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

OMG WeeNel, you are the winner of the Plantaholic hall of fame! Running off the police is just too funny. It is OK if the burgler climbs through the window at 3:00 in the morning so long as he does not trample in the flower bed LOL

Absolutely tetleytuna . . . WeeNel takes the prize!

WeeNel, I agree, you are the #1 Plantahaolic of this Thread!!!! Ta Da da daaaaaa


I think one year I made my neighbors 'miffed' because at Halloween I strung yellow "do not cross" plastic from one shrub to the next, from the street to the house. They asked why, and I told them I didn't want kids running all over my new flowerbeds!!!

You just gotta do what ya gotta do~!

You might be a plantaholic when your pockets are full of seeds, stop to get something to eat and you leave a trail of seeds and nuts on the ground behind you as they fall out of your overbulging pockets because you just had to get one more seed and one more seed and one more seed..... and you didn't want to take a chance on the heat of the car to damage them.

You might be a plantahoplic when you no longer get invited to parties or functions because yoru whole conversation revolves around the newst batch of cow and horse manure ya got and how ya gonna be curing it while standing at the buffet table.

You might be a plantaholic when every able space in your house is covered with garden books, plants, seedlings or seeds and the kitchen floor has as much dirt on it as your garden bed and the space in your fridge as dribbled down to a quart of milk a pack of cheese and lunch meat cuz ya need room for your seed boxes and seedling trays getting cold chills.

You might be a plantaholic when ya can't get by more than a few hours ata time and have to be right back on the puter and huntign through the forums to see what plant somebody talking about or showing that wil become your next " I just gotta have it" then spending hours chatting on messengers enabling your friends that they need this plant too.

You may be a plantaholic when your computer automatically hits the " bid now" button without you having to do it.

You may be a plantaholic when your highs and lows for the day revolve around whether there gonna be a bubbler in the mail or not and anxiety and panic attacks occur becaus e the seed or plants you ordered did not arriv e that day.

You might be a plantaholic when a day spent playing in the dirt is more satifying than a bubble bath.

Hey Starlight, I think I met my twin in you, but as for the burglars, well I dont have plants on my window ledges, reason, "what if someone came into the house via the window" but I do have really prickly plants outside, UNDER the windows, so if someone really wants to scratch his privates on these plants trying to get into the house that way, just bring it on, BUT stick to the paths or the driveway as they go for medical assistance, Heeeeee, Heeeeee, Heeeeee. Happy Plant Hunting guy's, WeeNel.

I think Starlight pretty much summed it up. I just do not understand the strange looks I get and the sly edging away of people when I talk about the wonderful bags of poop I have stashed in various places and various states of "aging like a fine wine"------------

I went down the road and offered to scrape the floor of a neighbor's hen house. Tee he. He let me although he did raise an eyebrow when I first asked to scrape his hen house floor. I got a good haul that time because it was pretty deep in there. I came home with 4 large garbage bags full of chicken poop and 4 cartons of fresh eggs. Those eggs were so pretty. He gives me a carton or two of eggs to take home every time I clean out his hen house. I am also allowed to go there to get chicken poop even when he's not there. Life is good when one gets free chicken poop and free eggs!

My kitchen refrigerator was so full of seeds being cold stratified that my husband walked over to it once and told me that he was going to tell me in on a secret. I waited for him to speak and was getting all excited and all he said was that refrigerators were for food. I swear I was convinced there was something wrong with that man I married until a brand new super sized refrigerator for our garage was delivered a few days later. And it wasn't even my birthday or anything.

Oh my goodness... the secret to a new frig is to fill the existing one with seeds???? Ooooooooooooooo I can do that!!! LOL Lauren, if I didn't know you better, I'd have said you were being manipulative when there was no food in there! I know your husband is wonderful from the kind things you have said about him!

Yes, most definitely. Fill your frig with seeds or plants that need a dormancy and starve out your husband.

Mine's a good sport and very considerate. Thank goodness the way to his heart is through his stomach though or I wouldn't have that frig out in the garage. I have to let you in on a secret> I've got another frig out there from a neighbor who owns a bunch of apartment buildings. One of his tenants moved out and took all the innards to the frig that had just been bought the year before. He was hot so he kept their deposit and I got the frig. I have no need for shelves or drawers or any of that for a frig to cold stratify seed or to provide a dormancy for fussier temperate plants and that frig works as if it was brand new so now we can put some pop in the other frig that does have shelves and such.

Lord, I never knew anyone that got so excited about a fridge, life is so sheltered for some folks, they dont know what they are missing eh, in my climate, I dont need the fridge, it is cold enough in the autumn/winter to freeze the three brass balls that hang from a Pawn shop, so I guess my husband has something to be thankful for when he complains about my plants taking over the conservatory, the greenhouse, the cold frame, the kitchen and the patio's around the house, I still dont tell him that under the bed I have bulbs growing in pots in the dark, under our bed, but then he never does the cleaning, so maybe I will not say why there is a watering can in the en-suit, Oh
paleeeeeeese, I could easy find a good reason for that item of garden equipment beside the shower, phewwwwww. WeeNel.

You use the watering can to clean the shower? Rinse your hair? Gee - finding a good reason might be challenging.

I assume that a full size fridge is used to stratify seeds planted in dirt? My first thought was the fridge was filled with seed packets! Then when you started writing about a second fridge - well, my first thought was - this dg member gives a whole new definition to obsession if they have filled TWO full-sized fridges with packages of seeds lol.

I most certainly do use watering cans to rinse down the tile on the walls around our bathtubs and they work great rinsing down tile shower walls too!

In all fairness, the frig my husband bought is full sized and is only a refrigerator and we can use it in the summer for pop so the kids don't have to keep running in and out of the house. It's great for barbecues too as we can load it up with beverages the week before- much nicer than the old ball and claw hip tub we used to fill with ice that is on the side of the house that we previously used for parties and get togethers. The frig I was given from my neighbor is part frig and the upper portion is a freezer. I use the freezer portion for ice cream in the summer for kids as well as to stash all our home made suet for the birds. Much easier making batches of the suet assembly line style as opposed to a few cakes at a time if you have a place to store it. I was really lucky to get that free frig from the neighbor. He told me that he gets one idiot a year who is a loser and trashes an apartment so I can count on a constant supply of refrigerators for life. The one I have from him is now 2 years old so I don't need another one but... a girlfriend of mine got one from him for her "obsession" and all she had to do was go and pick it up. Saves him time and expense getting rid of them so it's a win win situation. It was another one that was only a year old that was trashed with all the innards removed. I scratch my head over why a tenant would remove shelves, drawers, and grates of a brand new frig but some do.

Generally I use a soil-less or rather a non-dirt medium for starting seeds.

I use rubbermaid and sterlite food storage containers and stack them up in the frig without the grates. It's a lot easier if you use the same brands and sizes because they fit in and stack well. That frig has the fussier seeds that I want to exercise control over. For the most part, I wintersow and toss whole trays of seed in medium out in the snow or set them up in little soldier rows out in my screened in porch. That works quite well for most of what I want to grow from seed. As far as the plants that need a dormancy, I bareroot those, sprinkle their roots with sulfur, wrap the roots in LFS, wrap cellophane around the root/sulfur/LFS deal, then plop them in 3 gallon zip lock baggies and toss them in the other frig. When I want to wake them up from their nappie nap, I pull them out and re-pot them then stick them in the equivalent of a large cold frame. The two refrigerators are maintained at different temperatures (very important) so that I can stash some tissue cultures in the doors of the frig that has the bare rooted plants.

My friends who garden tell me there's absolutely nothing wrong with me or any of the other people posting here. They say we all sound perfectly normal.

"They say we all sound perfectly normal." That's comforting! LOL

Ya, I printed off what some of us wrote from this thread as well as from other threads when I went out to breakfast and everyone was in agreement, we all sounded perfectly normal to them. Even the people at the next table thought everything we did sounded kosher. We go to a restaurant where people listen to conversations at other tables and can't resist chiming in from time to time. Sort of a local dive but we like it.

Our stories were motivational and prompted my one girlfriend to ask for a cutting from a plant in one of the decorative planters at the restaurant. I'd been telling her to just ask for a lousy cutting of what ever she wanted for years but that friend is very timid. They told her sure, go ahead. I guess the plants are from some sort of a rental place and they get swapped out when they start looking ratty so they told us to take what we wanted. The butter knives we had didn't work so well getting her cuttings so they got us scissors. Wasn't that nice! And those nice people who were sitting at the booth right in front of the planter didn't mind scooching over in the least so that she could get easier access to the plant either. I don't even know what she got but she was pleased as punch to have her cutting and wrapped it in a wet napkin then slipped it in one of those little square take home styrofoam containers that they gave her for her treasure.

I've taken cuttings of shrubs on the way out of some restaurants. I asked and they told me to go for it so I did (I always have a little pocket knife and plastic baggies in my purse for when opportunity knocks). Who wants to go out to eat with us?

I love your thread! My daughter got upset with me the other day for literally stopping to smell the roses. She said you shouldn't do it in traffic while you're driving! I'm always "eyeballing" plants while driving down the road. I make remarks as I'm rubbernecking; such as; look at that gorgeous shrub! Sometimes, I'll circle back to get a better look. One day while I was driving, my daughter suddenly said "Mom, I love you." Then, she explained how I'm the only person that she knows who can get so excited over a plant. Security calls my department at work (I'm not alone), when the rental plants are being given away. I've even named the plants sitting around our office.

Am I normal?

greenbrain, you sound perfectly wonderful to me!

Oh my!!! We have opened up a whole new avenue for plant-a-holics! I can see it now, one of you that are REALLY caught up in this addiction is going to be applying for EMPLOYMENT at the plant rental place!

Stole all the wood my dh was going to use for a gate and built 3 Trellises. I AM ashamed,but it didn't stop me:(, after all, the Clematis,Wisteria and whatever that other plant is, all know my name.

Pictures Posyblossom? did you wing it, or did you have a pattern?

I winged it and I just bought a Canon Digital Camera today.You poor people! Once I figure out how to use the darn thing,I will pic everyone to death;))))

Oh oh oh! I've just been learning how to use my Canon PowerShot. I might be able to help you if that's the camera you bought.

Yahoo Equil,it's a PowerShot SX100IS,10X,8.0 mega pixels.Any tips will be helpful.

So far I took a pic of my foot,DH nose, and I have no idea what that other pic is.I am about to load the Solution Disk right now.

Ok, I've got a different PowerShot but first off ditch that manual that was in the box. The print is for 5 year olds with perfect vision. Go get a manual online that gives you a quick start that you can save to your desk top then go get the full version online manual that you can enlarge the print on and save that to your desk top. Wait till you see what we are supposed to be able to do with these cameras.

We've got white balance but I haven't figured it out yet.

These PowerShots have great macro and super macro abilities. Here's a photo I took late this afternoon on the regular macro setting which you get into by rotating your dial to automatic then pressing the flower button until it appears at the top of your LCD display-

WOW! What a shot!!! Oboy!Oboy!Oboy! I hope I can do that.If I don't leave here soon, I won't even get the Solution Disk installed:( But this thread is sooooooooooooooo entertaining.)

I need a camera. How expensive are those and are they readily available?

Walmart had one a lot cheaper than this one,but I'm not sure what model Power Shot it was. The one I bought cost more because it has 10X zoom. I got this at Staples this afternoon for $300 on sale, and $28 for the 1G memory card. The usb cable came with it and an audio cable. It will do video as well as photo. I wish I wasn't such a slow learner,but I am having fun with it anyhow.

There is a thread on cameras somewhere here and the folks on that thread seem pretty smart about what to buy at what price.

They mentioned EBay and other places on the Internet with decent prices.

Thanks for the info. I will try to find that thread on cameras and see what they recommend.

Equil, that is a great shot! What plant? I like the foliage and the berries. Tree or shrub?

The PowerShot I have is last year's model and it was around $450. The other camera I was looking at was the Nikon D50 at the time. I think I ultimately chose the PowerShot because I knew somebody who had one and figured I'd be able to get help. My friend's PowerShot got stolen and he ended up buying a different camera so I was on my own and didn't do too well until I got help recently from a man here named GardenGuyKin. There are new models out this year of the Canon I have. I think this year's model is the PowerShot S5 IS and it's about the same price as last year's model. From looking at the two cameras, I see little difference so you might as well try to pick up the PowerShot S3 IS which I'm seeing out there new for around $300. The Nikon that replaced last year's D50 is the D80 and it's about the same price as last year's model which was around $650. Personally, I think either the Canon or the Nikon models mentioned above would work for you but the Canon is a lot cheaper.

Oops, typing while greenbrain was typing. Tree, some where around 10' tall. There were a few of these trees around and although they are pretty, the berries are still on the tree which means the birds don't particularly care for them. I think it might be a Malus of some sort. Possibly a cultivar of M. coronaria? The bark seems to match the descriptions and the leaves seem to fit a herbarium specimen I found online for M. bracteata which is a synonym but still there is something not quite right but maybe that's because there's not a lot of info on the net available. Somebody else might know as that's just a guess I have based on other leaves on the tree.

editing to add this about the identification of the tree for greenbrain-
Somebody who knows trees really well suggested this- "Your tree looks like a Hawthorn from the serrated leaves and smaller fruits - Washington cultivar like Winter King or something." I'm not sold on it being a Washington cultivar such as Winter King because those are in the 25'+ range in height but I'm not sold on it being Malus right about now either even though the leaves appear to be a good match to this-
http://www.herbarium.unc.edu/images/TypeImages/Malus_bracteata_079663.jpg
Guess we have to wait until spring to figure out what the tree is-
http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/malioe01.htm

This message was edited Nov 8, 2007 9:20 AM

Don't forget you have the super macro on that Canon as well...put it on "P" mode then hold the macro button on left side of lens till you hear it beep. This bloom was part of a cluster of them that equaled the size of a quarter.

Here's the cluster

Chantell, what camera is that exactly?

Wow, those are great close up shots, I'm jealous. I may just have to read my camera directions.

Chantell's is the same PowerShot as mine although I'm not as good as her at using mine.

Excellent photos Chantell. I still have difficulty figuring out how to get the cameral into super macro and I still haven't figured out white balance.

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrcathy4, I can't get the pics of the trellises to download:((( I don't see the problem. The kb isn't more than 2.9 on most of them.

chantall, did you enter that photo in the contest? I would vote for it!

Lauren - I promise you it's not hard (wish I had the camera with me). Just put it on that "P" setting...then push the "flower" button to left side of lens. Try this link http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=144&modelid=13077#SupportDetailAct
Which is the support and service tab on the Power Shot S3 IS page...then type in How to find Macro Mode (or something along those lines)
Jill - it's the camera I had with me at your house - taking pics. I think Canon has the S5 IS out now ( I say with drool coming down the corners of my mouth...LOL)
FlowrLady - thanks for your sweet words...however, as in the past, time escapes me and I forget to enter anything. Maybe next year. :)


This message was edited Nov 8, 2007 11:29 AM

cathy4, I think I might finally be getting the hang of this. Here is a pic of one of the trellises. It's higher than I want and still needs work done. I have it high to block an annoying light from the neighbor in back of us.