Is that just from the photo taking or are some brugs shinier than others? If some are shinier, which ones would they be?
I notice some photos brug blossoms have a shiny/waxy look...
You have so many questions Margie. LOL! You will be able to write a book very soon!
It has been my observation that some get that look when they are new. And it makes the brugs look so special! It does not seem like all the flowers from one kind of brug does it either. It seems to me that it only occurs in certain cases. I think it may only happen when all conditions are met and I have no idea what conditions they are! LOL
Thanks kell....I should have known it would be you to answer my question!
I could be wrong, just what I have observed! After I wrote that I went out to take pictures and all my GL blooms had that shine! LOL. Now I really will start to pay more attention Margie!
Speaking of 'pictures', Kell - how do you get the black back ground I see in some photos?? Is that a photo shop thing??
I take them at night Sherry.
LOL, Kell, that seemed too simple and I thought the flash would surely show the background. I'll try it tonight. Thanks!!!
Sherry: another way to get that black ground is to use a matte black fabric behind the flower like felt or cotton velvet like bward uses.
PS: If you have the bloom far enough away from the background it won't show. You'll just have black...
This message was edited May 30, 2004 1:04 PM
I know the new camera I had that was the top of the line Canon did show the background. I am now looking for one that has a cheap flash! LOL
Thanks, Kell and Gretchen!! I'll try both of your suggestions, assuming we don't get blown to kingdom come. It's really beating up the plants and has blown off 4 of my 8 brug blossoms and I'm having guests tomorrow. Oh, well...
Sherry: I really like taking bloom pix at night. Here is a cleome, and you can see a little of the fence, but if it had been a little farther away, you would'nt see it at all:
Found a better one: Insignis Coral taken a couple of nights ago:
Very nice pics Gretchen! I started some cleome from seed and they are still really tiny! Geez....how long do they take?
Brinda, these were started in January in the GH and began blooming about a month ago. The ones I direct sowed in the garden in March are really small too, but have tiny white blooms, like they are stunted or something. Who knows LOL! Thank you, by the way :) Gretchen
This is my best Night Photo and I have it as my wall paper on my computer....I love the night photos to.... LOL
:O)
Dee
Man...I gotta get a greenhouse! LOL
Willow...very pretty pic!
Brinda, you would love it. In your zone the heat bill shouldn't break you either. Just think about having brugs in bloom during the winter. Wow!! What fun could that be.........
Well....since it won't break me, tell me how much it would be? How are they heated? Propane? I will need to put it on paper and figure out costs to persuade DH....LOL
And yes....brug blooms in the winter would sure make me happy!!!!
Tell me Shirley, what does it cost in your area to heat a greenhouse, per month, of course, in the winter. I have one but I purchased it for my son's iguna, Iggy, who left for parts unknown, shortly after I had it installed...
Shoot, I have no idea because I don't heat mine and it is little. When temps can get to 20 below zero, I'd rather have my plants in the house. Besides, I'm not crazy about tromping over 4 ft. snowdrifts to get to the greenhouse. I have found that with the bubble insulation and two electric 1500 watt heaters, I can keep my little 8x10 greenhouse at about 50 degrees when it is just above zero outside. Still, they can be expensive and it would be hard to say how much it cost when the heaters were running along with the house when we have partial electric heat in the house. Wild guess for my situation would be about $2 per day. Not bad, but remember the size. My greenhouse was built before I knew I would be growing so many brugs.
Brinda:
Check this out:
http://davesgarden.com/t/407165/
I used it all winter, and loved it. Its a bit small (DH keeps promising me a larger, permanent structure), but it was quite funcional. Cost me $30.00 a month in the coldest part of the winter. The only real drawback was that I couldn't leave for any extended period, because on the warm days (we have lots of those here), I had to open the vents to keep from cooking my plants. I have less than $500. in the whole set-up. Also of note - as I was removing all the plants this Spring, the zipper on the entry door broke and the company promptly replaced the entire cover, no questions asked! Gretchen
Gretchen...I read almost your whole GH post...you truely are amazing, the work that you have done in your garden.
One question...where did you purchase your GH ?
Thank-you!
Thanks Margie -- that's so sweet of you to say! Its been a labor of love, trial and lots of errors LOL! More beds to go in this Fall. I don't think I'll be satisfied until there is little or not grass left in the yard...
Here is the link for the company where I purchased my portable GH:
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/portable-1.shtml
Their service is outstanding!
Gretchen
Gretchen, thanks so much for all the information. When I first looked I thought...oh no, that thing will never stand up to all the wind we get here! LOL But after reading everything it really looks like a great way to go. I don't have a lot of room, but after spending $400.00 to $500.00 on annuals for myself and my x-MIL (long story, but she is one of my best friends....LOL) it would certainly pay for itself...wouldn't it? Thanks for all the great information....I will keep reading and then try to twist DH's arm!
Gretchen....the site looks great, thank-you!
Another question....are you planning to over-winter brugs in your GH? I could see running out of room really quickly!
Kell, could you tell me more about your hoop house for your brugs?
Thank you both. Actually I am just starting to think about some kind of winter protection in the last few days. Thanks to brugs and you guys! I even got my DH thinking of inexpensive ways that we could do it!
Margie: You're welcome. My brugs are planted in the ground. I only have a few in pots and they will go into the GH -- the others that I want to keep I'll take cuttings of. It got pretty crowded by the end of the winter, with 30 cuttings and over 100 brug seedlings, plus all the other seeds I started and plants I overwintered. I ended up buying an oil filled electric radiator and it worked really well. Its thermostatically controlled and kept the GH a minimum of 70, so I had a brug and plenty of other things that bloomed all winter long while in there!
Margie: I ended up buying cheap plastic shelving from Wally World and I had plants stacked end upon end. Worked great!
This was February before it got "out of control":
And here was the bench mid-March. The taller brugs were on top, and the babies were underneath and on many shelves:
Gretchen, which camera do you have? I need to get a new SOON!! I hate to give up my night shot method and go to a board. Too hard to get good shots unless you have someone hold the board up for you.
Margie, I have had a hoophouse for 2 years now. We put it up in an afternoon in November I think and take it down March I think. It is fast and easy. I may try to put heat in there not for the temp but to dry it out. It gets very damp in there and the brugs can get into trouble. All my brugs left outside make it, but if we get one of those freaky cold winters they will be toast.
http://www.westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html
Here is mine.
http://davesgarden.com/t/410596/hoophouse
This message was edited May 31, 2004 11:12 AM
Kell, what zone are you in? Linda
Kell: Its a golden oldie, hand-me-down. It was the best you could buy in 1994, when my Mother bought it for my Dad for his 60th birthday. When she bought him a new one for his 65th, he gave the old one to me. Its an Olympus Camedia D-400 Zoom, and the only real drawback is the shutter delay (a drawback to most digitals), and its only 1.3 megapixels. A new one is on my wish list, and I have no plans to buy anything other than Olympus. This thing has really taken a beating and still works great!
Gretchen, that is the same camera I have. Purchased about 4 years ago, new. I love it. Not to many bells and whistles so I can deal with it. You are right about the delay. I get ready to take a picture of one of the grandbabies and by the time it takes, the shot I was after was long gone.
Yes, that's the disappointing part of the camera. I was used to 35mm SLR's before this one, and I miss a lot of shots, but for most of the stuff I take pix of, this camera is unbeatable. Remember, Shirley, I taught you how to use the macro (flowers) setting on your camera?
Gardenwife raves about Olympus. Olympus has the zoom down and Nikon has the macro. Your pics are just great Gretchen.
Linda, I am in zone 9A or 9B, I can never tell. It says 9B but I think 9A.
That's right Gretchen. Wish I had some flowers that I could use that feature on right now.
Kell -- this Olympus has zoom and macro. Its a pretty complete little deal, and its fairly user friendly. Thank you for the nice compliment! I love taking them.
Brugie -- I'm sure before you know it, you'll be posting pics like mad!!! :) Gretchen
edited to add: Kell, you take some pretty awesome pix yourself!
This message was edited May 31, 2004 3:48 PM