Krissy was the first gardener I invited to my gardens -
She (as bella) had posted a wanted posting for perennials. I had been watching the freecycle postings and thinking about trying one. I got some puzzles for my daughter - worked easily enough. Then I saw a posting of an offer for perennials where you could come and dig them up, just fill in the holes and don't disturb the other plants. Yea, like that was going to happen in my gardens!! NOT!!! I don't even let my husband put 1 foot in my gardens!! He is quite large and trampled many a plant in his former days!! He learned early on that to just stay out was the best thing he could do for himself - or else face my wrath over the destruction of yet, another valued, cherished plant!!
So I thought about it and emailed bella. It was Krissy - And she made arrangements to come over and showed up with her dad, Mike. We had a wonderful walk through the garden, picking up lots of plants for her to take home along the way. I dug, and she helped get them into containers - we had containers all over the yard. So many, that several got left behind initially. As I got to know her, I felt greatly at ease with her in my garden. I was enjoying naming plants and answering her gardening questions. In the past I had only had family and friends here getting plants, with me doing all the digging - If you've been here, and understand the mind of a serious gardener, you know what I'm talking about. Krissy and Mike were here for a good two hours or more - there is a lot to see here. Krissy is a college student developing and adding to gardens at her folks home in Bellingham - I hope to get over to see her gardens soon. I had lived in Bellingham in the early 70's so that gave us an immediate connection. Krissy is studying to be a Social Worker - our next connection - I was a foster parent - she wants to work with veterans - my son is a Gulf War purple heart Vet. And the connections go on and on!!
So after that visit, which was my way of testing the waters, i decided to dive in and put out an offer post for perennials - at that time I was only involved with the Franklin Freecycle group. I had 12 immediate response ------ and as they say - the rest is history - I've already posted 10 plant/seed offers, have expanded to Plainville and Attleboro, and had over 1oo gardeners respond! We had our 100th gardener visit the gardens yesterday. (See separate post on this)
So if I had a gardener in here who walked through my gardens, or tried to dig up something, or just, let's face it, not Krissy, I might not be doing what this has all become today!! (I have had such an interesting array of gardeners here - I just love the ones who tell me which plants they want, by pointing at my greatest achievements!!)
KRISSY -You are an awesome, caring, considerate, respectful, thoughtful, loving, and just plan good person, who just so happens to share my passion for gardening, and seeking out the next new, unusual plant. You are a lovely young woman, and I am so proud to be able to call you my friend. I can't imagine what's it's like to be your age and have access to all that is available through the internet to expand your gardening horizons. I just don't have the patience to go through all the searches!! I have my gardening reference books, about 20 of them that I turn to - Call me old fashioned, that who I am!! But now I have Krissy - she is keeping me up on all the latest in the gardening world!!
So Krissy - thank you for offering your help, and for putting together this wonderful event. Now I call on all of you who expressed interest in helping, but were tied up on the long holiday weekend to think about getting involved in this cooperative effort and lending a hand to keep the gardens flourishing!!. (watch for future posts on cooperative gardening, and on the VIP club and preferrred gardeners)
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3 comments:
Hi Marna it's me krissy thank you for all the kind words. For anyone who hasn't been able to get to Marna's I encourage you all to try and find time as she is one of the most knowledgeable, easy going and loving person i have ever meet. As for you, Marna, coming to see my gardens let me know when is good and i'll see if i will be around.
Hi Marna, it's me Kim from Millville. I never really got the chance to thank you properly for all the wonderful plants and seedlings you gave to me. As well as the wonderful conversation, tour and education about some of the plants we looked at.
Right after you had written to me about your friend that had the lilacs I so desperately wanted for all the deer that I have here, I got a call from my sister's husband, they live in Fla, that she had been in a very bad accident.
So I packed up and hit the road (I don't fly) and just got back Sunday. She is OK. But it was touch and go, so I am glad I went.
I never would have forgiven myself.
The plants are all doing fantastic! They all took very well to the location I chose for them and seem to be thriving because they're blooming too!! In such a short time, tho it feels like it's been forever since I was there with you in your little piece of heaven.
I am hoping to get to some emails tomorrow and write to your friend in hopes that the lilacs are still available.
I was standing on my porch this evening talking to my daughter and something to the left caught my eye. It was an absolutely gorgeous flower about 150 feet to the side of my property where a builder had put in a foundation to begin a house and never went any further. (so I have this eye sore in my side yard!) till this evening.
I was in awe of the height even at that distance. Coyotes or not, and they were out roaming today, I HAD to go and see what this was. Me being all of 5'2", I was really dwarfed by this lovely plant. It is about 6 1/2 - 7' tall. I think is is a wild hollyhock or something. I myself have never grown them, tho I did want to yrs ago, and the flowers are in such abundance down this enormous stalk, and they're PINK!
2 stalks standing all by their lonesome against this monstrosity of a vacant foundation almost like they're thumbing they're nose at the builder saying "you can't keep us down" LOLOL (I saw you know what that means now)
I want to send you a picture if I may, because I do not want him destroying this beauty when and if he ever gets to building again, and I would love any advice on transplanting it. Mind you, it is growing in desert like conditions right now, and I dont want to throw it off, know what I means?? I'm not sure if I should wait for it to start to die off naturally or do I move it now just as it is coming into bloom. And I definitely want to propegate the seeds, so I may need a little advice on that too.
Well, this is turning into a novella, so I will close, wanted to update you and let you know how very much I appreciated everything, and that I read your entire blog and it looks great!
I would love to be able to get together with you again sometime very soon. Maybe grab a fern or three :-) or even just walk and weed is fine with me too.
I am going to see if I can upload the pictures of those flowers and send them to you.
Sleep well and hope to talk to you soon.
Kim
Hi Kim - wondered what was going on - the lilacs are there when you want them - she is in no rush. As to the mystery plant - How absolutely resilient!!
It reminds me of the foster kids I used to have coming through here. The one word that describes them all is resilient. They need to be
to cope with all they have to endure in their young lives. It is truly amazing to try to take in what some parents do to their kids these days. I could go on for days about fostering.
About the plant - if it is Hollyhock, I will be so jealous!! My favorite aunt had Hollyhock growing outside her back screened porch door. We used to take the seeds and play with them. I tried it twice here and it just didn't want to come back for me - I should do a list of my failures - but there just isn't enough space with all I'm working on here.
I keep an index card file system of all the gardens - I went through it over the winter and threw out over 3 inches worth of cards, for plants no longer coming up here. Some were from overcrowding, due to all the years I was sick and couldn't garden. But a lot just didn't want to be here -
In fostering we had a 10 day rule. It was an out for foster parents if a child just did not work out in your home. You could call DSS (Dept. of Social Services) and they had to pick them up within the 10 day period. I only used it twice - once when other children in the house were in potential danger, and once after 18 months of trying with a special needs, unable to behave 12 year old. Oh, and wait there was the 13 year old mentally challenged girl who kept throwing herself at any man that came near the house!!
I digress. In order to transplant any plant at this time of year you need to plan it out. Since that one is growing in such substandard conditions - the desert!!! - it will probably thrive in your garden. Plan to move it after the sun has gone down. I would wait until the end of the week when the temperature is going down a bit, or on a rainy day - right after a shower usually works well, if it is later in the day.
Next you need to prepare the hole it will be going in so that the roots don't have to hang out in the air and get dried out. Not knowing how big the hole will need to be I would suggest you go at least 2 feet down, and 2 feet around. To give it the best chance of flourishing, prepare the soil mix that you will pack around it - I use 1/3 soil, 1/3 compost and 1/3 peat or sphagnum moss (I like this best) Get the mix ready and have it in a container or in a pile next to the hole you have dug.
You'll need to water the plant you are about to dig first. (If there has been no shower) This is to keep the soil that is there around the roots. Then you need to find out what the root system is. Dig a distance from the plant and work your way closer until you find the roots ( You want to be sure to put the shovel in straight down, not slanted. I have noticed that many people put the shovel in slanted, at an angle, when digging in the garden.) This poses a risk to the roots if you are digging something that has a widespread root system.
There are many different types of root systems. Unless you know for sure what you are dealing with, be conservative and "DIG BIG". Always put your shovel in straight, perpendicular (90 degrees - now I know you all had math in school - it was one of my majors in College - so a huge aside here - remember when you all thought - when will I ever use Geometry in my life????!!! Well this is geometry -----If you put the shovel in at an acute angle (less than 90 degrees) it might cut off your roots!!!! So go straight - the perpendicular, 90 degree angle - the right angle - don't get me started - I can go on and on about math!!!! Ask my 3 kids and all my foster kids!!!)
After you have found the root mass edge, take the shovel out and add 3-4 inches beyond the roots to dig the actually plant out. You need to dig all around the plant to the same depth. You want to dig deep enough to be sure to capture all of the root plus as much soil around it as possible. The way to determine this is to see if you can pull towards you with the shovel and feel it slide under the roots. If not, you need to go deeper. Sometimes the plant will have a tap root - like a long carrot. In that case you need a much longer narrow shovel to get at it. This is what we used to get out the Pokeweed taproots. When you reach the bottom of the roots, you will be able to pull the shovel down towards you and feel it sliding under the bottom of the root mass.
If you were doing this in spring or fall you wouldn't need to be so cautious. But this is an unknown plant that you want to be sure to give the best possible chance at survival after the move. So, if you can get the root mass in tact, with plenty of soil around it, to not disturb the roots, you can usually have a successful transplantation.
To plant the transplant, put the plant in the hole first, to determine what depth it needs to be at. This is gauged by where the prior soil line was. If your hole is too deep, just add the mix you created to get it to the right level.
After you get the plant at the right level, you need to water the roots, use enough water so that it reaches the top of the roots (which would be the soil level of the plant.) Then wait to proceed until the water has all soaked in. Next, shovel the mix in around the plant until it is about level with the ground. Then you take one of your feet - be sure you have working shoes/old sneakers, etc on - not sandals (I've done this - it is very messy and such a gooey feeling when the wet soil guishes through the toes!!) I have often lost a sandal in the quagmire and have to go rescue it, then get the muddy mess on my garden gloves, since why would I use my mud gloves just to transplant??
So we have put the inital mix in around the new transplant and are gently tamping down the soil around the plant. I stress gently, as too hard a stomp will damage the roots you have so carefull worked to preserve.
Now you need to water again, and wait for it to soak in. Put more mix around the plant - it can end up a little above the soil line, as it will shrink down with the final watering. Do a final watering. Add mulch of 2-3 inches in this weather as a precaution.
If you know the plant you are moving, it is a good idea to cut it back at this stage to give the roots a chance to get well set in.
In this case, it's your choice. I would want to see if it will keep blooming.
It is your choice if you want to fertilize. Some years I have used Miracle Gro, but lately, my compost has been more than enough. If you give the plant the right soil mix, it will be fine. The fertilizer is like extra insurance. I recently had a gardener share one of her favorites goring supplement for plants. And of course I can't find it - I will email her.
Remember to keep the newly transplanted plant(s) moist the first couple of weeks. You will know you have a successful transplant when you see new growth.
Caution: Some plants will not survive being transplanted. I have not always been successful. Several of you had plants that did not make it this spring. It can be a number of factors, including inexperience. But I don't always succeed either. It just happens. Sometimes a plant will die back, but not be dead. Some varieties need to get their roots established before they can produce new growth. Any of you who took teh Bronze Fennel may have experienced this. I moves several this spring, down to the driveay end garden - the soil there is not great - I didn't do up a mix, but that was becasue I am familiary with this particular plant. and sometimes I do a different way just to see what will be tolerated - well they all died back, but within a week or 2 all had new growht and now are thriving.
The lesson here is one of patience. PATIENCE It is the most important things- thing we all need to learn. Think of when your kids are learning to walk - do we give up on them the first time they fall?? Of course not. And how many falls must they get through before they are succesful? It is unpredictable and different from kid to kid. SO it is with the gardenaaaand plants., They are all different and have thier different needs. When we are able to learn as much as we can about those different needs and plan accordingly, our patience will be rewarded by success in the endeavor.
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