| Author |
Message |
Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Wednesday, April 27, 2011 - 11:43 am 
Biloxi, perhaps you should try building a raised bed. You can buy some frames from Home Depot, put down a liner and fill up the frame with soil...that's what I did because in Texas we have black clay. Stuff grows in it, but you can wear yourself out digging through it...LOL!
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Dfennessey
Member
07-25-2004
| Monday, May 23, 2011 - 7:03 am
I planted my vegtables yesterday. I am very excited. I just hope it does not rain all summer like I feel it has done all spring.
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Roxip
Member
01-29-2004
| Monday, May 23, 2011 - 7:24 am
Last night I went out to check on my garden since we had a huge storm on Friday and ended up pulling up the carrots that I planted last year and never did anything with because they were getting too tall...and lo and behold there were carrots underneath. I didn't think that they would redo themselves after a year...LOL! Now they weren't pretty carrots (although one of them was huge) but that's the first thing in two summers that has come out of my garden and I was so excited...LOL!
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Jag2000
Member
07-01-2009
| Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 7:50 pm
About 5 years ago I bought some plant food at Sam's. My flowers were planted late this year and I use the food once a week and my plants are like monsters. It is just Sam's brand.
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Biloxibelle
Member
12-21-2001
| Monday, April 02, 2012 - 8:31 am
pssssst Anyone home?
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Holly
Member
07-21-2001
| Monday, April 02, 2012 - 8:34 am
Jag, I want to go to Sam's now!!! I wonder if they still have the same formula though.
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Riviere
Member
09-09-2000
| Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - 11:22 pm
Several years ago I bought 6 chameleon plants, the pretty tri-color 6" tall groundcover to fill bare slope next to my front porch steps. After assuming they died, hubby bought 6 more of the drab cousins and they all grew up together!
Then I heard this plant is an invasive pest that is immune to the usual chemicals, only way to get rid of it is: a shovel & a blowtorch! It's too funny because I adore these little plants for added color and natural weed killers. It's true, if unmanaged they'll snuff out ever pricey flowerbed, but they thrive in any weather and need no care at all. Weeds avoid them! With a shallow root system you can mow right over and they'll train along slope instead of flat lawn. Perfect for the lazy gardener with patches nothing else will survive in...
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Heckagirl631
Member
09-08-2010
| Wednesday, April 25, 2012 - 1:19 pm
I planted my veggies today. They are three tomato plants, a cucumber plant and a green bell pepper plant. I hope they grow well.
On another note, I have a rose bush that hasn't bloomed the last two growing seasons. Hubby kept threatening to rip it out of the ground. What a surprise! Lots of lovely blooms this year!
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 8:56 pm
I had the strangest thing happen this spring. One day while out back on the back patio, mu niece and I noticed a tomato plant growing just off the side of the patio. It was small, but definitely a tomato. Have no idea where the seed came from but we put a cage around it and nursed it along. It turned out to be yellow cherry tomatoes. The thing grew so large that we had to get a huge cage to replace the little thing we had.
It became loaded with tomatoes growing in huge clusters. The plant grew to be over seven feet tall. We had it staked and tied, but the weight of the plant itself just caused it to bend over and droop toward the ground. I thought it might die, but it is still growing and still just loaded little tomatoes.
Unfortunately the tomatoes do not have the taste of the red ones. They are good, but kind of bland. Not sure if that is natural or if this is some kind of wild tomato plant that has lost its flavor.
Has anyone ever had this happen? I have never had a tomato plant anywhere in my back yard since I moved her about 9 years ago, and I have never had the yellow cherry tomatoes in my house. I have had volunteer plants come up before but nothing like this. Maybe a bird dropped the seed. It is an absolute monster plant. Not sure what I am going to do with all these little tomatoes. Anyone have any ideas?
I was unable to get my grass mowed for a couple of months and the grass was just out of control. I suspect that is the only reason the plant survived. Otherwise it would have been mowed down before anyone realized what it was.
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Jmm
Moderator
08-15-2002
| Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 9:09 pm
Allietex, Yellow tomatoes are know for being less acidic than red tomatoes, therefore, have less of what we consider flavor. If you have some older relatives or families with small children they might appreciate the tomatoes since the acid can sometimes be problematic for them.
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Monday, June 25, 2012 - 8:04 pm
Allitex, that is cool, I love mystery plants, LOL, wish I got a tomato though. Mostly I just have normal plants that the birds somehow drop off.
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Wednesday, June 27, 2012 - 1:47 am
Thanks Jmm, I wondered if that was the case. I am enjoying them.
Dipo, I have really had a lot of fun showing off my tomato plant and claiming credit for it.
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Sadiesmom
Member
03-13-2002
| Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 4:56 pm
food swapping
My nephew has put up his latest computer system Chow Swap - where you can chat about food - growing cooking, etc in the forums or list food you want to swap - like you might have too many eggplants and a neighbor may have too many tomatoes and you want to swap.
He is based in Portland Ore, so that is where the majority of posts are now, but if you use it and pass it along, it can grow.
Please have a look at
http://www.chowswap.org/
He was inteviewed about it at http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/blogs/plantwise/
Please check it out and, if you have time, let him know what you think. He is a freelance web designer with good credentials.
Thanks
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Jewels
Member
09-22-2000
| Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 8:19 pm
I live in Portland...will check it out!
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Mungus
Member
02-16-2012
| Friday, May 23, 2014 - 9:14 pm
We have a 'volunteer' tree? bush? growing out of one of our flower beds, and have no idea what this plant is. It has three boles, it grows very quickly (6 foot in two years). It has very large bright green leaves growing at the very top only. We haven't noticed any fruits, or flowering. It has more or less smooth bark. Any suggestions?
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Citruscitygal
Member
08-07-2003
| Saturday, May 24, 2014 - 3:26 pm
It looks a lot like the shoots we still get from fruitless Mulberry trees we used to have in our yard. They were big & beautiful shade trees and I miss them. We had to have them removed because the roots were damaging the shared block wall fence our neighbors paid for. If a shoot came up in the right place, not near any fence, I would welcome it and nurture it's growth.
I'm curious to see how others might identify it.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Saturday, May 24, 2014 - 9:24 pm
Take the photo or e-mail it to your county extension office? Most counties have one. I don't know what it is.
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Riviere
Member
09-09-2000
| Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - 4:14 pm
I'm calling this a young Catalpa Tree with no biz living in a tidy yard!!! They can reach 80' and the giant heart shaped leaves will shred in any high winds. Then there are the hundreds of worms living in them, so without geese or a fishing bait business to handle the worms, well, it's a nuisance...
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Mamapors
Member
07-29-2004
| Wednesday, May 28, 2014 - 4:29 pm
Is is a nut tree, walnut or almond? We get those a lot from the squirrels. Hard for me to tell from that picture!
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Riviere
Member
09-09-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2014 - 1:20 pm
The best new thing my yard got this year was a lovely metal trellis to support my new honeysuckle vine while masking the garbage cans beside the garage!
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Friday, June 06, 2014 - 8:28 pm
Oh! I think Riviere is right. Catalpa tree. I have been gone from the midwest for a very long time, but those were common when I grew up there. Oh, but I don't know it that tree even grows in SouCal where Citruscitygal lives. But if that does turn out to be what it is, again I might call the County extension service and ask it that is a tree you should allow to grow in your yard. I tend to think not.
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Hiyall
Member
07-06-2005
| Tuesday, July 15, 2014 - 9:57 pm
I just bought 2 gorgeous hibiscus today...I was reading on the care for them since I've not grown any and now I'm worried about putting them in the ground because I read they don't tolerate the winter well. I think I'm ok, I'm in southern Missouri...anyone confirm that for me? I'd hate to kill my beautiful flowers  Can I just leave in the ground and mulch really well? TIA
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Sillypickles
Member
06-29-2015
| Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 12:14 pm
Hi, I am really excited to see this thread! Although a little sad to see it hasn't be active for a year, so I hope someone sees this.
We purchased a really run down property 3 years ago and are in the middle of renovations and I am ready to get started on the landscaping. I wasn't well to start seeds in the winter for spring planting, not to mention a lot of clean up work before planting can even begin, so I am now in the process of starting seeds for planting in late August, early September.
We live in a forest and have a large slop going up to the road. A while back there was a bark beetle infestation and we (not "we" as in only our property, but we as a community/forest) lost a lot of trees. Some of our trees on our property need to be taken down as they are rotted at the base. Nothing kills me more than having to fell an 80 foot tree. In early March, we took one tree down on our slope and the guy cutting the tree came less than 2 inches from a chipmunk nest that had 5 babies that were not even 2 weeks old. The mother wasn't there, so we put some towels and the nest in a box that had a hole in it and left it where the tree was. We kept watch through the night and low and behold the momma came and took her babies to a new site. We were thrilled. We have watched these babies grow up and leave the nest. Well, two weeks ago we started pulling weeds and dying plants on our slope, not really thinking if it would have any effect on our babies. A few days after removing the weeds, the flowers on our deck started disappearing. One morning, around 5am, I saw one of the babies eating my pansies, Johnny Jump Ups and dianthus. We had taken their food source away, so now they're eating my flowers!
So, we thought we would put some type of cover crop, clover or dichondra to put nutrients back in the soil. What our goal is, is to put something the little buggers will eat, so they stay away from my flowers and strawberries. Does anyone know a good plant/grass that we could plant that they will eat? I have started over 300 seeds last week and doing another 350 today and tomorrow, but I don't want the chipmunks to eat my seedlings!
Any advice on this?
Sorry this is so long, but I want to convey that the wildlife is very important to us and we wish to have harmony with the critters that share our beautiful forest with us.
Also, does anyone here know about hydroponics? We had a friend who used to grow medicinal marijuana and gave us a lot Rockwool. Every where I look online for information is mostly about growing marijuana and that is not my plan. I would like to start seeds and propagate some cuttings with it and then transplant into soil. I know nothing about it, so I am looking for a general all purpose book or website that is about "regular" gardening, rather than marijuana. (Unfortunately, our friend passed away so I can't ask him)
Thanks everyone! I am glad I ventured out of the BB area and found this thread. (Along with a few other parts of the board, it's not just about TV is it?)
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Merrysea
Moderator
08-13-2004
| Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 12:46 pm
Hi Sillypickles! I don't know anything about gardening, but I wanted to welcome you to the rest of the board. There's a lot more here than TV and Big Brother! 
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Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 2:02 pm
I only have little container gardens, but would your area support wild strawberries as a ground cover? They look nice, the animals can eat them and they grow really fast.
Hopefully some of our gardeners will be in soon to give advice.
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