Attn: Ohioans and Neighbors 3

Ready for the third invasion? Geranium (pelargonium) sale next. Friday April 25 through Sunday April 27 at deMonye's.
They will have red, white, pink, salmon, violet and appleblossom. 3 pak for $1.00, or a flat of 36 for $12.00.

How about Saturday, gang? Flowox is going to come!!!! Badseed, can you make it? Puh-leeze???? And maybe find Vic and her DD in Lebanon and drag her along for a couple hours?

Love to host (hostess?) another mini-gathering :) And we can go raid another local nursery that specializes in unusual annuals and hundreds of vegetable varieties by the cell-pack (Dill's) or a different one that specializes in annuals in 4" pots (Fisher's). Or the Hosta and tree nursery (Seely's). C'mon up!!!!

Columbus is starting to rival some of the other parts of the country for really outstanding local nurseries. C'mon up!

what about windsurffer? Hey, you going to come?
I can't wait, this is going to be fun. Just don't get shocked because I've gained quite a bit of weight and am rather embarrassed about it but doing therapy and low carb diet to fix that hopefully soon.

I Sure am Flo but not to the sale but will meet you at Lupy's house afterwards, I have spent too much money so can't afford to spend anymore.
Flo don't worry about your weight, I don't like a person based on if they are skinny or over weight but on how they are, there is no need to feel embarrassed around me.

I'd like to come, sure! And, Flo, I'm in the same boat weight-wise, so don't feel bad. We all like each other for what's *inside*, anyway.

ok, just thought I'd mention it in case I act a little strange. I'm very self contious and my self esteem just kinda stinks :o(
It would be nice to meet all of you though :o)

GW is right and just be yourself and I will see you at Lupy's on Sat.

Ok, what would be a good time Lupine? When should I be at your house?

Flo, do you want to come by yourself early, or come with Gardenwife? She has a commitment until about 11:30, but will come after that. Still waiting to hear from Lotusblossom...

Anytime you want to come is fine with me :) And Windd, I understand. Why do you think I didn't go to the Petunia sale? Since I am not going to grow them this year, I just would have gotten into lots of trouble looking at the other stuff!!!! But you gotta come when we go to another nursery. Dill's hopefully. Their annuals should be out by then... And they have masses of just gorgeous perennials! Hundreds of varieties of veggies! No huge sales, tho :(

well, depends on when you want to go to that sale. If we have to be there early then I can come early. It's going to be the second day of the sale by Saturday so what do you think?

Flo, they have several hundred flats of every color geranium for this sale. If they do run short of a specific color, it won't be until Sunday. Whatever time y'all want is fine with me :) If you really want a lot of a certain color, then we should get there early, otherwise, late morning/early afternoon is fine.

well, I figure it'll take me about an hour or so to get to your house so I'll probably leave around 9, 9:30. Does that sound alright? Don't make any coffee for me though. I can only drink decaf stuff and since I'm not allowed sugar, I'll just drink some water :o)

Helllloooooooooo Kathy! Both of our cars are inoperative and so GW and I will come together after her committment Saturday morning. I plan to be there unless something unforseen pops up. My DD has generously loaned us her car and it is such a blessing. I plan to ride along to your house. What are the plans and the time frame for the visits to other nurseries that you mentioned?

Oh, Cathy! How hard to be without transportation! Hope you get both fixed soon! And yes, your DD is a DARLING!!! Can't wait to see you again. Remind me what else I promised to have ready and waiting for you!!!!! Bluebells next month, another pulmonaria, what else??? If you don't remind me then I won't have it ready for you!!!

Flo, arriving at 10 or 10:30 sounds great! That way we can get to know each other a little before the others arrive. I love gathering in groups, but I get distracted very easily. One of the lingering after-effects of my becoming crippled. No sugar? Are you allowed stevia?

Think I posted to the wrong thread ~ oops! Anyway, I'm thinking it may be a good possibility :)

allowed maybe but I don't like the taste of those sweeteners.........they have a horrible after taste, I think. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine :o)

Morph!!!! ;;;DDDDD How's that for a big smile? You coming again???? Whhoppeee!!!! *plotting to get some more of your fantastic bath salts... not to mention some more of your herbal soap. My hands sure got dirty out there dividing all my shady perennials. *hint hint*

Anyone heard from Celia? I don't think she has gotten my e-mails. Can anyone try to e-mail her and see if she can make it down?

I'm thinking that we will just gather here at my house; whenever everyone arrives we will car-pool to the nursery, then on to another one or ones. Sound good? I will be home all morning. If anyone needs my phone number, write me and I will give it.

Hey! I'm here!! No, I'm not getting your emails. Unless your the ones I deleted about Viagra and enlarging certain body parts! LOL
I'll have to pass on getting down there to be with you guys. My daughter's wedding shower is Sunday the 27th. And since I'm the one giving it, I have tons of things still left to do.
I really hope to see you sometime this year. It should be easier, now that I'm not working. Have fun!

Did I hear Bath Salts and Herbal Soap? I wish I had some right now to help me wake up.........LOL. I'm just totally exhausted from being there last night for the delivery. I was so wired that it just totally wore me out and I'm hurting today :o( But what an experience it was :o)

Yes, I've some homemade bath salts & soaps... The darn luffas took me that direction since I had this grand idea that I would melt/pour commercial soap into the dried luffas! In case you ever think you might want to do that, remember, you can't melt commercial soap and pour it!!! You just get stringy blobs with the soap odor permeating your whole house.

So, I found myself making homemade soap using the old fashioned lye method. I love it, though! I'll bring any extras I have :) Also, I still have some homemade bath salts and some delicious almond bubble bath! I'll bring that, too, if I get over this darned cold I caught.

LOL, Morph! That sounds like one of my experiments gone awry!

:) GW! I was pulling out my hair before I resigned myself to the fact I was going to have to make the soap from scratch.

On top of that, I discovered the luffas were really too harsh to use on the skin for how I wanted to use them ~ lol! You can grind up some luffa and put it into the soap for exfoliation, but to use it as sponge just rubs the skin raw!

ooooh......I love the smell of almond :o)

I had the crazy idea once to make my own soaps but once I found out about the lye and stuff, I just kinda stepped back and figured I'd let someone else mess with that before I hurt myself.........LOL

Flowox, it was overwhelming at first. But, there are so many books available at the library and even sites on the web that help you calculate the exact amount of lye to use. I've only had one bad batch which is pretty good. Before all this information was available, many people went through bad batch after bad batch trying to figure out what went wrong! I feel very lucky to have the knowledge from others that learned the hard way.

So, what time frame will people be at your house, Lupinelover? I want to be sure not to miss you guys! I'm trying to get Howie to come with mom and me, but I know he's not inclined to go to the various garden centers. We're more likely to do them when we have the plants we already *have* moved to better spots for sunlight, and when we have beds available for new additions. But we want to visit!

Yes, I was curious, too. I'm still sniffling & coughing but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

C'mon anyway, Morph. Most of the time you're only contagious a few days of a cold, aren't you? The rest is just the aftermath. I may be wrong, but pretend I'm right, just so we can meet ya! ;)

Your geranium sale have anything like this?
Many varieties avaiable at our garden center.
Bernie

Tomorrow is the day. So who all is coming? Watch me get lost and drive around forever.......LOL

Now there you go again....don't think like that, of course you'll get lost *giggle* I get lost every time I go to Newark so your in good company.
I will be there tomorrow at 10 AM so that you,Lupy and I can cruise Grove City and chew the fat before the other's arrive.

I can't chew fat........ROTFL but we can go shopping for flowers :o)

If I leave here at 9 I should get there right around 10:30ish

Can't wait to meet everyone!!!!!!!

Gardenwife, I think you said earlier that you would be leaving Newark about noon? Arriving here at about 1? I had thought about showing Susan and Windd -- that bad lady has never come to Gantz before!!!! my Herb Garden, maybe the pigs will be there :) Then head back to my house to await your arrival.

Howie doesn't like to shop? LOL few men do. You are bringing your mom, right? Got some more of the things she wanted potted up and waiting for her, not sure what else I promised her. You and she can look at all my extras when you arrive... Even got a few tiny seedlings potted up you can baby and sell at a garage sale if you want. Better than killing the poor darlings!

Susan, do you have my phone number? If you need it still, e-mail me and mark the subject line as URGENT or something -- my inbox is overflowing, and I am trying to read them in order.

Kimberley, remember the apple bread last year? Got one with your name on it... Not as good, wrong kind of apples, but I couldn't resist :)

Morph, you have to be better! You have to come! You just have to!!!!! What else can I tempt you with? Perhaps something else for your memory garden?

Esther was here last night, unexpected trip to Columbus. Just wait till I show off what she brought me :) She will be back mid-May.

If you're giving plants away, I'll take some too :o)

Mmmm, apple bread sounds great. We should head out about Noon, yes. It should take under an hour for us to get there. I can't really hit any of the greenhouses except to take pictures; if Howie comes, we'll not go to any, probably. He's just not up to that much walking.

I'm still here... I've succeeded in sharing my flu/cold with family :( Tomorrow will depend on how they are fairing. I'm still sniffling, but feel much better. They're just at the beginning part.

I'm sure Esther brought some real goodies! I may just have to mail some of my bath products if I don't make it there.

If I do, sounds like y'all are meeting at Lupys place at 1:00, right? I'll do my bestest...

Yep, Country Gardens......the sale we are talking about has many more varities. In Lancaster, Ohio, I discovered Lancaster Nursery, They have all varities and colors of geraniums, zonal, hanging and varities that are sorta hard to find everywhere.

Morph, your bestest won't be nearly good enough unless you come to LL's. GW wants to meet you and I'm looking forward to seeing you again. DH and I left LL's shortly after you arrived so didn't get a chance to see much of you. Please come....PLEASE?PLEASE?PLEASE?PLEASE?!?!?!?!? (I'm om the floor begging!LOL)

Ohhh, that Lancaster Greenhouse had SUCH a great variety of annuals. I was *good* and kept my camera in my bag since they were getting ready to close! Mom and dad spent *hours* there yesterday. Tell them why, mom...Bwaahahahahaaa!

Hey Kathy....forgot to send this with the above message. You said you had some Toad Lilys, variegated Solomon's Seal, a hosta and hostas and Solomon's Seal and Lily of the Valley for GW. The bluebells (I think that's what they are) that are growing in the back of your house also, but I think you have to dig them later. I could use a few more starts of Wild Ginger if you have it. I got all of my shade plants in and they are looking good!! I want to fill the entire area so there's not much weeding to do. There is really no place to step without trampling something. I want the whole area to be filled and wild looking. LOL. See ya tomorrow. Whatever shady things you have starts of will have a loving home here! By next year I will probably have starts for others.......I hope so. I want to be on the giving end as well as the receiving end!!!

Lotusblossom, yep, I have lots and lots of hostas just begging for new homes :)

Morph, Flo, GW, come and get 'em! The Solomon's Seal should wait until fall to be transplanted; doing it now will make them either die or stunt their growth for 2-3 years! They have very thick fleshy rhizomes that take a long time to settle in, and that happens best in cold weather. Boy have I got lily of the valleys and wild ginger! and blood root! Some of them need to be babied in pots until fall, but if you can handle that, then I have a bunch waiting.

Morph, if you aren't well enough, or if your family needs you, well, we understand :) But please, if it is possible, come! and maybe we can talk about the Cincy Flower Show. I just saw the thread when Mystic poked me ;D I want to go!!!! Do I have the energy? Will it rain? I wish I had seen about it sooner! Wahhh!!

Kimberley, not being distracted by the need to buy plants will let you get some spectacular shots! If Howie does come, then we will find a place for him to be able to relax while we look. A lot of the nurseries do provided places like that for non-gardening people.

Morph, we will be at my house until about 1:30. How does that sound? If you cannot make it, can you give me a call? I will not be on-line tomorrow, I want to leave the phone line open. Do you have my phone number? I don't want to post it here, so if you don't have it, Gardenwife, Windsurffer and Lotusblossom all have it. I am getting ready to sign off for the night. See you all tomorrow!

Kathy, I would baby a blood root if needed, and could use a little wild ginger. I was to remind you to get me the toad lilys, and GW was to get hostas, blood root, wild ginger and lily of the valley, I can't remember what else, but she will!

See you tomorrow (giggle)

OK, GW.......I will only relate this embarrassing saga once, so everyone listen up!

Both of our cars are beyond repair and GW has generously been loaning us her car. As you probably know, my DH is a minister and yesterday we went to Chilacothe so he could visit two men in prison there. On the way home I had the bright idea to stop and look around at Lancaster Nursery.

Naturally I looked at many plants with my fingers (where, incidentally, I had GW's only car key hanging). I picked out three perennials and took them inside and left them by the vash register. DH was elsewhere in the greenhouses, so we both went into every one of them and looked at the plants. When I went to pay for my perennials, the nursery worker had my plants in a flat with someone else's plants and thought all of the plants (nearly two flats) were mine and she told me I might as well purchase three more plants to make an entire two flats. I explained that I only had three plants total and that she had mistakenly packed them in the other customer's order.

Wellllllll........she took out my three, I paid for them and went out to GW's car. Lo and behold, the car key was not on my finger or anywhere else! DH and I retraced our steps, picked up every plant we had looked at in all of the greenhouses, and still no key. We even looked under the display benches. Soon the nursery workers joined in the great key search......all to no avail. I honestly think that the ditzy nursery worker got the keys off the counter along with my plants when she packaged the other customer's plants. By the time I knew they were missing, the customer had left and I couldn't check the boxes her purchases were in.

We didn't have our cell phone with us so had to use the nursery's phone to call GW. Thank goodness she was home and answered the phone! Howard was at work and couldn't leave and Gw had no way to get his sey of keys to her car. GW got ahold of her M-I-L and she went to Howard's place of employment and got his keys. GW called us at the nursery and said she would be there in about an hour or more. I (forgetful that I have become!!) apologised and she said it was alright.....I could just buy her a plant when she arrived at the nursery. (I forgot to say that when she called Howard she said "This is the daughter of the stranded mother" and told him what had happened.

GW got there about 15 or 20 minutes before they closed and picked out her plants. DH and I treated her to a couple of packs of plants and a couple of potted plants. PLEASE NOTE: If it hadn't been close to closing time, GW WOULD have taken her camera out of the bag and DH and I would have spent another 2-1/2 hours at the nursery!!!!! As it was, we got there and began this wild time at 2:45 and were there until 6:10. There were four people who were still shopping so the nursery didn't close at 6 as planned.

I have been honest, even tho it hurts, about the events of the day. I am eternally grateful to GW, Howard and Howard's mother. On the way home DH and I had another set of keys made and took them to GW's house.

OK, GW, I have told the whole nasty thing. BoooooooHoooooo!!!! Thanks for rescuing your mom and dad. We both love you bunches and gobs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!