Garden Head!!!!

[Sibling Chatty]

My peach tree closest to the house has committed suicide. It looked like it needed water, but that wasn't it...and it's just gone down from there. The other peach trees are doing fine, but the one outside my windows is dying!!

[Opsa]

WAH! What do you think got it? Bugs? Fungi?

[Sibling Chatty]

Not sure. We're going to see if anyone at the Agriculture school at A&M University can tell us. The other ones seem to be great, just the one I can see without having to go out in the grass which I seem to be developing an allergy to...

I think I'm developing an allergy to everything. I've got a fine red raised rash on my shoulders and chest and it's driving me nuts-er. Maybe the peach tree and I are both allergic to something.

[Opsa]

Here are some descriptions of peach tree problems: http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/hgic2209.htm

I would say that you're a peach, but I don't want you catching anything!

[Sibling Chatty]

well, at the same time as my rash and the peach tree...the big oak that faces the same way has some funky abrupt new growth of leaves that are all fall colored and very--'strange looking'. these are Texas Live Oaks that don't do the fall color leaf thing.

Looks like there may have been some air-borne contaminant of some sort. Inquiries are apace...

[Aggie]

Aie....  keep us posted.  That doesn't sound good.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

SiblingBluenose,I love the pictures of the pond you are putting in!I imagine you are finished now? I'm putting in water features of my own and am very excited about it.
However i didn't draw up a plan so the effort is running out of control,instead of just one little pond kit (100 gallons)I've dug a "river" and purchased  from a local supplier  two more ponds kits in a fit of spontaneity.
I have a postage sized back yard surrounded by other houses and i wonder if maybe I've gone in over my head,but my Lilly's look fabulous next to water.

[Bluenose]

Hi Bro,

Yep the pond is more or less done, well obviously like any garden it is a continuing work in progress, but the main construction is done.  I have some photos here somewhere, I'll dig them out and post them up where you can see them in as soon as I get a few moments to do it.

Good luck with your project, it sounds fantastic.  I would love to see some pix, if you can post some.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Good Morning Sibling Bluenose!, I 'd be delighted to post some pics as soon as i purchase the required equipment and learn how to use them.

[Opsa]

What kind of lilies ya got there, Bro? Any lotus?

[Bruder Cuzzen]

Hello OP,
I have day yellow Day Lilly , deep orange Easter Lilly and one more variety but I've forgotten what they are since I didn't buy them.
The owner of local garden center is a childhood friend so I get a load of finished plants at the end of season for free.
The mystery Lilly's found their way into my garden last spring as I was walking home from work.
It seems a lady stopped by to buy cut Lillie's for a bouquet, since none were to be had she bought up all the plants and cut them at the base .

So 30 "stumps" instead of being composted , found a new home with me and my gardening friends.
Last year was when i got the most plants free of charge; three bleeding hearts , 15 red dianthus , 2 columbine , a 12 ft. white lilac and a peony.

There is a plant I have that looks like a sort of lotus, I'll have to post a pic of it since i forgot it name as well.
I refer to my plants as the "girls"...Lilly, Heather, Rosa Sharon, Rose ,Diana, Penny...etc..
It never fails to get a smile or a laugh.

[Opsa]

 
Actually, I meant water lilies, but I am a huge daylily fan, as well as a huge fan of getting and sharing free plants. 

I have tall orange (Hemerocallis fulva) daylilies, as well as fragrant yellow ones, big deep pink ones, short maroon colored ones with green throats, short pumpkin ones, and red ones among others. I don't know the names of most of them, as they were divivions from other gardeners. They are just starting to open now.

Whew, are my arms tired! I sheared the tall privet hedge on Monday morning and pruned another hedge of way overgrown weigelas this morning. I have to use both hands to pick up a coffee cup!

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I'm still not sure which plant I like the most ,my weigelias or the deep purple lilac.I like to let both go wild, the weigelia ( the mother of them all) looks a bit tired after all the cut i've made.I think everybody ought to have one growing so i pass them out to whomever asks.

The lillac was cut and planted 4 years ago and after sprouting three kids have just begun to go for the sky,so i'm a grinch with it.

[Opsa]

Oh, I totally agree about letting shrubs take their natural shape. I did have to shear the privet though, as it was scraping cars as they came into the driveway. That tended to put guests on edge.

I have two kinds of weigela. One is a variegated weigela with leaves that have a lighter green around the edges and pale pink flowers. I have propagated and shared that plant a few times, as it's a beauty.

The ones I pruned were the more common type, with one-tone green leaves and deep pink blossoms. I have a group of about six of them along the street side, next to my rosa rugosa hedge. I've had them at least ten years and have never pruned them. They were starting to get leggy and had fewer flowers this year, so I decided to prune them right after they were done blooming. Mostly I took out the dead stuff and some of the oldest branches, but I tried to retain the natural fountain shape. Must've taken at least six way-heaping wheelbarrows full of branches to the burn pile.

My forearms still feel like noodles.

[Bruder Cuzzen]

I'm going to try and send a pic....here goes......


The top photo is my first attempt.

The lower one shows how I changed my mind a week or so later.

I have refined it once again since that shot was taken.  I'll be back with the finished shot with explainations later ,Bye for now!