CLOSED: 2nd Annual FALL Houseplants/Tropicals Swap - Page 4

Here's your chance to update us with progress reports about the plants you received in our Spring Houseplants/Tropical swap, chat away, and express interest in joining us again in the Fall if you haven't already done so.

Our last day to sign-up is next Wednesday, August 31st. You'll receive your Buddy's name in a D-mail shortly afterwards.

Please strive to Priority Mail your package no later than September 30th.

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If you are new to DG or have not previously participated in a swap I've hosted, prior to posting interest, please D-mail me with your name, mailing address, phone number, and email address. Your personal information will not be shared and is only for my log.

Participants are only obligated to send to your assigned Buddy. Any side trades you all work out should be handled through D-mails.

DO NOT post Delivery Confirmation Numbers directly on our threads...doing so is an invasion of privacy. Instead, keep your receipt handy, or D-mail me the number you used so I can let your Secret Buddy know their box of plants is on the way.

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Our Guidelines below are the same as they have been in the past...

We're sharing a minimum of 3 healthy houseplants and/or tropicals whose value is $20 excluding Priority Mail with a Delivery Confirmation number. Feel free to divide plants you already have or start propagating new ones from cuttings. If your budget permits, you're also welcome to include other gardening items such as gloves, water globes, plant markers, Fall bulbs for Spring or Summer blooms, etc.

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1207301/

And our Wants List is here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1197083/

Reserved for Participants...

AmandaEsq / Amanda -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
candles4u / Crystal
careyana / Carey
Carolyn22 / Carolyn -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
catzgalore / Stephanie
chellflower / Chell
Cville_Gardener / Carole -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
dispatcher1 / Lou
FruitOfTheVine / Susan
GAgirl1066 / Paula
GardenQuilts / Lori Lynn
goldhillal / Crystal
happgarden / Joyce
ilovejesusus99 / Sandy
janaestone/ Di -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
joeswife / Debra
jsxtiger / Jax
Mud_Elf / Kris -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
plantsforpeg -- Staying to chat but won't be exchanging plants.
rouxcrew / Joy
roxxanne / Rox
rvnsbrk / Neener
tikipod / Angie
Tina_A / Tina


This message was edited Sep 9, 2011 5:27 PM

Sandy, our news last week showed how horrible the drought has been in Texas, especially for the cattle. The price tag for lost beef had so many zero's it was mind-boggling. My SIL lives near Ft. Worth, has an office job, and has told us the only way she handles the heat is by going from her place, to her car, and into work...all A/C'd. I've visited her a few times, but thinking back, they were all in either February or March. We're still under the rain gauge, too, but not in a drought situation, and I'm starting to feel guilty that our nighttime temps have dipped into the 50's and have the windows open.

Sure wish I could blow some cooler temps out West, and send rain!

This is Phal. She followed me home from HD. Her friend Dwarf Banana followed Dad home.

(Dad is making fun of my Banana because his looks "BETTER".)

-stretch, yawn-

Likewise feeling sad about the drought in other parts of the nation. Feel blessed with my rain barrels and condensation from the a/c.

Prayers for everyone (including critters) in less fortunate circumstances. :/

A.

Sooz -

I had not heard about the hurricane aiming for the Outer Banks yet. I had better turn on the tv - my Dad is down there..

Thanks for the heads up.

My daughter was in Charlottesville at a strip mall when the earthquake came. She was outside sitting on an urn. She said at first she thought something in the urn was grinding. Then later thought it may have been the urn slipping on the concrete. Just as it started all the birds flew out of the signs and awnings where they congregate and nest. Her BF was parking the truck and did not feel a thing.
Everyone ran out of the stores; most thought it was a blast, but one woman from California knew immediately what it was. She had the presence of mind to time it on her phone and said it lasted 9 seconds.
Mineral is a sort of suburb of Charlottesville, she said.

Charlottesville is a beautiful historical city just a little over an hour away from us and was so close to the epicenter. I'm so glad you daughter is alright, Crystal. One of these days I'd like to visit Monticello again, haven't been there for several years.

I hope your Dad was among the evacuees today, Carolyn, or will be headed inland soon to a safe location. I'm worried about several friends of ours who live between Morehead City and Cedar Island. We watched folks being evacuated today on TV crossing on the NC Ferry from Ocracoke Island and understand mandatory evacuations are in effect for Hatteras and surrounding areas tomorrow. Keep us posted, OK?

Froot - you know where my people are - they never, ever evacuated. They never had much damage. I guess the island takes the brunt of whatever wind comes ashore. I've spent countless hours worrying, though most of the immediate family is gone now. I do know that every one of them got generators after Hugo and they were without power from New Bern down to the coast for weeks.

Hope everybody comes out okay. I'm not watching the weather, but I guess I should.

Night, all.
A.

Gosh check this out. Out of all the US who would think Baytown TX would make the top 10 let alone in the top 10 worst places to walk. I think I need to move or never be a pedestrian.

We had a threat of rain tonight but it was just that a threat :(
Suppose to be hotter this weekend and next week reaching 104 degrees. My son is going to an outside concert Sunday. They don't allow drinks to be brought in. Also going to see the van Sunday and thinking of staying a few days but she has no A/C until I take the 2 small A/C units I have for her. There are others just like her out there.

This message was edited Aug 24, 2011 9:34 PM

Susan, my new kitty is still in Demolition Derby mode. I think I'd best pass on this one. So please remove my "maybe". Thanks. ^_^

Hope all our East Coast friends are safe!!!

Would you like a second demolition derby Kitty, to keep yours company? LOL I've removed your maybe, regretfully. Stay and chat with us though. Wouldn't be the same without cha.

Still in? You mean some cats make it past that whole demolition derby thing?? My cat is over 2 and she still uses my head as traction for her midnight races. (Great way to wake up btw. I have scars on my face lol.)

Our Siamese girl is 2 and doesn't bother anything except mice, that's a good thing since we haven't seen any in the house since she took up here and has taught her kitties well at least in that department. Now it's a whole different ball-game when it comes to what I call her two Tuxedo "tornadoes" that were born in June last year. Both of them love to bring me a whole plethora of trophies...and occasionally a plant tag, much to my dismay...lol

In this pic, it's like Shadow looked up and said 'look at these pretties" that I later learned were Imperial Moths. Never once did she attempt to harm them, even when they were mating.

This is the pineapple top from the pineapple I bought at Trader Joes. It has rooted! I followed the suggestion to set it on the top of the soil (used bark to keep it upright) and water from below.

Wow to rooting the pineapple! Would love to know how :)

Wow to rooting the pineapple! Would love to know how :)

Yeah we had about a 1/10 of a 1/10th inch of rain today!!!

Opps I hiccuped

This message was edited Aug 25, 2011 9:10 PM

DG has a pretty good article on it: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/174/

I followed most of the instructions above with the exception of setting it on top of the soil rather than planting. (Someone in this swap, maybe Careyana, suggested it.) I filled a small plastic pot up 2/3 with soil, set the pineapple in and then used sifted orchid bark around to hold it upright. I sit in a small amount of water once a week (dump out remaining water an hour later.)

I am thrilled as I haven't had much luck rooting them and I'm pretty sure I should never water root anything, especially pineapple. I just suck at it.

Step two on this page offers good trimming directions: http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Pineapple/pineapple.htm

Thanks, Sooze. Really do appreciate your invitation to stay and chat! ^_^

There are actually some quiet moments when kitty is hard at work on the computer. Not that he gets in my way or anything. Of course not.

Carole - so cute!

Carole that is adorable. The kitty antics here never stop since we have 2 of the aforementioned Fruity progeny here. It has been an endless parade of frogs this summer. Sometimes 2 or more a day. Didn't know I had so many, until they started showing up all over my office. :9)

Awww Carole is he a gray or brown tabby? He looks a little like Ke when we got him.

He is black and gray striped mostly but he does have some brownish tinged fur too. He really is the most loving kitten we've ever had ... and probably the smartest. But, oy, so mischievous. :-o

When we got Ke he use to attack (playfully) our dog and was a real wild kitty. When we got Delilah he got even crazier. Thankfully he's calm and mellow now but I wish Delilah would mellow out. She's nuts.

Glad you got some rain out of the showers Sandy. We got zilch. A bunch of us have taken to hosing the house foundations to keep them from shifting/cracking.

There are some very busy contractors in Texas. HVAC - air conditioners have been working overtime and I can't tell you how many people's units have broken in the past few months. We've been blessed (knock on wood) with no problems (yet) but they may be because I'd rather have a fan blowing with the a/c temp set fairly high (that way the outside temperature doesn't feel quite as painful when going outside). Also, companies and individuals that can re-level and repair foundations have been getting a lot of calls since the ground is so dry.

Can't believe it took so long, but Stage 2 restrictions start on the 1st. No more pool refilling (unless used for aeration of living creatures) and only once weekly watering. Of course, no limit on hand watering yet...I never watered my yard though so I don't care about that. (my trees on the other hand, get watered every few days for a few minutes)

It's been like a famine with the awful drought you guys are having compared to the feast of flooding here on the East Coast. We live six hours inland and it was amazing to watch the dark clouds swirl at a quick clip yesterday courtesy of Irene. Never did get any rain but it was really overcast and super windy.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Anyone who'd like to join us, please don't wait until the last minute to sign up. Noon Wednesday is our cut-off time and day. And if anybody has had a change of heart and you won't be able to participate, please let me know by then or sooner.

We are closed to new participants.

I'm waiting to hear from a couple of folks on the fence and will send D-mails with your Bud's name as soon as I can.

Thanks, everyone, for your patience. Wowser, just noticed how many of us are already confirmed.

Is everybody happy mailing by September 30th? I'm afraid if we bump it up later than that, we'll run the risk of Frost for several of you.

30th is good for me!

Same here :)

Works for me.

Sept 30th is fine with me.

It'll be fine if we can crack the mid-90s by then.

Another rain chance fizzled out as the super-sized High pressure pushed another tropical system away. :(

Carey -

I am curious - what are the temps normally this time of year for you? Is there a time of year, that you tend to get rain - like a rainy season?

Carolyn, our temps average in the low to mid 90s most of the summer. That past couple of years have been much warmer than average with less rain than usual too. We don't really have a 'rainy season' but usually have showers in the spring, scattered in the summer and then more showers in the fall. Usually winter is the dryest time of year, but it's been really dry for three years running (which is funny since we had floods summer 2007). Water levels are getting very very low in many places. Some of the more shallow lakes have pretty much dried up.

The scariest part is the wildfires. They have gone from bad to worse, and since water is scarce, it's harder and harder to fight. Wildlife are having serious issues (the butterflies and hummingbirds are really having issues this year).

It's time to start the raindance again. :(

I agree on the rain dance. I really was hoping for rain from TS Lee but no dice. This is really getting old. Animals, plants, birds and people are suffering. I am trying to keep my slab watered but it is so very dry.

I am really growing tired of this drought and heat http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2011/05/as-texas-drought-deepens-no-relief-in-sight/

Wow you guys, we need a nice tropical storm your direction for sure, I have been hearing about the wild fires, so sad....

Wow Sandy that link is old! LOL!

I looked at it going "where is this guy getting his info from? almost the whole state is in stage 5!"

I know it is old but it has only gotten worse. That link tells how bad it has been for a very long period and from May till now it has gotten desperately worse with no relief in site. I am not sure 3 tropical storms could catch up our rain deficit. Was suppose to rain this weekend they said the first of the week but now they have changed their mind. (I told someone it wouldn't happen. :(

Sure was hoping Lee would bring you gals in the Deep South some much needed rain. We may have had our last hot 95 degree day here for a while. Rains from Lee are predicted several days next week with highs only in the 70's and low's in the 50's. The jury's still out where Katia will hit toward the end of the week. Be safe if you are in her path. We need rain too, not as desperately as many of you, but really don't want it all at once and spoil the show the colors of Fall leaves bring, especially the Reds.