Mid-Atlantic Roll Call, Part Two

Hello and welcome, BrightStar! Love your name! Did you pick this name because of your son?

In life--let your heart lead you to what is right for you.....occupation wise, that is.

I have never learned to "see" anything in succulents.....just all the thorns.....
Of course--when they DO bloom, it takes my breath away and I wonder HOW on earth can something so beautiful come from this little, thorny "whatever"......:o)

Glad you joined this "Club"--we are a bunch of very helpful and friendly people who love to share seeds and plants and knowledge.

Gita

Hi, I'm in Stafford, VA
I work for the gov, but I get to work from home which is great,yay! (but, I don't get to goof-off b/c I have way too much work to do, BOOO!).
I'm a novice gardener, just started last Spring, but have had some success; planted 2 Cecile Brunners (climbing roses) from bare roots which looked like twigs when I got them which did very well over the summer; just hope the winter wasn't too hard on them! Planted 2 more rose bushes, I think one died (but it wasn't my fault, I swear!) Planted 7 trees (willow, dogwood and 5 spruce), 3 hydrangeas and some misc. annuals, and all did pretty well except a few annuals which got way too much sun and not enough water (oops! I promise to do better next time). Recently, I think I got overzealous by reading all of Critterologist's articles about planting from seed - went to Lowes and picked up about 15 seed packs and have never started seeds before. Critter's articles are really good for starting seeds indoors, but I don't have grow lights what was I thinking? oops again! Well, guess I need to start building something, hmmm. Time is difficult to find having a family/working full time! I've heard that potting seeds indoors w/o a grow light will produce leggy plants, however, I don't know what that means, see how pathetic I am? Anyway, it sounds bad so i think I won't do it. If I don't get them planted, maybe I'll come to your next seed swap and give them away, lol! Anyone need some foxglove seeds? :) My husband does not like my new gardening, I think it's because I left the wheelbarrow half-full of cow manure, and even though I left it under the deck, it filled up with rain and now we have a wheelbarrow full of cow poop soup and he keeps asking me when I'm going to empty it. What does one do with cow poop soup? If I empty it, it will roll down the hill to the neighbors yard,, that would be ok right? It's just fertilizer, I will be doing them a favor right? :)

Brightstar, I love cactus too-they are so weird and beautiful at the same time-keep making those changes, the right one will work for you-like your name, you must shine on. Tropicals are also becoming one of my favorites, even though I can't always find room for them to overwinter. Good to have you on board! Spunsker-check out the Winter Sowing thread-you don't need inside room or grow lights and it's easy. I'd love some of your foxglove seeds.

Hi Spunkster, Welcome to the group. If you go into google & look up "manure tea," this is the fertilizer that will make your garden love you but not your neighbors. This is only a very rudimentary gardening 101 but if you google any word you are not sure of, it will tell you. I believe you have a "plant doctor" type person on your radio stations down there, tuning into his/.her program will add insight, knowledge & you get to call & ask questions. We have a "Plant Doctor" In central Pennsylvania, his name is Dr. Noel Falk & is knowledgeable. We pick him up on am 580 but I think you can listen to him on the internet. You can also "google" Plant Dr. radio shows, you can probably listen to them, online also. I used to call Dr. Falk every once in awhile and he started calling me the passionate passionflower lady from Carlisle and my husband & I not only met him but when he moved into another house in the Harrisburg area, my husband hooked up his satellite dish (big 10-footer so that dates me), and Dr. Noel gave us a tour of his place, including his extensive antique gardening implement collection, and his coin & rock & fossil collection he had in a showcase in his basement. Sorry for the tangent but I thought it might help you. Anyway, welcome to the mid-a's. Buttoneer (Judy SHowers) froM Carlisle, Pa.

Welcome, Spunkster! I think Foxgloves are good candidates for winter sowing, and as for any that aren't -- you can rig something pretty easily for a shop light, even just propping it up on bricks or something over a seedling tray. Just do it! And come to our seed swap on Feb 21st... we're going to have a blast!

Welcome Brightstar & Spunkster! Plant addicts meet MA enablers!!!

Hello, everyone, and thank you for the warm welcome!

Yes, the name BrightStar comes from my son. His teacher had a slogun that he picked up as his own slogun - "Be a star!" - meant for encouragement. She handed out stars like candy, and he was so proud. She believed in him.

So, I wanted a name that would carry on the tradition...of encouragement, and believing in people.

:)

Name: Trish Baskin
Location: Manasquan, NJ
Family: Me, my daughter Liza, and granddaughter Chloe, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 3 bearded lizards..I don't know what happened to the partridge in the pear tree.
Employment: Retired from Education Consulting at Sun Microsystems
Gardening Level: Experienced (20 years), but lots of room for improvement
Gardening Focus: Stamping out blackspot!:) I specially love my roses and hydrangeas, but will plant and try to grow just about anything, with varying degrees of success.

Just discovered and subscribed to Dave's Garden - what a great site and resource.....so nice to see so many folks in the Mid-Atlantic area, the orphan child of the gardening magazines. I'm really looking forward to being a part of this community.

trish--WELCOME! And you will LOVE IT!

Not only can YOU learn, but you can help others, less exoerienced, learn from you.

Start taking a lot of digitsal pictures to post. We all LOVE pictures!

Where is Manasquan? Not to be crass...but..."What Exit" from the Turnpike????
My sister lives in Bloomfield. I go there every year for Christmas.

Gita

Name: Jeannie
Location: formerly Harrisburg PA
Family: DH of 25+ years, two cats Thor (14) and Sunshine (5)
Employment: engineer
Gardening Level: beginner

I am lurking here because I miss the east coast so much!! I lived in NJ for five years, VA for three, and PA for over 20. This WI weather stinks!! Had to move here to stay employed (plus most of my family is in WI, and they are under the impression that I have moved "back home").

I am seriously considering spending $25.95 to order four bags of Unique Dark Splits because you cannot get them here :(

I have to constantly ask the grocery store clerks to put my milk in a bag (why would you *not* do that??). They call a beltway a "beltline" - it doesn't go in a line! Their idea of good seafood is the Friday Fish Fry. This place is just plain weird.

I watch "Gettysburg" and get so homesick, because there is so much landscape that is so familiar.

Thanks for letting this displaced east-coaster lurk!
Jeannie

Hi Jeannie, I'm from Carlisle, your neighbor. Today, we went to visit my FIL in Biglerville. We ate lunch at Ernie's Texas Lunch in Gettysburg & had our fave: Hot-chee-dog. Job or no job, I would not move from here. Anyway, glad to see you posting here. If you need any care packages from PA, let me know. I can send you anything but a hot-chee-dog. Judy Showers (Buttoneer)

Lurker breaking out. I didn't know which forum "claimed" NJ ;-)

Mygypsyrose
Name: Andrea

Location : Browns Mills, NJ

Family: My DH, 3 girls, 2, 6, and the always enjoyable 15 yr old. 3 cats and 1 dog.

Employment: Maid, cook and boo boo fixer. Otherwise known as "Mom". Other aliases include Ma, Mama, Mommy and Honey.

Gardening level: I'll take "the term between novice and intermediate" for $400 please

Gardening focus: The only focus in my garden is on my camera. And even that is on auto.

I built my house 3 years ago so I had to start everything from a completely blank slate. That's great is some ways but not so great in others. I have too many ideas and they change with each year. I have dragged plants up here from GA and kept them at an apartment while I built the house for a year. Collecting more of course. By the time I was done and got the C.O. to our house, my DH had to move about 70 10" pots, a wiskey barrel and the plants that I heeled in around the apartment complexes shrubs. He was none to happy by the end of moving day :-) "It improves the property value" became my choice coined quote.
Since then, I've planted hundredsssss of plants, trees, shrubs, vines, you name it. I've had to shop wisely, plant seeds, wintersow..... It barely makes a dent. I have an acre and 215'x100' is the front yard so I've been concentrating there. My soil is poor and sandy. It's a challenge and seems so far away from what I would call passable in my eyes. But, It undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable things for me in this world. In our home here, I'll hopefully be able to pass that passion down to my girls :-).

Welcome Trish, Jeannie and Andrea
If you don't mind me answering.....Gita Manasquan is part of the Jersey shore next to Brielle and Point Pleasant

Jersey girls!!!! NJ is counted as part of the Midatlantic and Northeast...make sure you stop by there too!

Gitagal and FlowerJen - Thanks for the warm welcome!

Gitagal - Manasquan is Exit 98 off the GSP. I'm about a mile from the beach in that skinny (5-10 miles?) strip of Zone 7a that runs along the Jersey shore, which is why it was so nice to see a Mid-Atlantic group here. I'll check out the NorthEast group too.

Trish

I love that section of the shore.

Welcome all Jersey Girls, present & former!

Trish, Jersey has to be just about the best state for Hydrangea. The colors over there are far more brilliant than ours.

Andrea, I know that the NJ soil is a lot different than Georgia's, but don't underestimate that sandy mix. With time you will find what works best there.

Jeannie, It took me a few minutes to get the pretzel meaning! This is the soft pretzel part of PA.

Thanks for the welcome Buttoneer, FlowerJen, and Stormyla!

And welcome to you Andrea and Trish!

Thank you for all the warm welcomes! And greetings to you all! :-)

Ditto! I can't get on every day to catch up, so sometimes it takes a while for me to add a post here and there!

Welcome!

Karen

Name - Bob

Family - Married with 3 or 4 girls still here or have come back. 1 is at school @ JMU about half of the year.

Employment - Self-Employed carpenter / project manager

Gardening Level - Beginner. Helped as a kid but didn't take away any positive memories. We always got stuck with the less desirable jobs. But I guess , being kids, we would have thought anything not involving playing wasn't fun.

Gardening Focus - I want to be able to greatly supplement our food supply with produce from the garden. I know that I have high hopes, but I will put in the time here , in books, & in the garden to try to make it as productive as possible. I also hope to network with gardeners from my area to learn what works especially well for my "neck of the woods".

Welcome, Bob!

Welcome, Bob. Around here in my area (eastern Virginia), tomato and bell pepper plants are a mainstay. I tried Sungella tomatoes last year and was pretty impressed with their productivity and usage as a cooking tomato. This year I'll try some more, as well as Cherokee Purple and Mortgage Lifter. For peppers, my family will have some big bell peppers, some Red Marconi peppers, and some little pimentos. We are growing collards outside right now. Last year we did quite well with kale and Swiss Chard during the winter. My corn turned out lousy, though.

Oh, yes. This year I'm going to try to try AGAIN to raise cotton. Hope springs eternal.

Welcome Bob. There are lots of us who will be vegetable gardening this year due to your stated reason....the economy. Man, I could live off of total veggies when they are fresh from the garden. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

Ruby

Good luck with your vegetables, Bob!

Bob, Nice to meet you. I started a veg garden thread for all Mid-Atlantic friends. I hope we can keep the thread going with talk about growing vegatables this season and share some pictures too.
Here is a link to get you there. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/957214/

Name:devonrose better known as Kat to family and friends

Location: Delaware; just a few miles from the Atlantic

Family: just me at home; one daughter, with two beautiful grandkids (boy and girl)

Employment: was in the building industry; laid-off end of Jan. Looking for work in the current job market after 25 years stinks.

Gardening Level: Have gardened over 40 years in several places; but always learning.

Gardening Focus: First Roses, then depending on the moment, herbs, antique flowers, veggies, flowering shrubs, birds, toads and other wildlife, I love a good messy cottage style of garden with as little grass as possible! Here in my little cottage almost 12 years and hope to have a greenhouse some day, even if I have to build it myself out of bits and pieces!
Just joined about a week ago and having a blast.
Kat

Welcome, Kat...sorry to hear about the lay off

Welcome Kat. You've come to the right place. Most of us are always learning from each other.

Name: rileyobo
Location: Clarksville, Maryland
Family: Married, 1 child in Middle School, 1 graduating High school this spring
Employment: Retired food and beverage director, now homemaker and gardener.
Gardening Level: Inexperienced
Gardening Focus: My garden goal is a park like setting that goes with a colonial house and eventually some outdoor modern sculpture, yet does not take it self seriously. I have half of the property in the full sun and half in complete shade. I have used Dave's garden for the past few years and just recently joined.

Welcome Rileyobo! Lots of good folks on here to help you!!

Welcome Rileyobo!!!! Be careful DG is addicting! ^_^

Welcome to a fellow MD'er! There's a bunch of us--we just don't all post on the same Forums....

Where is Clarksville? I live in the Perry Hall/White Marsh area....

Gita

...Wood Hyacinths.....

Can we get admin to make this a sticky? I had the worst time trying to find this thread.

Name: Beaux (real name Betsy)
Location: East Norriton, PA
Family: DH and 2 dogs (a basset hound and english bulldog) here in PA; married 28 years. No kids, lots of nieces and nephews scattered around the country
Employment: Pharmaceutical company - Vaccine Research
Gardening Level: Beginner for sure- for anything other than veggies.
Gardening Focus: Love, love, love shade gardens - especially hostas. I travel a LOT with my job (and love to go on vacations), so I need things that don't require too much care. Hostas are so cool and relatively care free compared to some other kinds of plants.

I was raised in Massachusetts - had an organic gardening mother back in the early days of organic gardening (early 70's). Picture having to shovel chicken manure and collect salt marsh grass as a teenager - not exactly my idea of fun. Spent some years on the gulf coast (Florida, Alabama, Texas) before moving to Michigan. No gardening for those years - too busy with career and friends. Then on to 13 years in Michigan on the worlds most perfect 1/2 acre of soil. Stick it in the ground and it would grow. However, about the only things we added to that yard were a huge veggie garden and some pine trees. Moved to PA 5 years ago. First 2 years in a brand new subdivision house with about the worse yard and soil you could imagine. No gardening there except trying to get some trees to grow. Then moved 3 years ago to an old house in an old neighborhood. Lots and lots of matue trees and bushes. We moved in here in the winter and when the hostas and hydrangeas started to come up in the spring, I was hooked. Am working on expanding and adding beds and trying different kinds of plants. Lots of room for expansion. Am enjoying being outside in my own yard for the spring, fall and summers. If only I didn't have to work!

Welcome, Betsy!!!

This message was edited Jun 2, 2009 7:55 AM

Welcome Betsy, You"ll find plenty of "shady" gardeners around this forum. :-) LOL Holly's Ric

Welcome Betsy! You're pretty close to me. I love the town of Skippack that's just North of you.

Name:Ayla2 Ayla Heefner
Location: Berkeley Springs WV
Family: Large extended family of dear friends
Employment:Federal Government
Gardening Level:Intermediate
Gardening Focus:Growing Perennials, Heirloom flowers, Herbs, Old Garden and Fragarent Roses, Water features, HeirloomVegetables. I enjoy making healing balms and teas from my herbs. Organic gardening is my passion in all forms. I love life and all creatures. My day job takes too much of my life, but I am trapped in the system. My job allows mr to keep my little slice of paradise; 2 acres in Wild Wonderful WV. I'm an earth child and love nothing better than to be in nature surrounded by life. I love music as well and am often found dancing and singing in the garden.

Welcome, Ayla.

My screen name is Catbird423, real name is Robin (OK really it is Roberta but thats what happens when you're the 5th girl born). I live in Edgewater Maryland and have all my life, I guess I like it there.
I've been using the site for a while, have met a few of you at the Plant swap in May - Thank you everyone who I recieved plants from, they are doing well for the most part.
I am married, have been for nearly 27 years. We have 2 sons, 20 & 22 years old, and one daughter-17 who graduates in a couple days. Our household is completed by 3 cats, a central american boa, and a $12.00 dollar goldfish (the last two critters belong to the 22 year old).
I operate the gift shop at the National Cryptologic Museum located at Ft. Meade MD. I love the job, there are busy spells (after tours) and then quiet times when I can be surfing Daves Garden and dreaming.
My gardening level I would say is basically beginner and learning,
As for focus- what is that? I am fond of perennials and easy maintenance. I enjoy when hubby goes away for a few days because I can do things to the yard that he might not like (he will be gone the week of June 21 so I will be playing in the yard that week). I have ideas for my yard but have trouble getting things done but I am getting better at it. Am willing to listen to suggestions too.