OK. I started my latest Asclepias this afternoon (thanks, tcs!), also some tithonias, a few marigolds, sunflowers, and I'm going to poke around in the seed box and look for some more fun annuals to start.
I so wish I had gotten off my duff and wintersowed some containers. I am really bummed about that. Yours sound so fun and thriving and easy!
I bought some Miracle Gro fert in a purple and green box this a.m. at lowes. It is for 'blooms and tomatoes' and it was hidden in a corner. Just a little box. Most of the MG stuff was for 'general garden ferilizer' in bigger boxes . I don't like to use these chemicals, but sometimes I just have to to get any show at all in our garden.
I also bought some 'rootone'~~I'm going to really get into taking cuttings of clematis and other vines this spring/summer and try to do something with that.
I've got some 'Janie' marigolds I'm going to try right now.
Have fun rummaging in the seed box, everybody! t.
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #35
cutting are easy to do with vines since new shoots are always available just remember bright light no direct sun
My purple Liatris reseeds as thickly as grass. Every spring I run my hands through the bed to break them loose before they set deep roots. Last spring I put some in a container but I haven't thought to check and see if they came up this year.
The wind has blown over the same flat of marigolds twice. I'm so bummed, it's the flat that had all my 'specialty' marigold seedlings. I was able to salvage quite a few of them but I won't be able to save seed by name this fall as they're all dumped together now. I am really into marigolds all of a sudden. There are so many different varieties now...or maybe there always were and I just never went looking for them. I do hope that at least a few of the white/cream colored ones lived through the upsets.
had that happen last year had a little green house set up on the back deck and went out one morning to find it down with everything mixed and lots broken so this year I grew them inside so now its time to harden them off starting tomorrow morning lol
Happy Belated Birthday, Lea - here's my favorite convolvulus by Josephine Wall - scroll down to #18 "an even smaller world" - http://www.webgalactic.net/clarkscenter/pics/josephine_wall/thumbs.html
waving at old friends and welcome to new - hoping to see Suzy here again, too
Tab, when I was at a local nursery the other day they had a sign up about fertilizing. It said to fertilize with a fertilizer like plant tone or holly tone for trees and shrubs and to only use things like Miracle Gro as a supplemental program. Made sense to me so I thought I'd pass the info along. : )
very nice painting,
good morning all
beautifull clear sunny day perfect for working in the garden which I will be doing as soon as the kids leave for school
mona
Yes, Miracle Gro is 'verboten' by many, and I try to use 'natural' stuff most of the time~~slow release, etc. makes for a better grown plant, I think. Better for the environment, too. I just ordered eight cubic yards of leaf mold/planting mix though, and that's a lot tougher to tote around the garden than a couple of boxes of Miracle Gro!! (-;
I noticed that Dave (of Dave's Garden, "the Dave") announced that Osmocote was doing some kind of contest for gardeners and also that Osmocote is an advertiser on DG. O. is a subsidiary of Scott's which makes the dreaded Miracle Gro, too. Just thought that was interesting. I htink the contest is easy to enter, but I don't know where to find it. Maybe on the DG search engine or in the 'Dave Forum'. Maybe somebody here will get lucky!
Worked in the garden much of the day, transplanting those verbena b. seedlings into better spots too. Also a zillion cleome seedlings. I searched and searched for some Liatris 'grasslings' but found nada. I wonder why mine won't reseed? I have had about 30 mature Liatris in the garden for a few years...
My giant sunflowers are coming up. Also Tithonia volunteers. Fun times in the garden these days! t.
Wow that is great that your Tithonias reseeded! I had a few volunteers of Liatris last year, but only one made it to this point. I think Liatris have a decent germination rate -just not a very good seedling survival rate. I was out looking for more L. ligulistylis and I now have 6 coming back. Don't know if you remember but this is their 3rd year from seed. I started with at least 16 seedlings and after the first winter I was down to probably 9
I wonder if you have bark mulch? I think that has a lot to do with why I don't get many. If there is any bare spots in my gardens from me transplanting or weeding I find lots of stuff germinating in them. I think I might regret planting Salvia transylvanica - it appears to really love my yard. There are a billion babies out there! That and the Agastache foeniculum seedlings. (I never deadheaded the Salvia last year - because they kept flowering a little - so I didn't think it was time- then before I knew it - it was too late, so I need to deadhead them as soon as they slow down this time.) Which I don't need more of. But do you think one plant that I would love more of have seeded them selves ... that's a big Nope. ;) Well one good thing is I need a filler plant for by the road, guess what I'll be using? Transylvanian Sage! : )
M., looked up your transylvanian sage on Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/1202/ Very Pretty! Especially with whatever that pink floaty flower is in the background of Poppysue's photo!
So, I've been trying to find out by googling with no luck, but does anyone know if those L. ligustylus have a 'corm' like spicata? I wonder if you can buy the ligustylus 'corms' somewhere, maybe a wholesaler? It would be faster than seed and cheaper than plants, but I googled like crazy and couldn't find any hint of corms. I would would kill to get some!!
I don't use bark mulch on my putzy butterfly flower bed that's crammed with every kind of silly flower there is! I do use bark mulch on my iris/azalea/hardy geranium/clematis beds, though, that are a little more dignified.
I know what you mean about keeping up with the growth spurts on the plants. Get behind for one day, and before you know it, your garden strategy is blown!
I can't get that Agastache foeniculum to grow to save my soul!
... I guess my garden strategy is blown....weeds everywhere!
Well I can sure send you some of both plants, I don't what to do with them all! Do you remember on the other thread... how I said prairiemoonhad bare root plants? Well if you look at the pics they have of it you can see it is a bulbous looking thing. I am assuming they are young plants and it is probably bigger on an older plant. They were out of bareroots but they have a tray of 32 potted plants still available for $98 including shipping. http://prairiemoon.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=2123&SID=58ec096ae1847950e358ca7958b16ca2It is a good price but probably more plants than you wanted, but maybe a couple people would want to go in on it and split it? I posted a pic of what they send when you order bareroot.
Lol Wind! It is like they pop up over night sometimes!
Thanks, M., for your kind offer, but I ordered 10 ligustylus plants from Ron Ritter on e-bay, so I shall see in a couple of days how they grow. He said they will bloom this year. Next year I might try to get the prairiemoon plants and share with my sisters or other butterfly gardeners in the area. I just thought maybe there was a place somewhere in the 'plant world' to get the L. lig. corms for a $1 or less. (I'm cheap.)
I spent yesterday fighting the Weed War. I wonder how many precious seedlings I sent to the guillotine by mistake!
Some of my sunflowers have germinated. Planted some gomphrena seed this a.m. I am liking my big heat mat. I just fill plastic egg cartons or salad containers with potting soil, put the seeds in, close the lid and put on the heat mat. In a few days when they germinate (2 d. for my zinnias) I put them outside in my make-shift cold frame (old windows set over bricks) to grow a bit more, then will plant out in the garden when 'just big enough'. We shall see how they do. 'The Late & Lazy woman's approach', i think. Don't tell the people on the Propagation Forum I do it this way!
Hope all of your gardens are looking beautiful today! t.
:) Yeah, finally got a few things planted out this morning. Of course, had to do it in the drizzle, and a downpour finally drove me inside, but something's accomplished! Got all my hollyhocks in the ground and quite a few Gaillardia. My pots are settling in nicely, and things are starting to really take off. Ah, I love Spring! Especially when all the craziness is over and I can concentrate on the garden!
My fever last week turned out to be an allergy to Bactrim. If a doctor ever asks you if you're allergic to sulfer, answer carefully! Turns out something like 30% of people are allergic to the stuff. So even though I've never been allergic to anything in my life... should have been more suspicious and asked for a different antibiotic. If I'd known the chances I certainly would have!
Tab whatever works right! :) I actually think that make shift cold frame is a great idea! I always wish to drive by someone giving windows away. I know I don't always make myself clear in typing - but I was actually offering the Agastache and Salvia-lol. Sorry I didn't get that across right - so are you interested in those?
Warning: The following post is full of personal rubbish, so read at your own risk. But it's 'feel good' rubbish so it still might be worth the read.
My Marketing Experience
by Lala Davis
Oh you guys I just have to share this with some one and I know you'll be excited for me. (If you're not just pretend, OK?)
Last year I made and sold a few containers with my surplus flowers. I really didn't price them to make a profit, I just had more than I could use and wanted to recoup my expenses. I think I made up a dozen containers and was pleasantly surprised when I sold all but one of them.
Since I lost my job and since I love every aspect of planting, growing, and arranging flowers, I decided to do it again this year. But with a little planning instead of haphazardly getting rid of my extras. Apparently word of mouth got around from last year and I've had 5 people contact me asking if I was going to have flowers again this year.
:-o
:-o
:-o
To say I was shocked is putting it mildly.
But the plants were not growing fast enough. I watched the garden centers fill with flowers while I was praying for blooms. I watched flowers leaving the garden centers while I was STILL praying for blooms. I finally decided that with Mother's Day approaching it was do or die, that I was going to have to 'open shop' and just hope for the best. I called one of the gals who had contacted me and told her that I had some containers ready. I explained that they weren't very full yet, but in a few weeks they should be gorgeous. Heck most of them are only partially in bloom and I had to put little markers in them saying, 'purple petunia' or 'coral nymph salvia' just so people would know what colors to expect.
OMGoodness! I tried to remain cool as a cucumber when she just started grabbing basket after basket. In ten minutes time she had purchased 6 containers and commissioned 2 more. Holy Canoli! And they weren't even the cheapies, they were the coco-liner, 6 extra plants to a container containers. And this was only day 1, customer 1, and I haven't even officially spread the word that I'm 'open for business.' Quite honestly that gal bought 1/2 of my entire goal sales. Holy Canoli! Added bonus (and this is a big one) she offered (without me asking) to let me put some containers for sale in front of her beauty salon. Oh my.
Apparently I need more confidence in myself. This was just kind of an idea that I had and although I worked hard at it all winter long I didn't really push it. I didn't advertise and I didn't really spread the word around. I think I was afraid of failure and was just going to go with the flow thinking that whatever will be will be. But after my first wildly successful sale I made a mad dash into town for more containers and my 120th bag of potting soil and set to work again. And I'm ready. I know (again from word of mouth) that a couple people are going to stop tomorrow and I'm ready for them!
Chapter 2
About a month ago I bought some gerbera plugs off Ebay and mentioned to some one that I'd sell them for $2.50 apiece (they normally go for $3.50-$5.00 around here.) Granted I'm not making a lot of profit, but I have 200 of them to push so I'll happily discount them down. Well don't ya know I have 40 of them spoken for already and they haven't even bloomed yet. And my SIL just sent an email asking about pricing 'cause 'the girls at work want to know.' Apparently the word is being spread without any help from me!
I hope the following chapters are equally exciting but I'll finish my post with the final chapter. With the expense of 9 lighted shelves and the supplemental heat I used to keep the babes growing throughout the winter my profit margin is probably next to nothing. But I have been floundering since the day the creeps at my old work place locked us all out of our jobs a year ago. I have been lost, feeling very much what I am...a single, middle aged woman with no job and very few options. And I think I feel better today than I have since the above mentioned creeps did their above mentioned dirty deed. I have more confidence and I might even have an idea of how I want to spend the next 20 years of my life. I may not be able to afford running my own nursery as a means of supporting myself, but I at last I may know what direction I want to go.
Postscript:
I don't know why I cannot tell a brief story, but apparently I don't have the ability. My apologies for being so long-winded and my thanks for the many contributions made by my Piggy Swap friends, and for playing such an important role in my 'feel good' day.
Congratulations! I feel good right along with ya ;-) That's a great story and a start of something wonderful! (I can't tell a short story too... so I enjoyed the way it was told, lol!)
Andrea
cONGRATULATIONS! I admire you for taking that dreaded first step. You will be great at this because you have a passion for it.
Lala, you have taken that first step that most of us will only dream of in our lifetime. Dream on girl! You are my garden hero. Please keep us posted.
How exciting Lala! That's wonderful!
Good morning,
Lala, what a great story about your gardening venture. Thanks for sharing your excitement with us. I wish you all the best and success.
~Diana
Wow that is great lala! I have a dream of opening a nursery myself so I can imagine how excited you are. Good luck, I hope you continue to be successful! :)
La, that's wonderful news! It's soo exciting! I tried that for about four years and had so much fun, not so much money but lots of people to 'talk plants' with and it did pay for my plants habit until dad started giving them away practically while I was in town LOL It kept me busier than when I was working what people call 'a real' job :)
Good Luck!
Wind, that looks like little babies of my artemis salvia, mine has never reseeded before and this year I have three new babies out there, have no idea how they did that I thought I took every seed off of them for the swap lol Mine are starting to send up bloom shoots.
Haven't been on because my dad has stopped eating, been spending most of my time at the nursing home lately. He doesn't want to live this way and can't say that I blame him, just trying to make him comfortable with what time he has left... the girls at the nursing home said they miss his silliness when they are doing things in their groups that he was the life of the party and just doesn’t look right just laying in his bed, but that's the way dad was. I hate nursing homes it's just the last stop before…The people around here are really upsetting me, they ask how he is doing then when they ask if he will know him if they go in and I tell them probably not then they say they are thinking of him but probably won’t go see him! Do they want recognition of them being there, that’s not fair to dad! I just don’t understand people! I just come back with "please go and see him that’s why he is giving up, he thinks no one cares about him" all his life he went to nursing homes to visit people and I can count the people on one hand and have fingers left over of the people that have gone to see him.
Lea I am so sorry, that is so sad. It rips me apart that people can't find the time to spend with someone that would greatly benefit from it. Especially since they are supposed to be his friends! Maybe we could do something I saw on another thread before. We could start a thread to have people send him a greeting card. What do you think?
I'm sorry about your Dad's condition, Lea. A lot of us are approaching that time where we wonder what's going to happen as our parents get old and feeble. It must be dreadfully hard.
Congratulations Lala! I recently had a similar experience, where I decided to sell my recent divisions at my yard sale. I advertised "cheap perennials" and free wild orange daylilies in a separate post on craigslist. I was just selling them for $1 or two,(and they were small, as just coming up in the spring) but got scads of emails and they were scarfed up instantly at my yard sale. I thought of it as a way of making a small dent in my plant expenses, but afterward decided I'd do it again when I need to divide in the fall, and posted a "thank you and send your email address if you want to be informed when I do it again in the fall" kind of message, and I now have about 15 or more people to put on a dmail list. Now I don't feel nearly so guilty about buying more and more plants!!!
I vote yes! That is of course if Lea thinks it's a good idea. I can remember my mom and I laughing at Grammie because twice a week she'd go "visit the old people." That was her direct quote. She'd make her rounds of the nursing homes and visit with everyone whether she knew them or not. The part that made us laugh was that Grammie was 76 at the time. A cruel reminder of how quickly time passes is that we now tell the same joke about my mom. She is kind of the life-line for all the shut-ins here in town and they all call her when they need something or if they just want to talk. It's now mom's turn to take care of the 'old people.' And mom herself just turned 74.
Lea I'm so sorry that you have to watch your dad's health decline. I'm fortunate enough to still have both my parents, but I know the time is coming for me ... and for all of us. Please do let us know if there's anything we can do to help ... you OR your dad.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I'm still riding on a high even though the weather is so atrocious today I doubt if I'll see a single person walk down my driveway. I'm telling you a girl ought not have to wear a sock cap in the garden during the middle of May! I also divided a few of my perennials and am asking $2 for a quart pot. Before I put a price on anything I just envision what the garden centers ask then reduce that number by about 1/3.
Another great thing about it, Lala, is to see how happy and excited everyone is to be getting cheap plants.
Lala.... WOW congrats on being one of those "Plant Ladies" that is fantastic!! and have faith in yourself... you have just seen how word of mouth can bring your business. I know i love shopping at local [home owners] plant sales... more because it's a labor of love.
Dont forget in the Fall to hit us up for seeds so you can get an early jump.
{{{{{{{{{ Lea }}}}}}}}}} hope that lil hug helps get you thru the day. So sorry to hear about your dad sorta giving up.
There's nothing i can say to help, as i've never been in your position... but you know what i've been thru with "Gram" who is still hanging in there by existing.... .
Just know we all will be here any time you just need someone.
terese
Thanks everyone, sometimes it just helps to talk about it :) A card thread I'm afraid wouldn't do much good he really isn't aware of what is going on but it was a nice thought Meredith thanks :) I'm at wits ends trying to cheer him up but he just doesn't care about anything, I take his favorite music and play it for him when I go in and that is the only thing that makes him smile, to me he has just existed all of his life no hobbies or anything, he loved to go out to eat and listen to music that's the only two things I've ever seen him really enjoy and oh yes sitting on the front porch watching all the neighbors lol
La, dad always wanted to go to the funerals of people that he didn't even know, we can see the graveyard from the house and when he would see a bunch of cars there or when he would see cars going there he wanted to get ready and go he would have me go thru the paper to see who it was, even if I couldn’t find who it was he still wanted to go :)
I still have tomato seedlings to transplant lol I planted some of my red and lime nicotiana I got in the swap while it was raining this week :) it's getting down to 49 one night this week (Monday I think), I keep waiting for them to change it and make it warmer but it hasn't happened yet. What happened to those steamy springs that we had? Not that I would want them back but I can't believe this cool weather we are still having. Usually people here plant their tomato plants right after the Derby, that's always around the first week of May, no tomatoes planted yet here.
LeBug {{{hugs}}} to your dad and to you for being there for him :)
...and yes, the picture was of your little babies, salvia artemis. I've since transplanted them into their own containers.
This message was edited May 12, 2009 2:49 PM
Lala, I just clicked in here after being out of town and I loved your story. Maybe you should think about being a writer, too??! (-;
Ah Tobasco you make me blush. I always said I could spend all my time playing with flowers and writing stories and would be content to the end of my days.
I completely forgot that the main reason I logged on yesterday was to ooh and ah over Lea's red petunias. I've not put a single one in a 'for sale' basket....I'm afraid I'm going to have to hog all of those for myself. I've never seen such a gorgeous color on a petunia!
Happy Mother's Day everyone!! May you have great gardening weather.
La, I'm soooo happy for you! Thanks for sharing and spreading the encouragement. Tabasco is right, you wright beautifully- your story would make a great DG article. You know that article writers get $50 for each one used don't you?
(((((Lea)))), you and your Dad are in my thoughts and prayers.
Happy Mother's Day to everyone!! : ) It is windy here and still cool but that won't stop me from getting out and doing my gardening! I have way too much to do, I need to move half of my plants in my butterfly garden around and I am still not sure what I am going to do with my 3 butterfly bushes that just haven't found a good spot yet. Plus I am trying to figure out where to plant my new roses I will be getting late this week and one of three Peonies I recently got. Never mind all the seedlings I have that need homes. I better get moving. Sorry I haven't been on here much, but it is crunch time outside - I am sure everyone understands!! : ) Have a wonderful day!
Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies :)
I'm taking this day to work outside it's so beautiful out but cool just right to do some clean up outside! It's getting down to 49 a night or two this week so won't be planting any annuals but I'll have to put a couple more covers on my little greenhouses to protect what annuals I have outside hardening off.
The grass is growing like crazy with all of this rain we have been having but I'm on a mission to weed eat today after the grass dries it's so tall around my beds that I'm going to have to weed around them today, I only have a couple that have rocks around them to weed eat thank goodness the lawn mower does a good job around the other ones lol
I know you all will think I'm crazy probably but I had no idea that feverfew reseeded like it does! My herb garden is full of limelight wormwood and feverfew this year LOL A LOT of work to be done there!!! To top it off I have oregano there too need I say more LOL DUH! :) I have a big piece of carpet laying next to my herb garden to make it bigger I think I will be transplanting some of the other plants out of that bed into the one next to it until I can get it under control lol
happy mommy day everyone
Happy Mother's Day Everybody!!!!!!!!!!
MyGypsy Rose. Thanks so much for the foxgloves. They arrived yesterday. I gonan keep my fingers crossed , maybe you got magic one s that will bring me some blooms. Was a neat present to find. : )
Will thes e bloom this year do ya think or shoudl I plan on next year for them.
Lea I've had my annuals outside for almost a month. It's been down in the 40's a couple of times too but they don't seem any worse for wear.
I've been so busy trying to get things together for the sale that I've pretty much neglected my own gardening. So tomorrow I'm going to do some weeding and planting for myself. ;-)