Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Sometimes, They Come Back...
Do you remember how devastated I was by all the destruction that the freeze of the century caused my collection of succulents? I wept and moaned for what seemed like weeks... and I still haven't quite worked out the plan for filling in the bald spots in my garden. But now, the warmth of the approaching summer is making magic - will you look at all the baby Aeonium 'Zwartkopf' sprouting from where I cut a frozen rosette! These kids will branch out and revitalize the plant; I can leave them alone and let it be a tall 'black rose' succulent, or I could sacrifice the plant - cut off the new little rosettes (once they have more stem on them) and plant them individually, as little starts.
I think I need more of these black beauties in my garden, so I'm going to let the little ones mature a bit more, and then, just when they least expect it, I'm gonna whack 'em. I'll uproot the mother, slice off the kids, hang them out to dry - then I'll bury them right up to their pretty little heads! It's going to be a bloodbath - a horror show!
Often, gardening is not for the weak of stomach. Cloning an army of plants to fill in your garden is serious business, after all...
uproot, slice, hang, bury?! so much violence! i'm scared.
Forgive me, Chanchow! I'm a big fan of horror movies, and sometimes I get carried away by metaphor.
But I don't apologize for being a plant slasher! Cutting plants is good - it makes them grow better, and gives you the material to make more plants with!
So many people over personalize their plants and they can't bring themselves to cut - for some reason, men and trees are the worst. I can't tell you how many times I've suggested that old, sick, or weedy trees be removed, and a man will fight and brood and pout and act as if I want to clear cut the Amazon! Why IS that?
Interesting... Maybe it triggers a live and let live thing in men. Men don't want to be poked and prodded, so maybe they feel bad chopping down an old, sick tree. They identify??!
I always thought it was as phallic thing...
Maybe I should write up a whole post on the 'Man/Tree' thing and see what comments it triggers. I wonder how many men read the Germinatrix?
I think this needs investigation!
Speaking of violence, it's my turn to ask a question (okay, I've asked questions before).
We have a Kwanzan Cherry tree that's been in the ground about four years. The first year it had two or three flowers. The following year, we had a mostly full flowered tree. The following year, just a couple of flowers. This year again, only three flowers.
I understand some cherry trees need a lot of cold hours, but if that was the case it should have bloomed abundantly this year, no?
Should I dig this guy up and replace it with something more reliable, or is there something I could be doing
to get this to flower more?
What does it say about me that I enjoy plant violence? I get quite carried away in the hacking back of limb and leaf. Maybe I was meant to be an arborist.
Heavypetal - It means you are a great gardener! I think if we don't relish the cutting with as much gusto as we enjoy the planting, we are missing an essential part of the process ... you know, we become an enforcer of the cycle of life in our microcosm. Does that make sense?
Susa - you know, the same thing happened to me, but with my pomegranite tree - 1st year, nothing (which I expected), 2nd year, 5 beautiful poms! - then nothing, for 3 consecutive years. There would be some swelling of bud, a few blossoms, but no fruit. I checked for some sort of blossom rot (have you seen any mushiness on your branches where the buds would appear?) but the tree looked healthy. I think it was squirrels or racoons, in my case. I could have taken steps like covering the tree with a net for the next season, but I took the path of least resistance and took it out - I think I'm going to plant a Dracena draco in it's place.
Have you seen any satisfied critters lurking around your trees? I know some birds really like the soft buds, especially because there are usually tasty bugs nestled around there.
If it is our feathered fiends, I think a pretty solution is tying strips of silver or gold mylar to the tree - the fluttering and shiny glints spooks the birds ... and looks festive!
Critters aren't a problem since it isn't a fruiting variety (though I have a Prunus Persica that's supposed to be ornamental, yet still gives us "insignificant fruit" as they say).
I was hoping for some direction along more mundane lines like water, weather, fertilizer, amendments, and so on. But chances are this one's going to be transplanted to someone else's garden. Is it wrong as an organic gardener to give away plants that may have chemical needs I won't satisfy?
Do you hand water, Susa?
I understand that sometimes, if a watering schedule is interrupted when buds are breaking, it could cause them to drop. I don't think it is a fertilizer thing - I've seen these trees flowering happily in parking lots! The only other things I could think of would be fungal in nature, which would require the use of dormant oils. And like you, that's when I look for a new home for my ornery plant.
I think giving away a plant that doesn't jive with your garden style is the only way to go ... I know plenty of gardeners who just dump the plants (Gasp! Horrors! I know, it's unthinkable for many of us to waste a good tree like that!) You've very carefully nurtured an environment that is balanced, and some plants are just too exotic to easily fit into an organic garden. There are plenty of people who have different standards, and will nurture such a tree with 'safer' products. I know you'll find something to put in it's place!