New bees chit chat thread...Seed Junkies welcome 10/13/09

Mekos I received my seeds...I cant wait till spring so I can try my hand at sprouting all these different seeds... Im hoping my yard will have many flowers in bloom this next year...Thanks to all who have sent me seeds or flowers this years...Its been a blast...

Thanks AL for those magazines...They will give me ideas of what to do with all my flowers next year...

Hope you all have a great day...Trish

Im afraid when I go out this morning there may not be anything left in LG bed I made down beside the house... There has been up to 4 bucks out there eating most of the night.....I have really enjoyed watching them... My boys have droooled over shooting them... water is still covering much of their natural habitat forcing them out in the open to feed..... We have put out corn and acorns for them to munch on...If they are still around when Deer season begins(gun hunt) they better beware of those young Spaulding boys who may have them in their sites...Old Spaulding boy may too lol ... I think he DH would rather just watch them, than kill them...He thought it was funny they were eating all around my flower bed... I hope they were eating the pecan hulls or something... If I go out and they have eaten all my flowers they may not have to wait on those Spaulding boys cause I might take them out first...Trish

Wonder where my dog was when I needed him... He was prob hiding up front under the shed...He probably thought they were over sized dogs and ran to hide..Ha he is such a good boy and dont bother any thing including the deer...

Good Morning,
Thank you for the picture of the shep/chi I just had trouble visulizing him. Mickey congrats!! My deer haven't arrived yet we will see which comes first the snow or the deer and the turkey. Funny they never bother my gardens....Have a good day everyone I am doing some mixing and potting today things coming in from the greenhouse.

Morning arejay

Good morning everyone! Not too bad out this morning, about 30 degrees and just a touch of snow. If this weather doesn't clear up, might have to put out my fall lawn fertilizer with the snow on the ground! Teehee! Maybe when the sun is up I can get out and mulch some more tho.

G' Morning Ladies, Happy Sunday

I need to ask for some advice if you can. I have several outside Geranium pots that are past their flowering prime, but not quite frozen just yet. Should I keep them in their pots and trim back the main stems, or shake them out and air dry the roots for transplant next year? I've heard that they are saveable but have never tried it before, usually ended up buying more new in the Spring. This is a new adventure for me. They were beautiful pots when in bloom. Can anybody help?

Al

Al,
If they are seasonal types I would just take them in and trim back a little and see what happens. In ME they have never survived but you can always try.

Hi Al You can do it both ways from what I'm reading on another forum. I have one my sisiter wants me to try to save and I left it in the pot. they say just water once a month until sprinig.

Here's the link to the thread where someone asked about overwintering geraniums

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1043864/

And I read if you manage to overwinter them they will be bigger and bloom more

Thanks Ladies. I was looking, but you saved me about two hours of browsing around! I think you've pretty much said it.

Al

I overwintered some of my geraniums last year and they did fine. I took a couple of cuttings off mama and they are doing great. I kept mine in GH, heated to approx 40. Temp goes down a bit lower than that when it is really cold (I didn't want to go outside and turn heat up - too cold for me, too.)

I dug up some geraniums and put them in a shed. Well, it was cold and damp in there because it leaks, and they got all moldy. So I tossed those out. Here it is a year later, and the shed still leaks. Errrr.....

HI Lynn welcome to our place on DG. DH is fixing to turn a shed into a greenhoues for me now his boss has finally went to FL as of this morning. It leaks in one spot he thought he would get away with leaving it that way but was told nicely to fix it.

Glad to help AL took me a few minutes to remember where I saw that thread but I found it.

Hi Everyone

Ridesredmule and Charley have started us a Gothic garden thread. Come join us for some 'dark' humor. Here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1051108/

I think I am going to have to sign off for tonight girls. Talk to you all tomorrow.
Night.

night

Good morning all... raining here again...least we did get the yard mowed...I dont know where any more water is going to go...we are all filled up already...Hope you all have a nice day...Im spending mine sorting thru seeds trying to finish up any active trades I have open...separating some for the piggy swap...are you guys participating in that this year... This will be my first year, I think I am totally unprepared...

I was signed up for it, but I think I am just going to step out quietly. I just have too much going on to do it this time. Maybe next year, I am in another one for Thanksgiving that a trade friend invited me to join. But it sounds like a lot of fun huney. Raining here today- boohoo. Wanted to go outside and "play" today.

Al, I rcvd the mags yesterday. thank you so much. Let me know what I owe you for them. Oh, and I started some of your sunflower seeds. Would you believe they germ'd and sprouted in 3 days!!! I just used my regular mixture of peat moss and potting soil and grow light. Sorry the pic is blurry but you can still see the sprouts.

I know I am thinking of bowing out quietly too..Im tired of seperating seeds all ready ...I like to do personal trades not sure about about all that snorting and oinking lol

But you two would make such cute oinkers - lol. I want to watch the craziness this year and then decide if I have the time to do it next year...

That's what I'm doing watching and learning some stuff I didn't know. Don't know if I'll ever try it but it's fun to see what's going on. Huney you don't have to do it all at once from what they are posting just start out small and see how it goes for you then drop out when you get overwhelmed or just take a break.

They are a lot of fun but so much trouble too . I did one and that was all I wanted of them. You get a lot of nice stuff but I don't think it is worth the time and all the work.

I joined DG last Oct or Nov, and I timidly got in on the Piggy Swap. It didn't take long before I was oinking with the best of them. LOL. I did not have a lot to give, and I received WAY more than I could plant. I shared these extras with friends, and will W/S some more of them this year. It was so much fun to participate in, and then when the BIG box of seeds arrived, it was like Christmas to me.

So please, don't drop out you guys! You can choose how much time you want to spend on it. It was addictive to me, though. It also got me through a rough time in my life. I spent so much time working, that I had no other life - no friends - no time for hobbies - no time for me. Well, that has all changed due to DG, and I spend a lot of time on DG chatting with new friends.

Those seeds that I received from the Piggy Swap grew into beautiful flowers, and now I have a seeds that I can pass along to others, too. This may sound stupid to you guys, but I feel like I was a dormant seed and the Piggy Swap helped me grow and bloom. I was already scarcifed and stratified! Now I am a happy plant!

Lynn, It was good that you found yourself in the swaps. They just aren't my thing.

It's been fun swapping with you folks, I guess I just don't oink that much. It was getting kind of silly, probably why I decided to bow out. We're getting some good quality stuff floating around in our own little group here, enough for me anyway. Likely we'll see more, who's to know.

Glad you all are enjoying the magazines!

Al

We sure do have a great little group, Al. You're so right about that!

I've never seen Sunflowers for Christmas before, Mechelle. Hope it works for you!

Al

These ones stay pretty small don't they Al? I am a newbie, lol.. Never grown sunflowers. But I should have the GH to keep them in for a while. Will they make it until springtime or can I put them outside sooner?

The ones I had given out earlier to many were marked "Small Black Seeded Sunflowers". Yes, they are small for sunflowers, about 3' tall with 3" - 4" flowers. They might grow well in a large container in a greenhouse or warm sunporch. I can't really say for sure because I've never grown them that way here in NY. We usually just toss them outside in the Spring, but you folks have a lot warmer weather than we do. Good Luck, let me know how they work out!

Al

Those are very beautiful, Al . Can't wait to see them. I like them a lot. Will share pics.

Hey, does anyone on here know anything about Crape Myrtle seeds? I have idk, 5 Crapes that are loaded with seeds right now. Are they true to seed? Should I collect them? LMK!

I think they do come true from seed, maybe depending on the cultivar? Mekos might know for sure...

According to everything I know they will come true Mechelle,and yeah I would save the seed if it were me.

I am going to collect them tomorow. Of course the blooms are gone and I don't know which are which.

Thanks flower and kelly

We saw some beautiful Crapes in all colors blooming through Maryland and Delaware while traveling south last summer. What a sight for our road trip! I wish we could grow them in NY, but just too cold here, they'd never survive our winters. They could almost be mistaken for our northern lilacs if one didn't know better.

Al

Pretty Al

We have the same color in our back yard. They are so lush and beautiful in the summer. In the south we always shape them early spring and they seem to benefit from it with fuller foliage and more flowers. Do they do that in the north?

We don't grow Crapes up here, the photo seen here was taken in Maryland last August. Although they look similar, I won't confuse Crapes with Lilacs. They're definately not the same.

Our Lilacs are often trimmed of the outside branches because they tend to split and fall over with heavy blooms and foliage. Well trimmed ones will appear more tree like, rather than bushy. They usually bloom in early to mid-May, a quite spectacular show for early Spring and the scent is overwhelming. Rochester north of here has a famous Lilac Festival worth visiting.

Al

I soooooooo miss lilacs! My mom's house and my grandma's house in Maine have them everywhere! Can't grow them out here - it doesn't get cold enough - lol...

Wow So that's a picture of a lilac and not a crepe? If so they look surprisingly similar.

Oh boy... The picture above is a Crape (crepe?) not a Lilac

Al

LOL It's one of those days Al. Looked like a Crape. (It's an A ) I'm off and so is my brain I guess. Too hot for lilacs here. I've seen them growing once maybe and they reminded me of wisteria.

Well I am going to go out and collect all the seeds in few minutes and just label the baggies tree1, tree2, tree3, etc and try to go back and look at pictures to see which are which. How long will they be good for? When do they have to be planted? Need to find out.

Having a stressssful day. Mommy bird is about to kick the baby bird out of the nest and let him land on his tailfeathers a few times. Kids are so hard headed these days! Going outside to work in the yard and get some much needed therapy.

Oh, got a wonderful book on plant propagation today and it covers evrything from seed starting to greenhouse propagation... can barely put it down!
HAGD e1

i did the same thing mechelle, with the crepe myrtle seeds i forgot which tree has what color i just know i have dark pink, light pink, purple, red, white, lavender, i think that is all i have about 30 trees beautiful in spring time
blondie

Yahoo Blondie I need a white crape mytrle and I think the purple not sure but think I'm getting the lavendar one and have a pink and red one. SO pretty please save me some seeds from the white and purple when you can?