Chit Chat - Everyone is Welcome - Part 104

Come on in and relax and rest your weary bones. Everybody is welcome, so just join in on the conversation...

We came from here: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/938436/

How are everybody's Bougs? Mine have gone crazy in the last couple of weeks!

By the way Paul:

Great New Years Party in the Tent! Thank-you for inviting me. The MuskRAT mignon was excellent! Loved the Band - especially their rendition of "MuskRAT love!" It brought tears to my eyes...

PS: Has Fido had his Distemper shots? He was a little aggressive...(Cujo?) No big deal, it only took 36 stiches to close the wound.

Kat

I don't allow Bougs within 100 ft of my yard. I feel that when you prune, the only holes you should acquire are in your head, LOL. I think that if the prision system planted the prison fence perimeters with bougs, they wouldn't have to worry about escapees.!!!!! Better than barb wire...

Yeah Jan,

I used to feel that way, especially when I had to paint someones house that had them growing wild. I told the customer either they trim them to look nice, or I would trim them to protect myself.

Now.......I can't keep them alive here. But they do look so pretty growing in someone elses yard.

Molly
:^))

Yes, I do appreciate them from a distance. LOL

No luck with mine. They are in pots and look like sticks with a few leaves. I am hoping they will come out when the weather gets warmer. Boo-hoo

Soon after I bought my house, I found a somewhat unique bouganvillea (full name for those that might be wondering what the heck a "boug" is LOL). It has yellow/bronze bracts that I thought were very interesting and different from the usual magenta shades. This boug has now grown to be about 20 ft high and arcs over my garage roof. But... now when it blooms, the blooms are so far away (at least to my waning vision) that the brownish color of the bracts just look like dried up leaves! I've planted several more around my semi-tropical cacti and succulent garden. The bougs came as near freebies in the Lowe's cull packs a few years ago and are growing well.

Jeremy

I got some of the variegated leafed ones from a nursery two years ago, they were GIVING them away, said people didn't like them, said they looked dead.....
It's doing fine (if not spectacularly well) in a corner of my yard by the fence. Nobody will be climbing over that corner haha.

Interesting: I just discovered we can do a "D-mail blast" to a group of people, rather than being limited to one D-mail at a time to one DG member. I sent a note of "welcome" to all our newest Florida subscribers.

To use the D-mail group blast, you create your own groups by going to the top bar on any page on DG and click:
My Info
then under "Your Actions" click
Manage Your Friends and Groups (eighth line down), then create the name of your group in the bar at
Create a New Group, and then click "Create a New Group" button
The next page will show you the groups you have. Click
Add/Edit Members to build the DG screen names you want to include in your group
Type in the DG screen name (the system will show you matches, click on the match, then
the system will show the "Exact Match" in blue hyperlink text
Click on the DG screen name that is an exact match and the name will be added to your group.
(if you don't do that final click, the name won't be added to your group)

You will note that you already have one existing group labeled "Friends," of which you are the only member -- a lonely state that needs correction. LOL

I hope I'm not passing along info that everyone already knows, but this was news to me. I think it is a great feature for persons doing roundups to confirm those that are coming, organizing other regional activities (like the NE Fla Gardening Brigade and the S Florida Galloping Gardeners), planning get-togethers with local friends on DG, and other group activities.

Jeremy

Yep, I use group blast for invitations to my roundup. I've seen hosts use them in Coops also.

About bougies - I like them so much I was going to plant about 300 of them as a living fence out front. I did reconsider though and simply used Arecas instead. They are a maintenance pain also but not as bad as those thorny branches. Essentailly Bougainvillas are vines and should be treated as such. They love to just grow and grow. I just took a quick test shot of some my bougies with my new $199 HD video camera. It's amazing what they can do in asia for cheap. So take a look:

http://www.vimeo.com/2728724

Fred

PS I'm really new at movies and need to practice the various features of this camera.

Nice Fred, practice more.... LOL there are many undiscovered corners.
We're eating the last of the honeybells (they were hiding in the fridge - YUM).

I still have a Ton of honeyBells

I should have said: the last of the Honeybells we got from Fred ;-)

LOL

I must say, since I gave free reign to anybody to pick fruit, the oranges are getting scarce. Still lots of grapefruit though. We had a little post-Christmas neigborhood party here and we handed out bags. That made quite a dent.

My did I get poked working on the ladder with those bougies. It's tough getting around the trees and the thorns at the same time without offering your arms as a sacrifice. But it's done now for another year. I even put the ladder back. Everything is a bit of a haul around here.

Fred, I planted Bougies in the back corner of my yard against the fence. We found out thieves were getting in on this corner and I don't think they will be anymore. I hope they get the heck scratched out of them. And, it is legal. We were thinking razor blades and wire, and figured out we would probably get sued. Such is life

Plant these along you fence Agave americana or Agave tequilana, they have sharp recurved, protective teeth running along both sides of the blade of its semi-curved, lance-shaped leaves, with a sharp needle-tip lance at the end. I guarantee you won't have any thieves coming over your fence without hearing them....lol THey give you some real nasty cuts Paul

Jeremy..jealous over the broms that Darla gave you! What variety are they?
Maybe Darla would like to trade some plants for the broms?! hint hint
I have decide to turn the 55 gallon tank in my living room into a tropical vivarium with ferns, broms and a few orchids. Eventually it would also house some tree frogs. That is my project this weekend...indoor gardening lol.
On the subject of bougs..I decide that I had ill placed mine several years ago( actually 6years)when I realized my neighbors one which was half the size and in a 3 gallon pot was blooming that "Hey why hasn't min bloome din 2 years." Besides we always brushed up against it going fromt e side yard to the back yard.So I dug it up and well..the reason it is not as tall as the house and blooming is..it was still in a 1 gallon pot!!! Wow I had a blonde moment there!! I guess I had placed it there to see it it liked the spot and over the years dirt acumulated over the area and buried it. I felt dumb!! It is now up against my house on some lattice my neighbors were throwing away.
I went to the zoo yesterday and had a blast..we needed it after our luck went from bad to worse. Tommy went outside yesterday AM for a smoke and found our car port flooded.. it was our waterheater. We checked the serial # and it was made in the 70's so it lasted a while. So to get the kids ready for school last night I boiled 2 stock pots of water and added to the cold bath water for their baths. We partied like it was 1899!! So we have that added expense now. When it rains it poors.
I do have a question though my friend from work that live way, way across town from me it giving me her 3ft tall sago and a philidendron that's about 3 ft in diameter from her eyard as she caught her puppy chewing on them. Her husband dug them up yesterday. Will they be ok for a few days out of the ground if she waters the roots until I can rent a truck from Lowe's to pick them up on Friday?

I will start looking for them immediately. We have gotten to the point of returning some pain to the cretins.

Thank you

ChubbyDoll I have more bromiliads if you want some. Let me know.

ChubyDoll I think those plants will be ok if they are kept wet (and preferably in the shade). That sago palm will be VERY heavy.

Hi y'all I have been buzy. I finished the first set of plant shelves and rearranged some of my epis. And took a couple of pictures of the fruit on my Christmas Cactus anyone have any idea on how to plant them???

Darla that will be fabulous!! Check my list and see if their is anything you want..I also have things not listed too, just send me a d-mail.

Hetti...thank you. She was saying I may need about 5 men to lift the sago..wher eI might find some straping lads to do it is beyond me!!! They are in the shade and I asked he r to put wet newspaper on the root s for me.

Good evening all you Florida folks.
Read back through the threads and glad everyone is doing well and taking all those pretty pictures. I moved my orchids back to the greenhouse since they weren't doing well inside. Our weather has been really lovely. Rainy and warm. Spent most of the day yesterday working in my greenhouse.
Sandy, I didn't know the cactus would set fruit. Guess I will leave the few dried blooms on mine. It was sooo pretty this year. Need to repot it soon.
I bought a real pretty one in Kroger last week. Half price. This is a pic of my old one.

Elaine

I am in bromeliad nirvana with all the plants Darla gave me. I think most of them are Achmea (Living Vase) but there are a few with more narrow, pointed leaves. Not much of a expert in identifying bromeliad genera here. I haven't planted my bromeliads yet. They are o.k. out of the ground for a while. I was going to offer you some of my supply from Darla, ChubbyD, but I'm glad Darla has more of the bromeliads to share. Too funny about your 1 gal full grown bougie! LOL Sorry about the blown up water heater. Have you checked Craig's List to see if any are offered there? It might be a temporary fix until you are ready to buy a new one. There's usually not too much that can go wrong with a water heater except that the heater coils burn out occasionally (or they rust apart after 30 or so years of use). From my experience at the zoo, a 3 ft tall sago may require a forklift or front end loader to pick it up. Seriously, not only are they heavy, but there is not much to grab hold of since the trunks are generally very spiny. My guess would be that the Philodendron will be the split-leaf type, Philodendron bipinattum (I've always known it as P. selloum, but looks like the species name has changed). That is the most common landscape Philodendrum in our area. If it turns out to be Breadfruit (Monstera deliciosa http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1204/ ) or some other variety, I want a piece! LOL

Sandy, I've never seen and epi make fruit! That is very cool. It looks like it may be forming small root hairs at the base where it attaches to the leaf, so you may be able to break it off (or let it fall off naturally) and plant it with that side down into the soil. Someone in the Cacti and Succulents forum may have had experience with the fruit.

I made my second attempt at patching the gas tank on my old van today. This time, I had some fiberglass cloth I stuck on, then slathered Bondo over the cloth. Tomorrow, I may let the van down off the planks propping up the front end (so any gas in the tank would stand in the back of the tank and not be dripping out until I got it fixed), or I may spread another layer of Bondo to make sure the pinhole leak is covered.

I thought I had an appointment with the foot doctor tomorrow, but it looks like it is actually not until Friday. The surgery wound is now healed to the point of not being much more than a small cut in the top of my foot, so I feel more confident about getting out and about a little more. I am tolerating the pill form of current antibiotic without an allergic reaction. I will be SO glad to not be tethered to the WoundVac pump, but it has certainly worked well to speed the healing process.

Jeremy



Darla, I didn't think about unloading your bin so you could take it back with you. I will save the bin for you until next time. Also, I noticed today that we forgot to load in your truck the large upright elephant ear (I think it is Alocasia odora, but my photo was to fuzzy for our elephant ear expert, Lariann, to identify for sure). I will pot it up and save it for you and get some Persian Shield cuttings started.

Are any of you growing the Celebrity cultivar of tomato this season? If you are, have you had problems with disease, wilt on this cultivar?

I like Bougies in containers....only in containers>

Jeremy I put a thread on the Cactus and Succulents , the Orchid Cactus and the Propagation forums and get no answers. I have about 5 that look like they are taking.

Elaine You can tell if they will make fruit by size of the"bulb" even before the flower comes off it is a little larger than the others. I do not think they can pollinate their selves.

Sandy

Morning all..

Wren check out the Epi Room on the Australian Forum, I think you would be interested.

Loved your video, Fred. Can't wait to see your yard. I'm so jealous of all of that space. I'm rapidly running out of room here.

I love bougs, they hate me! Someone asked me at work about the cat scratches on my arms. Guess it probably did look like that, but it was just the results of trying to move a brug. I love the way they look when grown over a garage or on an arch, I just don't have the patience to keep them trimmed.

Wren, the fruits take a long time to ripe. It has to be red/hot pink and soft before you pick the pods.
After you pick the pods, cut the pods open, put the whole thing in the water to get the seeds out or just smear the pods on the paper towel. put the seeds in fine soil, mist every now and then. Be careful not to over water.

Thanks for the thread on the Australian forum. I still have not decide what the shelving material will be but I am going to try some of these Closet maid shelves. Would cost less than the other stuff I have looked at.

Sunshinesw Thank you!!!!!

Great info, Sunshine! I was assuming the swollen bulb was the beginning of a new plant rather than a seed pod. I am happy to be corrected and to learn something new.

Jeremy

Jeremy it is a seed pod, I am trying my had a breeding them.. CC's send out roots if you look at them!!!!!! I have one piece that was rooted on the bottom of a pot.

Need some intel on gourds, i.e. the survival rate and/or longevity of dried gourds made into hanging pots. I have a number of nice sized gourds, some bizarre shapes, that I would like to make into hanging flowerpots. I could etch the thing, color it and have a little fun with it and plant it. But if they don't last, say 6mo. to a year, it won't be worth fooling with. Anybody know?

Can't help with that. I will try to look behind the workshop I hung one out there 4+ years ago as a bird house. That is if I do not fall over all the junk stacked beside it. LOL


spent around a hour sitting in the green house. Was so nice.

Fred, I enjoyed the trip along with the Bougs etc. You have quite a size garden there, bit too much for me. I have seen bougs growing all over the world in differents colours and have always loved them, problem is trying to get DH convinced that I really do need one (or 3).
Jeremy you can keep you bromilaids, I was given one and have stuck it in a corner where I ignore it completely! DH likes them but I threaten him if he tries to buy me one. I think I like most flowers and trees but just not Bromilaids. I am definately into Brugs and have some that were given and some from seed - they look so good and keep blooming constantly.