Jill's Plant Swap Pictures

OK! Here we go--just to make more memories.

...and this is BEFORE she started mixing all the margaritas.....

Here she is again!

Man! She mixed me a Margarita that started melting the wax off my paper cut!
Honest! I could almost see daylight through it!

Here's the left side of our "grazing Table". Man!!!! What a spread! Everything was soooo yummy!
Notice all the plants on the upper ledge? Can't waste all that space, right?

Then Bobbie's "hunk" of a husband, Rick, showed up on his bike.
Checking out all the goodies on the right side of our "grazing table".....

So many to choose from! What to do?....What to do????/

Ahhhhhh......Ain't they something????/

Here's just Bobbie (Miata).

ALWAYS a smile on her face!

Here's our charming hostess, Jill (Critter) with Happy, who rolled in a bit late. You should have heard her excuses! Would make a great plot for an adventure movie...
But--Now, finally, we had all the fixings for some serious drinks!

Becky back in her glory! Bartending......

"Hey, watch this!", said she, I can mix these Pina Coladas without even looking....

We are all now settling around Jill's Grandmother's small dining table--and we stayed there until evening too.

Here's Sally--just hanging around with all the Hanging Baskets.

Here's Jill's new kitty. he was too adorable. A ball of energy--non stop! And then he would just "crash" in someone's lap.

See what I mean?
Well--any warm, soft spot will do, like tucked around Beck's neck. Like---he was out COLD!

And--HEEEEEEr's Happy!......happy, of course~ very happy!.

Like--this big pot of Oregano just fell into her hands! I think Jill threw it at her saying, "But I KNOW you would love to have this!!!!"....Take it, you wench!!!! I KNOW you want it!!!!

When it comes to plants, it is very hard to say "No" to Jill.

Here's Jill, Chantell and friend (I forgot her name....:o( )

I'll just call her the Apple Lady.....

These are Jill's Banana Plants.
I heard she can, actually, fit them in her basement. Somewhere among all the pipes on the ceiling.......

Ain't this gorgeous?????

This is Jill's "Sweet Autumn Clematis". I had never seen one, but heard of it. Such a breath of "fresh air"! Spilling all over.

Three happy faces. So great to meet again!

Gita, Becky and Bobbie in Jill's kitchen.

Last one--just for you Jill, as you were talking about your Grandmother's "Sweet Surrender Rose".

Here is mine, taken just 2 days ago, with "Grandpa Ott Morning Glory" blooming away half way up my house. The big trellis it has climbed is where I have my "Multi Blue Clematis". That is one gorgeous Clematis!

AAAAWWWWWW .... FIDDLESTICKS. I'm still sulking over missing this one. Looks like you all had a blast!

Jill, your place looks scrumptious. I'm going to be hitting you up for tips on overwintering your tropicals in a basement because I'm going to have a whole room full, methinks. Question #1: do you cut back the bananas at all? I'm wondering if the indirect light from my propagation stand will be enough to keep them contented....

I'm still experimenting with the whole "overwintering tropicals" thing. Of course I had to get bananas that would produce supremely delicious fruit if they ever managed it (Apple Banana and Ice Cream Banana)... I have read that they need something like 18 months of growth before fruiting, and usually that's continuous growth, LOL. I know that if you chop them off just above the rootball like some folks do, they will not fruit. But I had this notion (unsubstantiated) that maybe if I could keep them semi dormant rather than fully dormant, that would be like pressing the "pause" button rather than the "stop" button, and maybe I'd have fruit after several growing seasons.

So last fall, the plan was to dig them, wrestle them into the basement, and put them into 20 gallon tubs with potting mix. We did that, but a lot of the leaves broke off partway or entirely in the process. They got a little water every couple of weeks, and they got a little light from the window plus maybe a bit more from the seed starting shelf lights. And around late March, the silly things started growing new leaves... into the rafters, in and around the pipes and ducts... They didn't have much in the way of leaves when they went out in spring, just a couple of damaged ones. But as you can see, they grew!

I'm not quite ready to give up and chop them off at the knees this fall. But I do think I will just wrap their rootballs (with a layer of slightly damp paper and then in a big plastic garbage bag) and lay them down on the floor for storage... I did this with one banana last year, and it seemed to fare about as well as the ones that were potted up.

I used to love the red bananas that I found at Sun Moon Lake when I lived in Taiwan. My project this winter will have to be to figure out what they might have been, then get my hands on 'em. It's unlikely that I'll ever get them to fruit, but I do like a challenge.

I need to get some junk removed from the basement so that I'll have plenty of room for my nursery. That means DH will have to come to my gimpy rescue. All was not lost for me yesterday, I got to direct him out in the front beds to dig up a bunch of plants and move them to new spots. Have I mentioned how much I do not like not being able to do stuff myself? Sheesh. *I'm* the landscaping crew around this joint.

And of course I wanted to say thanks for taking & sharing all these great photos, Gita!

Looking at all the smiling faces and thinking of the fun we had together... I'm still smiling! :-)

Gita- thanks for sharing all those pictures. Don't the 'miatas' look happy together?

I've been out sweatin today, figuring out what to do with stuff. Starting with, dumping some junk in the compost to make room. Goodbye, boring sick pothos, and pineapple plant. OOOPS_ I found my two bargain bushes from last week on death's door, panting. Had to get them in the ground first.....................

Sally,

I meant to do some of the same, but my sister called and she will be arriving here today around 6PM. I was expecting her tomorrow. I don't mind. Makes a bit more time before we head off to OC Wed. morning to "get with" Frankie and Debbie.....Huggie-hugs waiting.....

SO! My crab Feast (at HD) starts at 7PM tonight, so she will have to, literally, throw her bags down, freshen up and we are off to munch of piles and piles of crabs and all kinds of other foods people will have brought. I hope to bring a couple of grocery bags-full of crabs back home for out crab eating tomorrow night.

Today, I watered everything with sprinklers. Sure is dry! Best I can do on short notice. .
Got 2 large trays of cut up Watermelons to bring and also a dbl. portion of MMMMmeatballs. Did them all at one time with the ones I brought yesterday.

OK! Just showered and washed my hair and now have to get "beautiful".....NOT necessary when you are going to HD, but nice. Then wait for the doorbell to ring.....I don't see my Sis but, Maybe, every 2 years. She lives in Alaska. We sure are all scattered about.

Gita

Jill, am I putting the geranium cuttings in soil with plastic 'tents'? I put plectranthus cutting in soil. OK?
miata- I put thos three nice Monas in your two-part pot, should be beautiful!

Thanks for sharing the pictures Gita. It does look as though everyone had a blast. Jill, from what I can see, you do indeed have a very green thumb. So sorry that I couldn't make it, but will try harder for the next get together.

My question for Sally, is how many drinks did you have before this picture was taken? ha-ha Just joking. Cute as ever though. I just realized that I am sitting here with a goofy grin on my face. Your pictures and everyone's comments did that for me. Thanks.

Wrightie, sorry that you had to miss the swap also. I will be out early digging today and getting you a box together. I hope that you will have help getting them planted when they arrive.

Chantell, your seeds go out this morning too.

Again, thanks Gita for the pictures and helping me start my day with a goofy grin.

Ruby

Thanks, Ruby! For small potted plants I'm able to sit on a stool and plant with the help of a trowel, so I should be okay. I'm s l o w, but I can do it.

Anything that requires a shovel is for DH ... under my close supervision, of course. :)

Sally, yes, the geranium cuttings go into moist potting mix with something over them for humidity. I paraphrased Tom DeBaggio's instructions here in this thread, http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/597232/

The plectranthus cutting can be stuck the same way, or they will root in about a week in a glass of water.

Oh, and my friend Theresa is "the Apple Lady." Her family has a veggie garden and orchard that's more like a truck farm... and a lot of my local gardening information comes from them! The Italian basil that is my favorite for pesto and cooking comes from seeds she brought back for me from Italy. :-)

ruby- you teaser- i guess I do like kinda relaxed~~~just comes naturally LOLOLOL not at 7:30 on a school morning !!!!
Thanks critter- as if it could get any more humid here ~~~~~~
That reminds me to get out the cup of apple salad I snitched, for dinner tonight

Looks like you all had a great time! Sorry I missed another one, but with you in spirit. I though about you all having fun that day and by the pictures I was right.
It is a long way from my little corner of Pa. I'm in the little wedge that juts up between New York and Ohio and borders on Lake Erie to the North.

I'll watch for plans for the Spring Fling Swap. LOL

Chris

Oh, my, Chris. You are in SNOW country.

Miss Ladygardener1. Somehow, somewhere, some day I am gonna meet you. You came so close last vacation to where I live and things just didn't work out for us to meet. Where are you headed this year??? ha-ha

I am on the road headed north myself. We left home yesterday morning and our destination is Cape Cod MA. We stopped about mid way in Mt. Laurerl New Jersey and are spending the night at my nieces lovely new house. Tomorrow after we prepare the bed and plant some of the plants that I thinned out of my garden, we will head out for part two of our trip.

After we arrived here and rested a bit yesterday afternoon, I weeded the bed where the new plants will go. So, that part is done. I brought alongOh ye several stalks of Sedum Autumn Joy, Lamb's Ear, two Caladiums for indoors and some Day Lilies. Oh yeah, and a Hibiscus. Hopefully everything will root nicely and perform well for her next year.

I will check in this week from time to time. I needed to do this trip so badly. I hope that all of you will have a great week too.

Ruby

Ruby, sounds like a nice trip. I have never been to Maine.

Yes, we did get very close to meeting, if it wasn't for the car trouble. Don't have plans for next year yet. Will let you know if we get close again.

Chris

What a wonderful round-up! Great comraderie, fantastic foliage, yummy food/drinks and best of all gardening friends spending quality time together. Sorry I was out of town for a wedding, but hopefully I'll be able to join you all in the Spring. Thanks so much for sharing all the wonderful pictures!

Ruby: Have a fantastic trip to Maine and eat some lobster for me!

We missed you, Shirley! But don't wait until Spring... I'm thinking Groundhog's Day might be a good day for a midwinter tea party (perhaps with a little wintersowing and seed swapping).

:-)

This is a bunch of streptocarpella cuttings from critter. I stuck them in soil and hoped that with the fleshy, furry leaves they would hold enough moisture. Seems I was correct. They haven't blinked. Cute little tiny leaves

Here's a little sprout of... umm...parv-what? Chantell, help me out here! in a two inch pot. cute little fuzzy chunky leaves!

A miatablu collection. Her plec Mona Lavender, three nice plants together in the two part pot she brought for a prize. Couple of coleus planted in pot with a pot of my old begonia propped up higher in it.

A pot of ? rose geranium? from critter. looks pretty lonely on my deck after the crowd at critters LOLLOL
critters five other types of scented ger are all in dirt and plastc to root, looking happy. The silvery fuzzy plectranthus is in dirt no plastic looking fine, The purple veined plec is a little wilty with no plastic. They're in with miata's purple sweet potato vine.

nice pots of sea oats from Gitagal. I got about five of them so I will have a few really nice clumps by next year.
Also took Stella D'Oro from Gita, and Betsy's red DL from her also, and miata's red DL. I made a nice row of these DLs, along with Ruby and John's five from Spring Swap, along my driveway. Amended the soil with lime and manure, ooh baby, good stuff. I'll get a flat of pansies soon and fill along the edge with them, and weed everything else out, I cross my heart.

Ruby, your daylilies from spring had to bear the heat of summer, but they have groen great roots! . Can't wait to see them.

Everything looks happy! If you want a backup plan for a couple of cuttings, the streptocarpella ('Concord Blue') will also root fine in water. That geranium ('Attar of Roses') should be cut way back... I was mostly keeping it around in case anybody wanted to use it for cuttings, although if you chop it back nearly to its base it might sprout out again (regular pinching and pruning will make them bushier and more shapely... mine got neglected this summer).

Hey! I just found a pot with a succulent like that tucked into my big pot of succulents (with the Key Lime)... I wondered where they'd come from... Thanks, Chantell! LOL How many other "extra" plants got hidden out there??