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Question about rhodendron root
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whistler
On The Way Up
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:01 am Post subject: Question about rhodendron root |
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Following instructions on another website I dug up a young rhododendron today and transplanted it about ten feet over where it will have more room. Was overcrowded where it had been, and other plants were choking it and growing around it.
When we moved in here 2 years ago we brought along a rhododendron that we rescued from a vacant building we were working on. That rhodo was still in its nursery plastic planter. The one already in our garden was about the same size. Today its about 3 feet high.
The hardest part for me was digging the new hole, which I did before digging around the rhodo and prying it out. Everything went smoothly. I hope.
While I was digging it out there were a few small bulbs that came out with the dirt and I chucked them aside so they won't regrow there again. In this garden sprouts up tulips, daffodils, and some nasty blue bulb plant that spreads like a weed and takes over in the spring so I'm thinking its bulbs from any of the above. When I pulled out the bulb dirt ball of the rhodo, several of these small bulbs were stuck to the dirt ball. I started knocking them off because although I'm OK with tulips and daffodils, I don't want that other weed coming up.
And then I panicked and wondered if it might be part of the rhodo's root ball. So I left what was left of them - about 30 I could see - stuck to the dirt ball and planted the rhodo in its new hole.
Does anyone know if rhodo's root ball's bear white bulbs no more than an inch with a tiny root system like its breeding them?
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eileen
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:40 am Post subject: |
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Whistler I've transplanted rhododendrons before and never come across anything like the small, white bulbs you describe. I have a feeling that they may be Grape Hyacinth/Muscari racemosum.
Did the bulbs look like these?
Were the blue flowers resemble these ones?
They do spread rapidly and can be a bit of a problem in a garden.
If they are these bulbs around the root of your rhododendron then I get rid of them before transplanting it.
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whistler
On The Way Up
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:04 am Post subject: |
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Yes that's them. And the main reason why I'm putting down landscape cloth and covering it with bark mulch. I'm hoping to keep them down along with any other weeds.
I have the landscape cloth down now but we haven't put the bark mulch down yet because my husband came home after dark.
Should I dig it up again and wipe off the attached bulbs I can see or will the landscape cloth be enough to keep them down in the spring?
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Droopy
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:53 am Post subject: |
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I guess the cloth will keep them down, even though I can't think why you don't want them growing everywhere in your garden. They're lovely blooms, easy to care for and have such vibrant colour too.
I like them under trees, around berry bushes, in the borders and also use them indoors as cut flowers or with the bulbs in planted-up Easter decorations.
It's a pity I live so far from you. I'd gladly dig up a few hundred of those bulbs and create a thick, blue spring edging around our borders.
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whistler
On The Way Up
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Location: British Columbia
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks!
Hopefully this photo will give you a good idea why I want these flowers gone. They take over. You can barely see that young rhodo poking out.
Flowers aka weeds taking over ( photo / image / picture from whistler's Garden )
Trust me on this, I will have hundreds of these blue plants in the side yards, the back yard, under the hedge, under the trees, coming up through the rock pile, etc, etc if I start to miss the ones in the front garden. Right now the goal is to get the front garden tidy and weed free. The rest of the property is going to take me years.
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kate
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Joined: 08 Oct 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 100
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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Ah yes!
A very invasive bulb but thats what they do. They call it naturalising. They will make more every year but I wonder..
For the bulb food we must leave the green to go yellow before mowing, as with Daffs. What if you mowed (weather permitting) while they were still green, would that hold them back..weaken them?
I just planted a test patch of white bells in my front lawn and I hope they do what your blues do whistler.
 
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Droopy
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Is it the blue one in the foreground you're not liking? The Centaurea montana (Mountain Bluet, Perennial Cornflower)?
Those blue thingies in the background don't look like grape hyacinths either, I think they're far too tall. *squints*
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kate
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Location: UK
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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Oh beautiful Droopy, 
I will ask in the seed trade forum for any seed...if thats the one whistler has.
It reminds me of honeysuckle.
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whistler
On The Way Up
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 66
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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I looked outside this morning and saw my husband putting this rhodo back in the ground. He dug it up, wiped off the little bulbs and planted it again. He congratulated me on doing a great job of tranplanting that rhodo because he had quite the time digging it up.
Here's a link to a post I made about what these plants/weeds are and a couple of other photos of them. http://www.gardenstew.com/viewtopic.php?t=15094&highlight=
I do have a couple of the bulbs lying in the driveway that I haven't cleaned up yet. I could put them in the seed exchange forum though I'm not sure why anyone would want this invasive creature. If I took something for trade I'd feel like I'm ripping off the other person! Also there appears to be 2 different types of blue perennials. I have no idea which bulb is which.
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Droopy
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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Ah, yes, I see you already got the invasive ones ID'd. You are absolutely correct, the Centaurea will try to take over a border. As for the bluebells we actually grow them in the garden, and we love them too. They're not as invasive as the grape hyacinths, or as hardy, but they're bigger and more decorative. 
The Centaurea is a root, by the way, and the bluebells are bulbs.
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toni
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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One persons weed is another persons $5.95 treasure.
Someone who really wants them will not mind them spreading and will probably pass along the extras every year or so to friends to keep their patch under control.
Any of those you pull up, complete with bulb or roots whichever plants they are, you can place in one or more good sized pots and call a local garden club to see if they would like them. Garden clubs usually do planting in large quantities in projects or know of someone who is replanting a church or school garden and could use those.
They would be happy to take them off your hands.
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kate
On The Way Up
Joined: 08 Oct 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 100
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| Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:11 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know if we are allowed bulb imports or I would take a couple.
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grownforyou
Just Arrived
Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| kate wrote: | I don't know if we are allowed bulb imports or I would take a couple.
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Not from the US unfortunately 
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