Hi Bob

I'm a tropical / sub-tropical gardener in Memphis. Nice to meet fellow gardeners in West tn.

Hi Bob. I live in Olive Branch...work in Memphis. Welcome to GardenWeb. It's a great place to escape...

Pat

Nice to hear from both of you. I'm just starting to collect seeds and build my lists but If I can help either of you, please let me know.

Hello Bob.

A fellow Mid-South gardener 10 miles north of Wolfchase.

Phillip

Hello Phillip,

Sounds like you have your hands full. what types of figs are you growing and how are they doing?

Also in Memphis, about 3 miles from Wolfchase, I have a 5 year old blazing hot yard with zero shade and lots of added compost....
I keep telling myself it's worth it, but on weeks like this, I don't know!!! The roses are defoliating and the tomatoes have contracted the black melting death, (might not be the correct scientific term), and the hornworms are not far behind. I cannot imagine why they say it is so much easier to garden in the South??! Sissy

Hi Bob,
I'm also from Memphis - University of Memphis area.
Virginia

Nice to meet you, Bob. Another Memphis gardener here. I'm just a couple of minutes south of the Botanic Gardens. (very convenient during plant sale time!) My gardening tastes lean toward the tropical side - might as well, with the heat and humidity, it's like living in the tropics! Great to hear from other gardeners here in the city.

Nikkal

Hi. I live in Jackson, but work frequently in Memphis. DM.

Hi Bob! I live in Midtown. I've had dirt on my hands for going on five years, but I still feel like a novice. Welcome.

Wow, lots of us in West Tn, huh? I'm a Memphis gardener and this fall will be dividing a bunch of daylilies, Alaska daisies, fernleaf yarrow and some other perennials that have taken over more than their alloted space. Will be glad to pass-a-long to Bob or others.
Judy

Hi Bob!
I live in Cordova, Countrywood area. My husband and I are both into gardening. He is mostly flowers and scrubs and I am into vegs and herbs. I planted a nice Asparagus bed this year. My enemy is the local rabbits. My friends are the Purple Martins.
Deb

Memphis naitive, relocated just a bit south. Still drive there often though, especially to visit Dabney Nursery and Trees by Touliatos. Can't pass up a plant place. I'm into roses, mostly antiques and grow, well, a bunch.

Hi Bob,

I'm about an hour from Memphis, in Jonesboro, AR. I have been on GW for 4 or 5 years now. I'm a gardening addict. I grow everything I can get my hands on and I have many collections--daylilies, irises, hostas, heucheras, cannas, elephant ears, gingers, bananas, sedums, roses, ferns, and many others. I can't have just one. I want every variety in a species. Compulsive? Naaah, just greedy!

I host a plant swap at my house in Oct. It will be the 2nd Sat of the month this year. You, and anyone else in the area, are welcome to come out and do some swapping with all of us. Usually everyone brings some sort of dish (preferrably with chocolate!) and we eat and chat and swap. It is just so much fun! I hope you can join us!

Casper

Hello all, I'm also a Memphis gardener. I'm into tropical plants and am hoping to make my back yard a little bit of paradise.

I wonder how many of us are members of the Memphis Horticular Society? I am, but don't go all that often. I plan on going next Tuesday because the program sounds great. Maybe we could identify ourselves as Memphis gardeners there?

Casper,

I've been to three of the five Middle Tennessee swaps and the Fall one is scheduled for Oct. 16 - wouldn't miss it for the world. Will yours be on the 9th? If that's the right date, I'll do my best to be there.

Lilli - I am a member of the Memphis Hort Society and also plan to be at Tuesday's meeting. Any suggestions on how to identify ourselves?

In case any of the Memphis gardeners are not members and want to come check a meeting out before joining, the first meeting you attend is free. The meetings are at 7:00 PM on the first Tuesday of the month at the Botanical Gardens. Be there or be square!
Virginia

Wild Rose, how do you think this would work Tuesday night at the Memphis Hort Society meeting: put a sticky label which says "Memphis Gardener" over our regular id badges and meet at the refreshment table.

Lilli, that'd work. Do you have a GW t-shirt? I'll wear mine. I usually sit with Anne Bryce and Betsy Mischke. If you happened to see the Swap segment on Volunteer Gardener Saturday afternoon on WKNO, you'll recognize the three of us.

I'll do my best to be there tomorrow night. I don't miss many meetings, but if something comes up and I have to miss tomorrow, I'll be at the next one for sure.
Virginia

I live in Arkansas about an hour from Memphis, do I count?

MemphisLilli,

What sort of tropicals are you growing right now? What types would you like to have in the future?

I'm a big tropical gardener. The backyard's crammed full.

Hi Folks,

I am a Collierville gardner. Bob, that is about 10 miles east of Memphis. I grow hosta, daylilies and other perennials. I hope to see you at the hort meeting on Tuesday at the Botanic Gardens and in October at the swap.

Betsy M.

DeltaTropics Guy,

Currently I'm growing tropicals that can overwinter in the greenhouse--hibiscus, mandevilla, variegated shell ginger, bird of paradise, plumeria(it's blooming-- yeah!) jasmine, plumbago, agapanthus, tropical water lily, black taro.

I also have hardy banana and butterfly ginger which seem to do fine here. I'm interested in getting some hardy palms and other tropical looking plants that will overwinter in the Memphis climate. My backyard's not "crammed full", at least not yet, but I'm working on it.

Sounds like you have a nice collection. I do have a few plants that I've got to haul out of the weather since they're not hardy, but I typically try to get tropicals that are hardy here. The main reason is my poor back. It's hard to wheel the larger stuff around.

There are lots of folks in the Cooper Young district with Plumerias. They flower very easily.

Also, did you know that there are hibiscus varieties that are hardy in Memphis? Mine are currently at heights from 5 to 7 feet tall. I actually find them more attractive than the non-hardy varieties, a couple of which I have. The blumes are bigger and they grow much faster. Look up Hibiscus moscheutos.

Bird of Paradise are great, but I don't have any myself. To my knowledge they have no hope of surviving anywhere outside of zone 9 or 10.

I had a variegated shell ginger at one point but I accidentally stepped on it one day a few months ago and destroyed it while trying to get through my jungle to check on another plant. -.- grrr.

I've got some Carolina Jessamine. Have you got any of that? I love evergreen vines. I've also got some Clematis armandii, an evergreen species. Very cool foliage.

I love tropical water lilies. I wish I had the space for a water garden. We've got a few out at the Botanic Gardens which get absolutely massive.

When you say you've got some Black Taro, do you mean Colocasia esculenta "Black Magic" elephant ear? I assume that's it. That's actually hardy here. All varieties of Colocasia esculenta are hardy in Memphis. I've got around 4 varieties if I remember right. They all come back every year. Also have you got any giant elephant ear species? I've got 2 types of Alocasia macrorrhiza. They're more or less the same, except for a small difference in the lobes of the fronds. It's a fast growing humongous upright elephant ear. My largest one is currently at 7 feet. This species does develop a semi-woody trunk. Mine's got about 3 inches of trunk.

How big's your Musa basjoo banana now? I've got quite a few of them. I've noticed that they are growing in popularity around Memphis in the last couple of years. They are especially popular in the Cooper Young district. That area seems to have a very vibrant tropical gardening trend going on. I've got Musa basjoo, Musa zebrina, a small Ensete, Musella lasiocarpa, and some Cavendish varieties. Musa zebrina (red banana) is one of my favorite species.

My White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium) is also doing great, and flowering. As you said, it's very hardy here and quite a bit north of here as well.

This winter I'm going to try a Parrot's Beak Heliconia in the ground. It's rated at zone 9 but I've had zone 9 plants come back. So we'll see.

Have you got any Sagos (Cycas revoluta)? They will do ok in the ground if you live inside the city. Mine are in a raised position half sand - half soil. They do much better when they are in a fast draining location. It especially helps in the winter.

If you want to know about palms for this area, just let me know. I can give you some suggestions.

I've got to update the pics in my picture gallery. They're from about 2 months ago in there and everything's grown leaps and bounds since then...

Delta Guy,
I am in Memphis, too, and am looking for Clematis armandii!
Dan West wants 35$, and that's too steep for me!
I have two twenty foot Crossvines that are semi-evergreen!
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It's unfortunate that so many nurseries gouge people for their money. Makes it harder to enjoy getting new plants when you have to be broke to do it.

I could get you a Clematis armandii cutting, but I wouldn't know how to get it to you. Couldn't stick it in the mail since it would dry out...

Delta Guy,
This spring I did see (and smell) a Clematis armandii growing on an arbor at Dabney's. It was so fragrant and the evergreen foliage is a big plus. I haven't visited Dan West recently, so wasn't aware they had these. At any rate, $35.00 is too steep for me too. I'd love a cutting. I've had varying success rooting different plants, even ones that are supposed to be "easy". Have you tried rooting this plant?

It can root. But I guess it's all chance. I've rooted plants that don't like to root, and on the other hand I've lost cuttings that were supposed to root easily. So.. basically mine rooted from a cutting. I'll take another cutting of it and try to start some new plants out.

Hi! I garden in midtown Memphis, I am excited to find this site for info and resouces for our area!! Right now I am into woodland gardening since I am now working on my woodland garden ha ha! Also, don't laugh but I have been getting quite a few plants from ebay. its so addictive!! just wanted to say hi!

Hi group, I'm from Millington TN and novice to gardening so I'm having fun reading the threads and learning. My flower plant is gardenia's but have difficulty growing. Have any of you heard of Chuck Hayes Gardenias? If so, where can I purchase them. I'm into flowering gardens that change throught out the season. Learning to plant bulbs that will keep blooms from April to October. If you know of any great places to swap or buy flowers, please let this novice know.

Hi everyone....I'm in SE Shelby County, between Germantown and Olive Branch. I started gardening 2 years ago but am going to get a second and third bed going this year so I need lots of advice - so glad I found this place!
The queen in my garden - especially right now, because it is blooming like crazy! - is a Clematis armandii 'Snowdrift.

Hi guys! I'm in the Bartlett area in Memphis. I live in an apartment though, so I am a container gardener. Nice to know there are so many people here from the area!

Just thought I would give this a bump and say hello again. I hope everyone is enjoying this Spring and are up to your elbows in compost and plants! I busted out a flower bed near the curb of our driveway two Saturdays ago. It was a mess of crabgrass and bindweed vines and it slopes but is too narrow to mow and tedious to weedwhack. Many of my perennials needed to be divided or moved, so....off we go. I put in tiger lillies, pink monarda, rudbeckias, knautia, echinaceas, "Pardon Me" daylilies and sedums on the slope at the sidewalk. My husband is a carpenter who brings home "useful" s..crap (grinning) and I got a lovely white oval sink for accenting the taller sedums. Ah, bliss. Can you ever have too many beds?

Consider this a "special" invitation to all the W TN folks, please try and come to the Middle TN Plant Swap on May 21st. We have a lot of you guys that come but we need more representation from the Shelby Co area. It's not that much further from Mempho than it is fron Nashville! The long haul is actually from E TN and those guys come in droves. Holler at me if you need info.

Jeff

Jeff,

Sorry if I missed this info in scanning - but where is the plant swap on the 21st?

Thanks,

Vicki (in Memphis)

Hi,

Hope people are still looking at this thread : ) I'm new to Memphis (and to the forum) and I was wondering if anyone can tell me if the soil around here tends to be acidic or alkaline. Thanks in advance for any help!

Jenica

I am fledling gardener in Midtown. We just moved here from IL and bought our first home, so I am loving all the info on what to plant down here.

My bulbs (daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, crocuses, irises) all came up beautifully, and I also have a columbine, few bleeding hearts, and a rhododendron. It has been slow going since I have mostly full to part shade and the nurseries do seem expensive.

How do the plant swaps work? Especially if you are like me and have little to share?

Thanks!

Welcome to Tennessee!!
We moved here 6 years ago, and are from Chicago!! I cannot believe you got the tulips to come up, I have a heck of a time getting them to do anything!
I will be attending my first plant swap, May 21, but if you look at the photos they posted, and listen to the descriptions of them, I don't want to miss it...!
I took the Master Gardener Course to adapt to the growing conditions, here in Memphis, and made some great friends and learned alot, but I come here for most of my info, now!
Go Cubs!!
Sissy

Hi Pescitel!

I am in Midtown as well! My yard is slowly being redone! It was a hodge podge of dirt and concrete and all sorts of crazy things! Every time I put my shovel down I never know what will come up!! I am going to go to the swap for the first time myself this year! Not real sure how it all works, but it should be fun! Just try to find a few things you can bring to swap, it can be any kind of garden related item-- old garden mags, garden art, plants, ammendments, I think anything gardeny goes! You can maybe even buy some seeds and start something quick and easy to bring! Good luck with your garden and maybe I will see you at the swap! Since finding garden web, I have really learned alot, and all the while finding more and more things I have to try and many must haves! Its really a fun place! Lots of nice people too! Oh, and Sissy will be the guest speaker on the subject of Lasagna Gardening!!

Hi everybody, I'm a newbee. I've gardened in Memphis for a year, but live close to Covington. I grow all kinds of perennials, a food garden (about 20 x 50'), and roses. I have crepe myrtles, shrubs, evergreens, dogwoods, and all kinds of traded flowers I just stuck in the ground and kept alive. A lot of it was here when we bought the place, and the rest has been added over the years by us.

I moved 12 tea roses to another location in my yard at the beginning of July (eeek!), after researching how to do it safely, and now they are full of leaves and flowering out.

Then, my friend and neighbor, who is a plant rookie, bought us both an Eden climbing rose. She said she had lived there ove 20 years, and SHE WANTED HER YARD TO LOOK NICE. She then said we needed to go in together on a rose order of English roses.

HAH! She said ten roses each. I ended up getting 24 roses in all, and I'm now the official baby rose nurse until they get planted when the weather cools off. I didn't know that it was going to get over 104 degrees during the time when they were supposed to arrive.

NOT TO WORRY. My husband, the ever present plant genius, told me how to keep them from frying. I took them into my bathroom, unwrapped them, and watered them with cool water from the shower. Then I potted them up to 1 gallon pots (they were only band sized rooted cuttings), watering the soil before putting it around their sensitive roots.

THEN, I prepared a bed in partial shade in the back of some evergreen bushes on the shady cool side of my house, by using 4x4 timbers stacked two high, and filled that with damp peat moss. (All this in 104 degree weather)

Then I BURIED the pots up to their rims in the peat moss bed.
Every day I misted them 5 times a day. Every one is living and only had maybe one yellow leaf, and one is even putting out flowers (actually one flower, but it IS a beautiful one)

The main thing with pots is that the roots get overheated, and the damp peat moss takes care of that. You could bury the pots directly in the dirt, but in 104 degree weather you might heat stroke out yourself digging all those holes!!! The peat moss is pretty expensive, but you can use it elsewhere when you don't need it any more.

The second batch of roses (six bands) came yesterday in the mail, and it was so hot I was afraid to even put them in the peat moss bed. So, again my genius husband told me to just set them on the porch, and bring them inside the house when it got hot. And when the weather cooled down to the 90's, THEN put them in the peat moss bed. (He really is a genius. He's the one that designed all the flower beds in our yard)

I think I've lost my mind ordering roses during a heat wave.
I probably should be posting this in the rose forum, but y'all were talking about West Tennessee gardeners, and here I am!

BTW, I also do a LOT of plant research on the internet, and have a huge inventory of info that I've collected over the years.

Hello,I am just outside Mempis. I am 14 miles from Millington in Atoka.lol
I would love to see us all set up a meeting place to get together.
Shelby orrest, the park connected to the zoo, what is the name of the park behind the botantcal gardens? Just throwing out some ideas.......

Hey Bob:
Welcome to Memphis and Gardeb Web. I live in Raleigh/Bartlett area. I have to concentrate on shade
gardening due to our wooded lot. I like container gardening,Hostas, Ferns. I do love Tropicals but find it hard to provide them with enough Sun. I have one end of the house which I can grow Bannana Trees and Elephants Ears.
I have grown Angel Trumpets for the last three years.
Fernzilla

I notice these postings go back to 04!! Is this thread still active? I am in Cordova and I am looking for tips on tropical landscaping. I grow Plumeria and Jatropha Multifida, and winter them indoors. I am interested in banana trees and alocasia for this zone. Also, does anyone have a greenhouse in the area? I want one but don't know where to start.
Thanks
Lori

Hey Everybody:

Isn't nice that it has finally gotten a bit cooler? I had to cut down a 15 year old Japanese Butterfly Maple, which perished this Summer due to the extreme heat. The little 26
degree late Spring snap destroyed the leaves just after they had emerged. it did leaf out again, but that Summer heat was just to much for the struggling tree. So Sad.
My Brugmansia dropped it's buds due to the heat also. It did make a comeback and started blooming last week on the Full Moon. It is breathtaking right now.
Another plant I tried this year was Charmed Velvet Oxalis.
It performed so well even in the extreme heat of August. I went back to Bayless Greenhouses and got more of them. I think they will do well in my window boxes on the garden shed.
I lost 3 Japanese Hollies this Summer also. I gave them plenty of water, but the heat was just to much for them
Maybe next yeat I will try Cacti....LOL Not enough Sun for that.

Hey here's an idea I've been thinking about. I've got a piece of land just outside Memphis. The Coldwater river runs through it. I wonder if anybody would be interested in creating a garden club based there and members could have their own garden plots. Not just for vegetable gardens like they have at Shelby Farms but for landscape gardening. Basically turning the place into a private botanical garden. There's also an old home site that sort of like the ruins on an old castle and I'm adding to it. Who wants to help me build some stone walls? It could be a really cool place. Good fishing too. This is a one of a kind offer. Anybody interested ? You can call me at 901-826-6681

allenatbarton ,

I need lots more room than I have, But I only do "edibles"

I'd love to take you up on your offer, have shovels will travel!

A Co-op would be good for me since I usually have more that I can eat or vint.

I can offer you lots of berry bushes 5 varieties of high-bush blueberry, blackberry, red, gold & purple raspberry, and Figs and Pomegranates a go-go.

Ohh, and grape-vines! I'm an amateur home wine-maker and grow Cyntianna, Chambourcin, Concord, and Scuppernog grapes.

Someplace to let the kids and dogs run free, or pitch a tent and sit around a campfire on a Saturday night, is also nice.

Hmm... old thread. Anyone still interested in talking about gardening in Memphis? :)

I noticed several people mentioned that they wanted to get a Clematis armandii, but the nursery prices were too high. I got one in the fall of '06 (I think) at the Stringer's on Poplar (east Memphis) when they were having a 70% off sale. That $35 price tag looks a lot more manageable at 70% off! They had bunches of them left... I guess not many people had been willing to pay full price for them! Anyway, i realize that was awhile ago, but those fall sales are a great chance to pick up otherwise-expensive plants.

I live in midtown, in a cute little Craftsman-style house. I ended up planting the C. armandii so it would grow up one of the big stone columns on my porch, very close to my front door. It took off immediately, and looks really good there. I also planted a Clematis 'Jackmanii' right next to it, so the two are growing together. This way I have a beautiful evergreen vine, with white fragrant flowers in the early spring, and then wave after wave of deep purple flowers in the summer! I enjoy it, and so do the neighbors! (One of them asked me this past summer where i found a purple clematis that stayed evergreen...)

It's been fun to read about your Memphis gardens!