Willmetge,
You can join if you want. How far have you read down the thread? I basically took one choice from all the early participants and ordered them in a bigger size pack to divide by 15. We only have 14 as of right this second.
You don't get a choice on the seeds because I rodered themlast night, but I think most flower gardeners and cottage gardeners and people who grow from seed would be happy. I can tell you some things I ordered, but in *** D-MAIL *** hahaha! Can't let everybody know what's coming! LOL!
Let me know in a dmail and we'll get you squared away.
Suzy
CG Forum STOKE'S SEED SWA-OP
Blue, No I don't disagree with anything you said -- just telling people that on their seed packs I didn't put the "" or the ' to be cutesy --that they meant something.
I once lost a bet I thought I would surely win...the distance between Indianapolis & Baltimore and Baltimore and Maine. I thought surely it was farther from Indianapolis to Baltimore, and it isn't. It might have been a certain spot in Maine, but going by memory, it wasn't even close.
We're gearing up for 3-6inches, but as everyone has already said: better snow than ice!
Suzy
I LOVE the work of Henry Mitchell..His writing is so good.. I've reread passages right after I just read them.. I'll never forget one passage where he complained about having to leave his home and garden during the bloom time of one of his favorite plants.. And he certainly wouldn't schedule speaking engagements during that time! He was very eloquent. If you have some time, check him out.. They have his books at my library.. they may at your as well. :)
Okay.. I know I'm way down here and y'all up there are going to want to tell me I haven't seen anything.. but that late frost last spring tore up all of our hydrangea blooms.. And I had foxgloves bite the dust.. after having made it though the entire winter too.. I guess they took of their coats off for spring and then got stabbed by cold..or it was just their time and I didn't know any better.
Hoping for snow and not ice for y'all up there :)
Susan
Just looked at the weather report. Sounds like the majority of the snow is going to be up near Lake Ontario (which is us..we're just south of Niagara Falls), instead of in the snow belt, which is further down Lake Erie. It's still anybody's guess, though. The snow bands really shift around. We could get a foot or a few inches.
"IT" has just started here within the last hour - we have about 1/4" or so (perhaps more, I'm bad at guessing) of dusting on the ground. If it weren't to be followed by ice I'd say it was a beautiful soft winter snow. I did a little shoving of the stuff to create a path for us to plow later, but I'm the kind of irritating homeowner who prefers to shovel AFTER the ice!
Last spring I learned two things (that being my first winter when I really cared about anything in the yard - I know, long story of condo living), Mother Nature sometimes lets you see the buds, but not the blooms, so you have to learn patience (sigh, an ongoing lesson for me); and, I'm looking for re-blooming iris so if they get nailed in the spring I might yet get to see them in the fall. I was lucky enough to inherit a beautiful yellow that bloomed through our first two light frosts, and am on the hunt for others!
I know what you mean, Rob, how one plant's poison is another plant's nectar. While some plants were obviously unappreciative of what Mother Nature had in store for them last year, the lavender out the back door and the morning glories gobbling the rest of our "real estate" thrived in the drought. Yes, it was still humid, but leaf diseases like the lavender's blight and the MGs' rust were more laid back than usual. To some, that might sound like a pitiful plus, but for me that made up for the other debacles.
Suzy, those notes on germination and culture you include with seeds are most appreciated. I tried to put some of mine in PlantFiles last winter in some cases where I thought PF was a little too vague - how about you? We are all going to be in deep fertilizer if sowing seeds is ever classified along with slot machines as gambling - I can see it now - baggies & tweezers confiscated - having to surreptitiously use grow domes for laundry baskets as cover-up - contraband compost - rofl
The sun is shining here - Mother Nature looking all innocent
We didn't get nearly as much as they were predicting last night. Not so far anyway. There's maybe 2 inches on the ground. It's till snowing lightly but it's going to have to get with it to have much more accumulation.
we must be having the "calm" before the storm ....now it is sunny and nice...but ice is on the way they say...a mess for tonight :(
YUK!! Well, about all you can do is enjoy today and be careful if you go out tomorrow. Mother Nature seems to have a mind of her own! :-)
Well day before yesterday it was 76 here and beautiful! Today we have sleeting rain and an inch of snow and water under the ice on my plants, I'm really sweating my new plants that I planted this year they are under all of that ice and water! It never floods where they are but we have had a lot of rain the last few days making up for the drought in the summer? lol All at once is not a good thing :)
Suzy, you have the snow, Kentucky has the ice and rain and we are in between both and are getting it all lol We are suppose to get 1-3" tonite :)
Lebug it sounds like you are going to get the front that is moving thru this area today and last night. It hasn't been as bad here as they thought it was going to be, but he talked like it may get better organized when it left our area. So be careful if you go out!
Thanks! lol I don't think I'll be going anywhere for sure! I just wish I could help my little plants out there lol I usually take my dad to church but don't think he will be going tomorrow :) We live on a hill and if you can get down it withoug sliding at the stop you're doing something and the getting back up is the hard part trying to stay out of the neighbors yards lol One year I slid into one yard about four times, that was down by the stop lol
The best part of the snow is watching it come down and it has snowed at night and quit by early morning and tonight it's going to snow hope we don't miss that one coming down :)
I hate it because I forgot to get bird food and I was starting to have so many different kinds of birds from feeding them for 7 yrs. here. I just hope they come back once I get the food out there.
I don't think they will go far. Got any old dried up bread slices? You could crumble some up and put on once the snow stops. I've done that before and they usually come clean it all up. Sometimes NOT the birds I want, but at least it keeps them coming.
If I lived on a hill, I think I'd just hunker down and enjoy the snow. And not even try to get out.
If I put bread out there I have all kinds of starlings and blue jays and the other birds don't get to eat, I've tried that before lol
Hopefully you won't get as much as they forcasted and you can get out. I'm still sitting here watching it come down. Keep thinking it's about done, and it will start again!
Were having an incredible much needed long rain today.. I just looked at the radar and most of drought stricken GA is getting wet.. Thank Goodness :)
Susan
This message was edited Dec 15, 2007 6:27 PM
Hooraaay! Congratulations, Susan!
YAY! I was hoping Georgia was going to get lucky and get more than an inch or so. It looks like you guys are really getting nailed - hope you don't have any problems with the winds and such.
Robin
Yes.. I will gladly take whatever we get! The winds haven't been so bad yet.. we will see.. Some trees are so dry (I guess??), they have snapped from winds.. I had a healthy sweet gum just snap in half a few weeks ago.. we couldn't think of any other reason than the drought.
ohhhh goodness.. I spoke too soon.. The winds are here in full force and as I was sitting reading I just heard a huge tree crack and fall.. My whole house shaked when it hit the ground. I will investigate when the sun comes up, but it's either in my yard on my back neighbors.. I hope it's a pine and not one of my hardwoods..
Oh..and I just wanted to add.. I've been compiling my own list of seeds received from the swap with links for info and there are SO many that anyone who did that AND is getting more seeds here..well, Gardening isn't your hobby, it's your obsession!!
Susan
Susan, so sorry about your tree (if it is yours). we were supposed to get 6-8" of snow last night, but so far all we have is sleet. and not a lot of wind.
you're right about the obsession. when we're not gardening, we're here talking about gardening, or planning to garden, or buying seeds (that we probably don't need, many of which we will never plant), or wintersowing seeds, or wishing we were gardening, or in Suzy's case, coming up with the next fascingating swap that no one can resist.
Just checking in as I'm very curious Susan, to find out how that tree did. I'm so happy to hear all it did was shake your house!! Keeping fingers crossed it didn't do any damage to your gardens. We ended up with about 6" (I'm rotten at guessing) - not much of any wind so it's all drifted down and filled in all those little places - even my snow angel. It was 27* an hour ago, but has already gone up to 30*. I think the only thing we're supposed to get that we haven't yet is the wind.
Also, I'm a newbie to seed starting, so I've been lurking in the germination forum, and thought those of you who've not seen this might find it interesting (but then, you'se guys probably know all this stuff....):
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/793714/
Stay warm and safe!
Robin
(edited for typos)
This message was edited Dec 16, 2007 10:26 AM
I'm curious about the tree too. We had an ice storm last year and a bunch of trees around town fell on houses or cars. Hope that wasn't the case with yours.
Suzy,
Surprise me! It sounds like more fun that way! Rachel
I'm wondering about her tree too! lol I hope everything is alright Susan and you aren't out there trying to cut it up in this weather, I remember a year from the ice we had a big old limb fall from an really old tall oak tree and it fell right in the middle of my old fashion lilac and it hasn't been the same since! That was at least three years ago next year after it blooms we are cutting it down to the ground and starting over with it.
Let us know how things went Susan :) Hope it wasn't any of your hardwood trees and hope that crack didn't head for any of your plants or anything else!
DH went to investigate.. It was a dead pine with Ivy growing all the way up the trunk. It crashed through the chain link property fence (not mine) and came within three feet of hitting the next door house. The property is owned by a builder that has let the place go since he bought it 3 years ago until he gets good and ready to come in and take the home down and rebuild a huge new one on the lot and sell. DH said the lot is so overgrown and the tree was so covered with Ivy that even though he was right up on the crashed tree..it took him a minute to follow the trunk from the chain link down through the overgrowth and to the ground. I'll see if I can take a pic later on.
I was just very relived to look out the windows once the sun came up and not see anything down on my property.. or my well or work truck destroyed!! :)
Robin, If I told you about all my seed starting trials since i was a newbie..it would be a book! However, welcome and I did go to your link. I no longer start any of my seeds under lights....Too much trouble and fuss!! They get damping off disease, too leggy if not enough light, need to be watered just right, then hardened off... taking seeds back and forth in and out...they are truely "little babies" in every sense as they need so much TLC and coddling compared to wintersowing...and it crazy making for me to try to get two-three tiney minute seeds in each square..ughhh!! Just thinking about it makes me not like it even more!! I have wintersown them with great success, (there is an entire forum devoted to this method) and this year I will lay down a healthy layer of rich compost where I want to direct sow the vast majority of seeds I have and let them grow in place and I have irrigation in place to keep the seeds damp till germination... direct sowing is what I've figured out is the least amount of work growing seeds.. of course germination rates might be less than lights (if your good at it and know what your doing that is!) or winter sowing, but if you have 100 seeds of a particular plant..it really doesn't matter..unless the birds eat 98 of them :) I want the biggest bang for the least amount of effort and this will be it for me this year. I think everyone that wintersows says they had seeds that never made it out of the containers for having done so many.. and that would include me... So, I'm doing all my work on the front end by cleaning up my beds and putting down black gold, will seed and see what comes up for me :) Also, if your like some of us here, you want to grow one of every single seed you can get you hands on and I would need a full time garden center staff to "properly" grow all the seeds I plan on setting out this year... Even If i wintersowed them.. I'd need quite a bit of help. We all have our own ways of doing things based on our own experience... And if you grow you will certainly get lots of your own experience!
:)
Susan
Robin, I am so glad you found Critterologist's link on germination - that has got to be the best focussed-on-the-subject repository-of many-folks' tips on DG. Rjuddharrison's link on hydrogen peroxide (H202) leads to an incredible universe of gardening information/sensibility - hope y'all pursue it.
Susan, hoping that tree didn't do too much damage - did it leave you some foxgloves?
Suzy, I am mostly self-taught - not much education. Beyond the concept of a name being simultaneously a description and a locus in a system of classification, I know nossink and have no memory of italics or "or's", and I'm sure I don't disagree with you about things taxonomic. I so appreciate your taking on this and so many other endeavors (an intelligent remark that can simultaneously make folks laugh counts as an endeavor in my book) around DG. You've been awfully quiet. Hope the storm came and went benignly.
Simplicity and Obsession certainly make an odd couple, don't they? Suzy, you really started a fascinating thread in more ways than one. Glad to hear all is well with you, Susan.
Ah, sorry, all, was out of town, but for a bit longer than expected. DD#1 ggraduated from college, then we had a dinner with her boyfirend and his family that lasted too late, so we camped over. Then they said to stay off the streets until they could get them cleared, so we did!
I only actually saw one thing directed to me, from LeBug, and it looks like we only got snow, and only 4 or 5 inches.
No rain, no ice, and as far as I can see, no wind, although the weatherman was having a conniption that the 40 mph winds were going to wreak havoc on the snow the snow plows removed and deposit it back in the streets.
I wish I had some chicken noodle soup in the house! Or somehting to make it with, like a chicken carcass. LOL!
We didn't get much snow just a dusting but the street in front of the house was a solid sheet of ice this morning and the wind is going crazy out there! lol It's 20 out right now :( I've yet to see the pretty snow flakes coming down, the only good thing about snow to me, it sneaks in while we are a sleep :)
Susan, I'm glad it wasn't your property that tree fell on and I'm sure the tree was weakened by that ivy all over it that stuff kills a tree on it's own not to mention the ice and wind to knock it over!
One of the few things I remember from the MG class (OK, so the whole taxonomy thing hit when I had a full head) was in the difference in naming varieties vs. cultivars. Namely, varieties are those "hybrids" that occur naturally, and cultivars are the ones created by our intervention. The way you can tell the difference is in those single quotes - with them, the name indicates a cultivar, without them it's nature-made.
Susan, great news that it missed your place! Hope DH doesn't hurt himself if he decides to do any more "investigating" ;-> And I hear ya with the seed starting! I know I don't have the time and patience to tend to a whole "nursery" of babies, and will definitely be doing some winter sowing, but I'm going to revamp my front yard this year and since my sis has some exp. starting her own seeds I figured what the heck? Told her about it last night - she's already figuring out where to put the racks, where she's going to put her portion, the whole scoop. I've not mentioned baking the starting medium yet - I wanted to get a new microwave (we have a tiny kitchen - tiny microwave) and figured I could put it out in her pool house and we could nuke the hooey out of the medium. And, she's filling in her pool and turning it into a koi pond and additional garden area, so that pool house is going to come in very handy as our new "gardening room" - LOL!
I'm still reading like a demon - had never heard about using chamomile tea, much less a dilute of hydrogen peroxide to avoid damping off! So much to learn, so little time!!
Congratulations Suzy.. I bet thats a proud moment when your little girl graduates from College :)... The only thing better than having chicken noodle soup right now would be to have someone make it for me :)!! .. But truth be told.. i have a pressure cooker and could have that on the table in a few if I wanted to :) Maybe I will....
Yes.. I was glad it didn't hit my house too!
Robin, I went and got a microwave of craigslist just for soil and put it in the garage. Thank goodness my husband is fine with these crazy concepts.. Anyway... I nuked for 10-15 minutes sometimes till there was steam and it was hot hot hot and STILL had weed seeds germinate in my wintersown containers!! Soo.. word of caution! Good luck with your seed starting :)
Susan
I don't nuke for wintersowing, because I haven't seen any damping-off fungus occur out there. But that fungus sure has enjoyed my seed-growing efforts indoors, so that's when I get out the ol' nukeroo.
... Oh no need to nuke for wintersowing other than to kill weed seeds..and it still didn't do that for me ??
yeah - there's a great discussion I'm lurking on - they have discussed nuking in a pan, nuking in a bag, cooking in a roaster in the oven, putting it in one of those turkey cooking bags and cooking in the oven (I like that idea), and maybe a couple other things I can't remember!! Then, they quickly went into chamomile tea, hydrogen peroxide - and I'm still re-reading!! (I had thought I was going to study for certification through the Indianan Nursery & Landscape Assoc. this winter, I had no idea I would be studying DG too!)
Yup. I had heard that damping-off fungus was not a problem with wintersown seeds, and that was the case for me last winter.
But with regard to weed seeds in compost, I thought you were not supposed to build a compost pile in the first place with anything weedy that had gone to seed. (Although conversely, an old practice has been to leave a pumpkin or a few tomatos out in strategic places over winter, where they will germinate. I can't explain it, but white-flowered, night-blooming gourds have self-sown in my garden, as have lettuce and mustard. I always had a great crop of cherry tomatos come back spring after spring in one spot until I got it into my head to rotate vegies)
Maybe your Black Gold will be fluffy enough that the weeds will come up easily.
In MG classes they said you can put nearly anything (well, not the proteins, etc.) in your compost - as long as it gets hot enough it "should" kill off many of the seeds that may end up in there, even some pathogens (quotes are mine). I'm very lucky, in that we inherited an old compost pile behind our garage when we bought. I think it was started years ago, and they probably did it right at first, but I know the woman who sold to us (lived here 2 years) didn't know anything about gardening. I had to move it to put up my little greenhouse, and it's got some real nice stuff in it. So I'm using that while my other stuff is cooking.
Actually, for the winter-sowing devotees, you might enjoy this short thread from Paracelsus - it's a further refinement of the technique.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/566356/
ooooooo - very neat link, thank you!! (I'm more and more grateful I ordered that Nursery certification on CD - LOL - I can read it and DG without leaving my laptop...now for a longer battery...)
Hi kids -- a little update:
Bluespiral and LeBug, I received your check, thanks! Cat64129, YOU TURKEY! LOL You didn't have to send that.
All -- Today marked kind of a cut off. Maybe. Today was the last day the seeds could have been delivered for me to do a little work on them before Christmas. DD#2 whose bedroom I am using for the project has been in the Biloxi, MS innercity helping Katrina victims get their houses and property cleaned up. Yesterday she was painting, the day before she was hauling trash. How come she doesn't work like that here? LOL!
Unless something unusual happens, I have to put the project away until the 26th.
The seed packs & paper inserts and the numbers of seeds I need for each pack have all been tallied, and I am ready to go -- I just need the seeds LOL!
Suzy