After event questions and answers and chatting

wow whatever it is.. it's a beauty!!

Siberian iris...looks like 'Butter & Sugar' which I used to own but gave away by mistake. Glad to have it back!!!

Thanks Pixie. That looks right to me too.

Holly that is a beauty.

It has a ton of blooms coming on.

Jan, if you have any small pots of Aucuba - they are already rooted seedlings and can get planted. The cuttings though, do best kept in a vase of water for a while until rooted.

I love our few caladiums. They are the first to leaf out because I bring the pots in to overwinter. I leave the pots out on our plant rack and water just a few times the whole winter. They go dormant. Then with a bit of added water in early Spring they reliably emerge. I'm looking forward to planting the caladiums from the swap ^_^

I usually put my caladium bulbs in an area where the early flowering plants will be finished and the caladium colors will fill in the gaps. I do the same thing with dahlias.

onewish1: Do you prefer gel over powder? What brand do you use? And then stick the cutting in a good rooting mix?
Holly: Butter and Sugar is gorgeous. Do deer eat bearded iris or Siberian iris?
Wind: Are you able to root the Aucuba just in water?

Roses -- I tried to do that too, but still the wait made me cranky. Says more about me than the caladium!

Happy not sure we somehow don't have trouble with deer. Groundhogs are a different issue.

I have so much unplanned planting going on that half the time I'm surprised when something comes up late.

Thank you, wind. Any idea how long in water? The cuttings you brought in water are big!!

I've only rooted Aucuba cuttings in plain ol water. No idea how long. I just freshened the water and checked from time to time. They are pretty easy to root and can also be rooted inside. Jan, there should be some small seedlings in with the cuttings too that have roots. Good luck with them!

our Japanese primrose are blooming - thanks Pixie!

reminds me--my friend threw a bunch of Aucuba trimmings in a bucket of water one year, many rooted that way, and we planted them and made a big row of it at the middle school.

Excellent -- thanks for the info.

Critter, so sorry to hear of the loss of your friend's little glrl. She & the family are in our prayers. Not sure who gave me the aquatic looking bulbs in water? Sound familiar? Am I to pot them up & put in my pond? Are they aroids? Any help would be appreciated. Going to stop at Holly;s place & see to it that she gets that spiranthes orchid I got at the Master Gardener plantsale last Saturday. Well get there sometime before lunch. P.s. Holly, there is another Master Gardener plant sale in New Bloomfield this Saturday 5/25. Guess who's going?

See you tomorrow Judy. Ric won't be here he has a Dr Appt but I will have something put together for lunch.

Onewish, I said I started Bill's caladiums in 4 inch pots -- I don't keep growing them like that! LOL To give them a head start, they just need enough space to start growing roots and sprouting leaves. It is a tight fit for some of those clumps of tubers he sends!

Button, thanks. They need all those prayers and are so grateful for them. Jim went to the service today -- 500 people in the sanctuary, more in two "overflow" rooms, and there was a live internet "feed" as well.

Who got the lotus tubers? (Is that what Button was asking about?) I should have put them in a pretty bag with a photo! But they're remarkably easy to grow, either in a pond or in a big (no-hole) container. And they're hardy!! See http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3338/

I bought the water gels in a co-op on here a while back.. think the name was water sorb?... but I was looking at this site last year and bought a small bag .. they look real nice.. potassium crossed so they break down and feed the plants rather than sodium that can actually harm them.. pricey compared to what I paid in the co-op .. someone was selling gels at the swap.. if they are the same as the co-op they have been in my garden for years.. I never noticed any decline of a certain plant when they break down.. so I am not sure what the hub bub is .. esp if it's a tiny 4 inch pot.. going in the ground.. how much sodium is it really going to have???
http://shop.watercrystals.ihostsites.net/category.aspx?categoryID=17

yeah I used root tone on them... I still have tons of coco coir and I mix in perlite ... that's my container mix, cutting starter, seed starter.. I used for the last 5 years .. other than that I add the gels & slow release in .. btw I lost my accuba in the storm last year.. big old tree branch smashed it .. along with a bunch of other plants

Chantell, I'm trying to decide where to plant your peanut butter shrub... is yours in full sun? part sun? soil conditions? After looking up info about it, it seems to look more like a tree to me. Does the canopy get real wide? I see it can grow 15-20 feet tall. I didn't know hummingbirds liked the blooms; now I like it even more lol. thanks again!!

Actually, it belongs in our neighbors big backyard. They have gorgeous, unusual plantings and the space for it, but I'm hoping to squeeze it in somewhere on our lot

This message was edited May 24, 2013 6:52 AM

I will look closer, wind and plant accordingly. Thank you.

Damp, breezy, and cool here this morning, 59*F, overcast and drippy. Everything is so vibrantly green and you can hear the grass growing. LOL I'd much rather garden than mow.

The PB plant I got last year from Chantell is a fav of mine growing very well. Just wait till it blooms great scent.

I always start the caladiums inside to give them a head start, I make paper pots and then can plant the whole thing out

That was me with the water gel, from watersorb.com. I bought a 55 pound box so I could share with friends & family (and not have to buy them again for 5 years)... passed along the bulk savings by offering them at the swap at cost. Same with the pens -- on average, they were a little more than the $1 each I was asking. It seems weird to think of it as "selling" at a swap; really I was just passing along some good deals.

And I appreciate that. Looking forward to the fall bulb thingy.

You know what? I am still very excited even 6 days after the event.

Jan, it's so great to know that someone besides myself can get so excited and stay that way for a long time before and a long time after. I think it makes life much more joyful.

I hear you, dear!!! BTW, are you ready to tile yet? Heehee.. I'm not!! I need to finish planting things first. Then we will be away for most of July. BUT, I WILL be picking your brain.

We had a sorta Mini AfterSwap Post Trade here last night. Donnerville, coleup, GIta and me. Now I have um way more unplanned babies...and so chilly out do not want to go take care of them! ack!

I know, it is quite chilly here too!!! glad we're getting decent rain though, we needed it. Plus, it is nice not to have the AC on. Sally, did you get the little aloe from me?

oh yes thank you Diana!! My dad had an Aloe for years so I wanted to have one .
Dinner prep done- so do I take a nap or tend some plants....

It's winter here again!

Judy & Bob stopped by this afternoon and picked up their plants. We had a nice visit, lunch and Judy took tadpoles to go.
We are to get very cold here tonight. I planted the White Bleeding Heart a few days ago and the bush violet we got from Greenthumb last year under the wisteria. Looks nice together I think the yellow BH that should have gone to Happy in there, too.

Thanks to all who shared their "treasures" with me. I left all the hardy ones outside under the tongue of our camper & took the tender ones inside the greenhouse for the night as it is supposed to go down into the high 30's here. Then, I had to bring back inside the greenhouse all the plants I had put outside a couple days ago when it was nice & "toasty", took pix of the Polywogs Holly gave me (thanks, hon) and put them in the pond. I was wondering what those bulbs were in a plastic bag in water in the same pot as the humongous & beautiful Elephant ear and who had so lovingly shared them with me. Are they lotus? I am so thankful for all my dear DG friends and hope the plants I gave you are in good shape. Yes, the Walking Iris is a tropical and mine is in the greenhouse. Would you believe I still have two pots of African Iris I found growing wild in Bob's Aunt & Uncle's place in Lakeland, Fla many years ago? Again, thank you so much for the swaps & hope to be able to attend the next one in person. Bobbin & I are doing great with our healing & Physical therapy., and our 1st craft show happens June 1. Let's hope for better weather. Button.

This message was edited May 24, 2013 5:44 PM

This message was edited May 26, 2013 8:34 PM

I put a zip-top bag with 3 lotus tubers on the gift table -- should have snazzed it up with a photo, but it should have been labeled "hardy lotus, 'Pink Pretty Princess Peyton' "

Glad you & Bobbin are working the program with the PT and healing well!

Jill - I managed to come home with your Lotus, so that is not what Judy is referring to. Wondering what to with it, I goggled the plant name and the first item up was a link to your DG article "Lotus for Containers". Had to laugh. Thanks! ;-)

I think Buttonner is talking about the pot I brought home from your house Jill, our pre-swap party. I think they were EE bulbs from Coleup in plastic bags, may have gotten some rain water in them.

love tadpoles!!!!

I took my new Oncidium orchids inside today. They don't like chill, they say. Coleup graciously 'accepted" the leftover of a huge pot f them at a...church sale?...and I've made three pots out of it. One has two bloom spikes starting.

Holly, Jill was passing out lotus in plastic bags at her house and at the swap! I know cause Wayne and I brought one home! So, Buttoneer , I don't think I put my EE s for you in plastic bags I think you have a lotus!

Sally, glad to hear you are getting in to being a new oncinium orchid mom. When I got those end of April, there were no bloom stems. ( Didn't find out those were bloom stems until someone pointed them out at the swap at Jans. ) And, in less than a week they have almost doubled in length! Look out for blooms. I would have brought them in (put them in the back of my van) with this cold, too as I did the Australian Tree Ferns.

Hey Jan and Roses, I'm still excited. too!

Woohoo!