Sally in NC
09-04-2001, 12:28 PM
Hi Ann,
I have a trick I have used for years when transplanting, dividing, or putting out new babies in our hot droughty, muggy climate.......
Someone was speaking of shade cloth & its uses.....I take old umbrellas....strip off the fabric & replace it with shade cloth. I secure the shade cloth with duct tape or a colorful alternative and pull off the handle leaving the metal stem.......then when I plant somethingout in our blazing sun.....I simply stick the umbrella into the ground to shade the plant until it is ready to take the heat on its own.....usually 2 or 3 weeks.....you can water right over it & then fold the umbrella & tuck it away for another day.......it has cut my transplanting losses to practically nothing.
By the way....thanks for the help on azaleas, my dead azalea WAS the victim of dieback, but I got there too late.....the babies I stuck from it are doing well, though, so it will live on....it was, indeed, one of those miniature hybrids with an almost blue flower....but not a florists azalea.......I have many azaleas & they must all survive with very little help.......our well is going dry & our ability to water is almost non-existant......we just went through the whole month of August with not one drop of rain...but....most flourish anyway. I have some huge Indicas dating back 25 years that have never been watered and never failed to bloom, (even after some of our notorious late frosts) & are the light of our woodland garden.
Sally in NC
M
I have a trick I have used for years when transplanting, dividing, or putting out new babies in our hot droughty, muggy climate.......
Someone was speaking of shade cloth & its uses.....I take old umbrellas....strip off the fabric & replace it with shade cloth. I secure the shade cloth with duct tape or a colorful alternative and pull off the handle leaving the metal stem.......then when I plant somethingout in our blazing sun.....I simply stick the umbrella into the ground to shade the plant until it is ready to take the heat on its own.....usually 2 or 3 weeks.....you can water right over it & then fold the umbrella & tuck it away for another day.......it has cut my transplanting losses to practically nothing.
By the way....thanks for the help on azaleas, my dead azalea WAS the victim of dieback, but I got there too late.....the babies I stuck from it are doing well, though, so it will live on....it was, indeed, one of those miniature hybrids with an almost blue flower....but not a florists azalea.......I have many azaleas & they must all survive with very little help.......our well is going dry & our ability to water is almost non-existant......we just went through the whole month of August with not one drop of rain...but....most flourish anyway. I have some huge Indicas dating back 25 years that have never been watered and never failed to bloom, (even after some of our notorious late frosts) & are the light of our woodland garden.
Sally in NC
M