Wishing you a good Christmas as well, Bill, and everyone else - enjoy whatever winter holidays you celebrate. I know I always look forward to today, knowing that from here on out there will be a bit more light each day. Every time it has rained this late fall, I find myself thanking my lucky stars that it didn't come down as snow! I imagine that we will get cold eventually, but I am not missing it for now.

I think there are several reasons things are slow now: some folks left when the ownership of GW changed, and there are always some folks who don't hang around for long, and this time of year tends to be busy with things other than the garden. Hopefully forums will pick up after the new year. I enjoy this one, perennials, and name that plant the most, but I visit other forums as well. I also read several garden-related blogs on a regular basis, so I still end up doing a fair amount of garden reading.

Right now, much of my reading is cooking-related as I am hosting visiting family for Christmas.

Babs, I did notice a drop in participation when Houzz took over. And as I said, I realize that right now folks are busy with the holidays. I am hoping that after the new year, we'll see more interest in gardening for the upcoming season. I know I always start to think of spring when the days get longer.

Good luck with the cooking!

It definitely is winter quiet time here. I am active on the Orchid forum which tends to be more year round than here. In the spring and summer I do a ton of veggie growing, but don't find anyone on this forum to post about it so I tend to bring my questions and comments on it elsewhere. Is that not the case? Should I regale you all with my meyer lemon success this year (first fruit in 3 years!)?

I suppose I get a little confused as to what types of posts belong in which forums.

Suzabanana, As far as I am concerned, if you grow it in New England, it's fine to post about here. I know that I have a fairly extensive veggie garden, as do PrairieMoon2, defrost49 and homegrowninthe603. I'd love to hear about your meyer lemon success as I killed mine. I'd love to try again some time, but only if the likelihood of success is better, so any hints you have I'd love to know about. You can also post in any of the specialized forums, but I often check here first as growing conditions are most similar to mine.

NHBabs, that is good news indeed! I'll snap a picture of my little meyer lemon with all 7? maybe 10? of it's fruit! Can't wait to make marmalade :)

It is true: many interesting and knowledgeable posters have dropped out over the years. But there are still quite a few left and more arriving, albeit not in great numbers.

I find trees and conifers often go deeper than average into questions (if you ignore the "I want a tree that will grow 30 feet in two years in dry shade" ones).

If you like hostas there's always action there. (and many pictures that only hostaholics can differentiate betweeen)

Landscape design is sometimes 'paint by numbers' but occasionally a substantial discussion takes place. It is especially exciting when someone actually takes advice and widens their path or border past the 2.5 feet mark.

I don't think I've ever looked at "Name that plant" but it has been recommended several times. Time to widen my horizons.

If you like hydrangeas, there's a real smart fellow there who always adds to the discussion.

And over in Perennials there are extended discussions, unbridled opinions and occasional spurts of red hot fury.

I haven't been to Composting/Soils in years, but it used to be a riot. Hilarious stories about taking piles' temperatures at strange hours of the night and permissible amounts of (human) urine and finer points of decomposition.

The question is whose "responsibility" is it to make GW interesting? My impression is the numbers have dropped and there are just fewer participants to add to discussions. I am reluctant to say 'experienced' or knowledgeable participants, but I believe that's the case. People develop other interests or see the same questions repeatedly and, yes, get turned off by posters who seem snarky. I've been taken by surprise by criticism so there's some discussions I just won't get involved in. But I honestly think this is less frequent than on many other web forums and it tends to blow over. There are fewer trolls than a decade ago. There used to be a regular on the Tomato Forum who would appear under different names. His nasty style was very individual so he always blew his cover.

I've met people here and in person at swaps who have become virtual or flesh and blood gardening friends. I stay with GW because I want to hear what they are up to. I care about them personally.

Now that's something that makes me sad: the decrease in local swaps. Well, I stopped hosting after 3 or 4, so I have no right to be unhappy about it.

Marie, it wasn't meant to be "ungracious", hence the "....." at the end of the subject line, which leads to the "For the most part", etc. I did say that I've noticed the decline more in some of the specialty forums, and that I hoped that it didn't decline in our New England forum. I've been on here for years and I enjoy what we have here.

Suzanna and Babs, I have a Meyer lemon that I've had for many years. I had to repot into a slightly larger pot this past spring and had to prune it a bit for shape, so it took a bit of time to adjust, but I have 7 fruits this year. It tends to bloom in February in the sun room, and some of those flowers will set fruit, but it blooms again outdoors in May and more of those seem to fruit. Sometimes I'll get blooms again in September, just before I bring it in. The flowers smell great, and the lemons make the best lemonade ever.

Bill and Suzabanana, I am suffering from serious Meyer lemon envy. I may not have an indoor spot that is the best situation. My previous one I set outside for the summer and it got scale that I could not seem to get rid of. It also suffered whenever I brought it indoors for the winter, losing most of its leaves within a short time. When I was teaching I had a citrus of some type that did well and bloomed all year round. It was probably 3' in all directions, but I think perhaps light was better there and certainly all those little bodies added humidity! It had small orange fruit that the kids ate though they were fairly sour, but since it was a gift, I never knew what it was.

Well, thanks a lot, Bill! We've just gone from boring to sour in under 10 posts and now I want a lemon tree. (you should be smiling, Bill. If not, my line failed) And, thanks to this thread, I just learned that Meyer lemon trees originally came from China, were rejected here due to viruses, and is now a hybridization between a lemon and an orange. And I have no place to put one.

Meyer Lemon Tree

However, thanks to 'in person' and virtual GW friends, who, without explaining a lot of my personal history, have been and continue to be very supportive when my spouse has had and continues to have life-threatening medical conditions. Just last Friday after having lunch together before going into the Yale Smilow Cancer Center, a GW pal with a wicked sense of humor, gave me a gift with a tag no life-long plant lover could forget:

Hope I can keep the mini succulent terrarium going. The grocery store mini roses gift have made it from last year, so there may be hope for this thoughtful gift.

Because this issue of a quieting forum often awakens itself at this time of the year, perhaps it is an indication that because the NE Forum is held dear by its core members, that we give thanks for it during this period of quietude. I know I'm very glad it exists because the people with whom I have contact on the webpage and off, I hold dear.

Merry Christmas!

Jane

I am one of those who kind of disappears in the winter months because of holiday and family events/responsibilities and so I don't take offense at Bill's original posting. I'm a gardner who actually looks forward to the winter months when the gardens are asleep and my only "gardening" is caring for our indoor plants and orchids and planning for next season. This spring and summer my dh and I spent most days outside in our yard. (I have a compulsive weeding/pruning condition.) This summer we also revamped a patio area by the river. That was physical work for us two retirees, but we loved doing it.

Bill brought up a point about those of us who seem to disappear more under this new Houzz umbrella, and again... I'm one of "those." There is one thing about this site that really ticks me off! Maybe some of you will have suggestions? In the past I could stay permanently logged into GW, and easily catch up on what's going on easily on my computer at home or my phone while on the train or wherever. But now if I want to post or even hit the Like button, I have to log back in. That's annoying. i checked the box to keep myself permanently logged in, but that never happens. Suggestions?

Also, I hate the automatic spell check. Whenever I try to sign off as Molie, it turns to something else. (See below.)

Movie

Facebook has been suggested as a reason for reduced Garden Web participation. Otherwise I have been on G.W. many years now and there has always been a certain amount of unpleasant behavior - as well as frequent posting of bad information. Which may be the most important aspect, as so much of the activity here amounts to a Free Help Line: user beware, you get what you pay for.

Interesting perspective from a western neighbor but what I have gotten here is inspiration, advice and encouragement - all with a value far beyond any conventional price.

May I join the citrus fan club? I have a 70 year old ponderosa lemon tree but only one small green fruit at the moment. Can't say much for the flavor but the fruit reach amazing sizes. It looks awful in winter, perks up in summer and smells glorious in bloom.

Often it may not be noticed that cultural recommendations in particular were baseless as the plants grew anyway. Also I think different individual forums vary in how rough the terrain is. As mentioned here previously some can come to be dominated - or at least affected - by individual personalities, for better or worse.

It's all like an in-person social gathering (hence the one being called Garden Party) where there might be a good turn out or a poor one, with everyone having a warm and friendly time - or with tensions forming, depending on who shows up and what they say.

Molie: I'm not sure why you're having that problem with having to log in. I keep this forum bookmarked and the bookmark sidebar is always displayed so I just click on that and get back to the site without logging in. I only use a Mac laptop, though, so I don't know what would happen on a smart phone. I also don't have spell check issues - maybe something to do with my system.

The one thing that annoys me is that when I scroll to the bottom of the thread I always hit a pizza and have to scroll back up a bit.

As others have said, it always get quiet around the holidays and doesn't really get going again until spring comes with the awakening of the garden. My response is to switch gears and concentrate on the wildlife/birds mode which gives me something to look at, think about, and post about in the winter.

I'm very glad for the friendliness and interesting topics produced by the forum members, and I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Claire

This is a screen shot of my gripe - pizza on the right. You can see some of my bookmarks conveniently placed on the left so I can easily change sites.

How come you get pizza and I only get lawn chairs? I want pizza!

I get lawn chairs too and a pool. I just move fast and hit the pizza.

Claire

You're supposed to grab a slice and then go to the table with it.

And then wash your hands and face in the pool....

Claire

Claire - EWWW!!!

On a more serious note, I am grateful for this forum, since my small town doesn't have many folks who garden as I do. There are some stunning gardens, but most don't have a lot in common with mine (I don't have $$ to pay someone to do major landscape transformations and maintenance, and I don't want to sell plants or veggies for instance) and the local garden club was quite short-lived except for the plant exchange which must be something like 20 years old. So I come here to chat on line, and I sometimes visit other New England forum members' gardens. I have made friends, learned much about birds and photography, acquired new plants and new knowledge about plants, all of which I appreciate greatly.

Molie, like Claire, I am able to remain signed in and while I get questionable words underlined in red, I don't have autocorrect issues. I also use a Mac (and run Safari as my browser) so I wonder if you tried a different browser, or just removed all the GW and Houzz cookies, it would reset with new preferences so that you remain signed in.

I posted 23 hours ago and since I managed to be in the pool at 9 am yesterday for water aerobics, I can only surmise that at 11 pm I was too tired to catch the exclusion clause and understated humor. I think I"ll delete the first sentence.....and ask you to forgive my being touchy. I think Christmas cleaning and prep may have gotten to me, too.

DD #2 and DH have been hanging out at Logan for over 2 hours waiting for DF (fiance) who missed their plane because the auto check in made a mistake so he couldn't get on the flight. They're young enough so a good night's sleep will make it all good.

Marie

No problem, Marie. Maybe I should have worded the subject line differently, but now it does seem that it got some reaction. In any case, my post was never intended to be offensive in any way to anyone. In fact I do enjoy our New England forum, and said that too in the original post. I just wanted to comment on how quite a few other forums have really stagnated, and hoped that our forum would continue to be active and friendly. So many of us share a lot of our knowledge and experiences, and we have a nice community here.

Once again, I hope everyone has a great holiday!

Your subject line got my attention, Bill. :-) I haven't been posting for awhile which is unusual for me. Since the spring, we've been otherwise engaged in trying to attend to taking care of the house rather than the garden for a change. Due to that, I've been gardening a whole lot less, so even when I've had time to visit here, I've found myself less interested in discussing, read a few posts and leave. Again, very unusual for me. Hoping my gardening enthusiasm will return at some point.

I normally am less active this time of year anyway, due to preparation for Christmas. January I am often more than ready to start thinking about next year's garden. Sometimes I switch gears and begin a Houseplant collection, but more often than not, it's a half hearted effort. I'm ready for a break from the garden over the winter season and other things need my attention, since I spend so much time on the garden the rest of the year.

Winter Sowing being the exception. I spent a good three years full of enthusiasm on the Winter Sowing forum, learning the method. That was a lot of fun. I may do that again this year if possible. The Winter Sowing forum used to be one of the most enthusiastic forums I've found on GW. Not sure what is going on over there now.

The Vegetable Forum is normally very active and full of knowledgeable gardeners who are very responsive.

Merry Christmas to all!

I stay logged in, too. Using a PC and Internet Explorer. I usually get a pop-up when I sign into a website that asks me if I want it to remember my password etc. Perhaps you have some anti-virus software that's wiping out anything saved.

I think I'm primarily a vegetable gardener so I don't contribute here very often. I forget to take pictures. I'm looking forward to vegetable seed orders. The local buying group's deadline for Fedco orders I mid-January.

Cooking/harvest is also a favorite of mine. Earlier this year I debated buying a dehydrator. I got one but it takes experience. Yes, things dry just fine but then what? I didn't expect to dry apples until two of the King Arthur yeast roll recipes I wanted to try required dried apple bits. Guess what I dehydrated this week! Fortunately, with big ideas about making apple desserts I had bought a half bushel of orchard run apples for $12 before the orchard closed for the season.

My current passion is Aleppo peppers. I first discovered Aleppo pepper while I was in Columbus OH's public market next to the convention center. A friend was hold a packet of the pepper and said she bought some every year. It has a fruitiness to it that other red peppers lack. I know Penzey's carries it but I decided to see if anyplace in NH sold it. So far no luck despite tracking down a tiny Turkish shop in Portsmouth. The Hunt is what's fun. Then someone said they could buy fresh Aleppo peppers in Washington DC so since I have a dehydrator, I decided I should grow my own peppers. It took awhile to locate a seed supplier. And, of course, if I'm going to buy one packet of seeds, I might as well buy some other hard to find pepper seeds.

I have no hopes of successfully growing a Meyer lemon so, although I am jealous, I'll get over it. I think it was last year that I debated growing a fig tree after seeing some for sale at the Tilton NH winter farmers market. Would anyone like to fan that flame?

I finally planted two variegated sages and one rosemary in the high tunnel to see if they might survive the winter. Garden sage grows extravagantly for me but the variegated ones I like for adding color to my garden don't survive the winter. Maybe if I was in RI!

I've lost my rosarian contact in San Diego. Last time my visit coincided with a rose show and he graciously secured two free tickets for me. I did order a rose from Fedco that did get planted in a temporary place.

I did not take care of a perennial bed suffering from an invasive gift. I have surely lost some "good" perennials because of it. But, I did get another bed fixed up and replanted some dwarf iris given to me by a friend who later lost her garden because of a move and the real estate requirement that she leave all the landscaping behind. (The new owners tore up the front yard and she didn't have the strength to see what they had done to the special gardens in back.) I promised to give her some back but now that they are in their newly built home. I had planted them in a wet spot so hopefully they will be happier in their new spot.

I still lust after several shrubs and perennials that have been mentioned here. It may be time for my husband and I to have a long talk about landscaping and manual labor. He needs more projects (mostly retired) and I have big ideas.

Good post, defrost! So nice - like listening to a friend while having morning coffee. Merry Christmas :)

Jane

Defrost, why no hope for that Meyer lemon? A sunny spot indoors for the winter might do. Mine often loses some leaves in my sun room in winter, but by February, a few flowers and some new leaves show up. When it goes outdoors for the warmer months, it rebounds very nicely.

As for figs, there are some that should be root hardy in zone 5 for you. They may not be able to ripen, but maybe in a protected spot they might get enough of an edge to ripen a few figs. In any case, the leaves are kind of interesting!

Aw shucks, thanks, Jane.

Bill, I have a black thumb indoors. My seed starting rack is in my bathroom. I figured the humidity from the shower would help plus I would see it every morning and it might dawn on me to check things. I have seriously considered making a small terrarium for an indoor garden plus it would be nice to have some indoor sprig bulbs blooming. A little Christmas cactus has survived my neglect but is in sad need of repotting. I should do that next week.

Defrost, I'd love to hear how the rosemary and sage in the greenhouse fares because it might motivate me to try overwintering them under hoops. I love the last sentence of your post - made me laugh.

Well! When Bill_ri writes, I always read, and sometimes answer. Dead of winter, but good time to think about next summer in RI. My fig although only 18" high is mulched with straw (with a cylinder of chicken wire to keep it high enough and in place). So is my gunnera, a huge-leaved tender plant that I first saw in England (but that Sylvan Nursery carries). The other perennials and herbacious shrubs, I leave on stem for the winter: extra insulation. The Buddleias don't get pruned down until after February. Hollies all lookin' good; kallikarpa (Beautyberries) too. Grass is all green. Garlic unfortunately sprouting tall way too early.

Great to take a beach walk on Christmas Day, no coat!

Carol in RI

Carol, Gunnera? OK I'm convinced. Loved it at RHS Wisley in Woking, Surrey in England. Now I have to get one. How long have you had it?

Saw it at Great Dixter growing along a wet ditch. Gunnera Manicata, those big leaves. Growing it 2 years so far, and since we're in RI only weekends I mixed water-hoarding crystals in the soil and sank 2 12" pvc pipes near it, to better get water down to the roots. It's in probably too much shade but better than full sun. In spite of the deep straw mulch, the leaves die and the plant sends up new long stems in the spring.

Nothing like pushing the zone, eh?

I've seen British gardening shows, and even there they cut down the huge leaves in fall and use them to cover the base of the plant, which then put out huge new leaves in spring. So I'm not surprised that it's not "evergreen" for you here in RI. But what a great plant. Such interesting leaves in size, shape and texture.

Thanks to all of you who gave me advice about staying logged in. Unfortunately, I'm still not sure why "the problem" exists. I also use Safari on my Mac and have GW bookmarked along the "Favorites Bar." The Sophos antivirus software is the same I've used for years. As I sit here typing this, I'm wondering.....Will I have to log in again to post this? When I hit "Return" what will happen, and why, oh why did I ever think it was a good idea to have different passwords for every site? Where's that Passwords list?

I haven't checked back since last week. My daughter and grandson are here over the holidays and it's been great fun. My grandson knows a lot about computers and has already helped me with one other problem. So maybe this mystery will be solved before they leave.

Defrost, hearing about your greenhouses gets my gardening juices going! If my ship ever comes in, that's the one improvement I'd like to make... just a small greenhouse would be wonderful! I grew up in Wallingford, CT, and loved to visit the Barnes florist which was near the center of town. They had a huge greenhouse attached to the store, and that was how I always entered. The smells of the warm, damp earth and all those growing things still lies in my memory bank.

Okay... so it's the moment of truth. Signing off again as Molie,

Molie

Yea! It worked... and I have no idea why.

Congratulations, Molie! Understanding is overrated - so long as it works you don't need to have a reason (although it's certainly satisfying to understand).

Claire

That pizza must be pretty dry by now.

Hurrah, Moliep,that you stayed logged in!

My "greenhouse" is a simple high tunnel type, greenhouse plastic over a wood frame. It is unheated so at night will be as old inside as it is outside but during the day it can get quite warm. Even with the sides rolled up an doors open, it's easily in the high 90s during the summer. I was inspired by the Eliot Coleman books on extending the vegetable gardening season. There is some kind of largish burrowing critter also enjoying it, too. We can't even figure out what it is. Too big for a mouse or vole.

I have decided this year to become a mild hot pepper expert. It's a long story that began in Columbus OH when I ran into a friend at the public market holding a packet of Aleppo pepper. I bought some and discovered it is a very nice fruity red pepper. I know Penzey's carries it but I have not been able to find it in NH and understand it might get harder and harder to find since it is grown in Syria. I have decided thanks to a comment, maybe on the hot pepper forum, that people should start growing it. I am trying to figure out which seed company to use and, if I'm going to buy one kind of hot pepper, I should buy some other kinds, too. Hence, no time for meyer lemons or figs right now.

Hope everyone stays warm and safe when the bad weather hits tonight.