Monday, April 25, 2005
Garden supplies at wholesale prices
It is sometimes difficult to find the large quantities of fertilizers and chemicals needed by those of us who have lots of daylilies and other perennials to take care of. A very good source for bulk quantities of such things is Griffin Greenhouse and Nursery Supplies. Two locations in New Jersey exist: Ewing NJ (609) 530-9120 in the Princeton area and Bridgeton (856) 451-5170. Directions to both locations can be found at http://www.griffins.com.
We bought a 50# bag of Osmocote for $67, 8# of Deadline MP (enougth slug bait for 300 daylilies and 100 hostas for a whole season) for $21 and a huge bale of ProMix potting soil for $20. They also sell all kinds of insecticides, miticides, fungicides, plastic pots, etc. at wholesale prices.
Happy Gardening - Dick
We bought a 50# bag of Osmocote for $67, 8# of Deadline MP (enougth slug bait for 300 daylilies and 100 hostas for a whole season) for $21 and a huge bale of ProMix potting soil for $20. They also sell all kinds of insecticides, miticides, fungicides, plastic pots, etc. at wholesale prices.
Happy Gardening - Dick
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Josephine is a beautiful double clematis, one that establishes quickly, grows to a height of 10ft and is covered by slowly opening flowers for a period of a month or so. This is the most beautiful vine in our garden. 
Clematis Josephine - Well worth adding to your garden
Get slugs early
It is really important to deal with slug problems early, before they multiply and destroy foliage. There are a number of good ways to deal with these critters. Slug pellets are probably the easiest way to attract and kill slugs. The pellets can be best spread with a hand rotary spreader, but hand spreading is easy too. Two pellet types I can recommend are Sluggo and Deadline MP ( both about $30 for a 5# bag). Deadline MP contains a toxic chemical, methaldehyde, so be sure to not use it if you have pets that wander around in your yard and use gloves to work with it. Deadline kills slugs that are attracted to it and eat it. Sluggo is environmentally safe and just as effective. It contains iron phosphate which interferes with the slug's ability to eat. It literally causes them to starve to death. Iron phosphate disappears into the soil after about two weeks. Use both sparcely and a 5# bag will last most of the season.
On warm moist evenings slugs can be seen feeding on foliage. A dilute solution of household ammonia diluted one part ammonia to four parts of water can be misted on them with a hand sprayer. The ammonia is taken into the leaves of the daylily and acts like a fertilizer, but the slug shrivels up and dies.
Any kind of stepping stone in the garden is a good place to look for slugs once the sun comes up. Take you ammonia bottle with you when you inspect your garden and bust a few slugs along the way.
Slugs are hermaphrodites, two sexes in the same animal, so it doesn't take two to tango. An infestation can develop quickly if not addressed at the first sign of a problem.
Look for tell-tale slime tracks and small bubbles around the axils of plants and spray ammonia directly on these spots. In the beginning a single plant can be the starting point for a BIG problem.
On warm moist evenings slugs can be seen feeding on foliage. A dilute solution of household ammonia diluted one part ammonia to four parts of water can be misted on them with a hand sprayer. The ammonia is taken into the leaves of the daylily and acts like a fertilizer, but the slug shrivels up and dies.
Any kind of stepping stone in the garden is a good place to look for slugs once the sun comes up. Take you ammonia bottle with you when you inspect your garden and bust a few slugs along the way.
Slugs are hermaphrodites, two sexes in the same animal, so it doesn't take two to tango. An infestation can develop quickly if not addressed at the first sign of a problem.
Look for tell-tale slime tracks and small bubbles around the axils of plants and spray ammonia directly on these spots. In the beginning a single plant can be the starting point for a BIG problem.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
ToDaylily- Blog of New Jersey Daylily Fanatics
This is the first sample entry in the Garden State Daylily Growers' Club blog. See our website at www.gsdaylily.org for more information on growing daylilies, club meetings in Central New Jersey, and photos of some daylilies our members grow. Latest info on activities and more members' photos will be posted here as we get them.
