Garden and Yard Talk

[Huntn]

My grandma used to overwinter her Boston ferns in a spare bedroom, in a 3"-tall galvanized tray about 4' x 6' that was filled with pebbles and that she kept about an inch of water in to provide some local moisture. Most ferns are pretty fussy about dry air indoors.
Outside though, wow. I remember in 2012 we had an especially rainy summer here, and these guys popped up outta nowhere next to an in-law's place and really took off. I loved them and managed to transplant a few out to a low spot in the back of my place where they'd have a better chance no matter the local rainfall levels. They didn't very much like being transplanted, as I recall, but enough of their spores settled in there over the season changes that year, so I have nice ferns out back now most years.

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They are invasive but easily controlled. They seem to tolerate a wide range of temps from cold to hot. Our ferns here in Houston look like the same ferns we had in Minnesota.

 

[Huntn]

I actually ordered an outdoor bug zapper, then read this article and cancelled it.

Do Bug Zappers Work? Yeah—About As Well As Any Other Indiscriminate Wildlife Slaughter.

Bug zappers kill the wrong bugs—to control bugs without a spray repellent, use a spatial repellent or a fan instead.

www.nytimes.com

But I still ordered the indoor plug-in zapper because we have micro skeeters that get in the house and ravage us at night. this morning I heard one buzzing around my head but could not spot it.

 

[Huntn]

Wild flower bed update. Right now it looks like a bed of overgrown weeds. Waiting on flowers to start popping.

Elephant Ears taking off!
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[Runs For Fun]

These are blooming now. It’s a large trellis and there’s tons of flowers. Looks pretty impressive in person

 

[lizkat]

These are blooming now. It’s a large trellis and there’s tons of flowers. Looks pretty impressive in person

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Is that a clematis? I love those... I had a blue one once climbing up a utility pole that held one end of my clothesline but it took a real beating one year from a series of thaw-freeze cycles and bit the dust.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Is that a clematis? I love those... I had a blue one once climbing up a utility pole that held one end of my clothesline but it took a real beating one year from a series of thaw-freeze cycles and bit the dust.

Yep, that’s exactly what it is!

 

[Huntn]

The wild flower meadow is starting to go.

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And the back yard has been going.

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[Huntn]

These are blooming now. It’s a large trellis and there’s tons of flowers. Looks pretty impressive in person

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Where do you live? Sorry if I should know.

 

[DT]

We have a couple of rando - and recently discovered - trees that are kind of fun:

It appears we have a coconut on the side of the house (outside of the fence) and I'm excited that we have what appears to be a Queen Palm that has popped out of some Palmetto growth. The coconut, I'll probably leave where it is for now, maybe clean up around it a little, but I think we're going to move the Queen to the middle of the front, in an empty spot (which a small tree never recovered), remove the grass an incorporate the tree space into the main flower bed with a little more design intent. They're both very small right now, though they can both get pretty big, especially the Queen (the neighbor has a huge one in his front yard).

I've got a couple of pics ...

 

[fooferdoggie]

my terrestrial orchids. they grow like any other potted plant. there are a ton but these are pretty easy. the little spotted guy I thought was history and he is making a comeback. so I will have to transplant him this fall and thin them out. I found they really want a lot of light and don't mind the heat. last year they did not bloom till early fall. with orchids they only bloom if they are happy.

 

[Runs For Fun]

Where do you live? Sorry if I should know.

Northeast Ohio

 

[Deleted member 199]

We have a couple of rando - and recently discovered - trees that are kind of fun:

It appears we have a coconut on the side of the house (outside of the fence) and I'm excited that we have what appears to be a Queen Palm that has popped out of some Palmetto growth. The coconut, I'll probably leave where it is for now, maybe clean up around it a little, but I think we're going to move the Queen to the middle of the front, in an empty spot (which a small tree never recovered), remove the grass an incorporate the tree space into the main flower bed with a little more design intent. They're both very small right now, though they can both get pretty big, especially the Queen (the neighbor has a huge one in his front yard).

I've got a couple of pics ...

How big is the coconut palm? Some of them have ridiculously deep roots, even when relatively tiny above the surface.

 

[Huntn]

We have a couple of rando - and recently discovered - trees that are kind of fun:

It appears we have a coconut on the side of the house (outside of the fence) and I'm excited that we have what appears to be a Queen Palm that has popped out of some Palmetto growth. The coconut, I'll probably leave where it is for now, maybe clean up around it a little, but I think we're going to move the Queen to the middle of the front, in an empty spot (which a small tree never recovered), remove the grass an incorporate the tree space into the main flower bed with a little more design intent. They're both very small right now, though they can both get pretty big, especially the Queen (the neighbor has a huge one in his front yard).

I've got a couple of pics ...

Will you harvest coconuts? I would.

 

[Huntn]

my terrestrial orchids. they grow like any other potted plant. there are a ton but these are pretty easy. the little spotted guy I thought was history and he is making a comeback. so I will have to transplant him this fall and thin them out. I found they really want a lot of light and don't mind the heat. last year they did not bloom till early fall. with orchids they only bloom if they are happy.
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Are these in a terrarium? The 2 we have are planted in pine bark. It look like yours are in gravel or is that just on the surface?

 

[DT]

How big is the coconut palm? Some of them have ridiculously deep roots, even when relatively tiny above the surface.

It's pretty small-ish, I wasn't 100% sure was a coconut palm, but it wouldn't be odd for this area (and there's a number of them in close by yards). Then when I was cleaning up around it - it's on the kind of "unmanaged" side yard - I found an actual coconut (probably the original seed source). I read that they thrive in full sunlight, so we might wind up using the spot for the Queen for the palm.

Then of course, we'll need some lime ... and about 20 years ...

 

[DT]

Will you harvest coconuts? I would.

Definitely, here I am at the neighbor's house ...

 

[fooferdoggie]

Are these in a terrarium? The 2 we have are planted in pine bark. It look like yours are in gravel or is that just on the surface?

no they are in potting mix. there are a lot of different types of terrestrial orchids some are real finicky. but these guys grow in the middle of fields in very cold parts of the world in the winter. they are outside all year long they lose all their foliage in winter.

 

[Huntn]

Definitely, here I am at the neighbor's house ...


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No, no, no, you use a long stick.

 

[fooferdoggie]

this is another orchid. this guy is in bark but he likes full sun. he is under a intense LED in winter but he wants to be outside then he blooms. Man the flowers ell fantastic and even the dry flowers smell good.

 

[Alli]

Northeast Ohio

What county?