I killed a Magnolia. On purpose.
I have no before pictures to share, because I had to kind-of "back into it"– not admitting I was really going through with it – even as I started to cut, and cut and cut.
So that the beautiful plant wasn't completely wasted I cut every branch for a vase.
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It's been awhile since I featured a really juicy "learn from my mistakes" post and as always the hope is that by sharing my gardening "short-comings" someone else won't make the same mistake I did. Or at least if you do, you'll know that others are out there doing stupid things too!
So see that Magnolia laevifolia below? The skinny thing center of photo? Well I planted it back in 2013 and then it died. Or so I thought. So I bought another one and planted it in the same spot, without bothering to dig out the dead one. Why? I don't know...laziness maybe?
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But the first one came back (and strong), it's the trunk on the right, below. You can see where the second one was growing, on the left. Now just a scar in the soil since I cut it down – will it come back? Only time will tell, but there was no way I was going to dig it out and risk injury to the roots of the other plant.
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How did I decide which one stayed and which one received the death penalty? Well it was really telling to compare the two, side by side (and yes, a photo would have been nice...I'm sorry...bad blogger!). One had darker green leaves, the other looked a little chlorotic. Looking at the buds and the overall vigor of the plants this one was the clearly better plant. And yes, it's the one that I had originally given up for dead.
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Not any more!
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This is the same type of plant – Magnolia laevifolia – in another spot of the garden. Its blooms always precede the others.
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Gorgeous!
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The remaining plant, from another angle...
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Now that the deed is done I am so glad I finally righted the wrong. To have two small trees growing right next to each other was just bad juju. I've known that I needed to do this since late 2014 when I saw they were both growing and competing for the same space, but I just kept putting it off. Here's a vase I filled with branches...
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Some buds about to open.
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Hopefully they all will eventually.
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It's a bit big for the space between the two chairs, but it's a soft plant...not spiky.
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There were so many branches I filled a second vase. I was not allowed to waste any – my penance for being a lazy gardener.
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Oh! I also wanted to share a new addition to the Royal Copley collection – a small black and white planter my parents picked up for me when I was in Spokane a couple of weeks ago. And the begonia leaves still look good (from almost a month ago!). I wonder if they're rooting in there? Is that even possible? Suppose I should check.
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Another Magnolia shot...
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Before we move on to the ferns, another mistake...
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There were so many gorgeous fronds unfurling around the garden that I wanted to create a fern-centric vase.
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I cut a nice little collection.
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And put them together in the vase.
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Then I uncovered a hidden Hellebore stem and plopped it in there too...
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But the fern fronts all started wilting after a couple of hours and this became a very sad vase! Now I know that new fern fronds don't like to be used as cut stems (learn from my mistakes...)
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No doubt if you visit Rambling in the Garden (our hostess for "In a Vase" Mondays) you'll see lots of successful vases to make up for my failures.
All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.
I have no before pictures to share, because I had to kind-of "back into it"– not admitting I was really going through with it – even as I started to cut, and cut and cut.
So that the beautiful plant wasn't completely wasted I cut every branch for a vase.
It's been awhile since I featured a really juicy "learn from my mistakes" post and as always the hope is that by sharing my gardening "short-comings" someone else won't make the same mistake I did. Or at least if you do, you'll know that others are out there doing stupid things too!
So see that Magnolia laevifolia below? The skinny thing center of photo? Well I planted it back in 2013 and then it died. Or so I thought. So I bought another one and planted it in the same spot, without bothering to dig out the dead one. Why? I don't know...laziness maybe?
But the first one came back (and strong), it's the trunk on the right, below. You can see where the second one was growing, on the left. Now just a scar in the soil since I cut it down – will it come back? Only time will tell, but there was no way I was going to dig it out and risk injury to the roots of the other plant.
How did I decide which one stayed and which one received the death penalty? Well it was really telling to compare the two, side by side (and yes, a photo would have been nice...I'm sorry...bad blogger!). One had darker green leaves, the other looked a little chlorotic. Looking at the buds and the overall vigor of the plants this one was the clearly better plant. And yes, it's the one that I had originally given up for dead.
Not any more!
This is the same type of plant – Magnolia laevifolia – in another spot of the garden. Its blooms always precede the others.
Gorgeous!
The remaining plant, from another angle...
Now that the deed is done I am so glad I finally righted the wrong. To have two small trees growing right next to each other was just bad juju. I've known that I needed to do this since late 2014 when I saw they were both growing and competing for the same space, but I just kept putting it off. Here's a vase I filled with branches...
Some buds about to open.
Hopefully they all will eventually.
It's a bit big for the space between the two chairs, but it's a soft plant...not spiky.
There were so many branches I filled a second vase. I was not allowed to waste any – my penance for being a lazy gardener.
Oh! I also wanted to share a new addition to the Royal Copley collection – a small black and white planter my parents picked up for me when I was in Spokane a couple of weeks ago. And the begonia leaves still look good (from almost a month ago!). I wonder if they're rooting in there? Is that even possible? Suppose I should check.
Another Magnolia shot...
Before we move on to the ferns, another mistake...
There were so many gorgeous fronds unfurling around the garden that I wanted to create a fern-centric vase.
I cut a nice little collection.
And put them together in the vase.
Then I uncovered a hidden Hellebore stem and plopped it in there too...
But the fern fronts all started wilting after a couple of hours and this became a very sad vase! Now I know that new fern fronds don't like to be used as cut stems (learn from my mistakes...)
No doubt if you visit Rambling in the Garden (our hostess for "In a Vase" Mondays) you'll see lots of successful vases to make up for my failures.
All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.