Plant Propagation part XXVII based on my own experience

collectable sounds like a good discription of DL's. Its a shame how some people feel they are superior to others when in all homesty they have no room to talk as the people they run down are far better humanbeings than they are. if that make sene.. well gotta fly my sleeping pill just kicked in
TTFN
Dave

Jnette, Evelyn belongs on another thread along with Dave. Those two are way to nice. I would be doing a plan on how to flood her home from above her terrain. I love Dave's Bermuda Grass invasion.

Katie, I could send you some tumbleweed seed.

But Evelyn and Dave are probably right. Let us be nice to the rude and mean neighbors.

Our weather is warming up and by next Saturday our lows will be in the high 40s.

OK, JB, how was your doctor's visit?

Everyone, there is a sale on cubits on rain lilies for .35 a piece. Nursery going out of business in Austin, Texas. Also other bulbs including cannas and crinum. Go give it a look.

Lee and Lynda, Come out wherever you are.

The funeral is tentative set for Friday. Still seems like a weird dream. I stayed home today because a lot of out of town guest were there. There will be much less people tomorrow so I will be needed more.

Evelyn, I just spotted a white, as close to white as you can get, canna for your white garden. Make room because as soon as I get it I will send it your way. Later friends. Sharon.

Katie, all I can say is that people are clods. Clods I don't understand. But, it sounds like you have it pretty much together when you don't need your neighbor's blessing or friendship.

Please try to let up on the anti-depressants tho. Those type of meds are dangerous. And it sounds like you don't need many anyway.

No, I don't think it is illegal to take seeds into most countries. i.e. the UK. I do believe you can take them to and from the UK and into or out of the U.S. Plants are a different thing. But the seeds, and when I send them I use a black felt-tipped pen and mark them well as seeds. I have never had them stopped. Doesn't mean they wouldn't be.

There are a lot of people in here from foreign countries that have seeds from different types of plants that are fun to try. Trading with them some times can be a lot of fun. Just go thru the "communities", list of forums.

I have had seeds confiscated when they were coming from Thailand, but other than that I have never had a problem with seeds internationally.

Katie, for the most part I agree with those who say just pretend that you can't imagine why she is apologizing. Then there is the part of me that wonders if you would like a little bit of kudzu to toss over her fence.

Jnette, hubby and I watched that game. it was a good one. ( actually he watched and I listened while drawing some doodles.) We have watched more football this year than we have in many years. Its really kind of weird.

We are getting a mix of snow, sleet and rain all at the same time. Here they close everything when snow of any kind is predicted, so schools are all closed and we don't have to go anywhere today. I have a lot that needs to be done but I don't want to get started. I think I will make a pot of chili and curl up with a good book.

Dave, your daylilies sound great. I will email you soon. Okra has to be a southern thing. I love it, and the guys like it fried, but I will eat it anyway I can get it. I know people who will not get close enough to see it, but I just think it is funny. It's one of those things you either love or hate. There isn't much inbetween.

People with a superiority complex make me laugh. Why they think they are "better" than others is a mystery. I have cousins who all act that way. LOL I love to remind them at times that they all came from the same family. It irritates them beyond belief.

Peg, I don't have a picture of the flower bed, but one of my favorites was a combination of foxgloves surrounded by rudbeckia, echinacea, and shasta daisy. It was gorgeous. I will search for my pics. I may have to scan some.

Gotta go.
I'll check in later.

good morning all:

well as you have most likely seen on the wether chanel we are having a bit of the fluffy white crap. we got a dusting but to the south they got a bit more. it was funny last night we took my niece to school about an hour away and they had a nice coat of snow on the ground when we left but when we got home it was just a dusting where the grass and soil shows through. our pattern last night wqas suposed to be lots of snow to the north and south of us but we got what they said we would. tonight another wave is coming in.
I laid down a drop cloth on th living room floor and am going to be filling flats with soil in prep for my cuttings next week. Luckily its only 30 flats so I should be able to knock them out today and beable to kick back the rest of the week. I am getting a shot this friday (steroids) I hope it is not canceled because of weather.
Now I know most of you think I am abit nuts for filling flats in the living room, but its just a subfloor with not carpet or anything to really cause an issue with. I am hopefull that when we do build a garden shed i have enough room to fill flats in it so I can turn on a space heater and stay toasty warm whil I do my activity.
I love fried okra but the pickeled ors stewed oakra looks too much like snot for me to eat. IMHO
The flower bed you described linda sounds great. well not much else to chat about except for my search for the correct box and insert to ship flats in. of course I will still be using the USPS flat rate boxes as I can.

oh yea I wish I had waited on my ordering because i just got in my hosta supplier's catalog and they have some great stuff. but oh well maybe once I sell off some of my hostas from last year. I hope they are huge this year. I know I had some stained glass hostas winter over last year and they were giants in 6" pots. I may have to pot them up into 3 gallons this year. I am also planning on splitting up several of my personal plants this year as well. my ginger is about to bust out of its pot. I also have a unique EE (elephant ear) thats ready to move into a bigger pot. I think I will try to plant a 10 gallon pot to help him do better this year. of course he was quite happy this year being shaded by banannas and the green house.

well its time to get moving. have a great day and stay warm
Dave

Hi Everyone, I am back, but not for long. My new phone just came and I am in the process of activating it. It is charging now, so I can get my email answered.
Dave, I am glad you are back and safe and sound. The snow you are talking about is on its way here. We just had about 6 inches Sat. and now more is coming tomorrow afternoon.
O.K. My doctor appointment...............well, he is about 45, Indian, cute and really clean and not a wrinkle anywhere. I was impressed at his appearance if nothing else. I should not say that because I really gave him a hard time and he did well with it. I think I like him.
He said my stress test was only 80% . He still does not know why my EKG shows what it shows and he wants more testing done. He suggested an angioplasty and I said NO. Nothing invasive. I have no symptoms, no pain, no nothing. If they want to go fishing, they can do it without anything invasive, so they are going to do an Echocardiogram and a CT Scan using a Somatom Scanner. Do not know when that will be scheduled.
He increased my creastor to 10 mg and gave me a beta blocker.
I took one beta blocker on Sat. and it made me so lightheaded and sleepy all day yesterday, I did nothing much............so I did not take another one until noon today and I only took a half a pill. I am already on Diovon HCT 320-12.5MG and he added Metoprolol ,succ ER 50 mg and that is the one that made me feel so simple. He did say to take a half if I had a problem with it. I take it with lunch. It suggests taking it with a meal or after a meal. One time a day. So, that is it. I still feel fine, no pain nothing and I refuse to be made a full time 'Patient" , when I am not in any discomfort. He said the fact I have no symptoms could mean I could have a silent heart attack. I said SO??????I am 82 for God sake. As you have guessed, I am not a happy camper. I had hoped they would say take a pill and see you in 6 months. The only thing he said he wants me to do it get my cholesterol lower......it is 190. Now you know my medical history and what the doctor said. Case closed. I will let you know when I have to go again.
Back to work. JB

Hi JB well I am not happy to report that the big fluffy flakes just started falling so we are in for it now. I noticed you said you take diovan have you tried toporal with it??? I was takeing both of them and now they have made a combo pill that makes it less pills to take its called Valturna 300/320. It makes me sleepy so i take it at night. as inactive as I am during the winter months its tough to say how well it works. I say this because if I am able to get outside and play for a few hours a couple of days a week then my BP drops drastically and its a long term thing not just for the days I play. oh well thats mine to bear.
I managed to fill 40 trays of 1801's this afternoon and they are outside covered with a tarp under the patio cover. now if we can only get some warm weather to go with next week I will be a happy camper. well I just figuired out I have to fill another 128 flats in april so I will be so busy its not funny. I just hope I can sell off some of my stock I carried over from last year. I just got to wondering how many flats i have carrying over? I think it might be important to know so I can figuire out how much room I actually am alloted.
we have an imaginary line that I will call the 168th parralell or should it be the mason dixon line??? anyway I snuck a few flats into the raised bed we are planting with tall shrubs next spring and it did not take kim long to say hey you are on my side of the yard.... which is funny because its kind of an agreement that we will keep "her" side of the yard nice and full of pretty plants and my side will be the nursery. the stock beds I planted on the north side of the house are my cuttings stock for propagation. I ask her what she wants planted and she says just make it pretty and nothing long and lanky like Gaura. Its just funny how it needs to be just so and it will never be finished as I now know its always going to be a work in progress.
well its time for dave to good day.

good day
May you hopes and dreams all come true
Dave

Well, wouldn't you know, 1 degree this morning and Bob went down to build a fire in the furnace and the motor went out!! Of course all the repair people are either closed (Sunday and Monday) or busy. Got one that said he could come out around 5 or 6 tonight. Does that mean he is going to charge me time and a half? He is charging me $89 trip charge before he gets in his truck.

I told my sister that if he charges me time and a half I was going to tell him that my sister is in real estate and that I was going to make sure that this information was passed on to all their new customers in the area. How do you think they will like them apples? OR, do you think he is going to figure they will think I was lucky to get them to come out at all?

We'll see what the charge is.

Linda I wish you would find that picture as it does sound beautiful and would like to see it.

You are right Dave, I did cringe at the thought of working on your plants in the middle of the livingroom floor, however I don't know what is worse, that or in the kitchen like a lot of people object to. But, I also was sure there was no carpet on the floor for Kim to allow it. LOL, seems like we are getting to know Kim pretty good huh?

I would love to try okra and have seen it in the freezer at the store. Think it is cut in 1/4 inch slices. Looks like in the picture anyway. I thought you all deep fried it whole???

JB, what does "stress test was only 80%" mean? I have been on Metoprolol for several years. Believe it is a generic for Toprol, which I took for a long time. Yes, at 50mg. Also, Norvasc and a half a Hydrochlorithiazide (HTZ).

You say they made you light headed? LOL, wonder if that is what is wrong with me. Do you take your bp?

Think I would welcome that snow back for a bit you guys. This cold is the pits. It's almost 2 o'clock and only 15 degrees.

We crossposted Dave. I was wondering what was going to happen when Kim gets the livingroom floor finished. What are you going to put on it besides dirt? Will it have carpet or wood?

You had better hurry. But, at what temp are those URCs and plugs going to be? Warm enough to grow? What is the temp in the greenhouse?

At least Kim's wants are things you enjoy. With the planters. Doesn't sound like she is too picky.

Go take a nap.

we typically get a lotr of growing days in the winter as we often get above freezing a lot of days and sometimes weeks. I have seen it go from what we have to upper 60's and then back down to freezing. Its all in keeping everyone adequately watered with out making a swamp. I am planning on putting up a pvc hoop over the new cuttings to get the temp up. I would prefer to have had heat cables down but thats next years expenses (ooops this year but later).
shhhh. kim does not know I did it and all the evadence is gone so as garfield would say i didn't do it , you cant prove i did it so all is well. I will most likely go to the garage once we get carpet installed or move the dining table off the hardwoods and do it there ....hmmmm
I would like to have the room in the shed we are building for outside stuff. i am thinking of putting the door to the new greenhouse off the shed so it will help with heating both. I am also planning to have heat cables in most of my growing area's so the root zone is warm and helps with growth.
as for the plugs they don't come untill april and it should be warm by then. typically we have 70's by april and with the way the year has started we most likely will have an early spring (I HOPE " he says as hey crosses his fingers") typically I have noticed the garage stays in the upper 50's to low 60's so i think it will be ok to work there once I figuire out where the space heater is hiding. we have a good one that runs on those little propane bottles they sell for camp stoves and lanterns. Kim even said she might consider a heater for the garage at some point. I am holding my breath and gonna turn purple by the time that happens though.... lol of course I may just get it done from my mad money, that is if I can manage to ferret away that much $$$.

well its nap 30 so I must go as my pain has decided to say howdy
Dave

Hey Dave, I can not imagine filling flats in the living room, no matter what is on the floor.
You would have my foot in your butt if you did that in my house. Of course, I have done similiar but not in the living room and not that many. Oh My GoD!!!!!

Toprol is the beta blocker I am taking, but my Government Insurance will only pay for the generic. I took 1/2 at lunch time and I am so sleepy I can barely stay awake. Hey Dave, did you take Diovon and Toprol at the same time? I was afraid to take them both at night for fear they would lower my pressure too much. I think I will give it a go. What the H.
I am walking around looking for a place to lay down and sleep rather than feeding the birds. LOL. Not going to keep that up. Norvasc?????I took that, what did I take it for?
Jen, doesn't the Toprol make you sleepy or lightheaded? If so, how long does that last. LOL I can drink a bottle of gin and get the same feeling...........but I do not even want to have one little sip with this stuff. I would not make a good junky!
We are to get 6 to 10 inches of snow starting tomorrow afternoon. @#$%^&*%#@@
Oh, let me tell you..........I upgraded my Verizon phone when I renewed my contract. I got a Palm Pixie. It took me about 4 hours to activate it and get it ready to use when i went online to put my contacts in it from my other phone. WOULD YOU BELIEVE THE BACKUP SYSTEM IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ANY PALM PHONE. So, I called verizon and told them I am sending the phone back. I went back to my old flip phone and then they told me I would be charged $35.00 for restocking fee for the phone. I told them fine, I will pay it, and then i will call them and have it removed from my bill because they misrepresented the phone to me when i ordered it and I will make a formal complaint against them not only with the BBB but with anyone else that will listen. I will too. We will see what happens. LOL
I must go to bed. .............so glad to know that you guys also take this crappy pill and are still living to tell about it. Those side effects are crazy?
Oh Jen, the 80% I think is conclusive..........he wants to see more of the spot that has been there for years that they say could have been a heart attack years ago that I never knew I had. Something is keeping the blood from flowing properly. Now they tell me.
What a joke these doctors are. I must have had this for years without knowing it and if I had not had the EKG I would have never known I had anything. Nite.

Sharon I agree about letting yourself grieve too. I am sure you are thinking more about your brother though.
JB I had problems with the Verizon company once too. Misrepresentation must be part of their MO. I won't go into the lenghthy story but in California it is against the law to hold you to a contract if you are under duress at the time of the signing. My sister told me that is how she got out of a couple of sucky situations.

I told them that they knew I was under duress during that time and why, then I told them that my attorney told me it was not a legal binding contract and that I was taking Wellbuterin for anxiety at that time, which I was. They dropped the whole thing, which let me out of a huge money, deal they dropped on me.

It was 55 today and sunny, may have been higher at one time in the day.

We just got back from Ventura for his birthday and mine too. We usually like a trip for our BD's instead of Christmas or big birthday things, since we are both a couple of weeks of Christmas. It was so nice there. We ate at our favorite sea food place, Andreas. MMMMM! twice actually.

Having an EKG doesn't always let you know. I have had them and nobody has told me a thing. They just say you are ok to have surgery. I take the toprol in the morning (the generic) and also the HZT, and then I take the Norvasc bp around 2 o'clock with an aspirin, and then just the regular Hydrocodone, Neurontin, etc. at 8:30 at night. That way I can have my beer at night and not have my bp too low. If you don't take anything at night you should be ok to drink some gin.

Never heard of Diovon.

Verizon charged me a restocking fee for replacing a phone when they sent me the wrong one. I called them and the guy says "Oh, it was our fault, well I will take the charge off of your bill." And they waived the fee when Bob's mom died and I had to cut off the line I had just started. They really are pretty good, but sometimes you have to really put the pressure on them.

They called me a couple weeks ago to tell me I was going over my minutes which I did not know until I got my bill. They do not credit the left over minutes to the next month like AT&T does. Normally we use about 125 minutes out of the 700. But we went way over when his mom passed away.

But, they really ticked my daughter off when they gave the gov't all the information on their customers without even kicking. She will never forgive them and went to AT&T after 10 years with Verizon. They had a big account with them too.

Well, just called the furnace guy. The repairman had not called, I got hold of the owner so he called me back and the guy's truck broke down. Yup, you got it, he will not be out here tonight and it is suppose to be 1 degree tonight.

Bob started a fire in the kitchen cookstove and also this little milkhouse heater I got for my greenhouse, but neither one is going to heat this place enough that I don't know why he bothers. These ceilings are too high and all the heat will go up there. Even with a big fan up there.

I might go get the electric blanket off my bed and wrap up in it. LOL. It is kind of holding at 55 degrees in here.

Oh that is the worst feeling. 55 is good if outside is 1. Our neighbors use their oven to heat their home. Propane is so high and they have a lot of chemicals so they can't have a space heater. They have a dive trailor, but they say it works. My other friend did it too when their home was being rennovated and it worked ok.

Us this weekend trying to take our long arm self portrait. We were laughing so hard trying to get our heads right. He lost in this one, his head is larger and more forward. lol

View from our balcony.

Cute picture Dawn. Looks like you guys had a real nice time. Good for you.

Jnette, please be careful from carbon dioxide poisoning. I know, I just worry. I will be sparse. Relatives coming in tomorrow and the rest of the week. Funeral on Friday. Vern is really affected by this death. All is well. Had a great HOA board meeting about an attach German Shepard Dog. Great Dog, stupid owners.

Suppose to be in the 60s by Saturday. Next week I am going to start digging and plant my "BLUE GARDEN".

Linda, I think you and your family need to come to Vegas for the Winter. Actually, I think you all need to come to Vegas for the winter, Maybe I should buy a 4 plex. Then you al could come to Vegas.

I bought 3 new larger pots. I finally assumed that my trees in the garage were having problems staying hydrated because they were root bound and needed a bigger pot. Went to Costco on a good thought and YES, they had their Resin pots and I purchased three.

JB, do not be afraid of an angioplasty. My sister-in-law was the first loss in 3 years. She has always had an irregular heart beat, last twenty years and did not follow doctors orders. Just bad luck on her side.

Dee on the Iris Forum had an Angioplasty and they said it disclosed something was wrong. When they got in there she had the Widow maker blockage. I do understand that you are in your eighty but I would like you to be around at least another 10 years. Just to keep Jnette in line. LOL

1 degrees would break all the plumbing in Las Vegas. That is so cold. Do not forget I have a lovely home, with two guest room, in Las Vegas. 60 degrees by the end of the week. Just no smoking But a lot of greenbelts to walk on and smoke. BUT, I know of no one that smokes in this neighborhood. But, Also walking distance to three casinos where you can smoke your time away.

Dave, I understand., I potted plants in the laundry room and made complete mess. It was OK because I made the mess.

Love you all, Sharon.....

Wow what weather your having in the north. Tonight it will be in the 20's here but that is nothing compared to what you all are having. Keep warm.

Dave, where do you order your hostas? I am thinking about redoing a bed with hosta, but would like a good reasonable co. to deal with.

OK, those of you in FLA. I have heard there are good calidum co.'s there. I want to order those also.

Late for work!!

Love your pictures................oh to live on the beach again. I loved it there when the weather was good. I especially liked it in the Spring when the tourists were not there.

Now I have a bird bath out my door. Crap.

I am not afraid of an angioplasty I know there are other ways of diagnosing problems that are less invasive and I choose to go that root. If they do not work, then I may consider it..

Off to get dog license before it snows. JB

Hi Everyone! hope all is well. it is still cold here, but the ice is mostly gone. There is still a little bit on my car, but the schools opened 2 hours late today so we still had a little break.

I need to get busy as I have done nothing all morning, but I wanted to check in here first.

Dave, I have potted in the kitchen, but not in my living room and only when nobody was home. LOL. I took a bunch of cuttings before we got the first frost, but I didn't have time to stick them in soil and they bit the dust in water. I guess I will start over.

I am planning to focus on lantana, daylily, hibiscus and hosta this spring. I have a lot of area that needs to be filled in. I will grow extras to sell.
The problem is right now I am limited. When we took the roof off of the porch and turned it into a deck, it took my extra space for pots of this and that. I have my greenhouse almost full and I need to put more shelves in it before i can add any more plants.
My son has taken over part of the greenhouse as a place for himself and his friends to hang out and either practice their music or crank the stereo. LOL I may need to put up a wall to separate him from the rest.

Sharon, I would love to come to vegas! I haven't been there in years. I don't like to gamble ( never have liked the idea of losing the money I have on the chance that I might get more. LOL) But, there are always cheap deals to the hotels and such. There is a lot of things close by that my guys have never seen.

Dawn, That is a cute picture. my neice takes self portraits a lot, but I have never gotten them right. LOL

I had to have an angioplasty several years ago. there was no blockage, but found out I have an extra artery and my other arteries were too small to put the plug in, so they made me lie flat with sandbags. It still didn't explain the pain I have, but I know it isn't heart related.

I gotta go run a few errands before school is out, so I will check in with you later.

Well the furnace repairman finally got here this a.m. at 7:30 but didn't have the part he needed of course and had to make another run. Finally left here at 9 o'clock and it is now 1:15 and the temp is still only 54 in here. Got a way to go.





No gas here Sharon. Bob just asked me to go with him to town but too much to do here so better get on it.

ttyl

Howdy everyone:

ok hostas my question is how many do you need? I order very small plugs that will turn into nice plants the 1st year. I am going to be spliting a bunch of the hostas I have as well as selling off my stock from last year. I guess the 1st qustion is do you want specific hostas or just ones from different groups..i.e. blue, wite edge, white center streaky, strap leaf, mini's????

Peg what hostas are you looking for? I probably have 100 or more from last year

caladiums are all over florida but with the cold snaps they have had it might be a non starter this year.

ok lesson time now.....
1. when dealing with wholesalers you need to plan ahead.
I decided I wanted hostas to sell so the 1st year I just got catalogs and looked them over to make my plan of attack. the following year I ordered from the wholesalers. the one issue with wholesalers is you have to match min quantities or they may not want to sell to you. There isn't much in the new intro's that are different than the older varieties. how ever there are some new hosta's that are like $25 and $35 Each with no min required.
on my plugs it took me 2 years to get together what I wanted to acomplish. that was partly because I had to show Kim it was not just a black hole where money went to die. I came close to if not broke even on the plants. as you know I have a lot of stuff coming in to grow for the following year. I hope I can sell some of them off this year but time will tell.

2. Be prepared. know where they are going before you order plants. have the pots on hand to pot them up or the space ready to plant when they arrive. sometimes you may need to pot up plants to allow yourself time to get everyone in the ground. Kind of a holding situation. the liners, plugs and rooted cuttings you buy will be ready to go into bigger pots imediately. sometimes they are overgrown and need to be delt with 1st.

3. have you company ready to go... know the name of what you want to call your operation. when I am asked my tax number I use my social security #. acording to my accountant (KIM) its just as good as the federal id # and if you plan on staying small then you might not ever show a profit and fold up the company the 1st year. I guess what I am saying is you need to be ready for any and all questions before they ask. they will work with the small grower but there is a limit to what they will and wont do.

If you want to buy bare root hostas i know one source that sells them in groups of 25 and they also have daylilies and some other plants for the landscape. They are #1 field grow plants. the company that does them has acres and acres of plants and they plant one year and harvest another row. so they always have someone growing and someone ready to sell every year year in and year out.

Caladiums. what size bulb do you want to sell? be ready to buy 100 to 1000 of one variety. If you wamt to buy like 25 of this and 25 of that you would be better off getting in on the co-ops. check the co-ops daily and sometimes 2 to 3 times a day as they pop up quickly and sell out quickly.
Make sure the plants you are buying are from top notch companies. i have visited growers that had slick catalogs and they were a total dump. Needless to say unless it was a risk I was willing to take i would buy from someone else.

our weather is going to rough this week. today we might have hit 30. tonight we go down to 9 degrees its suposed to be this way all week with some warmer weather next week... the only question is what they are basing the "warmer" weather on???? if its 9 degrees i don't think our area has anywhere to go but up..... brrrrr its cold out.

well thats it for now please let me know what all I missed or what questions you might have. If I missed anyone please speak up i try to answer all questions but sometimes miss them but i usually do return to them when my brain kicks in.

Dave

Thanks again, Pugh!

Very well planned for buying in bulk.

Guess I need to come up with a number of hostas I want and what colors. Need to make a game plan.

The caladiums are for putting into mixed containers for the spring thru fall. They look great with so many plants. I would like some of the larger bulbs say 25 or more.

How do I find a co-op? Is this on Dave's co-op or are there others?
I've never dealt with a co-op.

Next question.....do you do landscaping also? I need help with that.

You are just too good to believe. guess I missed my calling...should have been a horticulturalist.

Wow I think it is cold in the nights here, but in the days to have 20's and below is unreal to me. The snow thing with all the cold the last few Winters must be something that makes you fearfull.

I had a nice mellow birthday today and hung out with my friend after the phone repairman came. I was waiting for him for hours and he left at 12:15, that part sucked but at least we now have use of the phone we have been paying on for the last month with no service.

Happy Birthday Helen

Same here Dawn, Happy Birthday. Think you had a nice celebration with your husband on the ocean. That is a real nice place. I used to do that on the Oregon coast and it was so nice.

Jeanette

Hello people! What a day I had yesterday. I hate to bore you with crappy stuff, but I have no one else to talk to except Barney and Gunny, and they already heard my moaning and groaning.
I do not even remember what I did yesterday morning except pack up the new phone I got that I sent back and called Fedex for a pickup. And, get the dogs license.

I took my toprol (down to 25 mg. now) after lunch and in about an hour I began feeling really weird. I can not explain the feeling I get when I take that stuff. I am restless, very tired, extremely weak, anxious, depressed, you name it, but the worst part is, my BP drops to the point where I feel like I just can not take a step forward. The girl that does my pedicure came about the time this thing started to kick in and she was good to have here. At least I was not alone. When my daughter got home, she called the doctor and his nurse said stop taking the medicine. Any idiot could figure that out by now. I have been trying to take it since Sat. and every day is the same thing. While she was on the phone my daughter took my BP and it was 102/65.........No wonder I could not
function. That is much too low for me. I am usually 120/70 around there. So my daughter told me to drink a fountain coke I had in the refrig. and plenty of water. Which I did and in about an hour the BP came back up to 125/76. I still felt lousy. I could not eat anything but soup and I went to bed about 8PM .
The snow began falling about seven, started as freezing rain. It snowed really heavy and about 2:30 a.m. Barney had to go out. i got up and opened the door so he could go out and there was already 6 inches on the deck. He went out but could hardly get back up the steps and in the door it was rubbing on his belly. LOL Not a happy dog. So, until I dried him off and got back to bed I was wide awake. I looked out the door and my SIL was just coming home from taking a call. He is an EMT and they had a call so he was out for several hours and just coming back. I went back to bed and next thing I hear is SIL shoveling deck and dog run. That was about 4 a.m. I fell back to sleep and got awake about 7 a.m. feeling very anxious and tired. I just finished breakfast and it is after ten a.m. The kids took care of the cats so I would not have to walk on the icy barnyard.

I think I will feed my birds and put something in the slow cooker so I can sit down. I am just exhausted today

I envy you all making plans for your gardens. I have completely lost interest with this snow. We have had three snow storms since Christmas. More to come Sunday and my walking is down to a minimum which makes me crazy.

To think this Fall I had perfect bloodwork, felt great and had energy to do things I had not done in a long time, then the stress test and here I am, I feel like an old lady, which I am, but it bothers me to feel old.


Talk later if I can. JB

JB, I feel like I have a sister in you. Could we adopt each other?

Do not wish to keep talking about my neighbor except to say I am still in some pain over the situation. I feel like one of those women sho only wants to talk about problems in her relationsip with her SO so I won't go on. I guess it will hurt until it stops hurting. Enough said.

Tonyt and I have been working on the arroyo. I've learned hard that it's almost impossible to garden a hill from the top down. We have now designated an area about half-way down the arroyo as the "bottom and are starting there. It's going much better. Lots of work with a pick and shovel. A few thinking breaks (my personal motto is "think a lot, work a little"). The overall design is coming into focus and I've been hacking out small flat walking paths

My ear is still not all better. I've been using a heating pad - thanks to whoever suggested that. It helps.

JB - your relatives helping you is probably payback for how you have helped them in the past. I'm with you on hating to feel old. Then I remember I wasn't much happier when I was younger. The unhappiness will pass. I'm just wishing I had more energy.

Would you all like to heara bout the time the governor of Michigan asked if he could have my dinner leftovers? I think about it when the thought of my neighbor offering me the leftovers from the dinner she did not invite me to comes up.I have several "celebrity" stories because of my father holding public office. This is one of my favorites.


we have two nests on hawks on telephone poles a short distance from my house. They both seem to have babies. There are lots of birds now, many in the arroyo though I don't know what food they might be finding there. I hope they are headed north bringing all of you some warmer weather. It is still chilly here in the early morning and Tony arrives for work all bundled up. Bey midmorning, we're in shirt sleeves. Due to the warmer sun the swinging a pick.

Thinking of all of you and hoping for warmer days for you. I remember well the long winter in Michigan's Upper Penninsula. Good reson to move south.

hugs, katie

Jb, That toporol is bad news. Dr's gave it to Burk and it just about made us both crazy. He couldn't function, but it was also like he was having terrible mood swings or something.

Katie, I think the sounds of your arroyo are beautiful. Have you tried warm oil in your ear? Mom used to use it on us and it always helped. I think she used pine oil or something she got at the health food store.

Dawn, Happy birthday! Hope you had an awesome day.

Dave, those are awesome ideas for working with the plant companies. I need to get busy and make my plan. my biggest problem is being able to buy enough at 1 time in order to work with them.
I am also not sure yet on my work status. I am still making jewelry and listing plants and seeds, but it is January and there isn't much coming in. I have 1 custom order for a pendant, but I am still waiting for some supplies before I can finish it.

Lee and Jnette, hope you are warm now. It isn't going above 35 this week, so I am hibernating.

Hi - I'm back.

First, hapy birthday Dawn. A day late.

After venting here, I went to town and did errands. MY new bank card has still not come. I gave the post office person a dragonfruit plant and $10 and my phone number and asked him to call me when it gets here. Now I don't have to keep making a trip to town hoping it will be there. One task semi-done.

Got drops for my ears. I did a physical inventory and realized that I have about six things causing various amounts of discomfort and/or pain. Also really hit me how the neighbor and her husband are acting just like my parents used to. Also other relatives whom I no longer deal with.

It's a beautiful day here and Tony did some awsome work on the arroyo. This is the time of year when we have to get what is summer work for most of you done. When our summer hits we go into survival mode and the pick stays in the storage shed.

I am going to put the drops in my ear and put a George Carlin DVD on. Maybe take another pain killer.

What a day.

Take care, all.

katie

Howdy:

Happy birthday Dawn.

JB. I take them both at night. its funny that you mention that it depresses you. as you most likely have figuired out with all my pain meds I have to take antidepressant to counter the side effects of the pain meds. Also one of my meds I take for nerve pain has a side effect of an antidepressant so I am doublely covered with that. with all that I still have my moments where I am down so I have something for that as well. yes I am a walking pharmacy.....
you might try taking the toporal at night. I had to move most of my meds to night time as the sleepness side effect is in a lot of the meds I take of course not so in the asprin. I would think you might want to have someone watch you the 1st few nights to make sure you don't drop so low that you stop breathing.

Peg - yes the co-ops are on DG
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/groupbuy/all/

I would look for caladium co-op so you can get a good deal on them. I agree that caladiums do look great in mass planters. I like the look with hostas as well. I will look to see who I have in my bag of tricks for caladiums maybe someone in there might do small numbers like batches of 25 or so.
The problem you will have very shortly is that most of the premium stuff is already sold out as growers start their plans in the summer and then order some time over the thanksgiving/xmas season for the following year, and that if they did not already order last spring. it just depends on the buyers needs and how much they need to adjust their product mix from year to year.

the co-op's go chat or interest (or both) 1st then order then payment then shipping
Most of the hosts like to keep the catter on the chat thread so they can keep the orders straight. they usually have a spreadsheet also so its all very smooth as far as buying goes.
NOW A DISCLAIMER. IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE HOST OR HOSTESS OR YOU KNOW ITS THEIR 1ST CO-OP ORDER AS IF IT QUITE POSSIBLY WILL BE A MESS. ITS A BUYER BE WARE. DO NOT ORDER UNLESS YOU CAN AFORD TO LOSE THE MONEY. IT HAS HAPPENED AND dg HAS THREATENED TO STOP ALL co-ops. The transaction is between you and the host and anyone working with the host or hostess. but it all is in the host's area.
I would take the time to look over the current co-ops even though most are finished up, so that you can get an idea of who runs the best co-op. Also READ the instructions from admin of DG.

here is one link I just found
http://www.CaladiumBulbs4Less.com
they look like what you need for caladium bulbs. I have to say my personal fav is Miss Muffett IMHO

I guess I am saying know who you are dealing with. most people on here are like everyone on the prop thread but there is always the small number of idiots that ruin it for the mass.

last night our low was like 7 wer are at over 100 hours of below freezing. its kind of rare to stay frozen for long periods of time... thats why they track the data. we aren't expected to dig out untill monday and then another round is coming our way. I just hope I can plant cuttings next week. I might bring my flats into the garage to warm up the soil. I really don't know what I am going to do if its still frozen when my cuttings get here.
oh what am I saying... duh i have the unheated GH with lots of room for the flats. I really hate moving the plants around that much though. If I do put them into the GH It will be untill I can get them on the ground in the pvc poly house next to the GH. full sun so it will get nice and toasty during the day.

Well thats about it for now

oh yea ... so what flower would you be if you were a flower and why???
I would be a ladyslipper because they are spectacular and spend the winter below ground.
Dave

JB, meds affect some people in different ways. What works for me does not necessarily work for you. All depends on our chemistry I think. I remember when I first found out I had high bp. Seems it took a long time to find a med that worked. They would work for a short time and then start acting funny. So, back to the drawing board.

BP is the worst thing to find the right med for. They can work for years and then all of a sudden you can't take that one any more. So you start all over again.

Katie I would love to hear about the gov of Michigan wanting your leftovers. Sounds like a good story. I could use one right now.

I canceled my appointment for the MRI and bone density test for this afternoon. The snow is coming down pretty good now and we are suppose to get up to 30 inches. Sure hope they are wrong on that one. And I sure am glad we got the furnace running. I never appreciated the warmth of a fire so much as yesterday when Bob built a fire in it.

After reading the posts from all of you about what you are planning for your gardens in the spring, I think Lee would join me in suggesting that you figure out what hostas and phlox you need and see if you can't get them from Dave. I know he has a lot invested in his hostas but they are beautiful plants and he packages and ships so well that whatever he charges for them they will be well worth the price. That would be a much better way to go than trying to buy anywhere from 25 to a hundred from another grower.

And I don't know what all he will have invested in the phlox so you will have to trust him on that. I say that about Lee, because I think she has bought Ornamental Sweet Potato vines and think it was verbena or something one year and possibly 2. Can't remember. But, you can't really pick and choose what you want.

Now if Dave has about a hundred hostas, he has a nice selection. I know, because I bought some along with him when he ordered them. Unfortunately mine did not do as well a his because he has a much better set up to care for them.

Well JB, spring really truly is on the way. Somewhere under that snow the plants are all nice and cozy since, as you know, snow is a good insulation for them.

ttyal,

LOL, Dave we crossposted.

Coops can be fun or a disaster. I have joined a half dozen or so and can almost tell from who is running them, and what the coop is for as to the outcome.
As Dave says, join in only if you can afford to lose the money. Now isn't that a sad commentary?

I have received my plants just thrown in a box with nothing around the roots, etc. Not even soil, plastic, or anything and then they took a side tour to Alaska after being run over by a vehicle. You figure out what I ended up doing with them. I was lucky that that coop only cost me $27.

since we are chatting about caladiums. i thought we should chat about the prctice od de-eyeing. and yes it is what it sounds like. here is a link to look over the process.
basically it makes the bulb put out more leaves by removing the dominant growth points. think of it like pinching or taking cuttings (no you can't plant the eye...that is as far as i know)
http://www.classiccaladiumsllc.com/de-eye_caladiums.htm

the end of a potato peeler works great for this practice

This message was edited Jan 12, 2011 1:17 PM

well here it is... the best spot I found to order caladiums from as you can see unless you are ordering boxes full of caladiums they are still a bit pricey but hey its better than the alternative of buying the picked over ones from retailers

Here's the story:

Mennen Williams, who govenor of Michigan for many years was a friend of my father's. They went to law school together and remained friends. He lived in Lansing and we'd lived in the Upper Penninsula but I'd met him a number of times.

The occasion was a dinner in Montana. I was a teenager and all us kids had gone to dinner while the adults had a cocktail party. The problem for Govenor Williams was that he had flown out of Michigan after breakfast and hadn't eaten since. It was now about 7 Montana time, about 9 Michigan time. He was hungry. He came over to where us kids were sitting to say hello to everyone. He was standing next to me and looked down to see that I had only eaten one of the two lobster tails that had come with my dinner and whatever else was still there was looking relatively untouched. He leaned down and asked me quietly if I was done with my dinner. Equally quietly, I said yes. He grabbed my plate and disappeared.

He was of the Mennen soap company and came from a very wealthy background. I've always been pleased that he saw in me a person who would help him in a time of need without making a fuss.

I don't miss the political scene but I miss people who know that it's not smart to antagonize people unnecessarily.

Mennen was a very proper person with not much of a sense of humor but a great sense of decency. I'm glad I could help him out.

katie

Very interesting Dave. I have never been a fan of Caladiums, but that is interesting. However, you didn't include the best spot, unless you were talking about the company that had the instructions on the eye?

Cute story Katie, and I'll bet he never forgot it either. Probably told it as many or more times than you have.

How is your arroyo coming?

Jnett, can't believe your package went around the USA. I know you must have been frustrated. That would be my luck.

PBear always sends such nice gifts. Hopefully his wife knows how much he is worth. lots

Thanks PBear, once again you have put me on the right track. Can't wait for better weather so we can do some more plant mailings.

thanks

I do agree, if you can-- buy from Dave. He is always so careful and always stands behind his plants. For what it is worth, I personally recommend him highly. (besides he needs the money hehehe) better be safe than sorry.
It is sooooo cold here, was -25 lastnight and tonite supposed to warm up to around -10. So you all know how much planting I am doing. NOT!! too cold to even dream of plants let alone doing anything.
I did get a couple of orders for my double knit rugs tho. So will busy for a few days doing that.
JB I think you are stressing out and you need to knock it off. I am a great one for tossing the medication if the side effects are bad. Would rather not feel good than feel worse because of the medicine.
take care all of you, Lee