david spikes

Talkback: Ask Adam

sarah broome- ivy blooms and berries only on mature wood if you trim it it will remain juvenilr forever-cuttings taken from mature ivy will form ivy trees rather trailing-very amusing

bulbs

spring tantaliizes. yesterday it was 72 F with cloudless skies. today it is in the 30's with snow blowing on a cold north wind, the mountains hidden in the blizzard. alliums are above ground, giganteum-not my favorite-grows and seeds only in the dry shade garden, purple sensation is at home everywhere except dry shade, as spring accompaniment to almost everything it is peerless if perhaps too enthusiastic-every spring i pull them out by the hundreds. colchicums and autumn crocus are up, here in reno when it seems that there will only be random blossoms of this and that before winter closes in suddenly that wonderful tender lavender pink in all shades lighting up the grpund  and fpr a few weeks i think i will never like anything better

lily bulbs

the new brecks catalog came today with surprise giant tree lilies-they seem to be reg lilies with exceptional stalks, so they probably like the same lush life as all lilies- years ago in my lily period i hybridized one that came out that way except the flowers were really nothing-however the plant has persisted in the garden for almost 20 years which might be a record

lily bulbs

giant tree lilies are a new one to me(damn those catalog descriptions) but giant dahlias will be giant with heavy fertilizing and strict disbudding-you have to chose between size and quantity

Talkback: How to take dahlia cuttings

roket31-pot on after new growth starts-dahlia shoots really do seem to need bottom heat to root unless you have a warm greenhouse sort of environment

bulbs

in the snow and wind of the last few days my century old apple tree which had become a sculpture of cream and olive needlepoint ivy split and fell, now it lays in the garden almost as ornamental as when it was upright, it fell in such a considerate manner that almost nothing was damaged, even the eight foot wide daphne carol mackie which it neatly bisected seems not too disturbed-it is one of those things where i may do more damage in the cleanup than in the fall itself

Talkback: How to take dahlia cuttings

thinking that big is better for years i gloried in enormous masses of tubers-then the experts at swan island informed me that in fact single healthy tubers produce the best plants now usually in the third year i surface plant them in perlite and when the sprouts are three to four inches tall just snap them off pot them and throw the old tubers away-smashing dahlias ever since

bulbs

how beautiful

bulbs

winter has returned to reno 5 feet of snow in the sierras cold and windy here in the valley. the day before last weeks snow a clump(more than 20 blossoms)of crocus aurea was blooming-supposed to be in the 60s on sat- great clumps of hellebore foetidus are ready to flower-spring isnt really here because the wonderful limy green that everywhere announces the season has yet to appear- bowles mauve is not reliably hardy here although other wallflowers seed around and about 

Heuchera's

what are the cultural conditions? i have friends who grow them with basically no care-benign neglect at its best. mine languish and decline-slowly and miserably-if i love them or hate them they are always the one that got away

just curious

usa/britain 

searching for seeds

stuff i want 

Talkback: Dieback on Leyland cypress hedges

it looks like improper trimming or it could be spider mites if they are the soft evergreen curse in the uk that thet are in nev. 

bulbs

all through the year