Plantidote of the Day 2012-09-04
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Gerbera jamesonii
Transvaal daisy
This may be an oldie, but it's still a goodie, yes? Gerberas are so simple and unpretentious. Like sunflowers, they always look happy. And dog knows, we need all the happy we can get these days. Enjoy!
Readers, please send twig (twig4now@gmail.com) images and stories for the ongoing Plantidote of the Day series. In exchange, you'll win undying fame in the form of a hat tip! Plants growing in your garden, your house, or neighbor's yard, plants from the forest or farmers' market, plants you preserved, plants you prepared (wine; cider; tea; dried beans), plants you harvested (grains; chantrelles), plants you picked (flowers), plants you dried (herbs), plants you covet or hope to grow someday. Herbal remedies, propagation tips, new varieties, etc.. And if you can, include some solid detail about the plant, too -- a story, the genus and species, or where you got the seeds, or the recipe, or your grandmother gave it to you. Or challenge us with a "Name That Plant" mystery entry ... And please feel free to add corrections and additional information in the comments.
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Comments
Wonder what I do wrong...
Gerbera daisys are so wonderful and each year I see new colors and new petal arrangements and every year I buy a few, only to have them wither and die.
I wonder what I am doing wrong.
Once I get them home while in bloom, the next flowers to emerge are mis shapen or try to bloom before the bud is up out of the ground. The leaves begin to yellow and they are usually dead within a month...
But, I can't seem to give up and I keep trying...
Hey, the same thing just happened to my balloon flower,
yesterday's Plantidote. Within a day of getting it home, the two great big purple flowers died and the new buds are about half their size and very pale lavender -- not especially attractive, in fact, they look like they're from a different plant.
I was very careful with it, too, so I don't know why it would go downhill that quickly. Strange how some plants go crazy when you bring them home and others just slowly wither away.
I suspect the soil that nurseries use...
Lots of times when I buy a nursery potted plant, I see that the potting soil is some mix of air-fluffed peat and lightweight perlite and who knows what. It stays too wet, yet it dries out too fast. Then when I plant the thing in my heavy rocky soil the plant goes into a funk.
I blame their unrealistic potting soil for spoiling the plant.