Seed Swap and Chat # 48 ... seeds will be coming soon

New thread.....

We came from here -- > http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1065668/ # 47

another snow storm is approaching... so i'm getting my seeds ready to be sown... gimme something to do this week

Expecting snow here Thursday night into Friday. Then rain, I think.

Waddle is right!!!!! I've waddled.
Thanks we needed a new one.

Hello everyone. I hope everyone is staying warm. It is SO COLD here! Been 12 degrees 4 nights in a row now & 28 in the daytime. Pipes have froze & busted & I have seen plants affected by the cold that I have never seen affected by it before. Hellebores just started blooming again 2 weeks ago & now are frozen & droopy, even my vinca is frozen. Talked to my Dad in Fox Lake, IL & he said it was colder by me than by him... Crazy weather!

My potting soil will have to thaw out before I can do anymore winter sowing. I have only sowed 4 pots so far.

MechelleT, I will be praying for you, your son, & your family. My neices little girl was looking pale just before Christmas & they took her to the doctor. He said her white blood count was super low, sent her to Leboner's Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN & they did a blood transfusion & she has been alright since. They never did find out why... Doctors said she probably had a virus that caused it. Funny thing about that is a couple weeks before that, my aunt (who is totally unrelated to the child & in another state) had a similar thing happen to her. Had purple dots all over her face & body. They said was something wrong with her immune system. She was in the hospital for 2 weeks. Said the same thing to her... Must have been some kind of virus she had that caused it.

ants

ants... i'm not too far from Fox Lake ... we are currently 20° with snow on the IA/IL border... so 3 hrs away
but i've also noticed Lea has been colder than me too.

You guys are fast! I just copied my post over here, lol!:

Awe Wind, I'm so sorry to hear about your kittys :-( I have a bunch of animals... Every one of them has been a part of our family for a long time now...

I hope that Mechelle's boy makes a fast recovery and that she knows we are all pulling for her and her son. I couldn't imagine being in that position. It must be completely heartbreaking. Sending my thoughts and strength...

Critter... My daughter will turn 3 in a couple of months. Last year was the most fun she had with my plants. I would plant them and as soon as I turned around, she yanked them out of the ground one by one... pop, pop, pop, pop... plants flying over her sholder as she went down the row. She'd give me a smirk and then giggle and turn and run. I'd hurry over to my poor little plants and plop them back in for fear of them drying out or something... prop their little necks up with a little extra dirt because they were just catapulted by a giggling toddler and patted them back into place... Then I would hear it again... The sound of that same angelic looking baby ripping out another row :) And we played that game for the WHOLE summer, lol! I'm hoping for a good planting season next year... FINALLY ;)

that's funny about your little girl pulling up the plants... I had a dog that did that one. He was about 6 months [yesterday was 6 yrs since he crossed the "bridge" ] but i'd plant them, and he'd rip them out, tossing them up in the air. that was the only year [we were there for another 11 yrs] -- i never attempted to plant flower in his back yard again.

Seed Longevity http://www.hillgardens.com/seed_longevity.htm

it came up in the other thread. [the LISTS thread] so if it is still in your "watcher" that is why it popped up again.

Mygypsyrose.. hahahhaa that so funny. Can pictur e that one too. Go down row and get to end, stand up , get crinks out of baody and turn back with smielof yoru face to look over yru work and then the shocke d expression seeing thm flyign thre w the air. Lol That be one story for ya to remidn her off when she gets bigger, especially if she ha s garden of he r own. : )

Ants.. I freezing away here too. Thes e low teens and single digets have playe d heck on everythign here. A day her e an d the re and th eplants do ok, but not so many in a row. We got snow and single digets for tommorrow night. City pipe s have bene burstign all over. They opeign shelters evrywhere in churche s and such, cuz folks not eippe d for this kidn of cold down here . ccidents all ove r the place.

I didn't check on my hellebore s today or anythign else. Got so depresse d when I checke d th eother day. I think all the banana plants and the brugs are gonef or sure. Gues s it all gonan be in od's hands of what doe s and doesn't coem back, btu expect to be dumping alot of pots and startgn them allover again.

need ya all to remind me nto onyl to get bulbs otu of fridge, btu to rememebr to get the monkshood for folks otu of my freezer too. That arrive d her today from LeBug.

PamSue and Lea ya arrive d today. : )

Thanks for the reminder on seed longevity, will have to sow the short lived ones first!

It has been in the twenties all week here and will snow on Friday. Normal winter weather for PA. I like snow.

Yesterday morning when we went to work on Habitat for Humanity house, got out of the car and stepped onto frozen groundcover. White with frost and hard. I couldn't believe it. Trusses didn't arrive so they sent us home early. So many without power because FP & L just isn't prepared for this kind of cold. Don't even want to think what the power bill will be. First time we have had the heat on in fourteen years. We brought in as many plants as we could. Hope the bananas survive. Keep warm, I'm off to make another cup of hot tea.

Last Fall, DH decided to see if he could grow some Oak Trees. He collected acorns, checked to see if they were 'good' or not [by seeing if they float in water] and then put the good ones in some soil. He just used the sandy soil we have in Wisc. When we came home in the end of Oct, he brought them all home.

He had 3 seedlings almost immediately ... they got pretty big, so we transplanted them into some miracle grow and 4" nursery pots.

He took the remaining acorns that had not germinated yet, and we put them in a larger [8" rnd] pot and hoped for the best... about a month later... one popped up. I had been moving it around my room so it would get some sun [the pot is too wide to sit on a window sill] and i'd put it up every night so the cat couldnt get to it.
[I had also put a seed in there .. no idea what it is... but it's been growing for a few weeks now, and i was afraid Charlie would eat it... that is why i put it up where he couldnt get it.]

Anyhoo.... IT was really sunny the other day, so i brought the pot downstairs and put it in the DR sunny window .... This morning i came down to find that Charlie had pulled off the 4 little oak leaves and pulled the whole thing, acorn and all, out of the ground.

I've replanted it in it's own smaller pot so it would fit in my bath window -- where the other 3 are.... gave it a little drink of SuperThrive....

BUT --- any idea if this little guy will even survive?? I have no idea how long it was out of soil, just laying there.... and it currently has no leaves.

the "stem" of the tree is about 3" tall.

If the growing tip of the stem isn't damaged, it may put out more leaves.. at least, that seems to be true for other seedlings. Give it a little time before sending it to the big compost pile. :-)

Little Man has been quite the rascal lately.

My Hibiscus had/has gnats... so he's been digging for them in the pot... if you happened to see those photos... I think I have eliminated the bugs... so guess he decided to move on to another pot.

Uggh, my cats are driving me crazy, and I haven't even started sowing inside yet. This should be an interesting winter. I suspect I'll just have to close off the office. Hate to do that, because then it's difficult just getting in there without letting the cats in. They consider any room closed to them a personal challenge!

Boy everything you all are saying about cats is amazing. I can close my eyes and just see our Hobo. A stray that DH took in and then found out when we took it to be "fixed" that Hobo was a Hobo ess. or Hoboette? Maybe a tramp???

But, the world over cats are cats. Haven't had a cat in 30 years until now. No such thing as a place Hobo can't get into. Closed doors? LOL Fugedaboudit!!! Plants? What are those? Christmas tree? Wow an indoor climber. Wasn't that nice of the 2 legged Whatzits that give me that good canned special food in the middle of the night when I walk up and down their bedroom hall yowling.

And, on and on, at least Hobo keeps us on our toes during this cold weather so we don't have time to turn into human ice cicles. Can't do that when you keep moving guys so take it from Hobo,

Keep movin' to stay warm.

Jnette... that's funny. this was our first cat, so we are still learning. last year when Little Man was a kidden, we didnt put up an tree... this year we did, and he was fine. slept under it... played with a few ornaments and 'glitter snakes', but other than that...he was a good boy. He used to play with the baby spiders on teh spider plant, but leaves them a lone now, and thankfully doesnt bother any of the hanging plants.

Last year he "tried" helping me with WS ... we shall see what this year brings. I may get started today... with the snow, not much else to do but shovel. No reason to go out in this stuff... i just hope my half and half last thru Friday, or i will ahve to go out.

You be careful when out there shoveling. Dangerous work when you aren't used to it. Better stock up on that half and half and freeze some so you don't have to keep going out. Just put it outside on the doorstep. Stay in and keep warm.

I can't believe I just heard on CNN that the electric companies had turned people's power off for non payment. They should be shot for doing something like that in this weather.

Woke up this morning to beautiful white SNOW! Still snowing now. Brought Fred, George, & Little One out & took some pics. First time seeing snow for them :) Lots of birds at the feeders today.

I have a problem. I ordered a bonsai kit, book, & a couple other things from joebonsai.com for my Dad for his birthday. I received an email this morning stating the bonsai tree would not make it to IL in this weather & that the book was out of stock. I asked her to cancel my order, since this was a really thought out gift for him & I really wanted him to have it. Well, she emailed me back that my refund would show up on my card in a couple days. Well, now if I order anything I will be overdrawn at my bank. Is it correct for them to take the money out before the order is sent? I have no idea what I'm going to do now :(

ants

ants... sorry to hear about the snow...

and yes, that is common. The order goes thru on the cc before the order ships... and it doesnt take too long for them to 'put it back' ... 2-3 days

I'm not sorry about the snow at all! Reminds me of home :) Moved here from Fox Lake, IL a quarter century ago. Did you get the 8 inches of snow there?

I would think they would at least confirm that they had items in stock & no problems before charging for something they don't have. Anyways, that is the way I would do it. I wouldn't be so upset about it if it wasn't a gift for my Dad's birthday.

ants

ants... we are in DuPage County.... takes me about 45 min to get to Fox Lake on 12
We are about 4" right now... supposed to stop sometime tomorrow... but it's really light right now.

>>confirm that they had items in stock

Yes, i agree with your there.

If they are in Dave's "Watch dog" you can leave a comment regarding that.

Yep I know 12 :) Used to ehem... hitch hike from Fox Lake to Hoffman Estates when I was MUCH younger :) My Dad & sis's are still up there. Dad still in Fox Lake, one of my sis's in Harvard, one in Mundelein, & one within about 15 min. from Dad. Brother's in Colorado.

ants

Rides... In answer to your question from the last thread...

Most of them survived amazingly. lol! She takes after her father and is a big tease and loves to see the expression on my face. I have finally taught her how to "smell" a flower instead of ripping every one off :-). I let her pick all of the Dandelions, Hardy Geraniums or Black eyed susans that she wants, so she'll bring me heads of flowers as a gift now. I like this MUCH better, lol.

Very good. You have to teach her, I know she will grow up loving flowers and gardening.
I cn just see her laughing and throwing the flowers. So cute?

Soooo cute :-) Already have her growing a green thumb ;) She picked that one out all by her self.

How precious!

LOL... How cna ya resist that smile. : ) She a cutie!

It hailing here right now. Hopeing the hail turns to some rain before it gets much colder, so that the groudn wil be wet and giv e the plant root s some protection and heat.

Girl, she is just as cute as I thought. Such a pretty little girl.
Look at that wrinkled little nose. Thank you for letting us see your
little flower puller. She is a doll.

Our percipitation started as sleet but has changed to snow right now. BUT we are only suppose to get 1/2 inch accumulation. Sure is pretty while it's coming down.

It is, isn't it. I love to see big flakes. The snow will
insulate the ground from the freezes if it lasts long enough.

Oh Lol,
Don't want no snow , just not used to this cold. Snow is nice but when not used to just to cold in the south. Yall enjoy!! And was thinking about wintersowing now just worried about staying warm. Now back to trying to figure out wather for me and they saying snow tonight.
All stay warm!!
Carolyn

You stay warm too. I'm not going anywhere.
Just stay in and dream of something green to grow.

I am sure Ella will be glad to clear our seeds out and get her house back in order.

Sorry for the southern gals getting unexpected freezes and snow. Hope your gardens survive the shock.

OH ... Ella -- i was futzin' in the kitchen yesterday and a frig magnet fell on teh floor... and what did i find? the seed tag that read Salvia Hot Troup, Germany ... i never noticed the Germany thing before... but no name [DG user ID] on it.

Hey Star don't give up on your brug and banana yet. A lot of folks around here leave their's out over winter and unless it gets down to really low like 0, they usually will come back up. Well know for sure the brugs anyway. I think up here they grow a hardy banana don't know if thats what you have.
Its really cold here too, in the teens and suppose to have a colder day tomorrow but haven't had any snow yet just a few flurries. I love the snow tho, can't wait for 2 feet of the stuff hehe. Hope everyone is staying warm.

ants, why don't you check your account on line? I do mine a lot. Also, when she puts that back you probably won't see it. Your balance will just reflect it. I really was upset with my bank over that. Because I had a problem with the seller on something and when they did that, I had no record of their taking the money.

The bank just wiped it out and added the money back in my account.

I check mine online regularly. Can't afford the $30.00 overdraft fees, so I make sure it is in there before I spend anything. I never spend what I don't have. Just checked it again & it's still not there. Anyways, I told my Dad the situation & asked if he wanted me to wait until it was safe to ship & restocked (didn't tell him what) or if he wanted me to get him something else. Well, he wants to wait.

The snow that was nice & fluffy earlier is now hard as ice. 11 degrees here tonight.

Watch your kitties that they don't get inside your dryers without you noticing. My Dad just lost his favorite cat that way. Even though it was cold when she got in the dryer, & she was only in there 2 or 3 hours, she died. My Dad said probably was a gas leak in the dryer. Just thought if I shared this it might save a kitty somewhere someday.

I hope you all are doing alright & staying warm.

ants

Mornign frozen piggies. Hope ya all foudn some ncie warm stra w to lay in.

I got a dumb question for anybody who might know. I looking at soem seed here that says

Opium Poppy.. Hungarian Bread seed

Now is that the poppy that makes the seeds that opium the illegal drug is made from????

Don't want to be sendign anybody anythign that would send them to havign them nic e men in the blue coats or the hit e coats to their house.

I think i had some Opium poppies one... i'll have to go check my records.