Hi Everyone,
My mom surprised me with a membership to Dave's Garden.What a lovely gift!
She lives in Florida now.I call her a couple times a day to say hi and also I am constantly asking her questions about which flowers to grow and how to properly care for them.
I really love the look of an old fashioned garden and I am looking into which plants were most likely grown in my area in the 1890's - 1920.
I do very well with roses,nikko blue hydrangeas,marigolds,jade plants.My peppers did horrible and I kill african violets.I am not going to give up and I am trying so hard to learn because I enjoy gardening so much.The weather here is crazy.I am not sure when to begin hardening off my little plants.What I have read so far has been very helpful and it looks like a great forum of folks who are also love to garden.
New Member From Naugatuck,CT
Welcome EnglishCottage - your name certainly gives away your gardening preference! You will love DG and this forum in particular. Great people who love to garden and the experience level runs the gamut from newbie to 30 or 40 years or more. Most important, you will be able to connect with people in your area who have the same conditions to deal with. Good luck and have fun. Feel free to ask any questions any time. No question is too silly as we have a number of silly people here, myself included.
Victor
Have you tried Jimmy Nardello peppers? He lived in Naugatuck. His mother brought the seeds from Italy in 1887. After he passed away in 1983, the seeds were given to Seed Savers Exchange. This will be my first year growing them.
Asters were popular in CT during the time frame you mention. One of the if not the most popular flowers back then. Easy to grow with a nice long lasting fall splash of color not seem much in August and September. One theory why they declined in popularity is because they do not show well in flats.
I moved back to CT last spring after decades in the south and west. Didn't have time to do much in the garden but managed to stick some asters along the path to the house. Weeded them once. Feed them Miracle Grow once. Didn't cut them back in early July as you are supposed to do. Soil I've since learned is substandard--a pH of 5.7 and woefully deficient in Phosphorus and Potassium. But they turned out OK:
http://usera.imagecave.com/Hist/Astersonwalkwaytoporch.jpg
Welcome EnglishCottage. There are lots of seed company's selling heirloom plant seeds - so you should be able to pick and choose whatever your heart desires. I think that there is a cottage garden forum - but don't forget about us - we are a fun group!
David_Paul - what kind of peppers are those? I have no luck with bell peppers and I looooove the red ones!
Welcome to the club, EnglishCottage:
Warning--Dave's Garden can become addictive! My peppers didn't produce well last summer, either. The pepper forum people had lots of suggestions, so I'm trying again.
David_Paul:
Hi neighbor. Your aster path looks great. I just put in some Monch asters last year, and am awaiting this year's growth with crossed fingers.
YankeeCat:
There were several comments about Jimmy Nardello peppers in the pepper forum. I've condensed them here:
1) They are tapered >6” Green ripening to red, 74dy sweetest non-bell, too thin to stuff
2) these are kind of a pain to cook with (deseeding them) but they are so tasty! Fried they were nirvana!
Sounds interesting. I'll have to try them next year.
Re: Jimmy Nardello peppers - anyone know where to get seeds?
Welcome! You will find a wealth of knowledge and inspiration here! Have fun exploring your possibilities. I have had luck growing hot peppers in pots although they need some watching to not dry out once August rolls around. I'm thinking about trying some kind of self-watering containers this year for all of my peppers. They are a great solution.
all the best Linda
Welcome EnglishCottage! A lot of super nice folks here ~ you'll love it!!
AYankeeCat....I bought Jimmy Nardello's from Seed Savers Exchange. Understand the thin skin makes them fry up nice. They look like the peppers I've seen on grills at street festivals in New Haven. A few suppliers:
http://www.southernexposure.com/productlist/prods/46122.html
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/sweet2.htm
http://www.seedsavers.org/prodinfo.asp?number=239(OG)
DonShirer...small world! Howdy. Considering what I did to mine, I don't believe it is possible to mess up asters. When I finally got around to pulling up the dead stalks in December, I found the roots had not pushed out of the Jiffy net bag---asters two feet tall with 10-12 blooms on them had a two inch root ball.
Now I'm wondering if planting them correctly this year will disappoint :-)
Welcome English Cottage. There is a cottage garden forum on DG. Check out NOTMARTHA's (aka Dori) pictures there. Amazing!
We are really taking off with CT people lately!
Hi, English Cottage. Welcome to DG and the forum. You'll love it here. I've got a ton of seeds outside trying to germinate to start a cottage garden this year. so do check out the cottage garden forum. I use the Northeast Gardening forum as kind of my home base, then hang out at Cottage Gardening, Roses, Orchids, or wherever else as the mood or need strikes.
Welcome English Cottage!
Don't feel bad about the peppers! I've been growing them from seed for 15+ years-some good, some bad! I did grow Jimmy Nardello's last year(purchased from SeedSavers) and had pretty good luck.
What kind of roses do you have?
Sue
Hi English Garden
I was just browsing for pansy seeds(I know I'm way late!) but I came across this one: Viola - Heartsease 'Bowles Black' from Select Seeds and it states, "Long-lived cottage garden essential from 1901" and it also self-sows.
Sue :)
Wow ! That was truly a wonderful welcome.Thank you all. I apologize for not answering sooner but I have been working hard to get my home ready to sell.I do not want to see joint compound or hand sanders for a long time after this.I just love my gardening.
I will send some pics later this week.Thanks again, Debralynne