***Meeting each other on the green

I thought it would be a good idea to get to know each other a bit, so we can have some idea of our green environments and tastes. Let us know where you live (climate), if you have a garden, which garden-books you cherish, etc.

Here's the climate-map on which you'll find which climate-zone you're in:


Here's more information on the climate-zones itself.

So, I'm Monica and I live in Belgium which has a maritime climate like the larger part of Western-Europe.
I have a medium-sized garden (to Belgian standards) which is about 500 square metres (appr. 600 sq. yards??) with a somewhat formal layout but not so formal planting and a pond. My big act to follow (although very humbly and on a much, much smaller scale) is Christopher Lloyd whose colour-and plant-schemes I admire and adore. And although Lloyd was notorious for disliking roses (he had his reasons), I chose the name of my favourite rose to be my LT-name.
I also love reading garden books (besides other books but there are other groups you'll find me in for those), both fiction and non-fiction. Now my garden is finally starting to look slightly mature, I have more time to focus on garden essays instead of manuals and plant-schemes.
A perfect day to me is a day on which I can work in the garden for hours and after that, sit in it, reading a book and enjoying the scent, the sight and the sound of my garden.

And I definitely would want to meet someone on LT who can grow strelitizia's in his or her own backyard.

ETA: You can find all my gardening-books (fiction + non-fiction) in My Books/Garden.

I'm Eveleen, and I live in County Wicklow in Ireland. It's a maritime climate like the rest of Western Europe, but milder than most European places in this zone (Cwb on the map), partly because I'm only a couple of miles from the sea. The favourite cheap hedging shrub around here is Griselinia littoralis, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselinia_littoralis, which doesn't grow well further inland.

My own garden is a disaster area at the moment: I was ill for a long time a few years ago, and I've never really caught up on things since. My bay tree that used to be a nice neat shape is now about 6 meters tall and overshadowing my windows!

I love garden books. Christopher Lloyd is one of my favourite writers, along with Robin Lane Fox (who also writes about ancient history), Vita Sackville-West and other English writers. I don't know the Americans so well, so I'd be interested to get recommendations for American books.

I love garden visiting: I've visited a lot of the great English gardens on trips over the years, including Great Dixter (Christopher Lloyd's garden), Sissinghurst, Hidcote and many more. I've a brother in Brussels, Monica, so I've visited a few places in Belgium as well: the Royal Greenhouses at Laeken, Annevoie, and the Botanic Gardens in Leuven. I'd be interested in other recommendations for my next visit!

I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which is Dfb on the map above, or Zone 3a in the Canadian zone map that I'm more familiar with.

I have three gardens at the moment. My "home" garden is my smallish (by Edmonton standards) lot, of about 500 square metres, some of which is taken up by the house and detatched double garage. Second is my next-door neighbour's vegetable patch, which she can't manage anymore (she's 87), so I grow veg there for both of us. It would be about 30 square metres. Last, I have my community garden plot which is maybe 8 square metres.

At the neighbour's and the community garden I grow annual vegetables. At home, my front garden is mainly ornamental, the side yard on the south is my home vegetable garden, which is intensively planted, and the back is mainly lawn with perennials around the edges. For fruit I have a pear tree, 2 grape vines, a blackcurrant, 2 nanking cherries, rhubarb, strawberries and three saskatoon bushes. I also have a compact but productive herb garden and a new asparagus patch.

The home garden is a work in progress - I renovate bits of it every year.

I completely love gardening books, especially the big picture books, even if they're not for my climate. I have a thing about English gardens and walled gardens.

I like garden visiting, too. We don't have the stately homes and legendary gardens of UK, Ireland and Europe, but we do have a botanic garden and the horticulture society runs an annual garden tour and weekly open gardens. And of course I visit gardens when I travel.

I'm Ruth and I live in the mid-Ohio Valley in the US, which appears to be Dfa - continental humid and hot, with lots of precipitation throughout the year, but balanced with brilliantly sunny days.

My yard is 50ft by 200 ft, and mostly lined with cottage garden beds, which have been fending for themselves for the past few years. I favor hydrangeas, poenies, daylilys, asters, forsythia, old roses, iris and sweet pea, all of which thrive without interference.

The south side is lined with 80 ft tall southern pines which offer welcome summer shade.

Our ancient apple tree in the center of the backyard toppled quietly one day and the trunk is now covered with volunteer wild grape. I'd like to build a veranda to train it on, but I probably won't get to it.

I've already posted a link to my garden books on another thread here. Y'all should do the same. (use the permalink at the bottom of your catalog page.)

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Don't quite have the hang of it yet, but this is poor picture of a climbing rose that blooms just once in May. I'll have to practice, but I'm not the photographer here.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, a very mild climate most of the time; it was very exciting for a while last week, when we thought we might actually get snow, but it did not happen in my neighborhood.

I have two gardens; my own house, which is on a small lot, where I've been doing a lot of pruning lately, and a much larger one at my sister's house, which we own in common (it is where we grew up). I go over there most weekends to help with the garden maintenance, and the never-ending battle against the blackberry invasion.

I live in Charleston, SC, USA, which is a humid subtropical (getting close to tropical, but not quite) beach climate. USDA zone 8b/9a (I am surrounded by water on three sides so I'm pretty much 9a), AHS zone 8.

It is very humid here all the time, and the summers which typically are in the low 90s F (mid 30s C)combined with the humidity are my major gardening consideration. Many plants that grow in more temperate or less humid climates struggle here or flat out die. It also is the ideal climate for significant fungal diseases, powdery mildew, blackspot etc.

All that said, there is something in bloom 12 months out of 12, though Jan and early Feb are usually pretty lean. And I never have to worry about cold hardiness!

I live in an historic urban area, which is known for its formal front gardens (which I am working to create), and secret hidden backgardens (which I spent all of last year creating). My house is a fixer upper...my other pet project.

>7 staffordcastle: Staffordcastle: I am sorry for you and your blackberry invasion. I have a cabin in upstate new york where I am battling the same thing and it has to be the WORST invasive horror I've ever laid eyes or shovel upon!

>3 EveleenM: Eveleen - I am completely jealous of you folks with all your fabulous historic old gardens. I am a complete anglophile to begin with (it reflects heavily in my reading) but the gardens and great houses out there put me over the edge. I keep imagining one spring I'm just going to move there from April til July to see them all. sigh.

# 10 - I keep imagining one spring I'm just going to move there from April til July to see them all. sigh.. That sounds a bit like what they did in Enchanted April. Maybe Eveleen could look for the appropriate house to stay in, we'd bring the books :-).

Oh, an historic old house with wonderful gardens filled with interesting readers from all over the world. That would be beyond fabulous! And Eveleen would already know how to drive on the wrong (hehe) side of the road!

What a great vacation plan! :-D
When I was in my teens my family visited England several times, and since my mom was an avid gardener, we went to all the great gardens.

> jessieb30
Yeah, I'm sure that after armageddon, blackberries will still be thriving. The only upside is blackberry pie in the summer!

re: the blackberry tangle

Have you heard of Rent a Ruminant? Check the web to see whether there is a goat herd available in your area. I plan to utilize the concept as needed in the near future.

Here's a directory:
http://www.goatfinder.com/renting_goats.htm

11, 12, 13

A cottage in the Cotswolds would be great: lots of great gardens http://www.cotswolds.info/gardens/gardens.shtml. And an easy drive to Stratford-on-Avon for some Shakespeare, and to Oxford for some architecture...

#15 Hi Eveleen, do you really think Belgium has any garden to match any of these Cotwolds gardens??? They look like heaven on earth! Now all we need is a house for appr. 15 people (didn't check lately). I'd be happy not to take the biggest rooms (Enchanted April really inspires me :-)). Could you take care of that?
Seriously, thanks for the wonderful link to these beautiful gardens. Even on screen, they make me happy.

:). I think I'm going to read Enchanted April next.

Hi. I'm Johanna, and I'm a landscape architect in central Illinois. Zone Dfa, or USDA zone 5a. Our summers can be hot and humid, and our winters are cold. We get plenty of snow, but it doesn't usually stick around all winter as a insulating cover. In between the extremes, we get some beautiful weather, and the ever-changing seasons always give me something to look forward to. My home garden is oft-neglected, as my busy work season coincides with the best gardening weather. In the next week or two, I'm looking forward to hitting some woodland trails to hunt for and photograph snow trillium. The bulk of my lt library is gardening books.

>14 2wonderY:
Thanks for the link! Yes, we had considered that; and we are actually zoned for livestock. However, the problem is that embedded in the blackberry patch are quite a few of my late mother's old roses, which we don't want to have eaten. It's difficult.

I'm Ulla. I live in Denmark.
Most of my books about gardening are written in Danish by Danish authors, so I don't know how relevant they are for you. But I also read and buy gardening books in English.
Two years ago I moved into this house with a 1500 square metre garden. A lawn, some scrubs - that's it, so it is like getting a blank canvas to paint on. The house is built in 1936.
This started my search for books on gardening from the 1920ties and 30ties to see which schrubs and perennials were commonly used at the time, and to see what greenhouses and vegetable- and fruit gardens looked like in the 30ties.
I love visiting second hand book shops, and pick up any old book on gardening. I am interested in all kinds of gardening and in the history of gardening.
So, I hope to be able to share my reading experiences with other gardening-geeks.

Hi Ulla,

That is a serious gardening library! I looked by cover view and got some idea of your subjects matter.
I look forward to further reports, and hopefully pictures too, of your gardens and their progress.

I think it's wonderful to meet you all and get an idea of your gardens and garden-libraries.
# staffordcastle - I never realized blackberries could be such a nuisance, but I should have known from my fairy-tale-years. Wasn't the castle of the Sleeping Beauty overgrown by them? No, I looked it up, it were briars...

# Ulla, it hink it's wonderful to see all the books you have on gardening even if they are in Danish. Today I learned that the Danish word for garden is "have", right? :-)
If you're interested in the history of gardening, you might appreciate The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf. It's a wonderful book about the history of the English garden and why the garden and plant-obsession set off there in the early 18th century and spread all over Europe. I just started the book and only read 3 chapters so far, but it's captivating and so enlightening. I'll never look at my plants the same way as I did before. Are you planning to layout a 1930's garden?

JustJoey4, the terms briars and brambles are often used for blackberries! Technically, the briar is a member of the Erica family, but the term is loosely used to refer to many spiny plants. In particular, it often refers to the briar rose, or eglantine. Bramble is the British term for blackberry.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/briar
http://www.dictionary.net/brier

Ulla, if you ever get over to London, you might enjoy the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth. It is small, but very nice.

# 23 - Thanks for the clarification. As English is only my third language, the horticultural vocabulary is not self-evident, but I'm learning. Reading a garden-book in English is a complicated enterprise as I have my book in my hands, a botanical book to my left and a dictionary to my right. It's a good thing that I already know many plants and their Latin names but there are still a lot of plants I want to learn about. And sometimes, it's all about the details of course.
I think we should include the Museum of Garden History in Lambeth to our Cotswolds itinerary. Most of us would pass through London anyway.

It's located in a small church (no longer in commission), and another interesting feature for those who have read Mutiny on the Bounty is that the churchyard, which is landscaped like a medieval garden, is where Captain Bligh is buried.

Thank's a lot for the tip - I will definitely go there on my next visit to London.

JustJoey4:
Do you know Thelwell's drawing in 'Up the Garden Path': A man in an overgrown garden sitting in a chair among piles of garden magazines absorbed in reading. In the Danish edition it's on the title page. Could have been me - I'm afraid. :-)

So far I have taken my time to get to know my garden. Cold and hot spots - sun and shade, differences in the soil - before making any major decisions. I've made a vegetable garden and put perennials from my former garden in a corner for survival -
Apart from that we have been busy renovating the house itself.
But yes, the idea is to make a garden INSPIRED BY the gardening style of the 30ties and 40ties.

Yes, garden is 'have' in Danish.

Hi!

I'm Catherine and I live in Belgium.

I have 84 books tagged "Jardin" (= garden) and/or "Jardinage" (= gardening), mostly in French.

My flower corner is really small, most a flowerbed than a garden, and badly maintained. My kitchen garden is made from the Mel Bartholomew's method, square foot gardening. I love this way to garden, it's really less work and more production in less space.

28> I'm a square foot gardener too. It really does work beautifully. I think it looks nice, too. Although neat rows of veg in a traditional lay-out are also beautiful, in my opinion.

Hi, I'm Yolana, obviously, and I just stumbled on this group, lucky me. I'm in North Carolina zone 7b. I have a vegetable garden and flowers out front with my favorites being old roses. I'm not quite sure how many gardening books I have but I know it's not enough.

Well, the penguin delegation is being exceedingly quiet, so I guess we can assume they're not going to share in our gardening interests.

I reside in the USA in a Dfb region. As a student, I haven't had much room for gardening, but I'm hoping my current landlords will let me plant a few flowers and/or edibles this growing season.

I've been playing with my new used digital camera. I got home from work last evening before dark. It was overcast and very wet, but I recorded a few of the garden corners that make me happy.

Here they are - click on the photo:

The Silver Maple in the photo in the above message "shivered me timbers" early this morning (3:30 am?) when roots and soil decided to permenantly part ways. It fell just exactly towards the camera angle, missing all structures and vehicles, but blocking the entire street and alley. The vibration woke me, but I couldn't place it, so I only discovered it two hours later on my way out to work. By the time daylight and the street crews arrived, I had gotten most of the small branches cut down and gathered up. I was trying to think where I could hire a chainsaw and wood chipper; but the city crew just took over, cut it into large chunks, tossed them into a dump truck, and were sweeping up at 8:30 am. God bless them!

33> Wow! Thank goodness there was no-one hurt and no damage. You'll miss that big tree, though. Were you able to salvage any of the plants around the base?

click on the picture for the series:


As a matter of fact, the fall was so gentle that nothing else was disturbed.

I'm hoping to buy a young tree this weekend - haven't yet figured out what - to put back in the same spot. Yes, I will surely miss the shade.

The birds were confounded, too. They all gathered on the newly configured branches and gossiped about it until the chainsaw got started.

Wow, what a shock! Glad no injuries or damage.

Wow, lucky for everyone involved!

Hi! I am Susan. New to Gardens & Books and semi-new to LT (less than a year)... but not new to books or gardening :)

I am in coastal Southern California, Bsh, or also described as a Mediterranean climate... I actually read an article that finally made me realize what I kind of was learning - our growing season is in the fall... with a quiet time January & February, then spring growth. Summer is a bit dormant because it is hot and arid. My garden for this climate should be drought tolerant plants... think seagrasses, lavendar, flax, rosemary... but I am guilty of planting other things like citrus, avocados, alpine strawberries, southern highbush blueberries, foxglove, columbine, agapanthus, artichoke, roma tomatoes, baby lettuce mixes, zucchini... you get the idea... I have an enormous area dug for a pond and waterfall - I tore out the old one when we re-built our home and want to do it "right"... safer for the fish and separate area for the lilies... had issues of midnight battles with raccoons for the leftover head & tail from my koi... and then there was the 3+ foot tall blue heron that thought I was running an all-you-can-eat sushi bar... but I miss the hummingbirds, butterflies, dragonflies and even a hawk that would come to the pond...

Between books and gardens - both feed the soul... and a cat snuggling or hanging with you in the garden - perfect!

The wildlife drama in the backyard can be quite entertaining, but when it comes to feed koi to the herons, quite pricey as entertainment goes, eh? Your yard sounds lovely. Welcome to the group and to LT.

Hi Susan,

Glad you joined us. Sigh! I would love to feed a blue heron - at least once.

and a big ugh... so much for my garden talk... husband kept me in the dark (and maybe I allowed him to) but goodbye garden in a couple of days, and aaccckk, how am I going to pack all of my books and "pot" the alpine strawberries too! I will find a way and maybe become a queen of container gardening :( wish I could figure-out how to paste a pic, so that i could cry on some shoulders...

oh, my, are you moving? to an apt.? to a condo? Why containers? I am sorry if you are having to leave behind a garden you spent time and energy making. Sorry.

Oh! I send my sympathy as well.

Posting pictures is actually not too difficult. (If I can do it, anybody can.) First open a free account at Webshots.com, upload photos to an album that you create. That is a simple 1-2-3 process. Then the photo you want to post will have an icon below it which you can click to get the permanat string of code to copy and then paste into the message. I'll gladly help you walk through it.

I am really unhappy with our spring weather. It is raining again. Now I know the pacific northwest corner is famous for its rain, but this year we are breaking all time records. My backyard is totally saturated and I am beginning to have puddles of water just under the grass. I need to wear boots to walk on my grass. Dang!

I know there are many who have it worse so I try not to be too whiny about it all but, shoot, it is hard to imagine the strawberries even becoming ripe in this weather.

I'll join you in your whine Maggie.
There was one day last week (finally!) dry enough to lay gravel on my new driveway, and I should have made it happen, because now it's too soggy and muddy. I keep expecting the rain to end. Don't know why...

Well, maybe there is good news on the horizon. Today's morning weather report suggests we may have dry and warmer after today - might approach 70 degrees for the first time in months! it has been way too many months!

Let's crank up this thread!

By the map on the first post, I'm a Cfa, but there as so many more variations of temperature in the eastern United States.

Here is a temperature map we use:



As you can see, the Cfa doesn't really adequately diagram the differences in temperature for much of the United States.

I'm in zone 7b, but if I lived just a few miles to the east, I'd be in zone 8. I can plant many things that people who live 300 miles north of me cannot, due to freezing temperatures. It rarely gets below 15 degrees F in the winter (9-10 degrees Celcius), so many somewhat 'tender' plants can be wintered over with a thick layer of mulch.

To the west of us in North Carolina, it gets quite cold, especially as you head into the mountains.

Here is a zone map of the state of North Carolina:

Hi fellow gardeners. I have just learned of this group. I'm a zone 5b south central Ontario (Canada) gardener. Our property is surrounded by trees so my perennial garden is tucked out by the road, which is the only spot to get any sun. Our gardening season is from the first week of May to mid-September, although it has been known to snow on the 3rd of May or so.

Although I'm of middling years, I find gardening is a lifelong learning process and I'm constantly amazed at how much I don't know, so I'm hoping to learn lots from all of you.

Tui

Welcome. We are all happy to have more gardening talking here!

My season is about the same as yours, as I'm in northwest Washington State, north of Seattle. We have had a much nicer spring this year, than last, so I've got some things started.

You may find you'd like to start an individual Gardening Journal thread and we'll all come visit! Pictures are appreciated, too.

Thank you all for being so welcoming to me here on this gardening forum this year. This has been one fun summer sharing all of my gardening highlights (and lowlights) with all of you! I look forward to more gardening seasons together although garden work does cut into my reading time. Heh! No problem, though.

I've really enjoyed seeing everyone's gardens over the past seasons. Thanks to everyone who has posted pictures and comments. I've learned an awful lot from all of you. Maybe next year I'll get some pictures up.

I really hope that some southern hemisphere gardeners will show us their gardens during our winter.

Come on all you southerners!

Post pictures? Here? On LT?

Oh, I never would do that...

:guffaws:

I think I can come up with some lovely pictures for our friends who have a shorter growing season. :)

So, for those of us in the northern climes this is it, huh? Finished are we?

Well, my yard still can use some cleaning up. But nonetheless, I will say that this group did very much support my gardening experiements this year and last night I had a nice saute of tomatoes and zucchini.

OK - some of you are still gardening, but I am officially finished until spring. We've had heavy snowfall warnings since Saturday, and now have more snow on the ground than we get all winter some years. And it's supposed to keep snowing all week. I won't see my garden now until spring.

We don't usually get much snow in October, so this is unusual, especially since we were having record warm temperatures until after Thanksgiving (Oct. 8). It still isn't very cold - only -4°C. There are still leaves on some of the trees. Fortunately the snow isn't wet, so it isn't breaking branches.

I'm still doing garden cleanup...made difficult by the enormous dump of leaves from the trees all around our place (and a sprained ankle, but that's another matter). Snow called for by Halloween, so I hope the leaves finish doing their thing so I can get at the borders.

Hi, I'm Angela. I live in Louisiana, which is Koppen 'humid subtropical', or USDA zone 8b. I don't think anything ever stops growing here; one plant I saw described as an annual in New England grows year-round, and even takes root in concrete if given half a chance.

I'm completely new to gardening. Tomorrow, my brother and I are putting together my first raised bed, which I'll be transplanting my two surviving leek seedlings into this weekend.

I don't think I have any gardening books yet. I have several lists, mainly dealing with native plants and pollinator supporters. Wanting to help the local bee population (and maybe start keeping bees myself someday) is what got me interested in gardening. Then I thought, as long as the bees are here gathering their own food, how about they help make some food for me, too? And soon I will have a 4x8 foot raised bed in the yard. :)

Welcome! We have a good mix of gardeners here - some are very keen on native plants and providing habitat for various kinds of wildlife, and some (like me) love our veg gardens. I know nothing about growing stuff in your zone - I'm in zone 3a and my garden is completely snow-covered right now.

Hi Angela. Glad you found us and spoke up. Please keep us up to date on your winter gardening. It'll help us notherners make it through the cold months.

Zone 5b here: garden covered with snow. Angela, you will be gardening in a whole different way from some of us but it will be fascinating to follow your adventures with it. Welcome aboard!

Hi, glad to see you. Don't know what my Zone is but I know it is cold and wet here. I live in the NW of USA; Washington State, east of Puget Sound. It was in the high 30s here this morning, probably in the 40s right now. It is sunny which is very unusual for us. Usually it is raining. I need to clean up my yard a bit and seed some grass. Other than that, I'm awaiting Feb. when we usually have some warmer days before we plunge back into rainy.

Hi Angela - I'm in Koppen zone Dfc, continental subarctic, or hardiness zone 2b/3a, and my garden has been under snow since early October this year. I will enjoy hearing about your garden, especially knowing I don't have to worry about mine for several months.

I'm in 6a, garden bleakly brown for another couple months, and I would be inspired by a growing garden, and especially to see native plants of another region.

fuzzi and qebo say I need to be here.

As I say in my thread, I've been posting about my new garden in my 75 Books Challenge thread, and they told me I needed to come here. Like I need another group to participate in...but what I've seen so far is gorgeous.

I'm in Alameda on the San Francisco Bay (hi, staffordcastle!), Mediterranean climate. Winters usually have lows in the 40s, though it's been chillier this year, with lows in the mid-30s; summer highs average around high 70s, with usually a few days of 80s and 90s.

I've been a container gardener for...oh, 20 years? When I could find a place to put a container (most places, except when I was in college again, in London). This year - this month, actually - I got a nice big plot in a local community garden. I'm switching up my brain... Definitely going with Square Foot gardening (not only because it's the most like container gardening), but there's still a _lot_ of options. Particularly as there's no rules against permanent plantings, either - so I can plant bushes. Maybe even trees!

I've got a lot of work on my plot to do - it was planted last spring and then abandoned, so it's full of over-grown and self-seeded edible plants plus opportunistic weeds. I'm keeping some of the edible plants, taking seeds off others, and throwing out quite a lot because _I'm_ not going to eat them (peppers, and the like. And mallows and milk thistle, which may have been planted as medicinal). There's pictures in my thread of my progress.

I've got a few gardening books (tagged Gardening) - Square Foot Gardening, for one, and Strawberries in November and Golden Gate Gardening, about growing things in the SF Bay Area's (weird) climate. And various ones about container gardening and pests and so on. If I get my ebooks into LT, I'll have a lot more about composting and other organic gardening topics - most of which I haven't even looked at, but they were free Kindle books and might prove useful.

Happy to meet you all!

Welcome. I look forward to learning from you! My climate is not too far different from yours. We are in the 30s right now, but I'm looking forward to it warming up in February.

I need to get out and clean up, but I confess the cold is keeping me in by the pellet stove!

63> welcome! I'm a long time square-foot gardener, and I have a community plot, too. I look forward to your thread!

I will look for my Square Foot Garden book today. Good reading in between bouts with Anna Karènina.

ah, is it time to bump this up?

I bought some rhubarb yesterday. Any suggestions before I stick it in the ground. I have "bare" roots, and it is showing signs of spring with a little bit of growth.

maggie, I planted some rhubarb on Monday. Mine came in pots and already had leaves. I'm hopeful, but afraid for it as we are in zone 7 and it gets a bit toasty mid-summer. Let me know how yours does.

67> Leave lots of room around it. Depending on the soil it gets, the temperature and water - it can get six foot _wide_. Not all that high - not more than 4-5 feet, that I've ever seen - but the leaves can get huge and they droop to all sides.

I've never grown it myself, but several people in my garden group do and I've seen it in their gardens.

I was warned that it is a little bit like zucchini around here, grows like weeds, and I'll have lots to share. I just don't know exactly what kind of soil it might like. My soil is a little bit acid.

http://www.gardeningpatch.com/vegetable/growing-rhubarb.aspx

Rhubarb can be grown in acidic soils down to about pH 5.0 but grows best in slightly acidic soil - pH 6.0-6.8.

Also a lot of useful info about spacing, when and how to plant, and (eventually) dividing. I don't know the site, but it seems accurate for a few other things I checked. Not a lot of different plants, unfortunately, though!

mmmm, rhubarb! I wish mine was up - I'm craving rhubarb/strawberry cobbler.

Yes! I have a bunch of strawberry plants and have had great harvests two years in a row. I'm looking forward to the two together! Yummy!

Thanks for the link., jjmcgaffrey

Hi. I'm Henry. I live in San Diego - a Mediterranean climate. I love the Mediterranean palette. I have an extensive slope behind my home on which I have created a Provencal garrique of sorts. The remainder of my garden is in pots. My favorite gardening book is Tuscan Paradise by Marina Schinz.

Welcome, Henry! I hope you'll share some photos of your garden! It sounds beautiful. I love the Mediterranean palette, but it doesn't work very well where I live.

I have photos on my iphone. How do I transfer them? Be insultingly explicit.

LOL - well, I'll try, and I'm sure others will chip in if I get it wrong or to clarify.

You need to upload your picture(s) to the internet. I upload mine to Flickr.com (basic accounts are free) and then click on the "share" link, copy the HTML/BBCode link and paste it into my LT talk message.

You can also use your LT member gallery to host pictures - there's a link to it on your profile page, but it doesn't have the handy HTML/BBCode link so you need to go here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/35356 and you can copy the code for image source and paste it into your message. Then replace the part that says http://host.com/picture.jpg with the URL for your picture (to get the URL right click on the picture, click "copy image URL" and then paste that URL into your message. It helps to have LibraryThing open in two windows while you're doing this - one where you're doing the message, and one where you can copy things from.

Hope that helps!

Well, I apparently established a flickr account; however, when I click on upload, it does not tell me how to upload from my iphone.

You need to either sync your photos to your computer, then go to Flickr on that computer and upload the pictures; or (if it works, not sure) go to Flickr on your phone and send the pictures from there.

Ah, here you go - detailed instructions for directly uploading from the phone to Flickr - non-obvious! Scroll about half-way down - BeccaG's post. Then a link a couple posts further down, with (apparently) more info.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrapp/discuss/72157632453529887/ (heh. almost forgot to include the link...)

Thanks for the help. I simply downloaded my iphone to iphoto in my imac, transferred the photos to my desktop, and then added them to flckr. Geesh. Next stop is transfer from flckr to here.

Copy the URL from Flickr, put it in an <img src="URL"> tag. You can add a height= number (200-400 is good) to keep the picture size under control. The link tardis gave has (a lot) more info.

The good news is that once you have this accomplished a time or two, then it is easy-peasey! And pictures are so fun when we talk gardens!

I like the Mediterranean foods, too, but the rainy, cool, temperate climate here is just not really all that helpful! We grow pretty good strawberries. And lettuce.

Try saving it to the junk drawer under your member gallery and then it should post.

Where is the HTML code and photo file link?

The HTML code to embed a photo in a web page that you used to find on the All Sizes page is now only in the Share menu above the photo, to the right of the Actions menu. We now also include BBCode! (standard message board code)

There are a few cases where the code may not be available: 1) If the photo is restricted. 2) If that person has turned off "Share this" or access to original files.

The direct link to a photo file is no longer shown on the page. Per the Flickr Community Guidelines "pages on other websites that display content hosted on flickr.com must provide a link from each photo or video back to its page on Flickr." Linking directly to the photo file doesn't do this.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/trondsphoto/8640578932/

OOOkay...looks like Flickr is no longer useful for this. I'm not logged in, just exploring random stuff, but per their info above they don't want you posting the photo on another site. Actually - confusing. They say it's the HTML to embed the photo, but putting that in img src gives nothing at all and posting it plain just gives a link.

Too bad, good way for them to lose people...



OK, that's weird! My URL (which I got by viewing my own image (in Medium 500 size), right-clicking then choosing Save Image Location, and which looks a lot like yours, nemoman) - works just fine. Hmmm. Mine is http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2229/1998188405_d914d59d74.jpg; in img src, it gives the above.

Nope, removing the _m doesn't do anything.

I have no idea! Yeah. Give up on flickr for the moment, go to your profile here on LT, click on Your Member Gallery on the right. Choose Add another picture on the left, and browse to where your picture is on your computer (or to Flickr, I suppose, but simpler to access the file unless you're on a slow connection).

Make sure you change the place it will go to to Junk Drawer rather than Member Gallery - it looks like that only applies to stuff grabbed from the web, but in fact it applies to uploads as well. If you put it in Member Gallery it will be findable on your profile; if you put it in Junk Drawer only you can see it. Either one can be linked and put in a post.

Once the picture's uploaded and put where you want it (you can move it between Member Gallery and Junk Drawer if you like), click on it. When you get to the large one with Edit | Delete below it, rightclick and Save Image Location or whatever your browser says to get the URL. Then do the img src stuff (with sizing). That should work. Note that there is a 250 total picture limit - after that you can't upload any more unless you delete some (which will leave your posts referencing those pictures with broken links). That's why Flickr would be better, if it worked...

http://farm9.staticflckr.com/8125/8642128148_af320c47f4_m.jpg

More weird. Are you sure about the URL? You typed it, apparently, since you missed the colon after the http. I can make a link of your URL, but then my browser says it can't find the farm9.staticflckr.com server (which would be a good reason for no picture). Try it one more time - with copy and paste, not typing.

Ah, got it! Typing error. It works fine, if you make the server staticflickr instead of staticflckr.

So most of this post is useless, and if you're copying and pasting, I don't know why it doesn't work - it worked for me, in the top image. That image is made by
<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8125/8642128148_af320c47f4_m.jpg">

Copy and paste from a) properties b) the Share menu c) Save Image Location. Any of those should work - they all give me the same URL, for my picture.

Thanks. A typo was my bane.

Note: If you click on a photo in Flickr, the URL that then appears in the browser is different than the URL that appears if you right-click on the photo, and then click on properties. It is the latter URL that works here.

Once I have the picture in my Flickr account, I click on share and copy the HTML/BBC code and post it here.



This is a picture I lifted from someone's post on Facebook. I have information about the artist, although I do not know where the picture is. If any one wants to know...ask and I'll go get the data.

That is breathtakingly beautiful.

It is a painting - Washington State, as it once was....

Mt. Rainier from the Bay of Tacoma, 1874
- Sanford Robinson Gifford

I would have guessed Bierstadt. Hudson River guy sees real mountains.

Hi, I'm new here! Wareagle78, a/k/a Teresa. I live in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. We are in the Appalachian foothills, hot summers (normally low 90's) with high humidity, mild wet winters with a few nights and fewer days below freezing. My mother and grandmother were marvelous gardeners and my first husband a landscape architect, but I've always worked full-time and have only recently had time to devote to yard upgrades. I've posted a long description of my garden elsewhere so I'll spare you a repeat.

My go-to garden information comes from Southern Living magazine and archives. I also love Ed Givhan's Flowers for South Alabama Gardens, but I no longer live exactly in his range. Some of it is still applicable for me and I find the line drawings dear.

I also prefer to garden organically, and summer finds me tromping around the vegetable garden after work with a big covered glass of water to capture and drown pests.

Looking forward to gardening with you all!

Hi, new here, too! Teresa from central Ohio. I used to have a large vegetable garden, but due to arthritis and the need for both a knee and and a hip replacement, which I'm putting off, I'm unable to bend alot, so the size of the garden is cut by 50-75%. I have 3 flower beds around the house and I'm mostly green. Just today I made a mixture of vinegar and water to soak the soil where those darn wild onions are taking on a life of their own. It's still too early to plant anything except peas, potatoes and pansy's here. My garden will go out the 3rd week of May. I will post pictures. I'm also reading up on container gardening, to get the most bang for my buck.

Welcome Teresa and Teresa! We look forward to hearing more of you and your gardens.

I had some major renovations done in my garden and put in a small, informal patio under the ornamental plum tree, next to the Japanese maple, and one other big evergreen. We moved at least 6 other plants from this space and they will all like their new homes with more light, and more space into which to grow! I'm sure of it.

>98 maggie1944: I love your little patio! It's very pretty, and just the spot to relax with a book*

*of course I think that about almost everyplace LOL

>98 maggie1944: beautiful trees!

I really need to get some rhubarb in somewhere. Rhubarb pie!
>98 maggie1944:: that looks like a lovely spot.

Thanks, everyone. I have yet to get my little "side table" so I can have my cuppa while reading. We have not yet had warmth sufficient to get me to sit out doors but it is coming, I am sure.

Dumb question....I take pics with my phone. How do I get them on here, or do I need to post them online first?

As far as I know they have to be online somewhere, but there is a "junk drawer" connected to your profile pictures on LT you can use. Pictures put there are not visible to others, but you can link to them in your posts using HTML tags.

I need to review the pictures feature as well... I made an ass of myself the last time I tried to post pictures of my violas.
I live in Prescott Valley, Arizona, which is at 5200 ft altitude (roughly a mile). We are not a desert but the climate is arid. We live too high for saguaro cactus and too low for the beautiful Ponderosa pines that are in Prescott and Flagstaff.
So far we've had a beautiful spring - bulbs started blooming in February - and my summer bloomers are just getting started. Soon it will be too hot for my poor violas. June is usually our hottest month.

Glad to have you with us, grundlecat.
We've all had that learning curve with picture posting.

And some of us learn how, post a few, and then forget how we did that! Need to learn it more than once.

Welcome to the group, gundiecat

Grundlecat I hope you are a safe distance from the fires.

Luckily they're headed the other way... still no structures destroyed, which is a lucky thing, I really feared for the village of Oak Creek where the fire started. The tankers are in and out of our airport to remind us of the fires lest we forget. It's cloudy today and they're predicting thunderstorms, but only a small chance of precipitation so I'm a little nervous. We live two blocks from open prairie in two directions so if one of those fields sparked we'd be in a world of trouble. It's a lot cooler which should be a big help to the firefighters over at the Slide fire.
Yesterday I took some pictures of a bird that my husband and I are having trouble being sure of... either an immature male cardinal, or a female cardinal. Seemed to have too much red to be a female. But there's precious few birds with a red/orange bill so it's got to be a cardinal of some kind.
My lilies are starting to bloom and the honeysuckle is in full glorious aroma... heavenly. And the roses have bounced back from a really bad aphid infestation earlier in the spring to produce some very striking shows. The irises are rotating through and the dame's rocket seems to have run out of steam at last. They made an amazing display for over a month of tall, brilliant lavender flowers. Unfortunately they overgrew a number of other things, will have to work on arranging better for next year. But that's okay! I'm so pleased with the garden this year. Even my husband is impressed.

I'm from Rochester, NY-some of the charts state that i'm in hardiness zone 6a, but I usually have best luck when I treat my garden like i'm in zone 4 and 5. sometimes the plants I get for 6 will make it early spring or late fall, but do not always winter over for me. I love to grow what I can preserve-lots of tomato sauce, a chili mix (tomatoes, garlic, green bell peppers, and poblano peppers so when I make chili in the middle of winter, I got the fresh grown stuff preserved already) pickles, banana pepper rings, and more.

Not really sure if anyone is still using this thread, as it's been months since a new post was added. But since this is the official page to introduce myself, and since I'm looking to be more active in this group, I might as well start now since our growing season looks like it might finally start now.

I'm Cassaundra Bash (Cass or Cassie is fine) and I'm from northwest Indiana, up close enough to Lake Michigan to frequently feel the lake effect but not so close as to get as hammered by it as some. By the map above we seem to be borderline Dfa/Dfb, while the USDA technically calls us zone 5. This borderline issue probably explains my problem with zone 5 plans; any perennial that I buy zoned for 5 I baby because otherwise you have a 50/50 chance of losing it. I prefer zone 4 or hardier whenever I can get them. My garden is bug-friendly because I see it as the means to and end regarding my primary summer hobby, which is raising caterpillars into butterflies or moths (depending on the species of course!). Therefore, my garden is a mix of nectar-producing plants and host plants for the caterpillars. I do help in the family garden which is dedicated to the edibles, and I help weed--especially host plants--from my mom's flower gardens when they're coming up in unwanted places. I also run regular patrols in the veggie garden, looking for caterpillars.

Because my gardening centers around my hobby of raising caterpillars, my favorite gardening books tend to be guides designed more for reference than for cover-to-cover reading, though I've read Michael Pollan's book The Botany of Desire and enjoyed that very much, as well as Amy Stewart's Wicked Plants, as I have a twisted, dark side that loves reading about funeral customs, infectious diseases, and other such topics. My gardening "dark side" is usually manifested in my love for "carnie" plants--carnivorous species that (ironically) would eat some of the very insects I'm fond of. I've read the original edition of The Savage Garden by Peter D'Amato and plan on getting the revised edition at some point. We ordered some Indiana native pitcher plants and sundews last year and are eagerly awaiting signs of active growth from them. I plan on ordering some more windowsill-appropriate species for a terrarium that I have. I have several on butterfly gardening that I do eventually plan on reading cover-to-cover. Perhaps this is the summer to do so!

I, for one, was elated to see a new posting here.

So glad you found us Cassie. You've probably noticed already that you are among other caterpillar lovers here.

>111 CassieBash: welcome! I've neglected this thread, myself.

So, you like butterflies and planting hosts for them? Be sure to add a butterfly thread/gardening thread here. I have added a Butterflies 2015 thread, but haven't gotten any pics, yet.

>111 CassieBash: it's been months since a new post was added
Winter hibernation. :-)

Because my gardening centers around my hobby of raising caterpillars
I'm looking forward to seeing this!

>113 fuzzi: fuzzi: Will do. I could post pics of my overwinterers--got some swallowtail chrysalis, Prometheus moth, Carolina sphinx moth, milkweed tussock moth, and one great big bag cocoon we found just the other day attached to a sassafras sapling--think it might be a Cecropia moth. There's not much action yet as I'm keeping them as cool as possible 'til the flowers catch up--my swallowtails and the non-silkworm species of moth need nectar and host plants to complete their life cycle.

Several years ago, I had "tracked" my caterpillars by species, numbers found, deaths, and successful hatchings. I did it on paper in a blank journal. I fell out of habit when I was earning my MLS (Master of Library Science) degree, but I've thought of starting it up again. Perhaps I'll do that here (with plenty of pictures), if anyone's interested. It was fun but very time-consuming--some years I'll find dozens of caterpillars in a short time, especially prolific ones like red admirals. And, of course, deaths are always sad--I don't mind the parasitic brachonid wasp taking a swallowtail caterpillar or two but the red admirals are rather prone to parasitic wasps and flies and I've had years where over half end up dying. But on the up side, twice I've had years where I've gotten the rare (in this area) Milbert's tortoiseshell butterflies and those are almost too numerous to count when you find them. That particular species lays its eggs in clusters of 50+ on the top of the host plant and they'll just strip it, eating and growing together. They were so cool because they'd all make their chrysalis together and then I'd have them hatching out 25 or more at a time within a couple of days. Fortunately, like their cousins the red admirals, they eat stinging nettle so no one complains about their stripping the host plant!

>115 CassieBash: if anyone's interested
YES!!!

I had a monarch operation going last summer. I had lots of variegated fritillary caterpillars a couple years ago, crawling around in the violets, but I saw only one chrysalis. I've had lots of black swallowtail caterpillars for several years, and I've found dozens of chrysalides, but not a single one has made it through the winter; this is in "nature", usually attached to the fence.

>116 qebo: I second that YES!!!

Please, Cassie, share your butterfly journals wiith us. :)

OK, will do. My only home internet connection is through my phone so I probably will not post many weekend pics but I'll try to keep up with the numbers and species to some extent, and I'll post plenty of pics on my lunch hour and breaks. I may even start as early as next week; I've been wanting to take a pic of that possible Cecropia cocoon--I've never seen a bag as big as this one. Maybe I'll lay it by a ruler to give everyone some scale reference.

Hi, I'm Mary, currently living in Centennial, CO. after almost 40 years in Southern California. What a difference in climates! There, I grew things year round. Here, it's not wise to start a garden until mid-May, and then growing season is over in around September/October. I also am getting used to the stronger rays of the sun than I was used to in SoCal.

I too am planning to plant milkweed and other flowering plants that bees and butterflies love, as well as vegetables. This year, I'm trying something new: a Straw Bale Garden, because we are renting and can't dig up the lawn where it's the sunniest. So far, I'm planning on planting tomatoes, peppers, zuccini, chard, salad greens, herbs and edible flowers like nasturtium and marigolds, in addition to the butterfly friendly plants.

I started a thread! http://www.librarything.com/topic/190149

Hi, Marilyn here, in Seacoast New Hampshire (the extreme southeast corner of the state - we only have 18 miles of coastline, and it winds back and forth a bit, so less as the crow flies), we're about 10 miles inland. Given our proximity to the ocean I think we're teetering on the border of Dfa/Dfb, Zone 5 on the US map. First/last safe frost-free dates used to be considered as Memorial Day (last Monday of May) and Sept. 15, but that's been changing as warmer weather is creeping north.

I live in an old house/small farm that's been in the family for a long time, so I've inherited plantings around the house and have woods and wetlands to keep up with as well. Being a single parent, working full time and going back to school a few years ago has meant that I haven't been keeping up very well with the outdoors (or the indoors, if it comes to that!), but things are improving. My two sons are now 23 & (nearly) 21, still at home and going to school, and have been getting more and more interested in the property which has been a real game-changer. My most recent garden reading has been aimed at feeding my growing interest in permaculture and in the importance of individual actions in contributing to climate balance efforts. I hope to use my thread to share and track future developments.

>121 muddy21: Lovely to have you join us. It's been a while since we've had anyone introduce themselves here.
I look forward to hearing of your adventures. So your sons are sticking around? That's wonderful.

Hi im Mary, Ruth's sister she just got me connected to library thing. this week has been moving day in my garden. Ruth said my hydrangea didnt like the western exposure so they are being relocated. i got several new plants for mothers day at the Phipps may market. i tried not be behave there like last year when it was a feeding frenzy. i get a little greedy and crazy at those things.

Hi, Mary! So easy to get carried away at plant sales, isn't it? Welcome to the group.

>124 Maryhasalittledog: hiya Mary, welcome. :)

Mary is the sister who has taken our dad into her home. So we've been seeing a lot of each other and getting re-acquainted. We are finding we have many interests in common. That will become even more apparent as she adds her books to her catalog here.

She is especially well-read in nutrition health, and her care of dad has given him a great recovery arc since she took him in.

She has created a flower garden paradise. Her plants are very well behaved, unlike mine. Lots of color and interest already this season. She is doing all the hardscaping, and her front yard is a work in progress, with the stone work mostly done and two large areas still awaiting plantings.

She hasn't ever played online, and I'm hoping LT becomes enjoyable for her. I did a bit of arm twisting to get her here.

>124 Maryhasalittledog: Welcome!

>127 2wonderY: "I did a bit of arm twisting to get her here"

Please give this to Mary:

>129 fuzzi: Ha! Did you go look at her profile picture? She's already got one of those. She carries her doggie, Gilly, around in it. Gilly is short for Balm in Gilead.

Hi Mary. Welcome to our little group. We have a lot of fun here, support each other, and give each other ideas and solutions for various and sundry. Hope you enjoy the group. We love pictures, too.

>130 2wonderY: now I did, funny. Mary has a nice smile, and a cute doggie!

Hi, my name is Harry, and I'm looking forward to taking part in this gardening group this year, after reading threads with interest last year. My wife Erika and I live in eastern Pennsylvania with three cats — Elli, Otto, and Pixie — and a dog, Hildy.

Our home is a little over 100 years old. We have both flower gardens and vegetable gardens, as well as berries -- raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry (planted last year, hoping for some berries this year), with black raspberry planned for this year -- and a couple grapes.

We have a couple native plant beds -- one that suffered a setback because it was originally established with more shade than it has now, and a second shade garden that I started last year with some transplanted seedlings from the first bed. We'll see how well that one does. :-)

I've built raised beds for our two vegetable gardens, where we plant greens of various sorts, beans (lima and/or wax), some root vegetables, and tomatoes.

>133 harrygbutler: hi Harry! Welcome.

Do you live anywhere near the Delaware Water Gap? When we travel north to Connecticut, we usually take US-209 through the Gap, past Dingman's Falls, up to Milford. It's a lovely ride, and gorgeous country.

>134 fuzzi: We live around 90 minutes south of there, across the river from Trenton, N.J. The Water Gap region is indeed beautiful; we don't get up there nearly so often as we probably should, since we're so close.

>135 harrygbutler: kewlness! Have you ever been to Terhune's "Sunnybank"? I'd love to go, but the traffic is a nightmare I'd prefer to not experience.

>136 fuzzi: Not yet. We were going to try to visit last year but didn't get a good opportunity. My cousin and her family live not too far away, so there's a good chance we'll be able to manage a visit sometime this year.

Hi, I'm Ron and live in Mansfield Texas. I have a question about a weed that looks like a small clover but has a very woody stem that's hardy enough to be choking out my St. Augustine grass. Any ideas what this might be?

If it blooms yellow, it's probably oxalis - a prolific grower that tends to take over, and is real work to get out when it's gotten started. It has clover leaves, but I don't know about the stem.

Oxalis has a soft stem, at least in my experience in the Northeast.

Hi, I'm Tess and I'm from the Midwest--central Ohio, to be exact. Technically I'm in zone 6A, but only 4 miles where the dividing line for zone 6B. Our weather, sure enough, though, is more like 6A. That means the coldest temps in the winter is usually -5 to -10 F. I have also seen killing frosts the last week of May. The rule of thumb here: don't plant before Memorial Day; but I will plant in pots that sit on the deck the week before that. The usual casualty of a late frost for me are the lilacs, of which mine is not a really hardy strain, but I still love them! Besides flowers, mostly perennials, I plant tomatoes and have raspberry and blackberry bushes. I want an apple tree, but hubby says no---I think he doesn't want to mow/trim around it. I'll soften him up. I go to the local apple orchard and pick 1-2 bushes each fall to make apple sauce and baked apples....the tree would pay for itself! Last year most of my rose bushes were 20 years old and I lost 4/6 of them. I will be replacing them this year. I don't have really good soil, very clay, but each time I dig I add peat and manure. Most of my beds are also heavy sun beds, so no shade loving plants for me! We have 5 large white pines that are 40-60 feet tall, a Norwegian pine, a blue spruce, and a Douglas Fir that provide a sun/windbreak on the west side of the house. Also, scattered in the back 3 acres are maples and oaks, a giant tulip tree, a cherry tree, and a black walnut. At the very back of the property is a "tree line" with a barbed wire fence that separates our property from the other. It is a mass of small saplings which do not thrive well because we just leave it as is--filled with poison ivy and brambles. Now that my hubby and I are in our late 60's, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain this property and the house and the pool. Trying to simply things here!

Trifolia I’ve been trying to accept your invitation to become an administrator of this group, but the link you gave me is for the German site and your page is set not allowing messages.
Sorry to be writing to you in this way.

Ruth

>23 staffordcastle: I have been to London a few times and never knew about the Garden Museum. When my stars align again, I plan to go back and it will be on my list! Thanks, looks like my kind of place.

>142 2wonderY: - Thank you, Ruth. I have sent you a PM. I hope it will work this way.

>144 Trifolia: It worked this time. Thanks for bestowing the honor.

>145 2wonderY: - Great. I am happy to leave the group in your capable green hands. Have fun!

Happy World Soil Day, y’all!

I hope yours is healthy.

Please read:
https://www.librarything.com/privacy
https://www.librarything.com/about/authors

Advertising is not allowed on LibraryThing. Spam will be flagged and removed.

>148 flahertylandscape: You are welcome here, but please edit your post to remove advertising of your books. Otherwise the post will disappear entirely.

He's just posted more spam.

The other topic is now gone.

>149 MarthaJeanne: Understood. Deleted all links and related text.

>150 2wonderY: Understood. Deleted all links and related text.

>151 MarthaJeanne: Understood. Deleted all links and related text.

Hello. I was born in southwest Virginia, grew up in northwest Ohio, and then moved around the country for a couple of decades. I lived in Lexington, Kentucky 1981-87 and have lived in Louisville since 1993. I retired almost three years ago from tech writing for a software company and began gardening last year. I'm learning a lot -- thrilled with the successes and learning to take philosophically the failures.

I get books from Amazon and Carmichael's Bookstore and the public library. I read a lot of e-books because my eyesight is waning and it's easier to adjust the size and clarity of the text. I listen to audiobooks, too. My favorites of the past year are Hamnet, narrated beautifully by Ell Potter, and Say Nothing, read by the author. My favorite Kentucky authors are Robert Gipe and Harriette Arnow, with whose niece I worked on Now and Then magazine at ETSU in Johnson City, Tennessee back in the '90s.

I look forward to getting to know you all.

>155 LaureneRS: Hey! Glad you found your way over here. Do share your gardening adventures with us!

Happy World Soil Day, people! How are you celebrating?

Hello all, my name is Lee. I live in Northern California, at the top end of the Sacramento Valley. Zone 9a I think. Hot (triple digits) for about 8 months of the year, and dry. We are in a time of drought, even though this winter has blessed us with good rainfall. I looked up our chill factor to see which peonies I could grow, and I think it was in the 700-800 range. My book that I wrote it in is across the room and there is a15 lb. cat on my lap. So I'm guessing.

I live in the house my grandparents had built in the 1950s. My grandmother was an artist in the garden. Her garden was featured in the magazine, Pacific Horticulture, newspapers and I think Sunst magazine, although I can't find the article, so I'm not sure. The yard has three levels. Grandma and grandpa went for many drives and camping trips, bringing home rocks from everywhere, even packing them out of the Sierras on horseback. She made rock paths, a small patio on the second level, in addition to the patio by the house, and rock borders for her terraced flowerbeds down the hill. Her style of gardening was intensive. Something in bloom every season. Roses, azaleas, 100s of different types of daffodils, chrysanthemums, and so much more.

Her granddaughter is not that type of gardener. I love the yard, but I welcome the birds and beasts and insects to partake as well. I don't use chemicals to kill anything. I weed sometimes, but use a lot of mulch to help. I like so many of the weeds. My philosophy is that if something wants to grow, and isn't hurting anything, let it grow. I don't love roses. They hurt me all the time.

I am in the process of transforming the yard to be drought tolerant, native species, and edible fruits and nuts. I don't grow vegetables because of the competition with the deer. Farmer's Market is much easier to get vegetables from than my yard.

All that being said, this April I am hosting a wedding in my garden! This has been a great motivator, and I am bending some of my rules. I am using fertilizers and snail pellets. I am pulling weeds. I'm not cleaning out all the vinca or sweetpeas that have overrun certain areas because they are likely to be blooming, green and pretty by April. I hope I am allowed to start a thread here to list my daily efforts to get the yard in shape, maybe with some photos? I kind of want a record of it somewhere.

Two questions

Has anyone tried Bokashi composting?

For the US gardeners, has your USDA zone changed? They’ve updated the maps this year.

I’m in hardiness zone 6 or 7 now instead of 5. I’m going with 6, with winter temperatures averaging between -10°F and 0°F. Last season, we had a long arctic freeze in December that would have challenged even zone 6 plants.

I have bags and bags of leaves for insulation though.

>160 2wonderY: it appears we're still 8a. Works for me.

I have lots of leaves, too.

I'm doing chicken composting this year. Chopped up leaves are being added to the chicken run, along with food scraps they enjoy. The chickens scratch it and stir in their manure. I harvested some for one of my raised beds and it was nice and dark, loamy.

>160 2wonderY: Looks like we are still in 9b. I don't know that there used to be a or b, at least in the charts I was looking at.

>161 fuzzi: That sounds like an ideal way to compost. My grandma used to buy piles of cow manure, but only if they had aged a couple of years, otherwise they were too "hot." Is that a problem with the chicken manure/compost?

Canada's zone maps have had a and b categories for a long time. My zone has shifted from 3b to 4a, due to climate change. It means I can grow more things, but on the other hand, it's not so good for the native plants and we get way more freezing rain in winter, which I HATE.

>162 MrsLee: chicken manure is "hot", true. However, this manure is mixed with straw, leaves, yard clippings, leftover food, feathers (molt) etc. and has been exposed to sun, rain, wind.

Either way it should be okay, as I dug it into in the raised bed for Spring planting.

>164 fuzzi: Yes, that's very different from using it directly on plantings.

I've used elephant manure which has the opposite problem. Not hot at all, you can use it directly. But it hasn't killed the seeds in the elephant's diet either. I wasn't fast enough the first year, and it took a few more before I got rid of the red amaranth. That stuff self-seeds like crazy. On the other hand, whatever had been digging in my seed beds stopped.

>165 MarthaJeanne: Guffaw! I’ll bet!