Hi Y'all! I think this is a fascinating thread. I lurk on this thread occasionally but don't post often.....spending most of my time on the Oklahoma Gardening forum. I do so enjoy reading all the different opinions, ideas and experiences everyone shares with one another. I learn something new about gardening every day and hope I never stop learning. Hi George! I haven't seen you on the Okla. forum lately, but know you are here on this forum a lot. I am glad to see you didn't float away in this summer's floods. :) I always learn so very much from YOUR posts, and I am immensely flattered to think that you might learn something from mine. Oldroser, I agree that some plants that are very well-adapted in the north do not grow well here in the south and vice versa. My DH grew up in Pennsylvania and I try (mostly unsuccessfully) to grow rhubarb here for him. I also have tried many heirloom tomatoes that grow great in the northern and northeastern states and they are never as productive here nor do they produce really large tomatoes here. Raccoons plague us here too. Last summer a friend of ours decided to trap and relocate the coons that were getting his corn. Three weeks after he first set out the live trap, he had trapped 16 raccoons! They got every bit of his corn too. PNBrown, I love CR zuke! It is one of the few spring-planted veggies that is still growing and producing like mad. It is probably one of the toughest plants I've ever grown....the drought and bugs don't bother it here, and it will produce until frost wipes it out most years. Digit, What you say about the origin of seeds is so true! I think many of us don't know a great deal about where the seeds we use come from. I have been trialing watermelons and beans purchased from Seeds of Italy this year....and it seems that many of the seeds I am trying were bred either in the Netherlands or Japan! I think the days of locally-owned firms selling locally-raised seeds are long gone. When I was a child, we purchased our seeds from two Texas-based firms: Porter & Sons, and Willhite Seed. Back then, I believe they actually did produce their own seed there in Texas. Willhite still exists, but I don't know if they raise their own seeds anymore. Some of the seeds being sold as Porter, Improved Porter or Dark Porter Cherry or whatever do not bear much resemblance to the Porter tomato we grew from seeds from the Porter & Son Seed Co. when I was a child, either. :( With your shorter growing season, I think it is amazing you can raise bell peppers at all! My favorite large pepper is Super Heavyweight, but it takes it FOREVER for the peppers to get gigantic and turn yellow. Mary, When I started gardening on my own in Texas when I was 23 or 24 , I thought I knew 'everything' about veggie gardening because I had literally grown up in my family's gardens. All I learned, and quickly, was that gardening is much harder than it looks and I did not, after all, know 'everything'! (Oh the unspeakable arrogance of youth!) Here I am 25 years later, and even though I feel like a fairly knowledgeable gardener in some ways, I now know that there is so much more I do not know and probably never will know. Still, I keep slogging along. As our climate changes, and as we have to deal with new and different challenges (including terminator seed technology, GMO crops and the ongoing consolidation of many small seed companies into huge conglomerates), I think we all must remain as adapatable as the plants we try to grow. If it were easy to produce yummy, fresh, healthy organic veggies in one's backyard garden, everyone would do it! And, clearly, everyone is not doing it. I wish you good luck in your gardening endeavors. Do not become too discouraged. Gardening in our climate is HARD. Don't let the difficulty of it rob you of all the joy it can bring! Dawn

I listen to Bob Tanem In The Garden on Sunday mornings 7AM-10AM. You can find him on KSFO 560 AM, and there are archives/podcast available to download. He is a longtime Marin County nurseryman and lecturer, and has a wonderful infectious laugh and friendly manner. He offers advice that steers people away from using toxic chemicals in their garden, and instead explains how to use low toxicity soap/oil sprays, beneficial insects, etc to get rid of diseases and pests. I like the fact that he takes the approach of using less harmful methods first, then resorts to stronger chemicals when absolutely necessary, and talks about how to use them responsibly. Most of us gardeners want to minimize chemical usage, but when there are times when you need to get serious with a problem, it is nice to have a person well educated in both natural and the "unnatural" products steer you in the right direction.

Garden Club Topics 1)How to put together nice hanging baskets 2) Start saving blooms in spring in a large container (whole club activity) for potpourri to share in Oct. and Nov. 3) Basic flower designs 4) Table size water fountains – how to make 5) Hosta gardening – miniature – medium – gigantic! 6) Holiday wreath making – bring scissors, materials, etc. 7) Unusual and underused garden plants 8) Honeybees – garden friends – contact local Bee society 9) Bird migration 10) Putting your garden flowers to rest 11) Mysteries of the soil - - all you need to know about soil and the effects different varieties have on plants – extension officer 12) Container gardening – winter displays 13) Lasagna gardening – no-til, no-dig gardening 14) Attracting hummingbirds 15) Making it easy – things you can do to make gardening easier, mulching, potting, and much more 16) ‘not all insects are bad’ 17) Dried flower art on soap 18) What’s new in recycling? 19) History of Sunflowers 20) Companion planting 21) Moon planting – by the light of a silvery moon 22) Lilies & hostas 23) Hyper-tufa planters 24) Leaf casting 25) Planting Container party 26) Fall arrangements with pumpkins and gourds 27) Feeding your winter friends – best types of food for no waste, food recipes 28) Who knew, plants at the Zoo. . 29) Old Native Indian gardening 30) A journey through time and nature 31) Hydrangea mania - Everything you ever wanted to know about hydrangeas 32) nightscaping – garden rooms – lighting – playing cards – entertaining 33) Shrubs beyond yew 34) Victorian parlor plants 35) Heirloom plants and seeds 36) Wildflower walks 37) Seed starting – different styles – hydroponics – under lights – under plastic etc. 38) Lawn treatments – when and how – from feeding to mowing height at different times of the year to dethatching to plugging 39) Creating a wildlife vacation land – wildlife federation 40) How to garden when you are handicapped – tools and techniques 41) Rain gardening and creating a rain barrel 42) Aquatic gardening 43) Carnivorous gardening – contact carnivorous plant society 44) Bonsai – expanding the plant lover’s horizon – contact local bonsai society 45) Topiary gardening – contact topiary society 46) Easiest way to start a new garden – newspapers 47) Square foot gardening 48) Dwarf orchards – how many trees do you want? 49) Terrestrial Invasives – problematics and management – extension office 50) Wholesale! – set up with company beforehand – whole club go at same time and buy plants at wholesale or near wholesale prices 51) Thorns and jelly – cacti and other succulents 52) Ornamental & garden pest management 53) Great gardens of the world – their history, design, traditional plantings, for example – India, Thailand, Japan, China, Austria, Netherlands 54) Heirloom vegetables 55) The tomato – old and new 56) From garden to vase – cutting gardens – harvesting & condition – perennials, shrubs, annuals, foliage 57) Rock gardens – what, where, how – rock garden society 58) National Agricultural Library – what’s there? 59) Intimacy in your garden!! Intimate spaces, texture, color, & the right plant for the right space 60) Roadside Geology of Georgia - Bill Witherspoon - rocks deposit nutrients into the soil, plants grow based on nutrients found in the soil 61) Nutrient management – managing applications for strong growth, while minimizing escaping run-offs. Extension agent 62) Cooking with Herbs from your garden 63) Impact gardening – small space gardening 64) Host a chili cook-off and craft fair 65) What’s buzzing in your garden? Different bees, their benefits, & why they love your garden – promoting pollinators. Extension agent or bee society 66) Doing battle with gypsy moths – extension agent 67) Wings of fancy – butterfly types & their host plants 68) That darn squirrel ate all my tulip bulbs again! Using plastic cups, yogurt tubs etc. 69) Viburnums and their use in your landscape 70) Woody ornamentals – extension agent 71) Conifer gardens – green – green – and more green 72) Out of the heat and into the cool – shade gardening 73) Moss gardening 74) Zinnia or sunflower contest or flower show 75) Your heady garden – fragrance 76) Garden structures – accessorizing your garden 77) The Natural Communities of Georgia - Leslie Edwards 78) Wow! No weeds! – miniature gardens 79) Annuals for color 80) Rose Gardening 81) Organic Gardening Fundamentals 82) Home Garden fruits and berries 83) Trees & Shrubs for Home Landscapes 84) Easy Care Lawns and Groundcovers 85) Perennials for all year 86) Bulbs for Spring, Summer and Fall 87) Going Green (conservation methods) in Lawn and Garden 88) Herb Gardening 89) Wildflower Gardening 90) Container Gardening 91) Greenhouse Gardening 92) Winter Sowing 93) Native Plants in the Home Landscape 94) Piet Oudolf - landscape architect gardening principles 95) Pruning Simplified - What, When, and How 96) Old-Fashioned Flowers for Modern Gardeners 97) Exotic Tropicals for beds and borders 98) Rediscovering Cottage Gardens 99) Planten Un Bloom - public park in Hamburg, Germany 100) Ornamental Grasses for Year-round beauty 101) Art of Preserving Flowers 102) Wreaths for All Seasons 103) How to make a meadow wildflower garden 104) Landscaping Tips and Tricks 105) Garden Therapy 106) Creepy Crawlers in your Garden 107) Planning/planting your lawn/flower beds for Curb Appeal 108) Conservation Planting - improve your soil with the plants you grow 109) Low Maintenance Trees and Shrubs - how native plants make gardening easier 110) Planning for Lifetime Gardening 111) Garden Planning to conserve water - goes beyond just mulching around the plants 112) Hugelkultur Gardening 113) After Gardening - Gardening Stretches - Simple, easy stretches after you garden to avoid muscle cramps and fatigue 114) Xeriscape Gardening 115) Art in the Garden – Garden Sculptures 116) Falconry 117) Daylillies – Merrilily Gardens 118) Mushroom Gardening – grow your own mushrooms 119) Arborists 120) Grasslands 121) Milkweed 122) Clematis 123) “Saving Life on Earth” – Doug Talamy 124) Species vs. Cultivars vs. Natives 125) Honeysuckle – Natives vs. Cultivars 126) Cultivating Care: Building Ecological Communities 127) Wild and Neat: Bridging the Gap between Great Design and Ecology 128) Being Native in the Anthropocene – Chuck Cannon 129) Site Commissioning 130) Composting 131) Hawthornes 132) Monarchs 133) Butterflies 134) Living on a Liberated Landscape 135) Dahlias 136) Rediscovering the Low Country Landscape 137) Endophytes 138) Self-sustaining Landscape 139) Sedges 140) Living in the Wild 141) Growing a Greener World 142) Fluttering through the Garden 143) Bog Gardening 144) Land Trusts 145) Gardening for Joy and Abundance 146) Forest Bathing 147) Botanical Adventures of Charles Darwin 148) Birding 149) Hummingbird Gardening 150) Gardening as Exercise 151) Water Gardening 152) Planting for Overwintering Birds 153) Cut Flower Gardening 154) Rose Gardening

My garden is not your garden, and for that, you should be grateful. Any garden, yours or mine, begins not with the plants, but with the soil which dictates what plants will thrive, and what plants will eventually be pulled up and thrown away. My soil is sand. Not sandy, mind you, but deep, granular sand. Broken bits of pine straw from years of mulching infiltrate this sand several inches deep, along with leaf litter from the many overhanging oak trees. The microorganisms in the ground have been at work in my garden far longer than I have, and as a result of their endless task of digesting plant and animal residues, the sand has, in some places, where moisture from a coveted irrigation system aids their work, actually attained an appearance of soil. I am not fooled. Neither are the worms, which should abound in a proper garden, but forsake my ground for the amended beds next door. My garden is shady. I value the oaks more than the flowers that would replace them, and so I make do with foliage plants that are happy with the filtered light. A single clump of Evergreen Giant liriope, not a border or a mass, but a single clump, flourishes here. A vivid magenta cordyline called Red Sister lives in a blue ceramic pot smack dab in the middle of that shady bed, lending a surprise of color amidst the greenery. Seasonal color comes from the agapanthus, which I prize more for its elegant strap leaves than for its funny blue flowers, and more seasonal color comes from the beautiful firespike. The brilliant red flowers of the firespike are complimented by its large, glossy green leaves, and brighten a shade corner magnificently during the cool days of fall and winter. My garden is home to sago and coontie, both from the ancient family of cycads. House plants have settled into the garden as well, airplane plants and peace lilies and the occasional bromeliad, planted there in an effort to save them from my in-door negligence. My garden, whats left of it now, tolerates an occasional salt-water bath. Hurricane Dennis taught me an invaluable lesson in what to plant on a barrier island. Plants I thought would make it didnt, and plants I wouldnt have bet on came through without so much as a wilted leaf. A low bird bath sits among the foliage in my garden, outfitted with a fountain which drips fresh water into it every time the irrigation runs. The ground birds love this fountain especially, and I have spied the occasional butterfly perched there as well, sipping from the shallow cup. At the base of the bird bath, a miracle grows in the form of a maidenhair fern. This little beauty thrived before the hurricane, with its fine, black stems and delicate leaves. I relate ferns to deeply wooded glades and rich, humus soil, and the fact that this plant has been happy in my sand garden is, to me, a miracle. My garden is a work in progress, which is probably the definition of anyones garden. Life there begins with the microorganisms invisible to my eye, and is endless. It supports plants and birds and salamanders, and doesnt even mind an occasional visit from the dog. Instead of raking the leaves out, now, I rake them in, and cover them with more pine straw so they wont blow away. Someday, I am confident, I will turn over a shovel of sand to fit in another plant and find a worm in my garden. I live for the day. 603 words. Brief, I ain't.