My garden didn't grow either , here is a picture of tomatoes that should be Beefsteak.

I would also like a buddy. I am new at this and know very little about gardening but still trying to learn. I am NW of Barrie, ON but do not know the zone. Tks.

Claire, that's what my beefsteaks looked like! Here i thought i got mislabeled plants!

Learning, i would say that you're probably zone 4. There are sites that will tell you what zone you're in - i thought i had one bookmarked but i don't seem to. You could probably google it, though. If you have any questions, just ask away, here or maybe on the Gardening in Canada forum.

Debbie, i have to apologize for not posting for so long. I'm not sure where the summer went, but, like you, there doesn't seem to have been much of one. We had a couple weeks of hot weather in late July, early August, but it was cool and rainy before that and it brought the mosquitoes out in force. Tonight the Weather Network says it will go down to +3°C, so i brought some plants in, covered some others, and put some containers into dh's tarp shed. And i picked all the tomatoes, which was not much at all.

It's sad that summer is ending. I was just reflecting today that i never really did enjoy my garden a lot this year. Even last summer when it was on the garden tour and i had to work so hard at keeping it looking good, i had fun doing it. This year, it seems that all i did was weed, weed, weed. And they still got the upper hand. Things certainly didn't perform as well as they did last year - well, most things. My Ville de Lyons clematis went nuts this year, and so did the heliopsis, which is still really pretty right now. Many of my daylilies didn't bloom, and some of my lilies didn't. A few of them came up and then turned black and died.

On the bright side of things, i had the summer to enjoy our little grandbaby. My son and his family have moved up to their own house now and are no longer right next door so i can't drop in every day. And i've been back at work for a couple of weeks now, so that cuts into the baby-visiting time! Gonna do that tomorrow, though.

Guess this is all for tonight - it's bedtime! Hope you have a good time in Kentucky - what an adventure!

Clairdo, those tomatoes look pretty big to me. If u give them some epson salts they will ripen faster too. 1 tbsp in 1 gallon water. Is that grass clippings u are using as mulch?

Hi Learning *wave* You must be in zone 4 or 5 I would think. What would u like to know? Just ask and we will try to help u out. *S*

Marcia, I know the summer just seemed to fly by. It went down to 3c here last night so today I took out the a/c in the family room as it was so cold. It was 66 in the house when I got up this morning and poor hubs was a popsicle! Told him he should be having the heat flashes and not me.*LOL*
I lost a couple of clematis over the winter, they wre doing so well, but one of my Jackamanni are throwing out seeds like crazy cause I have 4 new plants growing. *S*
I wonder why your lilies turned black? Did they get too much rain? I have let my lilies go to seed this year as I want them to fill up empty places in the beds. Don't know if it will work or not but I am hoping.
Did your son move far away or just the other side of town? My son and family will be moving in December and it will be a very far walk for them to come visit us as they don't drive either..*L* I'm still hoping I will be able to look after Rosie when she gets outta school for a few hours, but nothing has been set up yet.
I'm not going to Ky by the way if u are wondering what I'm doing in here. The man called the day they were suppose to arrive to say that his wife had a panic attack and they were going back to Alberta. They got as far as Winnipeg and she got worse, so that was very sad. So it ended up the whole chat party was cancelled as a few others had to cancel because they were ill also. It was such a let down and I was so disappointed, but I just hope the lady will recover.
We are still waiting to hear from the contractor too. Hope it's soon.
Well I'd better get to bed, take care everyone.
Debbie :-)

Hi,
I'm new to Gardenweb, but have found it to be wonderful for information and advice :-)

I live in Sudbury. I grew Celebrity and Brandywine tomatoes this year that were huge! I do have really good soil for my veggie garden though.

My clematis didn't do well at all :-(

I look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing information and ideas.

Kay

Hi everyone. I am new to these forums, as well, and hope to find some buddies here. Does everyone here try to stretch the zone by using plants from higher zones? I have had quite a bit of success with that. Like some of you, I have found this year less satisfying than last year. Too much wind, too little rain, perhaps.

I live in the Tri-town area, in the bush, on a lake, so I have some challenges with shade.

Hi cordel nice to meet you. I'm also in the Tri-Towns. This has been the worst summer for gardens that i can remember. All that grew well was the lettuce. but now it's grown to seed. I just planted more lettuce and have no idea if it will grow big enough to eat but it is growing. lol

I had to google Tri-Town to find out where it is! :) Welcome, Cordel and Kaynik!

Debbie, too bad about your trip to Kentucky. Maybe another time?

I haven't been doing much in the gardens over the past few weeks. The weather hasn't been that great - lots of rain and cool temperatures. Today was nice - of course i had a ton of housework to do before going outside. Boo!

I've gotten a few fall bulbs but not many. I'm trying a few autum crocuses and some have come up but haven't bloomed. Today i planted some martagon lilies and got started on an area between a couple of beds where i have a persicaria already planted. I added three aruncus (goatsbeard) and a hosta. A couple of weeks ago, i planted a rose that was in a container into the ground. It was one of those Walmart bodybag roses and it grew well and was quite pretty, so i thought i'd see how it would do in the ground. Its name is "Show Biz":

My son moved to our property - now his - a few miles north of us. They're really happy to be in their own place but they have a lot of work to do yet. Darius is growing, growing! She's three months old now and is starting to grab things. Here's a recent picture of her:

My other son is working for a highway construction company and is way over by the Soo! He says he really hates living in motels. I don't blame him, but i tell him he now knows another thing he doesn't want to do for the rest of his life! :)

Well, this is it for now. I've got a cold and i think i'll take it to bed. Talk to you again one of these days!

Hi Claire, I am glad to meet a fellow tri-towner. Our experiences may be a little more related. Hi Kay, good to see you. Marciaz, what a gorgeous child, and the rose is pretty too.

Luckily, we only planted tomatoes this year, that we started ourselves, in the house. They were well grown, in 12 inch pots before we put them out, some in bloom and at least one tomato. They did very well, and we have had tomato every day since July 21, the earliest date ever. It has been a strange summer with too much rain, followed by too dry, but with deep planting the tomatoes did fine.

We did less in our flower gardens than usual this summer for health reasons, but things are looking up, and I hope next year we will be back at it, fully. We have been putting in three hours a day, getting ready for winter. Bulbs should be here soon, I hope before it starts getting cold and nasty, again.

Hi Everyone *waving*
Still waiting for contractors here but hopefully this week. *S* Also have to empty the garage as our neighbours are causing a stink as it's 2 ft on their property, since 1928, but they want it off. So we will have to start clearing it out whether we are going to take it down, make it narrower or move it. I will have to call about a dumpster tomorrow as I have a lot of gardening pots and junk in there....or I should say "WE" have a lot. *L*

Hi Kay, welcome to the group!! *S* You can grow Brandywine in Sudbury? wow, aren't those things humongous? I usually grow tomatoes, but this year was the first time in 20 years I didn't grow any. I usually grow Siberian, Early Girl and have tried Stupice, and I few others I can't remember now.
I have clematis, I lost a few this year so I just have Jackamannis left now and they did great! Is your soil alkaline? If it isn't u maybe need to add some limestone around them.

Hi Cordel, Welcome to the Group!! *S* You are a few hours south/east of me,,, I think. I know I go by the tri towns on the train when I go to Toronto. I also try to stretch the zone in my zone 2 area, I can do it pretty easily if the snow cover is deep enough. Last winter we didn't get our five feet of snow so I lost quite a few things. This summer I guess we got your rain up here *S* I grow a lot of hostas as they like a shadier spot, I grow a lot of mine in full sun too.

Marcia, yes it was too bad about the trip, don't think we will get another chance as we were going with another couple so it wasn't costing us much at all.
I like the look of those Martagon lilies but I don't have any...yet. *S* What kind of bulbs did u order this fall? I was so disappointed with the ones I got from Walmart last year that didn't come up that I'm not getting any from them this year. The goatsbeard that u are talking about are they white & green? I made the mistake of planting some quite a few years ago and they took over so I pulled them out,,, again and again and again. LOL It took me a few years to get them to stop coming back,,,so be careful.
What hosta did u plant?
That rose is beautiful and the leaves look so healthy! I hope it will winter over for you.
You gave/sold your son your property that u wanted to retire to? Sounds like they are closer to u now so u can see Darius more often maybe? *BWG* I love her name by the way. *S* She sure is a cutie and she is 3 months already? Wow time does fly! I can hardly wait until February when our grandchild is born and I am so hoping it is a girl. I love buying all those cute clothes....LOL
Hope u get over your cold soon,
Take care everyone
Debbie :-)

Hi Debbie, and everyone else. My cold didn't amount to a lot, but i'm still blowing my nose a fair bit. At least i don't feel yucky!

I haven't ordered a lot this year - a few lilies, some lilies and tulips for the school, some Dutch iris, some blue hyacinths and some anemones that i'm not sure will be hardy here. Believe it or not, i'm running out of room! LOL And with the weed problem i had this summer, i don't know if i should make any more beds! The goatsbeard i planted is supposed to be a tall one. I've never heard of it being invasive, but i guess i'll find out. I wanted some taller plants for the area i put them in. I want to get an astilboides too - it gets huge! The hosta is "Venus". It has white flowers. I've not done very much in the gardens lately, just not a lot of time. Today i cut down some lily foliage and i've been gathering a few seeds too. The weather was gorgeous today and of course i was inside working on the town newsletter. It was supposed to rain all weekend but the forecast is wrong again! I'm almost done that darn newsletter - some months it's frustrating!

Tomorrow my daughter and i are going up to visit my son and his family. They actually are further away than they were because all summer they were right next door to us! But they have a nice home now and they love it. We were there Thursday evening. Eddie was putting the skirting on the trailer and he had his gf's daughter helping him - cute! LOL Darius was a little crabby, but i got to feed her a bottle and give her a good cuddle. Therapy for me as well as her! :) I haven't bought her a lot of clothes because my son and his gf have been buying so much for her since before she was born! I did crochet a little dress that will fit her next summer, and i'm going to make a couple more things, maybe in time for Christmas.

I don't blame you for being anxious for your new grandbaby!

Hard to believe that next weekend is Thanksgiving already! My other son is pretty sure he'll be home for it, so we'll be together for a change. I'm not sure where we'll be having dinner, here or maybe at Eddie's. Whatever - it will be nice to have a long weekend!

Anyway, it's almost 11:00 and i'm ready to hit the hay. Goodnight - tty again soon!

Hey Debbie - you snowed in? LOL It's October now! Time for a new thread! :)

OOOPS LOL