GARDENING

Though I once did landscaping for a living, I copied this from a web site so don't think I'm an expert.

Lantern Trees require a lime-free soil in a sheltered location with partial shade. The best soil for them is moist, cool, sandy peat. When grown in a cool greenhouse, they will flower when only a few feet high. They need a minimum winter temperature of 40º F. Every March, these plants should be repotted into slightly larger pots. It is important to firm the compost well and shade them from strong sunlight. After they've been repotted, the foliage should be sprayed often and the atmosphere should be humid. The greenhouse should have adequate ventilation at all times except in very frosty weather. Keep the compost moist throughout the year, though much more should be provided in the summer.

NickFun.
Many thanks for quick reply. We have plenty of Ericaceous compost will this do?

For years I've been cosmetically pruning and trimming a scots pine which I had set in the backyard as a potted Christmas tree in 1980. I began taking pictures in 2002 to chronicle its development over time,once per year. Although I do the trimming in the spring, the photos were taken after new growth is completed, with the exception of my first photograph of 2002.

This is how the tree looks now:(click photo for expanded view)

Last year:

In 2003:
In 2002:

August is the time for setting out iris divisions. these were set out Monday immediately after receiving from the postman at the door.



they show about the same amount of transplant stress as ones moved from elsewhere in the yard. There are four different cultivars here ; each plant's name is marked on a popsicle stick.

Patricia Holland, re the Topic question, I found this link, which you may have already seen - that may be useful re a preference for acid soil.

I've seen the tree once, that I know of, in an arboretum -and am wholly ignorant about it personally. I have a faint memory that I liked it.

http://www.suncrestnurseries.com/descriptgeo/crinodendron.html

By the way, welcome to a2k.

Perhaps if you want your question to be answered relatively specifically, you might change the title - you can edit that by clicking on edit on your first post - and mention Crinodendron in the title. It might not be answered right away by someone who knows but it is likelier to be noticed by someone who is familiar with the plant if the title gets closer to the question.

The location shown in my post is temporary, a nursing bed,if you may, so as to let the plants grow to dividing size first before transplanting them to their planned locations. The blue and the violet/purple will go to a new bed set aside for them,and the yellow will go to a planned border around the central green panel shown here:
(click for larger image & click the compressed image for a fullscreen-sized one)

I've finished setting out the last lilac plant to complete the lilac hedge feature
of the back garden.

Now this entailed the relocation of some lilies which were set in that same spot years ago.



Two bulbs set out about six years ago had grown into two clumps.




From those two clumps came eight blooming sized bulbs,
which I set out in two separate locations into the border away from the fence.




There's always space in the garden for lilies. This particular lily is L. martagon alba.

Similarly,primulas can be divided to provide plants to fill in small spaces where
it would be impractical to place larger sized perennials. Here, I want to lift and divide the lellow one:



It was set out about three years ago, and has reached dividing size:



I lifted and divided it in mid-June.





Here is how the divisions looked at the end of July:



Today they have been mulched over and will winter over nicely.

The garden out back as of today ---it looks like snow coming soon--- very dark overcast all day.
I set out my mailorder pink hybrid peony on the other side of that small lilac and began work on an iris border ( the dark places on both sides of the small lilac bush ).
A doubled pink peony is to the right of it, under a layer of compost topdressing.

My twenty-six years old Cristmas cactus , Old Timer, is now in bloom again. It gets rainwater which I have stored in barrels in the garage, and is given fish emulsion fertilizer once a year.

26 years old? Serious...

WOW!

Click the photo for a closer look.

Old Timer started out as a rooted cutting in the autumn of 1979; I suppose one could subtract the two original segments as a two-year head start, which would then make it 24. Anyway, it's been in the house for twenty six years, and I like to think of it as being that old. Its first four years were spent in a 4" plastic pot; it's been in the clay pot shown ever since.

It's been outdoors in a shady spot since May and taken indoors week before last, when we got a frost warning. I brought it out yesterday afternoon to pose it for the pic.

Now is the time to start some perennials for spring. This year it'll be Willowleaf Gentians
Gentiana asclepiadea.


Plastic pastry cartons you can get at the supermarket work fine for me. Pay about 3.50
and three or four danishes come with it.

Add an ich or inch and a half of vermiculite and dampen with around half cup of
water.


Scratch furrows and sprinkle the seeds into them.


Tamp down the seeds in the furrows with a wood pencil or something similar.

Snap the cover shut and place in a cold place.

Here I've placed the carton outside against the side of the house
for about three days and will bring into the garage and place on a window sill.
After a few days there it'll be placed on a sunny window sill in the basement.

It's pruning time again,and all this lovely tree needs is the removal of the past season's growth, avoiding removal of flower buds.


This tree's about the tallest, at about fifteen feet high, that one should try to do himself. This can be done safely, with the aid of a stepladder, with a lightweight telescoping pruner that extends to give a working length of thirteen feet,sufficient to reach to the top center. The angle of the cutting head can be adjusted to enable me to trim off perpendicular growth

With annual trimming and selective pruning, a showy display of blossoms can be maintained.

The photo above links you to a screensized picture that makes a lovely desktop wallpaper to brighten your morning.

.... In addition to maintaining my chokecherry's compact size, its autumn foliage color is enhanced by regular pruning. Click on photo:





nn

Two months later, the gentian seeds show promise:

This year I'll continue where I left off on the yellow iris border. A peony had to be trimmed back from its right - of - way.

Took advantage of a mild spell to lightly trim the apple tree out back. Nipping back a little off the top was all that I did for this year.