Winter months???

Maria, I am just the 'gram' part of the 'grampapa' my husband is the 'papa'. my youngest granddaughter, now 12, called us 'grampapa' when she was little, as if we were one person, and it stuck. Love your Samson.

I know what you mean about 'good' Tv. it's a rarity. but even reading a good book can put me to sleep. I have also been known to fall asleep at the computer and drop the mouse on the floor LOL

'50 BYTES LOL LOL Oh that is a good one!!! Hopefully you will come up with another good one for his 60th. I still say that saying "bite me" all the time....whenever I say it to my hubby though he always replies "where?". LOL.

Samson is just the cutest! I love dogs but I don't have time for a dog right now. Maybe one day LOL.

Homemade bread is the best. Yummmmmmmm!!!!

Nice dog you got there, Maria.... Labs (golden, chocolate and black) make for good pets and even better hunting dogs (my uncle has two black labs that he hunts birds with). I'm not much of a dog person (I preferr cats and have 2), but if I did get a dog, it would be a lab of some kind.

Here's a pic of my main winter project. The plants in this photo are a tub of Colocasia Pink China (Far Left), Colocasia gigantea (Center, the all green one), Colocasia eschulenta 'Big Dipper' (Right Background), and Hedychium coronarium (R. foreground). All of these plants are supposed to be hardy to zone 6a, with mulch... The guy who I bought them from said that's all he did, and has left them in the ground for 6+ years.... The thing is that I bought them in September, which is too late to plant marginal plants such as these, so I'm keeping them inside until the end of March:

Maria, Samson is a handsome devil! I get audio books from the library all the time. Started a couple of years ago and I love it! I use them for in my car.

H-T, You grow the most interesting plants.

Al, Not only did I go to 8th grade, I went 3 times!

That's one way to guarantee you'll be the tallest kid in 8th grade!

lol Dave,

Sampson is very handsome. Goldens are such great dogs!

Al was the only 8th grader who had to write alimony checks.

Dave tsk tsk tsk on you!!!! Mr Man! LOL

Dave - it was taken out of my pay automatically, I didn't have a checking account at that age silly.

I just moved about 15 miles from where I was, so no zone change. I will be planning the new gardens at
this new house. I did the landscape work here 2 years ago to help out a friend and now I live here with
her. Usually in winter months I relax and watch westerns. I do this work for a living and need to rest my
aging and weary bones. I also spend time trying to create unique garden concepts and throw out most
of my ideas the next day. Especially when I have a few beers.....Hops and Barley are plants too!!
Seriously though, I just enjoy the off-time and anxiously watch the arrival of spring...Johnny

I want to give baking more of a try this winter. Maria, the rule of this thread is if you mention food, you have to share!!! I've to Vienna. What a beautiful city! I wished I'd had a bit more time there as there is so much to see.

Hey, Johnny, I like westerns, too. I guess landscape work is a nice way to get to know a friend better ;0) you'll have to let us know what you have planned for the new gardens...and we will expect pics as well !

I'm not a professional, not even a very experienced gardener, but I do my homework. Unique gardens is really what I want for my own space. I haven't tried the hops & barley approach. my poor old brain works overtime on every plant I like trying to figure how it fits in. like I said earlier, I kind of have a 5-yr plan in my head. every idea I get and every plant I like goes into my 'ideas' spreadsheet. then when it gets close to reality, a year or 2, I start the real planning with the garden design software.

here's the rough 5yr

07 formal rose garden (36x22-definite), cottage garden with cental herb bed (70x12-good possibility), also some flowering trees (fringe tree, Venus dogwood), purple martin & bluebird housing
08 water garden (8x12 pond w/waterfall), garden shed surrounded by blue&yellow cottage garden
09-10 front tropical garden makeover (entire area 85x45 w/some existing plantings)...this is where I've been pumping Hikaro for information and taking lots of notes, and ideas on things that LOOK tropical
11 terrace slope down to lake (groundcover roses, native shrubs), any other grassy areas left? LOL

incidentally, this is why I can't retire

It seems you might be tempted to sleep through the winter with all those plans!

I just read of a man of about 100 years old, still working and won't retire because he said he hasn't found that word (retire) in the Bible.

I'm not attempting to hijack the thread to religion, at all, but did like his approach to life.

Dave, Thanks! I always aim to have the wierdest plants in the state....

Gram: Any questions you might have about hardy tropicals, just ask.... I'm fairly new to this myself, which is why I'm starting with stuff that is pretty much sure-fire in my area. If they prove hardy, then I'll move to the unproven stuff. One thing I did come accross recently, a worker at a local nursery said that he's successfully overwintered Fatsia japonica in the ground here, but it dies back during the winter.....

Gram, My impression is that you are a very learned gardner! I have been gardening for 10 years and feel like a novice by comparison.

Looking at your 5 yr. plan was almost exhausting! My god are you ambitious! I keep expanding every year, but my plan would go like this:
-Get more stuff that blooms in May and September
-Continue planting on that rock outcropping
-try not to get poison ivy next year
-less yellow stuff in that corner
-continue making a new garden area that can have a bench and curved path inside it.

Dave47 - poison ivy reminded me that one of the people at work uses the inside of banana peels rubbed on the rash to cure it. He swears by it.

Now that is interesting about banana peels, never heard of that one before


Anita, next time you go to Vienna stay a bit longer, I was born and educated there but still find places I have not sen before and I am one of the Viennese who made a point of knowing almost every corner of this beloved city of mine.

My dream would be to spend two weeks eating the various pastries of Vienna: I have good dreams!

Pirl - don't forget your naps in there.

I might really need them to get the energy to continue eating the pastries.

LOL pirl, a wonderful dream for you, once there they will all come true.

Dave, easy to give that impression online (giggle) I can cheat and look things up. I read a lot. and I pay people to do all the hard physical work. I seriously want to get all of the big beds put in, and the rock walls, pond and other expensive hardscaping done before I retire. And I want to retire, like, yesterday...but realistically I will probably have to work 3-5 more years. so a lot of this may be now or never.

Hikaro, thanks so much. I just need you to keep one season ahead of me ;0) I've been looking at plants since you pointed me in the right direction. what's the worst that can happen? you lose something over the winter, right? I lost a bunch of hardier stuff last winter.

I heard in the rose forum that people put a banana peel in the hole before they plant their roses. wonder if it will still work if we rubbed it on Dave first.

I feel like I learned so much about all of you by reading this thread. Cool.
Recorded books are wonderful, I've been listening to them for years. If you nod off or get distracted you can always rewind a little, lol.
I'm far from done gardening for this year. There are still a few tender bulbs that need lifting. All my roots, tubers and corms need to be packed away. Plenty of Fall clean up needs doing, too. Maybe even a few more Spring bulbs might get planted.
I don't mind the gardening down time. The excuses are all used up so indoor projects get done. I have a couple more PhotoShows to assemble, too.
I have plenty of easy care type house plants. The tropical Hibiscus are my Winter color.
Photography helps break up the Winter if I look close enough. I need to learn more about PhotoShop, that can use up a lot of time, lol.
Seed catalogs are fun but where do I put the new stuff? I always start some new flowers and all my veggies from seed in March. My Amaryllis get planted on New Years Day +-.
Hikaro, "crystalline sounds of snow flakes". I saw it in my head as I read those words, beautiful. I've heard that sound many times on quiet strolls.
Andy P

Andy, I enjoy the sound of snowflakes hitting the trees, but that still does not compare with a light snow in a bamboo grove.... The flakes sound like a cascade of fine sand or glass, while the breeze causes the leaves to rustle against each other.... Very soothing and peaceful. I'd have to say that bamboo is my favorite evergreen plant. Interesting thing to note about my bamboo grove.... It's been growing outside for almost 10 years now, and during that time, I only ever lost 2 culms to snow damage.... 1 Broke during a blizzard we got in '01 and the second broke during a bad ice storm last year. Other than that, none of the 20+ Ft high culms have ever broken under weight of snow. (the ones that did break didn't go to waste... I cut them off during the summer, and stuck them in the garage to dry out, now I have a 10' and a 18' bamboo pole to do whatever with).

Use those poles, cut into sections, for plant labels!

They're about 1-1.5" in diameter... a bit big for plant labels. I may use them for staking plants in the future, as well as for anchoring the Hardware cloth cages I'll be making to protect my newer bamboo plots from hungry rabbits this winter.

Sprinkle on some blood meal to keep the rabbits away.

Actually, if I were to go that route, I'd rather use Hot Pepper Wax (all natural, biodegradable, and guaranteed to keep rabbits and deer from eating the plant.... its's made from concentrated jalepeno pepper oil mixed with carnuaba wax, so not only is it hotter than Hell, it also will last for a month as well....) since it's easier to obtain here.

I have my houseplants to help keep me sane, though I still miss my plants outside anyway.
I read alot, make plans for my garden in the spring, and by February I'm salivating over all the seed catalogs. By March I'm snatching at the seed packets that invariably start appearing in the stores--"Plant! Pretty!! OooOo!".

Oh! I left out Univ. of Conn basketball. It convenienly starts after gardening is done and ends just before I can plant out. It really keeps me sane during the winter.

When I got my first house here I actually had the experience of a garden center refusing to sell me plants because it was too early to plant. Imagine that! They let me buy fancy New England fertilizer (with lobster shell!) instead. Now that I am a "born again yankee" I don't buy the fancy stuff. In fact this year I am going to use all the worm castings I scraped off a demolition site - yards and yards of it! How frugal is that?

That's a good gardener!

I have my own online garden group to keep me busy. I hold several swaps during the year, including plants, seeds Round Robins, a fantastic bulb swap. So I am always on the lookout for new seeds to try and obtain. Hubby and I bring in all the houseplants and display them in our cool garden window. We enjoy watching the cacti gardens bloom throughout the winter months. This year Im gonna take a stab at winter sowing. Any tips for that?
Im busy seed gathering as I can at the moment. Im hoping to be able to get some mini hosta seeds and I have a huge huge purple hyacinth bean vines just waiting for them to mature. Do you think since its getting near freezing and soon to be freezing that I should harvest the beans and hope they mature off the vine?
I have enjoyed reading and getting some tips for my indoor winter this year.
I have a couple of craft shows that I will be working at this fall, trying something new. I make decorative ceiling fan pulls and sell them on ebay.
I cut down these beautiful brugs just yesterday and hacked em up for cuttings to overwinter. I use an aquarium airstone to keep the water moving and help prevent rot. It worked great last year!
Take care all....nice chatting with you today.

Other things on the 'to do' list.
Identifying many of the insects I've photographed this season.
Painting the 2 bath rooms.
Working on my Photo Blog.
The list goes on and on.
I've thought about training my dog to fetch a fresh beer for me but knowing her, she wouldn't close the door. lol.
Andy P

Andy, Sarah might just decide to drink the beer herself. Maybe I need to get a blog, or start a new web site.

Hi, Theresa. sounds like you have LOTS to keep you busy. love your brugs.

Hahaha this post turned into a lot of different things. I really enjoyed reading it all :)

Gram, she can't hold it. lol
A 'friend' gave her some a few years ago, she got sick. Never cared for it after that.
Andy P

Andy - that really sounds like a punchline to a joke.

Poor Sarah Andy, having friends that make your kid sick, lol