Need ideas for a long bog garden (Part 2)

CONGRATULATIONS, Mark!!!

We must see photos in the Spring/Summer of your garden beds and all of your Crocosmia beds! I want to see how you have it designed. Do you label each plant? Do you now get to charge admission for folks to come visit your gardens to see your National Collection???? :-)

That's really awesome news ..... I had no doubt it would happen!

Cordeledog
awwwwwwwwwwwwwww thank you so much for signing my guestbook!!!!!
Hardly a professional photographer.................. the camera does all the work! LOL
Yes i love the rain droplets too............

Becky
Thank you me dear.................. I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, of course i am gonna take some pics so you can see the garden properly...........
Yep, i have 2 labels per pot............... have to, its part of the collection rules............. one label is on show and the other is buried in the pot!!
Yep, can charge admission if i want to............... but i doubt if i will.... i am too nice to charge people..........LOL

Mark - That is so exciting!!!! Is your garden going to be featured on a website (in addition to yours) or in a magazine or travel brochure or newspaper or garden club published newsletter/magazine? I bet it will be!

What did you get? A certification? A sign for your garden stating it is a National Crocosmia Collection? What? What? Tell us! Inquiring minds want to know how they honor your garden with this title!

It will be featured in magazines................ but not for a while!! lol and yes i will send you a magazine when it comes out!!!

No sweetie, i dont get a certificate.............. Dont need a sign, it will be in a national collectors book............ people will phone me to be able to come and see my crocosmia etc.

Also, i will have the TV come round and it will appear on Gardeners world..................LOL

Mark, congratulations!!!

Now we have a star in our midst........I want an autograph with the magazine!

LOL......................... ok fly....................... no probs!!!!

Oh gosh! That is sooooo neat! I wonder if Gardener's World has current video on a website somewhere. I want to be able to see the show when they interview you and showcase your gardens! There has got to be a way to see something like that here in the USA!!!! I can't believe you didn't get a nice little custom-made sign for your yard. That's what they do here in the U.S.A. It is usually displayed at the beginning of the walkway into your yard.

So what exactly is the "title" they've given your gardens? They must have it listed with a proper title, right?

This is all so fascinating!!! I bet you are so excited and proud that all your hard work and expertise is being recognized! How absolutely wonderful!!!!

Dont worry about it.............. if and when its on tv i will do a video for you and send you it..........
Noooooooooooooooo, no custom made signs or anything like that!! May make one myself...... hehehe

They dont give the garden a title, just that i have the national collection of crocosmia........... so anyone that is interested in crocosmia can make an appointment and come and view my plants....

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh god yes........... i am soooooooooooooooo excited and proud.

So i am now a REAL crocosmia expert.................... anyone who contacts the RHS or the NCCPG about crocosmia will be reffered to me.......... hehehe Just call me MR. ADVICE!!!!!!!

That would be great if you could add some TV video or a link for the TV station on your website! Something to think about! That would certainly be a nice addition for your website. I'd definitely check it out! :-)

Now you need to change your screen name to "Crocosmia Certified Expert" ! :-) :-) :-) Just goes to show where a passion for something can lead! Way to go, Mark!!!!

I can run a video on my website............... maybe i could run the video of gardeners world on there... that really would be cool!!!

LOL.............. crocosmia certified expert........... hahahahahah
Yep, if you stick at it long enough you can do most anything!!

Just been talking to my aunt, she is letting me use two large greenhouses in her garden to grow on some of my plants as stock to sell.... isnt that excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oooooh, wonderful, Mark! I see great things in your future! Are you prepared to do guest lectures???? LOL! Ya never know! ;-) That's a great idea to propagate some of your plants to sell. That would be wonderful if you could make a profit from your lovely hobby and passion! YOU will make a name for yourself in the gardening circles. If you ever do guest speaking here in the USA - especially in Florida - be sure to let me know. I'd love to come and hear your lecture on Crocosmia! :-)

I don't klnow about guest lectures yet Becky......... but you never know!!!
Guess what??............. I got a certificate arrive in the post........... they didnt used to give certificates apparently! But they do now........ so i rframed and hung it!!!!!! Love it........
Yes, it will be wonderful if i can make some profit out of a few spare corms............. but thats not really what its all about. Its all about the conservation of the Crocosmia.
You never know, if i meet the right person at the right time, someone who has a huge nursery in USA, that wants to promote crocosmia, and wants me to guest lecture...............
I think crocosmia would go down a storm in USA....................................

Hummingbird nectar plant that likes moist wet areas>
http://home.pacifier.com/~neawanna/humm/salmonberry.html

Congratulations Mark!! I got your message, so happy for you!

Thanks Deb.............. pleased you got the message ok!!!

Salmonberry................ pretty!!!!!

Found another.. looks a bit like a Brug, but it isn't....

http://www.huntingtonbotanical.org/Conservatory/about.htm

Mark, you have a fan club here too, did you know?

http://davesgarden.com/place/t/697411/

yes, and also in european gardening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Yay, Mark! You have a certificate of proof that you RULE in the Crocosmia world!!! You go!!!!

We are soooo PROUD of you and your contribution to gardening! If each person made it their mission and desire to grow one particular species of plant, we'd each be an expert with knowledge we could share with others for the love of plants and gardening! Gardeners ROCK!!!!

I now have a bogless Bog Garden. Boo hoo! Or maybe not a boo hoo, because now I can grow whatever I want in this long garden bed! LOL! After adding the dirt and compost, it raised the bed high enough that it is no longer soggy, but now it is almost a dry bed. Now who would've guessed that would happen???!!!!

Now ..... mind you ..... it hasn't rained much and perhaps after a couple days of hard rain it will be boggy again. =:-O Or maybe it will take a hurricane to transform it to bog again. Either way, I have much more options! :-) :-) :-) ☺

Deb - That Osa pulchra is amazing!!! No kidding! I need more land!!!!! ☺I can dream, can't i??☺

I had NO IDEA that there would be so many plants that I would discover and fall in ♥ with! I have accumulated a lot of seeds from swaps and so many DGers here that have been sooooo generous. I am sowing seeds now to see what will germinate in my garden beds. At first I was thinking I couldn't take the chance of "wasting" some favorite plant seeds, but then I realized that as a DGer, I could get more seeds for trade or for the asking. So now I am going for it!!!

My challenge now is to try to either use markers or draw up a sketch of the garden bed and mark the areas that I have planted seeds with the name. I know when they start coming up, I won't know what the heck they are, so I am doing rough drawings of my garden beds for later IDing and reference.

It is SPRING here! Actually it's starting to feel more like early summer. What a joy to start planting again!!!

YAY....................... you go for it Becky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope the ones i sent you do ok in your new dry bed that was a bog garden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Well, I gotta tell y'all ...... planting seeds is getting to be quite fun! I'm seeing babies coming up in one of the beds of my bog garden. I planted about 12 different seeds in that one 4' X 6' bed. I've got another bed next to it all ready for seeds now, too. I am going through my bag of seeds to pick out what to plant next. Such fun!

One plant that I would really like to grow, but I just am not having much luck so far ..... Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). I received some seeds, but I was told they don't keep for very long. I think none of them will sprout because I had the seeds for over 5 months before recently planting them. And I bought some starter plants over the internet and they are not doing well either. I have come to the conclusion that I need to either get fresh seeds, tubers, bulbs, or roots to plant and plant them right away. Most plants with leaves I buy or get through trades in the mail don't make it. (Though those who have sent me plants who live in Florida, I have grown quite well in my garden. Must have something to do with the climate and region.)

should be interesting to see if Astrantia grows where you live Becky............... hope they do!!!

Oh goodie, Mark! Love to try new seeds/plants. Astrantia is gorgeous! I hope that the plants do like my area and zone! Thank you for once again being so generous and sharing! You are such a kind person! Thank you so much!!!

I seeded 5 "bog" beds recently. All kinds of seeds from swaps, trades, and SASBE. I can't wait for them to really start growing and especially blooming! I hope most of them sprout. One garden bed I planted a couple weeks ago. It has little sprouts all over the place in it. I am using cut strips from vinyl blinds for markers. I just wish I could find a marking pen that is more permanent than the Sharpies. They fade pretty quick. I am also drawing out each bed and labeling where all the seed groups are planted, so if the markers fade, I still have a way to ID the plants months from now. I will try to get a photo sometime this week or next of the beds to show everyone.

Next week is Spring Break for me. I plan to do some serious gardening during those 9 days. I have quite a few plants to get into the ground that are currently potted up. I have decided I am going to put the container ponds (using all the same kind of container) in every 3rd bog bed. I will have 4 total when it is all done. I have waterlilies and am going to try my hand at growing dwarf Lotus. Along with other water/bog plants. My bog bed is pretty dry now, so it looks like the container ponds are the way to go to get the water garden plants to grow in that area. I am seeing it all come together. Eventually..... I am so impatient! I want to see the plants and flowers NOW. LOL! Probably by summer's end and beginning of Fall. Barring any hurricane weather to destroy some of it. I am also trying my hand at Morning Glories this year as well. Wish me luck!

Becky

Aerospace Marker on its way to you............................ they are very expensive, but well worth the money.......
I use them on all my labels and some are 3 years old and still look like the writing is new!!!!

Mark

What the heck is an aerospace marker and where do you get such a thing????? Inquiring minds want to know. Sounds like a great marker!!!! Never heard of such a thing before. And I live about 70 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center!

Thank you, Mark! You are the Garden Godfather. .... or the Heavenly Gardener. I appreciate all that you have sent me. You are far too generous, dear man! Thank you, thank you. Now tell me what I can send you!!!!! :-) :-) :-)

Is the aerospace marker available here in the US? Seemed like all the sites that turned up when I Googled it were UK and AU. Is there a comparable US product? I learned the hard way that Sharpie is NOT permanent when it comes to labels exposed to the sun. The only letters remaining on my tags were the ones beneath the soil. ;-(

I have a dymo labeler that works with stainless steel and aluminum tapes. The labels last forever but it wears my fingers out spinning the wheel. Discovered that my $5 yard sale find costs about $200 retail. We punch a hole in each label and use copper from stripped electrical wire to make a leg to insert into the ground. I will eventually use up all the label tape that came with it and have to purchase more, ooch. Stuff's pricy but seems like all labeling systems that actually last are. I wouldn't say these labels are pretty, but I press it on down into the ground as the plant ages and I get the name into my head. When I have a question as to nominclature, I just shuffle the soil about. Of course, some plants do overgrow their nametags. But it is still there and if you are lucky reappears when you dig to divide and lift it in your division.

baagrant - I, too, googled and could NOT find the aerospace markers sold anywhere in the USA. And I didn't find any companies in the U.K. or Austria selling them overseas. I will be using my gift very soon to see how it holds up to the Florida sun! Sharpies are a joke!!! My husband mentioned using the charcoal grease pencils for marking. (Which might actually work, too!) I was going to try that but then Mark sent me one of his lovely markers to try.

Hey Mark, I'll send you some red leaved cannas if you send me an aerospace marker.

I know......I'm getting the better end of the deal :)

Fly

Send me your name and address and i will send you one if you want one............... I am kind like that arent i Becky???

Do you want some cannas?

Noooooooooooooooooooo just D-Mail me your name and address................ Honestly i have enough plants!!! LOL

Mark, you know no-one can have too many plants...that's like saying you have too much money hahaha

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I dont think so .............................LOL
If you saw my garden, I think you would agree with me, that i am rather full............

Okay then....thank you!!!!

YAY................................................... may even be a suprise in there too!!!! LOL

fly_girl - D-mail Mark your address. You can always do something nice for him later! That's what I have done! Accept his gift and SMILE!!! That's what Mark likes best ..... to make others smile! He's a garden angel ...... that's for sure! :-) And a generous soul! :-)

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...................... Yesssssssssssssss I love to make people smile.
Took me long enough to convince Becky to let me send her stuff...........LMAO

He truly is! Hopefully someday I'll be able to give him a plant he can make room for. lol