Plant Propagation The Basics ,October 2016

Spent a lot of time outside today, it was in the high 60's and quite nice, could hear the whooping of the guys inside watching the game with the windows wide open. Brugs still in ground out there.. it just started raining a little! ABOUT TIME! Meanwhile, back to the basement garden..and play time,first pic was a cutting from Greta's a year ago that I mailed to myself from up there, and today I added a cutting from the peach double hibiscus and a cutting from a lantana, so here is hoping those two will take in that same cup. Here are some pics of the garden and stuff downstairs.. Oh yeal, I turned some plastic KC Chiefs cups into planters.. working on desk plants for work folks. turtle area... changing it to a big glass terrarium when we pick it up, then this pool will go into storage for awhile.. I had to tilt the plumeria to keep it on one piece, it has a bud forming and didn't want to cut it off like I did last year.. the other "stick" is a de-leaved brug called kaitlynn, she had mites so I stripped her and washed her down real good....I'm so glad Joe lets me do this in my home...

Keith I post my non propagation stuff on the Back Porch, mostly anyway. Fireplace thread
This message was edited Nov 7, 2016 11:01 AM

This message was edited Nov 7, 2016 11:02 AM

it sounds like everything wants to eat brugs. I never got into plants that have to come in for the winter. Actually I did for a while, had some bougainvillea, after one winter and a nice spring bloom on I gave them to a friend with a sunporch. I am trying to find home for a white ginger tree I got from a houston DG member a couple of years ago, it is alive, I have faithfully moved it in and out and up-potted, but it is getting to be too much work and has never bloomed. People in North Texas have sun porches that are temperature controlled in summer. My greenhouse gets too hot and steamy even with all the windows open so I have to pull anything that isn't on the pond inside it out, I don't even go in to water much. (the pond pump keeps stuff on the tray watered. Gave my daughter the Mexican flame vine that sent off roots onto that plant tray, her bougainvillea are still alive.

Jen, I've got some white Daffodils, Allium and Tulips for the front bed. I was removing lava rock all day so didn't get them planted...argh.

Lava rock is for pond filters and driveways. I used it once in a flower bed, by the time I got it out my hands were shredded. you have my sympathies Robin

I use that Lava Rock in Sempervivum beds and sets , goes well with cacti thing , Robin ,, industrial gloves ?
I was following along ,
Debra ,,!!! Whole lot of Shaking going on ! he , he ,, I hate quakes , Last one here I was tying to hold a 150 Aquarium on it;s stand , Heavy , heavy ..
When a tremor woke me afterward I was thinking , not again ,,
New Madrid ,,,Blub , Blub ,, Blub .
It was sunny near 70 here today also , and that will be the last time for a long while as it seems ,, Fall arrives tomorrow with rain ,,

For anyone who has trouble with deer digging up things through the snow here is a trick I tried last year that seemed to work very well. Deer dig through the snow for 3 things in my yard; green grass which doesn't really hurt anything, Hostas which again don't seem to be bothered by the intrusion, and succulents which if they eat what's above the soil line, nothing comes back. I read somewhere that putting down chicken wire deters them because their feet gets tangled up in it. So I tried covering all my hardy succulents with chicken wire before snow last year and they never touched a thing.

helps keep critters out of chicken coops too, put an apron of 1 inch chicken wire on top of the ground for a foot or so around the coop. Works pretty well

wonder if that would work with squirrells?

around the bottom of a fence or to keep them from planting in your flower beds? Probably.

cold is coming, need to fill the greenhouse in the morning

Cold rolling in here also it was nice today , tonight 40's and falling already .
Setting up for later , more to do , got the boots and coveralls out a while ago

It was such a beautiful day here (70°) and I just noticed I had more Daffodil bulbs to plant. I guess I'll be planting them in the cold, yikes. It looks like you've been busy Ju.

What is cold in Texas Gypsy?

Down in the 20's with the wind , I will sort seeds tonight possibly for a while Gust near 40 and some snow , too cold out for anything ,
Boots and coveralls make me so I can take anything cold to about 0 but the wind is another story .
A couple construction buckets of seeds to clean

Hey everyone-
the photo contest is done. And the result is: Oxdriftgardener!
Love the pics. And I felt a little like I knew a celebrity, as I recognized the garden, flowers and even the path.

Pistil, where can we find the photo contest results?
Rusty

Hey Pistil, great to hear from you and Thank You. Rusty, I don't think you can see them right now. They were up the morning after the contest ended and then they disappeared. Kind of expect an announcement on Monday morning. It has been a great year for me. Thank you Daves Garden Community for the votes and support
Keith

I guess this is an example of retirement bliss. If you have hobbies that you are passionate about it can be a wonderful thing. Most of the people who knew me at work can't believe that I am happy in retirement because they never knew this side of me. They just saw a go getter that would soon become bored stiff sitting at home every day. I don't SIT at home every day and I have all the time in the world to excel at what I love to do.

Congratulations Keith ,, Wonderful ..

Yes Congratulations Keith...well done celeb!

Thank you Ju and Robin. Ju, I didn't see your picture of the butterfly on the Mexican Sunflower in the contest. I was all poised to cast my vote. Was also trying to recognize cats in the domestic animal category but if they were there I missed them.
Kind of a humourous thing happened. I don't know if you guys remember me making a comment on a post in mid summer that I had a pot that I wasn't showing you because I was saving it for the contest. Well I entered 2 photos in the Container Garden category and it got beat out by my second entry that I wasn't as excited about. Not sure if you guys got a peak already like Pistil did but here is my favorite that I was holding back. Now that the contest is over I have posted another showcase of all my favorite 2016 photos. You would have already seen the rest of them on here over the summer
Keith

I see why you like that one!

Very nice Keith. cold was 29 cold enough to freeze anything I didn't move or cover and I got home with a 12 year old and a 2 year old in tow, and a 6 year old granddaughter too, just before it froze. Lost almost all my tomatoes even though I tried to cover, and now it is 70 again.

Sometimes I miss several things browsing through , Really nice though all were ,
Nice to see the winners we have talked with and enjoyed ,
I am still setting up winter sowing , I will renew hew here shortly ,
Went and got my ski mask and gloves today looking to stay warmer in the colder months and the garden ,
Temperatures are sneaking up here so I will wait to sow Daylily would germinate and freeze in these temperatures in a container ,
Cold , but a little colder is required , However container set up in the meantime , Browsing patiently along ,

Nice, Keith. Glad you are doing what you love.

Oooh, nice combination Keith. You've got a great eye.

Ju, I'm going to restrict all of my sowing efforts indoors from now until spring...unless it's just to toss out a wintersown bin. I get dangerously close to hibernation this time of year. It just goes to show -- you're a better man than I!

29° is purty cold for a southern state Gypsi. I do like 70° better (for a night-time low)!

Robin , My hands get cold , so while this might sound wrong ,,lol not that much better , Say , from the scientific view of human ? lol

This rough cleaning of Zinnia Construction bucket of Sunflowers are next , Seeds and more seeds

LOL, now you're being humble. Are you cleaning all those seeds outside? That's a lot of seed Ju, construction buckets are huge.

This message was edited Nov 21, 2016 11:55 PM

Wow Gypsi, you are not much warmer than us. Would you believe we don't even have any snow yet. There was a major snow storm just an hour east of here on the weekend but we didn't get a flake. Have had a few -10 nights but not even any of that in next 2 week forecast.

JU, I AM SO GLAD YOU LOVE TO CLEAN SEEDS. SO DO I, ESPECIALLY IN WINTER, IN THE LR, AND THEN BY SPRING IF WE WATERED THE CARPET I AM SURE IT WOULD SPROUT. LOL ( SNEAKING IN FROM WORK, SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS LOCKS)

Contemplating why I clean seeds .. Debra I keep answering myself because it is fun to see blooms and foliage , I miss that when it does not happen ,
I put on the winter wear and did a couple things out in the garden space last evening , Mostly only jug covering ,
Nicer today cloudy but about 10 degrees warmer nearing 45 degrees , still a little cold for gardening but no freezing wind ,

cleaning seeds and sorting and counting them into packets seem to make me feel like a penny counter, while my mind remembers the blooms, and as I relax with my thoughts and the satisfaction that I was able to see all that, I start to get drowsy. I am sure my blood pressure goes down as I sift and sort, but boy, when that plate of seeds falls off my lap it is a mess. Lint rollers are a staple with me, wish I could plant the sheets of seeds I peel off. Bet I could just lay them out and throw some dirt over them? LOL no winter sow jugs here yet. 71 today and I had to work. *whine*

I like to clean seeds so I can examine the seeds and see how many viables I can get from one seed head or spent bloom.

It will be Thanksgiving in a few minutes .
Happy Thanksgiving , Be with family Saturday ,,,

Rained all day and still is ,, I will look outside see if anymore seeds are out there , Truthfully , I have plenty to do and more ,
Dream green , Be Back later

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful time with family and friends, and lots of wonderful things to be thankful for, whether you celebrate Thursday or another day. God bless each of you!

Rusty

Thanks Rusty, may God bless you an yours also.

I shove all my seeds in the refrigerator in yogurt cups and envelopes, etc. I usually plant rather than getting neat and tidy.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving !!! The Holiday season ( cold season ) has begun !!!
Now to go eat and then hide , lol,

I'd hide but all the seats are taken here with grown kids asleep in all the recliners LOL
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, have a good night.
( I like your idea on seed storage, Gypsy)

I have filled the top shelf of the refrigerator, set shallow, solidly with seeds. Need to plant more, some today