Ok, the Ides of March are when? Anyone know? the drought of Texas is cold and dry tonight, and spring blooms are on, so the water bill will be going up.
We came from Here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1437782/
and from the January 2017 post. Posting a link in both threads.
Obviously I have the easter bunny held hostage and she's laying brown and green eggs. (see her under the chicken coop having breakfast in the 5th photo)
Thank you from and for last months thread Gypsi , about the nifty ,,
Looks like pet keeping efforts are moving along nicely , very nice , the photo pics ,
And of course Gypsi , thank you for the new thread also
Cold , wet , muddy , sort of blah , here ,,
Lots to do when the weather gets nicer , ( if it ever does ?)
2 weeks til the ides then. Has anyone tried Hugelkultur as a raised bed?
Well Gypsi, after spending a bit of time googling Hugelkultur I find .it is very similar in a way to what I did with my sweet potato bin this year. I filled it with grass clippings and partially rotted compost, soaked it good,let it settle for a month or so then topped it up with a few inches of topsoil. The real Hugelkultur uses more brush and rotten wood. My sweet potatoes were very happy in there. After harvesting them in the fall I stirred it all up and buried several buckets of fresh compost (vegetable peels etc). These should have rotted well over winter. I have been topping up my vegetable raised beds that way every fall and by spring everything is quite well rotted.
Too wet in Houston, but we raise beds and I love the hugelkulture beds. Ides of March are usually abt 15th, but they are the Spring winds that either blow March in or out...as high as Feb winds were, it may be hard to tell when they do get here.40* this morning and I am heading back out on the road.
I have a daughter down near cedar creek lake whose soil is so wet she has trouble keeping young trees alive (vinegar in the septic tank weekly and peroxide poured on root area periodically when the black leaves start). I linked her to hugelkultur yesterday. she even has a rotten oak tree to start with
Jen,
Opened up my Begonia tubers today and they have had a very healthy winter. There are lots of pink shoots ready to start growing. None of them have elongated and gotten spindly. They are all now soaked and beginning their month under lights.
Keith , that is delightful ,,
where would one order that kind of begonia Keith?
Gypsi
I bought mine initially as a small potted plant in a garden centre in Winnipeg Manitoba on one of my annual buying trips there and have kept the tubers over winter ever since. I just did a bit of googling and I see that Parks Seeds sells it. I used to order seeds from Parks. They are in the USA but I can't remember what state and I'm not very good at navigating websites so wasn't able to figure that out. Their phone # is 1-800-845-3369 or website parkseed.com. They sell it for 24.95 each so I think it's maybe a potted plant rather than just a tuber.
That's a tuber worth propagating. I'm sticking to cheap and hardy this year. Thank you
Wow, that's an expensive tuber. Can you find us some pics of it in bloom?
Hi Robin, good to hear from you, seems like it's been a while. The pictures you are asking for were posted in the February thread on March 1st; posts #10281113 and 1114. Pay attention!!!! Just kidding
Gypsi, hopefully Jen will pop back in here or you may have to send her a D-mail. Also on March 1st on post #10281180 she said that she doesn't keep the bonfire tubers over winter because she sees large plants available for $5.00. Maybe she can direct you. She's a long ways from you but at least she is in the same country.
That is a good point, although Texas occasionally feels like it isn't part of the same country. I saw Jen over on February. will dmail her a link.
That is a terrible price Keith. AWFUL. I will see if I can find the sight I was looking at the other day. I have looked at it several times. Let you know.
http://www.bradsbegoniaworld.com/tuber2.htm
This is a good site, will tell you anything you need to know about Tuberous Begonias. However, they recommend buying from Blackmore & Langdon. DON't
Do NOT buy from them. There tubers are gorgeous, but way too expensive. I will find a much better place to buy. jen
Keith, here are the places in Canada you might take a look at.
https://www.google.com/#q=begonia+tubers+for+sale+canada&*
Will get back with site for U.S.
OK, here is a place that sells them for $2.50 and up to probably $4 per tuber. I have not bought from them. However, I just put in Begonia tubers for sale in google and got them. http://www.edenbrothers.com/store/begonia-bulbs-on-top-mix.html
Take a look. Also, here you can buy them in bags of 2 or 3 hanging in the garden sections of stores like Walmart. If you have a choice of buying in bags or loose in a bin, buy bags. People come along and look for tubers with eyes and toss them back in the closest bin. So, you might not get what you think you are buying.
The main thing you need to grow them is shade. They cannot take hot sun.
One more thing, Kartuz sells all kinds of begonias. They have beautiful ones like in the "cane' variety. think you all have seen the Angel Wings. Also I think the ones Keith was talking about I think are cane begonias. Have to warn you tho, Kartuz is really habit forming in ALL of their stock. They have a huge inventory. Even in house plants.
One more thing. Keith, I have never had any trouble sending plant materials into Canada, as long as it is labeled as such on the outside of the pkg. And I am sure the vendors know how to send them there. If they can't, they can't.
if they can't take your hot sun, I think I'm leaving those alone. I passed up hostas and blueberry bushes at Lowes today, been there tried that. If My hostas come back I will consider again, or if I get my blueberry area ph lowered and irrigated
Outside a minute today , it was rather nice
1&2 beet sprouts , after 23 degrees a few night ,,saying ,we are still here ..lol
3 Turnip greens
4 & 5 latest attempt of a shredder
I am .playing some very slowly a few things .
Something more in keeping with the thread
Salix Discolor , ( Common pussy willow .
Cutting is taking root ..
The radishes that my granddaughter Jessica planted in November are finally showing their true leaves, but right now, they are under the snow. The carrots have not yet emerged. I expect them to show up when warmer weather arrives.
It's almost time to start sowing tomatoes.
I probably will start some next week. Does anyone here sow them outside? Or just inside. I think I will try a few in cell packs outside in addition to the others just to see what happens. They self-sow themselves pretty well, so I don't see why not?
Evelyn I have done both with tomato plants but I am not a go to info type
Rain , regular things here .. more than that , well ? have to see what is
I start tomatoes indoors usually. Our growing season is quite short before it is too hot for them to fruit. although some live through the heat and fruit in October and November.
plants today
1 shrub
2 bulb
3 more bulb
4 flower
5 poppy
Evelyn I have done both with tomato plants but I am not a "go to info" type.
Gypsi That done properly (rarely that I have) it was all about the same ,
Cherry Blossom
Hi Everybody:
Just checking in. Lost track of this thread but glad to find it. Spring's here in NC, and I'm sweating because I haven't started any seeds yet!
A.
Gosh, haven't seen or heard from you in a real long time Amanda. Do you still have hour late night thread? Thought you and JU were on there late. How are you doing? Still got all of your animals? Yes, about time to get all the plants going.
nice to hear from you. JEN
wow i have missed a lot. Love those begonia tubers over wintered. My mom in law in buffalo just rims her back and amd leaves them in their hanging baskets as they hang out insideher very window fillled house. they come back evry year. I have one begonia a don miller from some one here, i dont see her much anymore on dg. anyway it stays growing all year and it was a tiny three inch baby whe I got it. I over winrered some coctail begonias one year but then killed them with too much water. My goodness Kitt I love love love that spot you chose to rest at. I am glad you take a few minutes here and there to enjoy the beauty of nature in each state you travel through. Alice I wish I had a place in the country becuase i was riased tending to chickes geese ducks and rabbits as our main surce of food and the eggs remind me of those by gone days. thanks for the memories as i looked at you set up. Je, my rose downstairs has a bud on it.it was a bare stick after going thru a few weeks outside and I brought it in and there it is , James, it is almost time to get out and work in the yard, but the wind has kept this toto inside when I am home. I spend a lot of time down here, propagating...... I managed to get two rooted plants off this kings mantle, and the rose of sharon ( a perennial here) has budded, inside the house... last pic is a cape honey suckle hat is blooming and this was a gift from a dg person and it was very small.
Kudos to the cherry blossoms Ju. Wow to the cape honeysuckle Debra!
Gorgeous cape honeysuckle Debra. Your basement produces some amazing stuff
Crocuses are swaying in the wind pm this crisp March day.
Evelyn somewhere I thought I typed a reply that the Tomato growing goes about the same here when done properly Grown in a pot , indoors or outdoors or in the ground all the same .
Very pretty flowers and plants all
I feel silly today .. I go through hours and hours to get photo 1 device . it functions only is kind of expensive in a few parts and such and then I get this photo 2 I put this together in a few minutes this morning , Has one blade and the drill and it is awesome , does fast work ,,, photo 3 I will lock it to a portable table in this position
4 pieces from slightly over a 1 inch stalk , Right down zoom , I did not test run it longer because it was not finished
Man oh man , do I feel silly lol ,. Light , fast , efficient , easy to make , and works great ,
I forgot to say Hi Amanda !!! nice to hear from you , BIG sigh for spring ,
About the chipper ,, Someone should of told me,, these things .. lol lol
Yesterday was 60°, which is the highest temperature in a long time. The snow has finally melted and we got a few things coming up...crocus, iris reticula, hellebores.
Evelyn , more pretties !!! Ain't spring pretty ,,
Oh yes, hi Amanda! Welcome back. Have you begun to start your seeds yet?
I have started the following:
Hibiscus Red Shield
Cosmos White Sonata
White perennial pea
Single white hollyhock
Lupine Noble Maiden
L. hartwegii vBiancaneve'
L. My Castle
L. Chandelier
L. The Governor
Digitalis purpurea 'alba'
D. ferruginea 'Giant Yellow Herold'
Aquilegia flabellata var nana alba
Larkspur 'Blue Cloud'
Lupinus luteus
Papaver s. 'Imperial Pink's
Sweet Woodruff
I will be starting some tomatoes, basil and parsley today.
