Plant Propagation part XXV based on my own experience

OK, I went to the dentist on Monday and got antibiotics for the infection, and today I had a doctor's appt. I got back too late to accomplish anything here, so I will try for tomorrow.

We had a black lab that would fake a sore paw to get attention...clever dog he was. (Years ago...also he used to dig up my hosta so many times I did not plant any again until he passed away as he dug up the same ones over and over.)

Sorry, no more news, except it rained all day.

Well, tomorrow, if the creek don't rise, the garage will be done. I worked on it with helper from 10am to 5pm. 1/2 hour for lunch. Down to the drawers and two work table tops.

I have been working on this for over two months. I am ready to move on to something else.

We are still in the high 60s but moving down fast later in the week. I watched the national news this morning and watched all the stranded motorists. Wow, what a storm,

JB, ignore Jnette. With weather like that you have all the reason to complain. Please be careful.

Linda, that puppy sounds adorable but puppies are a lot of work. You had better give that one some thought.

Japanese Maples are a tree I absolutely covet. But they will not survive the heat here. I have tried two different times. Both trees were both beautiful in the spring and fried in the summer.

Dawn, I am with you. Cannot believe this beautiful weather but a change is "comin".

Dave I hope you beast whatever is trying to best you down.

I am heading off to bed because I have a big day ahead of me.

Later, Sharon.

Evelyn, so glad you finally went to the Dentist. Now the doctor. Where is the infection? We double posted. Sharon.

Morning everyone!

This wind is brutal.......temps in the 20's wind chill in the really low numbers. 35 mph winds and it is almost too much to go out in. I walked Barney and fed the cats and for the first time in years, my ears were cold. I did not have a hat on, brain dead me, I did not realize the wind was so strong. Oh well, this is what we are stuck with and no sense moaning because we can not change it.
A coastal storm is due Sunday..great, the tree business was almost half of what it was last year and everyone here is dying with leftover trees. We are not even bringing any in this week. I sold one wreath and one cemetery cone., The neighbor down the road, has at least 50 trees left and lots of brave blankets etc. The other person we know who usually sells out like we used to, has at least 150 trees left. That is a lot of trees to have to chop up. All in all, we are lucky. The farmers in Florida are loosing their crops due to the cold weather. Can you imagine what an orange will cost this winter..There is no end to this problem.
My friends in the horse business are all complaining because of the price of hay and straw and feed have gone up so much they have to move some of their stock. Most of these kind of horses are not the kind you want to try and sell to individuals, they are worth thousands of dollars and the only way you get your money out of them if they are insured and they die.
Otherwise, horse sales are the only option, and they are over for this year around here.
The gas price here in NJ is now $3.85.......which is 20 cents higher than a month ago.
So that is the news from the East Coast. I am off to town to do some errands and then when I return I am going to pack up all the Christmas stuff and get it ready to put away for another year. I am not making another wreath this year. LOL
The greenhouse is only 65 deg. the sun is shining but the wind is so cold I can not get it any warmer until the sun really comes up. The heaters ran all night and the temp went down to 45 at one point.
You all stay well and warm. Hope our darling Dave is o.k. Evelyn there is nothing worse than a toothache. I hope you are going to be able to get the infection under control soon.
I know you are all feeling some sort of discomfort with this crazy weather, but hang in there because summer is coming and it will be hot and dry again so we can loose more crops.
YES JENETTE, I AM BREAKING MY WORD. SO WHAT ? How is your Amee? Did all the leave fall off, every gardenia I own lost leaves in the past week, they are not getting enough sun. Not a thing I can do about it. I fed them MG yesterday and Fish the week before. But, if I can just keep them alive til Spring, they will come back.
Barney is doing so well, I am afraid to mention it. He runs and chases those cats like a young dog. I am so lucky that he is the way he is at his age.
Hang in there, I will return.................whether you like it or not. LOL JB

moaning...
well today we are suposed to hit 50 wahooo.
I really do hate those artic freight trains out of alaska... they knock the snot out of me and what do we have coming???? yep you guessed it...

well its back to bed... Hope I can sleep
Dave

I just read the post I sent you guys this morning and I apologize for the length of it, plus the price of gas is $2.85 not $3.85. I was in a hurry and did not proof it before I sent it. Lesson learned. JB

Well, all of you with greenhouses better have some orange trees - if you are able to keep your GH warm, that is.

I am sorry to learn of such horrid weather even before it is "officially" winter, though in actuality it is here! My son is in FL. I don't even know if he owns a heavy jacket. Usually they are not needed there, but there was some cold weather there last year, though not this early, a lot of growers lost their crops, though some were protected by an adequate sprinkling system going through the night. I am sure they stayed up all night, as they did this year. It is worse this year and with little warning.

I hope everyone stays warm and has adequate alternative heating if your power goes out. We have a wood stove. Otherwise if somehow we ran out of wood, we would huddle under the covers, and take turns running to the BR and for food. We have Aladdin lamps and plenty of reading material. I re-checked out of the library all the propagation books they had, esp. the "Growing From Seed" - titles. (5) Varying opinions, so a lot of notes to take as per usual. One is from T&M and I already have the Park's book at home. I made lots of mistakes last year, mainly letting things dry too much as when I wasn't feeling well, I just did not pay strict attention. I am committed to keeping my health better this year, though sometime we don't always have everything under control. I should get a thermostat and better heat mats. I wonder if you can use the same one for both? Who has experience with this issue? I think that was part of the problem...

Dave ~ How do you handle this? Or do you have anything on heat? What happens if the power goes out?

Sharon ~ Do you have a nice warm jacket? You are not used to the cold and after warm weather it can be surprisingly chilling. Now you don't catch a cold, do you hear me? (A ounce of prevention....)

Keep warm as you can everyone. You, too, Linda! You are another one who needs to be especially cautious, as you mostly have warm weather year round. Dawn, I think you are prepared as you get your share of frost there, even though you are in Southern CA.

OK....just 10 days more....'til the BIG DAY!

howdy:

now for the $10 question exactly why/how does running the sprinklers keep the strawberries, oranges and other crops from going bad from the freezing weather?

oh oh oh I know this one ...shhhh

everyone made fun of me in sarasota florida when I wore my heavy jacket out on the grounds crew. it gets cold enough down there a few days out of the year to warrnent the space in the closet for the coat. it cuts to the bone as its high humidity cold.

ok for heat mats. they make a thermostat for the soil where you can dial in the temp you want for the mats. the 50 ft or less cables come with a built in thermostat but i worry about them. I will be trusting them this year just because I don't have the extra money for the multi cable controller. single controlls run about 35.00 plus shipping.
I do run my prop cart without any controlers but i also watch the moisture level on my plants. they need to be checked if you don't have the controller
at the moment I don't have any heat but a 60 watt bulb on a timer to run all night, as well as some jugs of water as a passive heat storage. they are best painted black and not on the ground or against anything that can be a source to rob any heat there to the outside. against the wall of the outside is a big nono. you need some space to allow the cold to disapate and not tap into the jugs. When I rebuild I am planning on doing a concrete or gravel floor to hold any heat it can and help keep the warmth in.
I hope this helps
Dave

ok Dave, I'll bite!, believe it or not, the ice is actually an insulator from the cold. as long as the ice is blanketing the leaves and branches, the temperature cannot go below 32, but without the ice cover it when it is windy, the temps can drop much further and do more damage to the plants. ( kind of sounds like an oxymoron, but it is real) I also learned that it is better to use an old woolen blanket to wrap a tender shrub than it is plastic because it gets colder under the plastic than the wool.

I didn't go outside today. The temps never went above 35, but I got up with one of those migraines that start behind the eyes and camp there. I just can't lay around and sleep anymore so I thought I would check in here to see how everyone is doing.
I'm going back to bed, but i will check in again tomorrow.
Sea ya.

oh, the puppy is a no go....... hubby won't budge.

LOL, JB, do you need a guard dog? : ) Are you afraid of me? : ) Don't you ladies worry, that JB can take care of herself. No, she doesn't need a restraining order Dawn, and she can yell her head off all she wants.

I didn't feel sorry for her until she said their gas was $3.85 per gallon!! And then guess what? LOL

Evelyn I am glad you are on the anti-biotics. Hope they help.

I had no idea the JMs could not take heat. That really surprised me.

Well, I can't knock the weather here except we got stuck yesterday at the bottom of the driveway. Even with the 4 wheel drive. Bob had to dig us out. It is getting cold again.

That crazy dog of ours. Bob brought a dog home from his mom's that is fiber glass or something, and our dog just noticed it. Barked her fool head off until Bob went and got it and showed it to her. She never barks at anything.

Evelyn, I do not own a heavy coat but my car is parked inside the garage and any front door of anywhere I go is not to far away from the car. My SUV also has seat warmers. About the only time I get cold is when I go into the fresh fruit area at Costco.

I took the dogs for their walk after dark with a sweat shirt on and it was not cold. No Jnette, I did have on other clothes.

JB, you can talk as long as you want. We will listen. Sounds like a bad year for Christmas trees and weather in your area.

Linda, no doggy may not be a bad thing. I am so sorry about the migraine. I have never had one but my mother got them all the time.

The trees started dumping leaves last night so it is getting cooler. I am just about done with the garage. I actually am about 95% complete but my handyman has a "very large saw" in the garage to fix a french door window cross section. Each day I keep adding things to do to his list. He has another job next week so I only have another day but I have got tons of the honey do list done.

Evelyn, what did the doctor say? How are you feeling?

Dave, please get well soon.

I am going to a nursery tomorrow with the HOA landscape lead guy. We are purchasing new roses, 25, for the front area. They will all get planted next week. This will be the first time I have been out of the neighborhood since Friday, I think. lol....

We were 58 today but no sun. But I was in the garage except when I walked the dogs. No wind so all was fine. I am watching Good Wife from last night and typing this so it has taken me over 30 minutes so I have probably cross post.

Later dear friends. Sharon

Never even thought of that Sharon. Sorry I would have disappointed you.

We have the cold temps you do JB, but not the winds. I could not stand the winds. That is what is so darned cold. You guys everywhere east of us are really getting hit. And south. We have another one coming in this week I believe. I am sue glad Bob is home to take care of it. It is bad enough to have the snow etc. but I just hate the feeling of no wheels. Sounds like nothing really doesn't it?

And to have all those crops not selling, and the ones in the south freezing, that is so sad. People's livlihoods at stake here. JB, what do you do about the trees? They aren't cut are they? So what they will have is one more year's growth on them? Or?

Linda, I understand the wool vs plastic to put around plants. But, what if the wool gets wet and then thaws, then freezes etc. back and forth all winter?

Did any of you wintersow anything this year? After last year trying it, I didn't. I had way too many seedlings to plant this year. I am thinking I am going to go with just dahlias and begonias next year. That is in containers on my deck. Do you think I can keep myself from planting seeds of other stuff? I always love petunias to plant. Maybe fillers. Wish I had seeds for the Euphorbia I like so well. I know it starts real easy from cuttings but don't know if there are seeds for it or not. Diamond Frost.

GOOD MORNING CAMPERS.....
I am feeling a bunch better the antibiotics took hold and the bug is on its way out.....

Linda I am so sorry you are dealing with the worst of the worst. its like you just want to drill a hole in the head to let the pressure off.

When i went with mom to take her scotty Daisy to the vets office they had a sign..."any unattended children will be given a shot of espresso and a new puppy" .... I love that one....

Ok 1st JM can take heat they need a cold spell to balance out the issue. we hit over 100 degrees here and they don't really like it but they do live. I know they wont tolerate florida either so Linda i am sorry but still a no go for your gardens. I wish we could invent one to take the hot with no cold and high humidity.

The sprinklers running on plants cause ice to form the formation of ice creates heat through its action thus the temp never reaches much below the 32 degree mark. physics at work...well thats what I was once told and it made sense to me.

well its time to finish up the HO HO express. and get my box ready to ship.

ta ta for now
Dave

Jeanette: Most of the growers have crop insurance to cover this situation. The people that get hit the hardest are the migrany workers who follow the harvest. the big places just till it all back into the ground.

Euphorbia hypericifolia 'Inneuphdia' Diamond Frost - is part of the proven winners brand as well as holding patents in 2007 so we have a lot of years before we can propagate them.
I did look to see if I might get lucky and find some seeds for you but no go. you might look on ebay and I will look in my bag of seeds as for some reason I think I may have a few seeds I bought last year. Its funny I never remember what I have or don't have untill I look.
Dave

Do you think they are putting out seeds on them Dave? 2007 is about right. Think I first saw them 3 years ago. How long is a patent good for? I don't want to reproduce any for anyone else. Just myself. But $3+ a crack for filler plants is a lot when you have to start with good size plants in our short season.

Oh well.

Good grief it's snowing again!!

edited to add that we have put out $200 so far for snow plowing the driveway and it isn't even winter yet!! Don't tell me to find someone else. He is the only one who will come down here, and that is why he charges so much. AND, I have a snowblower that pulls itself, but my driveway is pretty steep and it is too much work for the old man Bob!

This message was edited Dec 16, 2010 11:30 AM

Ouch thats steep ... for snow plowing. almost sounds like a small tractor would help a lot... ah but you know me I like the toys and any reason to get a new one...

I think the patents run 20 years. I have spotted a few brother plants to the diamond frost or you could order a flat of plugs.

Four star has them in 84 and 168 cell trays. there is a seller on ebay selling trays that look like they are straight out of harris's catalog. I think he is just doing a so much a flat for profit. neat trick if it doesn't all blow up on him.... I will try to get the link for you so you can see if maybe he could get you a tray. The big issue will be the proven winners and patent royalties but it should be less that 2 buks a plug, I would think.

well its time to nap
Shot tomorrow so I don't know if I will be online or not
Dave

here is his link ...
http://shop.ebay.com/sohappy64/m.html

I know I am ordering a bunch but from one grower and they don't do them or I would offer to add them on to my order.

I hope this helps
Dave

I missed it. What is "Diamond Frost"?

Peg, it's a Euphorbia. Tiny white flowers on nice greenery I use it for fillers in my containers. But that's a lot of plants. I couldn't find a place to ask the seller if they would plant them.

Dave, have you ever gotten plugs that were cuttings rather than seeds? They are almost twice the price. What is the survival rate of plugs have you figured it up at all? Is there a difference in survival between one grower and another?

They have a bigger selection than the farm in NC where Lee got her plants last year.

thanks Jnette. I think I've seen them planted in hanging baskets with geraniums.
If it is evergreen and survives the winter, it's the plant for me.

Morning, checking in before I leave for town. I am all but ready for Christmas, Thank God. I am going to start wrapping today.

Cleaned up my floral arranging workshop yesterday before it snowed, yes it snowed.
I am putting all the Christmas Stuff away. No sense making another thing. Sales are so bad I just decided to close it. We did not order any more trees for this weekend, the last weekend we are open, and hopefully we sell what we have left over. This was not a good season, but we are blessed in other ways and so we can not complain.

The snow was light, they are predicting another on Sunday, so here we go. LOL Have a good weekend and stay warm. JB

Wow, do you normally close up shop this early JB? I thought there would be people still buying this week. Or are you saying they can buy what you have in stock? That's good.

Have a good day in town,

Jeanette:
the guy on ebay is a wholesaler of sorts. you might ask him if he does small trays like 36 or 51's. The survival rate for me is something like 90%. you have to expect to loose a few. I have had success with both. a rooted plug or liner are basically the same animal just a we bit of difference.
I got a huge catalog from the growers again this year. I am ordering abot 3000 plants which I will pot up into 3.5" pots. I talked myself out of doing baskets as there is not enough profit to make it worth the effort.

We are suposed to get an accumulation of snow out in the pan handle but nothing here maybe a few drops thats it.

I just got back from my shot and I am down for the day

see everyone tomorrow. 2 different kinds of lala land drugs.

Nighty night
Dave

Sharon ~ Thanks for the good wishes. I am feeling better. Yesterday was the last sunny day and for a week or two going forward it is supposed to rain and/or snow off and on. And so on through to the new year. I finally pulled out my tomato plants out of the square foot gardens, as they were a frozen mess. There was still ice in the soil, but not everywhere. When I emptied the wheelbarrow, there was ice still in there as well. I think it will be a long, cold winter. At least it is certainly starting out that way. We missed "Indian Summer"! (Oh, well...)Sharon, I really do not know when your plant will be shipped. should I send the seeds right away? Do you plan to winter sow? (You might need to put that mystery plant in part shade from the heat of the afternoon shade, or filtered sun, otherwise full sun and well-drained soil.)

Jeanette ~ Does that Euphorbia stand the cold weather, or is it just a seasonal annual?

Dave ~ I found some thermostats for heat mats on sale at Thompson and Morgan. They are now half price and I am getting two of them. Here is the link:
http://www.tmseeds.com/product/3794/Shop_Garden_Seed_On_Sale

JB ~ I am so sorry about your horrid weather. I am glad though that you will be able to get inside where it is warm. Not good weather for outdoor business. When I had my nursery and it snowed, I just closed up. I could barely keep warm enough in the office to do paper work. It just was not worth it, so I took it home. The roads are always dicey here, as more and more new people from "non-snow" areas come up here. They see the commercials on TV where they just glide right through the snow in all the latest vehicles. That is not reality. People drive too fast and too close for my comfort. 9 times out of 10, the ones who pass me up will be on the side of the road stuck due to foolish driving. It was hard enough to learn it myself, but I never got stuck on the side of the road, even when I had a rear-wheel drive vehicle. Sometimes it might have taken more than one try to make it up a certain hill, but that's about it. I just freak out when someone is tailgaiting me on icy roads. It's just not fair! (Yeah, I know, "Who said life is fair?)

Jeanette ~ I am glad that Bob is home. And I know that the snow-blowing service is worth every penny, if you two are unable to do it. Sometimes we need to face the reality of what winter preparations we need to have in store, including that service for you.

Linda ~ You are right about the wool...air pockets keep the insulation. Dave once suggested to me some space blankets. I would put them over those inexpensive emergency blankets that you see everywhere in stores, then the blanket can stay dry. It is just a matter of anchoring them well, especially if it is windy. I used that method last year when I had some seedlings on the back porch. I took them off the shelves and onto the table so I could fasten the blankets in place as it was 17° for a couple of days after the bad snowstorm where we lost power for a few days.

Well I must get busy. Many, many things need to be done. Keep warm and dry everyone.

Jeanette: Thompson and morgan has sumer icicle euphorbia
http://www.tmseeds.com/product/Euphorbia-Marginata-Summer-Icicle/Shop_Perennial_Flower_Seed

Evelyn (out of the garden due to weather), I couldn't figure out what size the heat mat at tmseeds.com is.

Dave, those are so pretty but aren't they the same as Snow on the Mountain? There is so much of it around here and people either maintain it and it looks so nice or they don't and cuss it out. It sure does look like it and I just love it. The info does not say the hardiness zone.

Evelyn, that is a tremendous buy on the thermostats. My daughter bought me a mat and thermostat several years ago for my birthday and I use it every year for my seeds. Starting with the tomato seeds. Please don't get me started on seeds. It is much too early, about 4 months too early here, and I am an addict over them.

90% is pretty good Dave. But I still do not need that many plants of one kind. Peg, no, I do not know the hardiness of the Diamond Frost Euphorbia, but that one Dave just showed is very pretty. Not for the same thing like fillers in containers tho. Maybe permanent containers. Now either one might be good for your area. Not too sure. Also, I have such a short growing season that they almost have to be fully grown when I plant them for me to get much good out of them.

Jeanette ~ I just happened to see them, as I was being advised that my current plan was not the best one. I, initially, did not want to lay out the money until I was sure that i would follow through and start so many seeds. Well last year I had them in my bedroom, dowstairs bathroom, basement and on shelves on the cold back porch. So one location to start them, and then to move them to the cool basement or onto the bathroom. Others to start outside in the cold, including cuttings, which actually rooted!

Peg ~ Yes, I had a problem with that as well I got the seedling mats at Stokes Seeds. they give you the sizes and prices. They had several different sizes. (Yes, I will be "out_ofthegarden" for quite a while now...) I'll have to do my gardening indoors, right after Christmas. I hope to start on the Winter Solstice this year...whoops, that is BEFORE Christmas...oh well! Is it the 21st or the 22nd this year? Maybe I can start something by then. Many like to have a head start.

Gotta' go now. Back to the "Piggy Swap". I need to get these in the mail. I just checked on those seedling mats and thermostats. All the other websites had the thermostats at full price and that is why I got two of them. I got the mats at Stokes since they had the sizes, and the prices were better too. I got the 9" X 19.5" size.
Here is the link: http://www.stokeseeds.com/product.aspx?ProductID=48427&search=heat+mat

LOL, Evelyn!! You are doing the piggy swap? That's funny. How are you doing with it? I did it last year and it was so much work I swore I would never do it again. A friend said there are a lot of new people in it this year. Is this your first year? It was fun, but oh so much work and right at Christmas. Good grief, I had seeds everywhere!!

And then I did the Wintersowing bit. Thought they would never come up. Mine were not big enough to transplant until so late I was done for the summer. If I had more sun it would have better. Also, we didn't have any snow for insulation.

Well we have had rain all day. Very cloudy. Looks like Seattle. This weather is suppose to be here all week.

I cleaned the kitchen today. Made pancakes and eggs for breakfast, cooked a porterhouse and made some pasta sauce. I had to cook the porterhouse because I thawed it out and it was going to go bad if I did not cook it.

Took me about 4 hours to clean the kitchen but I really cleaned it. Cleaned the stove top, did four wool rugs from the kitchen. Did everything but steam clean the floor. I will do that tomorrow.

My dryer has a steam refresh setting. So I vacuum the rugs, then throw them in the dryer on steam/refresh, one at a time. The dust from the dogs and myself completely is released into the dryer and the vent. Between each rug I vacuum the dryer and clean the filter. Then when all four are done I take about 15 minutes and completely clean the dryer. Sounds crazy but it really cleans the rugs and does not harm them and saves my shoulder.

As soon as it clears, in about a week, I need to dig up a section in the front landscape to plant my "Blue Bulbs". Not a new bed just a smaller one being made larger. LOL.

Went to the Nursery yesterday with the HOA landscape company and purchased 70 new rose bushes. Then I went to Target to get Baby Luke a San Diego Chargers sweat shirt. Found one and there was very few people there. Then last stop was Whole Foods. Only spent $40 there so you kn ow I did not buy much. But I did get some uncured pork belly bacon. I am going to do something with that tomorrow. I also purchased a smoked pork shank. About one pound. Should make a nice small pot of beans taste good. I think I will make small white bean soup.

Evelyn, I cannot tell you what I am going to do about planting seeds. I have so many things to do I must be crazy to think I can get them all done. But the garage is complete except for cleaning the floor. I was going to do that today but woke up to rain. My handyman and his son were here for three hours today. Probably two more days of both of them and our home will be totally tuned up.

Hannah is flying in tonight from Hawaii. She will be home for two weeks and then back to BYU Provo for next semester. Provo is getting snow big time so it should be quite an adjustment for her.

Dave I hope your shot helps.

JB I hope you had a great trip into town. The economy is stopping some people from getting a tree.

I am ready to garden. We really do not get too cold here but we really get windy in the winter.

Later all my friends. Sharon.

I type to long. Cross post.

I WS in Feb. sometimes late Jan. through March. I tried something but as it got cold, they seemed to have disappeared.
I'm with Dave, Alaskan storms suck. We have the Pineapple express now, and it will be raining for almost 5 days off an on potentially. Poor Ev.

It started raining sometime it the wee hours of the morning and it almost sounded like sleet hitting the roof. Thank goodness it isn't. It is just cold rain, so I am curled up in my comfies and beginning to plan what I will winter sow somewhere between the winter solstice and january and february. I have so many seeds to plant and I didn't get near enough done last year because of the asthma so this year, I plan to start while it is cool and I can actually work at it.

I really like that euphorbia, it looks as though it would be hard to grow from seeds though.

I didn't get into the piggy swap here, but heaven help me I got into several round robins at the other garden site. most of them don't have to be there until after christmas though so I can take my time and package them as I get to them.

Those of you who are wintersowing, what kinds of containers are you using? we don't have enough milk cartons to even dream of planting more than a couple of things............

sea ya

Morning everyone:
It sounds like you might be able to put together a tray of the diamond frost or the other one I showed. The nice thing about the guy on ebay has a one tray min not like the big places. has anyone asked to see if he can get the diamond euphorbia?The other option is to put together a small order from one of the other growers.
if anyone is interested in spliting trays let us know. I don't think any one really wants to do a full blown co-op. I also know I am ordering carry flats, 1801's and some hanging baskit's so let me know if anyone needs any supplies so i can work out the logistics. Please include your email and anything you might like to order. so I can let you know what I am planning to get My delivery request will be the 1st of april
I have a lot to get done between now and then. clean up the patio area, remove the old veggies, build my winter hoop houses, lower the soil line by 3 - 6" buy heat cables and install them under a thin layer of gravel or the neat stuff I used to firm up the walk ways in the nursery. oh yea I also need to finish the ground cloth installation. I still have a pretty large sheet of the ground cloth to put down.
I am expecting to get a bit over 2000 planted for spring sales My price point will be $1.85 on the 3.5" and I am not sure on the baskets because i may just have to do gifts to family here in tulsa. still tossing the basket idea around.

well its time for a quick nap and then family is due in from kims side...dirty santa and a nice visist with everyone

chat with you soon
Dave

Sharon what do you charge an hour to do all that cleaning? I would hire you but I don't think you could stand the cold up here. It was really icy when I got up this morning. I was afraid to go out on the deck to feed the birds so had to have Bob do it. The blue jays were eating all the food away from the chickadees and nuthatches. Guess I need to get some suet out there. Maybe make up some more too. In this cold weather they need the fat.

I will take a look at the ebay stuff today Dave if I have time. So far no luck on the Diamond Frost. I know they are easy to start from cuttings but I would love to have some seed. By the time the plants get here in the nurseries it is too late to take cuttings and get any size to them before it is time to start puting them away for winter.

Well, Bob is going to take a turkey out of the freezer to start brining. Guess I had better go clean out the refrigerator. I don't know how big the turkey is. Maybe I better find that out first. Has anyone tried Ma Vie's recipe for brining the bird? I was just looking at it in my recipe file and she says she uses the turkey frozen to start brining. In other words, she thaws it in the brine. Unless I am reading it wrong. Let me know if any of you have.

Gotta go start the refrigerator. ttyl,

I am here for a brief moment only. I had to look up what someone wanted in the Piggy Swap (on the "other" site).

Sharon ~ I can wait and send your seeds later as well as the plant, OK? I am not sure if I have any new blue bulbs, I did not know about those.

Jeanette ~ Yes - this is the first, and may be the only "Piggy Swap" I will do. I wanted to get rid of some of my seeds. If only I stuck to that, but I became a real first-class "piggy"! I told Steve I was getting rid of a lot of seeds. I did not, however, tell him how many that were coming in...LOL!!

Linda ~ I did not know that there was a "Piggy Swap" here, too! Thank goodness I did not see it!

Well, it looks as though we are having a week or two of cold wind and rain, though possible snow later on, but rain for now. There has been no predicted break in the weather at all, with the exception of a light/heavy mix of rain and wind...so calming, then pow!

I must get back to feeding many piggies...LOL!!

~ Evelyn

My best seed starting is in these frozen yogurt cuts, with the to go lids, that are clear bubble lids. I use water bottles mostly though in the past. I have had great success with cardboard ice cream containers because I don't have to transfer the plant, I put the container in the ground or in a pot or container and the container degrades and the plant has little disturbance. when it is early I push out the top of the lid and save the ring, put a semi transparent grocery bag over the container or plastic and push the ring over it with some vent holes. I also found out those big oatmeal containers are great too. The lids are heavy plastic and the bottoms degrade.

Just when I thought things were settling down. Well, today one of my customers told me the Yellow Christmas Cactus they bought was in fact blooming and it was fuchsia. Can you imagine. How did I do that. I am so careful and I could just scream. I tried to write to everyone who purchased Yellow and told them to contact me if they turn out to be another color. I refunded the money for the cactus and told them I would send them one in the Spring. I am so angry. I must have mixed them up when I was being upset over the Stress Test. By the way, that little session cost over $11,000. And, $595 to read the report. I hope my insurance paid for it. Who said this is the season to be jolly? JB

If that only happens once in a blue moon, don't let it worry you or upset you. Every business in the world has a mistake or error some times. This is obviously not the norm for you. The stress test bill would beat that any day. You did what you can to make it right.

JB ~ It does not pay to get angry...it costs!

Dawn, Sharon & Jeanette ~ I am almost through with my first "Piggy Swap"! I am giving bonus seeds to all who wanted any from me as well I am putting seeds on their wish lists, of what I have, that is...I tried to keep it simple, but it was like a runaway train....who...hoo...!! I am doing this only because I have so many seeds, though most of the seed I have is old. I may actually throw some away, or if I think they are bad, I could W/S them and if they come up fine, if not, fine...not too much effort. The only problem is just getting them outside...LOL! (Or the problem might be - getting evelyn outside...Rain, mud, wind, snow, whatever, there is always going to be something out there in the winter. I just need to bundle up and get some pots and/or jugs ready for W/S'ing. Then I will have so many seedlings that I cannot plant. I suppose that is better than not enough, though not likely with me...LOL!! It is just that all my soil isn't mixed yet for so many, and I could not get everything onto the back porch in time, as I did last year. I though it would be better to keep everything in the garden...big mistake!

Well, I am almost through, so I must finish this so it can be mailed tomorrow.

Have a nice evening everyone, and congrats Sharon on finishing your garage! Wow, that was a lot of work!

~ Evelyn