Any gardeners out there?

[MorganGrayson]

Yes, I could surf and look this stuff up, but I'd much rather stay here and ask.

New home...new landscaping....

I brought all my potted cactus from the old house, and they're happy and healthy. I also brought some cuttings of jade, yucca and something that translates into "always alive." Now, those are easy. You just stick them in the ground and they go "ok" and proceed to grow. (It's the damndest thing, really. No "rooting" or anything. Just shove the cut end into the ground, apply water and off they go.)

On the other side of my back fence is some interesting "ground cover." It's sort of a silver-grey with red flowers. Little bits of it are poking through my fence. I'd like to have some on my side of the fence, in one corner of my yard.

Does anyone know what has to be done with ground cover? Is it, too, a "stick a cutting in the ground, apply water, etc" kind of plant...or do I have to do something to "root it"? (For the gentleman in the back row: yes, I could just stick a piece in the ground and find out, but getting this stuff will require my draining my physical reserves for the day, and I'd like a little info before I do that.)

Good news from the front of my house: the 6 rose bushes that I pruned with no knowledge and the "irritable Jason with a machete" approach are leafing out nicely. I didn't kill the things after all. I have my "Miracle Grow Rose Food" so hopefully they'll flex their muscles and provide me with lots of cut roses for vases. Especially that odd one on the end, which is actually two different roses grafted together. One bush grows two different kinds of roses. Impressed the hell out of me, I'll tell ya.

A previous owner also planted bulbs. I have lovely white daffodils at the moment. Purple something-or-other before that.

When it finally stops raining, my husband sees the moment when I'll turn to him and say "pull out all the weeds now, please" coming at him.

[Rox]

Hiya! I'm baaaack... For those who don't yet know, I'm happy to report I'm now working with Megan at Shane's World - and at the moment am doing my best to cover for her while she's in Phoenix. We sure do miss her around here though!

Go figure - my first post here in ages would be totally non-business related, heh. But I do so love my yardwork (what I do can hardly be classified as gardening LOL)...

something that translates into "always alive."

Sempervivum... more commonly known as "hens and chicks" -- gotta love 'em!

Does anyone know what has to be done with ground cover? Is it, too, a "stick a cutting in the ground, apply water, etc" kind of plant...

Most of them are, that's why they're great as ground cover. You can pretty much stick a small piece (with roots attached, preferably) into the ground and water it, and within a short time it'll propagate nicely. I'd really be interested in seeing a picture of the plant you're talking about, it sounds pretty.

Roses are actually pretty difficult to kill, so don't worry about going Jason on them. I cut several that were in my yard down to the ground (TRYING to kill them), and eventually had to just dig them up completely to get rid of them (they were badly placed, and a pain in the ass).

Where are you located? If you're anywhere near my neck of the woods, perhaps we could do some trading... of plants, info, and other stuff!

Two indispensible websites for me:

http://www.gardenweb.com and http://plants.usda.gov/

Ciao for now!

[MorganGrayson]

Hi, Rox!

I'm in East San Diego County, where we're currently going through what passes for "winter," which is rain.

On the .gov site, the plant of the week is the sunflower, which I have in two pots now. Tiny seedlings still, but grown from seeds, and I couldn't be more proud. They went from the bucket they were started in to two bigger pots so that they can arch their little elementary school backs for that surge towards adult hood.

Thanks for the advice on the ground cover. I told my husband what I planned to do with it and he gave me one of those blank looks. I couldn't tell whether or not it was the "I can't visualize that" blank look or the "I thought we'd do something else" blank look. (It may have been the "you're going to make ME do that, aren't you?" blank look...I get that one a lot.)

The only thing I knew for sure about roses was an interesting little thing I learned in a decades ago science class: "nice" rose bushes are frequently grafted to "scrub" rose bush roots for survival purposes, and when one prunes one should take care not to prune down past the graft or you'll find scrub roses growing where your formally nice roses were. (I don't know what a "scrub" rose is or what constitutes a "nice" rose, as I think all flowers are pretty cool. Most weeds, too, come to think of it.) Anyhoo, the only bush I was really worried about was the schizo one on the end that has two different roses growing off the same bush. Kind of a metaphor for me, I thought.

[Sin]

You guys are all so lucky, I wish I could be around living plants. Ask Newton lol

[Funbrunette]

Hi Rox welcome back, LOVE the new avatar!

Morgan does growing weed fall in the category of gardening?!?...lol Kidding "Mon"!

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by Funbrunette
Hi Rox welcome back, LOVE the new avatar!

Morgan does growing weed fall in the category of gardening?!?...lol Kidding "Mon"!

Well...plant...growning...yes, that's gardening.

I'm embarrassed to admit this...but I was once given a plant by someone who knew how...how do I put this?...ok, impossibly naive I was when I was young. It was a beautiful plant, that I put in the front window to get lots of sun.

It was yanked off the sill by my outraged boyfriend, who howled "don't you know what that IS?!?!?!?"

Uh...well...a pretty, leafy green plant?

All true. It was also a flourishing marijuana plant.

"Oh," I said, the way I said "oh" back then.

Unfortunately, that's a true story. Also unfortunately, the laws back then would have had me incarcerated for decades had anyone other than my boyfriend discovered it on the windowsill.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Neither is being just plain dumb.

[Funbrunette]

Originally posted by MorganGrayson
Well...plant...growning...yes, that's gardening.

I'm embarrassed to admit this...but I was once given a plant by someone who knew how...how do I put this?...ok, impossibly naive I was when I was young. It was a beautiful plant, that I put in the front window to get lots of sun.

It was yanked off the sill by my outraged boyfriend, who howled "don't you know what that IS?!?!?!?"

Uh...well...a pretty, leafy green plant?

All true. It was also a flourishing marijuana plant.

"Oh," I said, the way I said "oh" back then.

Unfortunately, that's a true story. Also unfortunately, the laws back then would have had me incarcerated for decades had anyone other than my boyfriend discovered it on the windowsill.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Neither is being just plain dumb.

ROFL!!!!!! Morgan, you're so adorable I want to bite your cheek! That's the funniest shit I've read all day! I really love the fact that you can laugh at yourself, it really makes you who you are "SPECIAL"! Yeah yeah SHUT UP Nick before you make a sick comment, I think the world of Morgan and I'm not ashamed to tell THE WORLD....LMAO!!!!

[Newton]

Originally posted by Sin
You guys are all so lucky, I wish I could be around living plants. Ask Newton lol

This is true .. bought Sin some lovely yellow roses and she killed em .. bagged salad .. ruined .. fresh vegetables ... dead .. Poor Sin has the touch of poison ivy as my neck will atest to .. bless her

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by Funbrunette
ROFL!!!!!! Morgan, you're so adorable I want to bite your cheek! That's the funniest shit I've read all day! I really love the fact that you can laugh at yourself, it really makes you who you are "SPECIAL"! Yeah yeah SHUT UP Nick before you make a sick comment, I think the world of Morgan and I'm not ashamed to tell THE WORLD....LMAO!!!!

Thank you, FB...and boy, howdy, doth my cheek tingle!
(I just got out of the shower, and truth be told, a plural could be put on that. My chance of getting any work done today has dropped to "unlikely." )

[Sin]

Originally posted by Newton
This is true .. bought Sin some lovely yellow roses and she killed em .. bagged salad .. ruined .. fresh vegetables ... dead .. Poor Sin has the touch of poison ivy as my neck will atest to .. bless her

I've accomplished eating bagged salad, providing I eat it the same evening I buy it and those green onions aren't dead yet either, so I figure I better get a couple tomatoes & another bagged salad, to put them with, before I end up killing them too.

As for your neck, that's an entirely different type of affliction my dear Odd how they seemed to almost appear overnight, no?

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by Sin
I've accomplished eating bagged salad, providing I eat it the same evening I buy it and those green onions aren't dead yet either, so I figure I better get a couple tomatoes & another bagged salad, to put them with, before I end up killing them too.

As for your neck, that's an entirely different type of affliction my dear Odd how they seemed to almost appear overnight, no?

Sin...way to go on "the neck"!! Nice to see grown-ups enjoying the stuff that drove them nuts when they were young. (I personally have a child who got her butt grounded for groaning with high drama "MOTHER! I simply will not be seen in public with you with THAT on your neck!!" Harumph. All I ever said to HER was "nice hickey." Where the hell did the child think she'd come from - a cabbage patch? *grumble*)

Anyhoo...I have a "black thumb," too. Until I discovered a plant called "pothos," that is. This is a houeplant that lets you know it needs watering by drooping and shriveling, however, like other house plants that's not an indication of death. Merely thirst. Once you water the thing, it pops back up, bright and green, and sends out its tendrils. I had pothos that needed to be pruned they got so carried away. One can either experiment with how long the tendrils will get, by draping them over hooks in the wall, the curtain rods, etc., etc., like I did, or cut the tendrils off causing the plant itself to become more "bushy."

However, Sin, if green growing things are totally allergic to you, I'd keep in mind the local salad bar and cans of veggies to get your vitamins. Then go home...and have meat.

[MorganGrayson]

Originally posted by Newton
This is true .. bought Sin some lovely yellow roses and she killed em .. bagged salad .. ruined .. fresh vegetables ... dead .. Poor Sin has the touch of poison ivy as my neck will atest to .. bless her

Newton...a man who brings *yellow* roses is a classy gentleman indeed. Anyone can bring red, that requires no imagination.

I carried yellow roses on my wedding day, and had them - in frosting, of course - on my wedding cake.

[Newton]

Why thank you Morgan, that was very sweet of you to say

[Sin]

Awww thanks Morgan! In regards to the "black thumb" I just make sure I have a lot of frozen or canned veggies on hand... mostly frozen. Lots of frozen & canned fruit, too

And yes the yellow roses was a truly classy touch, very thoughtful & considerate of Newton. I got him a present too actually lol

[Rox]

Originally posted by MorganGrayson
Anyhoo...I have a "black thumb," too.

Well, to be honest, my "garden" contains plant friends that meet one simple criterion: they can survive on benign neglect! Pretty much everything that lives in my yard has made it through 5+ years of not much more than being watered, pruned now and then and/or being dug up (or pulled out of a pot) and planted in a different location. As a result, most everything is something that can survive the extremes of temperature we go through here in Porn Valley! I do pay a bit more attention to my plant friends in Summer, as my gia-fucking-mongous water bill demonstrates.

And All-Purpose Miracle-Gro is the best invention EVER!

I take a shitload of pictures of the plants in my yard (little things make me happy :lol. I'll try to get them all uploaded and into a gallery soon, as an example of what'll grow here in SoCal with a minimum of maintenance. AND, if you see something you like, chances are I've got enough of it to share some -- we could hook up and I'll gladly send 'em home with you!

FB, re: my avatar -- I've got pirate pics a-plenty from nearly 10 years marauding the coast (and inland) of Southern California. Indeed, the one in my avatar is one of my favorites... I wish I was still that thin!!!

[MorganGrayson]

Rox...oh, how I hear you! My move out to SoCal from Kentucky involved me in one amazing case of culture shock! (The people were a vast improvement!) But...I'd never seen the growing things in my new yard before, nor had I experienced the little scurrying creatures. (Back in KY, if you were afraid of spiders, you were neurotic. Here, if you're afraid of spiders it's because you occasionally have to kill Black Widows or Brown Recluses, both poisonous. I've been bitten by so many Brown Recluse I think I can now bite them back.)

The gopher ate the roses and the bulbs we so lovingly planted.

The big "color bowls" full of assorted lovely things provided a Vegas-style buffet for the snails. (They said it was delicious and thank you, I distinctly heard them. I like snails. Every time it rains I go out and pick them up off the walkways and move them to a safer location. Once I picked up a bunch of tiny baby snails. They were resting comfortably in the palm of my hand...and I picked up the big one and put it there, too, while I searched for others. The big snail - must have been "Mama" - immediately went to the babies, causing me to have an emotional meltdown right there in the yard. Mama snails care for their babies. Wow.)

OK. Flowers were obviously out. So, on we moved to cactus. Well, by howdy, we can grow cactus, jade, yucca and "always alive" like there's no tomorrow. Forget to water? It just grumbles. Water? Wowzers. We have cactus that flower. One in particular grows an amazing "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" pod that pops open into a flower for 24 hours. We had ground cover that decided *it* was going to be where the edge of the driveway was and no measly blacktop was going to stop it...and it didn't. I really, really miss my California Pepper Tree, that cracks foundations, invades plumbing and poisons the ground so that nothing else can grow. It *did* provide impenatrable shade and homes for a kazillion birds.

Now I have to more or less start all over again, as well as learn a few things. I have the Miracle Grow Rose Food for the roses. I saw that it came in many, many different varieties, too.

I want to try vegetables in pots again, which just makes my husband shake his head. I tried a vegetable garden behind the old house once. I spent a lot of time out there screaming "TAKE THIS PLANT! EAT ALL OF IT! STOP TASTING EVERYTHING!" at lizards, snails, birds and heaven knows what else. I was more than willing to share, but geeze, they took one bite out of everything. Drove me nuts.