Welcome to our new blog! Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens is a 50 acre University of Georgia botanical garden located at 2 Canebrake Road, Savannah, GA. 31419. If you have any questions about gardening, ask it here. Answers will be given every Friday. If possible, please include pictures with your post.
Happy Gardening!
Excited to follow the blog and meet some fellow gardenera in the Savannah area.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I am a very new to gardening (flowers, shrubs etc) I can't wait to see question and answer on Friday's.
ReplyDeleteAs a "newbie" mg this will hopefully help me to find volunteer opportunities and keep on learning more about my passion for gardening. Thanks another reason to look forward to Fridays!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog everyone! We have a lot of volunteer opportunities here at CGBG. It's a great way to meet other gardeners, make some new friends and learn more about gardening. Contact Fred at frednuss@uga.edu for more information or call our number at 912-921-5460.
ReplyDeleteDoing some research on garden pests and came across this interesting webpage on dragonflies. We have a lot of them in our garden!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eduwebs.org/bugs/dragonfly.htm
our lemon tree (a little over a year old) has tons of lemons but they're all still green. any idea when they'll ripen??
ReplyDeleteHi Glenna,
ReplyDeleteI'll let our Horticulturist answer this one!
Jamie?
Glenna, chances are you have a Meyer lemon, which is quite cold hardy in our part of Georgia. This tree will bloom off and on from spring to fall as temperatures allow. Once a flower is pollinated, it typically takes 3 to 4 months to get a ripe fruit (the warmer the temps the faster). Therefore, the first flowers your tree had will become the first "ripe" lemons. In general, however, anytime from Halloween to Easter is when lemons are ripe.
ReplyDeleteLemons keep best when on the tree. Once picked, they don't further ripen. Since lemons aren't citrus that we eat when "sweet" (like oranges or grapefruits), you don't necessarily need to wait until the lemons are fully ripe. Often when the fruits are pale yellow you can use them. Fully ripe lemons are their "sweetest" after exposed to chilly autumn nights and their skins turn deep canary yellow.
-jamie
All kinds of pests have taken over my peas this year! I don't know which are the "good ones" and which ones are eating my peas. Please help! I have seen the following: deep orange/wasp like, green shield shaped, and just brown. Thanks for any help you might can offer.
ReplyDeleteAre you able to take pictures of the pests? It may help us identify them. The shield shape bugs sound like Harlequin or "stink" bugs. They are not good for peas as they tend to bore through the plant leaves. If you live in Chatham County you can call the County Ag agent, Dave Linvill. He can do a home visit, help you identify and possibly treat them. His number is 652-7981. Good luck!
DeleteThe orange wasp like insect sound like either a paper wasp or a velvet ant. Both have painful stings so be careful around those, but again, Call Mr. Linvill, he can help you identify them
DeleteThanks so much for the info on bugs. You were right about the paper wasp and stink bugs. Do the stink bugs make the dark "dot" on the individual peas? Thanks again for the help. This is a great idea!
DeleteYes, typically they bore into the plant to suck out the juices leaving a dark brown or black dot on the surface. There are plenty of pesticides available but if you prefer organic methods, I'm told a 3 to 1 mixture of Dawn dish liquid (3 Dawn, 1 water) works as well, though I've never tried it. Good luck!
DeleteI love Lantana! This perennial of the verbena family tolerates sun, heat, drought and deer. It comes in many colors, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds and blooms all summer into the fall. What's not to love?! Oh yes, lace bug. Lace bugs love to munch the tasty leaves of Lantana leaving them spotted with white or rust colored spots that make up a defined area. For pictures of damage see, http://www.ktrh.com/pages/gardenline-lacebugs.html
ReplyDeleteWhat to do? I prefer organic sprays such as Neem oil but systemic pesticides do work best for this bug. Be sure to spray the leaves top and bottom and check them in a week. It may require a few applications before all the bugs are dead. As always, be safe with those sprays! I Wear latex gloves, protective eyewear and a mask when I spray and ALWAYS follow the manufactures instructions for application. Happy de-bugging!
The first step of good gardening is to make sure your soil is healthy. If you would like to have a soil sample test, go to your nearest Extension office and ask about their testing program. Most charge a nominal fee and will mail you a report and amendment recommendations. See link below for some good advice from Cornell University. Happy digging!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/misc/soilbasics.html
My mandavilla and hibiscus(tropical) that were planted last year, just started blooming again earlier this month. What can I do this fall to get them to a more mature stage earlier in summer?
ReplyDeleteHi Pegi,
ReplyDeleteAre you planning on keeping both these frost-tender plants outdoors in the ground over the winter here in Savannah? We've had two "Zone 9" winters in a row -- potentially giving us all a boost in outdoor tropical plant-rearing confidence.
Ideally, you want to avoid and frost/freeze die-back damage on these plants over the winter here. This will allow both the mandevilla and the tropical hibiscus to immediately start growing again in late March to mid-April as frost danger and things warm up. With earlier new growth, flowering will start much earlier. At least six hours of uninterrupted sunlight, ample moisture (well-drained soil though) and weekly "weak/light" liquid feedings will promote faster and more blooming, especially with the tropical hibiscus.
Although a bit of work, you can ensure no winter damage by digging up your tropical plants, putting them in containers and then overwintering them in the house. Alternatively, you could create an elaborate mulch-and-cover system to put over these outdoor plants from December to March on nights when frost and freezes are anticipated. (I'd opt for the first option!)
I have several crape myrtle & a couple of lorapellum trees that I have trimmed suckers from for about 10 years and they just keep growing back. Is there any way to make it once and for all so that they are truly gone?
ReplyDeleteHi Pegi,
ReplyDeleteSorry but suckers are just a fact of the Crepe Myrtle life. It's very hard to keep them from coming up, especially if they are sprouting from the roots. If they are growing on the trunk, look for a knob at the base of the sucker and cut the knob back to the tree trunk, this will prevent any future growth from that knob but there will be other knobs and suckers that sprout. They'll never be truly gone.
Sorry everyone! I've been busy working on Oktoberfest! We hope you will join us on October 18th for some German food, Bavarian ales and live German style music. Please call to RSVP, $30 per person.
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