrea, AKA The French Basketeer, will have a post this fall about Paper Whites for Christmas. I leave mine in their containers until the leaves are completely dead. Then I "harvest" and save the biggest bulbs for Christmas container planting. The new baby bulbs that grow on the sides of the mature bulbs are planted in my landscape. Except for the work of "harvesting", all those little bulbs are free!
We have 6 acres. About half of that is landscaped so I have to find every way possible to save money on plants.
Smiles from Charlotte
thank you again charlotte for all the helpful hints. i do use coffee grounds and i do compost if i have any kitchen scrap waste. love all the ideas for the paper whites as i plan to do a white christmas decor this year. :)
Delete