Florida Gardening: Florida Chit Chat #195

New month, new thread.
The folks where I am want me to get down to Physical Therapy.
We came from http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1235550/
BBL gotta go!
Sidney

Good morning everyone

Thanks for the new thread, Sug'. I'm sending positive vibes your way.

Spring has sprung in my lotus and water lily bucket (not pronounced Bouquet, as Keeping Up Appearances's Hyacinth would have it pronounced). The water lily was the first one to come out of dormancy and produce leaves floating at the surface. The lotus has sent out some leaves to the surface. Its new leaves are now are clearly held above the surface. I made sure to give those babies a fertilizer treatment and a mosquito puck.

The lily and the lotus have a lot of work to do and we don't want the mosquitos we got last year. The mosquito treatment is supposed to last 3 months... I don't think so! Eight weeks is as long as that lasts and then larvae is observed in the water. I come from a mosquito-infested country and it's such a respite not to have them here. I certainly won't start breeding them here.

Gotta go water the tomatoes and the rest of the shade garden under my carport.

Take care, y'all.
Sylvain.

Florida>

Oh Sylvain wish you had a photo of that water lily. My garden is so beautiful right now that I can't pull my self out of it, and the house is getting dirty, need a good all day of rain so I'll clean my house.

Dale I've been enjoying all the photos.

Good morning! Could you guys tell us the names of the plants you post - I, for one, can't i.d. MOST of them! Thanks!!

Pictures, you say? Don't mind if I do. Enjoy.

Sylvain.

It's beautiful! It helps SO MUCH, if I see a plant that I MUST have, and can put a name with it. Chances are not good that I will ever obtain it, but I can at least DROOL! LOL

Beautiful photos, Sylvain! The first one entices me to paint!

Sidney - hope you are continuing to mend!

I had an appeal hearing with DCF for denial of Food Stamps yesterday. Our Legal Aid attorney was not allowed in due to some problems with notice of representation, but she quickly went over the law-based factual research she had done and I winged it on my own. Upshot today is that we are supposed to receive $88/month in back paymements from Nov. 2 to the present. However, I am so certain that the calculations are incorrect (in our favor) that the DCF rep reviewed on the phone with me today, I won't spend any of the Food Stamp benefits until I am certain we are actually entitled to them. It would be a true burden to have to repay any amount we are not actually due.

Perhaps of interest to all and something to share with anyone applying for Food Stamps: Federal law requires that any applicant that requests a face-to-face interview rather than suffering the onerous burden of 30 - 35 minutes of very stale Muzak before a DCF employee picks up the phone, must be provided the face-to-face interview. This turned out to be a winning point in my case. The local DCF "help" center office receptionist informed me when I requested a face-to-face interview (rather than burn up our precious pay-as-you-go phone minutes), that "if I had a phone, I had to have the interview by phone." With the current economy causing what must be a fairly consistent onslaught of new Food Stamp cases, I imagine that most local office receptionists may have been instructed to provide the same misinformation.

In the final analysis, all the many hours I spent in reviewing my case info (along with the attorney's research and hours spent), preparing and providing typed-up chronologies of correspondence, etc., and surrendering and otherwise beautiful day to attend the hearing; will probably never be sufficiently compensated by any Food Stamp benefits we might eventually receive from authenticated calculations. But, nothing like a noble fight to get me energized! LOL

Photo 1: Ipheon uniflorum 'Wisley Blue' - Starflower - the Ipheon are very dependable spring-flowering bulbs for our climate. Plant the tiny bulbs only about 1 inch below soil surface along the edge of a walkway or in some other spot where you are unlikely to disturb them with future plantings.
Photo 2: A Lady Slipper (Paphiopedilum) that blooms every year, beginning to bud in January and lasting in full bloom for several months on the kitchen windowsill. If you can grow African Violets, you can grow Lady Slippers. They require just about the same amount of light and water, but the Lady Slippers are not fussy about getting their leaves wet.
Photo 3: Frost/freeze protection provided by a 5 gal water jug with the bottom cut out to form a cloche/French bell jar.
Photo 4: Juncus effusus 'Spiralis' that was protected by the plastic water jug during the freezes. I found out only after killing a few of them that the Spiral Reed wants to grow with wet feet in partial shade.
Photo 5: Bilbergia nutans - Queen's Tears bromeliad. I love the light captured in this photo!

Jeremy

Sylvain thanks for the photos, very pretty. I wish I had a pond, no more room in my garden for anything.

Kay will do. Of course mine were pretty common, 1. the African Iris, 2. 100 cherry tomato plant, 3. Indian Blanket the FL native one Gaillardia pulchella, dug them up a couple years ago and they re-seed every year, they especially like dry sunny areas out of the irrigation. 4. Moss rose back from seeds, that one is "Giant Jewel". 5. Strawberry, Fragoo, has pink blossoms. ( I posted a photo with the pink blossom) Strawberries are sweet but not as sweet as the regular.

Jeremy hope it all comes through for you okay. I can't imagine battling with DCF, or any government agency for that matter.

Sylvain, they are beautiful.

Hugs,

Nancy

Thanks Sylvain for the report on your foot. Glad it is healing well.
Yesterday Jeremy and our friend Mark came to my rescue when I sent out a request for some comfort items.
The main one being a fan to keep by my bed as the AC even on low is set at "Meat Locker".
Just a breeze is plenty for me.
I am able to do some walking although I still have some very strong muscle spasms. I am getting up and eating in my wheelchair now. I ordered a Coccyx pillow for myself and hope it reduces the pressure on my lower back while I sit.
I mostly stay flat and am getting the 'Log Roll' down pat. the key for dont's with back injury is BLT. Bend, lift, or twist. Can't have more than 90º bend. So can't bring my knees to my chest.
I am in great spirits as I know I'll be back 100%.
Thanks for your cards affirmations and prayers.
Sidney

Forgot I wanted to post this

Hi, Sidney and all. I'm glad I was able to help out with your errands, especially since, as you pointed out, I was able to purchase bunches of cut Alstroemeria without the need for botanical description. LOL It was great to see you and Mark. In appreciation of the transportation home he provided, I sent him on his way with a bag of grapefruit from my tree, harvested before the freeze, that may be on the turn but offered them to him to see if any of them were still edible for his grapefruit per day lunch diet. I also gave him a rooted cutting of my variegated lace cap Hydrangea. He has an "heirloom" Hydrangea that his mom planted that creates bunches of small white flowers, apparently somewhat difficult to acquire. I will be propagating it at his request since some of his relatives have asked for rooted cuttings of the Hydrangea. Anyone know which species of Hydrangea it might be? I will try to get a photo when it is in flower.

Jeremy

Jeremy, How do you root hydrangea?

Long ago and far away>

Hi Jeremy,

I am a fellow Jacksonville gardener - nice to meet you! I would love to know how you root hydrangeas, too. I have tried so many times but they always fail on me... :(

Thanks!
Carol

Welcome Mangogirl

To root hydrangeas just put a rock on a stem and it will form roots where it contacts the dirt. After it forms roots sever it from parent plant and trans plant.
Thanks again Jeremy.
Sidney

Hi everyone!

That's a great idea for rooting hydrangeas. I will check my two hydrangeas tomorrow to see if I have any stems that are flexible enough to peg. I had forgotten about the pegging technique. I've done cuttings several times that appear to be on their way... and then after several weeks, nope - didn't make it.

I'm so glad to be part of this group. I am an active member/poster on the GardenWeb but there aren't many folks from Jacksonville over there. I think there are more people from northeast Florida over here. I have lots and lots of plants to trade and quite a few things I am looking for too. Some of them quite ordinary. Do you guys normally have a swap or trade or get-together?

Carol

Carol, welcome.
What part of Jax do you live in?
Jeremy and I met here in 2004 and we live 6 blocks apart on the Northside in the Pearl/Tallulah area.
I helped with his and Chris' wedding in Aug of 2009.
He is one of my dearest friends.
I actualy saw his picture here (on DG) on election morning 2004.
When I saw him working at the voting place I ask one of the ladies what his name was.
Those little ole ladies looked at each other like I had asked a 'sacred' question. LOL, LOL!
Then I ask if his name was Jeremy and introduced myself.
I now also have a motor home and boat down on Lake Okeechobee. I broke my back 3 wks ago tonight, so I'm laid up in Brooks rehab over on University.
A bunch of us get together about 3 or 4 times a year and swap plants and pot luck.
Then several of us are buddy's and shop etc together.
These are my passion;
Sidney

Carol Brandy, Darla and I live on the east side of the river. Linda lives over on the southwest side of the city.
I am a seed starter, and Linda and Brandy help me transplant the seedlings up to bigger pots. I will be starting seeds soon.

I am into butterfly and hummingbird plants.

That reminds me I need to round up the others and get them back over here

Sandy

I'm here Sandy! Have neglected being here for awhile but trying to put house and yard back together after some home improvement projects (kitchen and new front porch) Now trying to get yards cleaned up and ready to plant. I have lots of dead stuff to trim back or pull up.
If I can get some semblance of order soon I could plan a Round-up here the end of April if anyone is interested.

Welcome Carol! You will find this group very knowledgeable and friendly.
Sidney~~hope your therapy is going well and you will be back on your feet with no pain soon. I am hoping to order some Coleus soon but waiting till no danger of frost/freeze.

Hoping it warms up today so I can go play in the dirt again!!!

I think we are out of the woods now - hopefully, we won't be in the 40's again until next winter.

I'm still in Brooks until next Tuesday when I'll go home to my house here.

Sidney


This message was edited Mar 8, 2012 8:07 PM

Sugar,


Will you have help there? As you know I broke my back flying off a horse and it took me several weeks, with a fulbody corset to get back to work. I could have done nothing without that corset. See if you are able t do that.

Hugs to you

Hap

Sidney,
You sound like you are progressing wonderfully. You have a great attitude and thats over half the battle. Prayers still going up on your behalf. Lots of hugs too.

WELCOME CAROLE,
Glad to have you. You will meet many and make new friends at our next round up. I hosted one last Oct. at my home in Clermont and really had a wonderful time. You can't beat great food and good company plus many beautiful plants and info. I learn more each time and I have been gardening lots of years.

Bonnie

If things work out I will have a lot of seedlings for the fall RU, lots of wildflowers/butterfly and hummingbird plants. I have to cold treat a lot of them so it will be 1-3 months before they can be sowed-so the plants will not be ready for the spring RU.

Sydney - so happy to hear you are being "sprung". I'm sure you will feel better jsut being back home with your plants.

Actually i have no plants up here and will be trying to rid myself of alot of stuff hoping to sell my house here.
More details later.
Sidney

Good Morning everyone ... its been a very long time ... how is everyone?

Well, I am also supposed to go home tomorrow which I am going to appeal for 2 or 3 more days.
My high school friend from Plainview, Lucy and I have re-connected via the picture of me in the body brace.
She now lives just north of Seattle, Wa. She has ask me to come visit this next summer and I ask if it could be the last week in August and if my brother could come too.
She said yes. So I may not try to go to Key Largo this summer and instead save for that trip.
Her younger sister Suzanne is an "Elder Attorney" and married to a retired Boeing employee.
I am so fortunate to have wonderful and interesting friends.
I am getting a rolling walker and my friend Debbie is loaning me a manual wheel chair.
I will have a lot of help as my AFofL-CIO 'family' will be close by.
Marilyn so glad you have found Al.
He sounds like a twitter- pater for sure.
I am dumb-founded at what Medicare wont approve..
I got a super good supplement plan F @ $231 a month with no deductible.
Figured it would cover home help for a few hours a week.
So far no.
Nancy, I do have a full body brace I could
Sidney.

Hi Brady

Sidney hoping things work out for you.

Waving at everyone

Sandy

Sidney - sure hope you can get it all straightend out. Insurance is sure a quagmire of rules, restrictions, & loop holes. They gladly take your $$$ and then, when you need something back, it's like you have never given them a penny.
Hope you get someone to come & help you out a bit.

Yes, that has already been resolved. And I found loaners for manual wheel chair and bath bench.
Brandy the day before I was going to collect water lilies for you the SFWM came along and sprayed all of them. I haven't forgotten just need to find the right spot to collect them.
It'll be a month or 2 before I can go back down there.
Read last chat thread for details on my back.
Sidney

Oh Sidney,

I feel for you. Sorry ol' body brace is long gone, but when I needed it, it was a God-send. I put it on in bed and never took it off till I was back in bed.

Many Light Hugs,

Hap

Hi, Carol, & welcome! We have quite a few DGers in the Jacksonville area and occasionally organize a field trip or garden visit (often as a spur of the moment idea with little pre-planning). We also have a "North Florida Gardening Brigade" as a separate DG thread you may want to follow: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1242941/

As Sidney mentioned, we live only a few blocks apart and we met as a result of DG. It was certainly a shock when some unknown woman with a Texas drawl yelled out, "Well, Hello, Jeremy!" that morning many years ago when I working the polls for an election. LOL We knew each other from DG before we realized we were neighbors. We are in the North Shore area, about 5 miles due north of downtown and about the same distance south of the airport, between Main Street and I-95. I ascribe to the willy-nilly school of landscaping, wanting at least one of every plant that will possibly survive in our climate and grouping them according to shared water and light requirements with minimal thought to color combinations, maximum height and garden themes. I will gladly share anything that can be propagated, so drop by for a visit.

I suppose we all have a knack for propagating certain plants, and I tend to find Hydrangeas very easy to propagate. If you are having problems with propagating them, you may be killing them with too much attention. I use my usual technique: pack down good potting soil very tightly into a pot (I use my fist and thumbs to press the soil down. This helps hold the plant stem firmly so that the tiny root hairs that first form are not broken by wind movement, curious pets, etc.); stick a bamboo stick or other pole into the pot along the inside rim of the pot (again, having the stem near the pot inside wall keeps the stem more tightly in place), sprinkle some rooting hormone into the hole (it is best not to stick plant stem tips into the jar of rooting hormone -- it is an organic material and any bacteria, fungi, and viruses can spread to the hormone powder and infect subsequent plant stems), put the plant stem in the hole you have formed in the potting soil, add a little more potting soil and pack the soil tightly around the plant stem. Water until water runs out of the pot drainage holes and set aside in a shady area (like under a large old oak tree). Water only when the soil appears dry or leaves are wilting. Do not disturb until you see new leaves forming -- but I generally let the plant stay in the propagation pot until even more new growth is apparent. One trick I do with hydrangea cuttings (and some other plants, like passionvines) is to put the pot in a shallow (about 1/2 inch) tray of water for the first few days or about a week. If the leaves don't wilt within a few hours after you take the pot out of the water tray, you can usually assume the stem has made enough roots and the water tray will no longer be needed.

Now, if someone can share how to root hybrid roses from floral arrangements, that would be great! All my attempts have failed. There are some instructions I found somewhere on DG that involved placing the rose stems between wet paper towels in a plastic baggie, but all I get is mold. Anyone -- Help!!

Jeremy

Jeremy, I believe it was the nefarious Martha Stewart who demonstrated how she always roots any bouquet of roses she gets and of course, her success is 100.31% or better.

Before rooting the stems, she harvests the petals to make rose jelly, rose water and petals that little flower girls spread on the floor at well-to-do weddings.

She cuts off the thorns and saves them to stuff cushions and pillows.

Then, if memory serves, she just roots the stems, making sure to change the rooting water every day and keeping the cuttings in bright light. I believe she imports holy water from the miraculous pools at Lourdes, but I could be wrong on that.

Speaking from personal experience, I have had one rose root by accident once. Gail is not fond of cut flowers. It's best if the flowers stay outside in this house.

Hey, it's worth a shot. Good luck with all that.
Sylvain (not really a Martha fan).

Geeze Nancy I can't take my brace off even in bed.
Well leaving Brooks this morning was quite impressive.
Jay who I called my pusher came in and we both went mellow-dramatic with raving crying and carrying on about me leaving him and he letting them kick me out! Then Ms Brandy my favorite CNA told me I had the best attitude of any patient she ever had.
Then I went by the PT gym on the way out and the therapist all lined up to give me gentle hugs and write out their phone #s for me. Tears ebbed, but none flowed.
If I have back surgery I will go back in a heart beat...as soon as they stop the IV drugs...;)
I have all sorts of folks bringing me goodies. Jeremy's wife will make sure the coffee reservoir is filled with water so I can have Dunkin Donuts in the AM. Since she has no permanent job right now I can use her help daily.
I got $200 worth of stuff at Costco this AM. (My DGM was big on using PM and AM in her notes.)
New sheets and some fresh flowers.
I just try to stay on an even pain relief.
My Dr reminded me "You broke your back Sidney!"
This afternoon I touched my feet for the first time. They have been so cold. I realized there are places where I have no feeling on them.
I hope that's normal.
Doing great in my own bed.
Sidney

LOL,Sylvain we crossed.
My 3rd DMIL (In this case the 'D' doesn't mean 'dear', LOL) prayed very loudly. She brought home the long stem roses from the church every Sunday. She would take the bottom thorns off and stick the long stems in the sand in her yard near Santee-Cooper Lake in S.C. Many rooted.
So Jeremy when I can hear you praying from my house, I expect you will have rooting success!
Sidney

Hi Ya'll! I appreciate the welcome! You seem like such a nice friendly group - I am glad to be here. I live in the Southside of Jacksonville, near the intersection of Beach Blvd and Kernan Blvd. I have missed having local people to trade with and get advice from, so I am so happy to find other local gardeners! I can't wait to meet all of you at your next get-together. Is there one already in the planning?

I did try to see if I could root my hydrangea by pegging a branch, but none of the branches are low enough to the ground or flexible enough. They are all woody and will snap if I try to bend it down. I need to learn how to successfully root cuttings. A bit of research, when I find the time.

Here is what is new to my yard this year - do you have any experience with any of these?

Sedum makinoi ogon - $0.25 on the clearance rack after freeze - How would you plant this? I have it in a pot right now - can it take any sun?

String of Pearls - $1 on the clearance rack - I did some reading about this one - have wanted it forever - got lucky

Salvia Wendy's Wish - This went on my "want" list and I found it a week later at Plant Ranch for $3.99 (or was it $4.99?) I started some cuttings and they look good so far.

Salvia guaranitica ‘Sapphire Blue’ - Have you had any trouble with it being invasive? Should I take it back out of the ground and put it back into the pot? Read about that little problem after I planted it.

Salvia Coccinea "Coral Nymph" - an impulse buy!

Blue Porterweed - Was recommended as a good, hardy, performer on another forum

Pink trumpet vine (Podranea ricasoliana) - $1 off the "Dead Plant" rack. It had a few remaining green leaves and I felt pretty sure I could revive it.

What is new in your yard this year? What are you looking to get?

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!
Carol