Plant propagation part XVIII based on my own experience

Hello to everyone and welcome:
To those new to our little chat. Plese feel free ask anything, as we try to keep it simple and fee l/we should always pass along our own knowledge. Lurkers are also welcome. Please check in if possible I would hate to loose someone in one of these switches.

we came from: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1111522/
As with all of the threads I stat I like to welcome anyone new to our little corner of Daves Garden. Please take the time to read all the past threads. Most of them have some great information in them. There are no dumb questions except for the 1 thats never asked.

remember to pilage before you burn!!!

Very pretty Dave. I know what it is, but can't think of it because I have never liked them. I don't like them in the garden. I like pictures like that. LOL. Salvia. I even planted some scarlet this year. It just hasn't bloomed yet.

Anyway, I'm here.

ok:
words of wisdom from the grand poohbaa.
it is too hot for warm or hot food. we have been surviving on cereal, cottage cheese fresh fruits.

packing. I am not sending plants anymore untill late august. I lost 3 boxes of close to 200 plants because the monkey's at fed-up refused to deliver the same day it went on the delivery truck so it sat until monday. yep thats right it was on the delivery truck friday morning and did not get delivered untill monday. they are all mush. One thing I did wrong during this time of year was to close the plastic bag. but its closed to keep the moisture from soaking the box.
I am just sick over this. JB have you ever had a claim with fed-ex? I filed one to see what all is involved with it. I am praying too so any help there would be apreciated. Luckily my client is understanding and just as sad as I am about the plants. they would have gone a long way to jumping her spring sales into over drive. I am trying to find out what she wants and I am going to try it.
Ok now on to the propagation house. I managed to get Scutellaria spp to root. I am also adding more "undergrowth" to the mix, short flowering perrienials. see the pic.
I will cover packaging tomorrow so pleasestay cool.
Humpty dumpty was pushed
Dave

Well folks, I guess we have to revert back to Jill's, which I can't find, so if any of you stumble across it, please let me know where it is. Thanks,

Jeanette: What are we looking for from Jill? sorry senior moment....
its scarlet sage. It either reseeds or is perrienial here.

I would never be able to sell plants because all the things that can and do go wrong, all equal time and effort and money and sacrifice. It would literally make me so sick, if that happened to me one time that I could not do it.

I feel bad for you guys in that business.

JB we get fire ants here that smothered tons of my plants to death a couple of years in a row. I finally had an exterminator come two times and then I bought fire ant killer after that and I don't have the problem this year, for the first time in several years. Next year.

Jeanette I never go to bed before 11 unless I am sick or really exhausted. I feel like I work, eat, water plants and sleep if I go to bed early. No life for anyone.

Ev don't know the variety of many plants that I have. I have not found a good system to mark the plants that does not fade out or bleed out in this area.

Well, since you didn't want to do anything on wrapping to send cuttings and plants thru the mail I said we would have to go find Critter's instructions.

BTW JB, I found them, thanks to Lisa, and they were pretty much how Dave does his, PLUS, she did the polymer crystals also, but she was tallking about a polymer paste. I don't know what that is.

So, doesn't matter Dave. Don't worry about it. Really sorry about your losing all of those plants Dave. That hurts.

One thing I don't remember reading in Jill's instructions was the time of the week to mail them. I think almost everyone, except maybe the newbies, now know that you only send plants out on Monday or Tuesday. No later in the week. Otherwise, they very possibly could sit in a post office over a weekend. And in exdtreme heat and cold, that could be very bad for plants. I lost 2 brugs that way. One each way. heat and cold.

I lost 3 brugs that someone here paid 20 something dollars to overnight me. It was still such a shock in temperature variants from where she was to where I am. I feel so bad, when I think of how sweet she was and she would not let me pay. They died and I feel like crap.

That is sure too bad. Was it this year? I think the temps are especially bad all over this year. There is nothing you can do about it so you might as well forget it.

Dave, I am so sorry for your shipment loss. That is so sad with all the hard work you did to get it out. I have sent several of my angels your way to help you go forward. Your have all your friends here to give you strength to go forward.

Good news Dave, the young man is coming tomorrow morning at 10am to set up my EZ clone. I will take pictures.

Today has been a long day so I am signing off. Talk to you all tomorrow.

How is your friend who had the surgery Sharon? Good I hope. Surgery is not fun. Is she in PT?

Bet you have had a long day and tomorrow is going to be also from wht you said the other day. But, knowing you, you will get thru it.

Nite everyone.

I want to see if you have an easier time cloning than I do. My seeds I put in it, molded fast. I usually have a good germination rate. I must need to get new cups. I used the old ones.

Cheeze Dave, I am so sorry about the plants. I was hoping your plants would make the trip considering the heat index. I do not use Fed ex because it is so much more expensive and my customers do not want to spend a fortune on postage for a small starter plant.
I have no problem with their deliveries except when they deliver some things they get it to the wrong door if the regular man is not on, then it could sit there for days. I hate that. I also get email notices when delivery is expected. I find that Logee's and some of the bigger tropical plant stores all use USPS. As much as I hate the post office, I must say their delivery has been perfect for my shipping. I make sure I hit the pick up time at the post office and they do not sit anywhere for any length of time. I worry more about the transporting cross country by plane. Those boxes sometimes sit in the sun before they are loaded and that really cooks the heck out of them.
I use spagnum moss instead of poly up until now. That runs into money so I am going to try the poly and maybe that will cut the price for the customer too. I use more Bounty than anything. LOL I charge a packaging and shipping charge because I also use a brown paper I get from Uline as well as bubble wrap Living here in the Country we have no newspapers delivered and seldom have any around the house to use. We get our news on the internet. I always leave the top of the plants open but I had been using a plastic sleeve so they can pull them out by the sleeve and not injure the plants. I like the shoe box type boxes because they hole one or two plants perfecting and work well for me. They are also free at the USPS

Jb: I use a ton of bounty. my DW went ballistic when she found out I had to go buy more paper towels "It was full yeaterday" she calmed down when I told her it came out of my money. lol Have yet to hear from fed ex but I will keep you posted.
Dave

Please keep me posted because I need to know who to use in a backup situation if the P.O. puts the rates up as they suggest they might.

I just got another 15 rolls of Bounty in town this morning. LOL I also use it on the bottom of the bird cages. Best thing to keep birds healthy and clean. When I had 100 birds I used to buy gravel by the big lots, but my birds never get on the bottom of their cages once they have learned to perch and eat like a big bird. The baby birds have to have bounty since they learn to eat from the bottom of the cage. The adult birds all had grates on the bottom to keep them more sanitary. i miss all that mess. LOL So I should have purchased stock in the paper towel industry but I never did.

Take it easy and try not to think about those 200 plants. That is sickening.JB

My husband was the (rural) postmaster here for over 30 years. I never use any other method of shipping, (unless I have no choice...a decision made by companies...etc). It is not the fault of the employees at most post offices, but they are always understaffed. He never could finish his work without working "off the clock", as he was not allowed to get help. He had to figure ways to get the work done. Sometimes he would bring in help when needed, then pay them when allowed at other times that he did the work himself. It was a difficult career and most people are not up to the task. His choice for postmaster when he left was accepted, and he occassionally helps her as well, even though it would be "forbidden", as he is retired. They are constantly changing, the accounting sytems, computer programs...etc. All of that is extremely time-consuming and unfair for the employees as well as the customers. If most people really knew what they had to go through just to get the work done, they would be singing a different tune.

At home, he is hard-working as well. If not on a building project, as he is currently, he will help with the housework and do whatever is needed to be done. He likes to cook as well, and he will prepare most of the evening meals, as I like to cook plain ordinary food, he will get into complicated recipes, just for the fun of accomplishing something. He watches cooking shows as well as home building shows just to learn new aspects of what he likes to do, as I am a member of DG as well as some others in order to learn from people that are currently involved with the propagation of various plants. Even though I subscribe to several magazines, have a library of books and check out more from our public library, it is the ongoing day-to-day learning that stimulates me the the most, as well as the comraderie of the group(s) involved. I have found DG to be the best, so far for ongoing communication.

I found ya ha ha ha. Cant hide from me. Sorry about the plants Dave, I know how much it takes out of you to raise them, and to have that happen,is so so so sad. My heart is sick for you. Weather here is so stupid. One day in the 80's the next in the 60's. How can anything grow? I do have a pepper on that is almost as large as the poor little bush. Think I will let it stay, just to say I did get something out of the garden this year. Anyway, later, Lee

evelyn, does your husband take the Family Handyman mag? I enjoy that one more than any other magazine I think. The imaginations of their readers is amazing, the things they come up with. It is truly fun to read. If he doesn't get it, subscribe to it for a birthday or something. He will enjoy it.

Wow, Lee, you are having a challenging growing season...is it always like this for you? Maybe a greenhouse is in the works for you...huh?

Jeanette ~ Are you still having the same problem as Lee? And thanks for the suggestion regarding that magazine. He likes the Fine Woodworking that I get at the library for 50 cents, then we re-donate them. He does not subscribe to any magazines now...he just does like the accumulation and then having to either find a place for them or throw them out.

Dave ~ Yes, it is horrible about losing all those plants after going to so much trouble over them. Many nurseries do not ship at this time for that very reason, but some do. Still, I won't order anything during the summer...not because I do not trust the shipping process, but my own activities. Many times I will be called away too long, and have no automatic watering system in place and then they are "toast"...after agonizing over getting some special plants not found anywhere else, and now they are not found here, either...LOL! I must be able to prepare for these events before they happen. I am getting better at it..but still lack fine tuning.

And then Sharon and Dawn, are having the heat issues...to the extreme...

I do the same thing with books Evelyn. I don't buy them, I use the library almost totally because I just don't have a place to store them. The books I buy from the library sales I put in a box when I am thru reading them, for the VA hospital. Except for that magazine. I do save it. I have 2 mags that I don't give to anyone, or loan out. That is one. I think the reason I save it is because I was divorced when my daughter was very young and we didn't have much money. Back in those days women didn't make much so I could not afford repairs, so she and I had to repair everything in the house that needed it. Whether it was a machine, car or whatever. And that magazine has so many things in it that show how to do them easier etc. than we ever did. LOL, I do laugh about it sometimes. But then cars have changed so much that there is no way I would try to work on a car now with all the computers etc. in them. Too bad I didn't have them then.

But, you might take a look, our library has those in it too I think. Not sure. The out of date mags are there to take. Like you said.

No, our weather has settled down now to almost an even middle 80s high and mid 40s lows. That is the biggest problem. We really need the nighttime temps in the 50s for the tomatoes to set.

LOL, guess I spoke too soon. The weather lady just said it is going to be in the mid 90s and lows were going to be as high as some nights in the 60s!!! starting tomorrow. Wow, maybe we will get some tomatoes to set. But then she is talking about the city that is 100 miles south of us too. Soooooooooo, They really don't come too close to us very often in their reporting. It will be less than those tho.

It is hard going any place if you are tied down with yards and animals isn't it Evelyn? My sister has a watering system but it doesn't work all the time. Half the time when I go over there when they are gone, a line has broken and the water is pouring out.

Have to tell you something that I thought was so funny. When I was in Seattle I had a watering system and had it set to go off on the shrubs and lawn early in the morning. One morning I was drinking my coffee about 5:30, and hear this terrible racket going on out front. Yelling and screaming. I jumped up and ran out there, and there was a man jumping around in the middle of the yard with the sprinklers hitting him from all directions. Apparently a new paper delivery man and they didn't let us know. He didn't come at the same time as the regular person and got there just in time for them to go off full force.

It would not have been funny if it had hurt him. But every time I remember his arms and legs jumping and flailing around I have to laugh. But, even tho I was home all the time, my yards have never looked as nice as the time I had the regular watering. Same time every other day I think it was.

lol that sounds like something that happened to me when I was a kid. Today it was only 98, yippie.

Morning evereyone:
I am sold on usps now. I have never had an issue with the postal service. my broinlaw retired from the airforce 25 years (he is my age) he has a lot of time to work if he chooses. he was a master sargent and in charge of rules and regs as well as paperwork for the entire group (unit, what ever) he got on with the postal service and did not manage to keep up. his superviser wrote him up for not answering his cell phone when he called. they have a rule about no cell phones to use during deliver. talk about government intellagence....well now he just kicks around and visits family. helps Kims dad with repairs on his homes.
Funny watering story. I do agree burst watering systems are a worry. I hope to switch to the new plastic tubing the plumbers are using. it will expand but not break. I forget the name but its great stuff.
As far as getting tomatoes to set. pollen becomes sterile above 90 degrees. so when you get the warmer morning the hot days will really do a number on the blooms. yes I am the bearer of great news. Have you seen tomatoes set in this situation?
I am thinking of planting new tomatoes for the fall. anyone have an idea when I should start them?
Dave

Dave ~ Some people start their second crop of tomatoes from suckers from the plants they have growing. Maybe to start those as well as seeds now and see what happens. Since I still have so many I never planted out, due to an excess of seed-starting, I already have my re-inforcements. I pulled up the peas now, as they finally stop producing, but the carrots in there are not quite ready. They may not be fit for consumption in this hot weather, but I shall at least let them get up to size and see what happens. I might put some tomatoes in there now.It is almost time to sow new seeds of carrots for the winter, as they will winter over well. I am not quite ready to do that yet. I want to start my broccoli now, both in the ground and in containers...and see which is best, since I have no experience with it. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know how you do it. I will go over to the veggie forums as well on this. I have never started tomatoes this time of year before...have you Dave?

Jeanette ~ Lets play in the sprinklers! Heh, heh.....Our house is small as well, and I need to get rid of quite a few books and magazines. I used to sell them on ebay, and then I just got out of the habit. Now I have too many and will have to donate most of them to our library if I don't trade them for plants or something else. I really want to concentrate on growing things and find it too time-consuming to try and sell on ebay too. Does anyone here do both? I am glad that your weather is in a nice holding pattern, as mine is now as well. In the 80's every day, though sometimes hotter, especially at this time of the day between 2 and 4.

JB ~ How are you doing today? How many birds do you have now? I have a friend who used to have birds for years. She finally got rid of them due to their incessant noise and trouble. She has dogs and cats as well, but they are easier. I used to have fish, many years ago. It got out of hand with so many tanks and cleaning...etc. They finally had to go as well. We have little room in our house here. Our cat stays outside but during the winter she stays in the basement at night. Our dog (black lab, Mutley) has been dead now for a number of years, as well as other animals...

Lee ~ How is your weather today?

Hi Evelyn:
I know Jb does as well as myself. ebay can be a great outlet if you have the right product and are willing to deal with some off the wall requests. I know I will start listing again in late august into october as I have hosta's still to move. its the wrong time to ship them. I have too much invested in them to loose them because I was in a hurry.
is the pic butterfly weed or wallflower?
A bit of bad news on my front. it seems the "comitee" decided to take down the trees and volunteer shrubs growing outside out back wall. it blocks the trafic noise from a main road. well now I have a very hot and full sun back yard. It has changed the dynamic of the back yard extrealy. now its so noisy and hot out there. I am considering putting shade cloth over the whole nursery during the growing season. I know Kim will scream when I anounce it. well I could plant a sycamore of size and get shade really quick.
Kim wants to plant Juniperous 'skyrocket' or something like it. I am trying to get something else as the spider mites are a really bad thing to have to deal with. I hate the little buggers
Have a great evening
Dave

Dave, that was too bad about your bil. I would think he would be a real credit to the p.o. Maybe he should have gotten on with the main office? But, who wants to work in those cities where they locate them?

Were you thinking of PEX or something, Dave?

Thanks Dave. So, now our temps are finally getting into the 90s this weekend so that is going to kill the blossoms I have on!! You are a real good bearer of bad news aren't you?

I don't think we can tell you when to start them. We don't know anything about your area. Do you have seeds, or would you like me to send some? I have several different kinds. Would love to have you grow some out and let me know how you like them. Or did you want to grow some to sell? I don't have that many seeds.

Also Dave, I think evelyn has a good idea. Good to compare.

evelyn, that looks like an asclepia (butterfly plant). Pretty.

Broccoli does not like heat evelyn so it still might be a little early. However, will it have time to grow where you are? Main thing with it is not let it bolt. Also, when you can, cut out the head to use and leave the side shoots. They will produce a lot of good meals.

I take my books to the VA hospital Evelyn. I don't know if they want magazines. But, they seemed to be pleased to get the books. I do that because the library sells them for anywhere from a dime to a $ for the hard covers and when/if I pay $20+ for a book I do not want them to sell them for that. Rather give to the VA. My house isn't small, I just don't have any storage. Also, I am too old to start gathering STUFF. LOL Should say MORE stuff.

I do not make a habit of ebay, but I just purchased a phone system a few minutes ago on there. It is a new one with multiple cordless handsets. Hope I like it. Panasonic. I know you meant plants, but no, I would not do that, period.

Have a good evening everyone.

LOL, think we crossposted Dave. I would like to know why when I crosspost with someone, is my post always the last one.

I would be in mourning over those trees and shrubs being removed. Your yard will need some shade quickly or the plants will go into shock from the drastic change, I imagine.

Doesn't that really upset you when they do that? They do not talk to the property owners at all.

A couple of weeks ago a lot of the natural plants started turning brown and then black. I started paying more attention, and the railroad which brings an engine and 6 cars up here 5 or 6 times a year sprayed 10 or 15 feet out all along the tracks.

Also, the highway department uses a whacker and they come along the highway and cut up (shred) the vegetation along the right of way for the highway. There will be long strips of shrubs hanging. Just makes you sick. I called one time and told the guy off. The office that supervises them. Their county is a desert type of terrain where ours is all green with lots of native plants. I told him they were just jealous of our nice greenery so they had to ruin it.

Well, yesterday the weather made a drastic change. The temperature was 89 instead of 90. Signs of Winter I think. I am completely beat today. My dear dog, Barney, decided to get sick again yesterday and he had me up all night, in fact I took him our on the deck and I laid on the lounge and I just left him poop his little heart out. I got tired about 4 a.m. running in and out for him to do two or three drops, so I did my own thing. LOL That was really neat. I have not slept outside for years. Actually did not sleep but I laid there and looked at the stars. Very relaxing.
I spent hours yesterday on the mower. The crab grass survived and that is all that is growing but it is really growing. I tried counting the trees that have damage in the baby field and I stopped at 50. The kids took pictures and the four professionals at Rutgers all gave four different answers. That is really frustrating. Tomorrow in the 101 deg. heat we are to have they are driving about an hour and a half south to a christmas tree seminar and taking one of the sick babies with them hoping someone will be able to
give them a definite cause. These seminars are really helpful because they are held on tree farms and it is really a hands on class. My SIL also gets credits towards his pesticide license. Not sure what that means but it is like continuing ed I think.
Hopefully it will pay off in the correct information so we can help our babies before they all die. It is a really sickening sight to see all the time and money getting brown. I hope they have crop insurance but I doubt it. I think they just take a loss on their taxes.
Must go and call the vet to see if I am medicating this dog properly. Hugs. Jb

Mornining all:
JB your poor barney I feel for him. It is neat to get out and see nature in different settings. I guess my favorite was watching a meteor shower on the beach in sw florida. very relaxing. Yes the credits are continueing ed. as long as he get so many years he does not have to retest. sorry about your losses.
Not much else to say just have a great weekend its a grand baby weekend. we were suposed to go last weekend but had something come up last moment.
Dave

JB, so sorry about Barney and your trees in that order. Barney can let you know how he feels, but the trees can't I guess.

Why doesn't your sil volunteer his tree farm for the seminars. He's probably thought of that. If they did that he could probably get a lot of good credits.

Sure hope the vet can help Barney. Sounds like whatever meds you are giving him are giving him he runs.

JB ~ So sorry for Barney's illness and the tree farm. Hopefully they will find a cure for those trees. I hope that Barney is better today. Does the heat affect him? Did he eat anything unusual yesterday? A different dog food? I hope that your weather cools off soon. It is crippling in that heat. I hope that you are staying inside in the afternoon. You must have to get up before dawn and get outside to work in order to accomplish anything, right? I slept outside last year on the front porch just for one night, when I could not sleep inside. It was very comfortable as the temp was great out there.

Dawn and Sharon ~ I hope that your weather gets a bit cooler as well. Maybe this weekend?

Dave ~ Enjoy your grandkids now, as when they become teenagers they won't have so much time for grandparents...

Jeanette ~ In the veggie forum, they are starting broccoli now, indoors under lights, if they have a cool place. I have two light shelves, now set up in the basement for growing things in a cool environment during the heat of summer, like violas, pansies and other things that are reccomended for this time. We eat lots of broccoli all year, so I want to learn to grow more of it. I have been cutting off the sprouts, but I think it is getting near the time to pull them up. Also asparagus and artichokes will be of interest to me, as we both like those as well. I am preparing a place for the asparagus, but I think I will have to wait until spring to plant the artichokes.

When I first joined this forum, I read about everyone's adventures with cloning, and now I hear nothing at all. Is anyone working on this method of propagation? It sounds rather complicated, but interesting nevertheless. Is it just taking cuttings and propagating them in bubbling water rather than in a sterile potting mix? Something like hydroponics, but not quite?

Well, I was terribly in pain all night with fibromyalgia, but the tylenol seems to have finally brought the pain to a tolerable level now, so I will go out and make the best of the morning as there are many things for me to do. Have a great weekend, everyone!

(Yes the last picture that I showed was a butterfly weed - Asclepius tuberosa) Do you know what this one is.......?

I hope you folks are open to a new member joing your thread.

I retired in May of this year. My main interest is gardening but did not have much time to devote to it until recently.

Two years ago I had considerable renovations done to my property and most of my plants were lost in the process.
The renovations included:
Housed completely viny sided with new gutters.
Front porch (8 by 20 ft) torn out and replaced
Back deck (10 by 25 ft0 torn out and replaced
2 car garage torn down and replaced .... They really tore up the yard on this one due to foundation requirements
New fencing (composite) for back yard
Paver brick retaining wall installed front yard

All of my veggies are in containers resting on black asphalt.

About a month ago I purchased a small fig tree (about 3 to 4 feet tall) that is in a fairly large container. I would appreciate advice from JB regarding how to overwinter it. I live in Morriville, PA which is right across the Delaware River from Trenton, NJ. I believe I live about 20 miles from JB.

Here is a hoot .... my neighbor two houses away is Jane Burger,
My first propagation attempt is with hydrangea.

Yes Evelyn, looks like a hydrangea.

Evelyn, on the cloning, I think everyone was kind of doing their own thing. But along came summer and we had to tend the big plants.

I use Hydrocodone for my arthritis. I tried all the Nsaids.

WELLCOME MERRY!

Not closed to anyone here.

gotta run, but just a quick note, if your veggies are cool weather plants don't put them on the black asphalt. It would be pretty hot. Are you starting new fall veggies? Or are they tomatoes?

ttyl later

just cukes and squash in earth boxes. 94 degrees here ... Tomorrow the prediction is 100. I will visit my younger daughter in Maple Shade, NJ tomorrow ... she has a swimming pool.

Visited eye doctor this morning ... diagnosis .... need cateract surgery in both eyes ..... they only do one eye at a time. i am suppose to receive a phone call from someone darn (CRS!) I forgot her name ... but it was a female first name they gave ... this person will schedule me for the surgery.

My 21 year o;d grandson lives with me. He is in hot water with me. I spent over an hour earlier trying to connect to the internet. The problem was the ethernet cable was completly disconnected! Now that cannot happen by itself and I would have remembered doing something like that.

Yes, welcome, mm!

This forum is open to all interested in propagation of plants.

Jeanette ~ The plant is a peach-colored yarrow ...Achillea 'Peach', for my "Peach of a Garden", though growing elsewhere...it must have seeded...
Yes, I can no longer take the NSAIDS as well as they tear up my insides. Still, they are more effective than narcotics, for me. I had to quit the hydrocodones, since all those falls down the stairs. Actually, it may really be the combos of all that I was taking, but since I no longer take them, I feel so much better, and much to my surprise, just the acetaminophen actually does help me. I still have the others in case of emergency. I found that if I take them all the time, they became less effective, as I took them every single day. I still have pain, but I feel better, less drugged. I am actually recovering from taking Ambien as well. It has been 6 months and now I sleep almost 7 hours a night. I many times wake up extra early, but if I did not get enough sleep, I can go back to sleep, as I could not before. Now I have to figure out how to get to bed earlier so I can make better use of my days, such as in this hot weather. If I get up before dawn and start work outside once it becomes light I can get a lot more done. I think I will make more effort towards this.

mm ~ I would like to know about overwintering a fig as well, as we both like them. Also, please tell us a little about yourself and your interests in what you would like to start growing.

Hi to all My weather is still stupid. Last 3-4 days have been 80's one hour and 60's the next with thunder lightning and rain, then back to upper 70's. Crazy. no this year is the strangest we have had since moving here 10 years ago. Welcome Mary. Join all of us crazies and enjoy. I think you will find there is more knowledge and experience on this one little forum than others combined. JB I am so sorry for Barney. My little Barney and his brother Fred have both been diganosed with heart problems. They are now 12 years old, some days they don't do a thing but sleep. Of course, I must nap with them, but lately they sleep too much and must go it alone :) I have given up with the veggies for this year. The weather is just too unpredictable. I will probably try again next year, tho. I do think I will start the seeds in Feb, instead of March. Maybe a better beginning will help. I do have a greenhouse, one of those fiberglass ones, but no actual heat in it. Don't think it would hold up heating in the -20's. Usually, I start the seeds under lights, then as the weather gets warmer, I move the babies out to the greenhouse, and then to the beds. This year, it honestly hasn't done any good. Has anyone tried to plant hanging pots with seeds instead of plants? Wonder if it would work, that way wouldn't have to transplant babies at all. Course, would take a lot of room wouldn't it. Anyway, time to water the indoor plants, see you all later. Keep up the chatter, I really do enjoy lurking in the background :) :) lol---Lee

The eye surgery is a snap mm. I had both eyes done also.

Evelyn, wish I could take something different. It has been years since I tried all the Nsaids. There might be one out there that would work for me now.

It will be interesting to hear what JB says about the figs. They grow figs in the Seattle area. Big trees. And it is zone 8. Lotsa figs on them too. I had a friend that had one in her back yard and she said they do exceptionally well planted next to a cedar tree. For some reason the figs and cedars get along well. LOL

My first name is Mary and I taught math for over 31 years in an urban setting (Trenton, NJ).

I have been visiting this thread for about two weeks and you all seem to be knowledgable master gardners that I can learn from.

I have 2 daughters and 6 grandchildren, each daughter has 2 daughters and one son.

The grandson who lives with me thinks he knows eveything!

My house is a large bungalow with 2 bedrooms, bathroom, livingroom, dining room, kitcken and pantry on 1st floor.
2nd floor has 3 bedrooms and a bathroom .... no Attic .... grandson has the entire 2nd floor to himself.

In this picture is my fig tree .... marigolds and petunias at its base. right behind it are 2 xantelope p;ants rhat I started very late from seeds. To the right of the cantelop are some cucumbers. behind these is my container of tomatoes. All the way in the back near the detached garage are 2 earth boxes containing peppers.

Mary, it's a very pretty and healthy looking tree. Hope JB can help you. She will be on here probably in the morning. She works awfully hard on her place and normally goes to bed fairly early.

Now JB, don't you snap at me over that. LOL