Spring Round Up, 2013

It was the worst plant sale ever, and I spent days transplanting and cleaning all the plants up. Turns out that there was a greenhouse tour 30 miles south of here and I think all the gardeners went to that! I went to a meeting of the San Luis Obispo Cactus and Succulent Society today. It was interesting and I'm sure I'll go to the next meeting, good place to make some connections with other succulent lovers. Also a good place to share plants and get some new ones.
I will bring butterfly plants. I have some good ones in seedling form and I'm running out of room in the new butterfly garden. I have lots of single white hollyhocks and some "mixed" color ones too. They probably won't bloom this year as they just germinated last week. Most of my butterfly weed was eaten by bugs while still in seedling form, and then there were the two the gopher got, arrggghhh, but I may have a couple extra of them too.
I'll try to post a pic of my crinum, it is in bloom.

Sylvia, it has only been two years and you have already had blooms and babies! They must really like you.
Sami, I am sorry to hear that your DH is under the weather. Maybe he feels bad like me due to the change in weather. I know that when the sun comes out, that I will feel better. I hope he does too.
I would like to show you what I have been doing, with the vertical gardening.
Dee, I'm sorry to hear about your plant sale. That is pretty tough competition to have. I can tell how much work went into preparing the plants for sale. That is disappointing, but next time it will be much better, I'm sure. I think your kind of crinum is pretty. I think a friend has some like yours, only the blooms on hers are red. How do you start them? I do like the color of your crinum, because it is different than than the ones around here. I saw a lot of them in the b.fly gardens that I have visited.
I have some cool plants to trade you for any b.fly plants. :-)
Dee, do you know how to make coffee? You can take care of that for me. We don't drink coffee, and I have been told my coffee is pretty bad.:-(
Got to go for now.
WIB~
SW

DH was feeling OK today so off to my "junk" (thrift) store. Saw some things I liked, but not the prices. Anxious to see your vertical gardening. Sun was out for a short time today, some mist came down but now enough to help any plants. I know someone is getting rain just wish it could be us. I know the changes in the weather causes a lot of misery for DH. I try to get him to come out when it is nice and warm, but that is a job. He much rather sit in his recliner or lay in bed. I sure would have a lot of projects for him if he started feeling better.

Anyone interested in spider plants? I have a large plant with lots of babies on it. I'm hoping tomorrow is the day I can spend working in the yard. I could never work on a scheduled list, things just don't happen to work out the way I want them to.

Yes, I could do the coffee. That would be an easy one for me. I'll bring all the associated stuff that goes with it too; cups, sugar, creamer, spoons. I have a good coffee maker that keeps the coffee warm with a thermal caraffe so it doesn't get bitter.
I don't have a clue about crinum. I recieved this one from a friend and it has taken a couple of years to finally bloom and start mulitiplying. I did feed it this year, that may be the secret. I also keep it close to the pond where the air stays a little moister than the rest of the yard. I've seen a lot of crinum in Santa Barbara, I think they like the coastal air.
I'd take some spider plant. I have an area I water under the oak trees and I'm sure I can find a place to just plant it and let it do it's thing.

I love to go thrift storing too, Sami. Of course DH isn't convinced we need what I buy, so I usually don't tell him. LOL! I am really praying your DH will be able to join us for the RU. Please tell him I said so, Sami. I'm looking forward to showing you what I'm up to right now with my verticle gardening.

Dee, thanks that will help a lot. : - )
It only took me something like 20 years to get babies from my crinum. Sigh . . . How does Sylvia do it? She lives up in Hemet, and her climate is probably wetter than mine. That's got to be it.

Sami, what do you feel like bringing for potluck at the RU?
Sylvia, how about you?
Since I live here, I thought I'd make some kind of meat dish to share. I have to check out some of my cookbooks. I've been wanting to make some of those recipes but, they are usually portioned for more people than I'm currently feeding. It's kind of hard to go back to cooking for one or two people, when you're used to cooking for four or more.
Before I go and get too excited, any dietary restrictions/allergies I should know about? PLMK!

I'm off to check out my recipes.

WIB~
SW

Oh god, don't get me started on allergies, LOL. I just took extensive food allergy testing and my doctor has an extensive list of foods I shouldn't eat. The two that I absolutely can't have are wheat and eggs. Anything else on the list, well I'll live. Getting old sucks.

I will bring some kind of yummy (I hope) salad.

I'm off to Costo today so I'll decide what I'll bring after that. Get back too you on that. DH has spent a lot of time sleeping so I'm thinking he is getting ready for the gardening trip. LOL

Yep, getting old sucks!! Haven't had any allergy testing, I might have to give up chocolate and I can't have that happen.

I did get to Costco and looked around to give myself an idea what to bring. I bought a bag of baked sweet potato fries, for snacking, and some fruit & nut bars. Those bars are really good. Trying to stay away from wheat products, (dee) and I found everything I picked up said it had wheat in it. I also can bring some bottled water. I'm getting lazier about cooking, never was crazy about it any way.

I think my printer decided not to work any more so I was looking at some while at Costco. They all look so complicated now. Going to play with this one some more before I decide it isn't going to work. Technology is so darn frustrating at times.

Yeah the wheat thing isn't easy. I will surely be able to find something to eat, if just some fruit salad, LOL.
I need to get the particulars pinned down. We start at 10:00 and it lasts until ? I'm looking at staying at the motel now as I don't really want to drive through LA Saturday morning, sounds painful. I've found some good deals around Pomona and Chino so I'll only have an hour drive in the morning.

How do you all feel about Chili & Cornbread? I guarantee it'll be wheat free, and egg free, and not too spicy. I found a really nice recipe for the Chili using beef ribs. It was in one of the paleo cookbooks I got for free off of Amazon. : - )
You know, a fruit plate for desert sounds really good. Sylvia said she was going to be bringing a salad, so I think we're doing pretty good. I always have ice cream if some one gets a hankering for something sweeter.
I have to agree, getting old, ain't for sissies. But, given the alternative, it's the only game in town.
Dee, I'm glad you are planning on staying somewhere local the night before the RU. It's a long drive from Arroyo Grande.
I heard from QG. I don't think she should try to come. Her DH is going into the hospital this weekend. Keep them in your prayers, okay?
I'll be checking in over the weekend to see if anyone else plans on attending.
WIB~
SW

Chili sounds great! I can pick up a fruitty thing at the market on the way down too. I will still be in charge of coffee also.

Chili sounds good to me too. A couple weeks ago DH mentioned he could eat some chili. We won't go hungry. LOL

I think our winds have died down so I can clean up the pine tree mess. It really got hot yesterday so I didn't spend too much time outside.

Chili & cornbread it is then. : - )
Dee, I think you are the only one who needs directions to get here, so unless I hear otherwise from Sylvia and Sami, I'll just send them to you in a Dmail, instead of a blast. I know that Sylvia has found her way back here a few times, I guess I'm not too sure that Sami's DH remembers how to get here. I do hope that he is up to the trip. It will be good to see you both. ; - )
I've still got some clean up to do from the wind, and a lot more from being too sick to get up and do stuff. Last summer was too hot, and I'm hopeful that this year we'll have a milder summer. Seeing as how it seems to already be here. Sigh.
But hey, the lupine seed that my Mom and YS planted all those years ago is blooming. The weatherman says it will be getting cooler, and we've been having some misty mornings, so maybe they'll hang on til after the RU. My wisteria is already bloomed out. Every time the wind blows I get a blossom snow fall on me. The Honey Locust trees are fragrantly in bloom, and they are loosing their blossoms already too. Seems so fast this year. Or maybe it's because I have a lot going on right now.
Looking forward to this weekend. I found some more goodies, but can't remember the names. Maybe you all will know them. : - )
BBL~
WIB~
SW

It is now count down time!! Yes, DH remembers how to get to your place. I've seldom seen him get lost going any way, but always a first time!!!! LOL

Was out cleaning a little in the back yard and I tripped and fell. Well, if DH hadn't ask me for a large trash bag I wouldn't have gone back in the house to get him one, came out and fell over my own mess. A little more padding on my rear end I think saved the day. A little sore in some spots today, always worry about falling.

Okay Sami, I'm supposed to be the one that falls, not you! I hope you are okay, and not too bruised. Take a couple of aspirin and take a warm bath, and soak out your aches and pains. I'm happy DH remembers the way here. : - )
Gee, the more stuff I take out and trim back the more stuff I find! Some of it is good stuff, like plants I like, and some of it is both funny and shocking, like the toad in the overturned flower pot,( we both jumped), and some stuff is downright discouraging.
I think if I ever get everything in my gardens exactly right, I'll have a heart attack and die. My gardens are always a work in progress.
Yesterday, while working on pruning off the dead stuff on my bower vine, I found a birds nest. Today, I saw a bird hanging around it. He'd better not be planning on moving in, because tomorrow morning it comes down! I would have got it yesterday, but it's up high. I finally found the tall ladder and wrestled it around to the extreme opposite side of the yard from where I found it. Now I'm too tired to climb the ladder, and given my propensity to fall down, I thought I would wait until tomorrow and tackle the job in the morning.
I have some starts I need to pot up tomorrow, and I can begin to prepare the ground for the Lantana. Yea!!!
Dee check your D-mail.
Oh, and I could use a final count on attendees too. Sylvia how many people are coming with you? Sami, I have you down for two, and Dee is coming with plants, unless she wants to bring a friend. I don't know how many people are going to show up from my family. I mentioned to my ES that we were having the RU this weekend, and he said, "Oh boy, free plants!" Gotta love him. On our last trip to Lowes, he was buying up them "save-me" plants that were half price. He bought some bouganvillea to put on his dog kennel fence. They'll probably eat them, but if they don't, it'll look really pretty. My neighbor, Kendra, said she'd like to stop by, if she isn't at work. You never know who'll turn up. Anyway, back on topic, I figure we'll have at least 10 people. So I'm planning accordingly. If I'm wildly off, please let me know.
I'm going to go take my advise to Sami.
WIB~
SW

I'll be coming single.

Okie dokie, I got distracted, but I am back on task, and you've got your directions now Dee. : - )
Thanks for the heads up.
WIB~
SW

SW Me is coming. Dee I would like white hollyhocks or any hollyhocks, columbine and lobelia.

Do we have anyone who wants to join us? If so please post on this thread, and I will send off directions.
Looks like we'll have good weather tomorrow, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone. : - )
Safe Journey to all those traveling to get here.
WIB~
SW

All you gardeners, you missed out on a lot of great plants thanks to Domehomedee! See what happens when you don't stay involved??? Just kidding, but we only had a few gals, but had a great time.

SW, I left my stainless steel bowl, always forget something, good thing my head is attached to my body or I'd leave that behind. It got a little too hot to spend much time out in back, but managed to haul all my plants out of the truck and was out admiring them.

Thank you dear Julie for hosting the RU up again. There were just a few of us, however it was so very all good. Enjoyed the company and the yummy chili and corn bread you made and came home with lots of plants mostly from Dee. So very happy to meet Dee and have a wonderful relaxing day and your wonderful place.

Love you all,
Sylvia

Sorry we missed coming this year! Living in AZ makes a tad longer commute. Too bad more weren't there. Sw was right about DH Tony being in hospital - bilateral pulmonary embolism and in there a week. Out a week and in ER again now withunknown something else. Fourth ER in five weeks all different!

Hi quiltygirl, sorry to hear Tony in and out of hospital and way too may ER visits. Saying a few prayers for him. Why are our men falling apart???? Darwin sees the oncologist on the 2nd of May and will decide if he will do chemo. Then he eye started giving him trouble so got him in today to see about an eye test, gave him referral to eye doctor for tomorrow morning. He has had trouble with that eyes over the years. He's worried about drivers test before May 7th now. He felt OK going out to Menifee and was glad we could get out there. Jules has it so nice and so many plants. We did miss you and hubby. This old age really sucks!!!

I just got home from a great trip. I wanted to thank Julie sooo much for having this event. I really enjoyed meeting all of you. I immediately got all the cuttings in soil and it looks like the pineapple sage will survive. I was sure it was toast yesterday just hanging out in the car in make shift vase, but it is perking up just fine. I will be planting everything tomarrow, both my daughters are excited about all the lantana, they are nature nuts and love the bees and butterflies it brings in. Thanks Julie for making the extra effort to get me home with lots of plants to play with. I'm hoping you do this again next year, I'll be there.

Pegi,
DH, Tony does not even drive anymore. almost 2 years now, due to eyes. So, when I go to CA or TX, he is here alone (well, with 10 animals to care for) and unable to go anywhere. I usually makes sure people and animal foods are stocked up, but last time, with Mom dying, we were nearly out of hay. We have great neighbors who took him out in their truck to pick up some bales and get some fresh burritos. Seems, oftentimes, that some of the treatments we get for diseases are things that cause problems in future. That has been the case of the abdominal radiation Tony got in'93 for his cancer and the temporary colostomy in '96 for diverticulitis. Looks like the small bowel obstruction diagnosed last night and the bladder cancer from 2 years ago could be from those

Enough of that. Glad you guys scored well with plants and wish I could have met you Dee, I remember you were going to come last year and were unable at the last minute. Jules and Jack are great and have a wonderful place there!

Wow! What a RU! You know for the first time in years, we had wonderful weather for the RU. Not too hot, not too cold or windy. Yea! Everyone who said they were coming, did, and I have to say, we had a wonderful time.
Dee, you had some wonderful and unusual plants to share, and I do believe everyone went home loaded down with plants to play with. : - ) Please tell your girls to check out the Insectlore.com website for some cool b.fly feeders, and information. I'm glad they like the lantana, and glad I insisted you take a couple of extra. : - )
Thank you for making the effort and taking the time to come down here and share with us. Next year if you want to "Glamp it", you are welcome to hang out with us longer. Just bring your own coffee. : - )
Sami, gosh girlfriend, I feel so rich with those plumeria you brought me. Now, how do I take care of them so they will bloom? The ones I already have don't bloom like they should. Maybe too much water? Oh and the yellow one you brought me, started to leaf out. : - ) Do you want me to ship you back your bowl? Yep, I found it about the time you got to the road. Sigh. . .
Sylvia, my DH loves that 'tater salad. I am LOL. I think he was disappointed there wasn't more. Now he knows where to get it. How long do you think it'll take before some shows up in my fridge? Hmm. I have to say I was a little bit disappointed in that chili. I think it was bland. I also think it could have used some more beans. I kinda liked that cornbread recipe, even if it did have a banana flavor. : - )
Does the pineapple sage root in water?
You know, the only thing I'm disappointed about, is that I forgot to take photos.
As for next year, unless someone else wants to host the RU, I'll be happy to do it. Maybe next time, I can manage to show Dee our oaks. : - )
Sami, I do hope Darwin's eye exam goes well. I could tell he tires out quickly, and I'm so glad he found that lounge chair to nap in. You do know that my DH was sneaking inside to take a nap too? Yep, he was. He's a champion napper. : - )
Lynda, I'm still praying for Tony. He is such a funny guy. We did miss you, and I know that if you could have been here you would of. Next time you are out this way, I fully expect to hear from you, and if time permits, perhaps we can get a visit in. : - ) You know I like visiting with you. Maybe we can even make a trip to DeJongg's for some chocolate milk.
Thanks once again for all of you who came out for the RU. I really enjoyed myself and I hope that everyone else did too.
WIB~
SW

Jules, don't worry about shipping the bowl back, DH said we can get it next year. It isn't a bowl I use very much. Positive thinking on his part which is good. I don't water my plumeria too much, just don't let them sit in water as they hate to get their feet wet. I looked all this up and quickly forget what it said. Need to go on the Plumeria Society web site and read up again on them. It took me a couple years before my first plumeria bloomed so don't look for any blooms yet. I think they are slow growing too. Going to have to print out instructions on them again. My cousin had given me some seeds years ago and I tried to germinate them without any luck. A lot of people have good luck with them, but I'm not one of them. I'm hoping my white and candy stripe one blooms and I'll take a picture of them. A gal I got free cuttings from said she just stuck them in the ground without letting them callus over, but I know they wouldn't grow for me so I even put root tone on them before I put them in pots. I know it does take about 3 months before a root ball forms.

This week has been taken up with doctor appts. but can't wait to get out and play in the dirt.

Tony always enjoys spending time at the RU's - especially 'discussing' politics with Jack and everything else with Darwin. He would have voted for nap time too, these days. Wish I could have taken and that lantana grew here. It is just an annual here. I need to get a bee garden going. Have some rosemary and Russian sage (grows rampantly here). Need to see what else to get.

A nice visit would be in order, Jules. DD is living with friends not too far from DeJongs! When I did my strawbale veggie garden a couple years ago I got all my strawbales at DeJongs. I got them for a discount after rains when they got wet as they were considered 'damaged'. LOL, then I had to go home and damage them some more! Our local feed store had those bales for TWICE the price! I found another location for a little less, but now, after discovering how TRULY BAD the soil is here, the bales have more value. Besides soil AND water being alkaline, my hole digging helper discovered large deposits of caliche clay. I thought someone had dumped concrete randomly around the yard then covered it with this sorry excuse for dirt. Well, our God sure has a sense of humor. Made me read a lot before discovering what it is and what cannot be done. Meanwhile my apricot, peach and two apple (yes, it gets cold enough here to have real, red apples) trees are still waiting for a hole to live in. The nursery said fruit trees can live in pots...... Of course, not the huge terra cotta pots I brought, as those would crack in winter weather if they were full. Very despairing.

I thought I had bad soil, but quiltygirl you hit the jackpot. I wish you all the luck in your veggie and flower growing. A friend sent me a sanyo 14 mega pixel camera and she had no accessories so have to do a lot of new learning how to put pictures in computer; All the learning for dummies books must have been published for me.

Hey QG, it's good to hear from you. From you too, Sami. I'm really glad that Darwin said he'd be back next year to pick it up. I agree, I like that positive thinking. : - ) You don't have to wait a whole year if you don't want to, you know.
QG, since you live in such an arid climate with poor dirt, why don't you join me with the container gardening? You remember that old metal horse tank in my back yard? Well now I'm using it to grow tators. I put all the dirt from the dead plants I've killed over the past few years in there, and added mulch, and they are so happy. I'm pretty happy not to have to deal with the gophers, or worse yet the ants that took up residence in them.
QG, I will save some lantana for you. I just checked and it looks like I still have a couple with your name on them. :-)
Back soon with some photos.
WIB~
SW

I love container gardening. In fact today I am cleaning up an area for my "galvanized garden". All the plants will be planted in old galvanized metal things. I have a couple of old chicken waterers and some long feeding troughs, several buckets and even a decorative oval tub. I'm putting holes in the bottoms with a big railroad spike and a hammer. If this doesn't foil those pesky gophers nothing will, LOL.
Dee

Sounds good, will you be taking photos?
WIB~
SW

Yeah, I'll post some when I get it finished. It's raining today . . . that's weird. It was soo hot just a few days ago and today it was humid and overcast.
I just really appreciate not having to water for a few days.

Hey Dee, I just noticed your zone showing as 9a. How can that be? With SW in 9a and I used to live nearby, I can't imagine your proximity to the coast would give you that rating. I lived in Santa Barbara for 8 years (boy, would I live to live there now) and then in San Pedro and the coast has such a more moderate climate compared to inland. My girlfriend's parents retired from SB to Paso Robles to acquire more land and her mom was amazed at the difference in climate, being more inland brought. She started sending her potted 'tender' plants home with her son to winter in SB and had air conditioning - and used it - for the first time.

I fought gophers when I lived in Long Beach, watched them pull my zucchini and tomatoes plants under ground. Had some good soil though, got a lot of fruit, compared to the clay soil here. We had a couple of hot days, almost 100, then the rains came. Loved the rain though, we needed it. Hope it helped the firefighters out, lots of fires going on. Looks like more rain now, I'm looking forward to it.

I'm actually closer to 8b. Arroyo Grande isn't far inland. We actually get some fog down in town proper. My property is just on the other side of the last hill that gets the marine layer influence. I can see Pismo Beach from the top of the property. We're closer to the ocean than say San Luis Obispo.

It has been over 6 months since anyone has been on this thread. Gosh I miss all the news from around here. Just popping in to say hi to all those who might stop by.

Hey Samigal!
I might not get to the computer on these sunny days, but I'm still here. Some of my plummies are putting on new leaves already! I'm sure that is due to the unseasonably warm weather.
Do you still want a lilac bush?
Do let me know, okay?
I'm hopeful we can get together again this year. : - )
WIB~
SW

I do want a lilac bush, Jules, just don't know when or if we will get up there. DH is still having bad and good days. We went to our primary doctor for him, a regular check up, and when he couldn't get out of wheel chair to walk they put him in another room for an EKG. Heart & pulse was beating too fast. Well, doctor had the ambulance take him over to the hospital where he had a lot of tests run and ended up staying overnight. Our hospital is on the same grounds as the clinic which makes it handy. He wasn't happy having to stay overnight, but he now is on meds so he doesn't get angina attacks. He may have acquired this flutter a while back when he was having times when he had to put his oxygen back on for shortness of breath. Don't know how many more things can go wrong. We are really hoping he gets strong enough for a round up as he enjoys them as much as I do. Hugs to all