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Hi, all Gardeners 2010


Twinky
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Well, today has been a lovely day. There has been snow the last couple of days and below freezing nights - but today was warm and sunny, windless, vivid blue sky, pretty clouds... Ah, spring is in the air!!!

There are catkins on many bushes, and leaf buds are swelling on trees. Snowdrops are everywhere. I have tulips in a pot near the door, and they are shooting, a couple of inches high now.

I have some self-setter chard. My leeks are still in the ground and probably growing. There are some brassicas including some purple sprouting broccoli which are beginning to grow again. They were looking sorta leafy before it got really cold but the leaves are ragged round the edges now and I suspect the pigeons have been gnawing on them during the hard weather.

Best of all, I got to get out with some secateurs and trim away some now-dead foliage which has been looking messy for a while but no way was I venturing out there in sub-zero temps to trim the lavender bush!

I must clean out the pond. It's only a little pond and it seems to have acquired a lot of silt blown/washed in from the garden. My solitary remaining fish will be walking on the surface before much longer. Reduces his hide-ability from the local heron.

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Whoa, wait a minute!!! My reply was not elitist. Me??? Elitist??? I am guffawing.

Gen, I am truly sincere about wondering why you buy plants and you say you are not a plant person. I want you to share that with us on this forum. I say, you are a plant person because you keep buying them.

Plants come with little tags that have all kinds of info to help them thrive. If your plant did not take it back to where you purchased it and ask them what it is.

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I haven't done squat in the garden. Haven't even been in the backyard except to go on the patio to make sure Lily has water. Flippin monster cold weather is to blame for my lack of motivation. It happens this time every year.

Dogwoods are still dormant.

The many Irises planted in the yard are starting to peek through. You don't even have to plant them. There are quite a few that were thrown in the back corner of the yard a couple of years ago and they bloom just as well as the ones "planted." Not that I would ever want to, but you just can't kill these rhizomes.

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Today I noticed some sad looking little shoots - I think they're my daffodils. They don't look very enthusiastic about life, and there aren't many of them either. Maybe they're just a bit slow.

Too cold and too wet to spend much time outside. Brrrrr!

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Ok Gen, waiting to hear from you. Did you find out what kind of plant you have? Did you get the little info tag that comes with it?

Are you not sure about instructions like..."moderate light" or "full sun" or "moderately wet" soil or "light watering?" I even had one house plant that required "diffused light." I said what the heck does that mean? Diffused light? It reminded me of confused. That I was!! Ha!! Ha!!

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"Diffused light" means not in full sun on a window sill, nor in semi darkness at the back of the room.

Sometimes you have to experiment with a plant to find its preferred location.

I have a houseplant which I thought to treat to a sunnier location and it kinda threw up its leaves in horror and refused to grow. Back in a more obliquely lit location, it's doing nicely again.

Confused light would be where you put it near a "disco ball." (LOL)

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We are in the Rockies and won't be able to plant until May, and that is with cover at night and during cold snaps. Last year we had 3 hail storms in June, toward the late afternoon when noone was home to cover, so our garden never really recovered, though we picked up some overgrown plants at the garden center.

Hubby bought 4 of those hanging tomato planters at the hardware store so that will be fun. I plan to plant more broccoli and green beans because they freeze well and everyone enjoys them. Lots of salad greens, too. Onions and garlic grow well, and culinary herbs. Basil for pesto.

I wish we had a well! Water during gardening months gets expensive! The garden areas we started last year are not raised beds, and we've sure noticed the difference. Or maybe we'll try mulch. I've been thinking that my old house probably had a well once(built 1904) but have no idea if we could find or revamp it.

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Also if you still have teh documents from when you purchased the house there may be information as to a well location, in the Preliminary Title Roport Check on the second or third page in... You would be surprised what information is on your preliminary title report.

Also if you go to the planning office you can get copies of all the poermits filed for your property.

and as was noted they should have a record if there was a previous well.

Also you may be able to find a water witcher in your area. My husband didn't believe me about it but I can do it I know of five different spots on our property with under ground water accumulation. none of them big enouogh to be well worthy and one directly under our house.. but all of them are there

and I am pretty sure the local creek used to run right thru our yard before they diverted it to build the developement.

Edited by leafytwiglet
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Another thing you could try is a metal detector. You sweep it around until you find something that "sounds out" a 3-5 inch circle. That could be an old metal well-head. They are buried below the frost line. That's probably about 40 inches down in your area. Or, you could wind up finding an old paint can lid. LOL. But, I have actually dug up old paint can lids that have been purposely buried over the top of the well-head to make it easier to find. If you do find the well-head, don't open the seal on top. There are bolts on it that can be dropped down the well if not properly loosened. Also, some places have code that require you to modify a well to current code standards once it is opened. That entails extending the casing up above ground level. Best to leave that to a pump man.

Edited by waysider
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Okay sorry guys But I felt pretty stupid posting what I did and Decided to shut up till I knew what the plant was. It's still alive and it's a Cherry Tomato plant. Now It's gotten Bigger but it doesn't have any tomatoes on it. And it fell over - so My older Brother Josh visited me and got it a Bigger pot and put a stick in the pot and the plant seems to like to grow on the stick. Good news is it's still green and my cat, Meemer, hasn't decided it's in a litter box. It looks like a little bush in an oversized pot now. I have it up by the kitchen window to get sunlight and I figure I must be watering it okay. I water it every other day. Right now a friend is taking care of it and Meemer for a couple of weeks as I'm on Holiday.

It's about a foot tall. josh said if I put it outside a bug will appear and eat it. He told me Tomato plants can naturally produce Bugs, it's one of their specialties. He's also the one that identified the plant which I bought at Wegmans (Grocery store).

So,... who knows when I'll be getting tomatoes? hahaha!

Oh and I have grown stuff before, just never in an apartment over an Ice Creame Shoppe, but out in the garden. and none of these indoor bush tomatoes.

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Kimberly - never grew tomatoes in LA when I lived here before. You got any recommendations on a variety that will do well in LA? Also did you ever have problems with mold/mildew on your herbs? Basil and sage are prone to it in hot/humid places....not like it is hot or humid - yet - for another month or so

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An Indoor Tomato PLant Well I never!

LOL!!!

here is a link to some instructions about polination and over all heath of your happy little plant

http://www.gardenguides.com/99250-grow-indoor-tomatoes.html

also for optimal happy tomatoes be sure your pot has a deep sides IT helps to keep plants from getting root rot!

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An Indoor Tomato PLant Well I never!

LOL!!!

here is a link to some instructions about polination and over all heath of your happy little plant

http://www.gardengui...r-tomatoes.html

also for optimal happy tomatoes be sure your pot has a deep sides IT helps to keep plants from getting root rot!

Thanks Leafy, Hey yanno,.... I really don't care if this plant is happy, but a nice salad or spaghetti sauce down the road. Still I wouldn't want the plant to be B!+¢H!ng and Moaning about it's Pot sides..... <grin> Will give the link a spin and see what other things might make the future meal unhappy,.... lmao!

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well a happy plant means more tomaotes usually lOL

We are offically in Spring the cats are shedding and the weeds are taking over the flower garden... I weeded today and got good and sweaty so next weekend it is time to plant my first veggie bed! Lettuce Carrots spinach cabbage and kale and radishes That ought to take care of things for a start! Oh and Peas!

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Rum, plant them maters high cause ya'll are below sea level!!!! A hardy laugh. Hot and humid here too but not quite as close to salt water as you.

Never had any problems with my herbs. The key is to space them far apart. No touching. Tomatoes, for that matter, same thing. And no watering the leaves, especially late in the day.

Anyways, we are waiting for you to make us jealous. I have my pitchfork ready. (Your post back in October)

And how bouts coming off an etouffee recipe or two. :P

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Rum, plant them maters high cause ya'll are below sea level!!!! A hardy laugh. Hot and humid here too but not quite as close to salt water as you.

Never had any problems with my herbs. The key is to space them far apart. No touching. Tomatoes, for that matter, same thing. And no watering the leaves, especially late in the day.

Anyways, we are waiting for you to make us jealous. I have my pitchfork ready. (Your post back in October)

And how bouts coming off an etouffee recipe or two. :P

Thanks Kimberly! Tomatoes and I are old friends - thanks for the advice on herbs. I promise I'll send you or post on here some good recipes.

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Keep It In Your Pantry!

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type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
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well a happy plant means more tomaotes usually lOL

We are offically in Spring the cats are shedding and the weeds are taking over the flower garden... I weeded today and got good and sweaty so next weekend it is time to plant my first veggie bed! Lettuce Carrots spinach cabbage and kale and radishes That ought to take care of things for a start! Oh and Peas!

I was listening to the Pet Doctor the other day about shedding. . . . I go to his site and listen to old shows while doing something around the house. . . . http://warreneckstein.com/n-stations.html He said to run a damp washcloth over your cats once or twice a day to help them with fur balls. You probably know this already, but thought I would mention it.

My cats assume my huge plant shelf in the kitchen is a kitty salad bar. . . . we have had to buy kitty grasses and place them strategically around the plants. . . sure enough they go for them!!

Last fall I potted all my window box geraniums. They are beautiful. . . . I caught a sale and got them for 10 cents a piece. . . . I wanted to reuse them this year, but they are so leggy. They are blossoming like crazy. . . . any suggestions?

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Officially spring!!

And actually it is.

Was out and about over the weekend and there are snowdrops everywhere, absolutely wonderful, great carpets of them, wall to wall little white flowers.

And now there are some in my garden, not saying how they got there but I have a few clumps.

As to the rest of the garden, guess I should be planning what to put where and getting things started but I have a Project which will take place over Easter which might negate any planting that I do.

The Project: my garden path needs relaying. It was very ricketty when I bought the house and I started to re-lay it last fall but the weather suddenly turned inclement. All the paving slabs went back as best they could and now this temporary arrangement is showing signs of having had a hard winter. So the plan is to re-lay the path properly over the longer break. Exciting decisions to be made: how many steps, how deep, what sort of slope on the path, what to use to form the steps....

Frankly I'd rather take my tent and go camping, but Easter is when I can get some help with The Project.

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I was listening to the Pet Doctor the other day about shedding. . . . I go to his site and listen to old shows while doing something around the house. . . . http://warreneckstein.com/n-stations.html He said to run a damp washcloth over your cats once or twice a day to help them with fur balls. You probably know this already, but thought I would mention it.

My cats assume my huge plant shelf in the kitchen is a kitty salad bar. . . . we have had to buy kitty grasses and place them strategically around the plants. . . sure enough they go for them!!

Last fall I potted all my window box geraniums. They are beautiful. . . . I caught a sale and got them for 10 cents a piece. . . . I wanted to reuse them this year, but they are so leggy. They are blossoming like crazy. . . . any suggestions?

When they are done blooming cut them to a few inches high they will send up new growth!

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