Many of the roses and fruit trees sold from Wayside Gardens are grafted plants. Grafted plants are simply your desired plants grown on top of a hardy rootstock. The top part of the plant, the part that matters, is called the scion. The scion bears all of the fruit, flowers, or foliage that we want.
Grafted plants are beneficial because they serve to increase variety, improve quality, and reduce prices. The extra hardy rootstock ensures survival for plants in zones that would normally be way too cold, allowing you to grow plants which would otherwise be off-limits. When a fruit tree is grafted to a mature rootstock allows fruit production much sooner than if you had to wait for the original roots to mature. You also know exactly what you are getting. Your plant has been cloned and will be exactly what you wanted. Clonal reproduction is also much quicker than growing from seed, making it more cost-effective.
Plants are grafted onto very similar plants, usually the of same genus. Most of Wayside Gardens’ grafted roses are grafted onto ‘Dr. Huey’, a hardy old rose with flat blooms that are deep crimson with a golden center. You will see them often at old home sites where the scions have long died off, and the Dr. Huey rootstock has flourished. The Wayside Gardens fruit trees are often grafted onto strong, wild versions of themselves. For example, there is pear rootstock, which, left to it’s own devices, would grow tangled branches with nasty thorns. Make sure you trim back the growth from your rootstock if you don’t want it to take over. Sometimes, in a case where the delicate scion cannot take the extremes and dies back, the rootstock may take over completely. Make sure you pamper your young grafted plant until it gets established.
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While probing for ideas that might add a little intrigue to the pitifully uninspiring flora of my backyard, I was told by a friend to check out bog gardens. My first thought was of a marsh or swamp, something more appropriate for a wildlife preserve or ghost story than my simple little yard. However, trusting my source, I dove, head-first into that murky swamp of information, the all-knowing internet.
Apparently, if you have a low spot in your yard that never completely dries and you plant some elephant ears there, you have not created a bog garden as some of the sources I found would lead you to believe. It is a clever way to turn a problem into an asset, but not a bog garden. A bog is actually a type of wetland formed from a deposit of dead plant matter, most commonly some type of moss or lichen. Its moisture comes almost completely from precipitation and tends to be slightly acidic. An exotic environment for exotic plants- It’s exactly what I was looking for.
I also found that recreating this environment on the small scale is not very difficult; some people even create indoor bog gardens in terrariums, which would be a perfect way to display those bog-loving carnivorous plants and make an excellent conversation piece. I just needed a place that will hold moisture and that I could fill with peat. I had the perfect place, that gross little pond insert that I installed two seasons ago, or as I like to call it, my “mosquito nursery”. I just cleaned that out and poked a few holes in the bottom for drainage- lined the bottom with coarse sand and filled it with moistened peat. The moss maintains the acidity and I use a soaker hose to keep my bog damp. I planted an Iris, this very interesting Juncus Effusus Unicorn, and two Pine Hibiscuses. Situated in the center of my garden, accented with two lawn gnomes and a pink flamingo, my bog has definitely added spice to my back yard.
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What’s the most common mistake folks make? Pruning in fall. You might think it would be safe, because these shrubs bloom in late spring, but they set their new buds right about now, and if you lop them off, you’ll get nothing next spring. Most horticulturalists will tell you the cutoff date is July 31; in warm climates you can push it a bit, but absolutely not into September.
That said, sometimes any plant needs an emergency trim. You should never hesitate to prune your azalea or rhododendron — or anything else, come to it — if you see dead or infected wood. Cut well below the damaged part and get the branch out of the garden pronto. If you keep a stack of garden debris for burning, all the better. Just don’t put it on the compost heap, or the disease might spread to your new soil.
Now, many an azalea and rhodie have gone their whole lives without ever being pruned, and this is just fine. They don’t need it to stimulate bud production, and most are pretty nicely shaped just as they are. But sometimes they outgrow their spot and you don’t want to move them. Other times you have to move them, in which case you should do a root prune if you possibly can. More about that in a sec.
Here are some general guidelines for pruning these shrubs:
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Are these Orchids okay to plant in the garden?
No. They are for indoor use, in containers.
Are they annuals?
No. They are long-lived, but because they’re houseplants, the hardiness zones don’t apply. The ones we’re shipping are all at least 2 years old, and they have many, many productive years ahead of them.
Do I need grow lights?
Nope! Just a bathroom with a window. Of course, if you have plant lights, they like those too, but there’s no need for them.
Do I need to mist the leaves?
No. Resist the temptation, because if the crown of the plant stays wet for too long, it will rot.
Do they need high temperatures?
No. (Hey, my answer for everything is “no” today!) Room temperature is fine, and even a little cooler in fall to stimulate the growth of flower buds.
Why the bathroom?
The combination of diffuse light (most of us don’t have big sunny windows over the commode) and periods of intense humidity from taking showers and baths is similar to these Orchids’ native climate, and they love it.
What is the parentage of these Wayside Kisses?
Every Wayside Kiss Orchid will come with two tags — one our usual kind, with the name and growth info, the other from the grower. The grower tag has code on it that contains the parentage of the plant. If a customer is interested in finding out exactly how their Wayside Kiss was bred, we can send them to the grower to decode their tag.
What should I do after the plant blooms?
Let the flowers drop and leave the plant be. It will continue to grow and prepare for another cycle of bloom next year. But don’t think you’re going to go months without flowers — these blooms you’ll be getting in a couple of weeks can last for months!
What is this bump on the stem of my plant?
That’s the flower bud. Leave it alone and it will open, probably within a week or so. These Orchids are ready to pop!
Can I take my Orchid to the office or the hospital?
Not sure on this one, but my inclination is to say no. I don’t think they’ll mind the fluorescents so much as the heavily conditioned air. You might try it with a dish of moistened pebbles under the pot, but I’d be inclined to say keep them at home.
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So, what’s up with your butterfly bush? I wish I could tell you that it’s playing possum, and if it were a Daphne, that might just be true. But this is probably a case of, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
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