TR's Garden Club

Questions: How far back should I trim my rosebushes and when should I trim them? I know I can look it all up but what's been your experience?

by hal 9000 Mar 11, 2008

But what's the white stuff covering the ground? Pollution? Can't be snow as I've never seen it but I've been told about it by some guy who I didn't believe Solid Water falling from the sky it's not possible. :D

When I was repairing a Rose Garden that had been left to it's own devices for 15 years or more I cut them down quite savagely and only left a small amount of new Wood on the plant. The Roses sprang to life and grew wonderfully. They still needed a lot of cutting back as I was being cautious and not wanting to kill them too fast so they had a lot of Stringy wood at the base and I eventually cut this back to almost ground level and left any newer shoots to grow. Took a couple of years to get right but they looked really good when I had finished. Just remember if you don't have Prostrate Roses remember to only cut them back to where the Trunk starts to branch. Cutting the trunk back isn't such a good idea. :D

OK I'm in even if I only will have photos of Tabasco plants to take for a while to come.

Col

Thank God we didn't get the heavy stiff. That went further East. With any luck at all we've seen the last of it.

I know my wife cut them back in the Fall so maybe I'll be good this Spring. I don't like trimming back plants but I know it has to be done. I'll give them a fearless cutting back at the end of this years growing season and just not worry about it. Rather, I'll try not to.

Speaking of trimming, one of the things I've tried my hand at was the art of growing Bonsai trees. I became interested in that when I saw some of the trees grown by one of the city tree trimmers where I used to live, My tree died. I still would like to get into doing that but I've enough other projects to keep me busy all Summer. Besides, I hate having plants die because I don't trim them right. Must be a secret to it. Be the tree.

I might grow peppers again this year. Good idea. I like just growing them. Last year we had some weird purple ones that I never got a chance to taste. We've got a lot of ground Habaneros from peppers that my son-in-laws Father grew. The place was almost like it had been pepper-sprayed when I had them in the dehydrator. I can make some spicy jerky!

by dr dij Mar 11, 2008

down to the last 'five leaf' - above the last leaf with 5 leaflets while they are growing.

do this immediately after the bloom wilts and it will bloom again.

For dormant trimming better see a rose site.

if you have aphids you can release ladybugs. (I'm having a debate with my wife, I'm sure there must be some MAN bugs somewhere and they don't like being called Ladybugs, darn-it!

She doesn't like to watch Andrew Zimmerman eat the bugs either, which I find totally fascinating.

Do virtual gardens count? We live in a small pad with just a couple hundred plants, so we go out to gardens on weekends and take pix of botanical shows and gardens. For privacy I won't mention my site here but

I'm fighting off robots from scraping my content as the 859,793rd most popular site on the web. (not as good as my other site which is close to the 275,634th most popular site on the web :)

A couple hundred plants? That must be awesome. Pix, pix, we need pix! Just one would be cool.

Please send me a link to your websites via peermail. I won't hurt 'em. Promise.

My biggest problem with bugs is having Japanese Beetles. I live in a rural area and last year there were soybeans in the field behind the barn you see in the picture. This year it will be corn and the beans will be across the road. Japanese Beetles LOVE soybeans so mostly they stay off of my stuff but I did have some nice lace-work on some leaves. That was kind of fascinating by itself but all in all I'd rather be without the beetles. Not going to happen. Any tips to protect the roses?

There are Army bugs and Assassin bugs! ;)

I have a couple other roses (they are not my forte) that I cut back hard in the early spring. They get about 5 - 6 feet tall by the end of the summer. I don't have any pics, but will take some when the time comes.

Minor tidbit - with the exception of some annuals, azaleas, rhododendrons, and cannas (which the hummers just love) if it isn't fragrant I don't grow it!

Thanks to you for getting the TRGC going! I am currently hunting down pics and posting to photobucket for just this club! :D

edit: I have just recently added more roses to my yard. The one I posted was given to me many years ago by my sister and is quite maintenance free due to it's climber status. The new additions are mostly healthy, but I am still learning about how to keep them happy.

edit again: Thanks Dr. Dij and HAL for the pruning advice. :)

We've got a couple of climbing roses as you might suspect from the trellis that's falling over. About all I ever did with the rose garden was marvel at the flowers.

I'm going to have to look at all of the rose branches and try to determine if I need to cut back or not. I'm pretty much a noob at this. Do you put anything on the cut ends or just cut 'em and leave 'em?

How dare you [b][i][u]Davette.[/b][/i][/u] Smelly things are not a reason to grow anything though they do provide an excuse for the Criminals to come into the Yard as they where [b]Just Smelling the Roses.[/b] :p

How about this for a Fragrance try growing a Nepenthes anything. The Tropical Pitcher Plant they look, marvelous particularly some of the Hybrids but you never let em flower if you have any brains. Well the first one maybe just to find out why you are told this you let one flower till the first flower on the spike opens and then you cut it off and burn it somewhere far far far away. These things attract Insects like there is no tomorrow but the smell is another thing completely like Rotting Meat. But the Ants love it. If you want to allow these to flower place them in a well ventilated space away for where you want to work as the smell will overpower you and the neighbors will be calling the Police reporting the Rotting Dead Person/Cat/Dog next door. :^0

These are something that you never grow for the fragrance but for the looks. :p

As for the trees that you mentioned just make sure that you don't plant them within Striking Distance of the house. Trees make a very big mess when they fall over and if the house is in the road you need to start looking for another place to live while the Contractors rebuild your old house with a new one and pull down all the trees that are too Close. Also if you live in a Fire Area you need to keep Trees a long way away from the dwelling as they can spread the fire much better than anything else. They also set fire to the Leaves that they drop on your Roof and this all ends up in the guttering which causes the house and all it's contents to disappear. Not good for tomorrows cloths that you wanted to wear or your Insurance Premiums either. :(

Col

http://tinyurl.com/28vaw4

by the scummy one Mar 11, 2008

to pull out the camera... Ok, Ok. Most of the plants are
not in the best shape right now due to cold/wetter than
they prefer, however I will snap a few shots sometime by
this weekend.

Right now there is a huge bare spot as well, and the rows
are mostly empty (I moved in in Oct. and havent filled it
up yet). However I have a few plans (on budget) and just
planted some seeds.

The huge bare spot, I tilled 2 weeks ago and last Sat. I
mixed in a truckload of compost and spread some lawn
seeds out. So it should look good in the near future.

I solarized it last year to get rid of verticillim wilt which I acquired when growing heirloom tomatoes a couple of years ago, a second nasty little soil problem I brought home with some plants from greenhouse, and any eggs and larvae that can't take the heat. The plastic is still on the ground and waiting for me to clean up and prep for this year's garden.

I leave a few 'weeds' hanging about the edges to keep the wildlife happy, as I garden for it too! I love to sit in the evening and watch the birds as they hop from place to place, peck at the seeds they love, and play in the baths I have scattered about for them and the bugs.

Just one of the bird/bug baths that is around. That is a catbird in it...

edit: obviously this is a pic from last summer. lemon balm in the right fore-ground, coleus and impatiens peeking from behind the plastic spinning daisy (those things do work to drive away the burrowers and tunnelers, believe it or not).

I have sweetgum trees that spit bazillions of sticky balls every year. I use the sticky balls to mulch the things that the snails and slugs love because they won't cross those balls due to being soft bodied and getting all carved to pieces when they try. When I do strawberries, they get almost all the sticky balls.
Crushed eggshells work too, and they add calcium to the ground in the process.

I didn't know what was going on and my post looked stoopid since it wasn't referring to moi. I thought it was in reference to my saying I was going to take a break and whatever but I finally got it all figured out. Makes you wonder what I'll do for my next trick huh?

This is where you plant something close or around what you want to protect from the nasties like Slugs & Snails to stop then crossing the line that you have drawn in the sand.

I have a very old Companion Planting Book written somewhere around 1836 that tells me to grow Indian Hemp around Strawberries and the like to stop the Snails & Slugs getting to them. Not quite sure how it works either the Snails & Slugs get stoned off their tiny little skulls and keep munching on the Cannabis or after they have had their fill they crawl away so that they can lay on their backs watching the sky. :D

When you harvest the Hemp you can turn it into Rope so it's a useful plant to have. Well that's what the book says at least. :^0

Col

to help keep the pests away?

Nope. Never thought of it... ;)

So I'll just post some wildflower pictures as spring progresses and the flowers change. These were out on the chalk Downs last weekend. They are tiny and I have NO IDEA what they are! I will, however, try and find out.

by the scummy one Mar 11, 2008

except the ones that I grew (like weeds) had yellow inner
leaves. But the shape and color look very similar.

It seems that there around many different species of Viola on the Chalk Downs - some very early.

by tig2 Mar 11, 2008

Pansy-esque and also come in a variety that have "faces" like
pansys do. They are my favourite wildflower.

I reckon you're right. I checked up after Boxfiddler posted and it would seem that there are lots of different species. The ones that I photographed on Saturday were tiny.

Spring had started early here but has sort of stalled with gales coming off the Atlantic on alternate days - common enough at this time of year.

Just for being helpful, I don't know if you've enough bandwidth but here's a nice site for you to see what's happening over here. Best webcams I've seen so far.

http://www.itvlocal.com/meridian/live/

The Newcastle cam is where Gadget comes from, the London cam is about a half mile from my office (but doesn't seem to be working today) and the Brighton cam will let you see the weather where my boat is moored.

These were out in the hedgerows. Now I DO know that these are Primroses and they are generally one of the first signs of Spring over here.

I'm rather partial to the blues when it comes to the flower kingdom. They do look viola-ish, as Scummy noted. But I don't know much about wildflowers. I will be interested to see more wildflowers from across the pond!

my reply is now totally incoherent as you changed the pic! lol I like the new one too. Beautiful yellow there.

I got the infamous Double Post so I just replaced the violets with a picture of some primroses that I took on the same day.

Neil :)

Now everyone thinks you are colour-blind!

by the scummy one Mar 11, 2008

I know enough that if you really need to torture a living
thing, this is the way to go...

BAsically, just keep it alive and twist it, tie it, cut it, and add
weights to it until it is the desired shape, then keep it up.

I must've missed a whole bunch because as I said, mine died. I think Bonsai trees are awesome. They're incredibly expensive for good ones probably because they have to grow for years to be worth looking at.

Years ago we went up to Hartwick Pines in Michigan. http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/nlp/59Hartwick/index.htm

There were a lot of Pines and other trees which barely come up to your thigh that were over a hundred years old, according to the State guide. They stay that short because the deer eat the tops off down to the snow level. Kind of odd to think of something that small that's going to outlive me.

Well maintained Bonsai trees can reach 300 years old. I think it would be cool to pass something like that down thru the generations of our family. I might try growing one again but not this year.

by av . Mar 11, 2008

I can post some pictures of what 2 acres of unraked leaves look like after they've been snowed and rained upon for 4 or 5 months. It'll make you want to pick up that rake.

I think this is a great idea. I'm in. I'm gonna have lots of gardening nightmares, I can assure you.

I use the product below every other Spring. Man this stuff works so well it amazes me. It also gets rid of 'June bugs' and flea larvae and a number of other pests whose larvae live in the ground until it's time to emerge and wreak havoc. LOVE THIS STUFF!

http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=5000

edit to add: these little critters will continue multiplying and spreading to other yards and/or fields in search of grubs to munch for their lifespan. Meaning of course that they may eventually make their way to the problematic soybean field and help you and the bean farmer immensely over time.

cause I thought it was mostly for lawns, and I never really had one.
This year though, I will likely try it out if the lawn survives that it :^0

the front lawn is the least well-kept of my yard. I couldn't care less about grass. I am working on replacing the grass with Creeping Charlie. Every year I plant another 2 or 3 spots with 'Charlie' and just keep hoping it will eventually take over. No more mowing! And once I have some more large trees in the front, I'm going to get serious about fern gardening.

just the 'tea roses' I think they're called. And no, I don't put anything on the cut ends.

I planted that climber about 8 years ago, and with the exception of a couple of organic feeds, never mess with it except to cut flowers to bring in. Every now and then I collect all the fading flowers and make my own rosewater.

How do you make rosewater and what's it good for? Even though our garden looks like crap we get a LOT of blossoms. It'd be kind of cool to do something with them when they start to fade out. I never even thought about it before now.

I use mineral water from Hot Springs AR (we have a place there and so drag lots of it home to drink and use in coffee, tea, and well... rosewater).
Boil the water to a hard boil. Turn off the heat, dump a mess of rose petals in the water. Steep overnight, strain.
Beyond the fact that it smells good, rosewater is reputed to be good for skin and hair, as well as help relieve dandruff and its' associated itch. It's also kind of a nice face spritzer on hot days! I think it really is helpful for hair and skin as when I run out the OH gripes for a fresh batch (being the one with itchy dandruff).

The climber has abundant flowers, so I can collect lots of petals from just beginning to fade flowers. You're really supposed to use fresher petals, but I can't bring myself to pluck the new flowers.

Rose hips (the bud/pod like thing left behind after the petals fall) are high in vitamin C. But I haven't played much with rose hips. It's another thing on my 'list'.

edit to add the afterthought: As I make such huge batches I refrigerate what is not in use. It keeps pretty well. I still have a couple bottles from 2 years ago and they smell good and appear to still be working on OH's head.

by nicknielsen Mar 11, 2008

The problem in my yard is more neglect than anything else; I am a very minimalist gardener. (Long story) Accordingly, I think my hardest gardening task is going to be going outside into that absolutely wonderful summer heat and humidity.

Pix tomorrow.

Succulents gardening -- Agave/Cacti, etc..

by nicknielsen Mar 11, 2008

...but I also have dogs. A Lab in particular. Need I say more?

Basically, once I can get rid of the stumps and lumps, the back yard (fenced for the dogs) is lawn. My front yard is about 50% shaded by a live oak. I'm looking for a zone 7/8-suited ground cover that likes shade.

by cg it Mar 11, 2008

maybe I ought to post palm trees....

Long time since I've seen personal pix of palm trees.

by tig2 Mar 11, 2008

I will read with interest and maybe even post what we
snap on training walks, but I am not allowed to plant
outdoors and shouldn't plant anything indoors unless I
intend it to be a cat snack.

Fortunately, I get six months of training so I get to see
what other people are doing with their gardens. That can
be very cool. What we especially enjoy is watching the
birds with their various chicks and lings. Because we live
in a place with a lot of open water, we have geese and
ducks and myriad other birds that will be raising families
soon.

I will be very happy to see other people's pics!

and take a picture for posting here of the very first outdoors flower I see even if it's a dandelion. My Mother got me started looking for the first flowers of Spring when I was just a little shlt. She'd give me a nickel for the first dandelion I saw that I brought home. That's back when a nickel actually bought something. That's way back huh? :0 Not that you'd remember that. I figure you might've heard stories. :D

any time of the year and something is flowering.
However, mid-late spring has the most going on.

by tig2 Mar 12, 2008

But I have personal recall of penny candy and the value of a
nickel.

I feel old. :(

Is winter EVER going to leave the Midwest???

well, you can go with a smal area of cat grass, they will like it. Also, might think about trying catnip.. They will love it and it'll likely be all over the house.

grow some cacti, they stay pretty well away from it after the first few times of pouncing.... :^0

onto photobucket

http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee314/techman03/

including the reverse spiral Aloe polyphylla's. I will post more coming up. But like I said, things are going to change a bit later through the year. And right now, some of these look bad but in a few months should look great.

Edited to add: I will get some better photo's later, right now I just grabbed some yard shots.

I have been curious for awhile about your cacti and succulents. It's nice to see some pics of what you grow!

however starting up the nursery took a dive and then there was the fire, move, etc.. In each event I canned hundreds of plants (mostly 2-3 yr. olds).

After working in the yard this weekend I plan on taking some pics of individuals, and some that are in flower.

by cg it Mar 11, 2008

your in Palo Alto there's gotta be palm trees around....

I am a little S. of there. But, yes, there are Palm trees around. In fact my cross da street neighbor has a large Travellers palm out front.
In the pots there are what is left of my palms/etc.. I ditched most of them when I thought I was moving to a place without much yard space (apartment) cause they take up too much space.

Praying MANtis

by dr dij Mar 11, 2008

just calling a flower by its common name (SPider Lily for example) is enuf to turn off my wife!

Plus palm grubs (tastes like fried eggs in 'bush tucker')

or Octopuses (I've learned not to call them 'Octopussy' despite a james bond movie by that name)

She dislikes them all. too bad as they are some of the coolest stuff on the planet.

and that ambypigilid I think is called, kind of a cross between scorpion and spider, from Egypt.

I think teethy, bitey & crawly things stabilize biosphere, possibly the whole universe! :)

to death...

Well, I havent dealt with scorps yet (wait, isnt that a band?

I have some reds. Lotta folks round this neck of the woods don't know what they are!

I get very cool garden spiders - wolf spiders, marbled orb weavers, and some green, yellow and black spider that I don't know the name of. I keep them as long as they stay in the garden...

I somehow managed to get a young one in the house one year. It was black with white spots. I didn't know that the young were colored that way until I found that one on the bathroom mirror and went hunting info on the mantids.

I have the browns and the greens. They can sit for hours on end without moving. You'd think they were dead.

Yep, very cool critters.

bugs. I was transforming the hothouse into the shade house when they started coming out of the egg. hundreds of em, and they just kind of sprawled out all over.
a few of them started climbing all over me -- kinda weird.

aka Moneywort might just suit you. It's very low to the ground, tight-knit, and gets teeny but brilliant yellow flowers in the summer. Is happy in the shade.

http://www.wiseacre-gardens.com/plants/wildflower/moneywort.html

edit to add link and aka. A number of problem plants are also called creeping charlie.

by cg it Mar 11, 2008

snap some pictures... of So Cal where it never rains or snows...but the traffic is horrible.

last year it snowed in the hills around there did it not?

While I have never actually travelled to LA (in memory at least)(I was there when I was like 6 or something I am told) I have been all over the desert a bit east of you quite a few times. I may make a trip to the Huntington this year (been trying to do it for several years now) for the cacti/succulent show. If I do go, I'll be cruising through L.A. for a short while.

As for traffic, isnt that what automatic weapons were designed for??? :^0 oops, that is drive by's.
ok, grenades?

by tig2 Mar 12, 2008

I'm celebrating my yearly end-of-winter slump. There is still
much snow on the ground and no sign that will change any
time soon. The good news is that we have been above
freezing for the most part. Seeing real, currently growing,
anything is good for my soul.

I'm getting itchy to get out walking again! First fund raiser is
the end of the month. Then it begins!

This is what my side yard looks like this morning facing South. Partway up there's a square around the clothesline pole. That's a planter box that is 6" above ground level. I'm waiting for warmer temps to see how much of the ice is going to melt and run off into the ditch in front of the house. Hopefully I won't have to pump it dry but I'm ready to do that if I have to. Nice huh? Skating anyone?

You can see that we live in what I call the boonies. Last year they put corn in that field. This year it'll be soybeans with corn to the North of us. I guess corn is hard on the soil and takes out a lot of nutrients so they alternate crops. There might be another reason but that's the only one I know. I don't farm.

When I went out early this morning there was a rooster crowing at a farm to the right of this picture. Not something you'll hear in the city. :D Oftentimes you can leave home for a trip into town and you have to slow down so the chickens will get out of the road. Several people have them, chickens, geese and Guinea Hens.

It's 35mph past my house but people seem to think it's a racetrack. They stand a fair chance of plowing right into a small herd sheep that sometimes get loose. IMO-People that don't pay attention to rural speed limit signs are stoopid.

Because the plants are odd looking I saved these in my barn last year so I can get the seeds out and plant them this year. I have no idea what they are but I like how they look. They're very light and fragile so the wouldn't hold up in a dried flower arrangement unless you have a good, traffic free spot for it. I don't.

Edit: Shows how much I know. Those aren't seed pods at all. They're just dried up flowers. :^0 Here I thought I was going to be able to plant them. I just trashed one head completely thinking I was going to find seeds. Not even! I made room on the mantle for the one that's left. Here's what it looks like close up. I think it's worth keeping.

sorry, had to say it..
huge yard ma'an.

It was so wet late last year that an American Bittern lived here for a few days. They usually
like swamps and marshes. :D

Here's a picture of it sitting on a corner of my planter box:

I'm going to have to learn the names of my plants. :D My cactus is getting re-potted this Spring. I'm going to put it in a low, wide dish with another cactus that I'll buy. I'm not sure what kind of soil to use. I'm guessing potting soil with maybe some sand mixed in. Of course I can look it up but whaddaya' think I ought to do Scummy one? Soil, sand and small gravel? High drainage? How do you know when to water cactus?

She looks rough. She's in front of a South facing window but I think she needs a grow-light on her for the Winter months. I have two of them, 1000 watts each. Next year I may put one in that room on a timer.

At my old house I used X-10 technology on my computer. I was all wired for remote control. That was fun. I did it on an old Windows 3.1 box. I don't have the software or proper pc interface to do that again so I'll just get a socket timer though come to think of it one of my grow lights has a built-in timer. If I just run it for a couple of hours at a time I'm sure that'll help.

Jade is getting repotted this Spring, that's some old dirt in there. Finding the right-sized pot, cheap isn't going to be easy. I need something with a dish under it. I always seem to overdo the watering bit.

I also have some jade plant cuttings that are going into the same pot. First time around growing Jade plant cuttings.

You just know I'm repotting this sad looking thing. I hope the flower isn't her last gasp.

I'll have to ask my wife what it is.

I have several other plants. A few of them are doing pretty good but they aren't project plants. When it warms up I'll post pictures of my successes. Right now they're not in good places for taking pix. I'll have them outside as soon as the weather permits it.

by gadgetgirl Mar 12, 2008

that's called a Christmas Cactus....

We get them in full flower around December.

Used to have one; cats ate it/dug it out/nibbled....oh well, the joys of Catdom!

Thanks for finally putting up a photo of something I actually knew the name of!

yes, ok, more later, just being busy right this second!

We've got high temps forecast in the high 30's and 40's. Chance of rain too. Just what we need. :(

I'll dig up some more latter but these where taken at the beginning of Spring when the plants where starting to grow and flower. Everything looks fairly ratty though. :(

http://tinyurl.com/2zkzuv

Col ]:)

You're only growing plants that EAT things...

start having BBQ's and only inviting these plants to share in the meal.. :^0

Ok, Colin, have you tried bonsai yet! right up your alley :D

Ah crap, looking through all of these I am now going to be late for work.. See ya later!

You should have seen what I used to have. :p

Only a couple of thousand square feet of Hot House Space for the Nepenthes and the same size for the Sara's that needed shade.

A small area of only about 40 square feet for the Succulents that needed special attention. Actually they are not all mine the VFT is [b]SWMBO[/b] but after the move it doesn't look at all well. :D

Wait till I manage to scan some of the real pictures in then you will really be worried. I had some Loners out on a regular basis to TV Stations only a couple of the more common Neoprenes in 10 gallon pots they where really small only a few feet (10) high with several Growing Canes.

Wait till I grab the Digital and take some pics of the current flowers that [b]SWMBO[/b] has. :^0

Col

'weed' indeed. Stargazer or rubrum lily more like.

We need to get you back to planet earth for some maintenance.

Davette

christmas cactus or easter cactus (I always get them mixed up). Anyway, although this plant likes water, the soil should not be 'wet'. Keep it moist (dont let it dry out completely like most cactus), but dont water it like a houseplant either.

Are you kidding me!? That looks like something out of the movie Jurassic Park.

Edit: I should look things up before I post. :D I'm pretty sure that I never heard of Triffids before today.

by gadgetgirl Mar 12, 2008

Great film, in its day. Still quite good now. Oh, darnit, Ropes, I now have the ice cream van tune running around my head!

http://imdb.com/title/tt0055894/

Over here, there was also a TV series of the same name (around 12 episodes I think) but it was nowhere near as good as the film, despite it being technically better.

I keep telling HOB I'm going to feed him to a Triffid..... :)

I sort of forgot that you guys weren't from round here! John Wyndham wrote it with others, including the also rather good Midwich Cuckoos (movie was "Village of the Damned").

Personally, I have to disagree with Gadget and say that I much preferred the TV adaptation of Triffids so much more than the movie but probably just because I read the book first and the TV stuck very closely to it.

FYI, Triffids were plants that were genetically modified to produce oil. They had a sting, could walk and communicate and could eat rotting flesh. All of this was manageable with huge Triffid farms until most of the Earth's population were blinded and the plants got loose...

It's the people-eating bit that I thought Col would like!

Neil :)

I was just going to go searching for that plant too!
darn, thought it would rid me of the pesky stray cats :0

that flower looks really healthy. Maybe I need to pick up one of those plants. I never really got one before, I just recognise the basic structure of the plant.

by charliespencer Mar 12, 2008

But I don't know what. I have no idea how to include a photo here.

My camellias and winter honeysuckle are in bloom here in central SC. The azaleas should start soon. Spring bulbs are up - daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, etc. Neighbors have redbuds and Bradford pears just starting.

I've got a few David Austen 'English' roses, but I'm mostly a daylily and bearded iris fan. My potted plants are mostly cacti. If you're into succulents, Lowe's puts cacti on sale in late October when they're clearing out the garden centers for Christmas merchandise.

just get a photobucket account and share it out. It requests email addresses, but at the bottom you can copy the link instead.
Post the link.
or
put the link into a tiny url and post that link

Upload them to Photobucket and then a couple of clicks to generate the tags which you copy and paste into your post. Photobucket will automatically generate a thumbnail view pointing back to the original or, if the original is small enough, edit out everything but the LT sign, img src=... out to the GT sign and remove the th_ from the image name and away you go.

Be aware that inserting tags completely screws up the post formatting so you have to use the GT sign br LT sign for a line break.

If you screw it up, scream for help and we'll all laugh at you...

I like to paste the HTML Code to place a picture inside a reply, see the first picture, and edit it down so it looks something like the second picture.

If you paste the Direct Link data in a reply it sends people to your Photobucket account.
You'll be an expert after your first one or two posts.

by nicknielsen Mar 12, 2008

My Mom used to have one that was HUGE. It was in a 15" pot and hung to the gound on all sides of a 30-inch high table set in a north-facing bay window. When she re-arranged the house, it took three of us to move it.

The previous owner put in oaks and sweetgum - about 50 years ago. The oaks are humongous and could take out the neighbors across the street if they fell that way. The sweetgum that is furthest from the house could take out the house if it fell right... We also have mimosa - gorgeous things those in bloom.

But I added redbud, silver-leaf maple,and would like to have dogwood.

Pitcher plant - ummm no. I get enough grief from some of the neighbors now. And I'm not sure I would want that fragrance wafting through the house. I'm a bit picky about that.

Davette

She says it's a Christmas Cactus too so must be that's it. Everybody agrees. :D

We've got another, bigger one that's doing better. I'll see if there's room for this one in the pot next to it, if not they'll both go into another one. I think the plant in the picture will do better in different soil. I'll take my razor knife to the dead leaves too. I have pretty good luck with trimming.

The seeds are very teeny and it looks by this pic as though there are seeds in there - approximately 3 per flowerette.

Also re: beans and crop rotation. Beans fix nitrogen in the soil and that is one reason folks rotate crops with beans. Clover is also good for fixing nitrogen.

edit: extraneous words

and rescued the seed pods out of the trash. They must be tiny seeds. The only things I thought might be seeds were off-white in color. I'll plant the whole pods and see what happens.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/FLOWERS/P5030033.jpg

edit: pic too large, change link

here is my mess. This weekend I hope to get out and get the plastic up and get things tilled and mounded for the veggies. Tilling depends on soil moisture content and whether or not it rains... The 'weeds' around the edges are giant foxtail grass which the goldfinches love, and the pile of branches is my version of a 'snag' - a spot for birdies to perch in something resembling hiding and for bugs to take refuge in the debris as the wood rots.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/SPRING%2008%20PROJECTS/Photo82.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/SPRING%2008%20PROJECTS/Photo85.jpg

edit: had to check which link I added... and add some info

edit again: OTR, I think you might lose that bet?

Ahh, what a nightmare! I just got done, and by the looks of it I had less to do than you (although it was clay-like compacted soil with lots o rocks). A real pain... After tilling, I used the tiller to mix a truckload of compost in with it to try to have it a little looser next year (I guess I'll see).

BTW, how many BBQ's are there. 2 in the pic, but how many overall?

2 large, 1 small. Hopefully the only thing I use the kitchen for 'in season' is canning and baking! Though sometimes that isn't true, most of the time I succeed at it.

edit to add: I have been adding leaves from the yard, chicken manure, grass clippings, and kelp meal every year for close to 15 years. My soil is starting to look and smell real rich. I also let the clover grow wherever it comes up, and then just till it in. By the time I croak I'll have the richest soil on the planet! :D

so it probably doesnt stay too compacted, which will make tilling much easier.

"By the time I croak I'll have the richest soil on the planet!" -- LOL

By the time I croak, all of my landlords will have much better soil than when I moved in... Everytime I move I work the sh!t pretty well, and by the time it is good soil again, I gotta move for other reasons (when will I learn??). Who am I kidding though, I'll never learn cause when Spring comes I got a bug to go garden a bit (no idea where I got it from).

because the worms are the size of snakes. Ok, a bit of hyperbole... But I think we will soon be able to enter the live bait market with our crawlers. I'll try to remember to take a pic of a big one when I come across it.

but I erally like to get the back yard looking good, for my own enjoyment I guess (and visitors).
People that go too far out of the way on the front yard I think are just trying to show off a bit...

As for the nematodes, hmmm, does Malathion kill them?? That is what I got this year for bug control (and Sevin-5 powder).
I guess I will find out..