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imatlas

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Starting to get some nice winter camellias in the sunnier spots around the house.

View attachment 1330158

Lovely. Camellias always remind me of my mother, and the lengths she went to to grow them in CT where it gets too cold for them in the winter.

Her solution was to create a heat sink in her greenhouse using empty bleach bottles painted black and filled with rocks, and she had her flowers in January.
 

ValidusLA

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Camellias are amazing for sheer variety. Here in Los Angeles I'm constantly trying to create more shade so I can plant more Japonica.

They are definitely rough anywhere it gets quite cold in winter. We have a local nursery in Pasadena that has actually created many varieties - they ship all over the country and to Japan. They tell stories all the time of people up in Minnesota and Michigan going to great lengths to grow a single camellia.
 

ValidusLA

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Some of mine opened quite early, but I think I'll be getting the full show next week.
20200206_132501.jpg
20200206_132550.jpg
20200206_132532.jpg
 

Gus

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Camellias can be pruned and shaped with beautiful results. I bought a home with 3 over grown bushes planted right next to the house.They were all over the place and grew out on to the patio My uncle, an expert at pruning, cut them back to be parallel to the wall and have an easy arch-like shape. They looked stick-like for a while but soon became an impressive wall of blossoms.
 

Joffrey

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So what's the story with how much light to place a fiddle leaf fig in? I keep reading "bright in-direct light" so I initially placed the plant right by my west-facing windows that are quite bright but receive a few hours of direct sunlight as the sun begins to set (mid-late afternoon) plus that location is directly beneath the draft of my a/c-heater. I even fiddled with some blinds near the window to block some of the sunlight but the draft really concerned me. So now, I have placed the plant across the room from the windows that still receives light but it's a little more indirect than I would like - no draft though! Thoughts on which approach is better? It has grown new leaves in the new area (across the room) so I could live with it.
 

patrickBOOTH

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They can live in a variety of conditions. There's a coffee shop by me that is like a dungeon inside with one that's just fine.
 

ValidusLA

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I believe they like humidity - so underneath the draft of your AC is probably not good.
 

Omega Male

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Trying to corner the market on Dahlia bulbs.

IMG_0990.jpg
 

Gibonius

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Trying to corner the market on Dahlia bulbs.

Nice. I did a Costco assortment of Dahlias last year and was very pleased by the results. Basically got wall to wall flowers from May to the first frost.

You get them mail order or local?
 

Gibonius

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So what's the story with how much light to place a fiddle leaf fig in? I keep reading "bright in-direct light" so I initially placed the plant right by my west-facing windows that are quite bright but receive a few hours of direct sunlight as the sun begins to set (mid-late afternoon) plus that location is directly beneath the draft of my a/c-heater. I even fiddled with some blinds near the window to block some of the sunlight but the draft really concerned me. So now, I have placed the plant across the room from the windows that still receives light but it's a little more indirect than I would like - no draft though! Thoughts on which approach is better? It has grown new leaves in the new area (across the room) so I could live with it.

I'm no expert, but I've had one in fairly indirect light (southern exposure but not direct in line with the window) for about six months and it's doing fine even in the terribly low humidity in my house over the winter.

I was definitely worried that it wasn't enough light, but doesn't seem like a problem so far.
 

RedLantern

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Nice. I did a Costco assortment of Dahlias last year and was very pleased by the results. Basically got wall to wall flowers from May to the first frost.

You get them mail order or local?

In my limited experience, if you can get bulbs at a local flower show or something the results will be much better than buying bulbs at a box store.

I like Dhalias ok, but oriental lilies grow really well where I live as well as do most roses! I really prefer fragrant flowers in my garden.
 

Gibonius

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In my limited experience, if you can get bulbs at a local flower show or something the results will be much better than buying bulbs at a box store.

I like Dhalias ok, but oriental lilies grow really well where I live as well as do most roses! I really prefer fragrant flowers in my garden.

The squirrels ate/knocked over all my lilies last year :mad: Hopefully some of them show back up this year.


The peonies were a success at least. The Itoh varieties are very nice, if stupid expensive.
 

patrickBOOTH

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I recently started using a sleep app that records noises in my room as they occur. I got this to try to capture my recurring alien abductions on audio, but so far it has only captured me farting and yelling out in the night (possibly part of the abduction process). The other night I was yelled out "Dahlia!!!" I wonder if I am excited for Spring flowers, or I recognized a visitor in the night (named Dahlia). I am not ruling out a succubus.
 

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