plant swap

Catgal- Sorry to hear about your kitty. Lots of stuff is poisonous in the yard, could be lots of things. My cat is an idiot too! His new thing is to knock all the plants out of the window. I hope my a.titanum survives, or the cat won't! Kidding, cat lovers!!! Marshmellow is a family member! And you will have some crocosmia PLANTS to go home with, plus some seeds, I am sure!!

I just talked to Jim, we will be there with bells on and lots of plants, LOL

Carol, I will be so glad to seen you, and I have a special something for you. And has a little english story behind it.

I will have a better list soon.other than I aready posted.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all of you!!

Murmur, that is, indeed, good news that your situation is not as difficult as you thought!! I hope that you can begin to really enjoy your life again soon. I'm so looking forward to seeing you at Gordon's!

rob, "cape blanco" is what I have, too,so that's too bad. I'll probably just take a bit of all of my little sedums and if you see anything that strikes your fancy, it'll be there. Anyone else for sedum, there will likely be plenty. I can bring divisions or cuttings from the following:
S. spectible 'Brilliant'
S. spectible 'Meteor'
S. specitlbe 'Matrona'
S. telephium 'Munsted Dark Red'

Others I have are:
Sedum pluricaule ezawe 'compact'
S. spurium 'Elisabeth'
S. spurium 'Tricolor'
S. spurium 'blaze of fulda'
S. sieboldi
S. cauticolum

I also have Rubus pentalobus, creeping raspberry, which is a really nice evergreen groundcover.

I have a ton of other stuff that I can pull out if someone is looking for something in particular. It's just too much to list.

Catgal, how is your cat?

Pixy, as far as your list of Sedums, I have no idea what any of them are, but I will take one cutting of each you can part with, no problem.

As far as Sedums and Semperviviums, I have the following that I could share:

• Sedum 'Autumn Fire'
• Sedum 'Autumn Joy'
• Sedum 'Spiral Staircase'
• Sedum 'Sunset Cloud'
• Sedum album 'Murale'
• Sedum fosterianium var 'purpeaneum'
• Sedum liebmannianum (Zone 9)
• Sedum palmeri
• Sedum rupestre 'Anqelina'
• Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'
• Sempervivum 'Coral Carpet'
• Sempervivum 'Oddity'
• Sempervivum 'Spangle'
• Sempervivum arachnodeum 'Kalinda'
• Sempervivum tectorum

Went out today and collected Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola', Black Eyed Susans, Coreopsis 'Moonbeam', and Acanthus mollis.

Gordon, would love to chat about my experiences with Andasonia digitata and then score a couple of those A. digitata seeds. I hope you have an elephant handy....

LOL! You've got it, Rob. One of each. I would like to take the Hakonechloa macra off your hands. Now I am going to look up a few of your sedums.

Okay, here's my edit:

I'd like cuttings from the following sedums a la Rob:
Sedum 'Sunset Cloud'
Sedum 'Autumn Fire'
Sedum palmeri
Sempervivum 'Coral carpet'
Sempervivum 'Oddity' (been looking for this one. I used to have it and it disappeared.)
Sempervivum arachnodeum 'Kalinda'

Thanks. I have a number of sempervivums as well and they used to be labeled. I'll take a look.

This message was edited Sep 17, 2008 9:15 AM

Rob,
If you have enough I would love cuttings from the following sedums:
Sempervivum 'Coral Carpet'
Sempervivum 'Oddity'
Sedum spathulifolium 'Cape Blanco'
Sedum 'Sunset Cloud'
Sedum 'Spiral Staircase'
Sedum 'Autumn Fire'

So far I have:
Digitalis, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/743/
Corydalis, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/828/
Pacific Willow, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/81834/
Pacific Madrone, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54469/

Going back out to the yard, anybody want some of my weeds? Tee Hee Hee :) Rachel

Let's see - I have some lovely Stinging Nettles, Canadian Thistle, Sheep Sorrel, and lots of regular old dandelions, just to name a few. Oh, and Horsetail. All of those by the bushel.

:-) Yes, gardening with our underappreciated native plants.

Rob, I'd love any extra sempervivum (va?) you have. Those are very nice.

Too funny about the dandelions... I have just a few (thousand) of those as well, perhaps we should get ours together and try to create some super duper hybrids??? LOL

I brought my kitty ("Boy"... I know, not real creative or thoughtful of a name) home yesterday after being hospitalized, in isolation, and the doctor is pretty sure it is a virus and not eating a toxic plant, but I really don't know... no other cats around are sick. They wanted to keep him longer but after the $420 bill for just a night hospitalized and lots of blood tests, hubby was already furious... he is not as much of a pet-lover as I. :( Although I now have a bit of a realistic understanding that he is an animal, and there is a (monetary) limit... makes pet insurance seem very attractive when vets charge the same amount for different things as people doctors do.

Anyhow, thanks Gordon, looking forward to seeing (and getting!) those beautiful orange/red flowers... I enjoy seeing them on my walks through our neighborhood, now I just have to find the right place. Does anyone by chance have any fruiting grape vine cuttings or extra plants they don't want? I thought it would be neat to have a fruit plant that my kids could just pick the fruits right off the plant and eat 'em. But I know that they are generally attacked by animals and need to be protected in order to get any of the fruit ourselves.

I really wish I had more (and "cooler") plants to offer up... I am digging up and trying to collect all plants/seedlings/seeds that I can, and trying to recruit a friend or two in my neighborhood. I am really looking forward to this!

"Boy" is the yellow/orange one in the picture... the black one is "Girl". :)

I think I already have the super-duper hybrids . . .

Lemme know if your hubby needs a talkin' to from me. I think you did the right thing. :-) At the very least, you can't let the cat suffer - you needed to know if he was fixable or you needed to put him out of his misery. That's just plain responsible.

Grapes are a great idea. My neighbors and friends who have grapes seldom complain, actually, about the deer, raccoons, rats, or rabbits eating their grapes. They need to get hot sun to ripen, like other fruit. And you really do need a strong arbor for them to grow on. The vine will mature into a little tree and will continue to get long. There are probably some other versions out, though, that have fewer maintenance requirements.

Love the names!!! Your "Girl" looks exactly like my "Friday." Is she a little dickens with a sense of humor?

From the photo, it's clear that Boy and Girl are part of the family! A small price to pay, in the long run, to keep your pet.

So glad to hear that "boy" is better. Fortunately I married a man who is as big an animal lover as I am. Vet bills are just a regular bill in our house, with four cats, two dogs and two bunnies :0)

Rachel, I'm glad you will be meeting my CA daughter on Saturday - at one time they had four cats, three dogs, and four bunnies. I think they are now down to three cats, one dog, and two bunnies!! She also likes to garden, but not so much in Southern CA - they can't wait to get back here someday where she can really truly garden again. Where there are seasons (at least most years!).

I know the Vet bills, 4 Cats, 2 dogs and 2 Cockatils.

Cute Kitties, Glad 'Boy' Is O'Kay, Stacy

cute kitties, glad things turned out okay for him.

We know about bet bills too - 2 horses, 4 dogs, 2 cats. Guess there's always room for more at our house.

Off topic, but.... I'd love any recommendations for 'local' vets, I'd like one that has giant dog experience as we've got 2 great danes. We had our ferral kitty 'fixed' and our vet has been in practice 26 years... soon to retire as best I can tell. We'll drive a bit for a good vet - like 'em best if they communicate well.

The Best Vet is up here in Juneau or if you like it closer I am in Kalispell, MT. LOL I travel and work all around. All of the ones I know are all retiring. The corporate vets are all that are going to be around any more. Private practice cannot keep up with the multi-doctor practices. Dr Bodily is in Bellevue and he communicates well with his clients. 425-881-7854.

Thanks so much for your recommendations - Juneau and Kalispell are a bit too far for me. I'll check out Dr. Bodily in Bellevue as that drive would be more my speed.

I work with a gal who takes her pets to Dr. Bodily. And it turns out Sofer did see her dog last year . . . what a small world!!

I would avoid the Critter Doctor in Kirkland. We had been using them from 2001 to 2007 but we realized that we were wasting money on procedures that did not need to be done, and getting conflicting information within the house.

Oh, good to know. Thanks, Rob.

Thanks all! We tried a new vet, as I hadn't taken them in for over a year, since before we moved up north to Everett... not sure how I feel about them yet. Will probably give them a try again for a routine checkup and shots and all once Boy is better. My parents have been going to a vet in Edmonds (quite a ways from Carnation though), Edmonds-Westgate Veterinary Hospital, and they have been mostly pleased with them. It is one main doctor (Dr. Zacharia) who has been there for years and years, and there is generally one more doctor, although that person changes on occasion. Yep, those animals really are part of the family, and I think partly it is the folks that perhaps didn't grow up with pets (like my husband) that maybe don't understand the bond. My parents are the same way I am. My brother-in-law is the same way hubby is. Oh well.

I actually have a great arbor for a grape vine to grow up... goes right over our deck. Right now there is a wisteria there that hasn't bloomed in the past two years... I was thinking of trying to move and/or get rid of it. I also have a little bitty strawberry plant that I am going to find a good spot for in my yard, and hopefully add more strawberry plants to and have a little patch for the kids to pick and eat from.... I know they spread by underground runners, but they don't really get invasive or out of control, do they?

I found this cute little plant/weed in the beds as I was digging out seedlings to pot up for the swap, and I am guessing it is just a little common weed, but thought maybe someone here would know what it was... or else maybe on the ID forum. The plant is only maybe a couple inches tall, and the flowers are tiny.

I think it's mysotis or forget-me-not. It's an annual but seeds very easily . . .

Well that's ok, I can handle the things that seed... its the underground movers I can't keep up with! Although I probably will take that back at some point, when the right plant comes along. It can hang out where I found it and reseed next to the sweet woodruff under the laurels... :)

Ladybug, Steve, Just to put in my 2 cents LOL on Vets.
After all the pain and misery, my Lab went though with her injury. Our Vet did a outstanding job on her care. It took 8 months for her to mend, There was a few times we though to put her down, I cried so hard to think about it. But She is back to her old self now. (she is 7) and give the pup a run for it (He's almost 2) Its the Big Valley Animal Care Center. His name is Mike Cable and he moves around like you Steve.

Stacy, how big is the Wisteria? When I first got mine (now its a monster) it took it almost 4 years to bloom, what I shoud of done which I didn't is to prune it a little.
And I agree with Kathy looks like a 'Forget me Not'
And Strawberrys don't go underground if that is what you mean, they send out shoots that turn into babies that touch the ground then root, easy to chip them off. But something to remember about them, is the mother plant will need to be replaced after a few years with one of the babies. I have mine in cinder blocks 2 high, My GN loves to go pick them. Have been growing them for 15 years. I will show you a pic if you want. have to download the disk.
Tills

Tills, I always love the photos of your pets.

Catgal, there is a house down the street from me that has some huge grapevines. They have green grapes that are small and quite sweet. The house is for sale and in this financial climate, not likely to sell anytime soon. Want me to see if I can get cuttings? Or maybe even rooted ones?? (Don't know if I can actually get into the yard or not, but the vines hang over the ence.) My son always looks forward to going down to pick them.

First Tills your Lab is beautiful. I think that some lenticular sclerosis is happening in her eyes but that all goes with being older. We see it as having to put on reading glasses.
It is funny that you should mention the Critter Doctor. I sold that practice over 10 years ago. I was the original Critter Doctor.

Wow! Small world!

Thank you all for sharing your opinions on vets and care to your furry family members. I had wanted to stay local, but I guess I need a bit more of a connection. Our last vet was a husband/wife team, relatively young, very personable but different styles. We got to know them well in the few years we were at the practice. They helped us decide to let our ailing chessy go, assisted us with various rescue creatures the kids helped out and took care of our 18 year old cat's passing just before we left NC. They sort of felt like family. I felt I could call in an emergency if need be, but I'd have gone the emergency vet route first instead of disturb them. They even offered to have my 13 yo help at the spay and neuter clinic they ran to give her a taste of the trade. The practice was very understanding when all 4 kids and one or more creatures would come in at the same time for appointments. Would like not to subject a new practice to that kind of treatment just yet but would like to know they'd be welcome to it if everyone wanted to go for the check up.

I may stop into the suggested locations and look around, may take individual pets for their check ups as they come up and decide which one 'feels' like it fits.

Glad you guys are so open to sharing your thoughts, makes it nice for new folks like me.

Also a vet that is very well known around these parts is Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital. Dr. Salewski (sp) legendary - I have heard about him from no fewer than 5 friends and acquaintances - none of whom knew eachother!! The plus with these guys is that they treat large animals, as well.

http://www.pilchuckvet.com/

Finding a good vet is very tough. I grew up on a farm in Enumclaw and we had the most amazing vet, Dr. Ross in Buckley, as Ladybug said "like family." I moved to Olympia three years ago and just recently found two fantastic vets, in the past year. Their practice is Hawks Prairie Veterinary Hospital. Lisa and Kim are everything one could ever want in a vet: First and foremost they are true animal lovers, 2nd they are honest and upfront when it comes to your pet’s health and 3rd they have a wonderful bedside manner and not just for my fur kids but for me as well!

We simply need to convince Sofer to leave the beauty of Montana and Alaska to come back to WA and take care of all of his DG buddies pets. Just think Sofer with all the critters we all have; it would be a full time job and we could just pay you in plants :0)

You know, Steve, Rachel ain't 1/2 wrong. Between us all, that would be quite a practice . . . and maybe we can pay you in plants . . .

Carole,
Your daughter sounds like a wonderful lady, just like her mom. Looking forward to meeting her.

Just to help you all with your pets would be the best job in the world. Pets and Plants what could be better. NOW HOW TO TRAVEL YOUR ROADS! There is the rub and why I left your great state.

Oh yes,, the road problem. I do understand that. It keeps me home more often than not. Can't say that I blame you.

Steve, that is a treat to know that we were neighbors once, Not a quarter away. It used to be call Equine animal Hos. And it was sold about 10 years ago. Used to know the Guy who rented the room above the barn. He was very ill then, don't know what ever happened to him.
I don't think she would like wearing glasses LOL I will have him check them on her next check up. Thanks

I'm sorry to hear that the corporate vet is the wave of the future. I'm afraid I haven't been particularly impressed with the corporate places. Rather impersonal and expensive.

Sofer, what you need to do is move to this area, or a little further north from here and arrange a centrally located monthly plant & pet clinic that we could all go to at once with all our furry buddies. (Although I've got to admit my cats aren't too into socializing, particularly with dogs. )


And, unfortunately my plans have changed-again-(sigh) and I won't be coming up to Seattle this weekend after all. :( :( :( Very bummed I won't be seeing any of you, or passing along any extra plants, either-and I've got all sorts of things to share, too.

Gordon, I'd really like to see your garden-do you think we could make arrangements for a visit some time?