Stupid Gardener Tricks

I have black and blue salvia and it is well behaved. It's also in full sun in the driest spot in my yard. That's why I put it there, not much else will grow.

I do plant everything I buy as soon as I get it home for whoever said that. I won't say who but someone gave me a hydrangea that had tree size roots growing out of the bottom of the nursrey pot. LOL. I couldn't hardly get the pot cut off of it. It was sort of odd to me. LOL.

All right CoreHHI, you are trying to make the make the REST of us look bad! LOL... "I do plant everything I buys as soon as I get it home". Let me know your secret?? Do have to overcome my procrasination first???

OK Yote...will you bring me 3 of them then LOL cause I gotta a lotta land to fill....bring it on girl and then in 3 years I will be back crying LOL

Odd???? Well, no one ever accused me of being normal. LOL

Truly, I haven't a clue how long that hydrangea had been under the bushes. If it wasn't for the construction it might never have turned up. I did not buy that one though, it was a rotted cutting. Usually I only lose stuff I have paid money for.

Right now I am missing a beautiful wrought iron hanging basket. I remember taking it out of a tree when a big storm was expected and that is the last I remember. It is hidden under some jungle greenery and one of these days........ The good part is that I *think* it is empty; I do remember the plant I had in it was unhappy.

Yotedog, I am so with you. If that plant is even remotely happy, jump back. I wish I'd had your advice last year. This was... wait for it... three plants. There were some other well behaved poor souls in the pathway of salvia guaranitica, but they were kind of drowned by the incoming tide. Although, I think thuggish is a bit of a virtue at times...

ardesia - you want me to fedex you my metal detector to borrow to find the basket...goodness knows what you might find down there!!! the grandkids had it out a few weeks back trying to find my bifocals with it...boy what a hoot...they kept saying "come on nana...give us a hint where you left your glasses" like if I could remember I wouldn't need them searching and offering a $25.00 reward each for the kids who found them...LOL...

"give us a hint"???? LOL... I love it!

Yeah, ardesia, that "Alpine plant" description made me think it wouldn't grow well here, so I planted one as an experiment. Wrong! Stay away from that one! It forms little potato-like tubers that go everywhere. Overpower anything in their path! Not a friendly plant in the low country. And you're right too, Bev---you only took the invasive Ruellia---which may not be as difficult to manage up there as it is down here. I'm spraying it with weed killer now to try to conrol it...It's a real pretty plant except when it gets out of control!

Maybe Corey can offer a 12 step program of some sort. "Lots of room for plants." Yep, that's my problem all right. My lot is too small. I will mention it to my husband today. Attached is a picture of my teeny tiny lot from last fall.

O.k., I'm joking (as you guessed), that's the lower pasture and space is not my problem. I do think Corey hit on the main issue. Failure to plan. I mean to plan. I want to plan. I admire it in others. Ever see the lovely gardens some other Dave's Garden subscriber like "tabasco" will post pictures of? I think, "I'm going to plan my garden." And then I walk into a garden center, see a cute/different/odd plant and "poof", plan, what plan?

Know what you mean about planning...I plan, then have those 'poof' moments, too! Well, ok...they are more than just moments. More like the story of my life, lol! I end up using the shove and run method of planning:-)

I plan....I plan.... I do. I just don't stick to the plan. And, the plan changes. And then I meet a plant and its begging me to take it home.... and it isn't IN the plan. So..the plan must change.... No sense in planting things toooooo quickly --not if the plan is going to change..... right? It isn't good for the plants to keep moving like that.... uprooting them.... might have to then arrange plant therapy.. So, in reality... I am JUST TRYING TO HAVE HAPPY HEALTHY PLANTS. That is The Plan!

Can you feel the force?? Our trip to Plant Delights is this Sat...plans and wallet will both be non issues, lol! Still time to join the helpless if you want, hint, hint...Ya know misery loves company=0

Come on now, don't you think people who plan too much could be classified as anal retentive? You wouldn't want anyone accusing you of that would you????

;-)

not me - that anal retentive stuff --- I plant lots of things the colors of Milk of Magnesia and Ducolax etc.

Wish I could go to the Plant Delights (I love the gardens) but got set in stone plans. will be there I hope come the fall weekends.

Let us know when you are coming down. I only live a few minutes from there and I know I'll be back in the fall:-)

Laughing at the 'digestive issues' color palate;-)

Oh I would sooo love to go to PDN. Afraid the wallet wouldn't survive, tho.

Rosie: My plan's alot like yours. LOL. You described it exactly.

(However, I confess, I do plant as soon as I get them home. - even if it's in the wrong place!)
Deb

Deb, we are also doing a plant swap in the afternoon! And, remember...touring the gardens is free. Maybe if you spend all our time there in the actual gardens and away from the sales area you could be alright. Not sure exactly how you do that,lol...but it's a thought.
Also, since we are meeting on the deck right behind Tony's residence, it's a good chance that anyone who comes will have an opportunity to meet and talk with the man himself...If you've never had the pleasure, you've missed something, for sure! He is always ready and willing to answer any questions, point out things about the nursery, or just talk about anything. A very gracious host.

Check this thread out. This person is clueless. LOL.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/863423/

Oh RedNyr--be careful what you wish for!!! I will bring you as much as I can!!!

On another subject.....oh, we are supposed to PLAN our gardens????!!! Actually, I knew that, and when I did my backyard I did it exactly the right way....I lived there awhile to gauge the sun and soil, I planned the whole thing on paper, I even took digital photos, printed them out and drew the plants in on the photos. And then........I went to the nursery. And some plant swaps. And the Arboretum plant give-away. And a few plant society sales. And soon, I was frantically plugging plants in here and there because I loved them and just had to have them, despite the fact there was not a place for them in my yard. Alas, I am weak...........

As are we all:-) Weak, I mean, lol!

Well you get points for planning, even if you abandoned them!

Hello

My name is Nancy and I'm a plantaholic.
My symptoms are the same as most of your above posts.

I missed this thread because I was out of town but please continue.It's so much fun.I never thought I was alone because I have had so many good plant friends and we all seem to share these obsessions and compulsions

I like to think that I have a cottage garden,a great excuse for not much planning or design but probably what I have is a haunted house garden.Ghosts of bulbs planted long ago coming back after 2 years to remind me that I have forgotten them.

Many stories like that.Too many to remember.Blame it on age.


M

lolol

I just noticed latanna that I planted 6 or 7 years ago but it's seems to have been over taken by other plants. I was walking by and noticed a yellow flower peeking out at me. Thought about it and i was like "I did plant that there."

Ok, another stupid thing. Planting Surprise Lily, and thinking that I would remember the location of a plant that spends half the year dormant. I have, thus far, dug some/all of them up three times.....and this is just the first year!

Oooooooooooooo me thinks you'd better paint the name of the plant on a good size rock (say, round 5 inches flat) and set it next to where these hidden treasures are buried!!! 4th times a charm!! LOL

I treated my Holly Fern for rust- lo and behold it was spores!!

Don't know why I'm laughing...I dig up lilies, daffs, etc up all the time. Must not hurt them 'cause they manage not to be too mad at me to bloom again. But the spores...now THAT's funny...I love it;->

That fern did fine too!! Even after the treatment it got. Probably helped it survive some other dastardly ailment!! lol

That's one fine fern, then! *Still Laughing!*

Hey--Didn't the thread say STUPID???

Yup! But, hey...I did not call ya that...don't have a leg to stand on there, lol!

Yep one fine fern it made it!! I know all in fun !! I love fun!!

I'm always forgetting plants that are dormant/emerge late. I ripped a ginger out the ground at the beginning of June thinking it was dead. Of course it had a lovely, healthy, LIVING root structure. So I gently tamped it back in the ground and it is about 4 ft. tall now.

I'm always promising myself that each year I'm going to devise a system (of course, it will be artistic and creative, too) to mark where a bulb/spring ephemeral/experiment is located. But, I never do and who am I kidding? An armadillo, squirrel, or clumsy gardener would probably wipe out the marker anyway!

Psyche, what are rocks???? We don't have things like that down here where I live. LOL

We do have oyster and whelk shells but the raccoons (some of whom really are stupid) think they still have live food in them and take off with them.

Don't feel bad about spraying ferns; I lived in Maryland back in the 70's and the local horticultural extension agent was really in a tizzy because so many of the ferns in the county had "scale". He had everyone spraying all sorts of evil chemicals. He was even writing newspaper articles about the epidemic.

Border, that DOES create a challenge! No rocks and "helpful" critters! What about landscape staples? You know those big U shapped pins to hold down weed cloth. Could you put a plastic tag on that and put it in the ground? Or will your critters pull them up??

Just caught this thread and have to say that I've committed most of these sins myself. My most recent oh, no moment was planting oenethera (pink evening primrose) last summer. It is taking over. I did not know it was so invasive! Maybe we could use it to fight the kudzu?

LOL, I've done that one too! This year my next door neighbor planted about a dozen pots of it; will she ever be surprized next year. I own a vacant lot between our houses and I think the Oenethera will look lovely all over the lot next spring. (Then I hope I can get it with Round Up before it sets seed.)

I'm not very good with things in pots. In fact, I have one living house plant, and that's only because I bought it today. It's my annual fall sacrificial croton.

For Christmas of '06 someone gave me this cute little sago palm in a flat ceramic dish. It was lovely. I kept it alive for over a year (I was so proud.) And then I made the mistake of allowing my husband take it to work to show his students something biological about it. And I forgot about it. By the time he brought it home a few months later it was pitiful. It was spring, so I stuck it outside, and neglected to bring the sago in for a frost and it got zapped. I tossed it's corpse over by my compost bin and have been piling stuff on top for months. Recently my husband weed whacked the area, and I discovered it had put out three new fronds! Unfortunately, it was laying on it's side in the dark. Poor thing.

I've planted it and I'm trying to be it's friend. I'd hoped the fronds might right themselves now that it is correctly oriented to the sun. Um, no such luck it appears. Sad little mutant tree.