[Galium]

My husband smiles to himself whenever he hears me talking to my plants. Since I have quite a few of them he smiles quite often.
The answer to the question "Does talking to your plants make them happy?" is YES
Why is that? What I am actually doing is a systematic inventory of the plants health. By inspecting the plant closely you'd be amazed at what you'll find.
I look at the overall general health-size, flowers and appearance. My mental checklist is as follows-insects and damage, fungal and bacterial diseases and nutritional requirements are a few of the things I look for. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know how your plants are thriving. Although you might need some help identifying what the problem is.
It comes down to this "Healthy Plants are Happy Plants."

[franca]

Originally Posted by Steppinstone

Thanks for the sharpen Frank! It looks like it in the picture but the plant is not in the ground, it is in a pot sitting on a log 3 feet off the ground!

The two cuties are my youngest daughter Dana ( aka as WeeOne) and our sheltie Zoe!

The tomatoes are cherry and a new one that I am trying this year for the first time, a yellow pear tomato. I don't like tomatoes so hubby will have to be the judge of how the taste when ripe!

Take care, Hello to Carole and pats to Jaki! and Did I see a pic of a new pup somewhere??

The ( WeeOne )......I like it.... so cute pats for Zoe.......

No new pup..... ( would love one though )......that was a pic of Jaki that I posted in another thread about losing you pet...

I love tomatoes, you don't know what your missing......

Our neighbor grows them and tells us to just help ourselves whenever we need some....

Carole said Hello back and Jaki loved his pats......

The pic's are Carole watering the back garden....... and the front street scape..

Keep getting those hands dirty now.....

cu later, take care.......hugs for the WeeOne, and pats for Zoe.....

Frank.......

[Steppinstone]

Seems Fall is coming kinda quick this year, some of the trees are already turning colors. The nights are cooler and they days a little shorter.

It happened again!! I looked at my larger planters at the end of the driveway one day and said I should try to winter over my geraniums as they had bounced back really well, looked at them they very next day and all the plants were completly stipped of leaves and flowers.. The pots now are pathetic looking.. Whatever it is, doesn't touch my Dahlia's that are in pots close by. Guess next year I will just try something different for the driveway!

I am getting plenty of cherry tomatoes! I hope that everyone's gardens are doing well!

Take care!

[telecom69]

Hi everyone, it seems that you have very similar seasons to us over here,as there is a marked deteriation in the plants in the last two weeks,this has been one of the shortest seasons I can remember lately due to Spring arriving very late,I lost so many seedlings due to damping off etc I had to start again...I would not expect this deteriation to start until the end of September,early October but already its upon us,but thats the way it is with gardening I suppose,we have to take what we are given,I have to say though whilst they were in bloom the bedding plants in particular give a great display,its just that it was too short, the Surfinias in the hanging baskets had a particularly bad year I thought,they have all gone already ....about the geraniums are you sure its not caterpillars that are ravaging them? I always get this around about this time of the year,they can decimate plants almost overnight,and they particularly seem to like Geraniums ....done well with tomatoes as regards cropping but unfortunately lots of them have split this year,supposedly due to inconsistent watering,cant see that as I was watering them twice daily in the hot periods we had,they are all ripening well but somehow that splitting makes them not quite look the same somehow,they are of course still useable....and so it looks like being another long winter ahead now,just hope that Spring appears a bit earlier next year to compensate....the whole country was covered by straw coloured lawns a few weeks back owing to a few heat waves we had but thay are all green again now,marvellous how it can recover so quick isnt it? ....thats about all for the moment ...happy gardening folks and take care.....

PS had a visitor to my back lawn last week,courtesy of my Grandson, nothing to do with gardening of course but thought you might like to see it

[franca]

Originally Posted by telecom69

PS had a visitor to my back lawn last week,courtesy of my Grandson, nothing to do with gardening of course but thought you might like to see it

Yikes !!!!!!!.........That'll get rid of all you pests in a hurry.........


Wonder what the record is for the number of flowers on one Dahlia plant. I've got this one with over 30 on it........

[franca]

Hi Ya all....how does your garden grow ?......This is our front garden taken from roof, just the other day...... we finally got some rain Saturday night, first for over a month.......

cu..and don't forget, keep getting those hands dirty......

[teengeekgrrl]

Originally Posted by telecom69

Hi everyone, it seems that you have very similar seasons to us over here,as there is a marked deteriation in the plants in the last two weeks,this has been one of the shortest seasons I can remember lately due to Spring arriving very late,I lost so many seedlings due to damping off etc I had to start again...I would not expect this deteriation to start until the end of September,early October but already its upon us,but thats the way it is with gardening I suppose,we have to take what we are given,I have to say though whilst they were in bloom the bedding plants in particular give a great display,its just that it was too short, the Surfinias in the hanging baskets had a particularly bad year I thought,they have all gone already ....about the geraniums are you sure its not caterpillars that are ravaging them? I always get this around about this time of the year,they can decimate plants almost overnight,and they particularly seem to like Geraniums ....done well with tomatoes as regards cropping but unfortunately lots of them have split this year,supposedly due to inconsistent watering,cant see that as I was watering them twice daily in the hot periods we had,they are all ripening well but somehow that splitting makes them not quite look the same somehow,they are of course still useable....and so it looks like being another long winter ahead now,just hope that Spring appears a bit earlier next year to compensate....the whole country was covered by straw coloured lawns a few weeks back owing to a few heat waves we had but thay are all green again now,marvellous how it can recover so quick isnt it? ....thats about all for the moment ...happy gardening folks and take care.....

PS had a visitor to my back lawn last week,courtesy of my Grandson, nothing to do with gardening of course but thought you might like to see it

Wow... that is one beutiful snake.

[telecom69]

Originally Posted by franca

Hi Ya all....how does your garden grow ?......This is our front garden taken from roof, just the other day...... we finally got some rain Saturday night, first for over a month.......

cu..and don't forget, keep getting those hands dirty......

Hi franca, liked the photos of your garden,but intrigued why your grass appears to be in strips ? have you just relaid it or what ? over here the gardens are on the downward slope now as Autumn approaches.most of the bedding plants have now passed their best but,there are still quite a few around to give a decent show,even the Hydrangeas are starting to show red in their leaves,its been a short season really with the winter hanging on late early on,then when Spring and Summer came we had record heatwaves,and watering became a bit of a problem,had graet crops of tomatoes and runner beans though,been having to give them away,we had so many,the tomatoe leaves are now starting to turn yellow so they wont be too long before they have finished,they have all ripened this year though,ther wont be many green ones left ....I suppose that all in all its been a decent year though,taking it all round, I hate the Winter months when we are confined to the house,it never seems to end,but with the Winters getting so much milder of late,it will be interesting to see how things go,we hardly even get any bad frosts the last few years .... for the moment thats about it ...happy gardening all,more soon

Just a couple of pics showing the leaves of Hydrangeas turning red and that the Begonias are still doing OK

[franca]

Originally Posted by telecom69

Hi franca, liked the photos of your garden,but intrigued why your grass appears to be in strips ?
Just a couple of pics showing the leaves of Hydrangeas turning red and that the Begonias are still doing OK

Nice pic's tele..

As for the grass ?..I'd just mowed it........

Did you see the pic I posted of the Dahlia asking if anyone new what the record was for flowers on one stem ?.......It's still going strong and now has over 40 on it.....

pats for you know who......

[Tuppence2]

Hello Everyone - what a long time since I last visited! The snake is so beautiful. What sort is it? Nature's supreme design for movement without legs!

Your garden and the grounds of the complex are immaculate, as usual, Frank. You and Carole do so well there.

My garden grows. I've taken up growing roses, especially climbers. My yearly pension enabled me to have trellis erected as fencing, down the garden alongside the path, then at right-angles across, so I have an area enclosed and the dogs can't get into the lower part of the garden where I'm growing vegetables.

I've eleven (I think) climbers, but there are pieces I've planted from them that are growing as well - a shrub in front of the trellis and one in a tub in the front garden. I'll list their names another time.

An excellent site about roses is http://www.helpmefind.com and another is http://www.rosarianscorner.net

I've also started volunteering at the local garden centre and am off shortly to prick-out pansies and violas into trays to grow on. I pruned their roses the other day and helped out with watering when we had a long hot spell a couple of months ago.

I'll post photos another time.

Good gardening, see you soon.

Bye,
Penny.

[teengeekgrrl]

Trekguy... the garden died off when I went to camp for two weeks and we had that massive drought. I feel awful for admitting that, but I guess Garden Project 2006 wasn't meant to be for me.

[trekguy]

Originally Posted by teengeekgrrl

Trekguy... the garden died off when I went to camp for two weeks and we had that massive drought. I feel awful for admitting that, but I guess Garden Project 2006 wasn't meant to be for me.

Don't feel bad... we've all been there.

That's the one really cool thing about gardens... it will be there for you next year. Never too soon to plan for Garden Project 2007!!

[franca]

Originally Posted by Tuppence2

Hello Everyone - what a long time since I last visited!

Your garden and the grounds of the complex are immaculate, as usual, Frank. You and Carole do so well there.

My garden grows. I've taken up growing roses, especially climbers. My yearly pension enabled me to have trellis erected as fencing, down the garden alongside the path, then at right-angles across, so I have an area enclosed and the dogs can't get into the lower part of the garden where I'm growing vegetables.

I've eleven (I think) climbers, but there are pieces I've planted from them that are growing as well - a shrub in front of the trellis and one in a tub in the front garden. I'll list their names another time.

An excellent site about roses is http://www.helpmefind.com and another is http://www.rosarianscorner.net

I've also started volunteering at the local garden centre and am off shortly to prick-out pansies and violas into trays to grow on. I pruned their roses the other day and helped out with watering when we had a long hot spell a couple of months ago.

I'll post photos another time.

Good gardening, see you soon.

Bye,
Penny.

Hi Ya Penny Rose.......Nice to cu.....to cu nice.........glad to see you back...and that you are still keeping those hands dirty........

cu later, take care....Frank...

[teengeekgrrl]

Originally Posted by trekguy

Don't feel bad... we've all been there.

That's the one really cool thing about gardens... it will be there for you next year. Never too soon to plan for Garden Project 2007!!

[Tuppence2]

Wave, Wave, Frank.

My hands are certainly gardener's hands! I was filling trays with lovely potting compost yesterday - really good soil to grow pansies and violas. They like a special mixture and it's bought in for them. When I prick-out the little plugs into the trays I use my finger to make the hole, some staff use little "poggers" (did you call them that in your part of the country growing up?). I made someone laugh when I said I was using a pogger, he hadn't heard that name, calling them the usual "dibber".

I trimmed my Kilmarnock willow today, raised it's leaf level - it's a weeping dwarf tree, pruned some roses, cut back a lavendar (which doesn't do well in my soil so I've planted three or four in pots), picked leaves of the roses affected with blackspot and even found whitefuly on the standard rose, "Savoy Hotel". Rather late for white fly, isn't it?

Bye for now