Hello out there in cyberland....looking to see if there is any interest in a regional forum for the tropical areas of our little mud ball... This is a really great forum, but I have noticed that a lot of the interest is in raising tropicals in gh's and other non-tropical places. If you might be interested in a strictly tropical zone forum please go to Dave's Garden Forum and look for the thread with this subject. I would post the link - but I'm just not pooter savvy enuf to know how to do that. I can make a papaya pie though! Hoping to hear from you tanned and sweaty tropicinnis soon.
Interest in new forum for zones 10 and higher
Take a look here for the discussion: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/710770/
Thank you pekasky.....
Oh come on....I know there are more of you out there that live in tropical areas....is it that you don't think a tropical region forum is needed? If you DO think it would be a good idea - please go say so....the more input the better.
As I sit here shivering, calling vendors to tell them not to ship my desert roses and crown of thorns, I can only dream of needing - personally - a tropical gardening forum. Now in my dream life, wherein I live somewhere along the Kona coast of the Big Island, or near Waikoloa, I vote for it.
right now i'm hoping one of my hydrangeas survived and that i see a lilac bloom this spring.........
bb - you have all my sympathies! But - I too am looking at a bedraggled hydrangea. Our rains are brutal - they may be warm, but they are certainly not always soft. Hope you are staying warm (the shivering was not actual, I hope), and dry during this latest storm....been there, done that - DO NOT want to do it again. Believe it or not - two of my desert roses had branches rot from too much rain. Its a process, and as they say "this too shall pass". Sending you warm thoughts.
I have gone on DG Forum and supported a forum for us in the high Zones. I do it here. I think that if individual STATES and zones on the Mainland have a need for individual forums...it stands to reason that we in the HIGH numbers could use one too. My reasons are stated on the DG discussion. We, up/out here, are not dealing with pushing envelopes or growing plants in our windows...we are dealing with heat, sun, salt, wind and 'stuff' in a completely unique way for US. I would like to see the forum happen.
And...I think that perhaps those on other forums related to growing high Zone plants could benefit as well...from reading how the plants that they struggle with can be grown in a natural environment...and perhaps they can approximate it.
IMHO.
Carol,
Did you see the lesson that Tigerlily gave us on Hawaiian micro climates? She made it sound like you would have no interest in our new forum.....what's with that? I think others would be interested as well, but we are just being encouraged to stick with the Tropicals forum.....oh well, it was worth a try. BTW- your plants are gorgeous. I've never grown a hoya - but you certainly have me wanting to try!!!!
Yokwe
Wow Islandshari-I really think that you misread my post! In no way whats so ever did I say that Carol would not have any interest in a Zone 11 forum. She has clearly stated that she does. What I did say, in reference to your wanting to discuss salt tolerance plants, was that people in Hawaii may not necessarily be the ones that you want to talk to about that as much as people that lived directly on the coast in Florida and Ca. The reason being, and I happened to use Carol as an example as I am extremely familiar with where she lives, and you know her, is that many people in Hawaii don't have to deal with salt issues. They live miles from the ocean. I lived closer to the ocean than Carol and it was never an issue with me. That was what I said in reference to Carol.
My point still stands-there are so many extreme growing climates in the tropics, that it would/might be tough to have enough people that share a similiar enough climate. Maybe I am wrong-fortunately I am not the one deciding it.
I have to say though, Islandshari that I am really disappointed in the way you mischaracterized what i wrote....I know that you really want this forum-and I am sorry that more people did not share/support your drive for one. Maybe you will still get it, but please don't pull me into it. this way, for expressing another side of the discussion.
Tigerlily, not trying to pull you into anything. Apparently I did misunderstand what you were trying to say, if so I do appologize. It just seemed odd that two folks from Hawaii had supported the idea, but you seemed to be saying that they didn't need to. Obviously there are many, many microclimates all over the world...within zones - that don't match the surrounding area. That's what makes all these forums so incredibly interesting. I REALLY have absolutely no desire to step on anyone's toes....I love this site, and the people on it are so generous and helpful. I'm suprised though at the number of people who don't want a tropical region forum....If they are not interested, they don't have to go there, but (and I am seriously asking the question Tigerlilly - not being sarcastic, honestly), is there some underlying reason for not? I watched the Tradeing forum discussion before it was established, and didn't think that generated nearly the discussion that this one did. So once again - sorry if my comment ruffled your feathers....Yokwe
Yes, you were mistaken. Apology accepted.
Shari, I hope you didn't misunderstand my comments either, based on all the times I've watched people request forums and get them (or not), it didn't strike me that you had enough people from the tropical zones expressing interest for Dave to actually create one for you, that's why I suggested you try starting some threads over here about topics of interest to you, that way if you tried to talk about things over here and either received overwhelming numbers of responses or on the other hand got a bunch of useless responses from people who don't understand your climate, that could give you a better case to argue that you need the forum which I otherwise don't think you're going to get based on what I've seen in the past for the level of interest that's required for a new forum.
I am always interested in any conditions and plants that grow in them...on our island. I have friends on the coast who are always looking for salt tolerant plants... TL, I think that we all are entitled to our opinions and our feelings...Microclimates or not...I still believe a forum dealing with EXISTING Zones 10 and 11 would be helpful...not especially to me, but to many people just moving into them! Gardeners with Questions. I can certainly find answers easier HERE from a fellow nurseryperson than on the forum...but the purpose is to share our knowledge...right? Who in Iowa wants to know about the potassium levels in the soil on the bigisland???? But information about it MAY relate to someone else living on a formerly volcanic rock that once grew a lot of sugarcane/pineapple etc.
There are certainly more people growing tropicals in the Midwest on DG than in the higher Zones...and I can appreciate that. What I don't understand is why there are those AGAINST having a forum for the higher Zones?
?
Woah....ecrane3 - hey kiddo, take a breath! LOL - That was some sentence! I don't think I misunderstood and I will definately be participating in the tropicals forum along with Plumies, hibiscus, cannas, gingers, plant ID and ALL! No worries. COS (Change of subject): Just to give you guys an idea of how small i am.....since my last post here, I went out to repot a begonia I've been working on....ran out of soil....got on my bike and went to "town" to get some. Stopped at the Post Office to mail back a movie I had rented, went to the bakery to pick up some bread for hubby's lunch, picked up the soil, went and got cash (that all took about 5 minutes...everything is just a few feet away from each other) got home, repotted the begonia, made crab salad for lunch on the fresh bread - hubby got home from work and we chatted, he went back to work I wrote a letter to my daughter....and played in Dave's Garden. Now....how many of you can leave your homes and run 4 errands in 5 minutes????? There are advantages to my tiny island!!
It takes 15 minutes to get to the grocery store from here, provided you don't get behind a livestock truck or neverending roadwork-lol. People ride bikes, but it's really not safe-curvy roads and lots of fast drivers!
I wish I were in a place where I could ride a bike. BTW shari, I've learned my adopted sister from Kwajalein and her family are living in Arkansas now-pretty wild.
Hiya Tropicanna! long time no see! Arkansas?!?!?! Wow - what a difference! Are they happy?, healthy?.....hope all is well with them, and when you talk to your sister tell her Yokwe from me, okay?
As far as bikes go....we have no choice, no private vehicles allowed on the island. There are some cars and trucks for police, fire, maintenance etc. but no private ones.....certainly don't need them. Even the golf club house at the farthest end of the island from me is only 10 minutes away IF we get a tail wind....could be 30 if we are fighting a head wind! Ha ha.
I have not had a chance to talk to her yet, but I am going to visit my parents and figured I'd call when I got the # to see how she is. She was 15 when she left US the first time. I know she has a child of her own now.
Where I grew up on trhe coast of NC-you can ride bikes. In fact, it seems the most common crime is having your bike stolen! Since we're going this weekend, I'm looking forward to getting to ride with my mom. It's really nice at night before summer comes and it gets crowded. You can ride all around town with no traffic.
I definately recall my Dad mentioning there weren't many cars on Kwaj.
Shari-am I just imagining or did you do a thread somewhere w/ a bunch of Kwaj pics? Where was it so I could show my Dad this weekend.
Not your imagination - but what I did was direct any that were interested to my husband WebShots pages. He has hundreds of pics, divided into island sites, underwater, plants etc. Just depends on what you want to look at. Go to Web Shots.com, click on "community', then islanddood - that's dear hubby. If that doesn't work just to a search in Webshots for islanddood. Once you click on an image you can go to his other albums. Hope your Dad enjoys his trip down memory lane!
Yokwe!