Coleus Chatters July 2-8

Good Sunday Morning All!!! I hope everyone is well and happy today and the rest of the week! Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Con't from http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/619218/

Where is tobee? Have I missed seeing her? I hope she didn't get electrocuted! Ouch!!! Come out & play Mstobee!

Heather, that horseshoe wreath is great! Make sure you post us all a pic when you get it hung. I have an old shovel that the handle broke off of and I just threw it down in front of a plant grouping. Everytime I look at it I think of you! Love ya!

Thanks Brinda. You gotta send a pic of that shovel, I gotta see it! Sounds too neat.

I'm wondering about Tobee too. I keep adding up the days of rain we're getting...thinking she's getting them next. Yesterday was gorgeous. However, the thunder woke me up this morning. Poor Tobee. I'm starting to wonder if she's allowed to swim??

Yes I bet she's allowed to swim a non weight bearing excersise. I love swimming and wish I had room for a pool.
Hap will be along as soon as she returns from Mass. tobee often takes week-ends off, so I am keeping good thoughts about her in my head.
I am making alfalfa/milorganite tea today in a big green 4-wheel barrow I scored yesterday for $5 at a yard sale.
I also got a router, router table, bench grinder, electric socket wrench and folding 60 x 30 inch table all for $35. I felt like I'd robbed a bank.
Now I need this porch extended about 20 feet to accomodate my hobbies.
Sidney

Brinda, love that picture, your garden is stunning as usual.
Sidney

Well, sugar was right. After Mass...

But then, DH was still in bed, and he looked so peaceful that I kicked off my shoes and joined him until after 11am. What a slug. Then off to breakfast at our local deli, read the paper and here I am.

It's pouring rain and thundering. It's a great Sunday day to do nothing and that's what I am about to do... NOTHING.

DG is certainly "The Healing Place" in so many of our lives. We are all blessed to have found this place, a place where we can let our hair down with no worry of any recriminations. It's so "freeing" to me. Plus, knowing the fact that I am telling people who really care and that will listen is another big bonus. Any idea what "Shrinks" get paid? I have no clue, but this is better and only $15 a year. Can't beat that with a stick!!!!

Off to my other threads. Will be back

Love ya all.

Hap

Thanks Sidney for the compliments! I won't have new pics for awhile though! Waaaa! Of course, my trusty old camera died and I've been using my kids lately. Now they have broken a little piece off of the memory stick into the computer.....Yikes! I'm sure happy that I didn't do it! LOL

We do have a new digital video camera that takes still pics.....but I'm too illiterate to learn to use it. Geez! I asked DH to look at the instructions yesterday and he only looked for about 5 minutes and then went outside to build a wishing well! LOL Maybe to 'wish' he could understand the instructions! LOLOL I'm sure I'll have to have my techie kids figure it out! But as soon as I do, I'll get you a pic Heather!

I was just outside.....even took a quick dip in the pool. Man......I was thinking of you Sidney....I was thinking....this must be what Sidney means by swooning.....cuz I was SWOONING in the heat! Sheesh!

DH is working today and I'm here all by my witty self! LOL I can't seem to do much but wonder here and yonder....inside and outside! It isn't like I don't have things to do.....it just feels weird being home alone on a Sunday!

Great to have you back Hap!

Wow, Sidney, you sure got some goodies at the garage sale! Sounds like you could tackle anything now!

well yall ....i read every thread here...may not be a die hard coleus person but i feel almost like yall are my home thread....so watch what you say...i am reading ...grin

i hope you dont' mind if i show you my lastest endever....i hate that coleus don't last year after year....but i have to fill my beds with something so here is the b4 during and will show the after when i get it planted...i am still fillin up on my 1.00 perennials....and .60 perennials....

here is my bed we just dug.....i think you can relate to this....you have to dig a bed to buy lots of 1.00 perennials.....wierd thinking huh....or am i right on target and belong here??

here is my proposed new bed...hubbie asked what else was i going to put in it as he knew it was too empty for me.....i am trying to fill this bed with all these $ 1.00 plants....anyway, it will have...abelia, chrysanthemums, daisies....and i think some ornamental grass...not sure, cause the combo sounds too wierd...but this bed only gets 3 hours of sun a day.....too much sun i think for caladiums...and not enuf for some other stuff....i am praying that i it will be enuf sun for the mums and the daisys....altho not my plants of choice....they are cheap and i want my dang beds filled!!!!

well, as it always is the story....there is ALWAYS something that is not in the sale that would really add alot of IMPACT.....what about 2 crepe myrtles....

so i am just having a conversation with myself....guess everyone else has a life??? (what a concept).......anyway, i am going to answer myself....a crepe will need more light than three hours.....SO, does anyone else have an idea of what kind of tree or shrub that looks like the above that will do well with 3 hours of sun a day??....

Well the secret to crepe myrtles is triming in the fall, because they bloom on new growth. and 3 hours is fine for caladiums under crepe myrtles.
I am waiting for my candy stripe to bloom.
Back to bed. I couldn't sleep.
Sidney

well, finally a fairly decent morning!

brinda...i'm here!!!

we were without electric for two days....the pool area is completed flooded, it has a moat around it with running water surrounding the circumference ..however, i'm counting my blessing as port jervis, ny..witch is about 12 minutes away is almost completely washed away and totally flooded. although the state of emergency has been lifted here, we still have many roads closed and flooded and everything is just wet and soggy and smelly. i really don't know how long it will take to get things back in order around here. i had one bed that completely washed away. but many that benefited from the rains and are beginning to come together.

lou would only hook up my computer for a short time with the generator so i didn't have time to tell ya all what was happening. i got on for about 10 minutes when he snatched my plug and put it into of all things the freezer!!!!....how dare he!! food or computer....???? was no question in my mind, however, i didn't win that one.



sidney...am i hearing prospects of a new possible man with some money in his pocket??? remember....first time for love, second only for money. i hate to say...but if anything were to happen in my future and i had to consider looking around again, i would take the first plane to Morocco and go into the casino, find me a baccarat table, then look for the oldest, richest man their and seat myself right next to him until he proposed.

sidney...hehehehe...." just expect tobee to do a nice long start the day post about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." well, i'm not thinking i'm that profound LOL!!!

now i had to do tons of reading to catch up on everything.....yikes about the parent issues..personally myself i had an abusive father....lesson learned.....to make sure i picked someone completed opposite from my father. i made certain that i got lou as angry as i possibly could prior to marrying him to make sure he wasn't violent. it basically worked...however, except the time that he told me time and time again to not put bubbles in the house jacuzzi. my kids were really little like 1 and 2...and i knew lou wasn't going to be home until the next morning...so i put bubbles in the jacuzzi....and the bubbles looked so nice..until they came over the tub, into the hallway....and began going down the steps into the entire kitchen. meanwhile, the poor babies in the tub could no longer be seen because they were lost in the bubbles...when all of a sudden it happened!! i heard the front door and it was lou!!!! OMG...no where to hide those bubbles...or myself for that matter. i had NEVER seen him so angry and he punched a hole in the hallway. yikes!! "what did i tell you about putting bubbles in that jacuzzi"...i said...oh, i'm sorry...i forgot...didn't work!!! he never did raise his voice at me...but he did punch that hole in the wall..which he was more sorry about than me, since he had to fix it. getting back to the father thing...one can spend there entire lifetime trying to understand "why", and psychology how their minds worked, but to me the bottom line is..they love you the only way "they" were capable, if at all. i'm sorry for those that spent to many years heartbroken over trying to figure them out. i supposed that personally i could have spent my entire life on the question...moving on to better and more productive things....

it has been an excellent weekend business wise. i picked up a speaking gig...which is most cool because as you can see by how i write...i can talk....well nothing better than getting 200.00 an hour for me to speak! secondly, i picked up the biggest, monetary plantscape job that i have ever had for next season. so i'm thrilled!

i was able to snap a few pictures to share...which i also put a few up in the other thread "please answer with pictures".

hi to hap, heather, gg...where are you?? pati, stickinstones and anyone else i missed!!

first pic...welcome to my house


This message was edited Jul 3, 2006 9:07 AM

coming together

cranberry salad

from a distance side gardens with toby the cat who gardens with me

a little blurred

Not me Sidney, I slept like a rock! And now I feel like a rock.....Ugh!

Good Morning everyone!

Joni, your beds look great! Show us more pics of your gardens. They are all so beautiful. And there are many caladiums that will take full sun. Here is a link where you can look to see which ones will tolerate sun. I just love caladiums. Almost as much as coleus! LOL http://www.caladiumworld.com/

Here is my favorite caladium......it loves full sun..and does well anywhere! It is called Red Flash.

Well I can't believe it....but I don't even have a good pic of my favorite caladium! LOL

coming along

name of pot "sunrise"

This message was edited Jul 3, 2006 8:59 AM

name of pot "sunset"

fishnet stockings

alabama setset and friends

pineapple queen

Beatiful tobee....just gorgeous! You put a big smile on my face this morning!

Please tell me the names of the coleus in your first pics titled 'coming together'? And what are the coleus in your 'sunrise' pic?

starting to come together to form their design

Morning all--Ive been lurking. Tobee your gardens and cont are beautiful.
Heather loved your horseshoe wreath. Dixie

Tobee I love your gardens you do good work..no wonder they hire you...I sure would..

Dixie, don't lurk like Loretta & Kin! LOL Jump in & join us!

Love ya Loretta! Nice to see you!!!

tobee, I came back to say congrats on your new jobs! That's just great!!! You da woman!!!

GM all, a little late today. Movin' mighty slow today.

Tobee, what lovely gardens. And that front door.....wow....

Only other gardeners know the work it takes to make these gardens. How many hours do you have in your day? It must be more than me. LOL

I'm hoping that the last of the fence goes up today so I can start putting back things the way they should be. He trampled some stuff, but not too bad. Just piles of dirt and debris to push around and I should be in good shape. The sun is bearing down pretty good today and the humidity is high. I don't think that I will last very long out there today. But every little I get done will be less I have to face later.

Welcome Dixie, come in and sit a spell. We will tell you anything you want to hear and more...LOL

See ya later...

Hap

Tobee, thanks for your wi$dom and I agree. Franks stomach is really bothering him and I am almost sure a great deal of it is his liver or pancrase(?). Or I could just leave him and Dayne here to fend for themselves.
Well I am only dreaming there and do expect to find someone to grow old with in a few years. Right now I just couldn't do that to Frank as he does care deeply for me.
Your gardens are just beautiful and now that I have tiller I can replace the bare weedy spots with more color. At this point it is free via cuttings and as our gardens last into early December, well worth the effort.
Brinda your Caladiums really punch-up your gardens. And I alway like seeing your pictures too.
Tobee how did you do your tower of impatients at the side of that pretty front door?
Yes we talk about most anything here and I hope Kell and Jeanette drop in too.
Happy I think from 7am or 6 if I'm awake are the best hours to do this work. I also often go out and do some around 7pm until dark. I mowed last week at 2pm while all was dry and was real flushed when I came in. I'll not do that again.
Here are my favorite Caladiums, and the sun doesn't phase them.
Sidney

How gorgeous Sidney, I just love Gingerland caladiums. I have a few planted next to a sedona coleus and they really compliment each other. LOL Now to figure out that camera! My son did tell me that he knew how to do it...I guess that will be on the agenda for tomorrow since he is supposed to be off.

Gorgeous pics tobee!

Yeah, I wonder when Kell is? I'll have to drop her an email and tell her that we miss her. I think she is full to the brim with plants and working really hard to keep up. Good thing she retired.....I sure don't know how she would do it if she were working.

I miss Jeanette too. Somewhere I read that her daughter was visiting, maybe that is why we haven't seen her.

tobee...your home is lovely....glad yall are okay....but wet...:)

Hey Ya'll,
First change I've had to come out to play today, and it'll still need to be a quickie!

Last night I took DH on a DG tour of your picture posts and introduced him to all of you. He was truly spellbound (a miracle!) by your beautiful gardens and creativity. Hap, Tobee, Brinda, Sug, Dale, et al, thank you for being my friends. Now, he can appreciate when I talk about you.

He was particularly was amused by the posts I had made of our OWN backyard!

The weatherman has been misrepresenting for the last three days -- promised me 8-10" of rain, and as of yet, it has only sprinkled on our property since Friday. There's still hope we'll get a good rainstorm in the next hour, and it might last through Wednesday. I'm enjoying the overcast and so are the plants. They seem to be taking a much-needed break from the scorching sun. The air is very moist and mornings see moist droplets of water over everything. I'm glad for the garden.

The Persian Shield came out of the humidifier this morning. I put it under the bench so if it rains, the new growth won't get pounded into the dirt!

The new flowerbed likes itself! The SPV Marguerite is actually STANDING up and the Japanese ferns are swaying in the breeze. I've been pinching and plugging like crazy, Since that's ya'lls advise! And do I see a flowering coleus and keep on walking? Noooooooooooooo. Why? Cause the coleus POLICE will arrest me for letting the plant tell itself it's time to go to seed and to stop flowering! (See -- I'm paying attention, Tobeesahn and Hap and Sug!)

I bought three Melampodium plants from Lowe's Friday evening. They were near the death pile and on sale for $2/apiece. I researched Saturday. Good thing, cause seems like they're pretty good seed spreaders if you leave them in the ground. I'll put them in pots instead.

I read that if you have an invasive plant, you can put it into a container and plant that into the ground. The container will keep the roots from spreading. Is this true? I don't want to end up hating a species cause it turned into "Invasion of the Garden Snatchers!" Please let me know.

Ooooooooohh, I see rain on the horizon! Yayyyyyyyyyyyy !

I'm feeling hot dogs for tomorrow...with spiced up Wolf Brand Chili, and chips. And a Miller Genuine Draft in a bottle! Ok. That's the 4th!

good afternoon all!

i'm going to reply quickly as i have to get ready for knee pt in a few.

brinda...some of the coleus i work with i don't have a clue because they are new cultivars not on the market as yet....i know there was some haines and blusher and flamingo in there. sidney may know the rest that i may have missed, and some aren't name as yet.....the sunrise the green with white spots was given to me unnamed??? so i'm not certain on that one, however, there is sunshine and kingwood kritter in there as well.

sidney, about the impatients...i purchase plastic teared bags and seed them. i fill the plastic bag with dirt then cut slits in them and tear the flowers in. i have seen some nurseries carry completed bags with the flowers, but i purchase the bags seperately then tear them. after my gardens mature more you will be seeing illusions of what you think is "tearing" up in certain beds...but it's done with how you place the plants.

thanks to ALL...(just so i didn't have to type all the names!...bad me)for you nice comments about our gardens...but just wait until another month...when you no longer see the planters!...that is if the bugs or the wet don't get them all!

hap, the answer to your question is this...i'm up at 4:30...out to the gardens by 5 am. water until 12:00. (however, come in for a break usually between 6-7am, but my hour morning break may vary) back out from 4-8 cleaning and touching up...so it's usually between 8-10 hours daily. the truth!

brinda and sidney, sticks ....lovely pics!

You spend upwards of 8 hours a day in your garden? That IS a fulltime job!

What time do we come, GG?

I'll bring the Margaritas..!!

gg...ahhhhhh...we were writing at the same time!! there you are.

and yes, after my spring work for others is done which is usually mid june i spend 8-10 hours out in the gardens daily. of course not when it's pouring out. i was out all this morning until about noon or so and now i'm getting ready to go out for my 3:30 appointment..hehehe...but the answer to your question is yes i do!

and it's a full time job year round. working backwards.....come sept..all garden parties and completion of gardens, contracts for the following spring are completed. oct. pull up gardens. nov. prepare all designs for following spring ( by customers and myself) dec. prepare all plant orders and begin prep for springfest display. jan. place all plant orders. feb. rush like nuts for springfest. march springfest two weeks on your feet after your winter plantings have been displayed. march all tree orders in and prep all trees. april. plant trees and scrubs. may....early...set up cold frames, perennial plants go in. do all plantscaping jobs, try and get my personal gardens in and pray. early june, continue plants. july prep for county flower show. aug flower show two weeks..........ahhhhhhhh that's my full time stuffs!

and the answer to your question....about the invasives is it depends. some will continue growth and go over the pot and end up in the soil and spread that way. so you have to keep them in check at all times.

hotdogs!!!!!! can i have one please...i love them so...but they don't love me!

talk to ya all later!

It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good to be among friends who LIKE the same things! HOT DOGS! DRAFT BEER! MARGARITAS! SALSA AND CHIPS!

ESCARGO! -- ooops!!!! (tee hee hee)