Hey, Beavis, gorgeous gardens. What species/cultivar of lavendar is that? Also, what are the yellow daisy-like flowers? Maryann, I have used three of the Espoma products, 'Holly Tone', the one for bulbs, and the balanced fert, too. I've been using them for about 3 or 4 years now. I use cheapo tomatoe fertilizer for my clematis, but I generally just look at the numbers and make a decision on what to use. Just because it's designated for tomatoes or whatever, doesn't mean it won't work for other plants, too. Anything to fool the consumer, right?

In for sure... Barb (rosepedal) - Haves list posted Norma (bigmama4ever) - Lists posted Regina (ladygreensleeves) - Lists posted Chell (chellflower) - Lists posted Dawn (dtm1966) - Lists posted Mariann (galium) - Lists posted Dee (gardendee) - Lists posted Getting ready to cave/May be... Frances (fcoffill) Melissa (hazelnutbunny) - Lists posted Thanks everyone for participating so far in the "get to know each other" activity. It's so much fun to read everyone's answers!! Regina, that variegated lipstick is a beaut! (P.S. I have variegated lipstick on my wish list...lol!) I think I have my husband sold on the idea that we don't need electric for the pond right away. BUT, we will need to get electricity back there somehow for the winter if I want to overwinter my fish and plants in there. Here in MN, I think that the pond would have to be 6 feet deep or more in order for it not to freeze to the bottom! I'm not sure what the exact depth is, but it would have to be very large and deep. Thanks for all the info!! Your pictures make me so jealous!! Beautiful!! Mariann, I think that people probably hesitate to give technical advice because they may not know enough to explain it well. I've been in the business for 11 years and have worked with varying degrees of users, some with hardly any computer knowledge. I've also spent a lot of time writing lots of time writing detailed user documentation. I guess it all comes with experience. If you ever have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! :-) I don't have a greenhouse, oh how I wish I did though!! Frances, great website and awesome art too!!! Art is one of my many hobbies too, but I don't have time for it now that I'm in school. Now I only do paintings when I decorate one of my rooms. I wish I could win the lottery and retire so that I would have time to indulge in all of my hobbies!! :-) Thanks for adding the extra tip, that's a great one!!! BTW, everyone is encouraged to include a tip if they think of one!! I will be posting another tip early next week. Oh, I almost forgot...after reading you talking about the bulb planter, I ran out and bought myself one last night!! LOL. I used it today to get my new tropical garden planted and it's AWESOME!!! Thanks!! Barb, renting a trencher is a great idea and hitting all corners of the yard is a great idea too!! Thanks for the advice. The only problem is that we have an underground sprinkler, so we may have to dig it by hand after all. We don't know exactly where the water lines run. If we cut a line, it's pretty easy to fix them. Just more work! bluespiritartist, why don't you go ahead and post your full list and we'll see what you've got. If nothing else, perhaps someone would want to do a side swap with you! :-) And yes, we will definitely be having another tropical swap before the fall...hopefully more than just one!! Hi Heather (divahethr), good to see you!! Hope you're doing well. Chell, looks like you got a great box from bigmama!! And your greenhouse looks great, it's really coming along! Your rooms full of plants look like mine! I have that exact same mini-greenhouse in our spare bedroom. BTW, what ever happened to Redheaded Stepchild? She was great! So, after I ate dinner tonight, I got up the energy to get my tropical garden planted!! it's mostly bulbs so not much to see now. I can't wait for it to start to produce, it will be beautiful!!! I took some new pictures of my other gardens last night. I will get some pictures posted soon. No time tonight, I'm pooped and ready for bed! I don't know what was up with the forum yesterday, it must have been something major though since it took them so long to get it back up! LOL, I was thinking that lots of people were probably suffering from withdrawals like I was too!! Dawn, I don't think that you will be disappointed with this swap!! This group has been trading for a few months now and everyone has been very generous so far!!! I am so glad that you decided to take a chance with us!!! Good night! Amy

My daughter-in-law has this plant except it is variegated. I wasn't familiar with it so I had it identified on the houseplant forum. Without knowing anything about it, I decided to try propagating it. I was in African violet mode at the time, so I acted like it was a violet and stuck 2 leaves in my violet mix which is half commercial violet mix and half perlite. I didn't think anything was going to happen, but I kept the soil slightly damp and just let it sit. Five months later, I had a little shoot appear! It's been a year now and this is what it looks like. Unfortunately, there is no variegation, but I still like it. The leaf in the foreground was one of the originals so you might see some variegation on it. Grow lights might make it happen sooner, but I don't use them. Patience is the key!

Thank you! She does have one little baby that is about to poke through but when I got her she had 2 good sized babies already that I detached and planted in their own pots (they are doing GREAT). The soil is damp about half an inch down and I removed the nasty looking leaves. I'm worried it's some type of leaf bacteria problem because of how fast it is progressing. Do you spray yours every couple days? I do with most of my other plants and they seem to love it but with the way the leaves came I have been avoiding spraying them.