Plant Propagation part XXXIII based on my own experience

It has stopped snowing and the sun is shining and I don't see any clouds for now. It is 32° on the front porch where the sun is shining. I have not yet gone onto the back porch where it is colder and the thermometer is smaller. It is one of those HI/LOW thermometers.

Sharon ~ It is good that you won't be traveling in high winds...no fun and about as scary as a whiteout from snow. Not good driving weather. Can you call a podiatrist's office and have your feet checked? I have never heard of that condition, and true, doctors don't know *everything* but it might be worth getting checked out.

Dave ~ The baby's breath may want a more porous soil mix as the roots can rot quickly in a damp soil.

Katie ~ Are we going to see you on Dancing With the Stars soon? Better get that foot healed first! No INDY 500 either down to the river, OUCH!

Jeanette ~ What seeds are you sowing now? More tomatoes? Do you need any flower seeds?

Dawn ~ You must really be enjoying those roses. I have just one rose left, and I am not sure if it is still alive as the deer have got to it before I had a chance to spray it. At least you don't have deer. Last year it was just too much for me to do the spraying and the gardens have taken their losses. I need to plant some juniper...if only I liked it. Rosemary does so much better here. I should take a lot of cuttings of those this year. But right now my focus is one that new "Hot Bed". I cringe when the orders start arriving at my doorstep! Right now it is still too soggy to work, but maybe in a couple of days..... This bed will get regular spraying as it is right out the front window. As well it can been seen from the front porch, so if there is any problem, it will be noticed right away, not like the others...

Well, I must go now...be back later...

Checked again this morning and no change with the seeds. Guess they were just too old. Thanks for the offers, I mainly use annuals because I can't seem to find any that make it through my winters. The hollyhocks will grow and come back but I don't have luck with the doubles. The others are more like weeds, sending the seeds everywhere,.I am always up for seeds and plants but with everything happening lately the old pocket book is pretty bare.

Seems like everyone is having foot problems. My neighbor's 91 year old Mom has fallen and broken a hip. She is in good spirits tho, so I am sure she will recover It helps that she is really tiny. I hope so, she is really a nice lady.

ttyal Lee

Hi Everyone,
What a week this has been. The vet came for Barney and his bloodwork seems pretty good. Still elevated in some areas, but nothing different. His WBC and RBC are both normal. She is coming again next Tues. to take more blood. Wants to test him for addisons disease.
The bird groomer came today and groomed all the birds. I had appointments in town, bank, pharmacy, and liquor store and other errands along with a trip to the Township Office. Then I worked on book work all afternoon.
The Police Chief stopped by last night for a visit. He was on duty and had an hour to waste, so he stops in to BS when he feels like it. We are not far from his office. Also, he is the Zoning officer and he wanted to chat with me about the fence Rob is going to put up. He wants us to put it across the road that comes in next door to that part of the farm. We have not intended to put it across because we wanted to give the new owners a chance to buy a right of way. He basically said, it is your land, there is room where they can gain access to their land in the rear, so put the fence up and that will be that. So, today I took another survey down to his office for his file and the fence will now go up the entire length of this property and close their driveway to the back of the property. There is nothing in any of the deeds (I used to search titles so I have done a quick search) saying there has previously been any right of way designated. Before or after the Sub Division. The 20 year rule will not hold up because the road never really went anyplace except to the barn. So, more fence, more money. Oh God.
I have been cutting and delivering daffodils the last half of the week, except for today. They are not opening very fast due to the lack of sunshine and now it is raining. I am only getting about 6 dozen each cutting. That is good in a way. They will not sell them that fast when the weather is like this.
All is well, I am waiting to hear if the Government is shutting down. That will make a difference around here with the base and pay day for the Military coming up Friday. They will not get their pay unless those stupid politicians get their butts in gear. A new soldier, enlisted man, only makes about $20,000 a year base pay. That is not very much for a young family who may have a baby or two. Of course the congress and senate and president all get paid during a shut down. No death benefits will be paid to any families who loose loved ones in the service until the government opens up again. Just pray none of our guys and gals get killed in one of the three wars they are fighting. I just hope they get their act together and it does not happen.
I am tired and it is raining like crazy. I am not walking the dog in this,so I am going to sit and relax for awhile. Hugs to you all and stay well. JB

I have a small bit of good news from the arroyo: A white buganvilla which I thought had not survived transplanting to our "non-fence" is putting out lots of new growth.

Other than that, I'm too tired to do anything but lie down. Pain was bad this morning so I've been sitting down. No pain now but I'm exhausted. There's enough food left from yesterday to feed the dogs.

From my bed I can see part of the schotia tree and here the birds. What more could I want?

hugs, katie

Except for individuals not getting paid JB. shutting down the government may not be a bad thing. We actually got rain yesterday. Really big drops but slow so it was not a gully washer.

I had the sensation my feet were wet again today, big time. When I took off my shoes, they were actually wet. DUH. I had hand watered some plants and some how got the inside of my outside clogs damp. I Googled and it is very common and usually caused by a pinched nerve. I used to have leg pain that got worse when they worked on my neck. Probably coming from my fall on my shoulder. I am going to call the physical therapist Monday. I have found that Excedrin works better for my shoulder than the Tylenol I have been using. I tried it because of my headache and found out it worked better for my shoulder pain.

My garden looks like we had a big bad hail storm instead of a wind storm. Tree leaves everywhere. It is suppose to rain again tomorrow occasionally so my worker and I may be working in the garage sometimes.

I sold the Jeep that our son Brian had when we bought him the new car last month. It is on it way to Nebraska. Sold it for $750. Had 149,000 miles but the body was perfect. First our daughter Tracy had it then when she and her husband got a new car, they gave it to Brian. We bought it brand new for Tracy and her husband in 1992 when he was going to Law School. First granddaughter, Hannah, came home from the hospital in that Jeep. She is now 19. Special feeling watching it being driven down the street.

So now my SUV is back in the garage.

The gardeners came by today to help put the plastic cover back on the hoops over the tomatoes. The wind did a number on my experiment. It took Vern and I about 1/2 hour to put it on the hoops. They put it back on in 10 minutes and did it better. Strength and youth are amazing to watch.

I will check in tomorrow. I am going to read and play some Suduko (sp) tonight. Have not played for some time. Later. Sharon.

We went to Folsom today to do a bit of shopping at Sam's Club as that is the closest to our house. It is about 30 miles away. We had a few other places to stop and then before going to Sam's, we went into Best Buy and I got the new camera. It works pretty much like the old one, only it has a lot more megapixels, Canon PowerShot ELPH 100 HS. I got an inexpensive case for it as well. What used to be the thicker instruction book is now downloaded to the laptop. There is a basic "getting started" booklet, but the directions are about the same. It was a bit easier as I really did not need any instructions to get it set up with the current date and time, since that screen popped up the minute I turned it on.

So...I had better not lose this one!

It's a good thing we left the house as it was too cold and muddy to work outside and Steve would be pacing the floor for projects, though it is even too cold to work in the basement. In fact, as we arrived, it was snowing...again! Still, I think it is supposed to clear up in the next couple of days and get warmer. I could not agree more. The fact that it was snowing would have put him in a mood as he gets like that when it snows. I don't worry as I always have enough to do, even if I don't do it. Still I would rather work outdoors as well.

On the way to Folsom, we stopped at my car dealership. It isn't really my dealership, but the local Subaru where we ordered some parts. While we were there, several salemen wanted me to sell my car to them. I told them no thanks. I tried to get an RS Coupe from them in 2001, but they did not have any, and told me they could not get any. Fine. I had to find it online, which ended up getting through another dealership. The car is 10 years old, but it is my favorite car so far. I bought it for a commuter car at the time. I needed AWD. stick shift and low gears for the hill driving and it was just right. It is a bit too small for Steve, as he is tall, but he didn't mind me driving.

Our last stop was the nursery and they had the compost on sale, so I got an extra one for free. I did pick up 2 more of the golden santolinas as well as some Iceland poppies one small golden sedum and some violas. Still, no planting in there until I finish preparing the bed, hopefully in a few days, should it get that warm. It was 40° on the front porch, so it warmed up, slightly.

Sharon ~ That is funny - that your feet were really wet, only if it wasn't so serious about nerve damage. So, I guess not so funny.... I hope that you can solve the problem. Yes, the anit-inflammatory works a lot better for me as well. The doctors tried to give me all those expensive RX one and they all bothered my stomach. Now I take enteric-coated aspirin. It works wonders! I sure hope that your feet heal as I imagine it is quite uncomfortable not knowing if your shoes and socks are wet or not.

Jeanette ~ Give me some time, and I will take some pictures now. I cannot believe the difference. We should have got a decorator years ago. She was half marriage counselor and half artist. She really did know her products and would work with us as we were...not always in agreement.

Katie ~ I have never seen a white bouganvillea, wow! It must be beautiful, as they all are. That is one tropical plant I wish we could grow here, but then we have a lot of plants that require a cold winter, so it is a trade-off. I don't try any tropicals other than a few annual bedding plants of which I know will not live another year. I am going to try and save the seeds of any I plant as I just used to gead-head them, and toss them at the end of the season. If I can successfully save the seeds AND be able to raise the next crop by seed, all the better.

Actually some plants are tropical, but hardy here in zone 8, though they come up late. Cannas, callas and dahlias. I am going to try something new this year. I will put them in pots and then put them in the ground, once they leaf out as our ground stays cold so long I rarely see blooms on those plants except for the small dahlias. Then, I will lift the pots out at the end of the season as before I did not want to dug them out each year. This might be easier as well I won't lose them again as I intend to dig them up and then they disappear. Maybe I will try that with 4 o'clocks as well. This new bed is either going to be a big mess or it will look nice. I will try not to plant too many things, but I know that I will. At least I am sticking to a color plan. I am not good with all of the design basics, especially keeping the plant list small and creating "repetition", though I do a lot of that here...LOL!! (Sorry!) I am, however, following Gertrude Jeckyll's suggestions as to where to put which colors.

Well, Lee and JB, it has not yet warmed up completely. I will be glad when it does, though maybe we will be away from our computers and outside where we all belong.

Gotta' go now. Have a good evening everyone.

Good morning everyone,

I sure hope the snow and wind have stopped for all of you.

A friend of mine who lives in a lovely spot just had two friends drop in unannounced to "surprise' her and her husband for a week!!! Sshe is too nice. I told her I would have said, "Thank goodness you're here - there is so much work that needs to be done." Give them a gallon of pain and a couple brushes and show them to "their" room.

I didn't sleep well due to pain of the foot and indigestion. I will sure be glad to see the podiatrist. Since it's about three weeks until the appointment, I'm figuring out what else I can do that won't leave me in pain. If my head clear I think I'll go practice driving the ATV. No trailer until I'm more used to it. I could visit a couple of people that might cheer me up.

One thing I'll mention briefly. A "thread killelr" has shown up on another thread where I often post. She was at a thread I used to go to. I got tired of her patronizing (and stupid) remarks and wrote her a d-mail asking her to stop responding to whatever I said as she wasn't helping. I got a vicous outraged response and she then went to the thread and asked other to reassure her of her helpfulness. Major codependent. I left the thread after I had to get Administration involved as she was posting things about me. Around Christmas there was another thread that I participated in. She showed up. I left. Now she's at another thread where I post. Unchanged, offering her "helpful" (i.e., superior) advice. Whining because the first thread was no longer active. Duh.

Oh, well, this is the kind of thing that gets me looking around for other threads. Sure glad I've got you folks. We share the agony of de feet and whatever else as well as the good stuff. If the b**ch shows up here, I will tell her to buzz off. Meanwhile, I hit "unwatch" on the thread she just arrived at.

Thanks for letting me vent.

hugs, katie

The sun is shining. I am off to plant black pussy willow cuttings in pots. I am hoping the cuttings of the gardenias and jasmine soon recover now that the sun is out. People are wanting them. I am going to post new pictures of the Cain like Angel Wing begonia, they look great and I am raising the price. They are just beautiful plants and I am tired giving this stuff away.

Katie, sounds like you have a real winner there with that woman on the other thread. I have had a few like that and I just go away and stay away. I do not even waste time telling them off anymore.

I have several bougainvillea and they are all different colors but I do not know what colors they are. the one blooming now is the oldest one and it is pink. The Aimees area blooming and so are the red mandevilla. I love that plant and so do the hummers.

Speaking of birds, it is soon time for those awful barn swallows to arrive and crap all over everything. They are beautiful birds but so distructive when it comes to their droppings.

Have a nice day everyone. I must get busy. JB

Good morning: Katie if they show up please let me know so I know who to watch. the moment its out of bounds I will be asking her to fly away.. or don't go away mad just go away. I normally welcome any and everone. I do not have time for games or stupid stuff. everyone here gets along well and I really like it. Thats why we are pushing the 40th version of the thread.
went to wally world today to see if they had the 2 cubic ft bags of miricle grow as they are bigger than the 64 qt I buy at lowes/HD. I ended up buying 1 cubic ft bags at 5.00 each. the 64 cups runs $15.00 each so I found the one to buy. Best thing is I can manage to move them arround by my self.

I ended up building a plug pusher for the younger plugs. I took a piece of wood hammered in 3 rows of finish nails into the board. it allows me to loosen the plugs with out breaking them off.

have a great day we were 90 degrees yesterday and its suposed to be close to the same.
Dave

JB! Barn swallows eat a lot of mosquitoes etc. I know they are messy, my dad used to knock their nests off the eaves with a rake. I remember that from when I was just a little tyke. He said they carried bed bugs. LOL, and I about the bats.

You just reminded me that I have to go make some hummer food and get their feeders up.

Gotta a lot of stuff to do today after taking yesterday to go with my sister. We looked at a lot of houses. She had put a minimum of half an acre in the computer when she got a list. Bob is horrified at a half acre. He got used to sitting out here on 40 acres with no neighbors and now doesn't want to budge. And he is a city boy!!

But, if you want more than a half acre you have to get out farther and that was the reason for my moving, was to get in closer to medical facilities, etc. Can't win for losing.

Best get busy, ttyl.

We cross posted Dave.

What is 64 cups? I know you didn't mean cups (I don't think anyway) but for $15 I would like to know vs $5 for 1 Cuft.

Help me with my math. 1 cuft is 27 qts, right? Ok, then 2 cuft, would be 54 qts, right? So, for $5 for 1 that would be $10 for 2, or 54 qts. And you have been paying $15 for 64? Definitely a better buy at $5 for 1.

And, as you said, more manageable for one person to handle. Hope I didn't confuse you all.

My tomatoes are coming up slowly. All of them in the Gardens Alive seed starting unit are up. But they are in small plugs. Some of the ones in the 18 oz red cups I am trying this year are coming up but taking longer. I will have to see how the MG Moisture control does vs the Happy Frog. Should be interesting.

Evelyn, don't know if I told you, but I planted holly hocks, petunias, begonias, geraniums, lupines, and can't remember what other seeds. All of these were seeds. I know, in my short climate I should be buying begonia and geranium plants not seeds. LOL, oh well, I have done this before and they did just fine. I plant them in containers with other plants anyway.

Gotta run, ttyl

This message was edited Apr 9, 2011 10:20 AM

If I had a half acre, I would be dead and broke. Water bill would break me and, of course, it would have to all be beautiful.

I just got my hair curled and my worker has been here for 2 1/2 hours. I am heading outside. Today we will finish planting and we are also getting boxes ready for mailing. We are also cleaning out the KOI pond. When I say we, he is and I am "The Supervisor". Hummingbird have been here for several weeks. I have feeders out but need to get out nesting material. I have gotten so organized, I hope I can find it. Robins are rebuilding the nest next door.

It is currently cloudy. Was sunny.

Katie, if she shows up here she will have more than Dave to contend with.

I am going to make minestrone soup today or tomorrow. Right now I do not feel like eating and that does not make me a good cook.

I sure wish you guys would get some good weather but there is a good side to this picture. Lake Mead rose 20 feet from all the winter storms. That is a lot of water.

When we first moved into our home 10 years ago we had bats in the greenbelt behind us every evening right at dusk. There were tiny insects that rose from the grass and we had a blast watching them. Now we have the hummers that do the same thing but the bats moved on. There was no build-out behind us and now there is probably 10 miles of build-out. They probaly moved toward the mountains. The other morning a hummer was taking a bathnin the waterfall of the KOI pond. But then it turned cold again.

Later friends. Have a great day. Jnette, did you see anything you liked. Sharon.

Well all, you can now begin laughing. Big time thunder, so I presume lighting and SNOW....Temperatures just plunged....Sharon. ROTFLMBO

Some so-so Sharon.

I had a half acre in Seattle, just 20 minutes from down town. I did work in it a lot and it was nice, but walking behind a mower over a half an acre twice a week after work each night wore me out. No, no riding mower then. And did not water the whole thing either. But in Seattle you didn't need to.

Gotta go finish my hummer food.

We're on 12 acres, but not all of the land is usable, yet. Steve got a tractor, and I think he is wanting to level out some of the steep hills. There is no way all of the 12 acres will be landscaped. At least weed-whacked anyway. We have a lot of trees, manzanita and ceanothus. The ceanothus is native and tall, and very hard wood. The deer nibble at it, but it is hard to trim properly, though we have done a bit of it, and taken out the dead wood. The ceanothus that I have planted have all failed due to deer disturbance during the winter. That is the time when I do not spray with deer repellant. I am not going out in the snow to do that, sorry! So I will have to grow different plants along the side of the road. Maybe juniper after all, but I don't even like planting it. We'll see. Any suggestions?

We will probably have more rosemary there. If I have time, I will take cuttings and then notice the bloom time as some start blooming in November, and others start blooming late spring. Then they can be staggered. I am hoping for more ideal plants. The broom is nice, though it does require pruning as if it gets too big, the snow then breaks the branches, which it has this year. I have some cleanup to do as well as more raking. We have gottten most of the larger branches up and cut, but there are lots of twigs to rake up before the first spring mowing.

But like Jeanette said, there is a trade off - we are 20 miles away from the nearest town with medical facilities when we have an emergency. Cannot walk into town for a quart of milk. We plan our shopping and have a deep freezer in the basement.

Isn't that the beauty of spring? We wait all year for it, and when it comes, well, at least I am, overwhelmed at all there is to do. So I had better turn this computer off and go back outside. It is cold and windy but with enough clothes on, bearable and the wind is not blowing that hard, though there are gusts. It is just cold. There are clouds and it is partly sunny.

And Dave is too hot. I can't imagine anything over 70° this time of year here. Wow, what a difference! Is that your normal springtime temps, Dave?

Evelyn, what is the length of road you are talking about? Where you might put junipers? I don't like them either. They smell like dog urine. All of those low growing needle shrubs do. They stink and I really don't think it is from dogs. I have smelled them in places where there would not be any dogs. They just plain stink.

I would try to help but do not know what grows in your area and what doesn't. For instance, I cannot even grow a small Rosemary in a pot, and here you are talking about them as shrubs. I remember in southern Cal seeing hedges of rubber plants being cut back of long cuttings we pay large sums of money for as house plants. Also Jade plants. They would use saws on them pruning their hedges.

So, no help here.

I would think spruce trees would be beautiful. Are they hard to find? I was trying to think what grew in my home town. It was a mile high, very cold in the winter but not much rain. And toward the mid 1980, no snow. But snow is now back big time the last 4 years..

Well we had snow, rain nd finally sun. Sun came out about 2pm. My finguers got cold but I put on two layers of ther latex gloves and that olved that problem. I had many pants that were sitting around that needed tyo be divided. They are now divided and are either pa ted or in the holding garden. Holding garden plants will be shipped out.

Anyone want society garlic. Have broken down a very large bunch into about 10 separate pots and each pot has about 25 bulbs. I have boxes made, and piles started on bulbs being shipped. Spent the majority of the day in or near the garage but got stuff done and out of the way. My worker worked on the irrigation system along the driveway again. My idea is going to work great. Had heads and bubblers. (My fault) Closed off the heads and accomplished two things. Water directly to areas I wanted and keeping water off the driveway. He had to add about 10 new lines with bubblers. Better him than me. This is one of the new valves so there is plenty of pressure.

I pulled some purple leaved yellow flower oxalis today. It was just starting to take off in my bed underneath my palms in the front raised bed. When I started digging it out, it was amazing how aggressive the root system was. I put some in the holding bed just in case someone wants some.

Vern has an appointment with the cardiologist Monday. So I probably will not get much done on Monday but then I have the rest of the week to finish.

I am signing off early tonight. Going to bed, already turned on my warming blanket and I want a really long good night sleep. Tomorrow I do not need to get up until I want to. But if I stay in bed too long, my back hurts. And my toes were cold today but did not feel wet.

Did I tell you "I HAD A GREAT DAY". Later friends, Sharon.

Guess what we got the freeze and though I covered my potted plants, my monster sunset Brug is all wilted up. So I brought it in. Good grief. The other started to rebloom so it has tiny leaves and still looked ok. Will bring it in too tomorrow. Growling.

I planted my old Brug in a water bottle and then as it got bigger roots I cut out the bottom and left the rest of the bottle around it, then planted it with the bottle partly in ground. It comes back. I moved it to an area with better drainage and sun. We will see how it does this year.

Can't grow jade or rubber here. Nothing that holds water in the leaves holds up to the cold. Black mush.

One more attempt to see if any of you would like this http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1170767/.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn, but one thing I do not need is another new box of plants. I cannot believe I said that. LOL. Sharon

No thanks Dawn. I do not need more day lilies. Sharon what is society garlic? One you can eat and not stink? LOL never heard of it.

Gotta go get a battery for my Subaru today 'cause it sat all winter without driving it and ruined the battery. Did you guys know that? If you don't run a vehicle for a while you need to disconnect the battery? The computers in the new vehicles keep running and drain it. After a while it cannot hold a charge. Ruins them.

Just found that out.

Hope to get home early enough to get Bob to place my alfalfa bales and cover the hoophouse. The cover is all rolled up so shouldn't take long. Then I can start prepping the bales.

Gotta get going, ttyl

Daylilies, Lilies, Iris and a few miscellaneous perennials came yesterday from Gilbert H Wild and the day before, which I could not do, from McClure & Zimmerman, since we went to Folsom. I did not sleep much last night. The cold wind was blowing a lot while I was digging yesterday, and even though I dressed warmly my body did not like it. I had an earache and slept about 3 hours.

I will dig and plant today, and tomorrow I will rest and do cleanup indoors. It looks to be sunnier today and though it has warmed up to almost 50°, the wind persists. Sometimes it dies down and Steve has a fire going. So if I get cold or tired, I'll contribute some twigs and leaves to the fire and get warm for a few minutes. Hopefully my actions will keep me warm and not drive me back indoors. I had to look up some plants as to their ultimate size, and of course their colors to fill in this new design. I also got a few for the Dark Side Garden. Has anyone ever grown Chocolate Cosmos? They really do smell like chocolate.

Well, I am going out there to do battle. Wish me luck! TTYL...

Society Garlic, is as plant that shoots up stems that look like green onions and put on a purple flower. Maybe I have the wrong name. When you separate it, it smells like a strong onion. If you do not separate it, it will stop blooming.

New battery is another reason to move down the hill.

I stayed in bed and slept until 8:30am but when I awoke, my shoulder and right hip joint was screaming. ONot as many gaskels this year. Yes, that is a good thing. A whole bunch of robins and they just stand there and look at you. They do not even fly off when I have the dogs with me. ver use is the only problem. Today the weather is beautiful. It is just about noon and all I have done is take the dogs for a walk, got dressed first and had a cup of tea.

I put out the nesting material for the hummers yesterday and some of it is already missing.
Some larger bird came in yesterday in the back landscape and tore the sock finch feeder to pieces.

The birds are singing their heads off outside on every side of the house. A neighbor stopped by the back fence in the middle of this post so I am sure there is a cross post. Be back later. Sharon.

I am just winding down. Mass at 5:30; walked dog when it got light, cut daffies and delivered them, ate breakfast, mowed some of the lawn, went over the new fence line with SIL to see what changes we had to do near the greenhouse, watered plants in greenhouse, put up the horse shoes I am making for the benefit of the horse park on DG and eBay and now I am going to see if I can do a few horseshoes before I must take Barney for his evening stroll. Maybe watch a ball game or soccer if they are on TV.

Sounds like your weather is o.k. out West. Ours is in the 40s and cloudy. We had sun yesterday a few hours, not at all today. Got all the rooted cuttings replanted yesterday so wouldn't you know, the sun went in. The Jasmine and the Aimee Gardenias had a good day of sun and it will take more than that to green them up again. Aimee Gardenias are starting to bloom and so is the Maid of Orleans Jasmine. Smells good in the GH for sure.

I must start to pull weeds outside, but it is almost too cold. I mind the cold also like the day after. I still run two heaters on low at night in the GH and in the day everything is open and they are turned off. Disgusting electric bill.

Have a good day gang, what is left of it. My daughter just came home with a big piece of prime rib for me. She was at an Ag luncheon and someone did not show up, so I have dinner. Yahoo! I hope you are all feeling well. Bye for now. JB

All you need to go with that is some good horseradish. Yum.

I was just watching some gardening videos. $10 off Osmote (sp) of 3 lbs. I use it in my hanging baskets. It is a rebate. I only have a couple of tbs left so I will purchase on Monday. There is a Lowe's just across the street from Vern's cardiologist.

I am getting ready to make patty melts for lunch/dinner. But JB prime rib sounds better.

Later. Sharon.

Okay, I'll go on the waiting list for tickets-
Jnette, never tire of you stirring the pot! I've decided to nickname you crosspost! (now who's stirring lol). I would comment, however I get so behind on the posts, it takes me quite a while to catch up. I found out that the Space City Fertilizer is specifically formulated for Houston Fertilzer (name of the store) so it's the only place that it's sold. I still use a ton of it, mostly on tropicals.

I finished cleaning up the back garden, and it's looking somewhat tidy again- none too soon as the temp is a balmy 88F today, with a 70 percent chance of mosquitos demanding dinner.
We are about to join the rest of Texas in a severe drought. It's been fairly dry for the past couple of years, so I keep one of the cattle troughs full of water in the event water rationing is implemented. Seems like cold winters, accompany hot dry summers. My garden looked like a Nebraska corn field in Feb after a few freezes. It's taken me two weeks to remove all the dead plants, trees, bamboo, brugs on and on! Happily the tree fern made it yet again through the winter. It looses all of the fronds when it freezes, so I wrap it up like a mummy with outdoor seat cushions. It's finally putting out new fronds. It's nearly as tall as I am now...6 ft.

evelyn, I totally relate to the waiting for spring, then all of a sudden I'm overwhelmed. I take two weeks off in March one at the beginning, and one at the end thinking I will accomplish all these projects, and find myself dismally behind (thus the second week to catch up).

Happy gardening - Rj

RJ, I am totally with you on March. But I am retired and so tired by the end of March. Even with help on Saturdays, I still have another full day to get everything the way I want it. That full day will probably take me all week. I was introduced to someone in the neighborhood the other day and their reply was, "Oh, you are the lady that is gardening all the time".

California just announced they are out of the drought and Lake mead went up 20 feet this last winter. That is a lot of water. We are getting more rain but the other day when we had high winds, you could not see the mountains because of the blowing dust.

Sharon.

The wind has been blowing hard here all day. I'm in less pain than I have been but a really rotten mood which is beginning to seem funny. There's no reason for the bad mood except the amount of pain I've been in lately. Just one of those things.

I got two 20 lb boxes of frozen chicken legs yesterday. Today they were thawed enough to pull apart and put in gallon bags. The dogs were happy with this as they get random scraps.

Tony will be back tomorrow after a few days at his parents' rancho. He has a small truck now so we may be able to go get seaweed.

I am working on making a thing for air-layering out of a two-liter bottle. I'll let you all know if it works.

I'm in such a bad mood I can't even get enthused about ordering seeds. Dang.

kb

I hear ya, it is a full time job, with out a job! I am very tired by the end of march, but after that it's auto pilot until fall. I'm known in the neighborhood as the constant gardener too, but what they don't see is the whole back garden behind the 9 foot fence...! This spring had me wondering how I've managed to keep up with it in the past!

KB, I'm sending you good vibes for mood improvement! We'll whip ya up yet for some seed excitement!

Rj

RJ have you thought of a hotwater heater blanket for the tree fern? They use them on washingtonia palms here. the first time i saw a palm here I said it would die the next winter well it made it through 4 years then bit the dust.

we are 2" below normal for the year. our springs range from days like this upper 70's 80's and maybe low 90's.well I finally got the plugs all planted. 130 flats of 18 per flat of 3.5" pots. I looked in the greenhouse and spotted roots coming out of the bottom of the flats. That might not be news except it was march 22nd when they were stuck now thats fast.

Deer resistant tree's and shrubs. I say resistant because the deer will eat even the undesirable plants if they are hungry.
Shrubs:
Abelia, Buddlejia, Boxwood , Holly, Flowering Quince, Juniper, Mahonia, Nandina, Privet, Rododendron, Viburnum

Tree's
Ash, Bald Cypress, Cedar, Dogwood, Japanese Maple, Magnolia, Pine, Spruce

Ok now for the disclaimer. please see your doctor before starting and changes in... ooops wait a moment...ahh yes... I got the list from a local garden center. If you would like the list for annuals and perrienials let me know

ok the pic is of the overall view of the west side of the nursery.
Our electric company has the tree guys (aka butchers) coming to deal with the brush around their green junction box. now I say this because it will be humorous as I believe they will not deal with the underground part of the tree's. so what do they think they will acomplish??? we trimmed the holly right next to the box last fall and its growing back. now for the real tough part. some of my nursey occupies the 5 ft that they claim around the box. acording to their regulations nothing is suposed to grow next to their "special" box like its holy ground or something... well I believe they neglected to notify the wild life or they did not get the memo....
Have a great evening.
Dave

ha ha we crossposted rj:

well the pic was a before pic and tomorrow will be the after pic.

anyone need any silver maple seeds???/ the ground seems to be a blanket of golden hellicopter seeds you will see tomorrow
Dave

I've actually used a heating pad inside the cushions before. The only reason the tree fern has lived is by happy accident. It was labled as a C. Cooperi, but turned out to be C. Australis which is more cold tolerant...I think down to zero. It has survived being snowed on, frozen, hurricane and drought. I'm not sure why the wholesale plant business doesn't try to propagate the Australis, as there would be a significant increase in the success rate- I've tried to find it on purpose, but no luck. It takes a couple of warm winters for it to produce spores, and have accidentally grown 2 on some Arkansas rocks that I had left trimmed fronds on- I lost them when I tried to transfer them from the rock.

The wind has died down and the fourteen opening buds on my Temple Goddess brug all seem to be OK. I hate it when we get a big wind and it rips a brug to shreds.

The dogs have been fed.

I found a book that someone was looking for but could only find for $54. I am sending her my copy. Makes me happy as I am trying to cut down on my library.

The flowers on my schotai tree are starting to open up. I might lose all my little arhat plants.

Lots of things that "should do well here don't - at least for me. This includes callas, dahlias and some others i can't think of right now. I used to grow double dahlias from seed when I lived in Michigan and they were gorgeous. Here - nada. I am getting seeds for hollyhocks and some other things that I know do well here. Some are perennial, some might reseed themselves. Because I water a lot I have several native plants, like wild hollyhocks that bloom a lot for me. Also tons of tecoma stans which blooms almost constantly.

A flame tree that we started from seed last year in the northern arroyo is now four feet tall. We've also put a lot of agaves that I've found at the dump down there. There was a "sort-of" path there. We blocked it off with rocks and plants (our "non-fence") and cleared a path around the bottom of the arroyo to encourage anyone on foot to take.

RJ, do you want some schotia tree seeds? They are fairly easy to grow. I'm giving most of mine to JLHudson but will send a few to anyone who wants them. Mine started blooming at six or seven years old.

kb

OK, is this me after the "Smack" or me waiting for the "Smack"?

The patty melt was delicious. I even added bacon and grilled onions. Did not feel that great and greasy food always taste good when you do not. See you all tomorrow.

Good Grief, don't any of you guys go to church or something? Crap, even I went to Walmart today. All you did was sit on this computer. LOL you could have gone with us and helped Bob beat up on the guy who wanted to charge him more because the battery he was taking back that didn't work didn't cost as much as the one they had to replace it.

Yeah, they actually expected him to pay the difference. Not a normal Walmart refund policy at all. I told him $87 was way too much for a car battery anyway.

Dave, I hope that big box to the left is not the electric companies box. I would charge theme rent if it is.

Sharon, no, that is much cuter than you are.

I have to go copy a recipe, ttyal.

I beg your pardon. Now my feeling are really hurt.

I thought you went to bed!!

I did.

rj, I just remembered what you said up there, waaaaaay up there, like,

Okay, I'll go on the waiting list for tickets-
Jnette, never tire of you stirring the pot! I've decided to nickname you crosspost! (now who's stirring lol).

Guess you don't forget much do you rj. BTW, I thought that Space City Fert was made for the Hibiscus Society down there. Tell me where to get it and I will get it from them when I need more. That is, if I still have some brugs by then.

I cannot believe your yard is not pictured in a top garden book rj. Unless of course the pictures you used to post were of the neighbor's yard. LOL

We had a high of 50° with wind blowing for most of the time. Occasionally it stopped and it was sunny. I had to wait until the sun hit that bed before I could work on it. I am retired as well, Rj, but almost 70 so I have to do things slower. (The hurrier I go, the behinder I get...) My mother used to say that when I was young and did not know what it meant. Now I know. Still, I will do what I can. I did what I started out to do. All the daylilies and lilies are in, as well as a couple of iris. I also will be planting foxtail lilies. They are tall, so I will need something in front of it to give perspective.

In the "Peach of a Garden", I have some foxtail lilies there also, and Beverly Sill iris in front of it. She blooms when the eremurus has almost completed his bloom. Maybe I will put an orange tall bearded iris in front of the E. bungei, as that one will get at the tallest only 4'. I have no idea which things will bloom together. I am sure the plants are already tired of me digging them up and moving them around. I had some white daffs in there so I moved them to another bed and left the yellow ones in there. I think I will get some of the orange and yellow hyacinths come this fall. I have a few in the peach of a garden as their coloring is really a very soft orange and goes well in that bed with the tulips. This will not be the largest bed, but the largest flower bed. That is it will be filled with flowers, not just "landscaped". I have other areas where I do that also. This bed, if the critters don't demolish it, will probably be the brightest garden I have ever seen as I have not worked with so many hot colors before. It is a nice challenge for me....except when I have had only 3 hours of sleep.

Rj, what kinds of plants do you grow? I know Jeanette likes brugs and tropicals, JB likes gardenias and begonias, but she also does a lot more. Dave likes to buy in plugs and grow and sell them with a variety of items...things he knows that will sell.
Katie has some interesting plants in Mexico, aloe, cherimoya and many more and Lee...gosh, I don't know what Lee likes. Sharon is into doing a new blue garden, but she is also into getting everything in her life super-organized. I admire that, and I do it from time to time, but somehow it falls apart in the middle. Or maybe it is I who falls apart...LOL!! I just get tired or don't feel well and that's when it happens.

Today was especially hard but I did what I set out to do and got almost everything planted. The rest can wait, but I needed to get these in the ground and of course, dig in some parts where there has been not digging. Very hard clay, but this is the time of year to do it. I will continue to work on that bed, even when I am not planting since its condition needs improving. I have more orders coming in and also I have been winter sowing seeds so more color to fill in. I will start more outside as well, since my back porch right now is my greenhouse and potting shed. I have a plastic stand with 4 shelves of seedlings, as well as more lined up on the porch.

What is everyone planting this season? Jeanette, what tomatoes are you growing this year? I have started a few and some are in the basement under lights right now along with some impatiens and petunias.

Well....I'll just mosey on now...have fun everyone. Sharon, I hope that your shoulder and hip feel better.

Morning, today is another cloudy day. It is to be 80 deg. here but it has a long way to go. I opened the greenhouse early so it would not burn the heck out of the plants if it does go up before I get back from the eye doctor. I really would enjoy a week of sunshine. I know, then I will about it being too hot. What can I tell you. I am just an old grump. If you guys were 82 almost 83 you would moan and groan too. I have so few aches and pains that I thank God everyday for the blessings of good health. So my heart could stop anytime, well so everyone has that possibility. I eat healthy and drink healthy and still enjoy my pizza and beer and egg McMuffins on occasions. lol

The daffodil field is beautiful I will take picture before I cut if the sun comes out. It is just beginning to produce. So far I have sold about 20 dozen to the Market. I do not want to put the road stand out if I can help it. Maybe I will just put up a sign if the Market orders start to slow down. I give a lot away also. And of course, I have them in my house all the time. Along with the Aimee Gardenias. I love cut flowers in the house.

The star magnolia is beginning to show white, so that is good, except it is late, again due to the lack of sun. The weeping cherry is just getting pink and looks like this is a good year for that. Of course the forsythia and pussy willows are out and almost over.
I did notice the Iris and some roses are coming up. I am getting more hosta from Dave to start a garden on the North side of the one barn facing the Christmas Trees. When people come to walk thru the trees they will see the hosta. Just a nice touch for a bare side of the barn. It is amazing how many people just want to look at the trees and they actually decide on one they like, and watch it grow and they they buy it when it gets to the size they want. I am sure we are the only tree farm that permits that, but most of our customers are local and go past here daily. This is like their second home. lol. We have been here so long it is like a corner bar, people just stop and chat.

The 150 new baby trees we put in the other night are looking good because it has been overcast and damp. They love that for awhile, then it too will harm them. It can get too wet and that bothers me.

My SIL and daughter worked until dark last night putting fence posts in for the new chain link fence we are putting up. Wait until the neighbor sees that we have just cut off his road to the back of the property with a fence. The family of our deceased neighbor are a group of money hungry stupid idiots who refuse to negotiate and communicate. their attorney and Realtor are also in that category. When the Chief of Police/Zoning officer stopped in the other night, he just plain said, They made an illegal entrance into the property from the other lot, let them use that. For years you gave them this right of way without any formal deed so to heck with them. Fence it in. So, the fence is going up. And they can deal with the zoning officer if they have a problem. There is however another way for them to get back using the same road if they just go closer to the house, so it is not landlocked. Enough of my fence vi va la fence!

Must get ready to do to eye doctor. Have a good day. Time for you all to get up.