Flowers, flowers, flowers

[Gabriel]

Originally posted by Moni: Aw Gabriel! I used to kill anything I even LOOKED at and then one day my whole attitude on life changed...plants that I tend seem to thrive now. Get to know your soil and look at almanacs for local planting and cutting schedules that coincide with the waning and waxing of the moon! Best thing I could have done for myself was to really learn how to handle plant life! Treat plants as if they are living creatures and they will respond as such Moni

Thanks, I try and see plant as living creatures and give them water when the need it, sun and move them to warmer places (the potted ones) when it cold but they still wither on me, I think it a reverse of my mum powers. She can leave plant lieing one the surface of the ground for whole winter and they still bloom come spring.

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ladyzekke,

Cool! I am sure if I can't help you then SOMEONE at the W&W board will have the answer. They are a great bunch of people and I am glad they talked me into sticking around.

Gabriel,

LOL, funny you should say that about your mum....mine can kill a plant in record time when it used to be that (when I could look at them and they died) she was the one who could keep them flourshing!

I hope they start being nicer to you and showing their appreciation for your care!

Hugs,
Moni

[Gabriel]

Moni thanks and I hope your garden grows to be a place of beauty.

Thank you Gabriel!

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams to you, I am feeling sick (upper resp.) and I need to warm up and lay down.

Hugs,
Moni

[Gabriel]

Good night hope you feel better soon Moni.

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"I need no signature. Put together your own conglomeration of words and stick
it onto the tail of your email messages in hopes of coming off as clever or
deep. My messages speak volumes enough."
- Anonymous

[Sazerac]

Draconia wrote:

I do not think it strange for a male to love flowers. It is nice to see how men feel about them. Your feelings left me speechless. I love roses and I have several rose bushes. Not enough, I think. This year I plan on getting 2 more to add to my garden. I did not know that about ashes. I will have to try that. I have one rose bush where the roses have almost no smell and I have no idea what to do. I have read so many books on roses but not one has given me an idea of what to do. Will the ashes help? The rest of my roses are very fragrant except for that one. It was fragrant when I first got it and we planted it. After about a yr, the smell is almost gone.

Dear Draconia,

I forget what nice people we have here! Unfortunately, where I was raised, for a man to admit he liked flowers was tantamount to his putting on lip gloss and eye shadow and sashaying. It could get you beat up. So apologies for my erstwhile defensiveness. It's an old habit I need to lose.

The ashes will definitely help. Roses do thrive on that. Another plant that does as well (and gets along well with roses) is the Hydrangea (some people call them "pom pom" flowers, I call them "Litmus" flowers for a good reason). The more or less acidic the soil will determine whether the flowers are blue or pink or other colors. If you variate the acidity in the soil, you'll get a bush with multicolored flowers! Hydrangeas are fun to play around with and see what you can come up with, and they're robust as hell, so it's difficult to screw up and kill them. They're also great for covering up ugly spots on older homes, and grow equally well in shade or sun.

Moni, do you work with hydrangeas any? I don't know what the soil down in San Antonio is like regarding flowers. Obviously it must be good for what you're saying about the roses. I bet hydrangeas would work, too...but you'd have to water them a lot. They are water intensive.

Cheers!

[Draconia]

Originally posted by ladyzekke: Draconia - Still, though, with all the "fanfare" this night blooming jasmine has been getting, I have to find a spot for one if I can find it just to see what they mean. I'll let you know how it goes in the future on that one! I guess since you live in such a small town you don't see hyacinth in the grocery stores? They always have bulbs in grocery stores every year here. Hyacinth are really easy to come by. Yes, I have never ordered an actual "plant" via magazine either (some sell seeds (say that three times fast), but I think that sometimes it is really best to get a small plant already started instead, that way you have better luck with it actually staying alive!). Seeds can be a pain, especially if you have sqirrells and birds digging them up! Good luck figuring out my stink tree! I've looked at photos in many gardening books, and I see trees that resemble this tree, but I can't tell which one because they don't mention the "distinctive" aroma! All I know is they have a huge nursery in the area of our old house that has every tree imaginable for sale. Never smelled one of those there though.! I've never had any lilies before. When do they bloom? Do they need shade or sunlight? Just curious. Yes, funny that one is called a "Corina lilly"! Of course it must be beautiful! Wow, don't walnut trees get huge? Wish I could do that I love big trees. Unfortunately with my limited space here at this new house, I will have to stick to something small. Magnolias can get extremely large and spread out, but it takes many many many years. Still want one!!

I can understand that. I would be curious myself. Please let me know if you decide to try it out and what happens.
I have not seen hyacinth in the stores. Maybe I will have to look harder. I like going to the little nurseries that are in the town I shop in. I will look and maybe I can get some.
Seeds are a pain. When we planted our front yard, the birds had a feast. I would go out the door yelling and screaming. We had to reseed the front yard many times to finally get some grass.
hehe, Maybe you should name your 'stink tree'. I think it is strange that you cannot find anything about that tree. Maybe it is a reject from a lab. hehe
My lilies won't be blooming until May. They bloom once and that is it. The blooms do last a while. I have them in the sun but I did plant some by the house where they will get lots of shade. I was curious to see how they did there. I will let you know.
Yes, Walnut trees get huge but they grow really slow. It will be a long time before they start be really messy. I do not look forward to having to pick up walnuts. My husband said that if we move, we are digging them up and taking them with us. They are his babies. hehe
When we moved here, there was nothing but weeds. The previous owners did nothing to make this place look like someone lived here. We did alot of work to it. There was no grass, no trees, no fence. It was sad. I have pictures of the way it looked before we did everything. We got some Aspen quakie (don't know if the is the right name) trees and they are doing great. We have tried planting other trees but they just die. I am not sure why. The walnut and the quakie trees do well. Now that there is a possibility of us moving, I almost don't want to plant anything else. I wish I knew more about trees so at least I could have some more shade. I guess my green thumb only goes so far.



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Draconia, Dragon Queen

[Draconia]

Originally posted by Moni: I just wanted to let y'all know that the lady came through today and planted Ivy, Wandering Jews, Honeysuckle and Jasmine around the house! I would have waited for a new moon persoanlly but she was anxious to trim her own back yard up so it all got done today. Her planting methods left me somewhat speechless...dig a hole, shove cuttings in and cover most of them up LOL! Man if I handled plants that way they would die in my hands lol. I told her that she could do all the work so that if they do all die, she can't blame me She is a friend and the statement was taken as the joke it was intended to be but I seriously wonder how they will make it. She promised that if I just keep the areas watered, it will all take root and by this time next year, there will be pretty blooms all over the place. Here's to hoping she's right! Moni

That is great that she did that for you. From what I read, it sounds like they will do great. Your soil sounds wonderful. I wish I had soil like that. We have to add lots to our soil. It is a good thing I have horses. It sounds like it will be beautiful when they bloom.



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Draconia, Dragon Queen

[Draconia]

Originally posted by Gabriel: I just like to say that all of your gardens sounds wonderful and well that pretty much it, can't seem to grow anything myself, even grass, it all dies on me.

Awww Gabriel. I hope that it will that will change for you. I lend you my green thumb.


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Draconia, Dragon Queen

[Draconia]

Originally posted by Sazerac: Dear Draconia, I forget what nice people we have here! Unfortunately, where I was raised, for a man to admit he liked flowers was tantamount to his putting on lip gloss and eye shadow and sashaying. It could get you beat up. So apologies for my erstwhile defensiveness. It's an old habit I need to lose. The ashes will definitely help. Roses do thrive on that. Another plant that does as well (and gets along well with roses) is the Hydrangea (some people call them "pom pom" flowers, I call them "Litmus" flowers for a good reason). The more or less acidic the soil will determine whether the flowers are blue or pink or other colors. If you variate the acidity in the soil, you'll get a bush with multicolored flowers! Hydrangeas are fun to play around with and see what you can come up with, and they're robust as hell, so it's difficult to screw up and kill them. They're also great for covering up ugly spots on older homes, and grow equally well in shade or sun. Moni, do you work with hydrangeas any? I don't know what the soil down in San Antonio is like regarding flowers. Obviously it must be good for what you're saying about the roses. I bet hydrangeas would work, too...but you'd have to water them a lot. They are water intensive. Cheers! [/B]

Wow, I didn't realize that men liking flowers could be looked at that way. You do not need to apoligize for anything. I understand about the defensiveness. If I were male and people thought that way if I like flowers, I don't think I would ever admit it.

I will definitely try the ashes on my roses. I think I might get a Hydrangea and try that too. The soil I have here is not very good and not many things grow in my yard. I have tried many flowers and many things in my soil but some flowers just don't like it. If the Hydrangea is hardy, then that may be my next flower choice. Thank you for the info.

I hope you will keep coming back and sharing your knowledge of flowers. Especially roses. I am still learning about roses and enjoy learning more. I am glad what I am doing is working. I just wish I had the same luck with trees.


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Draconia, Dragon Queen