Oh boy Oh boy!!!! I am so excited!! T.S. hmmmmmmmmmm :)
Randy's had a dragonfly. Here's a green one with a bee.
July 21st West Houston Meet
Oh Man Connie! That is really pretty! I'll hang that by my back door. You know Cobalt Blue is my favorite! Thank you so much. :-)
Caught any wasps yet?
Those are beautiful. I wish I was creative like that. Only thing I can do is sew (from a pattern) and make stepping stones (with a mold).
Is there an address for the gathering yet? I need to mapquest it and make travel plans. I know it's not all that far from New Braunfels, but I am a very nervous traveler and it helps to have all the minute details thought out (less over-all anxiety that way). :-)
Yes..
It is
Randy Judd
703 E. 10th st.
Houston, Tx 77008
Just off 10th and Studewood. The street starts as Montrose street in montrose, becomes Studemont, then Studewood. just over the bridge of White Oak Bayou which is also the beginning of The Heights.
Land Marks are:
10th and Studewood : Glass Wall Resaurant
11th and Beverly : Berry Hill Restaurant
My house is the second to the last house before you hit Beverly, so the closest cross street to my house is
10th and Beverly. If you were to turn right on Beverly you would find Berry Hill Resaurant 1.5 blocks away. There is a 10th 1/2 street..Beware. Beverly then hits 11th which is a main arterial. Berry Hill is 11th and Beverly, 1 block from Buchanons Nursery. (if anyone is familiar with Buchanons.
This is a picture. I've been pulling up zinnias today..and have been rained, thundered and lighteninged right out...with stuff laying all over the place. Easy to recognize as it is overgrown, and I'm installing the summer tropical look ..well..if it ever stops raining.
http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/viewimage.php?did=28353
Rj
Yay, good directions. All those plants are in your garden? Inspirational.
Tequila sunrise!!! Yay!!!! Ooooooooooooooo
No Janet no wasps yet. I don't have it where they are but I need to make one for that area. Under the palm. I KNOW they are in there.
Thanks VEGGIE ! Sound creative to me! oooooooo I need to make some stepping stones. We'll talk about that at Randys. I'll be pickin' your brain. :)
I wish I could follow patterns, I seem to be one of those people who have to do everything from scratch...
I'm the same way Manic. I can sew a fairly straight hem in sheets to make curtains, but I wouldn't be caught dead in any clothing I'd make. My daughter makes quilts and some really cute one of a kind clothes for her own daughter and is doing an awesome job. She must have gotten that from Connie because she sure didn't get it from me! HAHAHAHAHA
She made these matching outfits for her daughter and her niece.
Janet
There were little frilly hats to match the dresses also.
This message was edited Jun 16, 2007 10:53 PM
Yep..you guessed it. I was trimming it a few months ago and decided to see how they would do as cuttings. They did very well.
Yes, the first thing I did when I bought the house in late 2005 was expand the beds out by 3 feet. I just summerscapped it today...pulled the zinnias, and a big castor bean tree, then planted hibiscus, a few different clerodendrums, perwinkles and colleus my friend Patty dropped off for me last week.allocasias (found the giant variety at Buchanons today. ) It rained on my parade on an off most of the day.
Randy, will you put my name on one of those beauties? I love the exotic hibiscus. :-) Are they easy to take cuttings from? I have "Sunshowers" and "Rumrunner". If possible, I can take some cuttings from them. You'll have to give me some instructions though.
Janet
Hibiscus cutting hints:
~use really sharp shears
~cut below a node, at an angle
~set in compost tea water or moist compost - or dip in hormones and
sit in hormone water or moist dirt/compost , i also like peat pots
sitting in a plastic tupperware with water in it, some people
like bubblers, pick whichever one you are more comfy with
~hibiscus is a swamp lover - damp is good! dry means death
~if you use compost tea or water - keep it fresh don't let it get stagnant
~trim most of the leaves off maybe leave one or two small ones or like
a half of one or two if they are really big,
~when new leaves start growing - put it in dirt in a decent sized pot
where it can grow some or stick in the ground or mail to whomever
you are trading with or whatever the wind is telling you to do with it....
~good luck!
p.s. Those little clothes are really cute , so are the lil girls :) , Sometimes I wear clothes I make (my BF and close girl friends pick on me, about it) then when I go out, I'm baraged by stranger women who want to buy them off me. (I knit and crochet) - I won;t sell anything but simple hats or purses because it takes too much time ; I doubt they'd want to pay what it'd be worth my time to make the stuff. I've thought about making clothes for my nieces, but god knows what their mom would do with them...I'd rather wait until I have kids though because it might be easier to take measurements than explain to my sis in law how to take them. The first time I tried I measured the dog (they weighed the same and looked about the same size) well i put the sweater on my niece and she couldn't move her arms because they were stuck in front of her like a dogs HAHAHA life is a funny teacher sometimes. I stick with simpler designs now ;)
Oh that is too funny! The same daughter took a knitting or crocheting class at Michael's recently. The other day she showed me a hat she made for her daughter. She said it was way too small for her head. It would barely fit on her dolly! HAHAHAHA
Thanks so much for the step by step instructions for the cuttings. I am going to try that. Forgive my ignorance, but what is compost tea water?
Okay, thanks for the cutting tips.. That must have been why it did so well, I mixed up compost peat and pine bark potting mix. Although I was just trimming the shrub, and wasn't thinking of it cuttings wise, it was an end with a bloom, and it went on and still is putting out mini Tequila sunrises.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm going to go out right now and take quite a few cuttings off the Tequila Sunrise. The thing is a monster, near the eve of the house. Can you tell I'm fairly new in the Hibiscus World? That means, whatever you have to trade, I probably don't have it, so anything is good. I will say that at the top of my want list is a pure bright yellow hibiscus. I keep asking my friend in Kauai to send me some cuttings, but they are remodeling house and busy.
By the way Connie, sparklies suppose to be there tomorrow.
I checked again yesterday, still no more in stock. I wanted to have a bunch here for folks, but it's hit and miss with that store. It took me a year and half to get more, and I probably bought 80 percent of them. I simply cannot find them anywhere else..
compost tea = basically if you have compost or mulch...and you add water, the water will turn dark instead of clear, sort of a 'runny' mud really. Anytime you mulch with compost and then water, the plants get a yummy nutritious tea.
Oh yes, the house I am moving in to, someone had put a red hibiscis next to the house,probably 20 years ago. I've been fighting with it since January, don't get me wrong I love hibiscis and they do very very well here. Just better as a screeen along the edge of a property, not next to the house. They will go from 6" tall (cutting / small plant) to 6' tall in a matter of months, then each year will become more and more tree like. The one I'm fighting has about a foot circumfrence of the 'trunk', I'm going to have to get over my 'power tool' fear and get a small chainsaw.
I just did 13 cuttings of Tequila Sunrise. It's been raining so much, a bit tired of it, but it is the best cutting weather. I always take a bunch of cuttings during weather like this, the success rate is very high. I wanted to do the cuttings now while I had time, except it was pouring outside, so....I opened my living room window and snipped the hibiscus from there..talk about drive through cuttings..lol.
One more tips to add to the cutting preparation that I've found really increases the success rate is adding some lava sand to the mix. It helps keep the mixture moist and has a good iron content. Having said that I'll provide my Diary on Lava sand, where I get it, what the bag looks like, the sand, my failures and success, my theories and links to other information on it.
http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/index.php?tabid=1720
The other item I find I just can't be without is Houston Fertilizers 18-10-28 analysis. Not only do Hibiscus love it, but I've found most tropicals in general really do well on it. It doesn't contain epsom so they recommend stirring some in now and then. The point to this is, if anyone is interested in either item I will be making a trip to Houston Fertilzer and will take anyones order and have it here at the swap.
Generally the Fertilzer is about 13 dollars, the exact price may even be on their web site. The Lava Sand I can't remember, I think it is 6-10 dollars for a 40 lb bag that will last you for well over a year. ( it may even be less than 6 dollars and I'm estimating on the high side.)
So...just let me know. I will also be getting bags of their alfalfa pellets that are already enfused with fish emulsion, seaweed extract, cotton burr and molasses.
Diary
http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/index.php?tabid=1923
This message was edited Jun 17, 2007 1:34 PM
There are compost tea recipies in the links up above for those that are interested. I also have the diary linked to some threads that discuss the tea, and the authors of the tea mix.
Yes, I wasn't quite prepared for the how tall how fast they grow.
Wow that all sounds great!, I was just popping back to mention something bettydee said on the brug forum... to help with cuttings add a small bit (teaspoon) of hydrogen peroxide - a bit of extra oxygen , she says, helps the roots want to come out. I imagine it keeps fungal happenings at bay as well..
I need to learn more about fertilizers, so far, I just add more compost to everything...it works great for most plants here..but my blueberries are starting to look unhappy- I have been told, all they need is a higher acidity, I'm just not sure how to give it to them.
LOL @ drive through cuttings
LOL...the second link has all the scoop on H202...hydrogen peroxide. I had to re-link the second..I think I had the same one linked. One is using Lava Sand, Two, is H202 and other "off the shelf" garden tips. 3 is Fertilizers and plant nutrients....which I'll list right here
http://davesgarden.com/journal/ed/index.php?tabid=1624
If you do compost tea, that sort of is your fertilzer! From what I studied on the alfalfa , it's got about everything plants need. I really should run over there today..this is good weathe to throw some of that out in the beds. They're so soaked it'll make it's own tea.
This message was edited Jun 17, 2007 1:36 PM
Unique
My sister went through my seed box before you spoke. I don't have any of the Amaranthus Perfecta or Aurora, sorry she took them.
Knolan
I planted the fleabane the night you requested them, none have come up (darn stuff from packages) I'll plant some more and see what I can do. The delphinium came up but is very small.
I will likely have some morning glory seedlings left over. Let me know if anyone is interested.
Rjudd:
Martha's Bloomers in Navasota promises to have me some Fireman's Cap in a few weeks. You'll have to show me how you got the seeds.
Anne
It's OK Anne. I have some Love Lies Bleeding that I've just fallen in love with this year. It's just so "willowy"! I was hoping to add something a bit different to my plant collection. I noticed that Randy also has the purple ones, so maybe I can get some from him.
Oh I have the Love Lies Bleeding, I just planted them this afternoon.
Anne....don't worry about the fleabane. I've had the same luck with those seeds. I sprinkled them about and nothing has come up. But, that's how it is with seeds, right? Win some, lose some (and maybe next year they sprout).
I have a Fireman's Cap but no seed pods yet. It's fairly tall, about 6' but hasn't bloomed for me yet. I bought one for my grandmother on the same day and she's had blooms. She's also had an insect attack on it. Go figure. I'll be there next week and if there are seed pods, and they look ready, I'll try to plant for you. Here's a question for Randy......do the seed pods need to turn brown and ripen before I try to plant them?
And may I have a 'Tequila Sunrise' cutting? Purdy please?
I have a red Amaranthus. When Martha's said that they didn't have any available I asked if I could buy a cutting off of the one that they have planted in their parking lot (I know I'm so baaad), they said that it didn't work that way. Not sure if they meant growth or that I couldn't go hacking on their parking lot plant. lol
You asked, and that's admirable! LOL....no plant pirates here.
Yeah my sister and I only get together once or twice a year. We convinced her husband that I kidnapped her and forced her at gunpoint to spend so much on plants that we looked like a traveling forest headed back to Louisiana. We told him that she was stealing Texas one plant at a time. She volunteered to do lookout for me, but I'm such a chicken. Oh well, they said that they'd get me a plant in a few weeks.
That is so funny. Connie and I were in the parking lot at Quiznos the other day. There was some nice landscaping in the front filled with a multitude of colors of portulaca and moss rose. She said to me, see any colors you don't have? All it takes is one little sprig! HAHAHA We didn't take any, but it sure was tempting!
It was easy for me to envision your traveling forest comment because I remember my Mother in Law sprucing up her yard for my wedding. We drove across town to a nursery in my little VW bug. We came back with a tree on each side of the car, we poked them through the windows. The car was green so I imagine we looked a bit like a traveling forest also. :-) Thanks for reminding me of a wonderful memory.
We said that if we were in a wreck they'd have to un-bury us. I told her that there may not be room for her that she'd have to run along side. lol
Someone's always gotta be on the lookout. You know us plant gypsies, snitching seeds from the sprouts at the supermarkets before the landscaping guys get there and just throw them away. It's a dirty job but, someone's gotta do it. Think of it as 'Robin Hood'.
I have to laugh at my ownself because, not being familiar with international plant shipping laws, I traded some plants with someone in Canada. They made it to her just fine but when she sent me a package, it was opened up at customs in Chicago and I got this really nasty letter (ok...nobody throw any bones or rotten tomatoes....I truly did not know any better) telling me I had violated the international shipping laws, the contents were confiscated, blah, blah, blah, blah and an empty box showed up at my house with the nasty letter. So sorry! I had no idea. It's not like we were trading plants that were of the illegal nature. They were succulents, for goodness sakes. My June Cleaver reputation was on hold for a short time. Hahahahaha! It really did scare me, not to make light of the matter. I'm a chicken at heart. Truly, I had no idea I was doing anything wrong. Live and learn. Right? I'm still mad that they took my plants away.
Last year, not knowing any better, I sent some cuttings from my Hooker's Orchid Cactus to Canada. They were a frozen mush by the time they got there. :-( I wondered why she told me to put Christmas Gifts on the custom form. Now I know better.
ok i'll admit, i'm a pirate sometimes... i took a cutting off a dracaena they had at taco bell today... and i usually keep plant scissors in my back pocket, specifically for cuttings... i don't do it at nurserys or personal gardens... but at the store fronts, they change em out before they even know what they are anyway
Manic - you are 'one of us'. Welcome.
How funny! Being new to gardening, I've only really just started *looking* at plants everywhere I go, trying to identify them, see how other people put beds together, etc. I've thought several times - wonder if I could get a little bit of that plant there, while at various businesses! Haven't done it yet, but the thought surely has crossed my mind.
I'm with you Manic - most of the businesses just swap them out anyway. Not like they're attached to them. I've been eyeing the ones outside my workplace lately....
Yes got the tequila for Kristi.
I wish I could find my Amaranthus pictures..I'll look.
:) ok ... Glad to know it's cool to tell it like it is in here ;) I'm at the office with internet today, so I'll try to check in again before I leave. Up to elbows in background checks and appraisals.. Thank God I'm doing Therapy work tomorrow so much more relaxing(it's so much fun juggling 4 part time jobs!)
~Lisa
You'll have to share with us the story about all of these jobs, Lisa! How do you keep up?
OK, I've just looked at the menu and maybe I need to modify what I'm bringing (unless anyone just demands greek chicken pasta salad). It looks like we're lacking a main dish. Would ya'll want me to cook up a big ole' brisket? Or I do a mean pulled pork.
It also looks like we need someone to bring utensils, plates and paper goods. What about drinks? I can bring a ice chest with bottled water. Anyone up for making a big ole jug of tea? Who's bringing wine for the tasting? I'll bring a couple of bottles. Anyone else? If we do the wine tasting, we need several cheeses, crackers and some apples or pears. Maybe a nice loaf of bread? Panera is right down from me, I can pick up a nice crusty loaf. I thought I'd bring a sage cheese and a nice roquefort.
I will definately have some wine on hand. Most likely Australian Charonnay and a Cabernet and my Home state, Washington- Probably something from Columbia Crest or Covey Run.
Brisket...sounds very good.
I noticed a baked ham on the list too. I'm hoping someone does potato salad.. I miss my Grantmas home made potato salad.