Newly purchased plants: leave in pots til spring? SW Houston/9a
javiwa
5 years ago
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Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Yellow, Dead Leaves on Newly planted River Birches
Comments (14)This first sentence is the answer: "If it is really hot, then watering, and spraying the leaves, every day may well be necessary." I'd simply add that you're dealing with transplant shock and that it is very normal under your current conditions for the entire tree to defoliate but to also, come back. It is entirely possible the tree may re-foliate this year even. Or, it may send most of it's energy to the rootball at this time. It's the tree's choice basically. I believe that keeping up on water will keep it alive on both top and bottom. When, or if you notice the buds dying, then expect the birch to sucker and as mentioned above, you'll need to remove any portions that do not re-foliate next spring and select new emerging growth for the style you wish for (clump or single trunk). If you have a cultivar of River Birch, then the new suckers that come up may not be be true to cultivar form but since you did not mention this, I won't assume. And this only applies for grafted trees. Trees produced from cuttings (I'd have to look River Birch propagation up to know for sure) - will produce suckers true to form. Yes, they are produced from cuttings. Dirr and Heuser (2006) confirm this. Dax Dirr, Michael A and Heuser, Charles, Jr. ÂThe Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From Seed to Tissue CultureÂ; (Second Edition 2006); Varsity Press, Inc. ISBN: 0942375092 or ISBN: 13: 978-0-942375-09-1...See MoreY'all also rushing to plant, because Texas spring is short???
Comments (6)Spring may feel short in some areas because the temperatures increase rapidly, but that is all still OK for the plants, so the growing season is actually longer. For example, although plants may not really spring to life that much in February, but it's possible to plant spring veggies in Feb already. And the summer veggies can go until around late Oct or mid-November. Feb is still not an ideal starting time but it's also not that much of snow and ice, either. If you bought a transplant from some big store, it could probably be put outside in late Feb or early March even if it will really start taking off in late March or April....See MoreSeeking a purple perennial for West Houston/9a
Comments (9)Summer phlox (Phlox paniculata) has wonderfully long summer blooms, though don't know if any of the truer purples are Texas hardy. 'Victoria' is, but blooms more magenta pink. Purple coneflowers (Echinacea sp.) are tough summer bloomers. Color can vary a lot from purple by site and/or cultivar. The TexTuf/Grant Verbenas might be worth a try. 'Homestead purple' has not been a reliable performer where placed in our north Texas yard, but can be wonderful where happy. Purple trailing lantana (l. montevidensis) is good if drainage is adequate. Heavy blooms in spring (now) and fall, less during the summer heat in north Texas. We've had mixed luck with Daleas in our clay, but purple prairie clover (D. purpurea) might work in your area - easy to try from seed. 'Katie' dwarf ruellia recently mentioned elsewhere is a tough repeating summer bloomer for us in full afternoon sun adjacent to concrete. Less agressive than the standard varieties....See MoreWhat can grow in zone 8b/9a?
Comments (30)I live in Jacksonville zone 9A, only a few miles southeast of the 8b border. I have an orange tree and a ruby red grapefruit tree that have both survived 9 degree nights (I checked the weather records, the trees are at least 25 years old, so I was able to look up the lowest temps they'd been exposed to.) Most winters we will drop into the mid 20's to upper 20's for at least a week at night, with an occasional drop into the teens that happens once every few years. My neighbor has a tree of a similar age, it is a swingle citrumelo now because the scion froze and only the rootstock survived. The reason why my trees are alive is because they are on their own roots. They are not grafted, someone grew them from a seed. When the tree is ungrafted, unless the earth the roots are in freezes solid, they will come back from the roots even if everything above ground is killed off. I would recommend experimenting with rooted cuttings of anything you'd like. Seeds may be better, I think you'll be more likely to find something that can live on its own, but they will not fruit for 5-10 years, so it depends on your patience. I think just fruits and exotics sells certain types of citrus ungrafted, they sold me a variegated eureka lemon and said those worked better with no rootstock. Many of your plants will die due to the soil conditions on your property. Those that can tolerate your soil should be planted on the south side of your house, and frame protected when young. When they get too big for that, just watering them well before a freeze should save them 95% of the time. The difficult part will be finding something that can grow in your soil with no graft. Once you do, the cold is much less of a problem than for a grafted tree. One warning-- most citrus is dwarfed by the rootstock, my ungrafted grapefruit is 25 feet tall and about 15 feet wide. Think about space considerations and the eventual spread of the canopy and roots when planting close to your house, as citrus roots can be invasive....See Morejaviwa
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5 years agoIris S (SC, Zone 7b)
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