Bath tub empty

Wm or Chiro?
The first one adjusts the wallet, with additional benefits to the garden.
The 2nd just makes the back better for more gardening.
Not a tough decision - plants come first.

Oh a woman after my heart! I am such a sucker! My gunnera is doing pretty good!

He looks like he's cheering you on holding up his little palmate hands!

Such a beautiful tub Gordon. I ran into my good old buddy Jerry of Indoor Sun Shoppe fame, who is now growing Pitcher Plants and selling them wholesale to a few select places. His company is the Courting Frogs Nursery, at courtingfrogs.com. I spent this morning looking at his site and checking out the plants and his words and wanting to go to freddies to get a dish tub and fill it with Saracenias.

Jerry used to be my dealer man in the 80s. Keeping me up to date with cool succulents before the great tradegy. It was cool to see him yesterday at the Conservatory sale. I scored a Cardiocrinum from him, and a rooted epi cutting.

Wells Medina carries his plants, but so does another closer to your house: http://www.oudeanswillowcreeknursery.com/ I would guess that looks like the spot, as his prices seem pretty good.

hey thanks Rob!! I never heard of that nursery, and so close to home too! I'll see wahts at Wells Medina tommorow, and maybe Friday or Sunday check that out. Going to Dragonfly sat too. Tub will be full of bug eating plants soon! I got it all ready now.

Gordon - I will try to be there between 1:30 and 1:45. Trying to wiggle out of a meeting and hope I am successful. I'll look for you. dmail coming your way.

I dropped by Sky today and came home with a venus fly trap and a sundew for a start. Bought a $4 plastic bowl and put a hole in the side for drainage. The two pots are now sitting in it out on the deck.

Rob, are you sure they will be okay out there, it still gets cold at night if they haven't been harden off. Or have they?
Tills

They were raised by Courting Frogs, and both are good to about 20F before problems. So I think no worries.

I've bought from Courting Frogs several times. They have a booth each year at the Tacoma Flower and Garden show at Pt. Defiance park. He would also be a good reference for the type of water to use. I think I remember talking to him one year about the water issue and seem to remember discussing whether I could grow mine in the pond. Don't remember what he said, but fyi, I tried it and they died.

Ouch !!!
There not cheap. Was talking to Heidi about doing one. one pitcher plant small is $17.00

The Sundew was $5, and the VFT was $7.

Check out the link to Oudean's for better prices.

That is a good price, But you live over there, easy for you not so easy for me.
I'm thinking about doing the same, but using a fibreglass swimming pool and then digging it down to ground level.

I buy from Jerry and 7 dollars for a sundew is the same as my prices. The reason the cost is so high for the pitcher plants is that Jerry grows some cool and different ones than the common ones from agristarts that most nurseries carry and the plants from him are 5 to 7 years old. They are slow growing. Some sundews are hardy and some aren't. The same is for the fly traps. I wouldn't plant them in a pond I think that the water level can change too much. I like contained garening like a tub or pot. They are all cool an some are more expensive than other. Heidi

Here's a company that I've seen at local plant sales down here-you can use them as another price reference, and they've got care info, too:
Sarracenia NW
http://cobraplant.com/index.php

Well here is the first planting. I met Kayte at Wells Medina and we had fun looking thru all the plants. She is more of a educated shopper, knowing where and what she is doing. Me, more of the "That's cool! I want that!" kinda shopper. Thanks for putting up with me Kayte! But did score some great plants to get it started. The tall one is Cyperus 'Zero', it is hardy to, you guessed it, zero! Should get 5' tall and fill that hole end of the tub, plus provide the crocs with some shade. Then to the left of that is a gunnera, can't have to many gunneras! Then the first two pitchers, which I have misplaced the tags to. One Kayte called Klingon, because the name was some thing like Turog. I know I will soon be corrected! The other was red something, I only glanced at the tags, the plants were distracting me! And old age made me foget where I laid them down. Dangerous in my house, AD can attest to that fact. Going to get more at Dragonfly on Sat. Get ready Heidi, sormin' Gordon is headed your way! I hope you have some hardy fly traps and sundews.

Wow, Gordon, looking fabulous!!

A close up of the pitchers. The Klingon is the whiter one, the other is red! lmao! How more obvious could that have been!

The cyperus is just so cool. I have seen it on line at www.plantdelights.com, and have been dieing to order it. First time I had seen it here though. I tried it unstaked but just kind of flopped around. I think it is a very stately plant, so it should stand tall.

The one was called 'Tarnok' - sounded like a stern Klingon command to me.
The other, well, scroll throughout this link for images.


http://www.plantarara.com/carnivoren_galerie/sarracenia/sarracenia.htm

Sounds like you both had a great time. The tub is really coming together! Katye what did you buy?

Melianthus, Impatiens omeiensis, 2 Cardiocrinum.
Went back today - keeping the wallet on a diet...
Heucherella 'dayglow pink', a pink & purple Cuphea, 6 Callies, Sunsprite rose, Scabiosa 'Ace of Spades', papaver o. - (forgot name).
Plenty for now - I've been going there at lunch 3 X week. Quite a pot ghetto I have amassed; need to go out & plant them all.

I have one of those, Getto in check and getting bigger. LOL
Not counting GH.

Oh forgot to add the shady ones.

Ahh, the pot ghetto! I feel so much better hearing about the ghettos of others. Yours is coming right along tills!
Now, NWGordon, were you on pain meds when you planted that gunnera in the tub? You will be transplanting that, right? Because that plant needs a lot of nutrients to get to its full size. Lots and lots of nutrients. And you cannot put nutrients into the bog you are growing pitcher plants in. They get all their nutrients from bugs. Regular soil and fertilizer will kill them quicker than you can say 'dead plant'. They evolved in nutrient poor conditions, so their needs and the needs of your other two plants are opposite of one another. Hate to be a spoilsport but dont' want you to lose your plants. Here's a 'care sheet' for Sarracenia. http://cobraplant.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=10

Some people do get away with growing them on in ponds, but generally the pond water has too many nutrients in it for them to last long. I think that's why mine died in the pond. Also because the water has too high a ph. My pond water stays about 8.4 all the time. Not acidic at all.
Thank goodness I collected some rain water yesterday! I'm going to need it come Friday! And one of my Sarrs is getting ready to flower! Yahoo!

He must have been.

But then again, he may have looked at those 3 lonely plants, and thought, hey! There is room for a Gunnera!

Rob, who has a sundew and a VFT in a bowl full of water.

You put to little faith in the gunnera. They grow wild in Chilli, with no helpI. I think it will be fine till fall. But then I will bring ti inside for the winter. Get growing real good in the early spring and then back into the bog with it. Hey tilly, I am going to be on the island sat. Any chance we could run into each other? I could bring the petasites with me.

Yes, they certainly do grow wild in Chile. But not in peat bogs. They grow in nice wet areas full of nice rich nutritious muddy soil. Plenty of water and plenty of nutrients. So I wasn't trying to imply that you would have to baby a gunnera along. I was only trying to make the point that they will need regular soil with nutrients like most other plants, especially big leaved varieties. See what I mean? It's the pitchers that need a bit of babying. Not the gunnera.
anyway, just thought you might want to keep that in mind as the summer progresses. I love the tub. I want to see it full of bog plants just flowering their little hearts out!

Sorry Gordon, as much as I would like to be home, what is the Island you are talking about, but we are not on a Island, we are on the Peninsula of Kitsap County, A very large area, with land leading out, not lock by water. LOL

Gordon, bring your bath tub tomorrow, I think there will be lots of bog plants to buy, Jim

I know what you meant Mellisa! Just joking a bit. And I know I will have to baby the gunnera. It was on a bog list that I think Kahty sent me. It will be fine if he gets breaks out of the sand/peatmoss mix, and get some fert in soil. My plan was once a month taking the gunnera out and giving it a 5 day soil break. Don't know how it will like that, but at $12 what do I have to lose. It's not like it was gas I was waisting!! lol

Oh and Mary is quite the little geography teacher aren't you! lol If I take a ferry it's an island!!! lol Just trying to speed up the process a little. The leaves are getting big, so I want to get it to you soon. What time do you get off tommorow? I could swing it by your work,but it will probably be around 5 when I do.

I just thought I would test you LOL
I will be there 12pm to 9pm that is I think the worst shift in the world, I would rather work graves. at least I would have a life.
Make sure you water it real good, has to set in a hot car. if I leave it in the store a customer might want to take it. lol

Well, after a trip to Dragonfly, and wandering around and looking at her tub, decided to do something a little diffrent. Will still have a littlw bog, but now that is going in a toilet. (pics in a few days.) After the gunnera talk, figured why not leave the gunnera and put some other stuff to go with it.

A better view. Added colocasia'Black Magic', bog primroses, Meliathus major, and papyrus. I know that these plants can't stay in there together for long, maybe a season or two, but sure look good together now!

Love the papyrus and the black elephant ear! I do try to overwinter my bulbs but I don't know why I bother. I get them through the winter, then plant them and they rot. and thats IN the greenhouse! I should just buy new ones every year. Really, I am not good at overwintering things.
Love the melianthus, too. Mine was doing great until the very end, then it just suddenly died on me.
I saw a great little hanging lately that I should have bought: It was a garden fairy and the saying went like this: If you don't kill a few plants, you really are not stretching yourself as a gardener.
I like it. Makes me feel a ton better.

Looking forward, sort of, to seeing the TOILET??? planted with your sarracenias. Please tell me this will not be in front of your house. I fear Laurie would not be able to stamp and approve a toilet in the front yard.

My Melianthus didn't make it either - I was very disappointed.

It's the second one I've lost. Really, sometimes I wonder why I try to grow things that are so marginal. One would think I'm a glutton for punishment.

No, Pix, you're challenging yourself as a gardener. I'm sure Dan Hinkley has killed more than his share of zone-challengers.

Love the toilet idea (I think), Gordon. You are nothing if not creative.

Did I mention that Rach found a cool piece of rusted machinery today that she's going to make into a table. We need to have her post that . . .

Kayte and I got the melianthus at Wells Medina earlier this week. We both agreed that it would have to come in for the winter.I had no problems over wintering my alocasias and colocasias, and it kept me sane thru the 6 month winter we had!!
I need that hanging too! Trying to go from seed to plant big enough for outside has been a challenge this year. Put some out to early, dead. Left the window open over night on a cold night, dead. Got them going outside but got a late frost out of no where, dead. Then the infamous 10" of snow got me on the news, but more dead plants!
But things look good now. Who says you can't have color in a shade garden!

I must confess that Heidi came up with the bathroom theme idea. Gonna find a sink too. Then do a bedroom flower bed, then a kitchen, then a living room. A whole outside house flower garden!