Yoohoooo Crosis, I have a plant question!

[missmanners]

OK, two plant questions...

1. Have you guys ever dealt with Knockout Roses and if so are they worth the effort of digging out the ugly old shrubs along the front of the house?

2. Same question only holly bushes.


mm

 

[Crosis]

OK, two plant questions...

1. Have you guys ever dealt with Knockout Roses and if so are they worth the effort of digging out the ugly old shrubs along the front of the house?

2. Same question only holly bushes.


mm

Where do you live, mm? I deal mostly with sub-tropical plants, since we're in South Florida, but we do have roses. Just not that type.

If the shrubs are ugly, by all means dig them out. Shrubs are best used to do things like set up a wall, hide an AC unit, stuff like that.

Holly I don't know about. The only holly we have at our nursery is weeping holly, and it's native and only pretty if you appreciate the raw beauty of nature, I think.

 

[missmanners]

I'm in Ohio..

South Florida! goodlord man, get back north! Dont you know there are 'gators in South Florida? And lots of insects? And hurricanes? And old people? When I was in South Florida working a couple years back all I wanted was to see a 'gator. All I saw were billboards for cheap dentures and hearing aids....


mm

 

[missmanners]

I'm into home defense, so I want some real stickery type bushes for under the windows. Not the spring flowering stuff thats there now. I guess you don't have to worry about moles either.


mm

 

[Crosis]

I'm in Ohio..

South Florida! goodlord man, get back north! Dont you know there are 'gators in South Florida? And lots of insects? And hurricanes? And old people? When I was in South Florida working a couple years back all I wanted was to see a 'gator. All I saw were billboards for cheap dentures and hearing aids....


mm

Actually, we've got two gators out in the back of our landscaping office. I suppose that's what we get for buying as close to the Everglades as possible, on US-27. My dad's concerned about the dogs getting eaten by them, so today we're gonna go get a rifle, kill them, and then eat some alligator tail for dinner. I fucking love alligator meat.

And yes, I do want to come back north desperately. To my surprise, I've come to love it up there, even in the winter.

As for sticker bushes, my best advice is to go a local nursery and see what they have. Anyone up there will know more about native plant life than me. I can tell you all about palm trees, ixoras, crotons, and magnolias, but get any farther north than Tallahassee and my knowledge dims.

 

[missmanners]

I like gator tail too. Sliced really thin, soak in Yukon Jack and cajun spices over night, then set on fire just long enough to blacken it. Serve with some dirty rice and a baked yam.

OK, I'm hungry now....


mm

 

[Crosis]

I like gator tail too. Sliced really thin, soak in Yukon Jack and cajun spices over night, then set on fire just long enough to blacken it. Serve with some dirty rice and a baked yam.

OK, I'm hungry now....


mm

I used to eat at a place called RJ Gators every weekend, it was my HS Saturday tradition with my friends and I. It was the only restaurant I knew of that served alligator meat.

Sadly, they closed And now if I want alligator, I have to take a freakin' airboat tour through the everglades to get to the little shack I know of that sells it.

 

[The Dork Lord]

OK, two plant questions...

1. Have you guys ever dealt with Knockout Roses and if so are they worth the effort of digging out the ugly old shrubs along the front of the house?

2. Same question only holly bushes.


mm

By interesting coincidence, My mom's middle name is Rose, and my ex-wife's name is Holly.

Carry on.

 

[Crosis]

BTW, mm, I asked my father your question, since he's the actual board-certified landscape design technician person and knows WAY more than me.

His reply was "Knockout roses? What the hell are those?"

"They grow in Ohio, I think."

"Ohio? Why is she asking YOU anything? You don't know anything about plants down here even!"

"Er..."

"Tell her to call her state's horticultural department, they'll be able to tell her everything she needs to know."

 

[missmanners]

Are you guys in planting zone 4-10? Google the Knockout rose and check it out. This is something you might want to investigate more. They are said to be resistant to almost anything, tolerate both drought and humid conditions. It's a shrub type rose and doesn't require much care from what I've heard. I just dont believe everything I've heard/read. I prefer to talk to someone who's actually grown one.


mm

 

[Crosis]

Are you guys in planting zone 4-10? Google the Knockout rose and check it out. This is something you might want to investigate more. They are said to be resistant to almost anything, tolerate both drought and humid conditions. It's a shrub type rose and doesn't require much care from what I've heard. I just dont believe everything I've heard/read. I prefer to talk to someone who's actually grown one.


mm

Well, I've been able to ascertain that we don't deal with them. We do have rose bushes, but not knockout I don't think, cause they tend to get wilty when it rains too much.

 

[CheekyMonkey]

mm, i'm in philadelphia. we have knockout roses all over the place, here. they seem to be the plant du jour, and appear to do well in our climate of sticky humid summer and bitterly cold winter (not as much snow here as in ohio, though, but we're in the same climate zone as you, i think)

the knockouts are very pretty when in bloom, don't seem to get leggy, and even look nice when they aren't blooming (unlike some rosebushes).

i had lots of holly at my old house. i learned that holly requires a good deal of pruning, and it can easily get out of hand.

because it is so prickly, i sustained quite a few scratches whilst trying to keep it trimmed. I eventually gave up on it, chopped the things down, and then they just came back with a vengeance over the course of the next year.

it's good for discouraging pesky burglars, though. i'd recommend coating the holly with toxic alkaloid extracted from some Columbian poison-dart frogs for a little added security. I'll get you the email of a Chocó Indian medicine man that I know......

 

[The Dork Lord]

So.... which bush do you prefer? Rose or Holly?

gross.

 

[The Dork Lord]

i know it's gross. but i had to go there. please forgive me.

Water under the bridge.

I also have a love/hate relationship with black-berry bushes.

 

[Maylie]

I have successfully grown Holly Bushes in Central Indiana. They required no real care as I was only there on weekends.

I would also like to suggest Red Barberry, which I have at my primary house, zone 4 –10 . These things are horrible when it comes to thorns and they grown like weeds. Mine are huge, over 4 feet tall and I only threw a bit of Miracle-Gro on them when I first planted. I do nothing now but prune when they grown over the windows.