I've just taken a look for journals for some of you folks I talk to the most on here, hoping to see pics of all your pretty gardens and plants. I was surprised that I didn't find hardly any entries. Am I the only Texas nut that uses the journal thingy? I've found it very helpful to keep up with the names and cultivars of what I've planted, keep track of what I don't want to buy again, what did good and when, etc. Of course, everybody elses memory is probably a lot better than mine and you may not need to write it all down. I don't just go outside and forget what I went out for, I can't even remember if I was going out or coming in, so I need all the help I can get!
Journals
I have some things posted in the diaries, chek mine out.
Thanks frostweed. I've taken a look at your diary pics and plant list and I'm very impressed. I really love "the entrance to the garden through the south gate" photo. When we bought our home 3 years ago, the gardens were in horrible shape. We've basically pulled everything out and started over. Our backyard is mostly swimming pool. I'd love to have the deeper beds that you do. The layered look with the iris in front is lovely. The only back yard bed you can see from inside our house is only about 4 feet deep, so I have to be cautious with what I plant there. Do you live in town or country? It sounds as though you must have a lot more room than we do. Thanks again for sharing the pics.
I've been having problems getting plants to show in my journal. The page keeps saying it is importing a plant to my journal but I can never find it. Do... yes I plan on using it.. as soon as I get over the learning curve.
crow ....i guess i am just lazy...but i don't have a journal...and right now my list of plants is not very big as my front yard is almost entire shade....so i am limited to what i can grow in the dusty west texas....; i have only been gardening for 2 yrs...so i am so new...i am just now starting my back yard which is mainly sun....so i am increasing my plants that i am growing....i too have a bad memory, but for some reasion it really remembers what i am doing....now if you were to ask me what i did 5 minutes ago that doesn't have to do with the garden....well, i might not remember...isn't it wierd.??
I just added some pics I took today to my diary. I will be adding more today.
Renatelynne, I love your butterfly bush. How big is that thing anyway? It looks huge, but I know perspective in the pic could make it look bigger than it really is. As to what to plant along your house, which side is it, north, south, east or west?
The butterfly bush IS huge. I just had to cut about 1/2 of it today because it is making my crape myrtle angle out from it. I am going to have to stake my myrtle to get it back upright!
It is about 6.5 or 7 feet tall and about 3-4 feet wide. It is two years old.
South. And it hardly gets any sun because of the wall next to it. see pic! (it is a pic from 2004)
Against the wall gets NO sun and against the house gets about 2 -3 hours a day.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2006 2:43 PM
We live in town, on a corner lot, 80x120 feet, the wildflower slope is on the southside and meaures 10x80 feet. I will try and put up more picture on of these days.
I use a 'paper copy'. I have 20 years worth of stuff and no time to enter it.
Renatelynne, I saw a new (at least I've never seen it before) ginger today while at the nursery. It was gorgeous and for full shade. The leaves were variegated with dark dark green, bright magenta and cream. It looks similar to Alpinia zerumbet, variegated ginger, but the colors were absolutely spectacular. It's supposed to be hardy here, so I'm sure it would work for you in Boerne. I don't know about the bloom, but this one would be worth it just for the foliage. I'm going back in the morning and I'll try to remember to write down the cultivar name. It might work in your shaded area.
cool thanks. yep it just might. Please let me know.
I'm using both the diary and the journal, with some photos, but it's hard to keep up. I keep my master plant files in Word on my own computer. The DG files are great to share, especially when I am trading plants.
I just can't figure out what it is doing when it says it is importing a plant to your journal. it never seems to really do it.
Pat, I checked out your diary and you have quite a list of irises and daylilies, very nice. You have a great collection.
Josephine.
Pat, I've looked at your pics and they are beautiful. I'm a better gardener than photographer, so even though the garden looks good, most of the pics I take don't. I like the idea of keeping a master list on my own computer. I hadn't thought of that, but should do it, just as a backup case if nothing else.
Thanks, Josephine. I need to declare my collections finished and concentrate on getting the garden in better shape.
Crowellli, notice that I don't have recent photos of any large areas. The individual flowers sometimes look wonderful, but the overall view is a mess. Now that I am retired and have time to garden, the weather has not cooperated. When we moved to our current home, I moved hundreds of plants into beds that weren't well prepared. Perennial grasses, shinnery, and briars and other vines have come back; annual weeds and grasses came in with new soil; and there are still way too many rocks. I keep dreaming and imagining what it might look like eventually.
I enjoy playing with the journal and diary at times in the winter and summer when outdoor gardening is not fun. I discovered yesterday that I had not added most of the last year's plant acquisitions, so I have started putting them in. Between that and keeping up with what's being posted on DG, I can "waste" an entire afternoon. If I weren't doing that, I might be cleaning my house. Yuk!
patrob....twas ever thus.....(mine are a mess too!!!) it is too dang hot for anything but cactus to grow!!!
I want to do a Hosta journal, possibly in Word, where I can set it up for my usage and in my format. I was playing around with Word note pad and I discovered I can download pics in there too. I dont have the original Word on my pc now because I lost it when I downloaded a trial and uninstalled it. ... thats Microsoft for you... A new installation will cost almost three hundred dollars, I think I will just wait and buy a new pc.
Sylvia--I think the diary part is easier to work with than the journal part...at least for me it is.
probaly is Deb but I am too slow a typist. lol
you and me both Sylvia--advanced 'hunt and peck' here.
Debbie the way you write! Thats hard to believe, I love reading your stuff, you have a way with your words. lol If I had a journal I would be crying in it right now. Would you believe the city just cut one of the two trees that was left standing. I am so depressed... I just wrote my friend and told him please dont disapoint me with this project of his for my courtyard. ....even if he stops likeing me ... I will pay him for all his efforts. ;)
sorry about your tree....i hate people cutting down trees....what the heck are they thinking....
I know Sticks... I have been trying to get the city Arborist all day to see what I can do. They (the builders) should replace that tree ... and hopefully if I make enough noise they wont cut down anymore. I talked to one of the men out there and he says the site manager is there about seven in the AM ... I intend to be out there.
keep me posted!!!
Sticks the Aborist did call. He told me the law is that they can replace the tree any way thye want to. They can plant one across the street, around the corner or donate one someplace. It dont matter where they put it. My DBF tells me I should find a group who protects trees. The city is full of it, they care less! I am going to to see if I can talk nicely to the site manager when I find him and see what he can do. All they have to do is put some Poplars out there I dont care. I never realized what a difference that tree made. I got all this light in my bedroom ... so there goes my electric bill again. Now ... even my drought resistant plants are burning up ... even the Cannas! Even if they do replace the tree it would be years before it get like the other one. Right Now I am concerned about the other tree thats left standing.
yup...the powers that be don't give a rip about us.....
Sylvia I am so sorry about the tree. Trees are so important for so many reasons. It seems nobody realizes that except people that garden. Hang in there! Maybe somebody will listen to you. I hope so.
Lin
I keep a journal over at http://can-u-dig-it.blogspot.com for anyone who's interested. Pics include stuff in my own yard, plus my plot at the *new* Plano Community Garden.
Lin ... in the morning I am going to find out who the developers are and write them a letter telling them I think we should be compensated for what we are going thru around here. Chopping down trees, the garbage people cant get to the dumpsters, the noise, and the trash being blown in from the streets, wheres these men eat at the 7-11 and throw trash around. Its insane around here! Would you believe every morning before I go to work, they have to direct me out of here. If not I would probaly drive over a man hold or a ditch. A ditch they dig up every morning! Then I have squeeze my car thru the barricades to get out into the street! Its just terrible! And the dust! Oh Lord the dust! I have to take my car to the car wash every other day! its insane!
Sylvia, I am sorry you are having such problems.
Josephine.
Sylvia I do hope you get reimbursed for the damage done in and around your property. I'm sorry you're having to go through this.