The Wordsmith&#39;s Forge

Which kind of raspberries? (I need to learn how to better please some fall bearers; my black raspberries take what they want and my responsibility is to eat and make sure they don't arm bears.

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These are wild black raspberries.

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That's what I've got too. Very tasty come harvest.

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Yes, mine are awesomely flavorful. We also have a few blackberries and oodles of mulberries.

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Man, so much more so than the fall bearer, what few I ate from it.

I had been so hopeful about the neighbor's mulberry but then it turned out to be a white berry one (it is now a stump). Like chalk.

Do you know much about pawpaws? Before planting them it makes sense to know if it's going to be a raccoon food fight.

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Pawpaws are very difficult to transplant. I've tried repeatedly, both potted and bare-root, so far with no success. But I keep trying because they are excellent food for humans and wildlife. Yes, they will attract critters.

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Hmm. It's less the attraction (the raccoons, skunk, groundhog etc are just par for the course.) and more what they will do. But, at least it doesn't sound like the neighborhood will become a pawpaw grove.

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Probably eat the fruit.

I don't know if pawpaws are prone to sucker or seed. I suspect not.

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Considering the suggested germination is in moist sphagnum moss in the fridge for six months, it's probably like walking the maples.

Trust that you're well.

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rix_scaedu

And they say that plants don't move....

(They just don't look for long enough. :-))

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Raspberries are hikers. Wherever the tips touch the ground, you can get a new plant.

Hell, some of the asparagus I planted migrated all over the yard, and they aren't even supposed to do that. I planted the next batch in the place the others wandered to. Those have stayed put.

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What nobody EVER tells beginning gardeners is that asparagus makes seeds like nobody's business and that those seeds come up EASILY!
I'm thinking that your asparagus did exactly that.
:^)

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I know that they make seeds, but the timing was wrong, the original plants disappeared, and new plants appeared elsewhere. But there's wild asparagus all around; if the site was all so friendly to asparagus seeds, I would've expected them to sprout all over. And the place they're in is a place they should like less than where the original patch was, according to conventional botanical science, which is to say not at all a hospitable place for the seeds to sprout.

Meanwhile, I've got a very fey yard full of magicked-up plants. It just seems simpler that they took a hike. Hell, I've seen tree saplings wade around, of species that aren't supposed to do that.

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My degree's in Biology. Plus, I've spent about the last 12-15 years now researching everything I could about growing plants and related topics and this is what I keep coming across:
The "experts" in growing plants are all quick to tell you that they've had plants survive stuff that technically isn't possible while plants that shouldn't possibly have died, did.
Heck, I'm the last person to nix the idea of tree saplings wading around--I have TWO seedling Magnolias here in zone 5. Technically that's not possible but I have NO IDEA what they could possibly be if they aren't Magnolias.
:^)

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>>My degree's in Biology. Plus, I've spent about the last 12-15 years now researching everything I could about growing plants and related topics and this is what I keep coming across:<<

Awesome.

>>The "experts" in growing plants are all quick to tell you that they've had plants survive stuff that technically isn't possible while plants that shouldn't possibly have died, did.<<

LOL yes. I have chocolate mint that survived a winter in a barrel that routinely freezes solid. And then there's Attila the Taragon.

>>Heck, I'm the last person to nix the idea of tree saplings wading around<<

I observe the world and then try to derive likely explanations from it. I have thus seen many things which other people tend to consider impossible. Until it happens to them and they call me in a panic because I'm the only witch or freak they know and can't think of anyone else who might help.

>> --I have TWO seedling Magnolias here in zone 5. Technically that's not possible but I have NO IDEA what they could possibly be if they aren't Magnolias.
:^) <<

Conversely, you may not be Zone 5 anymore, unless you already switched from 4 to 5. Central Illinois used to be Zone 5b and is now 6a. I noticed this before the Arbor Day Foundation changed their map, which happened some years before the USDA admitted enough climate change to adapt theirs. What will grow here is slowly shifting. But I draw the line at the fucking velvet ants. They are not native and I will kill every one I see because they are obnoxious.

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If it helps, just remember that red velvet ants really aren't ants at all. They are actually wasps and they will STING.

Zone 5....I'm very careful about what I plant any more. I've noticed that even though most of the winter is warmer these days, we still get the occasional spike down near -20F. Those spikes, even though they are getting rare, will kill anything that isn't fully old-school zone 5 rated.
:^}

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>>If it helps, just remember that red velvet ants really aren't ants at all. They are actually wasps and they will STING.<<

I know they are wasps. I also know they have a reputation for nasty temper. If they were just pretty ants I would not mind them. But I don't really want an aggressive non-native insect moving in just because the climate is changing. I can cast my vote with a boot or a can of bug spray. Carefully. I am, after all, the Knight in Shining Armor Pest Control Service.

>>Zone 5....I'm very careful about what I plant any more. I've noticed that even though most of the winter is warmer these days, we still get the occasional spike down near -20F. Those spikes, even though they are getting rare, will kill anything that isn't fully old-school zone 5 rated.
:^} <<

Here I've noticed that we get bitter cold spikes that kill Zone 6 plants, and hotter temperatures that kill Zone 5 plants. Some Zone 6 plants seem to tolerate this, however. So I'm trying not to plant things that are borderline, and include at least a zone on either side as a buffer.

Another challenge is that we can get both flooding and drought here. Plenty of plants are tolerant to one, but very few can survive both.

Plus the winds have changed to create narrow wind-walls with a tendency to rip up buildings and snap trees at the base. When it's a sudden hit, there's not enough time to adapt to rising wind and bend with it. >_< So I am trying to shift toward trees resistant to wind or ice damage.

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Speaking of wet soil, I have several different daffodils that seem to really like it WET.
:^}

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Yeah, some of them are rated for riverbank use. We got some, gosh, it's been well over 20 years ago, for my parents' place in the area that floods every spring. Still there, dancing yellow dots at the base of the low hill dividing their yard from the floodplain.

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After reading several anecdotes from professionals on how much "Naked Lady" bulbs like constant moisture, I decided to plant some of mine close to my Japanese Iris.
I have a low wet clay area in my front yard which is a real hog wallow for at least 6 months of the year. My Japanese Iris adore it and so far my Naked Ladies are acting as though they do too.
:^)

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Yay! Blue flags, arrowleaf, and sedges also like wet areas. Jewelweed, which is beautiful and useful, also does but I've never seen it for sale.

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Most of our native American iris species love wet areas.
Jewelweed is said to be good for treating poison ivy. Have you ever heard of this?
:^)

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Yep, that's why I said "useful." Poison ivy, nettles, pretty much any contact-irritation skin problem. It's kind of like aloe vera except for itches instead of burns. You squeeze the goo out of the stems and it's really awesome stuff. Regrettably no one seems to have found a way of preserving jewelweed mucilage. :(

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And people who are allergic to poison ivy have to be careful to avoid it 24/7, 365 days out of the year.
[Even dead poison ivy is dangerous. The fumes from burning poison ivy that's been dead awhile will put people in intensive care.]
:^{

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Yep. Burning poison ivy can kill, if the victim's lung fill up with fluid or are too damaged to function. 0_o Wicked stuff.

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Giant Hogweed is about the only plant I know of that can give Poison Ivy a run for the money where poisonousness is concerned.
:^(

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