New Bees 10/17/10 friends - new and old...Come on in...

these young men promised me this was only going to take one more day. they did a good thing found a water line that is seaping needs to be fixed. mark will fix ehat for me when these men fenish what they are doing, i hope this is going to be worth all the work and filth in my house, im dreading the clean up may take a month to get it clean and put the house back togeather. and mekos i will remind you love and hugs nettie.

I am sitting here staring at some seeds my neighbor gave me. She gave me two sandwich bags full of seeds given to her by another neighbor. One bag is of oriental poppies and the other are "unidentified" hollyhocks.

mekos ..... could you also slip in some seeds of the one that catches gnats? I buy a lot of fruit and am always bringing in those pesky tiny little fruit gnats with them, even if I leave them outside a bit before bringing them in. I need one of those in my kitchen! :-))

I have the same problem Crit. I've been looking for Sundews and Pitchers locally but the ones I've seen in Lowes haven't looked that great. I'm hoping the nursery will have them lol.

Here is a good link for seed packet templates for the New Bees.
http://www.gardensandcrafts.com/seedpackets.html
When I print the two she offers on that page I switch the layout to landscape so the packets are a wee bit larger.

Also, remember to virus scan any downloads from the interwebs. As my friend says "I have enough pests in the garden, I don't need them on my computer too!"

hi everyone my extra young men are gone and the central heat is up and going strong im thrilled. now for the mess that will just take time and elbow work. im sure you have been there and done that. wish me luck.bill took all the air units out but one thats good. bless his heart he has been using the vaccum for me.and putting his cloths back in the closet that saved me alot of work. i rhink im good to go. now for a good nights sleep .take care love nettie

Did Gardenia cuttings in the gh today;-) Things are lookin' up!

I need to trim my gardenia and try to start some cuttings. How do you do it?

I LOVE the templetes for the seed packets! I'm going to have to print some of those!

You can save them to your computer too. I do that because I often lose bookmarks heh. I think I have downloaded every seedpacket template from the interwebs.

goy all thr day lilys potted up in the greenhouse they should be fine until spring. ill have to build a new bed for them got to find a place for them. dh is going to have a hissy fit. i can live wiyh that. i think. love nettie,

Hey, does anybody know what a macro is?
In the picture contest list is says...

Mushrooms, Fungi, Seeds, Seed pods, Herbs and Grasses 72
Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes and Tubers 97
Macros 78****************
Fruits, Vegetables and Fruit and Vegetable Display 53
Home Gardens
etc.

So what are Macros?

That's those cameras that can take a picture of a Gnat's eyelashes...☺

LOL rrm

macro just means up close and personal shots. Very detailed photos of teeny tiny thingies. Like gnat eyelashes (as stated above by ridesredmule) or bug boogers. Many cameras have macro features and digital SLR cameras have special lens you can buy.

Ah macros .. I've been longing for and drooling over a macro lens for my digital slr for 4 years now.

I know they make for some fantastic pictures.

I've been following this bug photographer and his pictures are amazing. Some of my friends who despise bugs have started following him lol.

I need help. (NO comments! LOL) SOMEWHERE on one of the threads I was on, I promised SOMEONE I would snatch some solid green spider/airplane starts for them, but have lost my list and don't remember who it was! If it is you, or you know who it was, please d-mail me. I have them and would like to send to the person who wanted them. Sometimes I am such a ditz...... whatta ya mean SOMETIMES????? sheesh

Hi Crit that was me :) I'll dmail you

Today I have emailed my favorite nursery and asked about carnivorous plants. They are 40 minutes away from where I live and I don't drive, so I've been putting it off.

Tomorrow I need to pick up some potting soil for my store bought lemongrass. I put it in water a week ago and now it's loaded with roots.

Thanks for the macro info. Now i have another question or 3,lol

1st how can i make potting soil from homemade items. could i use like shredded paper dry leaves broken packing peanuts and dirt?

and how can i get my cuttings to grow roots faster? I hear about make tea from a weeping willow, but is it really tea or do you soak the branches for a day?
i've been wanting to buy this stuff but don't have the money for it so i'm looking for a free alternative to these items
any ideas?

TY
Elaine

I'm not sure about making soil from stuff around the house, but you could ask on your local freecycle or craigslist and see if anyone has any they no longer need.

Robin and probably mekos and rrm know about the willow tea. You soak the branches but I do not remember the details;o)

mekos can you rent or buy a small propane tank you could run a small heater with a small tank of gass i thought you might already have a gass cook stove or some gass heat in your home thost heaters are not that hard to find. you can get them just about any where. lots of people heat there homes with them. one of the nursies over on the other side of the county heats with wood.. and uses the wood ash to grow some real nice plants. hope you find a good solution dh helped with myne. get your men to help you with this love and hugs nettie.

We've got lots and lots of tree leaves here in western NY. I've been chopping them up with my mulch mower and spreading them about 6" deep in my annual garden. They're tilled under in the Spring to really loosen up the soil, better nitrogen than using a lot of chemicals to fertilize. Garden is pretty well cleaned up and done in until Spring, just a few houseplants left over. Bought a new Amaryllis for Christmas.

Al

I went to a Lowes, they had amaryillis in there growing out of the boxes. I always want to rescue them all. Poor things. They want to grow and bloom so much. got my little gh stuffed got to go and clean it up and get rid of some leaves on the brugs. Look at the water too.

Wow! - Found my original 2 oz. bottle of Shutz's Rootone hormone, laying around for 5 or 6 years or so! It's probably worth a couple hundred bucks by now, can't seem to buy it anywhere. I think the ENCON police snatched them up a while back. I wonder if it's even useable?

Al

Shake it up real good and use it AL.

What am I shaking here? This stuff looks kind of powdery.

Al

Crit, your gardenia cuttings are simple to do. You can root cuttings just about any time of year as long as the temperature is kept at at least 70*. As long as it hasn't lost leaves or gone dormant (depending on what type you have) you should be able to root from from the newer growth cuttings or softwood cuttings. Just dip in root hormone and keep the soil moist, not drenched, and it should root for you. Hope that helps!

Knock, knock...anyone home?? Guess who finally paid their dues?? Me, me...I did, I did!

Hi Nettie..did you miss me??
Al, New York tomatoes do not like the Oklahoma heat...they are a no go here! I got great vines but the tomato was about the size of a golf ball, and there were only 2 on one plant, none on the other. They bloomed a little but not like they should...not Okie friendly! So there is the 'mater update.

Did I see someone from Sand Springs on here? I have family there, kinda distant family but family all the same. Kinda like y'all, my garden family, you are kinda distant but I love you all the same. (Except RRM, she throws poo at me)

She needs the poo to fertilize her plants☺☺ Hey, Girl that Vick's plant is looking good. I put it in a hanging basket. Love the scent. Bonk!!!!! Got you with a donkey do, ha ha, he he!!! The poos on thee......

My store bought lemongrass has rooted and has been planted. I have a few newer stalks that need a few more days to root.
The thyme has also started to root.

Thanks Mechelle. I'm going to give it a try. Do the Hibiscus the same way?

I went to Lowes, but they didn't have the plants marked down very much. Had several varigated spider plants with lots of babies I wanted, kind of wind blown, but they wouldn't mark it down anymore. Was a young kid in the garden center .... he may not have the authority. I couldn't bring myself to 'snatch' a baby. LOL Maybe someone around here will have one they can send me a couple starts of.

Yes ENID ... I am from Sand Springs. I've worked here about 5 years but we just moved here last December. We are out by the lake.

tiki .... tell me what lemongrass is

Thanks.
Patti

It's an herb that has a sort of lemony taste to it. I'm not familiar with what it's used for except I have a box of tea that has it.

Crit, since you are sending me the Green, I can send you some variegated after the holidays. Dmail me and I'll mark it down.

I'm always tempted to snatch a spider baby. I resist it because I'm afraid to be yelled at lol. I went to Home Depot last week and found two babies that had fallen off. I handed them to the gal who was working and she told me to take them lol. One didn't survive but the other did.

Sounds like a plan. Yours went out today.

enid i thought you probly did smothing bad and got thrown in jail i wasn,t looking foward to that love and hugs nettie yes i missed you.

elaine check out the texas rose rustlers web site they did have the way to make the willow tea posted im thinking you have to use a hammer on it and boil it slso but i can,t remember. i think it may be in with my rose starting book.nettie

This message was edited Nov 8, 2010 10:53 PM

I make my willow tea by boiling some of the smaller limbs. I just cut them up and stick them in a big pot of water and boil for about 10 minutes. When it cools I put sticks and all in a gallon jar and water the willow starts with it. It works for me.

I have spider babies too Crit if you need some...they are just hangin' there waiting for a home.

Our Lowes sucks, they will only mark things down so far and then throw them away. If they didn't keep the dumpster in a locked area I would be up there every night saving those poor little plants.

Thanks for the poo RRM, it landed on my head!

Anytime, SIS. i enjoyed throwing it. Keeps my old bones limber picking it up and arms going by throwing. ☺