Your All Things Plants weekly news
August 23, 2014

This Week's Gardening Ideas:

Vine Weevil, Part Two:  Saving the Plants -- Nil Desperandum

By Cantillon
August 23, 2014
Vine Weevil, Part Two: Saving the Plants -- Nil Desperandum

The weevil larvae may have destroyed your plants, but really you are looking at a handful of fresh new seedlings and not the detritus of a former favourite plant. Seize the opportunity to split and grow on. Enjoy the problem and take a positive attitude toward the challenge. (1,637 words - Read the full article)

The Potager Garden

By SongofJoy
August 22, 2014
The Potager Garden

The delightful potager garden has its origin in Europe, specifically in France. Over the centuries, many inventive European gardeners have left their stamp on this style of gardening. (298 words - Read the full article)

ATP Podcast #69: Overwintering Tropical Shrubs

By dave
August 21, 2014
ATP Podcast #69: Overwintering Tropical Shrubs

In this week's episode we will talk about our favorite non-hardy tropical shrubs, along with why we like them and why we think they are worth the trouble to over-winter. We'll then discuss the strategies we employ to keep these worthy plants alive during the winter!

The Top Brugmansias

By dave
August 20, 2014
The Top Brugmansias

Another top plants list! These are so much fun. Which are the most popular brugmansias in our database? Let's have a look! (602 words - Read the full article)

Plumeria - the Underrated Species

By Dutchlady1
August 19, 2014
Plumeria - the Underrated Species

It is almost irresistible to wallow in the beauty of the many cultivars of Plumeria rubra. The colors, sizes, and shapes of the blooms vary enormously and make it very tempting to try to collect them "all" (ask me how I know!) There are a number of Plumeria species that are underrated, however, and yet they have so much to offer. (285 words - Read the full article)

Easy Propagation of Your Hoya, Wax Plant

By Toni
August 18, 2014
Easy Propagation of Your Hoya, Wax Plant

The wax plant is one of my favorite houseplants. I recently broke my leg, which forced me to focus on indoor gardening for a while. As I was sitting here mending, I noticed that my sweet 16-year-old Hoya carnosa is blooming. What joy that has given me. Oh, it has bloomed each year for many years now, but I guess I had semi-ignored it as my heart lies in the outdoor garden. Running out of things to do while sitting on the couch, I decided to do some research on my beautiful Hoya. (197 words - Read the full article)

The Top 25 Plumerias

By dave
August 17, 2014
The Top 25 Plumerias

It's Tropical Trees and Shrubs week, so let's take a peek at plumerias and see which are the most popular at ATP! (1,139 words - Read the full article)

The most popular images last week from our plant database:

Photo of Zinnia (Zinnia) by jon:
Image from plant ID 79615

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Mama Sophia') by spunky1:
Image from plant ID 235894

Photo of Tropical Water Lily (Nymphaea 'Tina') by Dinu:
Image from plant ID 78019

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Banded Beauty') by tgarden711:
Image from plant ID 540369

Photo of Voodoo Plant (Amorphophallus atroviridis) by eclayne:
Image from plant ID 455208

Photo of Coneflower (Echinacea 'Flamenco Orange') by clintbrown:
Image from plant ID 660371

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week:

Multi-plant photo by clintbrown:
Image by clintbrown

Multi-plant photo by skylark:
Image by skylark

Multi-plant photo by 4susiesjoy:
Image by 4susiesjoy

Multi-plant photo by Paul2032:
Image by Paul2032

Multi-plant photo by Paul2032:
Image by Paul2032

Multi-plant photo by clintbrown:
Image by clintbrown

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:
4 people gave for post #682218 in "pictures of parent plants and offspring" by daylily

4 people gave for the idea "The Flamboyant 'Flamboyant'" by Dutchlady1

4 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #1901 by skylark

3 people gave for post #680138 in "central Illinois ditch wilds" by jmorth

3 people gave for the idea "Plumeria - the Underrated Species" by Dutchlady1

2 people gave for a photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Linden Fantasy') by Gleni

2 people gave for post #681496 in "Plant Usages Categories" by eclayne

2 people gave for the idea "Easy Propagation of Your Hoya, Wax Plant" by Toni

2 people gave for post #684739 in "Be careful where you buy plants" by mellielong

2 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #1928 by clintbrown

The most active threads this week:
Subject OP Area Replies
May I suggest - acorns for comments? dyzzypyxxy Site Talk forum 52
Iris aholics definition of final tveguy3 Irises forum 50
New home and new gardens! Mike Roses forum 38
Crape or Crape for good old Myrtle? greene All Things Gardening forum 35
Speaking of accurate IDs... kylaluaz All Things Gardening forum 25
Bonus acorns for comments, and a contest by zuzu!! dave Plant Database forum 24
Crocodilians (Lucifer's tongue) Ghd606 Ask a Question forum 24
Watering containers using capillary mats skylark Containers forum 23
I think I got a nice buy @ Lowes yesterday coldlime Daylilies forum 21

Some new reviews from the ATP Green Pages:
plantladylin recommended Shady Rest Gardens and wrote:

Last week I placed an order for daylilies from Shady Rest Gardens through a classified ad here on All Things Plants. My package arrived today and I am so pleased with the size and health of the plants. All were labeled, packing was exemplary, and shipping was quick. There was great communication regarding my order. I truly appreciate the A+ customer service and will definitely order from Shady Rest Gardens again in the future.

OldGardener recommended Gardens Oy Vey and wrote:

Absolutely a delightful nursery!! They sent me some of the best plants that I have ever received by far. For instance, I ordered the same type of Acorus from both here and another vendor. Although Gardens Oy Vey charged $4 more, the plant that they sent was at least 20 times larger than from the other seller -- and I am not exaggerating at all! The root masses on all of the cultivars were massive and Diane was also extremely generous with the bonuses. I had one order that was misdelivered by UPS. By the time we located it, it had baked in the summertime sun for the entire day. I followed OyVey's directions and soaked the plants thoroughly prior to potting out and they all bounced back. I atttribute much of this to the initial health of the plants and to the expert packaging. GardensOyVey is truly one of those rare 10 star companies.

OldGardener recommended Romence Gardens & Greenhouses and wrote:

I ordered about a dozen water-garden plants from Romence about 2 years ago. They let me know within just a few hours that they were unable to ship 2 of them but could ship them in the autumn if I cared to re-order then. I was very pleased with the quality of the other plants that I received and also very impressed by the customer service. All of the plants were larger than I expected and healthy as can be. I would definitely order from Romence Gardens again.

OldGardener recommended Smart Seeds (smartseedstore.com) and wrote:

They carry many hard-to-locate seeds and couple this with quick shipping and great customer service. I placed an order back in 2012 on 7/3 and had it by 7/7. All of the seed appeared to be good and the germination rates were definitely in the high range. Smart Seeds even sent an "extra" as a gift. A very interesting store -- it is worth checking out.

OldGardener recommended Exline Iris Garden & Crafts and wrote:

I ordered irises from Exline in the late summer of 2012. Jim does not charge anything for shipping or handling, so the catalog prices are the total of what you pay. All of the bearded irises were of good quality and he also sent a bonus plant. Jim Exline does ask that you verify that the iris you are interested in is available by contacting him prior to placing your order. As he replied to my email within hours, this worked fine for me. He provides many difficult-to-find irises at exceptional prices and he ships immediately (2 days from the time I ordered to delivery). His customer service is fantastic, too. I definitely recommend him.

We keep growing, because ATP is where all the excitement is these days! Check out these numbers from last week: