Pikes Family Nursery - A Good Alternative

The company had been mentioned several times at Dave's Garden so I investigated more by making two visits. One in Cumming and the other in Woodstock, Georgia about two weeks ago. After all I'm finding it's getting boring seeing the same old thing at Lowes and Home Depot.

Great landscaping out front! Only if I had a pic of the right side front entrance that was loaded with Angelonia.

Anyway some things the other places don't carry that I found interesting.

• Lysimachia golden globes - similar to creeping Jenny but with yellow flowers in mid summer.
• White star creeper
• Snow in summer 
• Duranta Aurea

Getting late into the season. Not as many small annuals are around, but I managed to get sucked into some actual house plants. No, they won't be going into the house! The looked unique so I thought why not, but I didn't really know what I was buying.

Some names...

• Alternanthera Dentata
• Acalypha - Tiki Peach Whirl
• Rex Begonia
• Swedish Ivy

Pikes is a great alternative but only one drawback; good descriptions of plants are lacking. Sure I could have pulled out that Iphone and handled  some internet searches but it's so damned slow. I don't understand the popularity really. Prices a bit higher or on par with the big box stores in the items I was looking at. Plenty of selection and a vast indoor area (not shown) for other accessories, soil etc.

Here are some previews of what's been going on around here. Naturally the Impatiens are thriving like crazy..

...and so is the creeping Jenny. So much that it can be found in about six locations now. Hey the lawn is actually hanging in there too. Overall, great differences from this time last year.

Coleus Update

Yessir, those ugly ducklings. Or at least that was my view two years ago. Growing from seed takes forever by the most recent results. I did transfer a few into larger containers (below) but I don't see how that's going to make any difference. The roots aren't any longer than one inch if that.

So, rather than wait until the first frost to see what they really look like, I've picked a few here and there from local garden centers and rooted them. These were done about six weeks ago. Probably only three inches high and 3-4 leaves then...doing well in about four hours afternoon sun...hot too, but they grow better than being in the shade. Ten inches high or thereabouts but bushing out.

Looking at other offspring from the same mother plant these were just planted out after spending the same amount of time in deep shade. One (rear) was actually rooting in another location that had high shade. Quite a difference in color and size.

More from the garden shops. Cost? About 50 cents each when considering the cost of the momma plant. Multiplied several times over year after year, the cost will be pennies. I plan to take samples of all to Florida this winter and root for speedier growing next spring.

Multiplying Plants Through Rooting

Considering the local Lowes doesn't get what I want these days; namely different colored annuals I thought I'd try my hand at propagating through rooting. Easy peasy the message boards say. Yea, some are some are not. Easy ones Impatiens and Coleus. Tough ones or ones I haven't figured yet include Vinca and Angelonia (that happen to go grow extremely well here)

So here's the progress..

One reason for doing so many Impatiens is I'd like to have this place flush with color come this fall. I mean everywhere. So far approximately 150 plants rooted. All seem to be working well. And I always wanted to try New Guinea Impatiens but didn't want to pay the steep price. So I found two plants discounted at WalMart and managed to get 26 rooted.. They're doing well too.

Not so successful is an attempt at a climbing hydrangea first rooted May 26. Three tried and three failed. Oh well, the first attempt. I know what I did wrong and plenty of time to get some good plants by winter. Give it 4-5 years and I'll have several climbing on the trees around here. Never did get around to pics but this is the second try. They have their own private greenhouse in the woods.

 
Reference to procedure

Fairly easy to get things rolling around here where there's moisture. I have several very dry areas that are troublesome. Remember the Oxalis from last spring? Only a few came back. What an expensive failure. I've been meaning to see if the "corns" or seeds are still in the ground and try another location.