The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.
I did not escape the nursery without the following:

Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset and
R. Prairie Sun
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea) Vine Sweet Caroline
variegated
Butterfly weed
So it is out in the early am coolness to plant on
Friday. (Gotta give them a couple of days to adjust,
y'know)

note: My other sweet potato vine, Blackie, has now
covered a 5' x5' space and is blooming.

Emilie
NorCal: the other HOT place

On Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:28:39 -0700, mleblanca
wrote:

note: My other sweet potato vine, Blackie, has now
covered a 5' x5' space and is blooming.

Emilie
NorCal: the other HOT place

Mine has yet to bloom. It's enormous, tough. This year I didn't go
into a garden center after March. There is not one plant I need, have
room for or care to plant. I have a half acre of stacked and packed
garden beds. If I dug out half of what I have, I'd still have more
diversity in my garden than every house on the block. I think my
gardening "fever" days are gone. Now I'd just like to neaten up
enough for me not to be anticipating an elephant coming through the
bush; the way I saw it in the film "The Color Purple."

This year I have frogs in the ponds, not just toads. It's a cacophony
out there.

On 8/1/07 9:28 PM, in article
, "mleblanca"
wrote:

The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.
I did not escape the nursery without the following:

Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset and
R. Prairie Sun
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea) Vine Sweet Caroline
variegated
Butterfly weed
So it is out in the early am coolness to plant on
Friday. (Gotta give them a couple of days to adjust,
y'know)

note: My other sweet potato vine, Blackie, has now
covered a 5' x5' space and is blooming.

Emilie
NorCal: the other HOT place

I've still got a gift cert burning a hole in my purse for one of the local
garden centers. The sign claims "new stuff" so maybe I'll go let a pot or
two stick to my fingers.

Cheryl

On Aug 2, 4:16 am, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 8/1/07 9:28 PM, in article

wrote:
The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.
I did not escape the nursery without the following:


I've still got a gift cert burning a hole in my purse for one of the local
garden centers. The sign claims "new stuff" so maybe I'll go let a pot or
two stick to my fingers.

Cheryl

I think that is an excellent plan. Be sure to use the hand without
the stiches. grin
I survived a foray into Lowe's today. But there was one temptation:
a new Shasta Daisy, 'Gold Rush'. shaggy and a light golden color.
Pricey.
/what would Luther Burbank think, after all his years of hybridizing
to achieve a pure white Shasta Daisy!!!

Emilie

On Aug 2, 2:43 am, Janet Baraclough
wrote:
The message .com
from mleblanca contains these words:

The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.

Poor you. This is a high-risk time of year.

I'm about to have a bad attack of it tomorrow, at Ayr Flower Show..I
can feel my temperature and heart rate rising already. Preparations
against the worst dangers are well in hand. Drum playing has
strengthened my wrists; and I've just given myself a pedicure to keep
the feet comfy. The proceeds from my last plant sale (why propagate and
sell plants, except to buy more, hm?) are lined up in the wallet and
I've rounded up the strongest carrying bags (I'm travelling there by
boat and coach).

Are there any other health and safety precautions I should take?

Janet.

Ah, Janet
You sound like a seasoned veteran ..... No need for hints from me!
I agree totally with your premise the reason for growing and
selling
plants!
Be sure to let us know what treasures you acquire.
Best of luck to you

Emilie

On 8/2/07 6:11 PM, in article
, "mleblanca"
wrote:

On Aug 2, 4:16 am, Cheryl Isaak wrote:
On 8/1/07 9:28 PM, in article

wrote:
The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.
I did not escape the nursery without the following:


I've still got a gift cert burning a hole in my purse for one of the local
garden centers. The sign claims "new stuff" so maybe I'll go let a pot or
two stick to my fingers.

Cheryl

I think that is an excellent plan. Be sure to use the hand without
the stiches. Grin

I used that hand to hand over the GC Phlox "Nora Leigh" is sitting on the
deck. (stitches are out, but until the healing is a little more complete, I
have to be a little careful not to rip the "scab" off.
I survived a foray into Lowe's today. But there was one temptation:
a new Shasta Daisy, 'Gold Rush'. shaggy and a light golden color.
Pricey.
/what would Luther Burbank think, after all his years of hybridizing
to achieve a pure white Shasta Daisy!!!
How true! Does sound pretty.

Cheryl

On 8/2/07 6:14 PM, in article
, "mleblanca"
wrote:

On Aug 2, 2:43 am, Janet Baraclough
wrote:
The message .com
from mleblanca contains these words:

The sticky pot sickness was upon me today.

Poor you. This is a high-risk time of year.

I'm about to have a bad attack of it tomorrow, at Ayr Flower Show..I
can feel my temperature and heart rate rising already. Preparations
against the worst dangers are well in hand. Drum playing has
strengthened my wrists; and I've just given myself a pedicure to keep
the feet comfy. The proceeds from my last plant sale (why propagate and
sell plants, except to buy more, hm?) are lined up in the wallet and
I've rounded up the strongest carrying bags (I'm travelling there by
boat and coach).

Are there any other health and safety precautions I should take?

Janet.

Ah, Janet
You sound like a seasoned veteran ..... No need for hints from me!
I agree totally with your premise the reason for growing and
selling
plants!
Be sure to let us know what treasures you acquire.
Best of luck to you

Emilie

Janet,
I just want pictures from the ride home.

Cheryl

Sounds like someone has been to the Plant Barn again! I have the same
problem every time I wander in there.... Not my fault at all, of course --
the PB Tractor Beam just grabs my car when I head out of town on 99. At
that point, I'm just a passenger. 8-]

I love Prairie Sun!! Started some from seed (Territorial Seed Co.) a few
years ago, and still have quite a few plants going strong up here on the
Ridge. Didn't have quite as good luck with the Cherokee Sunsets I
started -- wound up with all doubles, and I prefer singles. And so it
goes.... the wonders of genetics. Very pretty rich colors, though!

I also was unable to resist a Blackie earlier this year -- it's in a large
pot near the entry to the house, and looks like it may take over completely
one of these days. It has been blooming away for a couple of months now --
what a stunning pinky-purple color! I'm totally smitten. Have never grown
one of these before -- am assuming I'll have to move it to a more portable
pot and bring it in for the winter. Are you able to overwinter yours
outdoors? Temps sometimes drop down into the 20s in the winter up here.

Enjoy your new beauties!!

Happy trails....

Sue
Beautiful Butte County, CA
(which *finally* has a Master Gardener Program!!)
USDA Zone 8 - Sunset Zone 7

"mleblanca" wrote:
The sticky pot sickness was upon me today. I did not escape the nursery
without the following:

Rudbeckia Cherokee Sunset and
R. Prairie Sun
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea) Vine Sweet Caroline
variegated
Butterfly weed
So it is out in the early am coolness to plant on
Friday. (Gotta give them a couple of days to adjust,
y'know)

note: My other sweet potato vine, Blackie, has now
covered a 5' x5' space and is blooming.

Emilie
NorCal: the other HOT place

On Aug 3, 8:54 am, "Cliff & Sue Drake" wrote

Wow, a "neighbor" .....Hello neighbor in NorCal..I'll have to watch
what I say Ha ha

Sounds like someone has been to the Plant Barn again! I have the same
problem every time I wander in there....
No the last time I went to thePB to look around, it was closed for
vacation
and I didn't get a thing. These plants were from a visit to Mendon's!!


I love Prairie Sun!! Started some from seed (Territorial Seed Co.) a few
years ago, and still have quite a few plants going strong up here on the
Ridge. Didn't have quite as good luck with the Cherokee Sunsets I
started -- wound up with all doubles, and I prefer singles. And so it
goes.... the wonders of genetics. Very pretty rich colors, though!

I like the singles, too. Prairie Sun is great. I'll have to wait to
see what
the Cherokees are like, they are just buds with no color yet

I also was unable to resist a Blackie earlier this year -- it's in a large
pot near the entry to the house, and looks like it may take over completely
one of these days. It has been blooming away for a couple of months now --
what a stunning pinky-purple color! I'm totally smitten. Have never grown
one of these before -- am assuming I'll have to move it to a more portable
pot and bring it in for the winter. Are you able to overwinter yours
outdoors? Temps sometimes drop down into the 20s in the winter up here.

I don't grow much in containers down here, too dang hot. Have to water
two or more times a day
I think Blackie has grown about a foot, now it is near 6' in diameter.
It is in
the ground and is swallowing the sprinkler, the mini roses and the
blue
fescue and is headed for the weigela! Sw Pot don't make it thru the
winter
here either. We get down to 20 here usually, too.So rather than try to
dig
up this monster I'm going to root a few stems and pot them up.
Yes the shade of purple on the flowers is reallly cool

Enjoy your new beauties!! I will

Happy trails....

Sue
Beautiful Butte County, CA
(which *finally* has a Master Gardener Program!!)
USDA Zone 8 - Sunset Zone 7
Yes, how about THAT
mle

On Aug 3, 12:44 pm, Janet Baraclough
wrote:
The message .com
from mleblanca contains these words:

I survived a foray into Lowe's today. But there was one temptation:
a new Shasta Daisy, 'Gold Rush'. shaggy and a light golden color.
Pricey.
/what would Luther Burbank think, after all his years of hybridizing
to achieve a pure white Shasta Daisy!!!

Bet he'd be thrilled :-) I have it and it's gorgeous, more cream than
golden, and shaggy.
Well, he just might at that. He was certainly an amazing man.
Glad to hear that it is gorgeous in the garden as well as in the pot
I'll check other nurseries; a couple others will probably have it
But WHERE will I put it???? It'll be 'musical chairs' time again

If you really want white, then there's a lovely shaggy white one
called Aglaia which is superb in the garden and also for flower
arranging. It never needs any support even in my windy garden and
flowers for a very long period.
You know, I did have Aglaia at one time. It disappeared--"thank you
Gophers" (before I started putting wire around things)
Right now I rather like 'Wirral Pride' I think I'm going to dig up
the
tall Shastas that flop all over and give them to the garden club sale
More Room for newbies!!!!

Janet
Emilie
NorCal

"mleblanca" wrote:

Wow, a "neighbor" .....Hello neighbor in NorCal..I'll have to watch what I
say Ha ha
--Nah... you're safe! 8-]

No the last time I went to the PB to look around, it was closed for
vacation and I didn't get a thing. These plants were from a visit to
Mendon's!!
--Ah, Mendon's! It is dangerously close (within a mile) to my house, and I
have to pass it *and* Paradise Nursery in order to get to ACE hardware and
other fun places in town. =8-o Both nurseries have acquired many of my
plant $$ over the years.... I just discovered the PB this past spring, and
have been going a bit nuts over their stock of Euphorbias -- love those
plants!

It is in the ground and is swallowing the sprinkler, the mini roses and
the blue fescue and is headed for the weigela! Sw Pot don't make it thru
the winter here either. We get down to 20 here usually, too.So rather than
try to dig up this monster I'm going to root a few stems and pot them up.
--The pot my Blackie is in is about 24" high, and it has cascaded over the
side and is making a break for the courtyard -- so far, it hasn't over-run
any other plants on the way, though it is *seriously* crowding the other
plants in the pot. Good point about the size of the beast -- I may try
leaving it in the pot over winter, and hope we have a mild one. Taking
cuttings is an excellent idea -- I plan to do that with the scented Geranium
and Coleus that are in the pot with it. I've never worked with a sweet
potato plant before -- do you just break off one of the growing stems and
pop it into water? Do I need a few leaf-nodes, or will just one do? Don't
mean to be a pest, but the Spousal Unit informs me I must have had a
deprived grade-school experience -- we never grew sweet potatoes! ;-]

Speaking of our ACE hardware -- you mentioned in another post having a
problem with gophers. We had a serious infestation of them a few years ago,
which necessitated emptying three 4x4', one foot deep raised beds and
re-lining the bottoms with triple-layers of hardware cloth. 8-[ Not a fun
job! In desperation to protect the plants in nearby ground-level beds, I
checked ACE and found a gadget called Gopher-It. It is a metal tube that
holds 4 large (D, I think) batteries -- you just insert it into the ground
and turn it on. It beeps about every 30 seconds -- which is apparently
pretty annoying to gophers -- and much to my surprise, it really works!
They run about $25 each, and cover a radius of about 30' -- we have one up
near the raised beds and one in the courtyard bed, and haven't suffered any
gopher damage to those areas since. (The little hoovers tunneled *under*
the driveway and pavers to get to the courtyard bed!) We often have
evidence of gophers on the perimeter of the areas, and in other parts of the
yard, but the gardens are safe! I figure my $50 investment is amortizing
out nicely -- both beepers are still going strong, and over the 3 years have
saved me far more than that in the cost of replacement plants. The
instructions say to replace the batteries every 6 months, but they've always
lasted more like 10-12 for us. We just change them when the beep gets
really weak. I thought I'd find the beeps annoying, but I don't -- when I
first go out, I listen for it to make sure it's working, and then I don't
hear it anymore -- it truly isn't an intrusive sound (to my ear, anyway).
Just a thought, in case you're still having problems with gophers!

Still waiting for those temps in the 80s they keep promising us....

Sue
Beautiful Butte County, CA
(which *finally* has a Master Gardener Program!!)
USDA Zone 8 - Sunset Zone 7

On Aug 5, 9:49 am, "Cliff & Sue Drake" wrote:
"mleblanca" wrote:

--Ah, Mendon's! It is dangerously close (within a mile) to my house, and I
have to pass it *and* Paradise Nursery in order to get to ACE hardware and
other fun places in town. =8-o Both nurseries have acquired many of my
plant $$ over the years.... I just discovered the PB this past spring, and
have been going a bit nuts over their stock of Euphorbias -- love those
plants!
Oh my that IS dangerous. Have you gotten any Euphorbs from John at
Canyon Creek Nursery?

I've never worked with a sweet
potato plant before -- do you just break off one of the growing stems and
pop it into water? ..... but the Spousal Unit informs me I must have had a
deprived grade-school experience -- we never grew sweet potatoes! ;-]

Yes, I just went out and cut about 12 inch stems, since that was what
was spilling over into the path. Put them in water. that was on Sat
early,
and I looked at them this am; there are already 1/2 inch roots on
them!
We always had a sweet potato plant in a glass of water on the window
sill.

Speaking of our ACE hardware -- you mentioned in another post having a
problem with gophers.(snipped info on gopher beepers)
Thanks for the info.

Still waiting for those temps in the 80s they keep promising us....
well how about today, rather strange for August, but _very_ pleasant.
85 here and a nice strong breeze.
Are you a member of the garden club up there?

Sue

Emilie
NorCal

"mleblanca" wrote:
Oh my that IS dangerous. Have you gotten any Euphorbs from John at Canyon
Creek Nursery?
--No, I haven't been to Canyon Creek in a couple of years. Got some
wonderful Salvias from him then, but have forgotten to check his web-site
for new stuff. Shame on me! I'll rectify that soon, especially if he's got
Euphorbias....

Yes, I just went out and cut about 12 inch stems, since that was what was
spilling over into the path. Put them in water. that was on Sat early, and
I looked at them this am; there are already 1/2 inch roots on them!
--Wow! And I thought rooting cuttings of Angelwing Begonias was instant
gratification! I'll take a couple of Blackie stems tomorrow morning.
Thanks for your help!

well how about today, rather strange for August, but _very_ pleasant. 85
here and a nice strong breeze.
--Yup, same wonderful weather up here the past couple of days -- my back
tells me I've been having *way* too much fun outside as a result! ;-] Got
some long-needed pruning done, and general garden cleanup while the coolth
lasts....

Are you a member of the garden club up there?
Yes, I've belonged to Paradise GC since 2001 -- and belonged to the Men's
for a couple of years. They've (Men's) decided to dis-affiliate with the
State and National GCs, and have reverted to more of a social men's club,
from what I understand. Too bad -- I loved their spring Plant Sale! I also
loved the lack of emphasis on Club Rules, by-laws and such -- but PGC is a
good club and I've learned a lot about gardening in this climate from the
programs and people I've met. I do the Club web page (which I need to
update for this month) == www.geocities.com/scpd730/PGCI == if you're
interested in seeing what we're up to. How about you? I have it in my head
that there are a couple of clubs down in your area, but I could be wrong.

Off to move the hose -- it's rose-watering day today!

Happy trails....

Sue

On Aug 7, 1:34 pm, "Cliff & Sue Drake" wrote:
"mleblanca" wrote:
Oh my that IS dangerous. Have you gotten any Euphorbs from John at Canyon
Creek Nursery?
--No, I haven't been to Canyon Creek in a couple of years. Got some
wonderful Salvias from him then, but have forgotten to check his web-site
for new stuff.

John brings plants to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays also. He will
bring
specific plants if you let him know what you want.

Yes, I've belonged to Paradise GC since 2001 -- snipped Men's GC--
but PGC is a
good club and I've learned a lot about gardening in this climate from the
programs and people I've met. I do the Club web page (which I need to
update for this month) == www.geocities.com/scpd730/PGCI == if you're
interested in seeing what we're up to. How about you? I have it in my head
that there are a couple of clubs down in your area, but I could be wrong.

Yes I am a member of several clubs. The Garden Club here is the
Horticultural Society, also belong to CA Native Plant Society and to
the
Butte Rose Society (You might want to attend a meeting some evening
with your Pres. Carolyn, who also is a member)
Nice web page. I have attended several PGC meetings, and never miss
your FAB garden tour!! Will check your programs and come up that way
this fall

Happy trails....
Sue

Emilie

"mleblanca" wrote:
John brings plants to the Farmer's Market on Saturdays also. He will bring
specific plants if you let him know what you want.
--What a guy! That's great info to have, thanks!

Yes I am a member of several clubs. The Garden Club here is the
Horticultural Society, also belong to CA Native Plant Society and to the
Butte Rose Society (You might want to attend a meeting some evening with
your Pres. Carolyn, who also is a member)
--That's it! I couldn't think of the name of the garden club to save my
life. (Brain-fade strikes again.) Come to think of it, I've also heard
Carolyn mention the Rose Society -- I'll have to talk to her about it
sometime. Not that I grow any other than the Simplicity hedge roses that
came with the house.... They may well be departing for the green waste bin
one of these days -- they've been doing a great job for about 20 years and
are looking *mighty* tired! When we lived in WI, I grew a few Rugosas and
other 'old' roses -- but haven't had any luck with them here. Since I hate
killing perfectly good plants, I think I'll stick with things like Salvias,
Euphorbias and Agastaches that do much better in my yard! Does the
Horticultural Society also meet at night? I belonged to the local CNPS
chapter for several years, but never made it to a meeting -- I don't drive
at night, except for dire emergencies.

Nice web page. I have attended several PGC meetings, and never miss your
FAB garden tour!! Will check your programs and come up that way this fall
--Thanks! Hope to meet you in person at one of the up-coming meetings --
I'll watch for you when the guests are announced.


Happy trails....

Sue