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Post by ottawagardener on Jun 20, 2009 7:22:59 GMT -5
Hmmm I came to this thread late but if it's about visiting each other then yes please.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 20, 2009 7:58:14 GMT -5
LOVELY Telsing! Trouble is, Val and I aren't (read can't) flap our arms that hard or that long.  |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 20, 2009 15:26:20 GMT -5
FINALLY! I THINK I have the photo thing worked out! It's been taking so long cause I get put off by stuff that requires excessive tinkering to achieve accomplishment. However, can you tell I've changed my avatar? If anyone can tell me how to make it a little bit larger, I'll give it a shot. Here are a couple shots of the monster marigolds I was speaking of.  That's Tommy giving you a boy's eye view!  This is simply another row and another perspective. If you have any idea how they came to be this large and bloomless, I'd love to hear what you have to say on the matter. They are completely pervasive! I hadn't really noticed until this year when our neighbor tilled and planted this patch. |
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Post by plantsnobin on Jun 20, 2009 16:46:55 GMT -5
Is it possible that they aren't marigolds?
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 20, 2009 21:23:33 GMT -5
Well they sure as heck aren't the pretty little things from the seed packets! But if the story is true, how the heck did they mutate into these monsters? I really don't know enough about them to do more than speculate really. I can tell you that they have a rather nice fragrance when the leaves are crushed. Bugs don't care much for them right now, but in about a month I will expect to see several individuals that will become jap beetle bordellos. At least that's what has occurred in past years.
If it would help ID the things, I'd be happy to take photos as instructed, maybe scan a leaf or two? I'd LOVE to know what they really are!
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Post by daylilydude on Jun 20, 2009 23:57:15 GMT -5
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Post by grunt on Jun 21, 2009 0:14:18 GMT -5
Jo: Do they ever get flowers on them, and if so, are they yellow? I can't tell if the leaf is exactly right, but they sort of look like tansy. Crushed tansy used to be used as an emergency insect repellant.
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Post by canadamike on Jun 21, 2009 0:38:39 GMT -5
My ''midnight'' eyes arent'g good enough to call the bluff on any small leaf, I would second the tansy thing but them mariglod species are close to it in their less cultivated form.
However, these plants are growing near corn, a crop usually getting a huge dose of nitrogen, organic or not.
It would not be the first time i see a crop, either a flower or a vegetable, falling victim to nitrogen surplus, if I can say it in english.
Nothing like a good overdose of it to have a lot of plants behave like a green salad vegetable, including fruit trees...
I f it is tansy it will flower soon, if it is not over ''nitrogenized''.
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sphinxeyes
gardener
Suburbia, small garden in side yard, containers on larger back deck. Hot humid summers.
Posts: 154
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Post by sphinxeyes on Jun 21, 2009 3:20:35 GMT -5
I poked around the internet a bit and it seems that there are a few other garden blogs where people mention having giant marigolds, some growing past 6 ft in height! It doesn't say that they're any variety in particular. Though Giant Sunset is one variety that is supposed to grow up to 3 ft, but your's already seem taller than that. If you're getting a lot of rain then that might be helping them. My marigolds last year got about 2 ft tall, much taller than average and I thought it might have been because we had a very wet summer. They also lasted into mid-autumn. It also seems that the "giants" will flower later in the season, so maybe that is why you don't have flowers yet.
I don't know much about tansy, but I do remember reading that it was toxic and that it's best to where gloves if you have to pull out a lot of it so the toxins don't get absorbed into your skin.
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Post by flowerpower on Jun 21, 2009 6:19:37 GMT -5
I think the plant looks like tansy.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 21, 2009 7:47:59 GMT -5
WOW! OK, first, DayLilyDudes link goes to a photo that looks a whole lot like what we have going on here. In particular the dark, reddish stems. I'll have to take a photo from a similar angle for comparison. I'll try to get it up today.
Second, the nitrogen. Those plants photographed are in a neighbors field and he DID use generous amounts of chemical fertilizer, probably 10-10-10. If I'm not mistaken, that does have a lot of nitrogen? By comparison, and I'll do another photo here, the ones in our yard are much shorter. Those photos show them at 8 to 10 feet tall. Mine are maybe 3 to 4 feet?
Third, I have NEVER seen a flower on any of these. Again, I'll have to start paying better attention though because I would like to have tansy in place for several purposes. Yes, they are poisonous, but they have bug repellant qualities which are highly desirable.
Thanks people! I'm VERY appreciative!
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 21, 2009 16:28:22 GMT -5
I have some new photos! First, a photo of Mike and the boys standing next to one of the plants in our field which has not been treated with nitrogen fertilizer. By the by, the white flowering things in the background are carrots, planted THIS year, which are blooming!?!? I've never seen a carrot bolt and certainly not after being in ground for only a couple months!  This photo is the "head' of the plant. That's my hand holding it. Additional observation, some are purple stemmed and some are green stemmed. This didn't quite click in my head until I was looking at the photos as I was processing them.  |
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Post by flowerpower on Jun 22, 2009 4:47:48 GMT -5
Daylilydude may be right that it's ragweed. Tansy leaves are really stinky when crushed. So maybe see if that's the case. Here is a pic of what I know is Tansy. I got it as a division, but I could save seed if anyone wants it.  |
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 22, 2009 7:07:40 GMT -5
Well, it isn't tansy then. The the leaves go out short and don't curve like the tansy do. Darn! I was hoping for tansy. I will take you up on some seed then. When it's ready. ::sigh::
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