Well.Ken,hostas are poppin' up like crazy around here,and it's hard to ignore,when shoots appear ABOVE the thousands of leaves that were covering them. I have to constantly check my fragrant ones,as they are always sneaking up when it gets a little warmer. I usually leave the leaves near the plants as long as I can,and monitor the weather every day to take appropriate measures. I keep some small cardboard boxes in the garage for emergency cases. If the weather report says possible freezes,I go out and cover with leaves,or whatever. We have so many micro-climates here in the mountains,that you really can't predict the weather with any certantity! When they give weather reports for "the mountains",I temper that,because our temps where I live are more like the South Carolina 'upstate',than the mountains,which is the Asheville area,north and east of here. Is that more information than you need? Lol! Phil

hey phil ... i zinged you in the pother post.. i presume your sense of humor continues ...

but my title is about the pokers and the uncoverers ...

you are in a warm enough zone.. that you arent doing that.. they are poppin.. all on their own.. right ...?? .. you still have the risk.. but you arent facilitating it ...

this is ... on some level.. about ... LOVING YOUR HOSTA TO DEATH ....

ken

But Ken.....we gotta see 'em. Its been four months. Got the HDT's. I need my fix!

Lol, Ken... I giggled when I was reading your post......as I am one that picked up the " poking and uncovering" from my fantastic-gardener mother years ago.....and guess what I did half hour ago?

The seven pots I brought in last week...I upended them, shook ALL the medium off, checked roots for rot....they were sopping wet and froze that way last year.....I removed one or two soft roots...washed plants in lukewarm water then in ammonia wash too......then repotted them in fresh medium. Two of them were still in their original pots when I bought them last year. They had some lovely white roots growing nicely, to which I added some growing medium at the bottom.

All have firm green eyes coming up, almost all visible...Raspberry Sundae has a purple eye and is hard to see but it's there. :-)

I just had to play in dirt! It felt soo good! Today is the first day since last December that I can see green groundcover exposed underneath the garage windows! It's been too long. I also see bunny tracks in the snow out front!

Last spring I, for one ran around with the sheets (and had a good bit of fun doing it). No biggie for me - I have some exceptional perennials that I also covered with pots...I do anything I can to avoid setback. That's all part and parcel of being an avid gardener, yes?

Come on, confess.....did you ever have gardening withdrawals from a long winter in all the years you've been gardening? I honestly don't remember so much snow and cold weather lingering so late regardless of the official calendar date for spring...can you?

Thanks for the chuckle though, as always.

Jo

washed plants in lukewarm water then in ammonia wash too

===

ammonia???? never heard nor mentioned that in 20 years.. why not bleach???

ken

Been there done that, learned from it :-)

I uncover, poke and peek, snap a pic or two, then cover 'em back up again with mulch. Slow them down, keep them sleepy.

In my area, leaving hosta exposed to leaf out is begging for trouble when the inevitable freeze returns.

If they pip and leaf out, because the earth is just that warm, well, nothing I can do about that, it's Mother's way. I'll scramble with the sheets then, I suppose.

Deb

As the old saying goes, "A watched pip never uncoils"...uh..err... something like that.

I let them be.

tj

Ken, "never heard nor mentioned that in 20 years"...
'Ammonia wash/bath' ... that was probably the most used phrase last year on the forum...when dealing with slugs, or in general, good housekeeping when trimming off bruised roots or cutting into divisions...I do that anyway, whether required or not...call me crazy.

Out of all my blather, you pick that out...I guess you didn't read further and missed the conversational questions I asked you, lol

'ammonia window wash as a disinfectant

Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 5, 13 at 7:49

mountain dude got a plant with some fuzz on it ..
i suggested he could rinse in 10% bleach ...

this morning.. i wondered of an ammonia based window cleaner.. might not do the same thing...

google ways windex is 5% ... sounds safe enough for me ...

any thoughts on how easy this would be.. whether you would think it safe...

and just think.. you could have clean windows also ... lol ...

ken'

Ken, you're busted

busted by speculating????

hmmmm....

ken

I'd have to dig under at least three feet of snow first. I can't even find the gardens yet, let alone get to them without snowshoes. However, it is above freezing here, maybe by the end of today, i will see
bare ground on the driveway.
Spring is coming, but in small increments here.

No ken busted for saying:

"ammonia???? never heard nor mentioned that in 20 years.. "

When your direct quote from last November is:

"this morning.. i wondered of an ammonia based window cleaner.. might not do the same thing... "

It is not speculation, you forgot the conversation. That's okay, we all make mistakes and forget things. I forgive you.

Jon

Poke-poke-poke...No sir, although I did plenty of that last season. Walking in the backyard this morning, I see about 20 hostas with pips just visible above the pine needle carpet. They will come up when they come up...If all of 'em aren't up in a month or so, then maybe I'll go uncover and check it out. This year, I am the portrait of 'Hosta Zen'. Ooohhhmmmm...

Don B.

Well said, Jon...we all make mistakes and forget things...

I'm feeling a little verbose this morning...lol

Regardless of how Mother Nature decides to conduct herself, whether we are pokers and uncoverers or just let them be, the spring thaw/freeze is usually a given around these parts and gardeners are prepared for that eventuality.

Sheets came flying out LAST year just for such a reason and had nothing to do with "poking and uncovering" as the majority of my plants are in the ground outdoors... it was simply Mother Nature toying with us and keeping us on our toes.

The "moaning and groaning" is usually reserved for "now where the heck am I going to plant these new hosta..I've run out of room! No, wait! I can keep them in pots and put them where I like!" Lol

After 9 months of participating on this forum it is my observation that ....and I state this unequivocally ... I would be hard pressed to find anyone who would not know to put the soil back after poking around in it, or leave a hosta exposed prematurely, etc. etc. so we hardly need to be reminded to do so. For the mere seconds it takes to uncover some pips to look at them, then cover them back again, that action alone would not precipitate hostas breaking dormancy immediately thereafter.

It seems to me we are all seasoned gardeners...with confidence that we know what we are doing...yet we still maintain our individuality and have our own way of doing certain things. Gardening to me is pure joy - every aspect of it....but the poking and uncovering is definitely up my alley!

Thanks for the opportunity to add my two cents, Ken! Oh, and to answer your question..." Why not bleach????" Because I don't see that it matters..either product would accomplish the same purpose - in this case - to disinfect.

good news...a foot more of greenery showing along my walkway! I feel spring in the air! Yippee!

Have a great day, everyone! :-)
Jo

Here in Queens, I see no pips yet. Which is probably good, since I'm quite sure we're not done with freezing temps yet. I see that my little heather is hiding a tiny bit of new green way down in the shoots of last year. My dianthus is starting to green up. The heuchies are dying to send up new stuff, I can tell, but haven't yet. The hostas are all still asleep, no green showing at all. My wonderful faithful rose bush Easy Does It has very green canes and no dead ones, so it is obviously rarin' to go as well. The little dwarf spirea I planted last fall is still all brown, no sign of wanting to bust out green yet.

The Chinese neighbor has added, in the last day or so, a blue and white vase laying on its side in the back middle of the Neighbor's Plot garden. Every year I guess I must endure a new piece of kitsch from him. He WASN'T there for the backbreaking work of busting the sod for 17 x 3'. He WASN'T there to pay for the many bags of topsoil, mulch, and fencing. He WASN'T anywhere to be seen when it came to buying the beautiful plants I put there. But he is ALL on board for putting cheap looking garbage in the finished garden.

Finally stopped snowing, icing, frozen drizzle, cold dreary days in the low 30's: the sun came out this afternoon and it shot up to 55 here in the mountains of Western Virginia.

Ventured out in the lower gardens to find those reminders of why my deer fence needs care; the 4 legged rats ate all my mountain laurel buds down to the stems AGAIN.

Ate 8 potted rhodos and azaleas I have been meaning to plant - all buds gone.

Ate the single major central growth bud off several trees I have in pots. And several buckeyes which are a bummer to grow here anyway.

The list goes on, ate the lower branches on some Jap maples, but those blasted furry giant rats forgot to prune my kerria, hydrangeas or forsythia.

All they left me were their piles of energy pellet reminders and the dreaded note: we will return no matter what fence you put up!

Pulled wild onions for 30 minutes, did not move mulch as soil still cold and moist.

Saw the lancifolia tips in a sunny guarded spot the tallest above the mulch - one crocus in bloom.

Another snow forecast for next Tues-Wed, so hope they stay down one more week!

Bruce

Poke-poke-poke...

Don B.

Today Spring Begins !!!
When does the real spring begin?
You can't poke the earth here yet in zone 5. A few bare spots in the sunny back yard got dusted with snow again last night. At one house guys with bulldozers were digging out tree stumps. It looked like they had to dig out soil first, had lying around slabs of earth of 1.5ft x 1.5ft x 7 ft dimension, all frozen earth. I went to Home Depot, had 10% off, bought 3 frozen bags of mulch, very heavy. Bernd

Yeah,I may have to go out and throw leaves on some emerging hostas,as they are predicting snow for next week,and temps in the 20's again! Why is it that when It turns spring,officially,that it always returns to winter again? It was 31 this morning,after many mornings in the high to mid 40's! It's that global warming thing that that idiot Al Gore coined years ago! He must live on a different planet! Sorry to vent,but I get tired of trying to grow a garden every year,and this happens. The fact is,no one knows what the weather will be,not even meteoroligists! It will be what it will be,as they say! Yeah,I know,you all up north have far more to deal with,but this is the south. Sorry . Phil

It will be July before I see those Pips I think !

About 4" of fresh snow last night. Daytime temperatures for the week are cold, but the nights are predicted to be bone chilling. According to the forecast, spring arrives Friday.
Let's Party!

Most of mine are 'awake' and starting to grow pips. It's too early.

Don B.

This post was edited by Don_in_Colorado on Sat, Mar 22, 14 at 12:50

Well, on Wednesday afternoon at about 4pm, I saw a robin in our yard! Poor guy, he was all puffed up and looking miserable, and had a look on his face like 'I checked the calendar, I know I did!' After a bit, he perked up and started moving about. Thursday (spring!) was colder, and I saw Mr. and Mrs. Robin fly overhead. Yesterday we got more snow, supposed to be 4", ended up getting closer to 8", so the little bit of headway we had made can no longer be seen. A few more days.... It will be weeks yet, I imagine, before we see pips here (or have soil thawed enough to even think of poking in!).

Awwww, the poor wee robins! But it must have made you smile to see them! :-). All I can think of is how gipped I feel...when last year I had done three hours of yard work on March 11th!

I'm poking around the pots on my windowsill...I see green teeny tiny tips on Baby Bunting so now I can stop poking at it and stare at it....willing it to grow faster, lol. Impatient? Me? ... Naw!

ok.. how about some brutal honesty here ...

how many of you.. ignored the warning... went for it ... and are now bemoaning.. that you did everything within your power to make them grow faster.. too early ....

and are now complaining about frost and freeze???

ken

LOL, Ken. While you await the "true confessions"....... I am sipping coffee, admiring my windowsill....say what? You WOULD LOVE to see a pic? OK!!!

L to R top row: U. AlboMarginata and Tiny Tears
Centre: Raspberry Sundae
Front: Baby Bunting and Holy Mouse Ears

Looks like a nasturtium seed got planted there too...I suspect a blonde blue-eyed four-year-old!

Lovely windowsill decor, Josephine!

Aw Mary, thank you....I would have left them on the windowsill but could not get good pic...the snow covered front yard outside the window...well....who needs to see that?!!

Jo

I confess! My favorite local garden center owner said we usually have a killing frost in this area on tax day plus or minus three days. Did I listen to her? Did I listen to ken? Noooo! I did everything I could to make the hostas grow faster. I planted annuals. I believed Accuweather! So for penance I need to spend 5 of the hours I have left to get ready for vacation covering and uncovering hostas and do five more loads of laundry than I planned.
Mea culpa,
Kathy

Well, I didn't do one darn thing to make my hostas grow faster, nor did I do any uncovering of hostas (they came out all on their own!) and I spent hours covering and uncovering with sheets the last two nights, too. What's up with that!

time for an early spring recap

ken

Phil is with us here too...thanks, Ken.

Jo

sleet and snow yesterday /audible sigh

Mine are coming up. I can't stop it. We have 70 degree days. I keep moving the ones with the visible pips to the north side of the buildings. It's just the way it is. If we have a freeze coming, then I have to figure out something. When they smell spring, they start poking up their heads.

bk