DG Anonymous

Yeah, yeah. You know you're safe 'cause you're there and
I'm here.

That's like one of those "We'll have to get together for lunch soon.
I'll call you." NOT !!!

Mahnot,
Sorry, my mistake,,,LOL,,,

clay,
LOL,,,don't be surprised if you see some heavy equipment heading your way from FL and TX

Well, I can understand the problem of not living in rock country. Fortuntatley, one of the few thigns the previous owners left me ws enugh rocks to border my first bed. However, when I priced rocks at the local nursery, I almost passed out. I have several more beds I need to put n andborder as well as building a water garden with a waterfall. Then my sis told me about a quarry in Birmingham that I HAD to call. I called em. Seems I can load up a truck with rocks for abut $70 a ton. The nursery was charging $450 for a pallet of them. Unforutnately, I don't have a truck...but I can rent one, or I can get my sis to take me in her truck next Spring.

Now, let me ask y'all this: Has your family ever sworn up and down that they saw you and your DH parked in front of a house that was for sale, with your DH acting as wheel man and lookout, while you plant-nabbed? Hey, the house was in such bad shape it will never sell...and it is the house my dad grew up in as a little boy, so it is only 'right' that I should rescue the abanadoned plants. And, I only took plants that would have died because they need full sun and were literally buried under layers of shrubs and bushes....I DO not have a problem. I am NOT a plant-napper. And the African Parrot Glads and Dorothy Perkins roses that I dug up were growing wild in the middle of nowhere along the right of way. I did NOT steal them from anyone's garden. I would never steal from someone else's garden. That would be wrong...but if they are growing wild or abandoned, they are fair game!

Do people gone on vacation count?

Bama,

I completely agree, you saved them. and anyway, seeing as how your dad grew up in that house, they are kinda like plants that were his, and he would prolly want you to have them. Sounds like the place was awefully neglected and what is a person to do, but tidy it up a bit.

LOL

Yeah, yeah..that's the ticket. An as long as someone who loves us is sittin around with the bail money, what difference does it make???

NO - if they were really our friend, they would be sittin' in there
with us because they helped us. What you are talkin' about is
called a Bail Bondsman.

Good point! LOL! I'm still amazed That DH agreed to play wheel man. Of course, he complained the whole time.....but then he realized I was gong to do it with him or without him...and since he doesn't like me driving alone in the country in case the car breaks down (even though I know more about car repair than he does...LOL!).....

If he really wanted to help you, Bama, he should have been
out there digging with you. If anybody drove by, you could
have dropped the shovels and yelled, "Muffy, Muffy, where
are you boy?"

If he really wanted to help you, Bama, he should have been
out there digging with you. If anybody drove by, you could
have dropped the shovels and yelled, "Muffy, Muffy, where
are you boy?"

Ooops - I mean Brutus, Brutus, LOL

Careful, there Mahnot...I think you just stepped in a pile of wild kumquats that have just sprouted in my yard...

well, I'm off to bed. I gotta go soak in a hot bath and wash by tresses so tomorrow's Doc du Jour doesn't think I am a raving lunatic...which I probably will be by the end of this month. I have four more doctor's appointments this month..not including the ones I have already been to...three with new doctors, not including the one I saw last week.... The next time I hear a teenager say, "I hate my life" I think I'm going to knock their block off.....

Goodnight, Bama. Good luck with the doc, and don't get
shampoo in your eyes.

Oh dear, you are forcing me to reiterate the story I have told here before, so if you've heard it, just skim past this and pretend I didn't write it.

We sold our trilevel when we were building this house, and I was able to move move some plants in order to save them. Unfortunately, in the process of bringing in fill and storing lumber they got bured or crushed. We moved in December. When spring rolled around, I drove by the old place and chatted briefly with the DH of the new owners because he was outside. He had mowed down the garden bed I had in front under the windows, just four o'clocks and artemesia which made a nice privacy screen for the lower level. Went home and started thinking, if he mowed down the front, what was he doing in the back where I had multiple beds. I began to fret. I had planted a variety of lilies back along the lot line, I had three raised beds with varieties of salvia, etc., there were beautiful white iris that were decades old that I had already taken from move to move...well, you know how it is.

The more I thought about it, the more upset I got. If he mowed down the front, the back was in serious jeopardy. Very early one May morning, before dawn had even thought of cracking, I dressed myself in my black sweats, put on DH's black baseball cap, threw my shovel and a couple of plastic bins in the back seat of my car and headed over there...... DH's warning echoing in my head, "If you get arrested, don't call me because I'm not coming to bail you out!" It still wasn't light yet when I got to the old neighborhood, but I thought it was unwise to park in front of the house, so I turned up the side street, where it would only be a one house stroll to get to the back yard of our old place.

The neighbor's kitchen light was on, so I could see pretty well where I was going. Then I heard scraping noises...the idiot was out raking something off his patio. Heart pounding, I stayed back along the lot line, looking for the threatened lilies. Couldn't find them. Knelt on the ground and slid my hands over the area where they had been. Nada. Hmmmm. Maybe I was disoriented in the dark. Dared to turn on my little tiny flash light. Nope. Gone. By now the neighbor had gone back in his house, so I ventured further into the yard. Raised beds gone. The back yard was on a slope down to the house and the patio area was surrounded by a retaining wall. Snuck further down, no iris. No Carpet of Flowers roses. Absolutely no nothing! Gone. Everything. Unbelievable. Who would rip out perennials that required virtually no care?

DH was leaving for work when I got home and didn't offer much sympathy for the devastation. I was furious. Wouldn't you think they could have called and said, we're not into gardening, and if you want some of these plants, come and get them? What terrible people. I hope the basement leaks, I hope the roof leaks, I hope their children are caught selling crack. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

What was the topic, oh, right, liberating plants that are otherwise going to die...so I guess I didn't wander too far off......still burns me up though. Let me see if I can find a picture of the back when it was still ......sniff..........beautiful............sniff.

Gotta go pack a box.

Hey BamaBelle & Meezersfive:

Am I going to see an episode about y'all on "Law & Order"? Brave, Brave Gals, I must say!
I sure enjoyed reading about your escapaces .... down here it would definitely be considered ""Trespassing" and "Petty Theft", or would that be "Plantey" Theft! :) I must admit, I'm a Big Chicken myself, but I do admire your determination to save all those babies!

Lin

LOL, " The Night Escapades of a Flower Rescuer"!" ;0)

Oh, Meezers! As usual, you cracked me up! There should have been the Mission Impossible theme playing in the background.

Actually I kinda saw John Belushi in Animal House running across the campus, hding behind pillars, rolling on the lawn....

Hey Meezers. It is Columbus Day. The PO is closed. FYI...in case you haven't made the run yet. Can't wait to see what is in the box. Can't wait to fill it full of mouse traps for when I send it to Mahnot...hee hee hee hee hee hee...

PHILLISTINES !!! VANDALS !!! Public whipping is much
too good for them !!! To the dungeon with them forever,
where there is only one tiny window, very high up, and it
overlooks the jailer's glorious garden, full of blooming
flowers, so he can think about what he did !!!! And his
wife is even WORSE. The guillotine for her !!!!!!!!!!!

Meezers, don't feel bad. When they started digging up the
garden and throwing out plants, all of your former neighbors
were out there in the dark with their flashlights and plastic
buckets of their own, and now your beautiful gardens bloom
in their back yards. :o)

Your old yard is beautiful. I don't understand people like that.

Ya, just realized it's Columbus Day, when my ancestors came and invaded my other ancestors, and the PO celebrates another day off. My SIL works for the PO and she's got more vacation and holidays off than I can count. Of course, you get treated like children within the hierarchy but , it's always something. Noticed it while I was paying some bills on line, said no processing today. Sorry, Bama, another day to wait.

I can only hope that the neighbors looted the trash and rescued those plants. The white iris was a particular favorite of mine, got it from a friend whose mother had it for years and years. Blossoms as big as a saucer. Oh well........

Back to work.

Aw Sheila,
So sorry to hear of all the casualties,,,,,what kind of people would take all that beauty away? Your yard was gorgeous. Woe to them and their grass only yard!

LOL @ the night missions.

Hi ya'all
Hope you don't mind if I jump into this thread. I am fairly new at all this gardening - can't seem to remember one plant from another after I put them in - but it is still fun. I have a couple of questions I wonder if someone could answer?
My hubby brought me home some hens and chicks - I planted part of them in a strawberry pot - the rest of them are still laying on the ground. I actually moved them from one place to another and they are still living. Is it possible that I can just put some more soil around them and leave them laying on the ground - will they survive the winter. It doesn't get real cold here - stays in the upper 30's most of the time - does drop into the 20's occassionally and has dropped into the teens on rare occasions. It looks from the thread that most of you live in warmer climates than I but there are a few of you in zone 7. So what should I do. THanks for your help.

jlady,

I'm in zone 4a. I have some Hen's and Chicks. I don't do anything with them and they do fine. If you put some more dirt around them they should be o.k. Good luck.

Kelly

Hi, jladybug1 - If I were you, I would get out while the gettin's good.

I had hens and chickens in Chicago, and they did fine.
What worked for me is mulching them well, then covering them
with either one of those styrofoam rose cones, or else a flower pot.
Of course, I didn't have many and they were confined to a small
area in a sunny sheltered yard, on the south side of the house.
Sort of a microclimate.

Maybe somebody else has better information. Good luck.

I never even cover mine and they spread like mononucleosis.

OMG!! I haven't laughed so much in a while as from reading this whole thread. I'm 'sorry' (ha) to say I fit right in. I don't have time to say all I could or would tonight but just to let ya know how addicted I am I have put off foot surgery which was scheduled for this month! I just couldn't be away from my gardens right now. Right? It's the best time to plant for next year and I have to be home to do it. My dh is also quickly becoming addicted too. We live on a farm and he has a cousin that has a camp house close by. We have many rocks on our place. Dh found out that his cousin had started a nice little pile of 'our' petrified wood (rocks). Dh sneaked over and stole 'recovered' several of the nice rocks and brought them back for our rock pile. What a naughty boy!!!! ;) Luckily his cousin doesn't come up very often and probably will never miss the escaped rocks.
Are we addicted or what?????? LOL

Lin

You sound like you will fit right in. Liberating rocks is an excellent start. What next???

I had a few big bucks this summer that I could have used for things for our house. Nope. I bought a whole truck load of mushroom compost. Dh didn't know they were coming till they drove through the gate. ;)

This year I bought a new SUV with enough room for all the plants I want to buy and haul. It was a little embarassing driving my old car home from the garden center with trees and shrubs hanging out every window. My car looked like a mini jungle on wheels.

Lin

I knew I had a problem when I bought my first house and spent all my grocery money on plants as I
was putting in the landscaping. I'd buy a tree and eat ramin noodles the rest of the month.
Tam

Yep. Tam I think you're hooked too. ;)

We live in a small rural town with one fairly small Wal Mart store. As I was shopping there last week I wanted to buy at least one or two more pairs of denim shorts to work outside in. Here in our part of Texas it stays hot for a loooooong time. Especially when you're working outside in the gardens. Wal Mart did not have a single pair of denim shorts. NaDa. The clerk said they are stocked for winter. I know I looked puzzled because I was thinking to myself, 'winter, we don't have winter here'. I can remember having the A/C on in December.
You'd think these stores would remember us gardeners and stock garden apparel year round.
Lin

Oh, my . . . how I missed this thread (and one other one) while I was gone overnight!!! Such delightful, hilarious stories. When we sold our Seattle house, the yard was a detriment (it was gorgeous - tiny, but very much a cottage garden). Seems it intimidated people. So I happily dug up as much as I could!!!

The only midnight supply dh and I ever visited was firewood at an empty house - I remember laughing so hard as we carted it back by the armful that I literally wet my pants!!! I'd had a bit of wine and he'd had a bit of vodka. Well, maybe it was a lot of each. Anyway, I don't drink anymore so wouldn't have the "courage" to do that again, but what a fun memory!!

DH took over the finances recently. I was thrilled until I realized he would know what I was spending on plants!!!!! Oh, well . . . he can just live with it. Plus, he's retired so is home when all my plant packages arrive!!

Hens & chicks will grow on a rock in my garden!!! Have no fear.

I've had my dad's old truck (20 years old, but only 25,000 original miles on it!) for a couple weeks now and keep loading it up with compost, manure, bark, etc. He may never get it back!

Glad to see so many folks from so many different areas sharing on this thread - what a hoot!

I want a farm! I'm a wannabe country girl!

What's is this mushroom compost I hear some of y'all talking about? I've never heard of mushroom compost ....

Lin

Maybe that's why my new house didn't have any plants. It was on the market for a year, after all. Do you think they took the grass, too?

I am going to have to watch expenses. I got my last month's statement from the bank. High Country Gardens, Dutch Gardens, Schreiners, Lee Valley, Gardener's Supply, Gardening Bulbs, Home Depot, Mushroom Adventures, The Garlic Store....

Oh, and I bought a couple books --

-- on gardening.

I'm having withdrawals already ..... I'm going out of town from the 11th - 16th, what am I going to do without my DG friends? Not being able to converse, or see all those beautiful photo's that y'all post, or LOL at some of the antics I'm reading about here???

Guess I better take my laptop with me, huh? I didn't want the bother of taking it on the plane, but I guess I will have to! I will be missing all my plants and my garden, but plan on helping my baby sister pot some fall containers for the front of her house and for her back deck! So, I get to go on a little vacation and still "play in the dirt"! :)


Lin

LOL... give us your address we'll all take care of your plants while your gone...no need to worry they'll be taken GOOD care of...

Yikes ! I just signed on, read the postings and have come to
a scarey conclusion - gardening leads to criminal activity !!!

I'm turning all you guys in to Dave, and we will split the reward !

Daytona, huh? I bet BivBiv will be sneakin' into your yard, now that she knows you will be gone. It will be a bit of a drive for her, but not too awfully far. And I'm sure it will pay for itself in nursery bills. We'll have to get Biv to send us an 'inventory sheet' so we can all place our 'orders' and she can send us all plants that she has liberated from Lin. Muah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Oh sure, Mahnot...act innocent. We know the truth...you are working behind the scenes, egging us all on, and then pretending to be sooo innocent in public. Uh huh...I'm on to you....

Moi ?

Oui, vous! Vous etes une tres mal femme! Devoir avoir honte!