Seed Snatchin' XIII...First Recon Mission

It is great to hear there are others! I am lucky in that I do have a friend - We go big trash shopping all the time. There are times when we go separately, and we're constantly swapping treasures with each other. We laugh about it all the time! I have to tell him about the dumpster though, we hadn't thought of that one yet. ! Rj

Maggi, your friend asked you to 'watch' his plants? LOL I love it! He practically gave you permission to snatch! This international snatching is great! My daughter will be spending 5 months in Paris starting next month. Too bad that's not enough time to train her properly in the art of snatching! Besides, if she participated, she wouldn't be able to laugh at me when I do it myself!
Wish I had someone to snatch with, too, but so much of it is on the fly. It's just good to have a place to swap stories! What a hoot!

BTW, Shirley, my mom grew up in Tyler, as did her mom. My dad's family grew up in Marshall, not far from there.

Rj!! Welcome aboard and you're in the finest of company.

It's about time to pull the bus otta the barn and check her out, change her oil and wiper blades. Get a case of batteries for our flashlights and those pool ladders. I think we need 2.

We can start up in Zone 3 at Weezies and work south and east, catching seedpods ripe across the country.

Whatcha think Weeze?
sidney

Woo hoo! For the company department outting, they're taking us to Miller Park in Milwaulkee for a Brewers/Marlins game. I usually blow off the mandatory-fun-group-gropes.... but I'm thinking there's probably a lot of planters and landscaping around this place. I'm taking some ziplocks with wet paper towels already installed and doing some shopping.

Who's in CO - Fetch!!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/540109/

Hi all, been real busy potting up my dumpster dives and I can't believe that tommorrow is Friday already and I don't even have all the stuff I already have potted up.. Fridays are going to be my dumpster dive days!! :)) I should get a shirt that says Dumpster Diva, but other folks might not get it... The nursery folks would love it though.

Okay, I've had it with not being able to share pictures with friends on Daves and not knowing how to do it. I told my husband I am getting a good digital camera and already have some recomnedations for some from a friend that knows her stuff. We are celebrating my husbands birthday this weekend and for a second I thought a digital camera would be a great gift. Kinda bad huh? Little did he know that the round chair he bought to work on his dirt bike would be so great fo me to sit on while repotting out of the garden cart I use... it has become my round swivel chair!! HAHAHA!

Okay... Only you folks would understand this so here it goes... Remember the large Oklahoma redbud tree that was part of my first huge haul and I posted in the other thread that is linked? Well it had an original price tag of $300 and it was a monster to get into the back of the truck, off the truck, and then I had to cut two huge pots up to make a temporary pot around it with soil in my back yard ICU area. I used screws to hold tha ends of the pots together and cut out the bottom. I also use the water polymer crystaals in all my potting sooil thanks to Sidney :) Well, the tree didn't have any leaves but I knew it was still alive since the wood was soft and pliable. The tree started putting on new growth and I started crying for joy when I saw it!! I was overcome. Can you believe was a garden wuss I am?? I big girl like me?? My husband witnessed my emotion and I know he thinks I'm a fruitcake, but he didn't say it. Seeing those leaves made my day!! Also, the 5 wine and roses wigelia that I picked up are not only putting on all kinds of new green growth, one has already flowered for me. I'm just tickled and It's amazing what makes mamma happy.

Have a great day!!

I SHOP BIG TRASH!!

Susan

This message was edited Aug 25, 2005 12:52 PM

Well you really have the knack girl and I bet you are going to be yard of the month before long. Let me know when you give Jack Driscoll a tour.
sidney

"I" am so proud and happy for you Susan!!!

Weez - I think you have a title for the next thread " Shopping the Big Trash"

I'm having way too much fun with that. More fun than I had going to that goofy ball game today. Luckily Raybans weren't banned and I had $$ for refreshments although since it's called 'Miller' Park.. you can't buy, beg, borrow or steal anything that looks like a Bud.

Miller gives me headaches... I'm hittin' the sack

Susan, I'd be shedding tears, too! What a great haul! You go and shop that big trash!

Susan - You did good!! ~ Suzi :)

8ft, did you get anything at the park, or was it a wasted day. I hear you about the Miller, at first thought I was just allergic to the hops or whatever, now I drink Bud Light, or Bud Select, and don't have the headache problem.

Speaking of hops... (minds always on the garden).. :) Has anyone ever used spent hops in the garden? Composted it or just spread it out and over?? I'm thinking about finding a supply to check it out. I am a huge fan of coffee grounds and get as much of those as I can get my hands on.

Okay... It's not perfect, since I'm not sure of the exact identity of everything I have, but here's last weeks Dumpster Dive list and I'm going to try real hard to go again tomorrow :) How could I not!!??

7 Rhododendrons ? Variety
5 Rhododendrons Roseum Elegans
4 Rhododendron Cunninghams White
6 1 Gallon Euonymus Emerald Gaiety
2 Pieris Japonica
1 Witch Hazel, Arnolds Promise
1 Cameo Quince
1 Clettra ??Spelling??
3 Wax Ligistrum
2 small tropicals
2 med shrubs
Gumpo Azalea
Weeping Norway spruce Tree
4 Hibiscus, Blue River II
1 Grass/Bamboo??
1 Sky Pencil
1 St. Johns Wort Hidcote
11 small pots English Ivy
57 small pots Vinca Minor
34 small pots Dragon Wing Begonias
Med Shrub
7 Low growing Juniper ground covers
3 Boxwoods oblong shape
Fern
Firepower Nandina
2 Small Viburnums?

I am curious about conifers.. Does anyone know if the parts that have lost their pines will regrow next season? My 2 Dumpster dived poodle cut juniper trees seem to be regrowing the green needles, but I'm not sure if they are just growing and covering up the brown.... but they look greener. I'm curious about the weeping Norway Spruce. Right now it looks worse than Charlie Browns Christmas Tree, but I wonder if the needles will come back if the trees not dead. Does anyone know please??

:))

Susan

Maggi, your neighbor asking you to watch his plants reminds me of the cat watching the canary! Too funny.
I didn't snatch those seed pods last night. It's just too hot to go over there. 91 at 10:00 tonight. (that may just be an excuse)
Pixidish, you have good connections to East Texas. Do you ever come here to visit family?

Susan beware of the Vinca, it is impossible to get rid of. Careful not to drop a sprig. It is also impossible to control. Just so you know.
What a haul!!!
How big is your yard?
sidney

Alas, Shirley, no one's left there. My great grandparents are dead, as are my grandparents. I have cousins who live in Garland, but we're not close. So I haven't been there in many years.

Susan I'm still speechless about what you've found in the dumpster(s). Are you having to do this at night with a flashlight? As for conifers, 'pines will regrow' - I'm assuming you meant the needles ? If so, it depends on the tree. Spruce generally don't, especially if it's inside. They don't break new growth if there are no needles. Many pines will. You can get away with some topiary style pruning as long as there's still needles on the branches you are cutting. They'll break new growth. It's also normal for pines to drop needles each year. They only keep them for 2 or 3 years. Since they're free, it's worth giving them some TLC till next spring and see what happens unless they are already burnt up from being allowed to dry out and stay that way.

I too have been following this thread and enjoying every bit of it,from the info to the humor.
I have never done "a big snatch" but have been snatching seeds and cuttings internationally for years.One of my best was taking the seeds from red papayas in Guatamala and growing them in my garden when we lived in South Florida.I had the most humongous papayas for several years.I also travel with wet paper towels and plastic bags just in case.I guess if I had a friend with me I would try the dumpster diving.but alone...
Nicole,I hope you are coming to the Blue Ridge RU on Sept 24.Firstly I would realy like to meet you.You have a real gift for humor.
If you come bring digging tools as there is so much to smatch from up there.Don't worry it is all legal but we can pretend it is a snatch.
You guys inspire me to get bolder with my snatching efforts.Thanks1
Buy the way the whole history of horticulture is filled with stories of proffesional plant and seed snatchers who went all around the world snatching for their rich clients or for that matter for their countries.
Keep up the good work
Nancy

Thanks Sidney.. I have a large downward sloping hill that is just clay and I had considered putting some there for the time being. I have about 1 acre... and that's not a builders acre, since I have learned that there is a difference. 1 Real acre.

Blaine, I am doing this in the full light of day and they are glad to see me do it. For this last haul, I did spend about $50, since I learned that the discounted plants, "pre-trash" plants are $1 per gallon.. meaning a shrub in a three gallon is $3, so it was worth it to me to do that. Thanks for the info on the spruce. I will take care of him and see what he does.. Yes, he's a guy.. Only a guy would look like he does.

I'm going to the nursery right now and even if I don't get a whole lot, I'm in need opf more pots and they have plenty of those for me to take.. so we will see :))

Susan

Susan, you ought to get pictures of your haul so we can get a good look!

Okay, I'm going to go take pictures right now while everything is still on the truck. It's not a digital which means I will have to develop them, so it may be next week before I get the disk back.
I made a pretty great haul this morning again.. I'm going to look like I'm running a nursery here!

Susan

Heeheehee!
;)

Thanks Mr. B.

Susan, I think the digital camera gift idea was excellent.
I can't wait to see the haul. I think you are providing a "rescue" service. I would be upset if I saw plants in a dumpster, so that would make me a wuss too! So, Home Depots and nurseries ?

Rj

This message was edited Aug 26, 2005 7:36 PM

Home Depot sends their plants back to the vendors for credit. I rarely see them marked down there and they have a locked dumpster... I go to a grower... That's all I'm saying!!!

Susan

It really bothers me that Costco buys plants in the spring, sticks them in the store, never waters them or gives them adequate light, then just throws away the plants that die before someone purchases them. It's as bad as puppy farms!

Weezin, I agree.. However, the getting is good at Costco if you get it at the right time. I thought of you this morning. I was listening and called in twice to the Joe Gardener radio show http://www.joegardener.com. Joe is on DIY, so some of you may have seen him before, and he had gardener from Alaska on.. I think his name was Jeff Feinstein?? He has the longest running newspaper garden colum in the US and he was the one that came up with the Plant A row for the Hungry. He said that folks are real surprised to see the beauty of Alaska and how many flowers grow so well there.

My first call was to learn more about which trees are good choices to resque when doing my dives and I asked about the cambium layer being yellow green and not green and he said to go for it if I find a plant like that and I told them all about my Oklahoma Redbud. I went through a whole roll of film yesterday and I will post here and I told him I'd send him a copy of the pictures too and he really wanted to see them. His co-host Lisa asked me where I was going to get these dumpster dived trees and plants and I said she's has to come to my home and track me! They laughed :)) He told me to stay tuned since they were going to be discussing "frugal gardening" in the next hour and I had to call back and tell them all these things they had missed!! The introduced me as Dumpster Diving Diva Susan!! He was so impressed he told me to please hold the line and could they get my contact info since I was so passionate about my gardening!! Very Cool. :)) I had to pre-warn my kids that if they screamed and yelled when mommy was on the phone, they were in TROUBLE.
:))
Susan

Wow Susan our DDD star, Did you give DG a plug also? That is so neat and I know they loved speaking to someone who knows what a cambium layer is. I can see you doing your own show in 5 years or less. You are a natural.
sidney

That's great Susan. I should be listening to that show. is it nation wide?

I understand what your saying re a couple messages up.. thanks..
Unbelievable that TREEs get thrown out. Got some souting to do!! :)
Rj

WOW!! I am amazed at your list! I need to start checking out some of the nurseries around here. But, haven't been able to afford the plants, so don't bother going. Maybe they have some good clearance plants and I can park near the dumpster, just in case... ~ Suzi :)
===================================

I again went to my favorite seasonal nursery! I bought a crepe myrtel - I snached (with permission so is it still snaching??) cuttings of a ton of plants. This nursery uses a Franks lot for it's plants so it was perfect for plants with gravel under all the tables. and there are tons of bits of stuff and fallen ove plants ect on the grown that have just rotted themselves. I got....
2 large pots worth of Wandering Jew
1 cutting of a varigated white and green wandering jew
1 cutting of some other wandering jew that is all green
Several impatients in differnt colors, a couple begoina in differnt colors and a bunch of things I can't name! YAY!!!!

The wandering jew and impaiens

And here is the rest of the snach -- the green varigated wandering jew I had- I just stuck the new piece in with it. Also I forgot I snaced some coleous and some dalhia seed! Oh and the geranuim on the left was not a snach - that came in the mail today.

Actually Sidney, since it is a local show and it tied in with what I was saying.. I did plug some local clubs, but haven't mentioned DG (YET!!)

Suzi, I will probabaly never again buy a large amount of any plants at retail. I've got it pretty figured out! I will say this though... I was a "regular" customer first and saw their dumpster and asked "are you throwing this away??" and that is how it all started....
The show is not nationwide, but it does stream live from the internet during the show hours. There was a caller from North Carolina, so folks from all over are listening :)

Yea Mystic!!

Funny how I hurt a finger real bad and it kept me from doing some things tonight, but not from being here with you great folks!!

Susan

Kiss that finger for all of us and say "There now, that will make it feel all better!"
;)

Okay Weeze, time for a new thread please.

NEWS ALERT BLAINE IS LEAVING DAVE'S GARDEN!!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/540280/
Please try to talk some sense to him! We need him on the BUS!
Some people!
sidney

Thanks Sidney - I'll go sign up.

Susan, Hope your finger is better today - !

Rj

Blaine has decided to leave our community, he will be missed.
I have not posted much or even had a chance to lurk, because of a job change (my choice of a change) which has kept me extremely busy.
I will miss Blaine, and would like to thank him once again for the Yokohama Squash Seeds that he so unselfishly sent me. I truly appreacite them. With the extreme amount of rain that we had this year they did not fair well, plenty of blooms w/o fruit, The green zebra tomatoes did better.
Again Thank You Blaine.

Sidney! big tattle-tale :)

You're welcome Dyson but check it out - now you've got Rj in here so the moral majority don't strap you into the back seat when they stop to party.

That squash - it eats good but it sure loves to run. Goofy things have engulfed my front yard where I stuck them a couple of big containers that were already there. They've ran through the roses, brugs, all over the mums and asters. One vine ran up the windmill and has been decapitated 3 times. It sends out another side runner determined and attempts to conquer the blades again.

Listen Idjit!
Just forget about the leaving BS and get in the BUS!
;)
sidney

Blaine, please stay!! I have enjoyed talking to you the few times I have had the chance to, and it just seems to me that Dave's is big enough that if you don't get along with one, just talk to another! Hoping you will stay!! ~ Suzi :)

Leaving Dave's? Something horrible would have to happen to get me to leave. Come on back Blaine, please stay, we'll treat you extra good!! LOL