Hi I just joined this site and I think its great. Ever since I've been in the south, I've caught onto plants and gardening. I found myself a new hobby that also improves the value of my house! Here are some of the plants I have growing in my yard:
Daffodils
Camellias
Coleus
Canna
Lantana
Caladiums
And an assorted mix of bulbs
As for the trees:
Maple trees
Brown Turkey fig tree
Nectarine
Satsuma orange tree(yes its doing fine with plenty of sun!)
Windmill palm
Banana trees
Cabbage palm
I also have watermelon, pumpkin, and squash vines growing
My next project is to get some scuppernong vines and trellis them. So far all of these plants and trees have done good. I have has a little trouble with the herbs since they die out quickly from the frost(bye bye oregano). I rooted my friends very large fig tree and planted it in my clay soil, which it appears to thrive in.
I'm a big lover of fruit trees, so if anyone has any ideas for me please let me know. Anyway, hello to everyone.
Thanks, phil
new guy from warner robins
Welcome Phil. I can't give you much Georgia information because I'm a recent transplant from FL who's desperately trying to keep my tropicals from freezing while I convert to plants that are appropriate for NE Georgia and won't need to be pampered as much. You'll find this is a wonderful forum and has many VERY smart Georgia gardener participants.... Have fun, Sharon
Phil,
Welcome!!
I am assuming you are a military man from your siggy.
If so, then may I say: God bless you for serving and protecting your country! Thank you for your sacrifice.
I am a GA native but have only been gardening for about 5 yrs now. When someone asks me for "hard" advice, I usually recommend books, websites or experts rather than giving advice- LOL! The Georgia Gardeners Guide is a good book and the Univ of GA Ag website is fantastic. As far as I'm concerned, Walter Reeves is the king of GA gardening gurus. He has a call- in show on Sat mornings on WSB radio and is also on GPTV.
I am very impressed at some of the plants on your list that aren't reputed to be hardy here. Oranges and bananas? I would have to grow those in a greenhouse or conservatory- both of which I am not privileged to have.
Sorry to have rambled on so much! I welcome you and hope to chat with you soon.
BTW, there are also a lot of Georgians over on the Fragrant Gardening forum.
Deb
Hey, and welcome!
We have some family down in your neck of the woods. My step-sister in law (ohh, isn't that so Southern? Always trying to make "family" out of someone like, 3 times removed??) loves to garden. They are in Byron.
I like "assorted bulbs" too. I think I'm an "assorted bulb-aholic"!!
girlgroupgirl
Welcome, Phil, I am about 45 minutes south of you in Cordele. Where are you from originally. My husband and I are both native southerners, but not native Georgians.
If you have just joined Dave's ,you might be interested in the spring round up in May when folk get to gether to exchange plants. I went last year to the fall round up and enjoyed the opportunity to meet the folk I had been corresponding with (not to mention the van full of plant material I brought home with me).
Beth
Yes I'm a military reservist. I used to live in florida before moving to georgia but I was born and raised in new jersey, so georgia is like a vacation almost all year round. As for the banana plant, in late november I have to cut it down to the bottom of the stem and mulch it. Now its got 3 babies on each one and they're growing fast. And the orange tree is a satsuma which is hardy to about 12 degrees. The coldest it got this year by me was about 27. And if it has direct sunlight in the day for about 10-12 hours it will melt any frost and do fine.
I also have walter reeves' site saved. It's pretty good.
With my job I have to travel through much of georgia and I can relate to many of you. I would have to say that thomasville, ga and savannah, ga are the nicest places to garden because just about everyone out there does it!
Hi Phil, welcome to GA. As Beth said, come get yourself to our plant swap next month, it's what 30 minutes from you? You can talk gardening all day long, and get plants bred in GA as well. There is also a fantastic nursery in Juliette you need to check out, I'm sure a few of us will go after the swap. You won't be alone, we have almost as many men as women come to the swaps! http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/573539/
I'll have to look into that Orange! I have Meyer & Improved Meyer Lemons and a thornless lime that I adore, I do bring them into the basement in November, but their blooms sure keep me happy.
Vi
Hi. I am brand new to Dave's Garden (two days ago) and would like some more information about the spring round up/swap mentioned by Turtle_32506 and viola bird. Has it already happened? Where is it held? I'm in Waycross and I love all gardening!!! (Thanks to God for the good rains we have been getting the last week or so!!!) Thanks for the info!
Welcome Cheryle! The round up was Sat. the 6th. I missed it too, but we will have to make it to the one in the fall!
I am loving all this rain and cool temps too. It's no fun when it just jumps from winter to summer. This is the way it is supposed to be!
Are you between St. Mary's and Jacksonville? I am too lazy to get my map out. We go through Valdosta/Waycross on the way to visit relatives in Jax. We were down there for Easter and there were beautiful purple wild violets growing in the median. That makes the trip more bearable to me! Every time I see Nursery or Antiques, I want to stop HAHA!!!
It's good to have you here!
Susan
Welcome Phil and Cheryle! My DH and I are transplants from the North, too. What part of Jersey are you from, Phil? I'm orginally from Washington in Warren County. Wasn't born there, just landed there after my father retired from 20 years in the Navy.
Since my DH and I have been married, we have lived in PA, AL, and now GA, first in Valdosta and now in Athens. I absolutely love the south! Would never think of moving back north even though our kids & grandkids are there.
Athens has some of the best nurseries and garden centers around. I'm working on a shade garden, and Bible garden in addition to filling up the rest of our 2.6 acres with perennials, groundcover, trees and shrubs. Daves Garden has had a major impact on my gardening this year. I even built a hoop house in the spring with directions found in the greenhouse forum. This site is the absolute best!
Have fun gardening!
JoAnn
I'm passing through waycross this weekend on my way to brunswick. That's a nice small town, I like the downtown.
Frausnow:
I'm from clifton, nj. Whenever my mom visits me here, its a vacation for her just to sit outside. I haven't been there for over 3 years even though all my family lives there. I keep telling them if they want to see me they can come to georgia.
To frausnow and mcorps1983. Thank you for the welcome.
Frausnow: You live in my second favorite city in Georgia - Go Dawgs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mcorps1983: I'm going to St. Simons myself this weekend. I lived there for 14 years before moving to Waycross (sob-sob) and my parents still live there. My son, his wife, and their precious 10 month old son - my heart of hearts!!! - will be coming from Macon for Mother's Day. I am soooooo excited. I, too, like Downtown Waycross, but I sure would rather be on The Island. Hee-hee! At least I can go once a week.
cheryle,
Going to St. Simons in August for a Civitan conference. It's also mine and my DH birthdays in August so we're going to be celebrating those while we're there. Got any great leads for places to eat and visit?
JoAnn
Spanky's or captain joe's seafood! As for things to do, there's a lot. Both islands have their own website.
Frausnow: What a nice conference/birthdays ya'll will have on St. Simons! I have several favorite places to eat: My mother and I go Sunday afternoon to Barbara Jean's in the village area to eat a crabcake sandwich. You can actually see and taste big chunks of crab, and the sandwiches aren't full of fillers. The french fries that come with the sandwich are good, too. Also good there is the she crab soup, and for a real treat, the Chocolate Stuff is sinful!!!!!!!! You will probably encounter a wait, but it will be worth it!
My favorite upscale place to eat is Bonefish Grill. Wonderful fresh fish (as well as pasta,etc) with yummy sauces, good side dishes, great service. It is fairly new to St. Simons so it's still really popular. If you go early, you probably won't have a long wait. (There is a nice bar area to wait, if you're into a cool drink while you're waiting. :-)
On the north end of St. Simons is a steak house (not a chain) called Bennie's Red Barn which is an institution there. Fabulous handcut steaks, and a place called Ziggy Mahoney's is attached if you're interested in listening to music, dancing, etc.
The shopping in the boutiques and gift shoppes all over the island are fun; if either of you golf, there are 100 holes; there are miles of bike trails; as far as history is concerned, the island has Fort Frederica, which is where Gen. Oglethorpe held off the Spanish as long as possible; Christ Church, where Charles and John Wesley wrote many hymns, and is the setting for Eugenia Price's many novels. There are also fishing charters and I think that there is a moonlight cruise boat that still runs.
Jekyll Island is definitely the more laid back island. It's owned by the State of Georgia, so there is not as much commercialism. Golf, bike riding all over and around the island, shoppes, and the Historic Millionaire's District are the sites to see there. (The Millionaire's District alludes to the fact that at one time 1/6 of the world's weather had homes on Jekyll Island - the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Mellons, etc. )
Can you tell I love the place???? Be sure to get on the individual island's websites and see what else you might find fun to do! I hope you have a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you were on the island this weekend you might've seen my wife, daughter, and me on a 2 person bike riding on saturday.
What kind of makes me mad is that jekyll island is supposed to be a state park and I had to pay to enter(which is fine), until I saw people living on the island. That state park isn't maintained by our taxes, so the fees maintain it. I'm wondering if the people living on that state park pay taxes and why it would be considered a park if people lived on it. You see where I'm getting on this. It kinda makes me mad.
Hi Phil.
Interested in some tiny plum trees....both fruit AND trees are tiny...fruit cuz thats just what size they are and trees cuz them trees are dropping plums faster than i can pick them and they are sprouting everywhere!
Hi, Solitaregardenr! Are you saying that the plums that are dropping off your tree are sprouting? Cool!
Hi Cheryl!
Yes these darned things are EVERYWHERE! I must mow down 10-15 baby trees everytime i mow.Sad to say they are sprouting in places i dont want plum trees.The plums are only the size of a quarter but they are quite yummy.The kids and the birds have a good time with them.My horses love to eat them too.
Hey solitare, I'm definately interested in picking up a few trees. I know where you're located at also, I just worked in statenville last tuesday. The next time I'm in your area ill have to contact you.
Also, I've worked in willacoochee, mayday, valdosta, and alapaha(during the festival) if you know where those are.
Phil,send me your private email so I can send you my Ph#.I will go ahead and pot some u p so they will get over the shock by the time you can get them.My email is Lakotas_mom1@yahoo.com
Lisa
Sorry but i have one more thing..........i see you have tried growing herbs.Oregano is perennial here.I have mine growing in a pot and i just threw some pine straw over it for winter and now its back better than last year.I will see if I can devide it and give you a little pot of it.I can rem the type it is cuz i threw away the seed pack!DUH!Also i can give you a rosemary bush..its small but you can harvest off it.Chives...yup you can have some of them too.Purple basil...yup. Sweet basil is VERY easy to grow here.Do you want me to start you some?I have about 15 seed packs left and need to use em up.Hyacinth Bean vine...will have seeds in several weeks.Can mail those.Am rooting confederate jasmine now. Will do roses in the fall.Just lemme know.
Lisa (again) LOL
Hi Phil, you have moved to the state that I'm favoring right now. In fact we're considering Warner Robins. Your plantings are amazing. Do you think tropicals would do well where you are?
Nancy
The tropicals I have are doing well.
I have 3 kinds of palms, banana trees, caladiums, a baby mango tree(I keep it indoors in winter), an orange tree, a fig, a japanese aralia, etc. Warner robins is in zone 8a but I have been growing things from zone 9 and the last frost we had was in late february here. it seems like the uv rays in this area are extreme. I keep getting sunburnt from being outside for only minutes.
But as for the city, WR homes are all brand new and nice since the city is less than 50 years old. The city is growing quickly as well. I love it though, everything is a convenient distance.
Thank you for all this information, Phil. I believe we could love
your city. I didn't know how young WR is! That speaks very well about the available real estate. And I'm very happy about the successful gardening you are able to do. I was wondering about pushing into Zone 9 at times. We have an iguana who will love the UV rays.My husband is retired AF. We're hoping there is good medical care available for him. I plan to visit WR sometime this summer.
The medical car is pretty good, there is some available on base and the biggest va medical center in the state is located in dublin, ga(about 40 miles away)
That's very good news. My husband has diabetes and it's very important to me that he's near good medical care. Many thanks.
One more question. Sorry. I've been reading a lot
about finding red clay when starting a garden in GA. Has that been you experience? Doesn't sound like much fun......
It all depends on where you are in the state. I am about 45 minutes south of Macon on I-75 and I garden in a free draining sandy loam. Above the fall line you get into heavier soil and around Atlanta tha clay has in spots been dug and used for pottery.
I fought the sticky red clay in Birmingham for years. Gardening in Cordele is much easier .
Beth
So many thanks for this info Turtle_35206. I have an assortment of maps so I'll look up the areas you've mentioned.
I hope to come down and look around some time in June.
The warner robins/macon area is a mix of dark and clay soil. Anything northwest of here is clay.
Another area that you might consider is Albany, GA. My MIL lives there. The Marine Supply Depot is in Albany and you would find quite a few career military folk living there. My father in law was on dialysis and got quite good care. There are two local hospitals and a VA satellite clinic located in Albany.
Albany has several garden clubs. Julia, my mother in law, was a show judge for some years and the shows kept her very active. She grew gingers, loquats and other tropicals in her yard. Like me, Julia is a plant collector. Neither of us is likely to ever get a spread in Southern Living, but we enjoy it.
Ball room dancing is popular in Albany, and many of the retirees go to dance classes and parties. The churches hold regular community meals as a sort of meet and greet affair.
Beth
Albany sounds like fun, Beth I'll look it up now.
Thanks for the info on soil, Phil.
I think it's time to start marking my maps now and
looking up Albany.
ttfn
ILoveTropicals - Georgia in general is a great place to live and for veterans, a great place to retire. Seems like we are blessed with great bases all over the state, despite the recent BRAC. May I also suggest the Augusta area, home of Fort Gordon and the Signal Corps. Eisenhower Medical and the VA are here, too. Medical care is some of the best in the state. If you like boating or fishing, Lake Thurmond (or Clarks Hill Lake if you prefer) is the largest manmade reservoir east of the Mississippi. We just had relatives visit from PA that will be retiring soon from Army, and they can't wait to move down. (Had my stepson fall in love in 30 seconds flat with the sweet young thing at Tractor Supply.) Yep, he's already planned his next two vacations. After all these years, he finally discovered what the attraction was down here. It would be hard to go wrong anywhere in GA, in my opinion.