12th Step Recovery Program for plantaholics. You might be ..

tetley, you be nice now, and they'll probably give you ALL of the seeds!

It is so lovely to be around others with the same -oholic, who understand and think I'm normal. I really don't want to be cured. I'm sitting here smiling with dirt under my fingernails, shoes with mud on them just outside the door & seed pods stuck to my shirt, Cathy

" I really don't want to be cured." Yep... this thread is about discovery!! I dont' think any of us want to be CURED!!!! LOL

Aaaaahhhhhh, Cathy! Sounds like heaven :)

I thought of another one: You might be a NEW plantaholic if your knives and spoons are just as likely to be found in the garden as in the kitchen drawer. I've misplaced 2 trowels this year already.

You might be a plantaholic if you BUY plastic knifes just so you can mark where your perennials will emerge next spring.


Last fall, I marked all my perennials - and the 200 daffodils I planted this way - the neighbours got quite a hoot out of my white plastic flatwear "growing" in the garden :-)

You might be a plantaholic if you carry a shovel, baggies and a permanent marker in your vehicle, 'just in case,'

You might be a plantaholic if the cleaning crew where you work knows not to throw out the coffee grounds, you'll be around to collect them.

You might be a plantaholic if you let your kids have a pet bunny because bunnies produce great fertilizer.

You mean a shovel and baggies are not standard equipment like the spare tire?? At least that is what I told hubby when he asked. The shovel to dig you out if you get stuck and the (50 gallon trash) baggies to protect your clothes (or plant roots).

Ditto, tetley.

Or, how about:

You know you're a plantaholic when you're planning a trip and you check 'Go Gardening' before you leave, just to see if there are any good nursuries in the area.

dawn, that is funny, I check botanical gardens.

You know you are a plantaholic and hooked on DG's when you click the link and the entire screen is filled with threads you are watching. I've discovered I talk too much, color me red faced.

Ohhhhhhhhhh Cathy! I'm glad I'm not alone there with a MILE of threads. I KNOW part of the problem. I have only lived here a year, I have worked odd hours at the clinic so I don't get to socialize with others. My husband works long hours AND goes to school, so I'm alone a lot. I have been so busy with getting readys for exams and being out of town frequently to see my family (300 miles away), that I have not made FRIENDS here locally! So.... I have spent more time than "normal" on DG, I love it here.

psych, as soon as I saw your first post, I knew we were "kindred spirits", and I've loved this thread. Consider me a friend please? I'm alone all day, too, and can only work about 20 minutes of every hour. Guess what I do the other 40 minutes?? Grinning, C

This is such a neat thread... we need to put a 'sticky' on it.

I just found this thread under Latest Posts and I love it!

You might be a plantaholic if the ladies at your village post office have a wonderful time trying to figure out who Dave in Texas might be when the box of tshirts you ordered come in....and all of their theories involve gardening :-)

LOL Wouldn't you think that in a very small village a married woman who travels for business that receives a package from an unknown man in another country might be the object of a little more juicy gossip than that?

cathy4, yes, botanical gardens too!

Oh Ginny!!! They know you too well and you must live a life about the "juicy gossip" threshold! Good for you!!! LOL..

(giggle) My DH was actually disappointed that it didn't get a good story or two going - he loooooooves to stir the pot!

we could all send you boxes with men's names on the return address & smelling of aftershave, or from places like victoria's secret, i love a good prank. I spent a few minutes laughing today while moving condoms to the diaper isle and diapers to the condom isle at Target, right after visiting the Gardening clearance, naturally.

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! I love your style :-)

cathy, you're a bad girl! I love it :)

I was walking down at the track at my son's school, he was riding his bike. I found a plastic baggie on the ground and he asked me what I was doing. I said "picking up trash". When we got home, he told me "next time we walk at the school, you need to take a plastic bag because your'e helping God clean" LOL Kids are so innocent! ;)

I have found a new home here with such understanding souls. We do share similar habits don't we. I just love it when I discover another person who doesn't think it's weird that I always have in my vehicle a hand pruner, garden knife thingie, collapsible bucket (2 sizes), shovel and couple of big plastic storage totes. You just never know when you might need them, and mine have come in handy several times.

'Be prepared' is not just for boy scouts.

You might be a plantaholic if your husband tells you you're done buying plants online because you spent more money on plants in March than on food.

anonymous of course....

Wow! I never had enough disposable income to do that! Must be nice :-) I bet your gardens are beautiful. Your DH should be grateful for the beauty you create :-)

Ahhh this thread just gets better and better....I love it...and ummm, yeah...thought you were SUPPOSE to carry little baggies and a sharpie....at least.

You might be a Plantaholic when your Sheltie totally ruins a brand new set of blinds and all you can think is "WOW....look at all the plant markers I can make now!!!!!"

you know your a plantaholic when you buy your daughter a lovely cherry tree as a gift for her new apartment that has no veranda and you have to grow it for her to enjoy on her rare visits home.
Please God, forgive me for I have sinned she smiles,

you know how bad your addiction is when you visit a friend in hospital and you go around all the beds snipping bits off the flowers beside each bed,

your addiction is getting worse when you get a call from the mother of your child's best friend, to say Rosemary is sick and has spots, and you tell her to spray with a fungicide and give a feed.

and you need help badly when you attend a funeral and you want to see the flowers before they get ruined because it is rainning.

going for that help someday. WeeNel.

WeeNel, I'm laughing out loud here, the plants I bought for my daughters new house are looking really nice in my garden. Cathy

Thanks WeeNel, I thought I had it bad . . . . but compared to some, I guess I am almost normal lol

What a fun thread!

You might be a plantaholic if...

A month ago, you told your spouse that you didn't think you'd order many bulbs this fall, certainly not 1000 like you've done the last couple of years. After all, the beds where you've been planting bulbs are pretty well filled with blooms in the spring, and besides you've got way too many potted perennials that need to be planted out now that the heat of summer is past.

Then it occurs to you that there's an area where you've been planting shrubs... it became difficult for DH to mow around so many shrubs, so you killed off the grass... you were thinking of mulching all around the shrubs to make it look like a nice landscape border, but you realized that you just couldn't put mulch down without planting some spring flowering bulbs first!

And now... there are two big boxes of bulbs in the front hall. Some are destined for friend's gardens (the "great deal" was too good to keep to yourself), but you are now committed to planting 200 daffodils, 100 mini daffs, 300 Muscari latifolium, 100 Anemone blanda, and 800 Crocus. In your defense, you keep repeating, "but most of those are small bulbs, so they hardly count!"

I hope everybody following this thread read Jeremy's article yesterday... http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/200/

bulbs. oh gosh. Last year i planted 1800 bulbs and thought this year that i would just buy a few more that I didn't get enough of last year. mainly daffodils and lilies. But my bulb order from john scheepers finally totalled 3,055 bulbs! that was after i managed to eliminate several hundreds from my list. then i went to "the Grass Pad" to get some grass seed to plant over the bulbs. I didn't know that they had such a selection and good prices on bulbs. So i came out with 210 tulips. It took me a few days to get them all planted. and sunday i was finally all through. was tempted to go back to grass pad, but managed to restrain myself. now today i am a little more rested and am seriously thinking about going back to browse. the problem is that if you don't get all the bulbs planted this year i have to wait a whole year! I need to be bulbed out i think. I don't want to go through the year thinking about what i should have planted.I've found that it is just too overwhelming to plan. I just have to sort, start the tiller and start tilling and planting, tilling and planting.does this happen to anyone else?too overwhelmed to plan the details?

What????? Man, I feel blessed to plant 100 bulbs! but 3000 plus! Wow - please, please take pictures in the spring and share with us :-)

How to Tell if You Are a Plantaholic? (answer all questions truthfully)

Have you ever pondered tearing down a sizeable detached structure (garage, shed, carport) to gain more planting space? To create more room for sun-loving plants?

Have you ever erected a structure to create more room for shade-loving plants?

Do you turn up your nose at store-bought trellises, because they're not substantial enough -or- have you ever erected a mortared wall just to have a good backdrop for your favorite vine?

Pick one, and only one, from each of the following:

- Pets or plants?

- Plants or relatives?

- Friends or plants?

- Coworkers or plants?

- Other peoples children or plants?

- Plants or your children?

- Your significant other, or plants?

What concerns you more, blood, or sap?

Have you ever had a nightmare involving a plant parasite? Infecting you?

When you dream, what interests you more, the unicorn walking across the lawn towards you, or the foot-wide blue roses growing in the border?

Which fills you with more anticipation, your 25th wedding anniversary, or the rare hoya you bought on ebay blooming?

In order, rank your proudest life achievement:

- Sending both kids to college

- Propagating that extra-picky gesneriad everyone else seems to have a problem with

- Paying off your mortgage

- Being invited to join the local Lions club

- Being elected president of your local gardening club

- Being picked as a showcase garden in the coming year's tour of gardens

- Going back to school to complete your degree

- Posting photos of your new super-sized greenhouse filled with plants on DG

How many rooms in your home have your plants? In your relatives homes? In your friends homes? Businesses?

Besides yours, how many yards do you landscape? For other peoples yards, do they buy the plants, or do you?

How many "starts" is it acceptable to take from a visit to the local arboretum?

What concerns you more, deforestation in the Pacific Northwest, or missing the latest "dead-tree" catalog from your favorite bulb store?

At how many online nurseries are you a registered customer (circle one):

- None. I don't trust those online businesses.

- 1-3. I ordered my first packet of seeds last spring. My grandkids helped me.

- 4-6. I have a few favorite places I've learned to order from.

- 7-9. I am pretty handy with my pc. I order online regularly.

- 10-20. I have a list of favorite nurseries, and frequently get referral plants for other friends' first time orders.

- ALL OF THEM. After completing the internet classes so I could use my PC most effectively, I registered as a Fed Ex drop point to save on shipping and bought a new maxed out quad core system so I could simultaneously run every auction tool bar, hang in every internet plant chat room, maintain my DG trade list in realtime, and keep Outlook open for the latest emailed specials from my suppliers in southeast Asia.

How much do your credit card payments jump each planting season?

Do you have any credit cards just for plant purchases?

Have you ever considered rewriting your mortgage to cover plant debts?

True or false:

- I cry every time Audrey II dies in Little Shop of Horrors.

- African violets are cuter than puppies, kittens, or babies.

- I liked my prom date's corsage more than I liked her / him.

- Plants should have constitutional rights.

- I don't just talk to my plants, I counsel them. Sometimes they counsel me back.

- Pollenation talk makes me blush.

- I arrange dates for plants I am pollenating. This includes lighting candles and playing romantic music.

- I have posted more pictures of my garden online than pictures of my kids or my grandkids.

:)

-Joe

This message was edited Nov 23, 2007 10:19 PM

Joe, thank you for making me feel so good about myself, you are a plantaholic extraordinaire!

Not all of those questions pertain to me, but all of them have a basis in truth. :) My garage takes up too much planting space in my tiny yard. My best microclimates are covered in concrete. I can't stand flimsy store-bought trellises. I prefer plants to many people. I have plants in four homes and one local business. I do help others with landscaping, and have thought about purchasing plants for those projects. The highlight of my gardening career so far has been an invite to discuss online research and shopping in front of the local garden club. I spend too much on my garden every year. In a wild setting I'd trip over a rattlesnake in my hurry to look at a rare lily. :)

Fun topic. :)

-Joe

yes thanks joe i feel better already! I just came back from grass pad with 534 new bulbs.
I found a place in the barnyard to plant them. All i have out there is grass, some wild trees and 7 roses i planted out there this spring. a bunch of little tree seedlings have started in the burned-out area where i burned all my prunings and dead branches this spring, so i think i'll just pop the bulbs around them. voila, instant flower bed! lol. i guess it gives a new perspective on "naturalizing". I love it when mother nature helps me out a little.

Joe, did you think all those up by yourself? You've made quite a contribution to this thread. Isn't this thread neat??

Critterologist, I love Jeremy's article! :)

I can relate to the insanity that comes over one at end of season "sales."

My reasoning goes something like this:

"I know I don't *need* six clematis, but they're only two dollars each, and so HEALTHY. And I have more than enough beebalm, but that monarda sitting over there looked lonely. Look at that lovely pampas grass. 75% off?! Then that means this lime mint is free! You mean I got all of this for fifteen dollars? Let me have two of those $5.00 hanging baskets."

The next day I'm back ...

"You still have all of those lovely lavenders. I always wanted a long driveway lined with lavender. I don't have a long driveway, but I do have a few empty spots in my back beds. Oh hey, that coneflower is a new variety I jsut read about on DG. Seventy five cents a plant marked down from $2.50 each? Oooh, that ice plant would look great along my walkway, and it's only half a dollar a plant."

Then I start buying for friends:

"You know, my neighbor really liked those scented stocks I bought for her. $5.00 for that whole flat? Sold. Oh, you have extra nicotiana? My step mom loves those. That flat is $5.00 too? Throw in the ice plants for free?"

It's a good deal, but if you have nowhere left to plant things ...

I have thought of planting my roof, http://www.greenroofs.com/ .

:)

Flowerlady, I get going with stream of consciousness and the darnedest things come out.

-Joe

P.S. I stay away from nursery dumpsters. I know, I know, there are homeless plants there crying out for love, but I want to live in my home *with* my plants, not live outside and visit them when they decide to let me in the house.

This message was edited Oct 29, 2007 10:21 PM

"It's a good deal, but if you have nowhere left to plant things ...:

Joe, that's exactly the place I'm in. I've even quit going to nurseries very often now because my plantaholicism makes me not able to say NO, and I don't have any more places... It's a very sad, poor place to be. It was great six years ago when I had a brand new never landscaped yard with sod that was easy to lift because it was new. I went crazy then. But now I'm unhappily going through withdrawals... have been for over a year now... and it's true, I wish and hope for my next fix!