any gardeners?

“I like bonsai, but I'm not very good at it. I think my problem is I chose plants for their looks rather than suitability for this area.”

“OK, let's try this again..Webshots has it up and maybe I'll get the right link this time..
hiding behind my pride and joy”

“I wanted to bet Nakid Ape was out there in Cali triming up some Buds!”

“Beautiful flowers matahari!”

“yeah really very nice!”

“Oooh, lovely lily, MHH!”

“sirpete, you gots mail”

“I will be peparing a couple of care packages tomorrow!”

“No need to gild those lilies, mataharihiker. Magnificent.”

“Planted peas,carrots,5types of lettuce,spinach,multi-colored kale,radishes,dill,basil and parsley this morning. A few more weeks and the rest goes in. Oops, gonna do the beans tomorrow.”

“Flower envy: my lilies aren't that big. Miracle Grow?

Anyone else have poor results from bulbs from Breck's?”

“egads, avoid miracle grow. That stuff is bad news fo microbes.”

“LMAO at Pete!!!! I likes Buds.

I likes microbes too!”

“I love kale greens. We had some at lunch today as a matter of fact.”

“the check is in the mail....


so to speak.

when you get them, they may be wilted a bit but don't worry. Just soak them in a little water for a while and they should be just fine. I think I caught the iris's early enough and hopefully they may bloom for you yet this year. The day lillies were a little further along, but like you said before Birch they are very hardy. They may or may not bloom this year but they will give you nice foliage non the less.

I have always had good luck with them.”

“sirpete, I'll have daylilies off to you as soon as the ground drains a bit more from the heavy rain we got last night.”

“those lilies in the picture are orientals and hardy to zone 3, where I live..I believe it's called Simplon..but not positive..too tired to look it up..”

“SirPete, we've had some warm weather here, gave everything a huge jumpstart. Once your box arrives I'll dig you up some tubers (I have a couple of kinds for you), just so long as there's no flower buds showing yet. It's supposed to get nack to normal MI weather this week so hopefully they'll put the brakes on. Thanks a bunch!”

“Hey mataharihiker, nice bush.”

“My "Galadriel" daylily that I bought for humor value is actually quite pretty. A nice medium gold, with frilled petal edges.

It's funny, looking out my back door at the back porch. 2 weeks ago everything was still brown or very small, and now everything is covered in blossoms. The lemon tree smells SO good. Here's hoping I don't kill it all off!”

“I got my tomato planted now :) WOHOO! Fresh tomatoes...what else could a girl ever want?”

“I planted snow peas and lettuce yesterday. I'll add more things as the weather warms up.”

“sirpete, we got the package. Many thanks! We'll send some stuff your way asap. You da man.”

“hope they come around this year!!”

“Hopefully I'll be able to irrigate everything today. It's been some kinda busy and some kinda dry. The dang trees around my yard had a growth spurt, and now most of my sunny spots are gone. Argh!”

“Argh! I just looked at the weather forecast for the next 10 days. Very dry the entire time. There goes my water bill.”

“SirPete, tell me , please, how tall will the iris' you sent get?”

“I hoping to get things rolling this weekend. I've decided that I'll have to use timber, something that I resisted, but cost for the stone makes that idea outta the question.

The beds might have to be smaller than first planned. I have a concern that my water bill will get out of control. Our city has been raising rates 20% per year for the last 6 years, and last years bill, with little or no lawn watering, was around 120.00 for 3 months. I think they have been doing that to generate revenue for the city.

birch - have you planted corn? Is it worth it?

Another couple of question for all:
I have seeds that date back a year or two. All of the packages have been stored in a cool, dry place during that time. Are they still good to use, or should I just toss them?

Is there any reason I should be concerned about cems from the treated wood winding up in the food?”

“Yum! We ate our fill of asparagus from our garden last night. Much earlier first pick than most years.
Had some the night before from the market and (as always) there is no comparison.
The spinach and radishes are up and looking good. The strawberries and raspberries are getting nice and green. I start my peas indoors now and transplanted them outside two days ago. I think they've grown 6" already.”

“They may still sprout; just give them a try. Your water bill is still lower than mine. The minimum for month's water use in our area is now $40.00.”

“Dang, didn't finish that post. That's only if you use disposable dishes and don't wash anything, even yourself.”

“Q, the squirels take down any and all corn we ever plant so we've given it up.”

“Sass - you guys have a little fence thingy around it too, don't you?

How did they get in?”

“We used to. They climbed over it. Setting the dogs loose to "protect" the corn didn't even help. The worst part was the corn would be beautiful, just almost ripe and then it would disapeer. The cobs would be all over the ground, half eaten. I really detest squirrels. They also top our sunflowers, but that doesn't bother me so much.”

“LeSubtil, sounds like your garden is doing great. Our asparagus looks good ,not much yet but soon.

Q, to echo Sass. Corn hasnt been worth it for us.Regarding chemicals from treated lumber. Organic Gardening magazine advises to stay away from treated lumber due to arsenic and other concerns. I would shy away if only because of the risk (even a small one at that). I am sure that this is a subject of debate amongst organic gardners all over. I err on the side of caution. Nt much of an answer but...”

“What about painting or somehow sealing the wood?”

“I got the squirrle feeder and will set it up tonight.

cant wait!”

“sirpete, your wonderful gift arrived today. What a splendid piece of mail to find when I got home on a beautiful Earth Day afternoon.

Got out the garden tools, dug a new planting bed and in they went. Your return flowers, day lilies and hostas, will be going out tomorrow.

I cannot really say just how wonderful a feeling I got opening the box. Trail Talk has proved itself to be a great part of my life. Exchanging flowers that will grace my front yard in years to come will remind me of all the great folks I have come to consider my friends through TT, some whom I've met, some whom I will meet someday.”

“It's times like that, pekka, that make it special. Enjoy!”

“cool. Glade you all liked the stuff. It makes me feel good giving. Flowers make me happy. That back to earth stuff.


Sass. These things don't get to be giants or anything. I've seen some that were just unbelievably tall. I think it would be safe to say that when healthy the vegetation will get about 2ft and the spikes a little bit taller. It all depends on the exposure and stuff. these guys and gals came from a Eastern exposure with shady afternoons. They were located right under our bedroom window so we watered them often. They Enjoyed nice quiet moon lite walks in the evening and especially liked when we played Led Zeppelin as loud as we could with the windows open.

The day lillies tend to be the same vegetation height, a bit more bushy and the spikes get much taller. They were a bit more snooty, lived on the South Eastern side of the house and rarely played in any reindeer games.”

“Got the Zeppelin covered, sirpete, but they better like the Distillers, too. If I have things right, it will go my iris, your daylilies, some daffodils, your iris on the east side of the front yard. We are working toward the whole front yard being perennial beds that transition through various flowering periods. Screw mowing, I'd rather weed flower beds.”

“You gotta love perinnials and bulbs and stuff. Put'em in and they work, year after year. I tell ya you should look for some Dianthis, I think you would really like it. If I think about it I will send some out this fall. Good stuff!”

“Treebait, regarding treating or sealing the wood... For me (not necessarily saying this should apply to others) I wouldnt. Most paint and sealers, even water based are somewhat toxic. Eventually the paint will flake of and the sealer will degrade and it all ends up inthe garden. Is it unhealthy? I have no idea. I am kind of fanatical about organic gardening so my standards (again,this isnt to say I hold others to the same standard) are a bit extreme. I gave up using my tiller to be totally human powered, heck my mower is motorless (trying to find a way around a mechanical weedwhip, prolly electric). I know that the residential(averaging 5-10lbs per acre annually) use of pesticides and herbicides is like 3 times the amount used in corporate agriculture. Its one big way I can do my part individually. It may not make a huge difference except to me and the birds and animals in my yard. However, if we all did this just imagine the difference. But everyone wants the greenest lawn, at what cost though?

I believe the company is Fetzer. Its the nations largest winery and they have been organic for almost 15 years. They still churn out great wine (so I hear). It was costly at first due to their inexpeience and mistakes but now it is far cheaper then using chemicals. It can work and does work. Sorry about the long and rambling post. I just feel strongly about "cleaning up my own bck yard".”

“LOL at the squirrels. I have beautiful strawberries and just when they are ready to pick, poof, the squirrels got 'em.”

“bravo, birch”

“Sir Pete, package is in the mail. You've got two types of iris', some zebra grass, oregano (careful where you plant it, it spreads nutsy fast), and a bit of white columbine (it's the short variety). Hope it's all okay when it arrives. Look for it Tuesday.”

“sirpete, just back from the Post Office, your lilies and hostas are enroute.”

“laqtis - Most lumberyards (including my Home Depot) now carry the new treated lumber without the arsenic. Its labled 'ACQ'.

I built a retaing wall along the back of my property last year with treated lumber. It wasn't really that much cheaper than block would have cost because the galvanized spikes cost so much (when you use a million of them).”

“The squirrels forced me to cut down my apricot tree. Years when we would dodge a late frost and have a good crop, the squirrels would get them just as they ripened. I tried putting down blood meal to deter them but I never got to eat one.”

“Violin:

Too bad you cut down your tree. What I find to be effective is cover my trees with bird netting and tieing it off at the bottom. Also, a big help is to make sure the little varmits don't have anything high near by to leap onto the tree.

Laqtis,

Have you looked at Trex lumber. It is a plastic and won't split or rot.”