Plant Propagation, The Basics, January 2017

I'm moving us. Opening photo. Cuchulain playing with the dog toy (a Kong Wubba), Bronx in a cone, he keeps scratching his face. Mast cells give off histamines, unless he has a new allergy I suspect that well we are going to give him itchy pills. He is 9.5 and if we cut off new surface mast cells they just dump more histamine. Not to mention anesthesia risk. My African Violet loved granddaughter's visit, the light over the plants is the bathroom light, leave it on a lot and bloom bloom bloom. The spot where the turks cap came out has the snapdragons, the spot where the weeds came out has an August Beauty Gardenia in the brown pot, and a Carolina Jessamine in the black. I buried the pots, gives them a little better drainage than my clay soil in that area. I lifted the Gardenia after the one next to it had died, and it was down to 3 leaves and 3 inches tall. (started as a gorgeous one gallon plant. It came back to live in a pot this summer. Also in that bed red spider lilies and I replaced the giant lantana in the corner with Bee Balm. Summer Snowflakes will be up along the sidewalk edge there soon.

I also seeded the bed between the bulbs mainly with A. Tuberosa. But some snapdragons, poppies, galliardia and other wild seeds

Nice !!! Going on with plants and flowers there Gypsi I would planted more poppies before the snow here now , as it is , it will rain in a few days and I will try then .

Your plants, beds and pets look good Gypsi Poor Bronx. I hope you remember to give us a phot update when stuff comes up. I'm glad you got help! I hope your healing is going well.

That African Violet is certainly liking something Gypsi and a very unique colour.

Its a beautiful color! So much going on! For me, abt the only thing happening is the intense cold on the floors of this truck do not warm up when I sit- gotta get em up under a blanket, shiver. Since my dau and her DH just recarpeted the house, I am wondering if I will find my seeds when I get to the house...

Bronx got a prescription today, no more itchy. Thank you for compliments. Sleep now

Katt is that about a seed carpet (he , he ,

Pretty Gypsi The blooms I agreed , Good to here Bronx is getting care .

Bronx seems to be a lot better today. Any drug will quit working if you take it long enough, he has been on Benadryl over 2 years. I am sure he still has MCT but blocking histamine blocks the spread and the Golden Paste (turmeric) boosts his immune system and helps him fight. He is starting to get a few skin bumps in other areas but as long as he feels good, I am not putting him down. Today, he feels good. Bossing the young dogs around.

And 2 of my old hens are laying again. The Americauna never laid an egg til she was 2, and apparently is still loaded with eggs, she will be 4 in March, found 7 of her eggs in a nest in the rabbit hutch this morning.. My 3 year old Australorp didn't lay much because her mother and aunts picked on her, and she has laid 5 eggs in the last few days. I searched the lot, no more nests, so I guess the other old gals are all done laying. Nice to find though.

All those are nice to have , cold out here , doing eye drops still ,
Best I have to say at the moment ,
a little Garlic to go with the eggs ? For the Toast ?
These cloves are about three years dry , I did not think they would grow , Night before last I put them around a pot
This morning their growing , California white Garlic

Cleaning Catnip seeds

The Hired help after cleaning catnip a few days

you can keep catnip alive? I want to know your secret Ju

every few years mine is scraggly and few , let it reseed a little and cut it back , Treat it like weed , The more you cut it down , the more it grows ,
It is a wild native here , no secret ,

here is one of several about at random

Catnip

Ju, regarding cleaning Catnip seeds...I have one cat that starts biting me when he smells Catnip on my hands. Also, the seeds and chaff have to be hidden in a cupboard before, during and after cleaning. It is a challenge with cat friends!

Seed carpet, yes, tired ol woman makes no sense, chuckl. Cringe, I DO hope none were spilled...our cat is totally disinterested in catnip, or catgrass- but he is older and outside a lot. If it isnt a snake, he wont even twitch...

Real eggs for breakfast, yes. On road today will check in later.

Real eggs are good, yours are also pretty.

Kitt, Debra has a seed carpet, over which she cleans her seeds and sometimes falls asleep during the task, spilling her hard earned booty. I hope none of yours spilled and they were well taken care of. Enjoy the new carpet.

Are you an owner/operator?

Gag Christmas gift from one of the daughters. Pretty much covers my life for the next few months
Placed one small perennial order that needed to be in for January 10 to receive free shipping

Keith that is a cute gift !!!.. Put some Calico Beard'stongue seeds outside today as it was 12 degrees and will go up a few days and then rain , I will try some Senna Herbacarpa the next day or so
Oh well Spring is still on vacation , and the days really do get longer ,, about the only thing that is not imagination this time of year ,

I like the socks Keith - very cute. My tshirt of the day just has the feed store name on the front, and that is what I thought it said when I bought it.

The back reads: I get so excited about gardening I wet my plants

in really big letters. I have a photo somewhere but the current file situation on the computer is really bad. My daughter thought it said Pants...... from a distance...looks like it

wow, i had a lot of catchig up to do. Everyone is really doing well with all the gardenig. Love the violets, Alice,and hoping all your plats and seeds do what you want them to do. Help is nice. I have dried banana peels sitting everywhere to be ground up, went to Goodwill yesterday didn't find anything to use. YET Poor doggie with that coller, hoping you and him are both still on the mend. Ju, you aRE ROCKING, i HAVE NEVER HAD HOLLY HOCKS COME UP BLACK AS PICTURED. Keith, love those socks! LOL
Just made an ham and egg and cheese quiche, going to be baking day since Football is on..
Here is some humor...
Caption is: Life is hard, don't stick your nose where it does'nt belong /// LOL

I have Carolina Jessamine Debra, it over winters well, just doesn't like to be drowned so it should be ok. a bit worried about a few things but its too late to fix them now. Greenhouse down to 23 again last night, but at this time of year it is full of geraniums and has a few perennials that are more tropical. Hoping i have some more seed for my african button bush because it got nailed and my small starts of it appear to have frozen too. Hope the starts will come up from the roots but the plant was pretty dry so not too much hope. I watered all newly planted stuff including the pansies and dianthus. Little seedlings already sprouting in the bed by the potted jessamine and gardenia were unharmed by the freeze. Have some tough stuff in my flowerbeds. Mums all cowering on porch, watered them good and stacked the pots close together and wrapped in plastic sheeting with more windblocks in front. The cold doesn't get them, it's the wind

Debra LOL that photo ,, I want the ground to thaw a little bit so I can do the cups ,
Toughest hollyhock is the French pink, species wild , Usually listed as a Mallow . about 4 or 5 ft tall ..
It will rain here in a few days and I will try some more poppies and senna
Not a really cold winter here . Lots of plenty frozen though
I can see to do a few things again ,, I love that for sure ..

Garlic today 4 days and it has a second division starting on 2 of them Now I see why they grow it for stores ,

Nope, they deregulated when I was younger and I was married to an ex that was afraid to make money. Thede days I stay company so I can hand the truck to shop and they fix wwhat they broke last time. We'll have to lay plastic drop cloth under her to catch the escaping seeds.

I think we should steal her carpet and just add water...

That might be scary- no tellin what adding water might grow!!! Love that cup of furry tail, chuckl, looks like inspiration for a Dr Suess...

LOL !!!

Bronx and I went to the grand opening of Pet Supplies Plus today, he really enjoyed it. His new antihistamine is working wonders. I didn't get any seeds started but I broke down and bought a bag of potting soil. Greenhouse went down to 23 again last night, I need to get the heat mat and light out and I may have to get a heater. Hope not.

ya'll stay warm, I'm going to deliver some plants and fish tomorrow while it is warm enough to get out and about. Arm is recovering nicely. and those REAL eggs from my hens taste amazing.. No comparison. Cuchulain spread out on my bed like one of those lazy cats on facebook. see his eyes peering at me while I take the pic? look at that fur! Miley is a lady, all curled up

Did my winter sowing yesterday and decided to do my labeling a little different this year.

I have given up on jug winter sowing and now define it as throwing seeds on bare dirt outdoors and wishing them luck. seems to be working but I am not sure which of the 4 are coming up

When I had a brand new space I use to throw a couple seeds like a seed scattering Whatever grew was the choice to begin with ,

A few pearl yarrow as seeds yesterday Garlic still growing , I get a success or two from winter sowing , Not many though ,

I'm so glad Bronx is feeling better. Cuchulaine's sleeping position cracks me up, I've got a female cat that lays like that on the floor -- an upside down cat rug, lol.

I agree with you Debra, Ju is a germinating machine. I also like Cytf's new labeling system, I can't imagine losing any of those labels. Good luck with all the germinating efforts!

I'm still thinking about WS, I just rescued another cat. I expected to find it's little feet frozen to the ground if I didn't let him in. We got down to 7°F.

Kitt, Debra's carpet would be filled with seeds that were worth cleaning, that's gotta say something about what would germinate. Although, I'd be distracted by the Quiche smelling all wonderful throughout the house and be charged with theft on that too. I'm rethinking this caper. Perhaps we'll just visit her on game day (for the goodies) and bring our vacuum cleaners. We can do a clean sweep at half-time.

I watch those saying I am a germinating machine , I would rather get the seedlings to grow ,
Still waiting for the surface of the ground to thaw a few minutes , Freeze and thaw , it does that all winter some seasons here , This seems to be one of them
This year though I am hoping the smaller plants do okay through the winter
Echinacea
White swan
Raspberry ,
White Species
A Double I am not sure of
Pentstemon Dark Towers (a few More
Night and Day Snapdragons
A couple new Herbs
Monarda was still alive ,
Feverfew More new ones
any of 15 wintersown Daylily (hemerocallis ,
A couple of new Grasses
Bronze and green fennel
Red Erigeron ,
Smooth blue aster
A couple more to see if they will return
Most were small this fall

You're a tough guy to keep up with Ju, I hope all in your list survive the winter as well.

Actually Robin ,, That translates I have a tough time keeping up with everything , , Sometimes my typing makes me hard to follow ,,
I thank you and try to keep a positive attitude about getting plants to survive ,, That does have it's problems for me
I doubt I will ever get the chance but I would believe I could grow a pretty field of weeds !!! Surface outside might thaw enough by tomorrow , then as to rain showers when I can get a few more seeds in
March I start the green types , it's approaching
I still have 20 or 25 seeds I want to try and I doubt I get them all done

I meant you're always doing something, mostly germinating and I don't know anybody that can compete with you...me included (perhaps I'm first on the list).

Just when you decide to cultivate a field of weeds is when you can grow nothing but grass and expensive ornamentals.

LOL Robin , it is a bunch of doing for anyone
I know your plant keeping , book-keeping , listing , making everyone happier are things that I can't keep up with , (smiley)
I am happy it is little warmer this week

It will be 78 here tomorrow I think. Full day, goodnight all