Finally got a few plants on now,was waiting on getting new indoor outdoor carpet put down,before I could start my decorating,I plan to put on some more plants,as soon as all the furniture gets delivered.
Ok,lets all see your front porch!!!
Hey Tropicman,
Amazing that you can grow aroids, cycads, & palms so well in corn country. Don't forget to try some dwarf citrus, especially lemons; you could meet your annual need for lemons, even indoors! The flowers have a choice scent, the young leaves are good in stir-frys (like limes); they are very versatile in the habitats that they will grow in.
Aloha!
Hey Don!!
You don't want to see my porch yet..so far just pots, compost and tools is all thats decorating my porch ha ha ha. got the yard planted tho. DH just rolls his eyes. I will put it away next week ; }
Hey Kimarj!
I left Lancaster in 1981, to be a botanist in Hawai'i.
I'm very interested in what types of tropical plants that folks are growing back there; please show some pics!
Aloha!
Hi Metrosideros!!
I'm just a newbie : }..this girl has a lot to learn!
Hi Kimarj,
I was told in1994, by professors at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, that the best source for learning plants found in Eastern Pennsylvania, is a botanical called the "Flora of West Virginia."
I don't know the author, but I believe it was published by the University of West Virginia. I will try to locate this publication, and send more details.
If you are interested in the natural plants of your area, this text will be invaluable.
Aloha!
Hi Kim,
Well when you do,pics please!!!!
Metro,
I do have a couple orange tress and a grafted lemon and lime,which I have already harvested fruit from,and a hardy trifoliate p.orange tree,that has made it thru the winter at temps of 0* ,no blooms as of yet,but is now reaching 6ft tall,hoping for blooms next year,which make it 6 yrs old.
Dutch Lady how about pics of leading to the front door???
Hiya Don! I also don't have a front porch. But this pretty golden croton - about 5 ft high and nearly that wide, has graced the front of our house since we moved in. Now - don't laugh, I can't come anywhere near your lushness since I am totally in containers, but here ya go:
I will get a pic tomorrow hopefully. Just have to delete all of the pics in the camera, capture my irises on there then get the porch. It's covered in cat hair though. LOL
Hi Shari,
I have several crotons,but not that one,and didn't even know that one would grow so huge!!!
Mine all lose there pretty when I bring them outsid for summer,even if I place them in full shade,leaves drop like it was fall!!!LOL
Oh Pepper,you don 't have a thing on me when it comes to cat hair!!!LOL
I had one 10 footer loose its leaves last year. I was heart broken. But some of the Marshaleese guys out here passed the word, and the next thing I knew they had brought be a converted trunk, painted and drain holes drilled. We mangled the monster into the new container with lots of charcoal, cornmeal and potting soil, and look at her now:
Sounds like you have good neighbors Shari!
Much aloha!
Beatiful, sweetheart.
Gorgeous!!!
Yes, I have the luxury and blessing to be surrounded by wonderful friends...both literally and cyberly!!! To those who weren't here during my trauma, the Tropikids were coming up with all sorts of help, I wouldn't have stuck with my beauty without their help and encouragement, and I am so glad that I did.
This is the best forum on the best site in the entire Internet!
Oh My thats huge!!!
Shari,whats up with the corn meal???
Is it for draining?
No, for fungus control. We get so much rain here, that sometimes the pots can't drain fast enough. You would be amazed at the variety of mushrooms to be found on such a tiny little rock! I wasn't sure what was wrong with my darlin, but to be on the safe side, since this beauty goes through a LOT of water, I loaded up with the corn meal to keep various fungi and all mushrooms at bay...it really, really works! As you can see, very healthy now.
By the way, your front porch is a wonderful welcome to your visitors...I envy you!
Yokwe,
Shari
Thanks Shari,
Were talking her regular corn meal you get at the grocery store,or is it possible to get it larger quantities,like at a feed store?
Would you reckon,a unscented kitty litter might work as well?
I wonder, do all plant lovers have cats? I could make a blanket with cat hair, and I only have one short[?]haired kitty!
Doe
I have 2 but only because all of my neighbors have dogs and we wanted a pet so we got a cat. Added Curly last year. There are just too many dogs here for us to even want one.
Don. I have been buying corn meal, alphafa pellets and dried molasses from the feed store. Very inexpensive and what you need. I don't think the grocery store corn meal would work because it has been so overprocessed. The other name with the corn meal escapes me just now.
Christi
I don't have a feed store, so when all else fails I just use the regular grocery store corn meal, or masa harina (a little less processed). They both work just fine. You can sprinkle some on mushrooms, and the next morning they will be dead and shrunken. Funny enough, I discovered the fungicide properties in cornmeal when dealing with a particularly stubborn case of toenail fungus with my Dad. Soaked his feet in wet cornmeal for an hour, for 3 consecutive nights, and the problem went away! He had been dealing with it with medicine from the doc, and over the counter stuff for months! Only the corn-meal worked!
I second the motion. It will work everytime!
Love flora, love fauna. Makes sense to me!
Here are Bogie and Cagney, my two lazy Egyptians that have been all over the world with us:
Hey Y'all!!
Not much to look at yet....soon I tell ya soon : }
Cute lil snuggle buddies.
Hey Kim! That's a grand collection of plants, art and bird feeders you've got there!
Thanks Shari! Still chilly here so everything is mostly green..the birds drive my DH bonkers ; }
I will have to check our feed store!!!
Kim what are the purple flowers in the back of the border?
Hmmm! Movie star cats!!!LOL
Alllium and Rhododendrum Don.
We need pawtographs : }
Thanks
Do you see hummers this early in the spring?
No just wishing!!!
Tman, it is corn gluten meal.
Check the link for a quick explanation of what it can do.
http://.hort.iastate.edu/gluten/pdf/iowahort.pdf
this is my front walkway not much of a porch though.
I keep forgetting to get a pic of mine. lol. Will get it eventually.
I like all of yours better than mine though!!!
Candace, Just may have to move to Florida.
Christi
So beautiful.
just to add a note on the cornmeal. the regular store cornmeal is used for a fungicide (i use it under my roses) and the gluten will prevent seedlings from coming up (great for weeds but don't put it where you plant seeds). you can buy big bags from restaurant supply companies sometimes or places like sam's, costco, etc.
Thanks Track - I had forgotten that part! Very important point!
Candella - Lovely! So inviting!
Christi - you are NOT moving to Florida, you are moving to the islands, remember?!
Pepper - we want to see anyway!
Just dashed up to the shop to open for a gal going back to Florida on today's flight. She was out here visiting her boyfriend who works up on Roi - the other half of this two-part base. A dear friend of mine also works up there, and I hadn't had a chance to see him since i've been back...over a year and a half now. I mentioned to the boyfriend to tell Wally that Shari sends her love, and he said that Wally was on island today because he was leaving on vacation on the same flight as the girlfriend! They made their purchases and I ushered them out and made a mad dash up to the lodge (where transients stay), and got to spend some quality time with my friend! Hugs and tears and reminising (sp?), it was wonderful! All thanks to a gal from Florida! Ain't life grand?
Beautiful Candella! Very elegant! Love it!
Candela,on the right are Bromes,but what is that ground cover on the left side of the sidewalk? Very Lovely!!!!
Shari,sounds like you had a great day for sure!!!
Wonder why corn meal isn't mentioned that often with all the things it can do???