Propagation: Propagation: part IV based on my own experienc

Love those pictures!! The one of him standing guard looks like it should be " (Is ) lol I have 3 of my own and they are little brats.

I can see you now outside in the bad weather putting up the green house by yourself!!! That's what you have to do, you know. Husbands love to say they need to wait till they get a certain part to do it right!!! Wife speak for that is that they are gonna put it off as long as they can. But if you go out and start it, then they shoo you away and get it done. Well, sometimes! Then again, they can just go make coffee and watch tv. he he

Hey whats wrong with tv???? I have been down for the day. I had hopeed to post another bit for how to. Tilly I will say hubby is corect on proper ancorage. I am sure lorraine knows all about the windy blasts I am used to seeing along with the frequent tornado. I would hate to hear it was blown away in the dead of winter with a foot of snow.
Dave

Can't help ya Dave, ours is fine. Got to figure the miles between us LOL. Been many years since I was there, My family was part of the Indian res. But we lived in Wichita Falls, Texas. Across the river. I am
Part Cherokee and Alas I end up in Washington State???? don't ask.

Have not had a chance To answer your e-mail, was intense. But will get back to you. Hope you are OKay.

FF was the one about anchors, so that goes to her. ^_^ but I agree with Lorraine, I'm that way. 'Fine you won't help, I'll do it myself' LOL

I went over my plants in the GH today, so far I can not tell what I may have lost and who has gone to sleep for the winter. I did bring 5 in the house I hope to recover, they where tender plants? if that works. I think with the light going out and they froze and where not getting water they
dryed out. the new light is working well. I put a outdoor spot light heat lamp in it and its holding above freezing temps. and this is only DEC.
Are bad weather normally is in Feb. O' My what is to come

Forgot to post this.
One of my Hells. is trying to bloom, but the snow flat-in it. Poor baby. LOL.

Oh wow Tilly, it will be many months before mine is looking like that. At least 3 feet of snow on it.

Jeanette

I'm in zone 8, this type of weather for us only happens every 10 to 12 years. the last one was in 1986 but that was in the in of Jan. And that was real bad. had a shed collapse and almost lost my horse barn, with the Horse in it, thank god DH saw it and took the weight of it. Hate to see what is coming next, still have 2 months of winter. Now they are saying lots of rain and wind. O' lord Flooding thats not nice.
But no worry, be here 25 years, no how to ride it.

Your Hell. babies will be fine.

Iris making a try hard showing

Well those little buggers are a tough little plant I have got some of mine showing their little heads too, also some tulips and daffodils , silly things don't they know they will get nipped sooner or later.

Tilly: sorry for the way intense email. I had a rough day today and was a bit down for some reason... I don't know why, I am very fortunate... a lot more than others.
Cherokee wow... I am a small part chickisaw. You do know how bad the summers can be here.... My wife lived in the nw for a few years. sister in law in seattle and father-in-law in eugine or. we hope to go visit some time seen. Maybe a trip to visit dad this spring (summer to me) june...lol How does the baromiter act out there? I have found as long as the baromiteris 30 plus I am fine... the cold wet and low b. pressure really hits hard... I have thought of a way to survive the summers in a more enjoyable way. the summers here are too hot. I have been wondering where to vacation the summers away from Tulsa and south. I have thought of the carolina's but it get pretty hot and humid in the summer.... Oh wellI believe I think to much on how to change things for the better.
Everyone have a safe and happy new year
Dave

I was raised in the desert, Mohave, Nevada and other points south. I have been here for the last 25 years. and will never leave. Now asking about a barrometer? you are asking the wrong person, I have no idea what you do with it or even how to read the thingy. But I think I know what the Q might be. We normally have mild winters as far as snow. But we do have alot of rain, thats what keeps us so green. are summers are short but not bad.
You would love to come visit.

If you are thinking of a place to escape the summer heat, Maine is very popular. Of course, we have do have extreme cold and heat everyone has from time to time. Our June can be either 60 degrees or 90 degrees. I grew up in the midwest, so the winter here is pretty mild compared to what some of the midwest states experience.
Right now, a lot of our neighbors are in Tx, Fl, and Az, just to name a few places to escape the winter. I wish I were with them. LOL
I wanted to spend some time in other forums such as this and maybe learn some new things in 2009.
Happy New Year everyone!
Cyndie

Tilly,
barometer measures air pressure. That's when they say on the news the barometric pressure is this or that. Either goes up or goes down.

Dave, I know that feeling too. Right now I am hurting across my collar bone down into my chest and it makes it hard for me to breath. It hurts every time I take a deep breath.

FF: I feel for you. I have had a couple of times felt it hard to get a breath and I would not wish that on anyone. Most of the time its just a sharp pain in the back... but occasionally is like someone has taken a long steel rod and ramed it right up the side of the bone from hip to 2 or 3 toes. those are the bad days...
If the barometer is 30 or above I am usually doing pretty good. when it starts sliding around the 28 - 29 area its a real bad day... Oh well life goes on. Like a good friend I had said every day above ground is a good day.
Have a great evening... everyone stay safe.
Dave

HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO ALL

Hi everyone: here is the next installment of the thread:
How to make your landscape work for you. I like to think of it as making the stuff we love help cover some of our expenses. One of the key things is division of plants we have. I like to take Hostas, ornamental grass, cannas, bamboo, iris and other plants that require division to preform well.
I like to split up things in the spring so they have room to expand in the landscape. I try to pot up the extras into as many containers as possible. I have had an ornamental grass divide into 20 - 1 gallon pots, and then turn around and either trade them off or sell them for 5 bucks each. the neat thing is that this is a continual process. I realize this is not a new concept to most of us, but I like to get it out there incase we have over looked it or didn't realize the gold mine we have. I feel fortunate in that I am setting up a new landscape so I can plan with this in mind. I also try to use things that are really popularrare or very expensive.
I hope this little tid bit helps
dave

Happy New Year To All !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the new year, Dave, and I just wanted to thank you for all your efforts in 'educating' those of us who have been following this thread. I am a propagation nut, and have learned a lot! Thanks for all the time you've put in and all the valuable information you've shared! Jill

cyndie, there you go with that East Coast Bias. have you ever been to the PNW, or the Seattle area? we have it all. the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, Olympic Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, fresh water lakes, rivers galore, snow skiing, water skiing. the best climate to grow most anything. the largest trees, the Redwoods, Douglas firs, Cedars, just kidding, I'm sure Maine is beautiful. Jim

Actually Jim, I have been there. You are right.
I used to go every year on business and half of the people were New Englanders that switched coasts. ;)

I agree the nw coast is beautiful. I went once and loved it. I want to go back and see the whales. we did get to see a few but not the mass migration that happens every year. We may go this next year not really shure. Then again it may be the beaches of mexico and south florida. something about sand between the toes every few years. I guess I am a bit wierd...LOL
I hope everyone had a great new years eve
Dave

Dave, how often are you suppose to divide peonies? I have one that I have had in the ground about 12 years and never have done anything with it. I think it is starting to have less blooms. Is that a sign that it needs dividing?

Jeanette

I am not the expert to advise you but I would recommend it. Thats what happened to my irises,so I dug them up and they were so packed together that they didn't have any more room to grow, so now they are seperated and hopefully do better this year if not the next, cause I know sometimes when you dig and seperate they wont bloom the first year.

Jeanette: We had peonies here when we bought this house in 1996 and several years ago I dug them up and moved them, dividing them in the process. They've done so well that I think it's about time to divide them again!

Wow, I guess I will have to do it. But, they bloom pretty early here, peonies, like the end of May. Should I wait for them to bloom and then do it, or?????

Jeanette

Wait until after they bloom. You are suppose to dig and transplant them in October. That much I do know.

Hi: I believe any of the dividable flowering plants should be done as early in the season as possible but after they bloom if that makes sense. Forsythia should be trimmed after they flower. I know they are one of the first to flower and I think they are one of the best flowering shrubs.
Jeanette: I would see about trading some of the splits from your peonies for some other plants. I always look at split plants as found money. I have some nice variegated liriope that I have to move so I will divide them as well.
One of the truest signs of it being time to divide is a decreased flower production. I probably divide a bit to much but I like to maximize my growth.
Dave

Well, I always thought it best to do any pruning, dividing, etc. as soon after blooming as possible, but ff was closer on this one. According to the peony growers, one said "early fall" and the other said "September to November. Also, can't remember which college it was, but they said to divide into 4 or 5 eyes or they wouldn't bloom for several years. So, even tho a couple of eyes would make a plant, it would take a while to bloom.

I don't know what these are, name wise. They were growing at my sister's place when she bought it in 1994. When she sold the place, she dug them up and split them with me. They are a beautiful deep dark red. Very full. Always remind me of the old ones that we used to see around farm houses many years ago.

And, they, I have 2 plants, each have probably anywhere from 20 to 30 blooms. I never counted them. Using PVC we made nice brackets that they would grow right up thru so when it rained they were held up nice and straight. Always looks like big bouquets out there. Very pretty.

Jeanette

Jeanette, I would love to see pictures of the peony and the bracket you made.

Jeanette: what a creative idea for suport of your flowering plants. I always see peonies flopping all over the place....kind of like a fish ???? ooops no thats not it...LOL

Dave when you get ready to divide your varigated liriope, let me know I would like to buy some from you. Kind of hard to find around here. I found the plain green but am having a hard time finding the varigated.

Hey Dave, Did you check this out, when looking into heat mats. the water bed idea was cool.
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lights/msg0611540619381.html
What about a sandbox, with the heat wraps for pipes. Or did I get lost somewhere and you all ready cover this.

NEVER MIND found it.

Lost but never forgotten LOL

This message was edited Jan 1, 2009 8:17 PM

Mary, most of those ideas were let me say it in a nice way. stupid. I don't get it. why go out of your way to use an alternative. when you would spend about the same amount of money to use the materials that were designed for that purpose. but I have been known to experiment with alternatives and at times I have come up with some useful ones. so maybe someone will come up with a good alternative to the standard, heat cables and heat mats, until then I'll stick to what works well for me. PS do you have any red wiggler worms. I killed mine when I dumped a bunch of algae from my pond last fall on my worm bed. there was so much that it smothered them, I guess. I didn't think you could smother worms. but there was something toxic about it that they died. I have about 12 inches of worm castings in the bed. but I always used kitchen scraps for that. now they're going into my garbage can. Jim

Jim, I know that everybody buys the wigglers from farms but has anyone thought of going to a bait shop and buying them ? They are a lot cheaper that way. You can go buy about 6 dozen for about a 1/4 of what you would get them from a worm farm.

Happy one day late New Years!!! I"ve been kind of bummed about 2008, thinking it was a bad year for me. Then I thought of all the friends that have

come my way through Daves and realized it was really a great year.
So thanks to all of you !!!! Made my hyear.

Hey is ya'll don't have worms, come to my place. It's actually kind of gross, but in the spring you stick a shovel in the ground and I can't believe all the worms crawling everywhere. My compost pile is always so full of them in spring, but when it gets really hot, they kind of go away or go underground. Normal?

Yep, Dave, I know about those tornadoes. We actually had one come through here a few nights ago. I thought they were all gone, but guess there was one little lonely one out there.

FF, does the bait shop sell the red wiggler worms? they have to be garbage worms. not the earthworms. I actually have enough of the worm compost to last a very long time. but I was thinking about doing my part in recycling the kitchen waste. I haven't even looked under the lid of the worm bed. they might have hatched out a new generation. Jim

Well I think maybe that they are the same thing. night crawlers redworms and all live in that kind of stuff. Some of the real creepy crawlers do to like millipeds and a few others that I can't remember names of. The redworms that people dig from the ground are the same thing that you would buy at a bait shop. My Dad was a very advid fisherman and he taught me all those kinds of things. How many times have you picked up a board that has laid in one spot for few years and there are all kinds of redworms under it and part of it has been eaten on, well that is the worms doings. They are what makes the top soil in the woods and different place where you have good rich soil.

Sorry FF, but there is a Diff. In earthworms and Red worms. One is the size of the earthworms they are better at aerating the soil and that they don't make as good munchers on kitchen scraps as the little Red Worms do that make good compost from all there Poo. (sorry)
And if you are fishing, depends on what you are fishing for and what type of worm is needed.

Jim , I'm sure I could come up with some, but not to soon. My compost stall is froze on top, but I know they are burroed down inside deep, their not dumb. LOL
Did you see my link for a inside worm bin, in the tread 'Cabin Fever'?
It is cool, I haven't made mine yet, Katie59 did.
I don't think anything is stupid, til tried myself. If I take a little from you, and something from another and a idea of my own, and put it all together. It might work and not cost so much. Don't know till I try. That won't be till the GH is expanded hopefully in this new year. I will keep all notes on trials and defeats. and post it on a new tread when I get there. I have a great idea but can't explain it. I have after burners on will work it out, I hope LOL
Lorraine, Sorry you feel that way, But a new year has got to be better than the last. Focus, Focus Enjoy.
My last years pride and joy, Hope I didn't lose her

Well I know that when I go buy worms at the bait shop when I go fishing I buy Red Worms. Thats what they are called here. I use night crawlers for bigger fish and Red Worms for bluegill and sunfish .

Ok, so earthworms aren't all I need. If I go to a bait shop, I ask for wigglers or red worms.? (I know, I know, I give dummy a bad name)

Tills, next time you're driving by Port Orchard stop by. I have the old cable that was in my GH I saved. it's your for the taking. I made a larger heat bed, and won't be using it. I plugged it in after I took all the 3/4 minus out, and the cable is warm to the touch.I'm saving the wood shells to use with heat pads for germinating. the cable is enough to make a large bed. like a 4' by 8' bed. Jim

Just tell them you want RED WORMS and you get what you ask for worms !!!!! LOL