Hi all, My first plant was an African violet. My grandmother was at fault. It was 1979 and I was about 23 years old and in college. I decided I would like to have a house plant and went over to her place to get some pothos cuttings. She grew wonderful looking pothos like nobody I've ever seen since. Anyway she was really thrilled that I was interested in having of houseplant and cut me several good lengths of pothos stems. When we were done with that she took me over to the window and showed me an African violet. She told me that I could take one of those leaves, put it in a glass of water, and that it would grow new plants from the base of the stem. I thought to myself, "no way", but I took a couple of those leaves home, stuck them in a glass of water as she instructed and indeed after couple months little plantlets started to grow from the bottom of the stems. I then planted them in African violet soil and had two plants. I soon took more leaves and started even more African violets. I thought it was such a coup how I was able to produce these "free" plants. Although by the time I bought the pots and soil those plants were not free. lol I then started propagating other plants. I even grew a lemon tree from a lemon seed I had harvested when making lemonade one time. My surprise was that the thing had thorns. Even though I liked my plants I can say that I was really in love with them. That would come later. I graduated from college and married a girl who was in ROTC and went into the army six months later. She was immediately sent to different schools and we traveled around the country to three different places in less than a year. Keeping plants going under those conditions was not very good and I lost a lot of plants, but not my African violets. I wound up in Washington, DC and worked for what was pretty much a white collar "sweat shop". It wasn't uncommon for me to work 60 to 70 hours a week. I needed somewhat of a diversion occasionally though and I found that diversion to be houseplants. I was very lucky to share a corner office with a couple of other people. The sunlight was incredible, and the windows were tinted so that the sun was not too harsh. I bought several starter plants and had them around my desk. To make a long story short I had a spider plant that was just magnificent and I had a Swedish Ivy that was to die for. The Swedish Ivy hung from a 9 foot ceiling and was basically a pillar all the way to the floor. I could not get my arms around the circumference of the plant. Anyway that's when my love of plants really blossomed. I continued to purchase and propagate African violets and had several to give away. My wife, who would eventually become my ex wife, and I moved to Denver. I then became acquainted with other gesneriad cousins of African violets. I went to African violet and gesneriad shows annually and met several people who grew these plants. I love all of my plants but my first love is African violets and their gesneriad cousins. Larry

Hey there, sjerin. I was just stopping by to provide an update on the matter of composting bermuda. Yep! When I planted wheat, the bermuda in the soil went bye bye. Of course, I did attempt to remove as much bermuda grass and root prior to planting the wheat, but those smaller roots that make it so persistent were in there. That was last spring. I now have alfalfa planted in that plot. Zero bermuda! Also, once wheat is firmly rooted it kicks out bindweed,too. However, once removed the bind weed returned. It really likes the alfalfa, too. Darn it. Update: I turned that compost pile, today. When I assembled the pile in the usual layered fashion the ratio of bermuda to all others was very small. I wanted to insure the bermuda didn't take over when the compost cooled. It worked. It took about two weeks to include all the bermuda grass and roots because of the ratio. And I had a lot of it. But when I turned it today there was much that was not yet composted. But zero bermuda was evident. Yay! It can be done.

Most potting soil already has a good amount of sand mixed in. I start my seeds in 16 oz plastic cups from the grocery, poke a couple of hole in the bottom, and set them in cheap aluminum roasting pans so I can always keep an inch or two of water in there. Watering from below this way cuts way down on any seed rot and damping off. If you're using bagged potting soil, you'll need to add some some liquid fertilizer to the water a couple times a week. Just add a bit, so it all ends up 1/4 to 1/2 strength, and better to give too little than too much. When the little seedling are about four inches tall and four leaves, you can start setting them outside to get used to the sun. You can carry the aluminum trays in and out to a deck for a few hours a day, but I just put mine out in spot that is "full shade" for a couple of days, and move them to a spot in my yard that gets a few hours of morning sun after that. If you're south of Atlanta you've got plenty of time to start seeds and get them planted before the ground freezes. I recall Atlanta being very, very, very hot. Be cautious in Georgia about buying new daylilies from nurseries. Most nurseries down South have daylily rust, even if they have a spray program to control it, it can be in the plant tissue and show up in your garden the next year. It makes the foliage look crappy, and weakens the whole plant, and requires a spray program of two different fungicides to control. If you can possibly avoid it, do so. You can buy from northern nurseries where rust doesn't overwinter and you can grow from seed. Oh, and you can plant the daylily when it's 6-8 inches tall. I'm a very bad person, and I have had some seedlings in these cups that sat frozen in solid ice over winter and bloomed this summer. It was just pitiful. If you felt bad for Charlie Brown's Christmas tree, this would've made you cry.

I received my box from Faye today and wow! what a large box she sent stuffed full of goodies! I love everything she sent which included a beautiful tin "welcome" sign with flowers and a dragonfly, a darling patriotic cottage style windchime, a large pack of seed bags,plant ties,post it notes, sharpie markers, glitter glue, garden gloves, hand lotion, an "Outdoor Favorites Recipe Book" which my husband confiscated already, a great variety of wonderful candy and bouncing balls for the grandkids (they're gonna love them), and a bunch of different garden seeds which I can't wait to plant. And last but not least, the cutest card with an adorable puppy and kitty on the front with a surprise amazon MP3 gift card inside so I can purchase download my own favorite music! Perfect! I adore everything, but my favorite is the patriotic cottage style windchime! It matches my house style just right and how cute! You sent too much Faye. Everything is greatly appreciated. I would have chosen the same things if I were buying it for myself! You are such a great gardening friend! So thoughtful! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sue N.