You're invited to the Fall 2009 Green Elephant Plant Swap in Redmond, Washington.
http://www.holycrossredmond.org/greenelephant.htm
You are encouraged to forward the invitation as it's a public event with plenty of parking. The goal is to make friends with other gardeners and expand the gardens of new gardeners.
I will really plan on trying to make it...it sounds great, but have lots of fall cleanup to do before I can justify taking the time off. Been kind of lazy and/or otherwise occupied and have ignored my garden for the last month. :(
Oh my, Julie! You should come anyway! It's a hoot to see people scurrying from tailgate to tailgate looking at everything people have to offer. Way much fun.
Since there is a thread here, I'm posting that my mom is looking for shrubs of just about any kind. I know she prefers things that are easy to care for and that flower, however, even though she won't say so. I think I'll just mosy over to the 'other' website and see what is happening in terms of offerings.
And it's pretty quick, 10-12. So you could still get home pretty early . . . or stop by Molbaks or Flowerworld, both of which are not too far away:
This one is fun - we're all bummed because it's racing towards winter, but happy to swap & share. Dress warmly & consider bringing things to share with newbie gardeners, including information they can refer to. It can be overwhelming to get so much plant material & try to remember what each person said about it.
Also- we have a loose tradition of having lunch afterwards, which coincides with the close of the event. Let's talk...
Dad and I will see you there. I might bring my Aunt Connie (dad's little sister) as well. She recently moved from Seattle to Puyallup so I get to spend more time chatting plants with her. Looking forward to catching up with my plant buddies! FlowerWorld here we come!!
Yay, Rach. I'm looking forward to seeing you and to meeting Connie. Flowerworld has 50% off topiaries right now - don't know how long it'll last, though.
Kathy - any idea what FW has? I was thinking about going out that way to recycle some of the pots I have.
You mean in the way of topiaries. I don't really know. This is their picture.
I was out there weekend before last and they were heavily laden with pansies ornamental cabbages and kales. There really going to need to push them, I think.
I looked on their site and they aren't announcing the sale there. Here's the message I got and a picture.
"Hello!
Have you ever wanted that special topiary but they were just too expensive?!? Come wander through our land of Oz and see our topiaries on sale for 50% off! Regular prices range from $99.99 to $349.99. We currently have over 200 in stock. Varieties include Emerald Greens, Pines, Boulevard and Plume Cypress.
You might also be interested in a recent survey report and ratings for over 100 Puget Sound Area Garden Nurseries. The following link provides free access to the report until October 22nd. (If the link does not work, you can copy and paste it to your browser bar.)
http://www.checkbook.org/komo/"
And the second picture.
the Corkscrews look pretty cool. Looks like it's all evergreens.
That's a good point. They don't really say one way or the other, but they do have some tree forms there . . .
If they had one shaped like a rabbit I would be all over it!!!
No Rach - it would be AT YOUR PLACE ALREADY!!!
There are Rabbit topiary forms - I thought about trying to do one and that thought lasted about 1 minute.
Whole lotta woik!
Bumping this up:
This swap is called:
Autumnal Abundance
Saturday November 7, 2009
10:00 AM to Noon
Be sure to plan for:
Winter Seed Sowing
Saturday January 16, 2010
Noon to 3:00 PM (indoors)
Winter sowing sounds cold: too soon! too soon!
I won't be going. Even if I got past my laziness about driving to Redmond, Tracy is having a gaming party at noon that day, so I'll need to spend the morning getting the house ready.
Pix, did you ever get any seeds from your red Dahlia coccinea? I'm still desperately seeking some.
I am planning to go. I thought I could pick up and pay for the bamboo at the same time, if you are going, Melissa.
I had planned on going, but may end up heading down to Oregon. My mother fell and broke her hip last week. So I'm not sure yet - it will depend on the dog sitter. I'll post as soon as I know.
Pix, I'd love seeds from the Dahlia if you do get any . . .
I'll be there.
Katie, sorry about your mom! That's too bad. I hope she heals quickly..
RE the dahlia seeds, I personally hand pollinated a couple of flowers on the best plant and marked the stem. The buds are swelling but they are not ready to pick. Here's a question: many of the buds on these plants are getting soggy and I wonder if the seeds will end up developing well. I wonder if I should cover the swelling seedcases with something to protect them from the rain? Kayte? any ideas on that? I do love those dahlias. They just keep going and going.
Lynn, I will bring the bamboo to the swap for you.
Yeah, I'm seeing the same thing with my Dahlias - so many buds and nothing's opening.
Thanks, Melissa.
Well, I do believe this is a fabulous use of plastic bags - custom cut to fit the situation.
Especially with those seeds that are just ripening - they're tough to harvest because of our wet weather this time of year. Plastic over small paper bag works, too, but does hold the moisture. Must be checked daily-ish.
Kathy - if you go to Oregon, do you want me to grab anything for you? Or - do you have anything you want me to retrieve to take on Saturday? LMK...
Katie, I'm so sorry your mom has suffered a severe injury. I hope she is able to recover in good time.. If you can get her to use a walker, the kind that has wheels and a seat for when you want to take a rest, they are very useful for carrying things in the little basket as well. My dad came to really like his even though he was reluctant at first. I even equipped it with a bicycle headlight because he would go for a walk in the evening sometimes.
Hey, thanks, Kate. I don't think so. I do have pots and buckets that I was going to share, but not much time or energy to dig anything up.
Holly, thanks for the recommendation. Mom was already using the walker as a precaution, but had stopped eating, really, so she was just weak. The prognosis for somebody her age after this kind of fall to live longer than 6 months is about 50/50 and since she wasn't eating, I'm not sure she even has those odds.
But she has been moved out of the hospital to a nursing home and the physical therapists are motivated to get her sitting, so we'll take it a little bit at a time. Right now I'd love to get her to November 26, which is their 67th wedding anniversary!!
I'm sorry about that. It is clearly a more difficult situation with your mom. Congratulations to her about the upcoming 67th!! Wow!
No problem. I appreciate the advice. :-)
Katie59, Sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she heals well and is out of pain.
My DIL's mother fell 1.5 weeks ago, broke both legs above the knees. The bones were completely broken in two. She is 78, and very frail - not eating, either. She had surgery, and is now in a convalescent center, and still does not want to eat.
Check her meds and make sure she's not taking an SSRI. Also, you might try protein shakes or Ensure to get her some nourishment. It sounds like she has a ways to go. Sometimes if you can sustain them through the worst of it, the instinct to eat will come back. I hope she gets through it.
Thanks, Lynn.
My heart goes out to you Kathy... it has to be really hard to have a loved one hurting and not be close enough to offer support right away in person.
Sending best wishes to both your Mom and also Lynn to your DIL's Mom.
Katie59, How is your mom today?
Lynn, thanks for asking. Everyone, thank you so much for your wishes and kind words.
Mom continues to surprise us all - the Physical Therapists had her up and walking between parallel bars and doing range of motion exercises today. She seems to be able to do what they ask, though it tires her greatly. My Dad is protective and thinks it's too much, but I have to remind him that she needs to be challenged in order to survive. Their dynamic is definitely that he does the physical and she does the intellectual.
She ate a whole bowl of Cream of Wheat this morning and my Dad is feeding her smoothies with protein powder, which she seems to be drinking. She's on Fentanyl now, which is a great improvemnt over the Oxycodone. She can think without hallucinating now and they are able to converse well while having her pain controlled.
MY SOAPBOX: I really think part of her improvement is getting her off the SSRI. I would caution anyone who has an elderly relative on an SSRI just because the doctor thinks it can't hurt to monitor that closely. Somnolence, apathy disorder, garbled thinking, weight loss are all pretty common symptoms of the drugs and the elderly can't always absorb the price of those symptoms.
I'm going to visit her this weekend and get her room at the nursing home "girlied" up. I have three brothers and as much as they do for mom, they don't seem to appreciate the true recuperative value of nice smells and sounds and colors, etc. LOL
Lynn, I am keeping your DIL's mother in my prayers.
What is and SSRI?
Glad she is showing some improvement.
Sorry.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. Basically, when you're under stress, your neurotransmitters take up part of the serotonin they've released for communication with each other. These medications make them not do that. The serotonin makes you less reactive to the stressors in your environment and can help with anxiety and/or depression.
There are tons of side effects. For some people, dealing with the side effects is much less that the benefit of the treatment. For some people, the side effects are minial.
However, for some people, the side effects don't outweigh any benefits they might get. These drugs are prescribed very frequently anymore because there isn't much visibility given to the side effects and how severe they are for some people.
Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa are all in this group.
KATIE, SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR MOM. HOPE SHE KEEPS IMPROVING.
Kathy, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she is healing well. You are right that SSRI's can cause some scary side effects for some people.
For anyone who is going to the trade, or who wants me to bring these for transport by someone else, here is the trade list I posted on the 'other' website.
Siberian iris - bluish purple
Alchemilla alpina
Euphorbia 'Red Martin' seedling
Tall daylilies - mixed oranges and peaches with some single and some double flowers
Nepeta 'walker's low'
Cotoneaster microphylla
I have these if anyone wants them:
Hosta 'earth angel' - small pot
Impatiens arguta - cuttings, easily rooted
Pelargonium cuttings - pale chartreuse leaves with blue/green centers, salmon flowers
Coleus cuttings
Carex comans 'bronze' seedlings
Aconitum 'stainless steel'
Arctostaphyllos uva-ursi 'Massachusetts' - a prostrate form of bearberry. Nice, and doesn't get out of control.
Cotoneaster dammeri - nice creeping or cascading cotoneaster with bright red berries. Rooted pieces
Cuphea - little orange flowers - cuttings
Solanum pyracanthos - cuttings with wicked spines
Tradescantia pallida 'purple heart' - cuttings
Primula auricula - mixed colors
Begonia bolivianense - cuttings
Iris setosa var. 'artica' - I'd like a trade for this
Native snowberry
Native indian plum
Smoke tree seedlings - purple new leaves, yellow fall color
I have the cyclamen for Lynn and Julie, with enough for someone else if there are any other takers. Pony is sending Holly's to her.
Seeds from the dahlia are not ready yet,, but they are easy to mail to you, kathy.
