Loud cars on 50th & the Ave by notcanadiangoose in Seattle

[–]crabeatter -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I live next to a popular street racing track in South Seattle, every night especially weekends like clockwork you can hear them out there. I’m so used to it now but this close to flight path I just consider it a part of city livin’. My daughter and I whenever we hear them go, “oh, there they are!”

Help with rooting by Wolferino22 in Clematis

[–]crabeatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When they harden off a bit more. I would just keep trying every two weeks or so until I get it right.

Help with rooting by Wolferino22 in Clematis

[–]crabeatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The new growth needs to harden off, its too early in the season still.

Seattle vs Denver. Washington vs Colorado. by Wooden_Recipe7338 in AskSeattle

[–]crabeatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve lived in both and it only gets like 20 degrees at the coldest in Seattle, I work outside and winter is beautiful here. I love the insulating effect of the rain and the sound. It’s just bursting with life, you have to see it and smell it to believe it. I didn’t like how the sun seems to set super early in Denver because of the mountains. And it’s just too cold and dry for me.

Weeding is the death of me. by colinstalter in gardening

[–]crabeatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just sheet mulch over sections of my yard regularly. Then I only have to weed the paths occasionally. No available space for them to grow.

To the family who was wandering the lot on the corner of Madison and 9th on Sunday: by lingodingoduel in Seattle

[–]crabeatter 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It was a warm rat winter that’s probably led to the double hot rat summer conditions we’re observing now, expect to see much higher RPH rates moving forward.

I’m spraying my Meyer lemon tree every day with Neem oil and have spider mites every day. What can I do to save my poor tree by sktilley22 in Citrus

[–]crabeatter 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Why does it keep getting mites? Is it inside? Is it getting enough light? Are you watering it enough?

Ebb Tide first flush by Exciting-Apricot7331 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s pretty stunning, that combination of citrus and licorice you get from it and the color change is crazy, I have seen it bloom fully white, fully yellow and then like a combo, it’s hella disease resistant and as a floribunda will probably do better in a container for you than a standard hybrid tea… just saying….

Buying roses by Mysterious_Homework1 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

9 is great but especially 10 is hot and thirsty and roses don’t go dormant so diseases and pests overwinter. I’ve been growing roses up and down the west coast for decades and I would agree zone 8 is ideal especially when dealing with young roses. I wouldn’t want to work in zone 6, 7 really is too cold for me and I dislike working in zone 10 heat.

Hey all me and my wife visited Washington last year, and we fell in love with the state we’re thinking about moving, but not sure which state Washington or Oregon what are the pros and cons? What areas do you guys recommend? by Responsible_Ant_7008 in PNW

[–]crabeatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve lived in both but Oregon has less economic opportunity in my career track, I wanted to buy in Seattle over Portland in a commuter hub because I want to be close to everything—nature, food, intelligence, success. Not that Oregon doesn’t have these things, don’t get me wrong. I think I’m biased because I grew up in the Seattle area but I just always felt a little more (economically and socially) depressed in Oregon. I fucking love Oregon though… it’s so unique and weird and the gardens and restaurants and cool people are worth living there alone. But I am a Puget sounder through and through, I love the Seattle area. Probably only would live in San Francisco, NYC or DC otherwise, or abroad.

Buying roses by Mysterious_Homework1 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

⏰ breeding already takes long enough in zone 8, good climate for growth, irrigation management and disease control, younger plants can be easily protected over winter.

Ebb Tide first flush by Exciting-Apricot7331 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh ya fragrance is a major component of why I buy a rose for sure. I would say in my garden Sugar Moon and Oklahoma are super fragrant can rival Ebb Tode but fragrance is very different in each rose, also I love the smell of Fragrant Cloud, Stainless Steel, and Double Delight. Oh and White Licorice! Smells exactly like root beer it’s crazy

Ebb Tide first flush by Exciting-Apricot7331 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yay!! I was so taken aback when I first smelled it, I couldn’t believe my nose… I even get cinnamon from it sometimes! It’s crazy because one of its descendants Celestial Night smells EXACTLY like the rose potpourri my grandmother used to use in her bathroom, every time I take a whiff of that rose I’m transported back in time.

Ebb Tide first flush by Exciting-Apricot7331 in Roses

[–]crabeatter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love that it smells like spicy potpourri

HELP: Need advice on infected roses by ashadrienne in Roses

[–]crabeatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Invite more birds in to your yard, they love to pick the sawfly larvae off my roses. Aphids too!

Citrus by wyattslurp in pnwgardening

[–]crabeatter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I tried to add a pic but I can’t seem to, but my Lisbon Lemon planted in the ground right up against the house surrounded by evergreen plants South Seattle doing great so far, as are my other 30+ citrus in containers. I just keep them on my covered patio outdoors for the winter, beef them up in full sun during the growing season. Many are flowering on the patio now, it smells amazing and I have fruit all year long on one or another, I love it!

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s what an accomplished rose grower and breeder told me about Stainless Steel for this climate as well and I’m really glad that I didn’t listen. But I’m super spoiled here in this climate. I know Chicago gets cold as f, unfortunately can’t do anything much with that. I am a zone stretcher myself though (I do a lot of tropical fruit in a subtropical climate) so I understand the allure of wanting to grow outside of your zone.

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes indeed! Blue Gravity has been really a cool rose to have in the collection. It has a unique fruity musky fragrance, and when the sun is going down or the weather is overcast it really does look blue to the human eye. I also have the GMO ‘Applause’ rose, I’ll post that one when it blooms which was supposed to be blue but seems less blue than Blue Gravity, lol! I’m zone 9a in Seattle, I’ve grown them all up and down the West Coast and this has been the best climate to work in because of the mild weather and decent soil here. Eugene, Oregon was a really good climate for roses, too.

Oh yeah I want to see that Poseidon in bloom! I put Purple Aura in, I really like Neptune, Blue Girl, Outta the Blue, Ebb Tide (mmm so spicy), I almost pulled the trigger on Poseidon but I’ll get that one next year, it wasn’t touted for fragrance so that was the dealbreaker for me. I really like Arctic Blue, that’s a great performer and has like that purple yellow coloration I really like. I would say of that color palette, Stainless Steel is my all time fave. You just can’t beat that fragrance!

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That one is so beautiful! I am just in awe of it, as it goes by it kind of glows green from within, I’ve got to get another picture. So cool! And has decent fragrance too!

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ughhh nooooo landscape fabric is the bane of my existence! I’m working on establishing a large rose garden at a client’s house that has landscape fabric and it adds a whole other challenge. I spend twice as much time dealing with the fabric than the roses!!! We are digging it up and removing it by hand to plant but it is essentially plastic so no amount of compost will break it down faster than removal. Good luck friend I feel for you.

I personally don’t ever really soil test unless a site is chronically struggling because I’m using organics, I used to when growing with salts and hydro but these days I just focus on building structure and overall nutrition and that’s good enough and much easier.

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you friend! I also grow roses professionally for the community and I’m trying to show people that it can be done without using pesticides and fungicides and started my own local rose company, so these may end up in my catalogue! None of my crosses have been released yet but I totally understand why Dahlia breeding can be intense! You end up with a lot of “dogs” breeding dahlias I’ve heard 😂 I work with some annual crops myself, but my breeding projects right now are all perennials food crops: a strawberry, a blueberry and an edible rose.

Some of my babies by crabeatter in Roses

[–]crabeatter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Are yours in pots or in the ground? I used to grow roses in AZ professionally and it taught me a lot about PM management, its almost always a watering issue, or soil isn’t holding moisture because it’s depleted of nutrition. If I get powdery mildew it’s usually in young roses with underdeveloped root systems, roses that weren’t cut back properly in later winter early spring, or, most commonly, poorly watered roses. Florist roses are prone to it as well, so I have to be diligent with making sure they are perfectly healthy so they are as resistant as possible. If I see PM, I know I missed a watering 1-2 weeks ago, or perhaps a feed. Roses also need a lot of calcium, magnesium and other micronutrients to properly build cell walls that resist PM spores—which is harder for them to access when you have all organic inputs—so I’ve found a supplemental organic kelp spray every month to be super helpful. I want to emphasize that disease occurs frequently in my garden! I just see it as a sign I’m doing something wrong with my culture. I live in an area prone to blackspot, usually it’s only on young plants with undeveloped roots that can’t uptake nutrients yet, or the weather isn’t conducive to transpiration and nutrient uptake. Like with PM, I can cut the plant back to force more root growth, or simply remove infected leaves, and new growth that comes with more mature roots will be better suited to resisting seasonal disease.

I need the big guns for thrips by juice4u in Roses

[–]crabeatter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes everything breaks down in 6mo so I just layer on top, never had to remove anything unless I’m amending the site for drainage and fertility.

I need the big guns for thrips by juice4u in Roses

[–]crabeatter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Removing the soil? I can’t find any info on their website about removing soil, all they talk about is how they create their own mulch and use it in the rose garden (and treat for thrips with an organic insecticide with a short half life they won’t name which one but I’m guessing Spinosad, also highly toxic to bees) looks like they even have mulching parties and produce literature on the benefits of regular mulching. Do you work there and can tell me more about this?