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Nicest Rose
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Aster plants will grow well in average soils. But, like all plants, they will reward your with bigger blooms and a healthier plant if you add plenty of compost. Also, add a general purpose fertilizer once a month.
Once your Aster are established, they should grow well for years. Soil should be moist, but not wet. They will withstand dry periods. Water them during dry periods, once or twice per week to keep growth vibrant. Add mulch around the plants for appearance and to keep weeds down. Around mid to late summer, your plants will begin to produce flowers and will continue to do so until frost. You do not need to remove dead flower blooms, except to improve plant appearance. For giant varieties, trim back any stalks that have become gangly in appearance. Lilies
Lilies will bring beauty, color and fragrance to your garden for many years; they only require you to plant them in the right place and provide for their simple needs. Choose a well-drained location with at least half a day of sunshine. If it’s too shady, the stems will stretch and lean towards the sun; trumpet lilies are the most shade sensitive. Lilies love full sun, as long as the bulbs are deep enough to keep cool when temperatures soar. They also enjoy a mulch.
Look for a spot that is the first to dry out after rain. Lilies can be bothered by botrytis, a fungus that spots the leaves in prolonged cool, wet weather. This should not be a problem in the home garden if you provide for good air circulation and space the plants so that leaves can dry out easily after rain. If you do see brown spots on the leaves, use any fungicide recommended for roses. The flowering times listed in our catalog are typical for western Oregon and Washington, so “mid-June” can be translated into “when the roses begin to flower” for your area. Our bulbs are mature flowering size, grown for at least two years in our own fields. The “ideal” bulb size varies with the type and variety of lily. Many lily species and species-like Asiatics grow tall stems with many flowers from small bulbs; larger bulbs of these types are less adaptable to transplanting and “settling in.” Trumpets typically produce larger but readily transplantable bulbs. Orientals vary depending upon their ancestry. We ship only flowering size bulbs, the size we would select for our own garden. When you receive your lily bulbs, they are ready to plant and ready to GROW! In mild climates, they can be planted anytime the ground is not frozen solid and is dry enough to dig a hole without making clods. Fall and early winter planting produce stems that flower at the "expected" time; planting late in the spring will produce later flowering stems, which may be a little shorter than usual if hot weather comes quickly. The following winter will reset the lilies' "clocks" and put them on "standard blooming time" again. The flowering times listed in our catalog are typical for western Oregon and Washington. Translate "mid-June" into "when the roses begin to flower" to provide a frame of reference for flowering time in your own area. The sooner you plant your bulbs, the better they will grow and perform. If you cannot plant them right away, store them where they will stay COOL but not frozen-- above 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Your garage or refrigerator will be fine for temporary storage. Keep the bulbs in the dark if you can, for exposure to light will make them sprout quickly, and once they begin to show sprouts, they need to be planted. |