In article ,
jangchub wrote:

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:22:42 -0500, Omelet
wrote:



Want some birdhouse gourd seeds?

I still have excess...

My husband wants to know what I plan on doing with the 30 gourds I
have been hauling for a few years now! All dried, waiting for holes
and paint. I mean, we have the Martins all over. To be honest, I
don't have ONE more spot anywhere on this half acre to put another
thing. I think I really have to take things out, divide, pot them up
and sell them back to the garden centers in spring.

Once you cut the holes, you can harvest the seeds. Just shake them out.
:-) I cut the holes with a dremel tool. Paint is useless. The natural
coating on the gourd has caused mine to peel off in short order if I
tried it! I just clean the outside well and coated with a bit of flat
varnish. They seem to last for about 6 years.

Don't forget the drain holes in the bottom! I cut three 1/2" holes in
the bottom too. Otherwise in a rain, the nest will fill with water and
the babies will drown.

I get house wrens nesting in the few that I've actually made over the
past few years but it's about time to replace them. I should have
planted some sooner but with the long growing season, I should get a few
gourds.

I've only got about 6 houses up and 3 of them are usually used each year.

House wrens are death on garden bugs when they are feeding a brood.
Average number of kidlets is usually 5.


I made 20 or so brugmansia's, all getting huge,

Vines or bushes?

in addition to the
ones I have. Then there are the vitex I potted up as seedlings with
nowhere to plant them. I made the huge, enormous, gigantic mistake of
planting a sumac. That thing would hold California together in the
big one!

Try taking the Vitex to a nursery and do some horse trading?
I used to do that with Lemon Balm. I could probably do it with catnip,
but I end up using too much of it. We have several cats and I give a lot
away to other cat owners since mine is grown with no pesticides.

I've never had pests eat the catmint anyway...

I want to start a collection of Daturas. They are hardy and a low water
consumer and OH so pretty! Lowe's is getting a greater variety of
colors of Lantana. I just put 3 more in front last week. More saturated
colors than I've seen in the past.

Ever planted a Mexican Oregano? BEAUTIFUL perennial! blooms pale trumpet
shaped purple blossoms all summer long and the leaves are useful for
cooking and to me, taste similar to marjoram.

I started with a 4" plant about 6 or 7 years ago and it's now 3 ft. tall.
It is also a low water consumer along with Rosemary, creeping Thyme and
Dittany Of Crete.


So, you are sweet to offer, but I haven't a place to plant them.

Okay. :-) Its' often fun to do plant and seed trading.
--
Peace, Om

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