What are those gorgeous acid green leaves

Top 32. Sep 22, 1998 12:50 AM

» Marge_Talt - Lady B, I adore <i>Helichrysum petiolatum</i> and have both t

Lady B,

I adore Helichrysum petiolatum and have both the silver leaf and 'Limelight' in pots.

The silver one is in what passes for sun for me, at the edge of the parking area - but gets some shade from taller things in that pot as well as self sown Cleome towering over it.

'Limelight' is in a pot at the entrance to the covered walk - sort of part way under the overhang in some shade - gets some afternoon sun.

Water those pots once a day in summer - for everybody in them.

I have also kept it in a fair amount of shade and sometimes think it does better here with some shade - at least in a pot.

I winter them over in the pots in the pseudo greenhouse. My only problem with them is some dratted little leaf minor that makes hash out of the leaves, leaving dirty black and webby messes to be pulled off.

I have not heard of anyone who grows this in a more northerly clime having this problem, nor have I read about it in British gardening books - and they use this species a lot for bedding and pots in summer.

Do any of you guys who grow this have this problem?

I have never seen the culprit who inserts the minute little worm like critters into the leaves, but if one has loads of time and patience and searches diligently on each leaf, one can find a teeny hole where it goes in and even if there is no sign of damage; know it is coming soon.

I've lost a few plants to total defoliation from this, but they will usually leaf out again once all the damaged leaves are removed - but talk about tedious!

Still, I don't like to be without these plants.

Marge

Gardening in
Shade

-- posted by Marge_Talt

Top 33. Sep 22, 1998 9:12 AM

» LadyB - Yes indeed, fortunately the dratted little beasts seem to go aft

Yes indeed, fortunately the dratted little beasts seem to go after the older leaves but sometimes really trash some of the new tips.

I bought what I call my "Schmecker Snips", tiny, pointed plastic handled thingies that work like miniature sheep shearer's shears. They sneak in where pruning shears can't go, but it really re-defines the concept of tedium.

I wintered over the Moe's Gold helichrysum in the greenhouse in a large hanging pot but they have MASSIVE roots and it dries out just ALL the time. So I started another small one and I'll kiss the big one goodbye.

I guess the 'leaf miner' beasts are as hard to deal with as most leaf miners meaning you have to catch them at JUST THE RIGHT TIME and get them with Dormant Oil. If that opportunity is missed it's pure diligence that will get the best of them and nothing less.....

Lady B, Weeds and Wild Things Cold Spring, New York

-- posted by LadyB

Top 34. Sep 22, 1998 11:45 PM

» Marge_Talt - Well, Lady B - I am actually relieved to find that you have the

Well, Lady B - I am actually relieved to find that you have the dratted beasties, too....thought they only visited me.

Yes, going over a big plant leaf by leaf does give a new definition to "tedious".

I hadn't thought of dormant oil. Have you any idea when the ideal time to apply that would be? Have you ever caught the perpetrator in the act of depositing eggs or whatever...in fact, have you ever seen the egg that must be there before the actual minor?

Marge

Gardening in
Shade

-- posted by Marge_Talt

Top 35. Sep 23, 1998 4:52 AM

» LadyB - Let's see...the answers are no, unh-unh and nope. I recall sp

Let's see...the answers are no, unh-unh and nope.

I recall spending a GOOD deal of time one year TRYING to figure out the Columbine leaf miners and eventually found some info that said that late May to early June was the time to catch the little buggers outside the leaf. The recommendation was to spray with dormant oil and be very sure you get the bottom of the leaf.

Did I ever DO it? Not so you'd notice. However I have darned near DEFOLIATED a few Columbines cutting the infested leaves off.........

Lady B, Weeds and Wild Things Cold Spring, New York

-- posted by LadyB

Top 36. Sep 25, 1998 3:25 PM

» Sonni - Wow! You guys weren't kidding................ when you said I c

Wow! You guys weren't kidding................
when you said I could get cuttings to root from the Ipomeoa batatas Margarita. I put one in water on my desk at work, without any nutrients and today, one week later, 5 long strong roots formed. I just planted it in a very rich potting soil and will grow it in the office for the winter. (we have great light here).

The other cutting was dipped in rooting hormone and planted immediately into the same potting medium. I hope it's taking too. If I had known how happy the plant would be in water, I would have put both in..... hmmm.... maybe I should pull it out and check.

Anyway, now I see the Sweet Potato in the plant. I remember putting sweet potatoes with toothpicks in the side into water and how the roots grew strong and fast. The leaves on Margarita may seem more exotic, but it reacted as if there was a sweet potato in the water.

So now, I must go back and get a good "Blackie" cutting. I must say that as careful as I am to the plants, which are spilling all over, I'm so paranoid that it was like a comedy scene last week. That's why I don't have Blackie already -- when a homeless man came around the bend, I felt like I was robbing a bank and ran off into the distance.

Silly me. Especially since in a short time they will all be gone due to the cold.

Anyway, that kind of sums up the "What are those gorgeous acid green leaves."

I am once again a happy camper. Regards, Sonni

Regards, Sonni

-- posted by Sonni

Top 37. Sep 25, 1998 10:24 PM

» Marge_Talt - Well rats, Lady B....was hoping you'd actually seen who does thi

Well rats, Lady B....was hoping you'd actually seen who does this.

As for Columbine...I just whack it back if it gets leaf miners badly enough to get on my nerves - well I whack it back after bloom/seed set as a matter of course because the plants generaly look pretty ragged by then, leaf miners or not. They always put out new foliage that usually stays nice for the rest of the season. I've got too many of them all over the place to even think about spraying them with anything for anything. It's all I can do to give them a haircut.

Marge

Gardening in Shade

-- posted by Marge_Talt

Top 38. Sep 26, 1998 1:38 PM

» LadyB - OK, Marge, you're gonna really HATE this, but I actually DEADHEA

OK, Marge, you're gonna really HATE this, but I actually DEADHEAD my columbines and have kept them in bloom regularly into July. One year I did it all the way through August but that was almost cruel, the poor thing was REALLY tired.......But you're right, there is a point (like with the Aquilegia canadensis that has popped up just EVERYWHERE) where a good, swift *whack* beats hours of schmeckering any day and accomplishes a lot more.

And where's Sonni? Me too! Me too! Me too! I made one of my infrequent pilgrimmages to Sprainbrook Nursery in Scarsdale (where I used to work a few hundred years ago) and one of the very first things I saw were "those gorgeous acid green leaves..." trailing from an enormous basket of mixed annuals. To say my pruning shears were beginning to itch was some kind of understatement. (I NEVER leave home without them...)

So I went for awhile like a kid in a LARGE candy shoppe buying my fall bulbs for Glynwood, chatted with friends of mine who are still there, and left my purchase behind so I could retrieve my car from the mechanic. When I returned, my purchase was all written up, the two whisper-pink streptocarpus plants were boxed with the bulbs and there was another paper bag. Hmmmmm. I peeked inside and it seems my friend Judy had indeed found some good reason to do a little trimming. There were two 'margarita' cuttings and one 'blackie'.

Sonni, thanks to your story of successfully rooting them in water they are holding court on my dining table in a lovely glass container. WHAT FUN!

And while we're on gorgeous, glorious plants, there was a new plant there that looked very much like a Mandevilla, but the flowers were thicker, a most delicious mauve-color, and the leaves were even a little different.(fewer horizontal ridges) It had QUITE the woody stem and QUITE the price tag ($40!). They seem to have no other name for it other than Mandevilla. Hmmmmmmmm. Anyone seen it?

Is horticulture just TOO MUCH FUN or what?

Lady B, Weeds and Wild Things Cold Spring, New York

-- posted by LadyB

Top 39. Sep 26, 1998 11:02 PM

» Sonni - Just to follow up - the Margarita in the soil and rooting hormon

Just to follow up - the Margarita in the soil and rooting hormone has some roots also... but not as much as the cutting in the water; so Barbara Hall, you're on your way.
I haven't seen these Ipoemia's in any catalog thus far, so the cuttings are that much more special. (NYC is not THE place for obtaining plants -- although I know Long Island is.)

I've started a new discussion on "foliage problems" - hoping we can help each other with leaf miners, etc.

see ya - Sonni

-- posted by Sonni

Top 40. Sep 27, 1998 6:09 AM

» LadyB - Notice how SPECTACULARLY we get off the subject around here? Jus

Notice how SPECTACULARLY we get off the subject around here? Just in this thread alone we hit leaf miners, helichrysum, all MANNER of sweet potatoes, starting cuttings, wintering over perennials, Euphorbia myrsinites and add it to the other thread with your photos we've included lavender as well! Remarkable.....

Lady B, Weeds and Wild Things Cold Spring, New York

-- posted by LadyB