Today,I planted my flower bed. I planted 24 of the brightest pink Petunias I have ever seen. If they grow right, my yard is going to have bright,beautiful flowers. If my cats don't lollygag them too much, or take a dump in them, they should survive.We also planted 2 blue Spruce trees. I've always liked those,but never had any luck getting them to grow. Now that we live in the country,maybe we'll have better luck with them.( fingers crossed). Tommorrow I'm going to plant Champs pink rose bush. :heart:
My friend gave me one of her rose bushes when I moved in. Her yard is full of all kinds of beautiful things. Well I thought it was too much in shock to actually grow but last night when I was mowing, I noticed two buds!!! So I guess it is going to survive. I just have to prune the icky parts off of it now!
Good luck with your flowers Dexter!
Ive spent the past few weeks putting some new stuff out. A bunch of red petunias...which slugs have pretty much eaten....
some gerbera daisies that I grew from seed, then stuck in the ground. (The landscaper thought they were weeds and sprayed em)
Luckily, the zinnias, coleus, and vincas look like theyll make it.
If you enjoy trees, check out the Arbor Day Foundation site. They have a tree store w/affordable trees and lots of advice for what types of trees are best for your area, soil, etc.
I haven't looked recently, but when I was in Maryland I joined and as a result of my $10 membership, I received 10 free trees, plus a discount on additional trees. I had a triple lot, so lots of room to plan them.
http://www.arborday.org/
Here's the membership section and although it's changed a little price-wise, it's still really inexpensive. I can tell you from experience that the trees were very small when we received them, but they did very well and we had a drought that summer:
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm
Mojo you have no idea how much I appreciate that website! Thank you for putting it on here. My back yard is literally an outfield for baseball!! It has ZERO trees and is getting so bad with no rain! I need trees bad! Thanks for the info!
With my membership and a few extra dollars, I got 20 trees and flowering plants for $35. AWESOME!
Mojo, how big are the trees you get for free?
I got the group of 10 hardwoods - oaks, maples, etc... They also had a group of 10 flowering - dogwoods, cherry, apples. There are also pines. I found a hybrid tree that is supposed to grow 6 - 8 feet every year. I'm siked about that because I have NO trees anywhere!
Gryphon when we did it they were really very small. Just large enough to survive the transport, but small...guessing 6 to 12 inches? We got the evergreens and like you Kimmi, we ordered extra and bordered our entire property dirt cheap.
IIRC The Arbor Day foundations guarantees they'll grow or they'll replace them. Our experience was excellent. Like I said, we had a drought that summer and I painstakingly watered them and was so afraid the dryness would stunt their growth, but when we moved 3 years later they had grown over my head, which isn't tall, but a good height over 5 feet.
One last note, I like the foundation and the website because they help you choose trees that will flourish in you area. For example, if you lived in NY they're not going to recommend a palm tree. :biggrin: That increases your likelihood for success. Plus, there are tips etc. on the cite to help you care for your trees. I'm the type of person that could kill a silk plant and they grew for me...there...how's that for an endorsement? LOL
I'm very excited and think I'll have a planting party when they arrive! I don't know if I'll be able to plant 20 trees by myself!
Kim, just a word to the wise, I can't recall if they recommended this or if it's something I learned along the way..you may wanna check to see where water/sewer lines run before planting. Roots are drawn to moisture and that could cause expensive problems on down the road if they wrap around your lines. IIRC they make recommendations in the instructions on how far away from those lines is a good distance.
I have a septic system and will avoid planting near it. Besides, the grass grows too nicely there to mess it up! I need to shade up the Sahara side of my yard!! :biggrin:
Quote from: kimmi on June 05, 2007, 06:59:24 AM
My friend gave me one of her rose bushes when I moved in. Her yard is full of all kinds of beautiful things. Well I thought it was too much in shock to actually grow but last night when I was mowing, I noticed two buds!!! So I guess it is going to survive. I just have to prune the icky parts off of it now!
Good luck with your flowers Dexter!
There's no better feeling, than when you find a blooming flower in your yard. My husband weed eats early in the spring,but got behind this year,and I found a bunch of beautiful flowers a couple of days ago. We just moved here a couple of years ago. When we first looked at the property,it had so many beautiful flowers,I was taken aback by it. It was breathtaking. :smile: I love flowers and gardening. Today I bought more bedding plants for my flower garden. I'm going to plant them tonight,because we're supposed to get rain tommorrow, I think.
Quote from: Gryphon on June 05, 2007, 08:08:00 AM
Ive spent the past few weeks putting some new stuff out. A bunch of red petunias...which slugs have pretty much eaten....
some gerbera daisies that I grew from seed, then stuck in the ground. (The landscaper thought they were weeds and sprayed em)
Luckily, the zinnias, coleus, and vincas look like theyll make it.
I get that "I thought they were weeds" excuse all the time from my husband. :kick:. I've never had any luck with starting plants from seeds. Usually, one of my cats end up eating the seedlings. So, I go the easy way and buy them already started/established. You need to fire your landscaper LOL!!!! :smile:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 05, 2007, 08:31:52 AM
If you enjoy trees, check out the Arbor Day Foundation site. They have a tree store w/affordable trees and lots of advice for what types of trees are best for your area, soil, etc.
I haven't looked recently, but when I was in Maryland I joined and as a result of my $10 membership, I received 10 free trees, plus a discount on additional trees. I had a triple lot, so lots of room to plan them.
http://www.arborday.org/
Here's the membership section and although it's changed a little price-wise, it's still really inexpensive. I can tell you from experience that the trees were very small when we received them, but they did very well and we had a drought that summer:
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm
Great link. Thanks :smile:. Yesterday, we planted 2 Blue Spruce,and today we bought 2 dwarf Alberta Spruce trees. We're planting those tonight after the sun goes down. :smile:
The chemlawn people came today and did their free yard analysis. I can't really read this all that well but I think most of my problems are fixable.
Does anyone know what Oxalis are? Some sort of weed? They have them marked here as hard to controll. I am thinking they are the really long dandilion looking weeds. I have a million of them.
Quote from: kimmi on June 05, 2007, 10:52:24 PM
The chemlawn people came today and did their free yard analysis. I can't really read this all that well but I think most of my problems are fixable.
Does anyone know what Oxalis are? Some sort of weed? They have them marked here as hard to controll. I am thinking they are the really long dandilion looking weeds. I have a million of them.
I'm not sure what Oxalis is, it could be those big Dandelions that have the ragged edge leaves. Do you ever have problems with thistles??? We are over taken by them. They're about 4 feet tall and their stem looks like a small tree trunk. They have big purple seed balls on them. They really are a nightmare to deal with. Their entire stem and leaves are covered with the sharpest thorns,that poke through your gloves. It's a painful experience to say the least.
Here ya go (courtesy of the google queen :biggrin:)
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=OXALI
I don't have thistles thank God! I looked up oxalis (thanks Mojo) and I don't see clover type stuff in my yard. Maybe I am not looking far enough down in the weeds. I have to mow tonight but if I look out this morning and the yellow flowers are out, I take a picture so you can see how bad I have these tall dandilion looking things. I might do chemlawn for a year so they can do all the hard work!!!!
Today we bought a peach tree and a red delisous apple tree. We also bought 3 grape vines,a black berrie bush and a blue berry bush. I bought pumpkin seeds,decorative Indian corn,blue decorative Indian corn,and these neat gourds that grow into Lufa sponges. I never knew that Lufa sponges are gourds. If this stuff grows, it will be interesting to see the outcome. :smile:
My friend gave me two rose bushes today. I hope they take! I threw some watermellon rinds in with them hoping it would give it a few more nutrients than the sandy soil has.
Quote from: kimmi on June 06, 2007, 10:29:54 PM
My friend gave me two rose bushes today. I hope they take! I threw some watermellon rinds in with them hoping it would give it a few more nutrients than the sandy soil has.
I have several wild rose bushes,they're pretty but they grow in all different directions. Some of them jut out and run along on the ground. I've got 2 regular rose bushes in my flower garden, they have to be pruned regularly, through out the season. I haven't gotten Champs rose bush planted.Hopefully I'll get decent day this weekend. We have a high wind advisory, in effect until tomorrow night. They're predicting up to 50 mph wind gusts, so I've been battening down the hatches tonight. :yes: :eek:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on June 06, 2007, 06:00:09 PM
Today we bought a peach tree and a red delisous apple tree. We also bought 3 grape vines,a black berrie bush and a blue berry bush. I bought pumpkin seeds,decorative Indian corn,blue decorative Indian corn,and these neat gourds that grow into Lufa sponges. I never knew that Lufa sponges are gourds. If this stuff grows, it will be interesting to see the outcome. :smile:
That's interesting about the loofa. I thought they came from the ocean. I never checked out that theory, so I just learned something. Your yard is going to be so sweet smelling in the spring..all that fruit...yum!
Quote from: kimmi on June 06, 2007, 10:29:54 PM
My friend gave me two rose bushes today. I hope they take! I threw some watermellon rinds in with them hoping it would give it a few more nutrients than the sandy soil has.
Mom used to use coffee grounds too. Good luck w/the roses. What color will they be? I love Rose bushes, but couldn't grow one if it was plastic. :biggrin:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 06, 2007, 11:23:15 PM
That's interesting about the loofa. I thought they came from the ocean. I never checked out that theory, so I just learned something. Your yard is going to be so sweet smelling in the spring..all that fruit...yum!
I was completely shocked when I saw those Lufa gourds. :spooked: I never really wondered where they came from,never really thought about it. :no: It says on the package that they grow and look like a cucumber. When they're mature you peel them like a cucumber,set them out to dry,and you can bleach them. The bleaching is optional. Farm King had all of their trees,shrubs and berry bushes priced half off. So we only paid $25.00 for each fruit tree. The berry bushes were $ 5.00. So we got guite a few things to put out. I checked out the Arbor day site,and I'm going to join. Thanks for the link. :yes: I'm getting pretty tired,so I'm gonna turn in for the night. :zzz:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 06, 2007, 11:47:38 PM
Mom used to use coffee grounds too. Good luck w/the roses. What color will they be? I love Rose bushes, but couldn't grow one if it was plastic. :biggrin:
There are coffee grounds in there too! :biggrin: I have no idea what color! I figure the more I plant, the less I'll have to mow! Next week when school is out, I'm going to buy a ton of pine stray and line my yard with it so I don't have to mow by the fence anymore. Instant grass/weed killer!
Another good form of plant fertilizer,if you can stand it,is using egg shells. You put your egg shells(crumbled up) in a glass jar,cover them with water,and put them in a sunny spot. They are really stinky,so my Mom used to put them, in a window ledge on the back porch. You let them sit for a week, and them dump them were you want to fertilize. It's a cheap form of fertilizer, if you can stand the smell. :sick2: :puke:
Last night I finally got my pumpkins, and ornamental Indian corn planted. I still haven't gotten my loofa sponge gourds planted. If I don't get them planted pretty soon, they wont have enough time to grow. I've got to get my butt in gear. :dam:
Yeah and if you work up calluses just remember you'll be able to loofah them away. :yes:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 19, 2007, 11:33:15 PM
Yeah and if you work up calluses just remember you'll be able to loofah them away. :yes:
:rotfl: Too true MsMojo, too true!!! :smile:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 05, 2007, 08:31:52 AM
If you enjoy trees, check out the Arbor Day Foundation site. They have a tree store w/affordable trees and lots of advice for what types of trees are best for your area, soil, etc.
I haven't looked recently, but when I was in Maryland I joined and as a result of my $10 membership, I received 10 free trees, plus a discount on additional trees. I had a triple lot, so lots of room to plan them.
http://www.arborday.org/
Here's the membership section and although it's changed a little price-wise, it's still really inexpensive. I can tell you from experience that the trees were very small when we received them, but they did very well and we had a drought that summer:
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm
Good stuff. We joined a couple of years ago. Don't have the trees, now, because they're at the old house, and the ones I had planted and were babying have been torn up by the owners. Grrr.
I cant wait until next spring when I can plant stuff at the new house.
I hope my flowers and shrubs make it through the night. :eek: Were having a severe thunderstorm. We had some hail and they said we could have winds as high as 70 mph. :spooked:
Ohhhhh I wish I were there! :smile:
Quote from: MsMojo on June 21, 2007, 10:11:24 PM
Ohhhhh I wish I were there! :smile:
:smile: Well, everything survived the storms. No damage what so ever. Tonight I looked at the garden ,and to my surprise my decorative Indian Corn, has sprouted already. Do you like storms MsMojo??? We got almost 2 inches of rain night before last. We needed it really bad. It has been so dry. I didn't have to water the garden the past couple of nights, so that was great. We planted so much this year, that it takes me at least a half an hour or forty five minutes to get everything watered every night. So it's a nice break in routine. I spend at least 2 hours a day feeding and taking care of my pets. So,its nice to not have so much to do. :yes:
I love storms too!!!!
Quote from: kimmi on June 23, 2007, 08:30:10 PM
I love storms too!!!!
Storms are only fun until the tornadoes come. We had a touchdown in our back yard last summer. It was crazy because I was in the basement listening to the scanner, and I heard one of the spotters say" it's coming down out of the sky on 90th street.' So, I sat there a minute wondering where 90th street was. Then it hit me,I live on 90th street!!! All of a sudden the air got so calm I couldn't even breathe. Then all of a sudden it cut loose and hail was hitting the house so hard I was afraid the windows were going to break. I thought Pugsly was going to have a stroke. His eyes were kind of bugging out of his head more than usual. Luckily, it passed us by. Pugsly was so freaked out, he drooled a big puddle of slobbers on the floor. I was somewhat afraid he might be dehydrated. After the storm (this happened at about 10:00 pm) allot of vehicles drove past the house real slow,I didn't know why till the following day. The garbage man said to my husband "we were all surprised your house is still standing" my husband says "why is that??? Garbage man says "hell, we saw it come down out of the clouds in your back yard." :spooked: The bad thing is we live about 2 miles from town, and it hit 4 houses in town. We were very lucky . We were without power for 3 days. When it got still I knew it was not good. They usually sound like a train coming down the tracks,but it was hailing so hard, I didn't here the roar. When we lived in town,one hit a half a mile away and it did sound like a train, that one was close too.
This morning I was surprised to see that one of my pumpkin plants, has sprouted up out of the ground. My sunflowers are 3 inches tall. All the storms and rain we have gotten over the past few days, has greened things up quite nicely out in the yard. :biggrin:
Is it too late to plant sunflower seeds in zone 7 ir 8?
Quote from: kimmi on June 24, 2007, 03:39:50 PM
Is it too late to plant sunflower seeds in zone 7 ir 8?
I'm not sure, but I'll check. :smile:
Quote from: kimmi on June 24, 2007, 03:39:50 PM
Is it too late to plant sunflower seeds in zone 7 ir 8?
To reach maturity it takes between 70 -90 days. I don't think it's too late. I just planted mine a couple weeks ago. They grow pretty fast. When does your cold weather come??? If you plant them now, they should be ready sometime in late September of early October. That would be when you harvest them. I lost my seed package or I could tell you what zones to plant and when. If your weather stays reasonably warm through October, I think it would be fine to plant them now. In another week or so it maybe too late. Did you know that some sunflowers can grow to 20 feet tall, and have the flower be as big around as a dinner plate??? :eek:
Our little garden has been great to watch grow. While we were on vacation something (deer?) ate most of our string beans...the tomatoes definitely are at the point that they need staked...and we have little peppers popping out! :smile:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on June 24, 2007, 05:59:49 PM
To reach maturity it takes between 70 -90 days. I don't think it's too late. I just planted mine a couple weeks ago. They grow pretty fast. When does your cold weather come??? If you plant them now, they should be ready sometime in late September of early October. That would be when you harvest them. I lost my seed package or I could tell you what zones to plant and when. If your weather stays reasonably warm through October, I think it would be fine to plant them now. In another week or so it maybe too late. Did you know that some sunflowers can grow to 20 feet tall, and have the flower be as big around as a dinner plate??? :eek:
Oh I should be good then. We don't get cold until November.
Quote from: Sunny on June 24, 2007, 08:24:25 PM
Our little garden has been great to watch grow. While we were on vacation something (deer?) ate most of our string beans...the tomatoes definitely are at the point that they need staked...and we have little peppers popping out! :smile:
We've got some small tomatoes on the plants. The peppers are just starting to bud, and I noticed today they're are getting their little white flowers. My ornamental Indian corn is taking off pretty good. I've never planted it before. I planted the regular kind and the mini blue kind. The excitement is building, because I want to know what it looks like. One year I worked at an orchard in the fall. I spent one entire 8 hour shift doing nothing but bundling Indian corn. I really like harvest time. Fall is my favorite season of the year. :smile:
Quote from: kimmi on June 24, 2007, 09:15:38 PM
Oh I should be good then. We don't get cold until November.
It should be alright. I did mine direct sow. It didn't take long at all because they grow super fast. :smile: