Shirley and Gita, please take some of Critters plants or we have to get all this back in the car :)
Becky's Spring Swap, follow-up thread
The grand entrance of HAPPY! As usual late, but much better than never ^_^
This message was edited May 30, 2008 1:51 PM
Happy, trying to catch up on swapping. And on the left is Shirley. I was so glad to finally meet you. Really enjoyed talking with you and if I get down to see the farm where they relocated the Enchanted Forest stuff, maybe we can meet up.
And here’s my booty, missing a few things that I put in the shade and forgot to put in the picture like the EE I got from Chantell.
Missed you Wrightie :( I know it wasn’t your fault because of the flat tire, but now I’m craving Brie en Brioche. It sounded so good. And missed everyone else who couldn't make it.
Bobbie
great pics Bobbie!
i completely forgot a camera......thanks for the kind words....sometimes it's hard to step away and notice the good regarding behavior
funny words on the way home....at least i had to laugh
cecillia, my younger daughter, had to go to the bathroom so i went in with her
i heard her say "oh, no".....i thought it was because we needed to do a quick wipe on the seat and as i turned to look at her she says "i dropped my gum (out of her mouth)" as her hand is reaching into the toilet to get it!!!!!!!
never thought i'd have to say "keep your hand out of the toilet (i had said that before!) and never put anything that's been in the toilet in your mouth!!!!!!!!
i'm so glad i was close by and didn't have to reach far to grab that little arm :-)
LOL - your kids were great :-)
Great pics of everyone - I sure enjoyed having "y'all over for a bite to eat and a plant swap or two" :-)
I will be more than happy to do it again - and YES Chantell did an awesome job!!!
BTW - I just received the second book I ordered from Amazon - Pruning and Training and also Success with Clematis (received the Propagation one earlier) - so, now if anyone has ANY questions regarding those subject - I can finally contribute somewhat intelligently!!!
Bec your place was so nice. It was great that nobody had to lug plants up a hill like here. If I do one here again, I have to figure out how to rig up some shade and set up everyone in the field right next to the driveway so there's no lugging. The tent things you had were terrific.
I did at least get the toilet fixed so you can flush it more often than once a half hour. LOL
How do you like the propagation book? Isn't it great?
You mean this place http://www.clarklandfarm.com/ to see the Enchanted Forest stuff? That is just up the road from me, I love that they have saved and recreated so much of the stuff from the old Enchanted Forest! There was an article a month or so ago in the Howard Co. times about that, very cool!
I would love to get a piece of that pineapple mint please.
I wonder if Tansy will keep mosquitoes away what will it do for deer? I get eaten alive if I don't put on repellent plus with the being in the woods, I also have to be aware of deer ticks!
ldy_gardenermd, yes that's the place. Enchanted Forest holds a lot of fond memories for me. If anyone is up for a road trip and a get together I think that would be awesome. The farm is also a farmer's market and a petting zoo. I told my sister about it and we should take my great niece, but she hasn't made any plans and I really want to go.
Qwilter- fair warning- you will be asked for Tansy at next Swap ^_^
miata great caption on that hart-Jill pic
and happy does make a grand entrance- you just never know what vehicle she'll be in LOL
Sally! As usual--you crack me up!!!
Those innocent. sly comments......BUT--it sends the message--loud and clear!
G.
Very sad thing is that a patient brought me in Tansy but said it was poisonous so I composted it....course then found out I have a few plants that are poisonous....think I'm going to have to suck it up and ask her for some more....*hangin' head*
Jill, What was that first flower you posted? It's lovely. I'm going to guess it's a dahlia or maybe a columbine?
The photo at the top of the thread is a columbine... from seed, but it sure looks like 'Nora Barlowe' to me. :-)
This weekend, I brought "just a few" plants up to my parents... discovered that I can fit 39 four inch pots of vinca into one of those blue storage tubs! My brother got a flat of perennials and half a dozen tomatoes, but the vinca took up half the space... many thanks to Gita and others who shared it with me last fall... it's been doing well! We moved 3 yards of dirt around this afternoon and planted a few new rhodi's. I'll stay on a couple extra days, so I have plenty of time to plant out the vinca, black eyed susans, and a couple of other things. Happy, my brother was thrilled to get some of the hostas and wood poppy you brought to the swap... the other half will go to my MIL in NC. :-)
Do you all hate labeling as much as me? I spend as much time labeling as I do in the yard, it seems, this time of year. In the past I wasn't very reliable about labeling, and then I'd weed out plants not realizing what they were.
Jill: I am delighted that the hosta found some good homes. They have been very reliable for me. It occurs to me, I never mentioned what I call my "weed" hostas before the swap. I have no idea what they are. They were from my mom's yard, and they reseed so I have tons. Nothing especially pretty. But what I like about them is that they form a flat overlapping plateau that really blocks all weeds. I have been moving them to the back of my "border" as a backdrop. If anyone wants any, I can bring tons. Solid green, and nothing fancy, but very utilitarian.
Gita/Larliena/Jody: I started in on those wonderful naked ladies today -- beautiful bulbs! I know they could take a few years to get settled in, but I can't wait -- I have the perfect spot and I am so very happy, and they are so healthy that I bet they do great from the get-go. If I had purchased them, the bulbs would not have been remotely fresh and it would have taken forever to get them acclimated. Thank you a million-fold.
SallyG: Gotta love those Zipcars!
Qwilter: I had tansy for many years. It isn't especially pretty. I didn't realize it deterred mosquitos. I will definitely plant it again! Our yard is mosquito heaven.
Miata: I am still at a loss for words about all the plants you brought me. When I recover my speech, I'll send you a proper thank you. But I have to say right now that that evergreen solomon's seal is the most beautiful plant I have every seen in my entire, long life!
This message was edited Jun 1, 2008 9:19 AM
Chantell- now just tell her silly me it died--after all most ordinary gardeners have stuff die all the time!
I am trying to maintain mini-blind labels on a lot o things. takes maintenance tho, nuff said.
Jody gave me petasites, variegated, soooo pretty- it has put out a new leaf. It seems to start wilting as soon as it gets less than really wet. True water lover. Thanks Jody= all your stuff was so nicely potted. Purple Millet is in the wild/ birds garden. so is Yarrow
happy the bloody dock is perking up and the coreopsis- was that a coreopsis you gave me a hunk of at the end? is coming up too. oh the salvia Forest fire from yur seed is starting to bloom!
harts phlox and painted daisy are fine,
wyldeflower- did I get bleeding hearts from you? they are fine too
Gita- I just gave a girlfriend six yellow Datura from your seed. Hope she appreciates them. She saw mine last year and liked it.
Glad we had some rain here
well if you plan the trip I would be happy to meet up with you! It is literally ten minutes from my house. the farmers market isn't (or hasn't been) open yet this season, they usually have really good corn. I took my niece there several years ago and we had a lot of fun.
Happy I have tried so hard to label my plants that I plant recently. In years past I tried to keep the tag with it because all the labels I had kept fading. I ordered some metal ones and wrote names on the plants and then laminated them and they faded totally! I am using other labels and a pen that my mom gave me and it is so tedious to try and figure out what is what now! I took pictures of a bunch of stuff that I have no clue what it is, then while pulling violets out by the bushel "found" plants that were struggling to live that I have no idea what they are lol!
I too, have been "trying" do the labeling thing along with using DG's "journal" - my own reasoning to avoid duplication and feeling like a doo-doo brain when trading - and on the rare occasion that I actually planted an annual and liked it that I remember what the heck it was. I picked up a few of those paint markers in the recent co-op after hearing such great things about them - nothing worse then taking the time to label only to have the writing fade and become nondescript. There was another co-op that I think CAT did that were the wrap around type for vines, trees, bushes etc. Plan on putting those 1/2 way up on my honeysuckles to start - again, I'd hate to send someone the wrong cutting...yikes...although the leaves do look different from one to another.
I think if you use a regular, permanent marker in black--it won't fade that soon. I used the red one on my seedling Markers, and all the writing disappeared!
Since I only use the common names--I pretty much know what is what. Besides--I only have a fraction of the amount of plants that most of you harbor....:o)
Gita
Sally: I didn't give you coreopsis from my yard. Maybe you have a piece of the coreopsis that pennyfeather contributed? -- I was the transportation for it. She didn't know the ID. It isn't the tickseed type, and it wasn't potted up.
I like my labeling system -- eon markers, and Avery transparent labels printed on a laser printer. They last forever. At the same time I write the labels, I take file notes on the plants. But it takes a long time.
didja see that labeling is the question on the home page today? lots of opinions on different methods and tools.
oh happy that may be it- guess the secret will be out that we swiped a hunk off that.... SSHHH
The biggest reason I need to label is things that I totallly forget doing, the white flag tells me hey water this you just put something here! or, careful there are daffodils etc here. Or to remember what the vole just ate GGRRRRR
With the vinyl labels, I have pretty good luck using industrial Sharpie markers (more heat and UV resistant than regular ones). I've also been using the Avery laser labels since Happy tipped me off about them -- so far, so good! I need to print up a bunch of labels though, before I forget where I planted out everything from the swap!
Who gave me the lovely bleeding heart (I think it was in a 4 inch square pot)? I've lost track of a few gifts, and I sure hope nobody will be offended by my asking "who gave me... ?" as I go through everything again. I like to include where a plant came from on my labels... makes it more fun to meander around the garden! :-)
Speaking of "who gave me... ?" I have a little red-leafed tree, a plum I think, from last year's swap. I was afraid I'd lost it over the winter, but lo & behold, it is leafy and growing! I just repotted it. :-) It needs a tag! Sally, did that come from you? I'll have to check the threads from last year...
Exactly - Sally!!! I'm known for stepping on them OR smashing a bulb b/c I'm digging where it is to put something else. Yes it was the Eon markers....they are excellent!!! I actually tried to fix a boo-boo a few min's after writing one with nail polish remover...no can do...slight smudge but it wasn't coming off. MY kind of marker
I think you can use a little sandpaper maybe?
Jill,
I also was given a Bleeding Heart--later in the day--the part of the Swap where everyone was begging for people to take something.....
The person who gave me the BH (Happy???) also had the Woodland Poppies, of which I also took one to give to a woman I work with. Does this help?
Overall--everything I got and planted, is doing OK. Some are a bit more droopy than others, but that is expected. I still have to find spots for the 3 Hellebores I ordered. All other Swap plants are settled in their new homes.
Didn't get EVERYthing in the ground as was my goal this weekend....every time I started so did the weather, it seemed. I literally only have a few more pots though....I've done good this time!! Proud of myself - yes indeedy!! I am so excited with the plants I rec'd - just can't thank ya'll enough....I am in and will be even more in scent heaven...
Since many of you took notice of the quote on the cake - thought I share the others that I'd found and liked. Big thanks to Becky for narrowing the list down for me. I LOVE quotes - so it would've been nearly impossible.
Nothing is more the child of art than a garden.
The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses
There is more pleasure in making a garden than in contemplating a paradise.
A garden is the best alternative therapy.
Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.
Gardening is any way that humans and nature come together with the intent of creating beauty.
A garden is a delight to the eye and a solace for the soul.
Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow.
Gardening adds years to your life and life to your years.
To dwell is to garden.
When the world wearies, and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden.
A garden is a love song, a duet between a human being and Mother Nature.
I think I may write a few of those on my garden bench
I like that idea, Sally....I was thinking IF I ever made some more stepping stones...that it would be cute to use a few of the shorter ones.....just a thought....would need to find a smaller and thinner mold though....
I have a few cake-plastic lids, like when you buy fancy cakes- that I will make stones with one day, have nice little scalloped edges or other doodads molded in. I know a couple are smooth in the center- would work great for this, then paint the quote on. In all your spare time~~~~~~~~~~
~~I used a ChicFil A lid for a test stepping stone..does anybody need a Chic Fil A stepping stone ? complete with company logo script across the middle LOL~~
Critter and Gita, I did have a few bleeding hearts and wood poppies. It may have been me. I am still working on getting all my stuff in the ground.
Sally, how many caladiums do you put in a pot? What size pot? I got some but haven't grown then in years and am not sure how many to put in a pot. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
chortle- my suggestion on caladiums would be find somebody who knows what she's doing!! hope you can go with package suggestion- or start a new thread
I bought two 6 inch pots on late summer clearance. I let them grow until cold weather then put them in the basement. The peat soil got dry and very hard. I tried to break up one soil clump and couldn't (hardly) find anything promising like tubers. So, I put the crumbed remains back in a pot. the other pot I left alone. The left alone pot is doing great, but the messed up pot is OK too. Both six inch pots came with a lot , like eight, growing points but I think some were offsets because they were little.
My friend gave me half a bag from the big box store last year- you could easily fit five of them in a six inch pot, the tubers are pretty small.
I got a couple bleeding heart sprouts too! I am psyched after seeing four foot tall BHs at Gita's. I got wood poppies from Happy and they're doing well. I hope they can stand a dry summer. I have a dry shade spot- I had put some excess ferns there but the drought must have killed them, no sign.
Chantelle,
Here's a short quote that is not on your list---------"Gardening Tills the Soul".
I have it on a small neck pillow someone once gave me....
Sally,
I actually don't like the size and hight of my Bleeding Hearts. They take up too much space in my small flower beds. I would gladly trade one of mine for a smaller, dwarf version--or something else perennial and pretty. I mean that!
I had to cut all the foliage off from the one by my front door, as I needed to plant my Hibiscus next to it and my other annuals too. That bed is all done. Would love to have a couple of your tall Nicotianas for a spot in the back--but they are still seedling size! Wat's up???
Gita
In this picture, it is not even full size yet.....
LOL... Jim is a *big* Chick-Fil-A fan... ;-)
Great source for both info and caladium bulbs is Bill at Caladiums 4 Less, http://www.caladiumbulbs4less.com/servlet/StoreFront
Link to their FAQ page: http://www.caladiumbulbs4less.com/servlet/Page?template=faq
Thanks for the bleeding heart, wyldflowr! It's looking perky, and I'll do my best to find a shady nook for it.
I planted vinca major (from the fall swap) all along the retaining wall by the driveway at my parents' place yesterday, under a big maple. We filled in behind with some nice new topsoil first, so planting was easy! Today, I'm having fun planting a couple of those hanging bags (haven't used them before, but they came with some strawberry plants last year) for my dad to put on his mailbox. I'm putting a couple of Holly's purple sweet potatoes in them along with some wave petunias and a 'Tumbling Tom' tomato. :-)
Gita, don't your bleeding hearts die back and go dormant in the heat of the summer, making room for some of your other plants? I love the foliage on bleeding hearts as a backdrop for other plants... so I'm hoping mine will get huge! LOL
Ohhh good ideas for the stepping stones - God knows I have plenty of various bowls/lids from food places - save them for the plants...LOL Was thinking of writing the quote into the cement when it starts to harden...but painting it on would probably look prettier. Hmmm, maybe a fern imprint on one as well....lots of ideas now...
My Bleeding Heart that gets full afternoon sun doesn't die back till Fall. And it is also one of the 1st plants up in the early Spring and blooms before even my daffodills. It is at least as big around as a bushel basket. The one I have in mostly shade is small and just now starting to bloom. It does die off in summer.
BOY! I have a lot of comments and a question....
Question first:....
Wyldeflower--The small Bleeding Heart you gave me--is it the smaller or the larger variety? Both of mine are definitely large! Close to 3' tall and wide. Color?
Jill,
My BH's are still all green. I cut them back half way, as I have read somewhere that if you do that right after blooming, it will re-grow and bloom again. I really could not wait for the natural die-back as I am already late planting all my Summer flowers. Had to cut the BH back foliage back to make space!
And--speaking about the "hanging bags"--my neighborhood's largest road-side stand/Nursery (Hubers) sells them, and one of the owners told me that when you plant them, you have to lay them down flat for all the plants to grow up/out--THEN you hang it up. I am guessing the root systems of all the plants hold the soil together, whereas, if you hung them up right away, the soil may all "schlump" ( I love using these Yiddish names for things) to the bottom part. Then again--maybe not!
OK! End of my "kibbitzing" with you!
Chantelle---I have some suggestions for you!
You know--when someone orders out for a corporate meeting, a big Office party, or some such thing--all the food comes on these huge plastic platters/trays with high-domed lids. Sort of--like what Bec had for the fruit tray and the veggie tray. The bottom part of it is "divided" into wedges--(like Pizza slices) one for each type of vegetable/fruit--with a small circle in the middle for the dip container.
GREAT for a mold for a stepping stone--AND! The top lid makes an awesome saucer for a huge pot of some kind. Same goes for the deep lids on cakes--GREAT saucers--or use them as greenhouse domes for a seedling tray. Don't just think of everything as trash!!! EVERY thing in our lives has another "life"--if you just stop and think!
MY brain, immediately, clicks into this mode when I see things like this---RECYCLE!!!!
"Hmmmm? What else could I use that for???"
Now--if the tray is one of those big, rectangular ones--usually black--you could use that also. I use one of those for a drip-tray under my Dehumidifier. Makes it easy for me to slide it around on the floor too w/o marring it.
As for what to paint/print on your just-poured stepping stones--How about the foot-prints and hand-prints of your precious 1yr. old Granddaughter? Maybe yours too? Right next to each other?
And, Chantelle,--I don't want to sound self-promoting (not my nature)--but since you love all these garden sayings, did you ever "catch" me posting my beautiful Poem ( "The Garden Wakes" ) I wrote to my Garden about a year ago? To this day--if I read it--I literally tear over and I cannot believe it came out of my brain in about 45 minutes.....
If not--I will D-mail it to you.
And--if enough of the new people here have not read it either--I will be happy to c/p it in here.....
OK? Gita
Some "Sweet Surrender" Rose blooms to you all!!!!
Gita - I love THAT poem of yours...you should repost it for the folks that haven't read it yet!! Handprints!!! What an excellent idea...I like it - esp with that quote on the cake "Gardening is a way of showing that you believe in tomorrow"
OK! You twisted my arm, Chantelle! Didn't take a lot of twisting....
So, for all of you "NEW" Folks that have joined our "Circle of Friends" here on the Mid-Atlantic Forum--I, humbly, will post my Poem again.....
I am NOT a poet---and I know it........:O) This is only the second Poem I have written to my Garden. But--to me--it is the best of the two!
I have it printed out on fancy paper and in a "poetic" Font---but, of course--here on DG--it will be just in the same old-same old- print.....I guess, I could at least, make it in Italics??
With love--to you all.......from ME! It is still Spring--NO? Everything is still "waking up" in out Gardens--NO? So, it is still appropriate! It is written in "prose" form--NOT all rhyming. Read it that way....
Gita
The Garden Wakes…..
(Gita Veskimets-- April, 2007)
The Garden wakes--
It's breast heaves slowly.
With all its dormant strength
it takes a breath
and blows away the remnants of Winter.
And it feels renewed.
The Garden wakes--
It sighs at all yet to be done
and hopes of glorious things to come.
It drinks in the dew in the morning
and the rain of the night.
And its thirst is quenched.
The Garden wakes--
It wipes the sleep from its eyes
and is blinded
by all the glory and the color
that laid beneath the earth so long.
And it revels in things well done.
The Garden gives--
unselfishly--of all the bounty it has cradled
in it's loving arms;
And at days end
It rolls itself up in the green, green grass
And it rests.
The Garden sighs--
the burden now heavy on it's chest.
It gasps for cool air
and thirsts for refreshing rains and soothing nights
that now come so seldom--
and it tires of the effort.
The Garden struts--
It’s wondrous wardrobe of the Fall,
Lovingly embroidered with the colors of the setting Sun.
and feels that it was a job well done.
And before the golden yarns unravel from its cape,
It lays its head on the soft, fallen leaves—
The Garden sleeps.
Gita, I just read your poem for the first time. It is truly beautiful! Lady, you are a poet. Don't be so modest.
As for the bleeding heart, I hate to tell you since you already know how large they can grow but it's not a small one when it matures. We did talk about that at the swap but you said you could give it to your friend along with the wood poppy.
I did bring small BHs and gave them to anyone who would take them at the end. They were not labeled as to whether they were white or pink and white and they were all small.( I was afraid to bring larger ones as they break so easily.) I was labeling them when Mike came home from work and began to rush me and said just to label them when we got to the swap. I was trying to get everyone's name on the plants I had promised. On the extras, I wanted to note the color but that didn't happen so I could not tell folks for certain about the color. None of them will stay small. But they are so beautiful.