OK, Who let the dawgs out?!!
Happy New Year everyone!
So, its time to take the lights down, pay the bills, do taxes, clean up the place...
I guess tomorrow Im gonna water the indoor plants.
Can you beleive it 2 days ago we had 59 degrees for New years Eve... now the other shoe fell. So hows bayou?
Ok, out with the old...(we came from here!)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1110596/
Dont know about ya'll, but Im dragging my wagon... this trudging in the tundra has got me thinking spring.
I followed your footprints over here to the new garage Blossom. I thought people would cut back on the outside Christmas lights down here, but there were more than there usually are for some reason. I think they decorate so much down here because the weather makes it easy to spend the time to do so. You're right though Blossom. You don't need lots of excess lighting to put you in the holiday spirit. So much of the holiday spirit comes from within.
It's gonna be mid/upper 70's with lows in the 60's all this coming week. No strong cold front until next weekend, at the earliest. Need to get some weeding done and tidy it up out there. Some parts are beginning to look scary.
Hiya Jon, come on in.. cocoas on the counter and well, I still have some holiday canles sitting there, guess we could go ahead and light them for atmosphere!
Well, all the white is off the yard.. just some small mounds hither and on...suns out but its cccold. More pansys showing.. Cant say they perked up fomr benig smuched but maybe in a few more days. Its there kind of weather right now.
Wont be weeding here for a while...need to water those indoor pots. Looks like some of the hyacinth bulbs are poking through the potting soil so it will not be too long that we will not have the house permeated with pink hyacinths! Not that they would smelll any different than blue or red, but all of mine are pink this year for indoor forcings. Until they bloom, guess we can just sit here and stare at the label and dream a bit!
Got some pink and white daffs in pots to.
I kinda dont want to take the Christmas decor down, but if I dont.... its gonna get awful messy in here with the other projects coming down the pipe like seed starting to which I have no room to do now.
I need to be looking for snaps... I know I do not have any seed for them. Got a pile of marigolds though! Hope I can get them to germ and have a nice border of them in that long bed that I did the cutters last year. All that ornage, yellow and bronze mixed would look really neat with some allysumns and pink tunias. Throw some blue in there and awww, lets jut go rainbow!
Hot cocoa would be perfect. Just perfect. Spent many evenings sitting outside in December with hot cocoa staring at lights, especially the lights on the Robellini palm tree. That's my favorite tree to decorate each year. It's about 7-8 feet tall and it had clear lights wrapped around the trunk and green lights woven through the palm fronds.
Pansies are doing good down here. I know its crazy but I deadhead mine to get them to bloom better. Wouldn't mind the smell of hyacinth blooms in the house. Keep em growing Blossom. Talk to 'em and maybe they'll grow faster and faster for ya.
Watered everything outside this morning and then planted some new gerbera daisy plants, in the ground, along the front sidewalk.
Decided to plant some warmer climate daffodil bulbs in pots yesterday. I bought about 40 bulbs total of 4 different kinds online in November. Got lazy and never planted them. Need to do something with the other 30 real soon or they'll go to waste. Usually they start growing immediately after you plant them down here. You just have to find varieties that are recommended for more Southern climates.
I'd try some blue or purple colored flowers to go with your orange, yellow and bronze mix. Pink just doesn't mix well with orange and bronze. It looks good with yellow but a bit awkward with orange hues.
Well, I need zinnias again too.. ima thinking Im gonna poke them in big nursery cans chocked full of ponydoo and give them a go that way and also broadcast them too in the rainbow bed. Do same again wiht the marigolds...
Today I am still watering and picking dead stuff out of the indoor pots... I think I finally killed a few to consider starting somethign new. Gotta take them off the shelves, too the sink, water, clean the shelves then vacuum the plant droppings and well you know the drill..
Gradually peeling Christmas decor down... the house will be a mess all week from that too and packing that up so then put housekeeping again on the list of to does...house will look like the back end of a UPS truck when all is said and dont.. for some reason.. Im taking my time on boxing.. its kinda sad to tuck it all away. Sniff!
But anyawy, we had a great New Years Eve.. spent it with some new friends and had an awesome potluck and just good fellowship. No, make that GREAT FELLOWSHIP! Normally we dont go anywhere on NYD simply because we like things quiet. We got possessed this year with the "spirit"!
Well, I best go talk to those bulbs while I pick and trim the rest of the plant mob! Or should maybe I sing to them?? Hmmmm... lets try, Its beginning to Rain... always liked that song from the first time I ever heard it! Ok, plants here we go.. It's beginning to rain, rain rain......mmmmmm now thats plant watering music! Whats the rest of it.. oh... If your thirsty and dry, look up to the sky, its beginning to rrrain!
Im off.. cant wait to see yer gerberas Jon! Hope you will have pics later when its cuppa tme! (_)?
The only zinnias I have right now are the short "Profusion Series" zinnias that stay short, spread and make a good border plant. The larger taller zinnias don't seem to like the short number of daylight hours that winter brings, even in this warmer climate. They underdevelop and produces teeny tiny blooms in winter down here.
Not sure what new things you can start in pots right now Blossom. It's still a bit early for starting stuff inside unless you have some space under your lights. If you were my neighbor I'd let you stick some plants under my grow light. There's nothing under my lights at the moment since everything is outside.
Got all the outdoor Christmas lights taken down and stored yesterday afternoon. The neighbor came over, while I was doing it, and said she's gonna miss seeing them while she sat and read each night in her living room. Just a few lights are remaining in the neighborhood. Most everyone took theirs down over the weekend and it's looking blah and dark again.
Hope you sang a few LONG songs and got those bulbs to grow a few inches in the last two days Blossom. Here's a photo of some of the new gerbera daisy plants along the front sidewalk. Gerberas can be left in the ground year round down here. They don't bloom as well in their second year so sometimes I'll dig some of the older ones up and replace them with new ones when I can buy them on sale. Found some for $2.99 last week so bought 4 new ones.
LOL! Still singing and watering.. I only got one shelf done yesterday and plan to do hopefully a few more. Until I get them all watered and the "dead" moved,I cant start anything anyway so its gonna be a little bit...sadly my impatiens are not doing all that well..
Im longing for snaps, zinz, straw flwoers.. the hold ball of yarn if ya know what I mean. I think I got some gerbera or ganznias seeds.. not sure now...I forgot to write them down so will know when they sprout. They are outdoors though so dont know if they weill grow or survive the winter enough to germinate.
Got this lovely card today.. it just sings spring.. thought I would share.. now those are some loverly flowers in that bunch!
http://www.alighthouse.com/whereflowersbloom.html
The garlands and lights are down and did packed a few ornaments.. tedious work it is so as not to break the onrements!
Your impatiens lasted until about this time last winter if I do recall. They're only annuals so I'm sure it's something out of your control. Hope those gerbera and/or gazania seeds are not outside. That might have doomed them since they're warmer climate outdoor plants. Gerbera's are a pain to grow from seed anyway and the seeds are not cheap!!! Saw some nice yellow Strawflower plants last week, but didn't buy one. Maybe I'll swing by that place again this week. They had tons of them.
Like the e-card you shared today. Nice to look at and soothing music to go along with it. Made me get off the butt, go outside and pick a small bunch of flowers out in the yard. Here's a photo of what I picked and put in a small vase. They are" Chinese Delphinium, Echinacea, Reblooming Bearded Iris, Salpiglossis, Gaillardia, Sweet William, a Gerbera Daisy and a Snapdragon.
Here's a first bloom on a Agrostemma (aka Corn Cockle) variety named "Milas" with Salpiglossis "Chocolate Royale" in the background.
And some "Dragon's Heart", "Burnt Saffron" and "Pocahontas" blooms on the hibiscus plants.
And a bloom on a hibiscus I created, grew and named "Toucan Tango"
That Toucan Tango is beautiful. SOrry there would be no hope for it up here in snow country.
Weatherman calling for bad winter precip w/ possible outages so I'm battening down the hatches and laying in supplies.
Yeah, that "Toucan Tango" would have to be in a pot inside the house up North during the winter. Hope the weather doesn't get too messy where you are red. It's the ice that makes it so bad.
Well we are watching the western plains for the "dumpage" of white that someone said might bring a foot to the homefront...
Hope the "dumpage: does not cause any "carnage" Im not to found of horse, dog, or donkey meat. Chickens look out.
Snowed most of the day yesterday. Don't know exactly how much but it looks to be about 6 inches. I'm always amazed how many people think they just have to be out on the road in this. Today will probably see Shurm going out to get people out of ditches. He only had to go out once last night.
Not saying a werd... re: comment about 6 inches and people on the road....that should not be.
Its the idiots that get me. People on the road is one thing.
Well, P, yano where some bread is butterds. We-ins are in for the long haul. Waiting for our share of 6 x 2 maybe.. dont know.
Well, we got 4-5 inches... we are lacking behind in moisture.. oh so dry.....its not looking good. gonna need a lot of spring rains to make up for whats missing in the ground.
seeds started showing up at the local hardware....a few in.... snaps, S/willies, alysumns, zins, sunflowers and petunias, portulacas....
Im losing houseplants left and right.. mostly the impatiens. RatZ!
Id say things are a tad upsidedown in paradise.
So patty, did you survive the snow? Hope the roof held on your GH,
Week later...it's all melting. New steel roof repalced shingles after The Great Ice Storm of 2000 so no worries on that.
What it looked like first day of snow a week ago.
Nice winter wonderland photo and that hound looks so content and happy. Still bone dry down here in the South as we are in a moderate drought now. The grass is crunchy brown. As long as all the flowers gets some hand watering every 4 or 5 days they're happy.
Nice garden thar Jon! I am soo longing for spring... $2.25 a gallon LP is not my idea of fun, but that hound and I are enjoying a warm house now.
Was foggy this morning and its icy out. We hada little thaw then it got below zero at night and so break out the skates! ICK! Much prefer we get the rain already, get the slogging going and start spring. Cabin fever has hit me hard. We are hurting for ground moisture BIG BIG BIG time. The bog is dry and last we looked the water table was at 5 feet below topsoil. Driest its been in 13 years. We dont need no drought.
Been tossing dead pots to the porch from the grow lights.. UGH.. must of had some viral thing going on.. the imps have been damping off.. and these are mature plants so not to likely I will have survivors this spring. Seems I whack them back and then about a week later they are pathetically ill or about had it... if I get of my lay buns I could be starting some seed since surely I have room, but I still need to remove a few things from Christmas too.. jsut been lazy the last stretch.
Neat pic Patty....you can keep that thar white stuff, I dont want it here... but if thats what you are sending me for moisture I guess I cant be too picky.
Thanks Blossom. We had dense fog on Tuesday morning also. It's going to be a warm week with temps around 80 everyday and lows only in the mid 60's. We were supposed to get lots of rain yesterday, but maybe had a tenth of an inch. I know you guys want spring, but I hope it doesn't get here too fast. You can grow just about anything here during the winter months, but it gets much more limited once May and June get here. Today I noticed buds beginning to form on the "Winter Sunshine Series" Sweet Peas. It's the third year I've tried Sweet Peas and haven't been successful before. Also noticed the Stock flowers are beginning to bloom. Never grown Stock before. The fragrance is amazing. Also trying annual types of Lupines for the first time this winter. Here's the first bloom on one of the "Sunrise" Lupine plants. These were fairly easy to grow. Just direct sewed the seeds in October and let them do their thing.
Pretty lupine.. I tried those. I think I did the Russells and they were nice, only had a couple plants, They reseeded for a few years.. then I lost them.
Yeah, same here on sweet peas.. I had a couple seeds pop last summer, they were really puny and the plants did not thrive. I may have had them too rich in poo.
I love stock. Clarkia is another one that does good here that is if I do not have grassy beds going on.
... got a few dianthus surviving under my light, but they areslowly going brown to dead on quite a few of my plants.
Looks like I will be restarting quite a number this year. Gonna have to re-arrange the shelves soon.
Need to gather some branches of lilacs, forsythia and whatever the case out there and bring some cuttings in to force some bloom
Just chucked another dead basket ou the door this morning. Then discovered a 1/4 inchof new snow hiding all the ice in the parking lot this morning.. think Ima gonna strap a pillow to my behind. Its nasty there.
This message was edited Jan 19, 2011 7:08 AM
Nice Dianthus photo Blossom. I remember you going through this dying cycle with things inside the house last winter also. You were just content/happy that you were getting some blooms on plants in the office last winter. It's gotta be tough to sustain plants for many months inside the house, even under grow lights, particularly if many of them are truly annuals.
The "Russell Hybrid" Lupines don't work down here because they're cooler weather perennials. There's no way I can get those types to survive during our long hot and humid tropical summers. It's just too hot for too long. The one pictures above is a quick maturing annual type of Lupine. I had a feeling I could get them to grow and bloom all during the cooler winter months. It seems like that theory/hunch is working out since its still mid winter and they're already beginning to bloom.
From what I've read most Sweet Peas need the long daylight hours of spring and summer to do well. I read about the "Winter Sunshine" varieties being daylength neutral and being good choices for warmer climates during the shorter days of winter. I was referred to Owl's Acre Sweet Peas (www.lathyrus.com) and decided to buy the seeds from them. It's a website entirely devoted to Sweet Peas. They sell a very very very large variety of Sweet Pea seeds.
Here's a photo of one of my "Fruit Punch Mix" Stock (Mattiola) plants blooming this morning. The seeds came from Plants Of Distinction (www.plantsofdistinction.co.uk) in England. This website sells lots of unique and different flower seeds. Picked this particular variety of Stock because they list it as an "all weather all season" variety of Stock. I'm trying a couple other varieties of Stock and they are not performing anywhere near the performance of the 'Fruit Punch Mix" variety.
I'm beginning to believe that on some types of flowers the specific variety that you chose to grow in your conditions can make a big difference. Down here in South Florida I'm doing better with varieties that are listed as quick maturing and having higher heat tolerance.
Oh thats a beauty Jon!
Well.... part of my problem is keeping up with watering this year... I have too much on my plate and so quite a few that like it a little wetter are suffern the drought of my ways.
EEEEEEEKS! Just heard Missouri was getting a nasty winter storm.. hope it does not come this way.
Yo, P!!!! WHats brewing down there bayou? Might have to hit the bowling alley again. Stay warm!
Frost on the pumpkin this am...weatherman just said 55 for tomorrow but rain...BLEAH! So I'm rippin' 'n a tearin'...rippin' 'n a tearin up the kitchen for it's new look. Already wrecked out the old coffee bar,striped the wallpaper,scraped the ceiling and today I will finish painting the ceiling so I can move on to the walls....then all those stinking cabinets have to be emptied,hardware remove,cleaned/re-painted(kitchen hardware is D%$#! expensive so I will recycle),washed down w/ degreaser,primed then painted. Somewhere in there I have to get the tile guy in to measure so I know how much tile,thinset and grout I need to pick up. Hub's has worked a deal w/ him for bartered labor. Our tile laid for some dirt work for him so that's a huge relief on the budget.
Susie home wrecker are you? I dont wanna talk about my day.
Move over peanuts... another nut is in the house.
Im broke down.
It's either the house or the family. I can do some time for wrecking family so I take it out on the house....in a good way.
I AM QUEEN OF THE GOOBERS!!!!
Well, move it on over your Highness.. the Princess of Snot is in the house. Like I needed that too....Thought it was weird that I overslept this AM and then to have the scrathins in the throat. Im gonna go make me a cuppa hottie before this thing really kicks in.. cant wait to go to the barn tonite and feed. Hack hack hack....phrrrrgh choo.
Get away from me with those germs or it'll be "Off With Your Head" with a pink flamigo. Wait.....that was the Queen of Hearts......."Off With Your Head!" w/ a bag of pistacios(sp?)
ROTFLO.. flamigo! HAHAHAHAHAH!
Would
NEW DELI
BE FAR ENOUGH?????
oR pAGO pAGO?
Not going.. I aint got wings, got no feathers and certainly got no gumtion...
Aaaaaaaaaah SHE GOT ME!
No snow here any more and really hasn't been all that cold the last few days.
Still slinging paint in the kitchen,stepping back,looking and saying OMG! What have I done 'cause it be "BRIGHT". Been looking at off-white for so many years...this much colors gonna take some getting use to.
They say as we grow older we gravitate to brighter colors because our eyesight is waning. I do believe these colors will declair me legally blind...*BOGG*
Colors? What colors? Show me, reserect the colors of green, purdy flowers and the rainbow.. White has gotten oh so depressing and oh how I have cabin fever, I am struggling
with it and wanna get out of the box.
Tap Tap tap TAAAAP.. hello, lemme outa here!
All that gardening downtime, during the winter, would drive me nuts. I'd probably gain 10 pounds every winter from eatin.
Sure.. you gotta catch me right when I am eating... LOL!
New keybord please!.....
Well, we fixed the old wagon.. it was the horses
. all 6 plugs had to go.
See Jon, oh so much to do on down time in the winter.. like driving oneself nuts...
There can't be that much to do....at least nothing is urgent "have to do today or else" stuff. I've been jamming many of the extra "hanging around" plants into the garden this weekend. Stuff like Argostemma, Clarkia, Salpiglossis, Pytethrum (Painted Daisies). Also jammed some Freesia and Dutch Iris bulbs in pots. Nice sunny 70 degree weekend. The "Winter Sunshine" Sweet Peas started blooming this week. Finally getting some Sweet Peas after failing the last two winters.
Sounds like you be "jammin'! I need to toss more pots... had a few more go belly up.
Looks like we have some nasty weather coming out way....Jeez, winter is finally here.....again. Owell... its winter until its spring. Probably will break out the sambiniplow long about tues or weds.
