Hi Alliymouse. I'm glad you came to the brug forum to check it out. Brugs are great plants and you really should give them a try. They are very rewarding when they start blooming. In CA you can put them out in the ground and they will survive. Wish I lived there. LOL!
As the sun comes over the mountain....
Trying to make another addict, hey Brugie? LOL. The Brug forum got me started.... and addicted!
Hey, why not? LOL!! The more the merrier and all of you in the warmer zones can keep us in cold country excited about brugs all winter with your pictures.
alliymouse -
You really DO need this plant! Our climate is so good for these and they grow like weeds. They are kinda like potato chips though....you can't stop with just one. :-)
Candy...the brugs just give your garden such a lovely touch ! I agree, you can't have just one!
Allimouse, join the party....I have been on DG almost all day today, after a little gardening this morning! It is addictive too!
Candy, that is SOOOOOOOO pretty!!! Please understand that I hate you - hold the phone, that was a joke. CA is just a special place, if you cannot grow it there, you cannot grow it, huh???
Sherry -
I am in total zone denial......if it grows anywhere on the planet I will try it. That's why I took over the whole of the sunroom this past winter, the greenhouse was full so I just moved on to another room.
I read another web forum and a succulent grower just got her second greenhouse.......hmmmmm. I've been toying with the idea of contacting Charley's to see if I could just expand the greenhouse I have. It would be a daunting task because we'd have to extend the ridge beam and take out the back wall, but I bet it's possible! Haven't mentioned it to DH yet....I'll sneak up on him when he's vulnerable. :-)
You are a funny one, Candy, thanks, I NEED more of that. Okay, so tell me about zone 9b. I'm in 8a and except for some frozen stuff, only now and then, we 'should' be able to grow lotz of stuff, ya know?? Like cotton, cotton in colors, soy beans, rice, etamame, freshwater shrimp (the BEST in the world - called Marine Shrimp), crawfish, etc. If we could ONLY do oysters, I'd be a happy grannie!!! Best of luck with your greenhouse expansion, I'm into building, renovations, updates, what ever. I know it's going to work for you and I'll bet it is wonderful!!!! Happy building! SLike
PS - I think your zone denial is due to your youthfulness (that's a compliment, in case you didn't know)
This message was edited May 14, 2004 8:42 AM
Sherry -
So are you trying to butter me up or what!!???? LOL.....youthfullness is long gone. I now qualify for a Senior's discount at the local nursery.....granted it is not the "65" one, but is the "60" one and I'm overqualified for it!
Love Marine shrimp!
Another idea I have is to enclose a second story balcony for plants.......always gotta plan ahead! My "Honey Do" list is very long!
Our version of 9b (one of many micro-climates within 9b)
HOT HOT summers - 85-110F (cools off at night to 50-55F because of SF Bay) Generally no rain from April - October.
WILD WET WINDY winters - coldest the last couple of years was 39F, lots of rain, soggy, wet saturated soil, lots of wind...two of the biggest storms this year brought winds of 75+ and 86+mph. No frost in the last 6 years, but that could change at any time.
Thanks for the info, grows like a weed I can do. I have been growing weeds for the last few years. As I was out today, I couldn't help but notice the burgs in peoples yards. I never knew what they were called. I think i'm hooked.
LouisianaSweetPea, I meant to ask you this a couple of days ago but I lost the thread and I just found it again. Is that a cup and saucer on your fence??? I think your plants are fixing to take off. What did you find for the snails??? I have them too and wanted to try the beer thing, but it's been raining too much. SLike
Candy - are there Marine shrimp in your grocery stores or do you have them when dining out?? We are fortunate that our friend has a shrimp farm and he keeps us, and our club, supplied. I'm just nutz for them and being a New Orleans girl, I was raised on seafood and know yum-yum, when I get it. My hubby does the cooking and his current best dish is Chippewa Shrimp, with Marine shrimp. Last weekend, everything was Mexican, including Marine shrimp enchiladas, see attached photo with our first passion flower of the year.
I like your weather, I love just about everything about CA, at least the places I've been. I do enjoy dramatic weather changes and you seem to have more than most of my CA pals. I have an LA friend that didn't see a thunder storm for years. Ooooops, I gotta run, time to take my aunt to therapy...SLike
Oh my goodness, flowers pictures AND food too?!!! We need to start a recipe forum here! Thats sounds and looks yummy!
Sue....I know I tried to figure that one out! It must be the shrimp enchilada!!!
BTW...there is a recipe forum @ DG !!!!!
Wow tasty looking enchiladas! But, if I could choose food or the Passion Flower.....it'd have to be the flower!! Great color.
I've just had the marine shrimp when eating out, when we're down south......been awhile since I've had any kind of shrimp though. We saw a Nova or Frontline or something recently about shrimp harvesting, farms, etc. Really gross process, fighting diseases with buckets of antibiotics, overcrowded conditions in which they are raised.....reminded me of the old exposes on meat packing. Bleccchhhhh. Sometimes it is better NOT to know too much. :-)
Re: Mexican Food
We will NOT be having completely homegrown ingredients in our salsa this year. Three complete crops of Cilantro have been harvested by the ground squirrels and all the onion starts are gone too. Nasty little buggers! Just hoping to have tomatoes this year, last year was a terrible year for them here with a wet cold spring. I have them covered with two layers of netting to keep the squirrels out and am hoping for the best.
I am a New Orleans girl too, SLike. So I don't know what 'marine' shrimp are -- just those good Gulf shrimp. How do marine shrimp differ?
The snails are still in residence, but as the little Snowbank brug gets healthier, they are not bothering it as much. I might try the beer thing too (or a gun - LOL).
Yes, those are teacup stakes that I recently purchased from Solutions catalog. I was too lazy to make my own, so I waited until Solutions put them on sale. They are still on sale -- at about half the price they were originally. Here's the link:
http://www.solutionscatalog.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=3789&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=55&iSubCat=61&iProductID=3789&onsale=1
There are no holes in the bottom, so when it rains they fill with water, which is fine with me -- more for the birds. My sister fell in love with them when she visited, so I ordered a set for her too. The 'ice-cream' pastels look nice in the garden.
Jean
Once again such a lovely resting place! Beautiful...enjoyed seeing the pictures of you Ladies too!!!
Calif_Sue,if you go on the right side and click on extras,ther is a DG cookbook,it has some goodies,Sherry,maybe you need to get that recipe in there somewhere,sure looks good!
Candy - what you need is a good squirrel mulligan recipe and a pellet gun!! The Datura tatula seeds arrived and they just made my otherwise dreary day - thank you soooooo very much!!!! I cannot wait to plant them. What do you suggest??? Rockwool, seed pots or the ground??? I would hate to put them in the ground for fear this rain might continue, so I'm thinking maybe a large pot, I bought one today, just in case and will send pic, if the rain EVER stops. I'm sure I can find datura planting instructions. I wish I could send you some cilantro and onions. My daddy is the King of Onions and the jury is still out on me and the cilantro, this year is the ONLY season, ever, that my cilantro has done well and it is HUGE, laying on the ground, because of the rain, but HUGE. Wish I could send you some, sweet girl, but it does NOT hold up well in transit and if you have to dry it, you might as well get from the grocery. More later, it's the Crawfish Festival here this weekend and that means lots of guests tonight...SLike
I think it's gonna be Safeway Cilantro this year......or else I'll put some in a hanging basket out of their reach.
(Note to self......they climb.)
I planted the D. tatula in regular planting mix in a little pot after soaking over night. They came up pretty fast, and I plunked them in the garden. I'm not much of a seed person, but this was an easy one. Some people score the seeds, but I didn't.....I probably would have severed a finger and that would have made it one expensive seedling!
This was several years ago when I still had bird feeders and thought the squirrels were cute. They are not cute and I can no longer have bird feeders. :(
Kind of like a look at the dark side of the moon.....the Brugs from the other side of this large bed covered with palms.
Happen,when I started gardening this yard 10 yrs ago,I thought Bulbs would be a good start,$300 later,and a heck of a buffet,I had 1 tulip this year,Where can I get that squirrel Mulligan recipe?
You keep these stunning pictures coming!!!!
Evening root -
I can relate to the bulb thing too, but it's the pocket gophers that get those. Most bulbs have to be treated as annuals here because it never gets cold for long enough. I've thrown good money after bad, so I switched to a whole slew of Alliums last year. They got every last one of them. Had a major pipeline tunnel going right to them. :(
The only Spring bulby kind of thing I've been able to grow is Freesia http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/37417/ and those are in an underground wire cage.
Hey Root...if you find that recipe for squirrel mulligan....would you please also look for a recipe for mole mulligan! I'm hating these guys! I'm like you.....I must have planted over 500 bulbs over the years.....the only thing left are a few daffies! We've been treating for grubs.....so hopefully that will help! And I'm planting many castor beans!
Candy.....I don't know if I've told you in this thread....but this pic is just gorgeous! I've looked at it every morning this week! I need your climate!
LASweetPea, I ordered the cups and saucers, two sets, I think my daughter will love them too. Thanks for the link, Jean!! The marine shrimp are grown in fresh water, and I don't have a clue how they do it but I'm going out there to see, at my first opportunity. The freshwater shrimp are sweet and more tasty - they taste quite a bit like lobster. They seem to be more uniform in size, medium, I've never seen a big or small one, all are medium. Another thing that really makes them nice is that they are flash frozen, individually, and, as a result, you can easily grab as many as you like outta the box very easily, instead of having to thaw the whole batch. They are frozen with shells on, but not the head, and, of course, they are pricey, but we think they are worth it. It is still misting here, dreary and cold - can you believe that. More when I get another chance...SLike
One more question. I have got to do something about snails, they are going to eat all my plants, the brugs included. What in the world can I do to stop them?? I cannot use the pellets because of the dogs, cats, birds. My neighbor said to use Sevin, which I have, but I do not see anything about it working with snails or slugs, I'm really not sure which one I have, they are tiny, toupe in color. The beer thing did not work and now it's misting, and going to rain anyway. They were on the sweet little brugs I'm rooting, eating off new growth. Please let me know if you can think of something that might work. TIA!!
SLike
Sherry...I use the liquid snail bait around individual plants and it seems to work, pretty well. This year I am finding more slugs without shells and they seem to be able to get into places the snails with shells are not. It is a constant battle with them. My brugs have been OK...but I have to watch my new hosta so carefully.
I just learned something new last week-end from happenstance. She uses cocoa beans shells to mulch her garden with and says that they deter snails and slugs too !
You could ask her for more info. I have never even seen cocoa bean shells for sale! She does have lizzards also, which may also be helping to keep them down!
Morning !
There is a snail bait that is pet safe.
I've used Deadline for years in my gardens and it does work, does make it through most non-monsoon rainstorms, but you need to watch your pets if they are lickers! It is very effective.
I've switched to Sluggo now, mainly for the winter months and if you keep on top of it each year you will have less and less snails/slugs. Doesn't hold up as well in the rain. It is pet safe:
http://www.pestproducts.com/sluggo.htm
Cocoa Mulch
You should consult your veterinarian regarding the use of this product in your garden. I have not had a problem, but my dog doesn't have access to the planting beds.
As you reduce the population of snails/slugs with consistant use of any program, the Cocoa Mulch (the dried hulls from cocoa beans) will help keep them down. They apparently don't like the crunchy dry hulls.
This might not work as well in a climate that gets lots of rain (it rarely rains here from April - October), but even when wet they don't appear to like the consistancy of this mulch. Over the last three years I've built up a good base of the hulls and it takes less each year to "top-dress" the beds with fresh hulls each spring and fall. It also works wonders on breaking up clay soil and has a small amount of nutritive value.
And the best thing is that your garden smells like Chocolate! In the evening when the Brugs are exuding their perfume and the cocoa mulch is in the air.....well what could be better than a chocolate flavored Brug!
http://www.nationalcocoashell.com/faq/
Someday I'll learn to spell!
This message was edited May 15, 2004 9:51 AM
Thank you Candy for giving the added information and link for the cocoa mulch. Have you any local source where you get it from here in CA.?
Hi Margie -
I now buy it at Navlet's. It is pricey at $9.99 a bag, but it is a good investment and a long term solution to clay soil, slugs/snails, and makes a great top-dressing. I mitigate the cost by buying 10 bags at a time, on Wednesday, and try to save up my frequent buyer discount card to use when I buy the mulch.
Navlet's has interent coupons worth $15 off any $100 purchase, you just print them out and carry them with you like Monopoly money.
If you are over 60 and shop on Wednesday you get an additional 10% off your purchase.
If you are a frequent buyer and have a fully punched card, you get another $25 off your purchase.
I didn't count the bags for the first couple of applications, but last year it took 22 bags to do the entire yard. This year I purchased 22 bags and had 8 left over to use to replenish and refresh as the season goes on.
Navlet's
http://www.navletsgardens.com/home_page.html
Yard Birds used to carry it, but they now claim that there is some sort of supplier problem. Their price was $8.99 with no available discounts.
I would not advise purchasing this by the truckload even if you could find a supplier. It is feather light and half of it would end up down the street before you could get it spread. I spread it a bag at a time, then lightly water it in to prevent it from escaping.
Here is something else that is supposed to work.
http://www.gardeners.com/sell.asp?ProdGroupID=12959
I always use Diatomaceous Earth (DE) and it does a great job. Our pool filter uses DE to function so I have plenty. I'd heard about it many years back, but hadn't tried it. I used it all last year with great results. It's pretty cheap also. Contact your local pool dealer and I bet it's cheaper!
Candy...thanks so much for your info. and your link....I printed out the coupons and nearest stores....I think I'll see if Tracy and Sue want to split a $100. purchase (with coupon $85.). We could get it in Concord or Freemont on the way to/from your house. That way we could all try it and get the good discount besides!
What do you think? Tracy, Sue ?
Brugie, do you use the DE and like it?
Gosh, you guys are sooooooooo nice!!! I've been to two Lowe's and three WalMarts and all the nurseries trying to find something. Well, today, I went to that 3rd WalMart, which is the smallest one I've ever been in, and thought, oh well, since I'm here I might as well check about the snail stuff. Of course, you know what I'm gonna say - there at this small store, they had ONE sack of snail/slug bait that isn't harmful to pets and wildlife, and you can bet I snarfed it up!!! A man was standing there and saw what I got and he said that one really works and won't hurt your pets. I said, oh yeah???? And he said, my Westie ate a whole sack, the big sack and didn't miss a beat.
Aren't dogs something??!! I have a Golden girl that has never misbehaved in her life, and Easter Sunday, 2003, she ate a 25lb sack of bird feed, ya just never know. BTW, are cocoa hulls and cocoa mulch the same thing? If so, we are advised not to use it re the dogs, but I don't know if it was because the dogs would eat it (most dogs love chocolate and it is a real doggie no-no) or if it was some other way bad for them, like 'poison'. I'll let you know. Brugs are poison and so are my oleanders and I'm sure lots of other stuff and I've never had a dog eat any of that kinda stuff, but I will admit that I watch them every minute when they are babies and puppies...but I do that anyway...
Margie -
The Navlet's in Concord is about 5 minutes from the house. I think they built it just for me so I wouldn't have to drive the 12 miles to the one in Pleasant Hill. :-)
Pets and plants and garden products can be a lethal mix sometimes. My daughter is a vet and she's got stories that would curl your hair. I don't have a problem with my cats because they never go outside to become coyote food. My Black Lab is not a chewer, digger or generally an eater of foreign matter.
BUT let her smell the tree fertilizer stakes or those golf ball sized slow release fertilizer plugs and she becomes an absolute maniac. She's had her stomach pumped three times in the last 5 years and I'm very careful. It's nice to have a vet that makes house calls!!
So even if you are just broadcasting granular fertilizer you have to be careful with some pets. It's one of the main reasons I now stick to packaged manure almost exclusively as a fertilizing agent. I use fish emulsion on the potted plants and have a foliar fertilizer that is supposed to be magic that I have yet to use. (Note to self......TO DO!) It is Eleanor's VF -11 http://www.vf-11plantfood.com/
If we took out every plant that was poisonous, our gardens would be pretty sparse. Here is just one list of plants common to many of our gardens. http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/ento/PLANT.HTM You can find many other lists by doing a Google search.
Candy...so glad there is a Navlet by you! I do not have any animals, other than the neighbors cats that come into my yard, but I will pass this information on to Tracy who does...if she doesn't see it here first! Thank you!
Candy...I just realized that I will be visiting on a Wed. !!!
Could I be any luckier?!
LOL Margie.....I knew it was Wednesday, but I didn't want to assume that you would qualify for the discount. :-)
LOL Candy...if you do, I do too!! Like you, NOT for an over 65 though !
I have used it for worms/cats and it does work. We don't have slugs and snails here..............YET!!