Be careful, Deann, that drawl will rub off on you and you can't get rid of it. That's what happened to me!!!
And Brenda, yes, our crape myrtles are the most beautiful of our native bushes. Memphis (and my town Olive Branch) are full of them. I have about 15 in my yard, and I have a small yard! And I have wished to grow lilacs, but they're like the crape myrtles are for you, they just wish I'd leave them alone and let someone from Michigan plant them so they could be happy!
So what neck of the woods are you from? (introduce yourself)
As it turns out Kizzie56 is my neighbor here in Scotts Mi. When my grandaughters were living with me, I would drive them to school and Kizzie lives right across the street. I have always admired her cottage garden out in front of her house. Small world. Hey Di are you holding down the fort in Bloomingdale? I remember making my first smores at the camp at Big Bear Lake in Bloomingdale. Just sittin around waiting for spring. Of course I might not be as active as usual, I am having total knee replacement Feb 28th, I am hoping to get well soon, spring is one of my favorite times. I love to get outside and play in the dirt. Cya in the spring!
Helloooooooo!
We live on a farm. It is totally flat. There is not one tree.
I have started two years ago planting like a lunatic.
I will have this place looking like Varsailles before you
know it.
Does anyone use Giberellin here?
Nice to meet everyone!
sheri
Welcome Sheri nice meeting you...Where is Hastings at?Looks like your gonna have fun with all that property..;o))
Loretta...
Sheri welcome to the site!
I to live on flat farm land. I have added so many gardens to the farm over the past 15yr!! Im a plantaholic big time!!
what have you planted? I love daylilies and iris and roses and lilies and hosta and coral bells and.............!
i have never heard of Giberellin before!
im going to google it!
welcome
dori
Welcome Sheri......and I betcha your birthday is August 2nd.....Your gonna love this place, especially this forum. Its kinda slow right now cause I think most are hibernating....but it will perk up in spring.
I live in the Northeast section of Michigan known as The Sunrise Side on 200 acres, not a farm, most of which is woods only 3 miles from Lake Huron.
If you would like some seed to start some new plants this spring, let me know....all you need to do is send me a SASE and I will ship them to you.
NotMartha is right, she is a plantaholic....seen her farm, and her gardens are to die for..so if you have the time and patience, hang in there, as they say, if you plant it, it will grow.
Deann
Welcome Sheri!!!!
I googled 'gibberellin' because I'd never heard of it... I'm still not sure I know what it is...
Hellooooo Back at all at yas
Deanne how do you know my birthday is august 2nd? profile? LOL.
I am an old fart. 53.
Gibberellin is a hormone that is related to the auxins, will cause
elongation of the cell structure, being the phloems and the
xylems. Therefore, you will see an increase in size almost
immediately and very quickly. Nothing untoward happens to
the gibberellined plants except that they grow taller quicker.
Maybe they are stretched out a little, not as bushy, but then,
neither am I anymore.... I will take a few less leaves at this
point for more height. When the plant returns to slow, normal
growth, all continued growth happens without alteration.
You see giberellin at work when you have sunflower seedlings
and they are waving around the peat pots looking for the sun.
Its the opposite side that receives the light that makes them
whirl around.
Thats my info for the day. : )))
OK>>>I read NotMartha original letters. she is very funny.
I will have to go see her gardens.
Mine are formal with views planned in. Right now the tallest
tree I have is two Valley Forge Elms from the Botony shop,
which I think I have destroyed their leaders. God help me. But,
they grow!!!! I also have many azaleas and rhododendrons,
and leyland cypress, which I love. I planted 16 Green Giant
Thujas from Burgess, and they all failed. I sent in my receipt and
when I spoke recently to a rep, it was "what? who? where?"
but they promised to make good on the slips. we will see.
I belong to Arbor Day Foundation and do buy quite a lot
through them, and also purchase trees and other stuff for
presents for folks. Does anyone here know that they carry
1. Metasequoia glyptostroboides? and ....2. Giant Sequoias?!!!!
Amazing. I have a metasequoia in my tree nursery coming along
and this year will order some giant sequoias for my front lawn.
I like park style plantings,wandering paths and that sort of stuff.
I have some roses, but found that some are mislabeled so i have
a few up for swop if anyone is interested in a dark pink/red grootendorst
and I also have a grimaldi that i cannot stand. there is a reunion that is
a bit dark for me too. sheesh. I get em in the ground and then when they
bloom I hate em. I desire more pinks, ballet pink, soft clear pinks. I have
lavender simplicity, and pink blushing knockout, Diana, eglyntyne,
cl.america, cl something else.
I got my first hydrangea last year. its an endless summer and just grew
leaves last year. next to it is a pjm rhododendron, not too big for that
spot by the barn.
in front of the barn, i have a wisteria that has finally decided to grow after
2 stinking years. What is with these plants ???? I use that area to do
some bulbs that I lift, and also there are irises in there that I love. i put in
some my neighbor gave me, i will see what they are this year, and let you
know if i have anything to give away. I have two douglas firs babies that
are nursing along there also. I made a small lifting bulb area for tall flowering
spikey plants. good grief i cant remember their name. oy. i have one
double hollyhock that bloomed pink. i am happy with that one.
along the driveway of 450feet i will line either side with native white
birches underlined with rhodo and then probably vinca major, I have
ten birches in the nursery right now. I also have 10 tulip trees wanting
to be planted this year. Along with some pines too. by the barns and
driveway i have leyland cypresses and some arborvitae's.
Not Martha...I can send you a sketch of my property with houses and
outbuildings, can you help me with planning the layout? and some ideas?
I can snail mail it to you if you send me your addy. my personal email is
swilliams8251@yahoo.com.
well, I am taking up eveyones time...its nice to meet everyone here.
its just starting to tinkle snow outside, we are expecting they said
8 inches tonight, which always turns out to be one inch!
sheri
sheri
My wisteria didnt grow for the first few yrs and someone told me to spank it! So i grabbed a rake and whipped it good,scratched it up and now its growing over and around and through my arbor-but still not a flower!!!
I love roses and would love to snag any you want to toss,trade or sell!
Sounds like you are really into your trees! :)
I would help you with ideas for your gardens-im no expert!! But i do love to garden I just hate weeding!! ;)
Jump over to the yaking forum and yak away!
glad to have you here! this is spring time in part of the BIG garden
hi nm
what is the yaking forum?
First thing I do in the spring, i will dig up the grimaldi and send it to
you. do you want the grootendorst also? they are both
disgustingly healthy and flower non stop. only in my most hated
colours. go figure. they are bad plants! Spiteful!! Bad!
I would very much have loved to see you beating your wisteria.Priceless.
Hmm. I think some root pruning might be in order here for your wisteria.
Not only do you need to spank it, but now you must chop off its feet.
Literally take your spade and drive it down, straight down and root prune
that puppy, I do that and leave a shovelspace inbetween every whack
of the sword. Works wonders. Tell the plant you will be doing this. These
Wisterias i have heard are "uppity" and you have to bring them down to
normal plant levels of behaviour. Its obedience training for them.
I cannot open any pictures here to make them big and viewable. I did
write to Terry, and he is working on something I dont know what, for me.
Does anyone have any ideas? i use ie and xp.
How many years have you been gardening your house? looks like 10 years
or so .
The weather here is really harsh. Either too much water or not enough.
I spend all my time shlepping hoses around. Oh, to be rich and have
watering systems. What a dream. I did order some more water pipe
to be laid by the plumbers in the spring time, for the new barn and also
for the vegetable gardens. we will have electricity put in also at that
time. You need electricity to shock the cauliflowers into that terrified
white blanched condition you see in the supermarkets. I find that 220 volts
works the best. Have you shocked celery to maintain that light green color?
Regards,
sheri
notmartha, that's a beautiful picture posted.
-- transplanted Michigander, now Mississippian, Pat
Thank you-i just love to garden and wish spring would HURRY~
Hi there everyone,
I just joined DG. I'm from Alpena. I'm a teacher, so I have lots of free time to spend in the yard during the summer. Besides growing stuff, I have some sort of rock problem. I keep hauling more and more into my yard.
Rob
Welcome Rob....Hope you have fun here and learn lots..What grade do you teach??That's nice you get the summers off, to me there's no place like being in your garden and digging in the dirt..!! :o))
Loretta...
Hello Rob.....and WELCOME to Dave's. I am just down the road a piece south of you. Your gonna love Dave's. We have a pretty nice group here in the Michigan Forum. You must love Rock Gardening......What kind of gardening do you enjoy......If you have some pix of your garden, please show us.....
NotMartha is planning a Roundup sometime in late May or June where we will get together and meet and do a Plant Exchange....
Deann
Hello Rob and welcome to the site we have at least 2 other memebers from Alpena!
My cousin Andy Kiphmiller owns the fruitmarke/nursery up your way. Maybe you have taught his children-zac,zane or sarah?
Glad to have you here on the site and hope you can make the plant trade!
welcome
dori
Welcome Rob.
Rob
Welcome to DG
Glad to see another guy in the Michigan forumn.
Paul
Rob,
Welcome to DG. I'm south of you in AuGres. Glad you have joined in the group here.
Brenda
Wow! Thanks for the nice welcome!
Loretta - I teach 8th grade math.
Deann - I don't really have a rock garden. I have lots of rocks in my perennial garden though. I have a huge rock with my house number engraved in it. I have rock paths and a low rock retaining wall. Here are some pictures:
http://homepage.mac.com/abramr/gardening/index.html
Dori - I don't know your cousin and I haven't had any of his kids in class, but I have bought a few plants and some produce from him. I'll see if I can make your get together, but my wife will think I'm crazy if I drive to Bay City to trade plants. Oh well, I guess she probably knows I'm a little nuts by now anyway.
Rob.....OUTSTANDING pictures of your garden and rock paths....wow....lots of work went into that.........if your looking for rocks, there are farmers all over the place in my area who have rock piles...every spring they would love for you to go thru thier fields and pick em......
Your gardens are lovely....
Deann
Hello!
Just wanted to stop in and introduce myself since I am new to the forums. I have been reading and following the Garden Watchdog for over a year now and finally got around to paying the subscription fee :) This site has done wonders to keep me from going stir crazy during these icky Michigan winters.
I'm from Ann Arbor originally but moved to Colorado and then Ohio for several years to complete college and graduate school. Last April, my husband and I decided it was time to buy a house and settle down for a little while, and we opted to land in Plymouth. Familiar ground for both of us, it's the perfect place to start our non-transient married life together. And what fun it is to finally have my own garden!! It was so nice to finally get to plant all the veggies and herbs that I want, rather than having my mom tell me that there isn't any more room on her property for such things (she's much more of a flower person and can't stand having too many fruits, veggies and herbs taking up space on her deck). Personally, I think the more plants the merrier, whether bright and colorful or edible!
I can't believe it's not even mid-February yet... I am ready to start my seeds and get planting!
Nissa
Nissa
Welcome to DG, I'm sure you love it here.
I'm from Allen Park, my SIL Meemsdream lives in Plymouth.
Feel free to jump in any time to say hi.
Paul
Nissa......Hello and welcome to Dave's Garden......Your gonna love it here. We are a real friendly bunch and have a very talented group of individuals here who can help you with any given subject when it comes to gardening.....
Who said you can't start to plant now. Ofcourse you can.....Have you ever heard of Winter Sowing? You can start right now....today infact if you have some seed, potting soil and containers....check out this website and it will tell you everything you need to know about Winter sowing. I am trying it for the first time this year myself. But everyone I have talked to who has done this say they get 100% results. How wrong can that be????
We are also going to have a Michigan Roundup in June which is really a get together swapping plants.....look for more information in this Michigan Forum as it becomes available. I can tell you this much....It will be held in Bay City.
Deann
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/coldsow/all/
http://www.theseedsite.co.uk/wintersowing.html
Hi Nissa!
Hi Rob!
congrats on joining DG! I love it here!
My DH has a rock garden too.
the winter is icky.
Spring is coming!
Regards,
sher
Hello everyone. My name is Rhonda and I live in St. Ignace at the north end of the Mighty Mac. So Yes to Maureeng; there is at least one more Yooper on line here. I may have missed others but having just joined the forum haven't had time to read through all 13 months of postings.
My gardening adventure began in Portland OR where you can grow almost anything. After going through a divorce I moved to Juneau Alaska where I remarried and spent 20 years trying to plant flowers in the mud. The soil was rich, but Juneau is located in a rain forest and it wasn't until my last few years there that I had any luck at all.
Two years ago we retired and moved to St Ignace where we are caregivers to my 86 year old incapacitated MIL. I've found that while the growing season is pretty short here in Michigan the gardening is GREAT! I've begun starting many of my plantings indoors to get a jump on the season. And I've learned that one CAN garden in sand - which is what we have - sand, sand and more sand.
Perennials have become my passion - the only problem is that I don't seem to have any restraint. I just keep adding and adding - and each year we need to add more beds. Its a good thing we've got a big yard - not huge but big enough (about 100'x 250'). And annuals? No restraint there either!
I wonder if gardening has become a substitute for my real passion - the family (son & two teenage grandkids) we had to leave behind in Juneau. You think???
Anyhow, its great to be a member of the forum. I really do love it but now have to figure out a way to increase the number of hours in a day so I can absorb all the information available and still be able to garden. Wish me luck.
Rhonda
Welcome Rhonda. I have been to your city many years ago. I thought it was a lovely little town but I think it has grown a lot since I was there.
Cindy
Welcome Rhonda!
I too, have a new yard to plant . I worked fo r31 years in a factory in Tawas(Didn`t get to see much summer working there usually 12 hrs a day and 8 on sat and sometimes on sunday)
Got married in September of 2003. Hubby said Quit Work!!!!!!. I now have a blank yard to work with, so am having the time of my life planning beds and planting them.
we go to St.Ignace at least once or twice a summer. We meet Cliff`s son and family there and bring a grandson home with us for a week and then usually take him to Cedar Springs. So we shop all the towns on the way home.
I have been on DG only a short time myself and love it . The people here are so friendly and helpful....Enjoy Aleta
Welcome Rhonda to the group....
Your not alone, we are all addicted, and can't do a darn thing about it, the 12 step program just don't work....
Deann
Welcome Rhonda,
You will love it here at Dave's Garden. Everyone is so helpful. I am also a caregiver to my 90 year old mother. She lives with us. We have out city house down state up for sale and am living full time in AuGres. We love it here.
I'm a garden addict too.......so you're in good company here.
Brenda
Hi Rhonda... Welcome to Daves Garden hope you have fun here and if you need help theres alot of nice people here to jump in and help you out...
Loretta...
Welcome Rhonda
My dad was born in the UP so I'm an honorary Yooper! ;-)
So what are some of your favorites?
Happy growing season!
Hi Everyone,
My name is Nancy and I live in Roscommon Michigan. My first venture in gardening started 5 years ago when I decided to start a Rose garden. Most people told me I was crazy and that I wouldn't be able to keep Hybrid Tea's alive in my zone (3-4). Well - bound and determined - I did. Although I have lost a few - I started with around 15 - I have about 9 left. I still am learning and always look for advice as I still consider myself a novice. This year I uncovered my roses very early compared to earlier years. I usually waited until around fathers day to uncover them - with this years unseasonably warm weather I uncovered them last week. I haven't pruned them yet as I'm not so sure I want them completely out of the dormant stage. I am attending a Rose gardening seminar next week to answer this question as well as others.
I have added other flowers each year. Last year I had the most beautiful exhibition of Lily's - mostly Oriental Lily's. They were so abundant you could smell them as you drove by the house. And they were HUGE!! I'm hoping this years brings the same as they are popping up everywhere. We plan to do some more landscaping this year and the ideas are just swarming through our heads. We are focusing on flowering trees as we keep clear cutting the jack pines and papules from our property.
A couple years ago I started feeding birds - on my - another venture I went overboard with but the results have been amazing. I have about 15 feeders all hanging from the eves of the house. The suet feeders have been rewarding as I feed a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers daily - it is truly amazing to watch them feed only two feet from my windows. The seed feeders brought in all sorts of birds this winter - two pair of Cardinals were also amazing to watch all winter along with the Chickadee's, Finch's, Wren's - etc., The Evening Grosbeak's are just starting to feed - and were just waiting for the Oriole's and Humming birds to arrive. My first Robin on my berry trees was seen on April 23rd - almost a month earlier then last year. This is another reason we want to plant different trees - trees that attract birds and give haven for nests.
I also plan on starting a veggy garden either this fall or next. We're not sure of it's location on the property - but know that we have some work getting the soil ready. Unfortunately our soil - or lack there of - consists mostly of sand. I have a few friends that are more than willing to provide manure to help enrich and change our soil.
I can't wait to start reading and getting advice on gardening from this site.........
If anyone has any suggestions from what I have written - just jump in and let me know.
Warm Regards,
Nanc
This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 12:46 AM
This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 12:47 AM
This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 12:49 AM
Thanks for the great welcome!
Cindy - I don't think our little village has grown much since you were here, depending of course on how long thats been. When my husband moved to Alaska around 1978 the population was right around 2,500 - I think the last census put us at around 2,700. The business area may have grown but it's still just a sweet little village. I love living here.
Aleta - Isn't it great here at DG? I'd just sort of browsed around the site - then I needed to have a plant identified so I decided to subscribe. Had an identification within 2 hours and have been amazed at all the information I've found since joining. I'm also having fun in the forums....learning lots!
Congratulations on the "retirement". Isn't it amazing that some people think that retired folks just sit around and do nothing? I find I have much less "free time" than I ever did when I was working. I can't even imagaine all the fun I could have had in my other gardening ventures if I'd only retired earlier. Have fun creating your new gardens.
Deann, Brenda & Loretta: I think I'm glad they don't have 12-step groups for gardeners. But for the fact that my MIL gets so much joy from looking at the gardens (I swear she could sit and look at them all day long) - my husband might suggest I join one. It really is great to know that we have a great resource like DG available. I'm really loving it - now I'm starting to wish I had more time to spend on the computer.
CRose: I guess I'm an honorary Yooper also. I think the rule is that you're not an "official Y.." unless you're born here. I'd really have a problem picking out a favorite plant - I'm really still hung up on dahlias, cannas, peony, delphineum and lily as well as anything that grows well in the shade. I practically salivate thinking about future years when I can put in some of the plants I've never tried like roses and hydrangea. I only have 2 shrubs at this point so I need to TRY to concentrate on getting some of those put in by fall.
Everybody - thanks for the great welcome. DG has been one great find!
Nancy: Welcome to DG and to the Michigan forum. You'll love it here. As you can see I've only been a member for a short time but I'm already begining to wonder how I got by without it. Everyone is wonderful here.
It sounds like you've got a good chunk of property to work with. Sounds wonderful and like you've got years of fun ahead of you.
We've also gotten into feeding since moving to St Ignace. Isn't it fun? Of course now I want to remodel the kitchen so I have a wall of windows where I can just sit and watch them all come in and feed....now we have to go stand and look out the window of the back door. This winter we've had tons of birds....our regular feeders are finches, chickadees, sparrows, wrens, nuthatches, downey woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers and a pair of pileateds. Occasionally we'll also have grossbeaks, dark-eyed junkos and a small flock of bluejays come in to feed and I'm sure we'll have many more come through as the big migrations begin. I'm sure there are many that I've missed. We've only got 6 feeders out and some days they get more traffic than they can handle. We've also got a pair of red squirrels that have attached themselves to our sunflower seed feeder. We enjoy watching them so we just keep feeding the little buggers. Haven't seen any sign yet of the grey squirrels that were around last summer but hopefully they'll be back. Our greys ate some of the sunflower seeds but pretty much stuck to eating from the corn feeder I put up for them. Unfortunately last week we had some sort of small hawk swooping in trying to pick off the small birds.....so most of them have vacated (temporarily I hope). We haven't seen the hawk around for a few days.
Anyhow, enjoy your gardening and your birding. We have such simple joys in our lives. Aren't we lucky?
Rhonda
Welcome Nancy, you will love Dave's Garden. I am a little familiar with your area. I have been to Bambi Lake Retreat many times. That is truly a lovely area. I had to edit this to add that I love the piliated woodpecker. We don't have them where I live, but we have a cottage near Hale, Mi and we see them a lot there.
Cindy
This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 8:03 AM
I noticed yu all talking about the Singing Bridge resturant and that area. I was raised on a farm in Alabaster and during my high school years waited tables at the resturant. I even worked the muck farms when I was younger,
But , I really worked our family farm. We owned 180 acres and leased another 500. We raised beef cattle and pigs plus we milked 150 cows. It was hard work but I loved it. Our farm is nothing but a corn field,today
Boy,during smelt season that place turned into a big city. My uncle Ernie had a lot where he charged to park cars by the river. I could tell yu some tales about those times. Aleta
Thanks for the welcome....
Rhonda - If someone would have asked me 10 years ago about gardens and birds I would have laughed. It's amazing - but I think as I get older the simple things in life become so much more attractive.
Cindy...yes Bambi Lake is a beautiful place. I am also familiar with your area being that I graduated from Melvindale High in 1980 and grew up living in Prinston Estates Allen Park (just across from the old VA hospital). There are several places I make sure I stop at when getting down state. One of which is the Sub Shop on the corner of Outer Drive and Allen Road....The best square Sicilian pizza in the state I believe!!! And I can't forget to mention that I always get orders for Calders Dairy in Lincoln Park - their chocolate and strawberry milk is to die for - LOL.
For as much as I love living here I do miss my old stomping grounds - the food - the shopping - did I mention the food - too funny.
Again thanks for the welcome...
Nanc
Well Nancy, did you know that the VA hospital is no more. They took it down and there is now a shopping center there. And the sub shop I believe you are talking about is Sylvia's. I have a daughter that works there.
Cindy