more moldy figs :( more mostly composted leaves to cover Trying to figure out whether or not this bin is going to be able to handle the entire rind of a watermelon, or if it's just going to be too full after trying to balance all that green out with browns. My rind has been sitting there for a couple days, waiting, as I contemplate. If my new bin gets here before I'm done thinking it over, then I won't have to contemplate anymore.

Hi Kaye, and of course you are welcome and anyone else that you would like to invite. I'm so glad my daylily friends are passing the word! Deb and I have been trying to get this plant swap going now for 2 years and we've been doing pretty good. You'll have a ton of fun. I'm like you, in that I like tropicals, too. Of course, my greenhouse is filled to bursting in the winter. LOL. OK, I would love to get any of the following: Any rain lilies, Hedychiums - Yellow Butterfly, Disney, Pink V, Luna Moth, Crinums - Ellen Bosanquet, Powellii pink, scabrum, and more, Iris - Japanese - any, Curcuma Elata and the Zedoaria 'Bicolor Wonder'. Am I being much of a pig yet? Of course, I would LOVE the Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata'! I have some new Curcuma's that I got this year - Pink Supreme - and the others I'll have to go get the names of them. I have one Burgundy Pineapple lily, tons of canna, (Richard Wallace), Rice Paper Plant - (if you get some of this, you may be cussing me out in a few years), Maranta a. variegata, PANCRATIUM Hymenocallis zeylanicum, Air Potato, if I can find that little potato that I dropped off the vine this afternoon, Abutilon 'Marion Stewart", I also have 2 pieces of a Hydrangea that my kids gave me years ago that is as tall as I am now. Found a couple of branches that were laying down on the ground so I cut them off the mother plant and they're out in the greenhouse now in a bucket of water. I have tons of Datura seed, the normal white and also the purple swirl. I have Pink Frost brugmansia and a yellow/orange one, not sure of the name. I also have a collection of Philodendrons that I might be able to get some cuttings from. P. Caulkin's gold I can definitely get a cutting, and a couple more that are in the greenhouse. Oh, and I can get a bunch of cuttings of both of my Glory Bowers (Clerodendrum thomsoniae), one is white with red bleeding, and the other is pink with red bleeding. I also have Daylilies (can you believe it?). Ok, that's enough for now. Let me know if you're interested in trading any or all of the above. hahahahahahha Thanks, Vickie

HI Everybody!! SO happy to see this forum. I hope to learn a lot from everyone. I'm in LA on the Northshore, so not as close to the coast but close enough. I have some input on hurricane protection plantings. We live in a 100+ year old house and whoever planned the plantings here really knew what they were doing. Along both sides of our house we have Camellia trees and all over the yard are Live Oaks and Pecan trees. When Katrina came through we only lost one Live Oak and it was leaning a little already from a tropical storm. Luckily the lean was towards the woods! Anyway our house had very little damage while most homes in the area had a lot of damage. I really think the camellias helped keep much of the debris from hitting our house (they were rather beat up afterwards). After Katrina I am anti-pine tree. We saw too many of them snapped in half afterwards. I'm mostly a bulb and vegetable gardener myself but haven't been doing either for very long.

My banana is not only doing better but much better! He seems to be extremely happy now! He's got his 7th leaf coming out! (Ignore the boxes. They are critical to maintaining his happiness, I swear!) So spring seems to have come absurdly early. I'm both really excited and enjoying this warmth and really really worried. My peach is blooming 3 weeks earlier than last year. As well as my nectarines. Ralph, remember I had a bunch of baby purple leafed peaches? Well I guess they're old enough to bloom too! Completely unexpected! The ones I potted up but didn't bring to plant swap (potted same time as plant swaps) didn't bloom so I guess they got too much shock from being transplanted, so whoever got them last time it probably won't this year, but next year seems likely! But most worrisome of all... 3 of the 6 blueberries I have are in bud, and one of them has started blooming... I know there are various types that bloom at different times of the year but this seems absurd! Of course after checking out weather for the week looks like we're going to get a frost! Obviously! I just hope I get SOME peaches... :( Anyone know what this is? Its in a few spots of the garden so I think its a pack of bulbs I got and planted and forgot about... but they're anemones right? Just that most of the pictures I looked up have black insides not yellow. In addition to all those... I see that my pink banana (musa velutina) is coming up. My black magic taro, midori taro, black and blue salvia, purple and black salvia, my crinium, all those irises I got from the swap, the canna lilies you gave me Ralph, my candy lily, and my toad lily (which ALSO seems to have spread some! there's a sprout about a foot away from the main body! WHICH IS AWESOME). I'm just worried that some of these are tender and shouldn't be arriving so quickly =___=; Like the taros and bananas... But some like this quince is perfectly fine to bloom now. No fruit expected so go enjoy yourself lil quincey! What sites do you guys use to check for frost? What's your assumed last frost date around here? Do you use the 50% value or wait longer? As for the plant swap coming this spring... (when is it again?) I may have gotten a little excited with seeds: Of the things I should have extras of to bring... some cardoons and artichokes (started in beginning of January so would be nice and ready for spring), some edible hibiscus (Roselles), cape gooseberries, naranjilla, and maybe some others... have 27 varieties of tomatoes which I need to separate the seedlings for and throw into other pots so we'll see how much space I have for spares :3 Ralph, the coleus you gave me at last swap is doing great btw! I gave him a haircut and making some more cuttings of him... should have some cuttings from various salvias as well (although I'll be honest... I let too many of them sit in tray of water too long and got root rot :( whoops... added a bunch of pebbles/stones to them now so pots sit above the drained out water so hopefully the rest survive .___. ) Also, if there was anything anyone wanted from these seeds https://imgur.com/a/trPlW I can throw in a pot and start for you guys before the next swap :) And Karen, you are right. There has been a lot going on outside, although to be fair right now its getting confused with all this warmth. I do need to get myself some more winter plants though! Like lenten roses. And yes... the greenhouse... I'm debating going halfway and getting a quick cheap(ish) throwup structure to enjoy now and then later getting a fullblown one (...maybe I'll get a different house w/ more land... hahaha.) or just going all out now... I do kinda wanna do everything which tends to be warmer/humid environments but that could get really expensive in winter so still debating on what the focus should be... did you buy a prefabricated one or completely create it yourself? Any recommendations for which sites to look at pre-fab ones?