NENC

Kassia and I have declared ourselves the founding members of the NorthEast Newbie Club. We welcome other newbies in the NorthEast to join us in celebrating our successes and commisserating over our disappointments.

first order of the day - let us know your spring plans for your gardens

Today, for instance, I am going to transplant daffodils (a totally ridiculous thing to do this time of year!!! --- something only a silly newbie would attempt) because I want to clear most of the plants out of the triangle garden, so I can amend the soil (finally).

Of course, being a newbie, I went and bought Miracle Grow Plant Soil (4 large bags) that has instructions to spread this stuff out over the garden in a 3 inch layer, then dig it in. Okay - well, I am a newbie, but I think I can handle that.

After that is done, I am going to fill the garden with pansies. I got these really cheap. These will stay in the garden until July, when I hope the impatiens (see pirl, spelled it correctly that time - as a newbie, I had been spelling it impatients lol) that I started two months late ('cause I'm a newbie) will be ready to plant out.

Also, this weekend I MUST pot up dahlias - well, plant them in pots with real soil. As a newbie, I started these far too early . . . they look great though . . . lots of green. These are the little dahlias, the kind most people treat as annuals and toss. But as newbie, I thought I would try and see if I could keep them over the winter. Voila! it worked. Alas - it is probably at least another month before they can safely stay outside overnight.

Also, sometime this spring I must relocate FOUR sum and substance hosta 'cause as a newbie I had absolutely no idea how HUGE they are going to get. I only found out because I saw a photograph of one in a garden. Yikes!

On top of all this I have hundreds (maybe even a thousand or more) seedlings that I must find homes for . . .

Meanwhile my Easter Cactus seeds and amaryllis seeds have germinated but the stubborn datura seeds will not cooperate.

Oh - I haven't even mentioned the arbour that needs to be built, the eight roses I have coming (I did buy the manure and compost for their holes!)

Okay Newbies - tell us what you got!

You get an "A" (or a gold star) in spelling impatiens, Seandor!

A few items worth mentioning:

Someone on DG once asked how to handle a huge project and I loved the answer:
like eating an elephant.......one bite at a time.

Just do each thing in the best manner possible and go on to the next....and the next, etc.

You go ahead and move those daffodils. They'll do fine next year - no need to be concerned. When you're out to improve the soil it's worth moving them. I have some that have to be moved also but I think I'll let them bloom first, cut off the blooms, then lift them because by fall I manage not to remember to attack that spot.

Dahlias are best planted when the soil temperature is 70 degrees. They love the warm soil.

(Your impatiens will be fine! No worries there.)

Husband to rotortill garden and it needs sand - too dense.

Me - work in the GH. I took a picture, today verses Monday. I work by myself and have only 1/2 of the GH to its capacity. Hey Dave47 I played Kavorkian (sp) murdered 4 flats of germinating plants. Learning - in the massive heat TAKE OFF THE DOME !

When it gets too hot in the GH, I will go and try to save a flower bed. I let it go last year as I was scared there was posion ivy in it. Let's see what we can save. I will take a pix.

Here is the GH picture 5 days of busting my hiney off and learning.

Looks fantastic schickenlady! Alas, I do not have a greenhouse - but I do have a large veranda which is strewn with wintersown seeds and doesn't look anywhere as nice and tidy as your greenhouse. Are you sure you are a newbie?

Yes - I am a newbie to a GH. Thursday I found out I have to put a shade cover on GH or I could murder them all. I have no Flower Power as of yet. I do have Impatienc (sp) and Marigolds planted. As of this time I have NO CLUE what is going to happen in the GH :-{

No Frown! Because we are newbies - anything goes! If something works out, it's just plain dumb luck - and if somethings don't come off as planned, well, what did we expect? We're newbies! so we have an excuse for everything LOL

And very nice people help us. So someday we can graduate to NEGGC (New England Great Gardeners Club)!

Here's the link to the Greenhouse forum at DG and I do hope it's a big help to you:

http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/greenhouse/all/

Oh my, Seandor. Your energy and the number of projects you have going simulatneously makes this rather seasoned gardener feel dizzy. You really have the bug!

I'll recommend this saying which you may have heard before, "You never truly know a plant until you've killed it three times." It should be in the NENC Manifesto.

I absolutely agree, watersedge - I will have to consult with Kassia. It's a great manifesto for us :-) . . . of course, Kassia just spent a bundle on landscaping and roses - she might not be thrilled with the idea of emminant (pirl - I think I spelled that incorrectly, but I don't think DG has spell check) demise for her plants!

The Google toolbar has spell check if you need it.

I went and got the shade cover for the GH. You can not work in it when it is 90 degrees. I come out, not hot but everything is looking weird? 3D? Spots and Colors. Not dizzy, but wierd. My hubby said I was not right after 5 hour working yesterday.

I will give you all a Newbie experience and advice at the end of my sporadic Want To Be an experienced gardener - wont ever reach it.

I am older probably more then most that are here. I will give myself - I am 75 percent older in age, of most posters.

Sendor it was not a frown it was a YIKES - murder. 13 flats maybe 2000 plants. It is ok - I am learning. Oh am I learing.

I can go get a packet of Impatienc (sp) and spell it right. I Think - argh.

I will take pics and give the bottom line, when the time comes when a person wants a GH.

I am a true newbie with a GH. Yes I am going to sell. My garden is going to be first.

I want to thank you all for giving me directions. My heart goes out to you all.

Sherrie aka schickenlady.

You make me very happy that we never bought a greenhouse, Sherrie!

Here is the last picture of the GH. See what it did in 5 days.

4/20 I started as you can see the earlier picture. I am a Newbie - Sendor. I am still learning belive me.

If anyone does decide to get one of this size 14' x 25' or bigger. Get it in the FALL and get it set up and ready to rock in the spring. Don't be sporadic like myself and having mixed feelings. Should I do this? Should I do that? What should I do?

Other than what I am going to plant in my garden, most will be going road side this weekend for sale.

I did not realize what I bit into. Let yourself be prepared for WORK. From seed to planting, to sales.

Try to get yourself a client base. I have no clients.

I guess I am grateful that I did not throw all the supplies out in the driveway and run them over.

Now lets see if the impatienc and marigolds bloom - they are in the picture way at the end !

This place is fun and very talented.

.·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*:·.

Poop - wrong picture :-{

Aye Seandor, you sound like myself. Every year I find out I'm still a newbie - LOL. This year we
( County Extension and I ) think I got Rhododendron dieback on 2 huge 20 year old R. roseum.The new growth was misshaped and all twisted and spotted. Then other things in my yard starting coming up with the same weird twisted leaves - like hostas and hellebores. What a mess. I have contaminated my yard from one end to the other by not cleaning my tools more often. When I pruned those Rhodos last year I must have had the virus on my clippers and I didn't clean them while I was pruning. Then it must have gotten on my shovels. I dug some huge old hostas and divided them last fall - and some of the new growth is coming out weird - Its not HVX. Since the only answer is to dig out the contaminated plants and destroy them I've spent more time than I want to doing just that. I've got one Rhodo done - took hours to prune out the diseased branches and dumped 4 garbage bags of clippings and branches in the trash just from that one plant.

So I soaked every garden tool I have in bleach solution overnight. Now they have to be sanded and oiled. OMG !!!! Back to the old ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

One year I had a chance to buy wholesale from Bluestone - that was $0.97 to 1.37 for perennials and $1.50 for shrubs. I spent $250 and then spent the next 2 years trying to find a place to plant all the stuff.

Then there was the year I got excited about wintersowing. Some of the folks on the WS forum have like 150 containers of seedlings every year so 50 containers seemed reasonable. until they all germinated and then they actually grew. This year I sowed a very modest number and look forward to planting them and putting all the stuff away before September LOL. Of course I did start 50 dahlia tubers, but old habits die hard.

My garden is at the stage of rearranging the furniture, and I wish I'd understood about bones a little more back at the beginning. And also the importance of good soil. If I was starting over I would just work on the soil till I had it wonderful and then go find plants.

Newbie is a relative thing! I bet you know all you need to know!

Wow! Now if I can only convince DH to tear down his garage! so you are doing this as a business venture? With plants like those in the photos, you are likely to be very successful :-)

alyrics, you posted just as I posted! Boy - you sound like you are writing my life! My poor DH is convinced I am certifiable!

Oh yes, my DH does think I've flown over the nest. But I can't really blame him. I love to do garden work in the evening when most people are having dinner or relaxing. The whole family has stopped bugging me about gardening after dark. Sounds weird but I like it.

I would LOVE to garden in the evening - I HATE the heat. Once it is over 70 degrees, I am in the house, so I only garden very early in the morning.

I don't think you are wierd at all.

All of November and December I gardened into the darkness by using the outdoor lights to help me. I also have what looks like a miner's headlight on a strap - it goes around my head. I enjoy the quiet.

OK Pirl, I have to see a photo of you with your plant miner's helmet on.

You mean I have to get dressed at almost 9 PM for a photography session? How about letting it wait until Sunday? It will still make for a bad hair do. (More like a hair don't)

I'm with Al! This is must see DG!

OK! Do you want the picture taken in the dark?

YES!

Good grief! OK - we'll try for tomorrow night.

Day or night is fine with me.

I LOVE the idea of the headlamp! I also like the quiet - why else would a normal (well, maybe not-so--normal) person be up at 5 am on a Saturday?

I'm in the midst of an Oreo cheesecake, bed made, and Jack's walking the dog. No time for slackers.

In July, getting up around 4:30 - 5, just to have coffee first and then watch the daylilies opening with the sunrise is pure heaven. No kids screaming, no mowers and blowers!

pirl, that does sound like heaven. I like watching the sunrise. for me, the bonus of being up early is working without the wind here. in the morning it's just me and the birds. even the geese don't get up until around 6.

it's almost always quiet here. except for mowers. it seems to be an odd neighborhood. people are rarely in their yards. across the lake from us are 'patio' homes (like condos, only freestanding) with mostly retired folks who are only rarely outside. most of the other lakeside families don't have small children. one of our nextdoor neighbors has 2 little boys (could be a nightmare when they're older LOL), but they only let them play outside when they are with them.

We have the water across the street but the morning sun on it can be blinding.

The house with the little kids has three children under 7 and twin girls are a part of the trio but the boy (the oldest) isn't a screamer. Mostly it's happy screams but after a few hours it's annoying. I've learned to work in the courtyard on the weekends, a bit removed from the noise. When the pool is installed I guess I'll have to get the Bose noise cancelling head phones.

Me - anything under 70 degrees is frigid and cold.

Last year I had 48 tomato plants. I bought 6 roma tomato plants at Wally World for 24 bucks - started the rest from seed. If at 3 bucks a plant, that would be 144.00 for tomato's alone.

This is the 1st year with a GH and I hope to break even. Pay for all the supplies (I did not run over with the car) and the 550.00 heating bill.

We are heading out Sunday to sell what I am not going to plant. We will see what happens as far as the dollar value. I do not know what will happen? Only time will tell.

Have a good day - off to play in the dirt.

I'm off to the store and then cooking an Oreo cheesecake and a Sopapilla cheesecake - for tomorrow and my kids.

Pirl thats a lotta cakes you're making there. Whats the big do?
We were up early and watching the birds come and go from the feeders. My DH actually said, You know birds are really amazing creatures. I think I might be rubbing off on the city boy.

We love watching the birds and we both grew up close to NYC. The finches are my favorite. I love the way they fly and love how they pick pieces from the fiber lined baskets for their nests.

Yikes! Just returned from the store and buying ingredients. Guess I should do the shopping more often. $3.99 for a teeny tiny jar of cayenne pepper!!! That won't go in the cheesecakes! It's all for Mother's Day. Odd, but when my mom was alive I did the cooking. Now that I have two grown kids and two grandkids I do the cooking. What's wrong with this picture? I do love to cook but I wish it would rain so I wouldn't feel so tossed between inside and outside.

I love it when you can watch the Goldfinches getting their summer color back, and the purple finches too. We've had a gorgeous male Rose Breasted Grosbeak at our feeder the last 3 days. Last year he came early and didn't stay so I'm hoping he decided to nest here this time. Haven't seen Mrs. Grosbeak yet.

We had our first hummingbirds zoom through this past week and I put up 2 feeders and haven't seen anymore since. 3 years ago we had like 10 hummers all summer at our feeders and I don't understand why they aren't coming back. Maybe its the bigger birds but I separated the feeders pretty far apart.

I buy herbs and spices at food co-ops. They are so cheap compared to grocery stores.

Well, yawn, I have to get outside. I have so much weeding yet to do...... grump

Okay Newbies - Kassia has been getting lots of deserved attention for her beautiful Friendship and Peace Gardens. But the rest of us newbies deserve some attention too. Start posting the progress of your gardens - we all want to congratulate (and commisserate) with you :-)

I'm a newbie!! Everything that's older than two years is dead. No, I'm exaggerating. Here's my bleeding hearts. These survived my DH mowing them down twice in one summer.

Here's my white one.

Harper

Sofonisba, you will laugh at this! We also have the white and the red bleeding hearts. We thought we were killing them . . . we desperately tried to keep them alive - but they died - or so we thought. Then I join DG and find out they go dormant in the summer . . . :-)

Same thing with oriental poppies. We thought we were killing them - but they also go dormant.

I think your bleeding hearts are beautiful :-)