Crop 321 December Issue of Flowering Shrub Farm Monthly All Picture Newsletters; January February March April May 1 to 15 May 16 to 31 June 1 to 7 June 8 to 14 June 15 to 21 June 22 to 30 July August September October November December We propagate and grow for mail-order many hard to obtain roses, lilacs, blueberry bushes, rhododendrons or azaleas and report how we are doing to potential customers via these monthly newsletters (larger plants are usually available for pickup during our plant sale). Click on the picture and it may open a larger version with more detail. Reload this page in case your computer has it cached. 09:07
decembercoldframesmall.jpg, december2012signsmall.jpg
For the three months October, November and December we are preparing for winter and putting plants away pot in pot or in coldframes. The newsletter I am working on this month is at www.floweringshrubfarm.com/garden.htm and includes a link to "what we do and when we do it". The pictures below with comments I am rewriting this month are probably from previous years unless they have been recently over-written.
decembercoldframesmall.jpg, decemberreddoorsmall.jpg
One gallon roses and lilacs that we may sell next summer mail order are stored for the winter in cold frames covered with white plastic. Each individual 4x8 foot box with a hinged top can be used as a cold frame in winter when covered with white plastic or a table in summer with the plastic removed (we open the boxes in winter to inspect the condition of the poison baits that prevent mice from damaging the plants). Beyond the red door is our potting bench
drip line and cold box
Roses from drip line are now inside the cold box # 2 for the winter (so they wont be eaten by rabits, deer and mice) and lilacs that flowered last spring are on drip line. In March many of these Lilacs will be cut back and divided into one or 3 gallon pots so they may be more easily sold mail order. Curt usually shows up once a week and I take pictures of him doing the jobs I would be doing if I could still walk steady and my hands didn't shake so badly (so I take pictures, pot plants and tell everyone else what to do).
front and red door
We pot plants in the potting shed beyond the red door and stick cuttings in the propagation box just outside (I can pass cuttings I have stuck through the sliding windows and place them in the propagation box under mist in July, August and September).
On the left are lilacs that flowered last spring and have been placed on the drip lines where we previously had roses that are now in the cold box. In March some lilacs that have been clearly labeled will be cut back or divided. On the right is a picture of cold box #1 inside the cold frame.
january dripline, january espalier apple
Drip line in upper field after roses have been put in cold boxes for the winter.
Check my instock page to see more of these 4'x4' sections of cold box #2 shown on the left. On the right is a picture of the hybrid rugosa 'Schneekopp' planted next to the drip line.
Closed up cold box 1
december coldbox 12, december coldbox 13
cuttings complicata, cuttings ispahan
no price sticker yet and the 16 shows the cuttings were first planted in a one gallon 2016 and we usually dont sell them for a couple years.
cuttings roseraie de l'hay, cuttings henry hudson
Took a walk in back field with Don and took these pictures. Henry Hudson and Roseraie de l'Hay in ground that we will use to take cuttings from.
decemberaddpoisonsmall.jpg, decemberpoisonsmall.jpg
Picture on the right should show the poison baits we are using this year . The cold boxes have hardware cloth underneath and white plastic on top but if there is a way inside mice will discover it.
decembercoldboxclosingsmall.jpg, wenonahsmall.jpg
Closing coldframe after adding poison so rain and snow wont disolve baits and to keep everyone out because we dont want to have a bunch of bodies to dispose of come spring the poison is just insurance. A picture of the front porch will be over-written with a picture of the plant wenonah wants then be over-written again each month until I sell it (if I do).
decemberdriplinesmall.jpg, decemberpotinpotsmall.jpg
7 gallon roses that we use as a source of cuttings in summer go from the drip line (where there is lots of sunlight and its easy to water them) to pot-in-pot (where there is more shade and their roots are surrounded with mulch). Go to this link to see pictures of roses potinpot and on drip line throughout the year with comments.
decembermulchbigrosessmall.jpg, decembermulchingbigrosessmall.jpg
Roses in 7 gallon pots used as a source of cuttings in summer are placed pot in pot with their roots surrounded by mulch for the winter. For additional pictures and comments go to mulching.
decemberthebarnsmall.jpg, decemberpottingshedsmall.jpg
December 1 through 27 below. Click for a larger image that can be studied more closely or saved as wallpaper.
december17small.jpg, december18small.jpg
december17 is the cold box with one lid open, december18 is pot in pot where we store big roses in winter.
december19small.jpg, december20small.jpg
december21small.jpg, december22small.jpg
december23small.jpg, december24small.jpg
december25small.jpg, december26small.jpg
december27small.jpg
decemberpottingshedsmall.jpg, decembercoldframesmall.jpg
This winter we will strip the potting shed interior and rebuild the mist propagation bench here. All the roses have been put away in the cold boxes that we use as tables in summer.
decembermulchingbigrosessmall.jpg, decembermulchingrosessmall.jpg
We are mulching around the pots of roses in 7 gallon pots that we take cuttings from in summer. Plants that are hardy to 20 below 0 have roots that are only hardy to around 20 above zero so they need to have their roots mulched if not in the ground. Cuttings in small pots can be left on a bench that has bottom heat with the thermostat set at 35 degrees.
decembermulchshovelingsmall.jpg, decemberblueberrysmall.jpg
Azaleas and Rhododendrons will be started from seed in January and February (watch for pictures).
Saw that there had been several hits on my blueberry pages so I went and took pictures of blueberry bushes in 3 gallon pots.
These 4 pictures are currently at the top of my home page at www.floweringshrubfarm.com and include a picture of lilacs flowering in the field, Lilacs by mail that I over-write frequently as they are sold, Roses by mail that I will over-write in June when they are flowering or later to show plants that may be for sale with price stickers attached (as we put them into winter storage it may show plants that are not for sale yet with no price stickers). Having them at the top of the home page should make it easier to click them for a larger image that can be studied more closely.
Wenonah of Washington state:
emailed me because she wants krasavitsa moskvy Lilacs that we had last fall according to the lilacs by mail picture go to
www.floweringshrubfarm.com/lilacsbymailbig.jpg
I told her shes not on the list of states I can send plants to with soil on. Basicly this is because they dont want New York State to spread Japanese beetles to Washing ton. So I would have to remove the soil while the plant is dormant and have the ag department inspect it and any others leaving here bare root (that inspection costs me $25 which isn't much if I am sending a hundred plants but right now i only see 3 going that would double the cost maybe.
12/3/2015 Had a request today for the Rose of Castille that I explained I take cuttings from every year unless the mother plants that we take cuttings from dont produce viable cuttings. So I explained that they should send me the request in an email for me to print out and then they should watch for a picture in this newsletter of cuttings from Autumn Damask or 4 Seasons Rose flowering. I can only send plants to Texas bare root at additional cost and so wont be able to send them in 2016 you had best look for another source. I wont sell roses that have not been identified from the flower and that dont have a price sticker on the side of the pot. www.floweringshrubfarm.com/castille.htm
12/3/2015 Had a request for a couple hundred rugosa roses, variety does not matter www.floweringshrubfarm.com/news.htm
decemberagnesin45small.jpg, decemberharisonsyellowin45small.jpg
December 1 through 25 below
about the ALL-PICTURE-NEWSLETTER by andyvancleve
Flowering Shrub Farm Monthly All Picture Newsletters; January February March April May 6 to 16 May 20 to 31 June 4 to 7 June 8 to 9 June 11 to 13 June 16 to 25 July August September October November December
People track what I am doing, how plants are growing and what's new by checking the pictures in my free picture-newsletter. I add new pictures of each crop of plants we are growing, closeups of flowers, fruit, fall foliage on plants for sale, and pictures of our Nursery Operation, to the current picture-newsletter every week at www.floweringshrubfarm.com/garden.htm Send me an email telling me what plants you are interested in and I will try to comment about those varieties with pictures in the newsletter.
