One of the things I like most about my new place is the neighbors. I moved in last August, and folks were very understanding that I didn't have everything together yet. So different folks took turns mowing my little patch of scrubby grass for me. This spring I decided I needed to take care of it myself. As luck would have it, the previous owner left a reel lawn mower in the basement, so I brought it up and took a run at the grass. Things were going okay -- I was more bludegeoning the grass into submission that actually cutting it -- until I tried to mow the patch to the left of the walkway, where the grass is especially thick and the terrian very uneven. After maybe a swipe or two the whole thing collapsed. Bad enough there's no bolts in the handle, I'd lost one of the bolts that holds the reel to the frame! And a 45 minute search didn't turn it up. Not surprisingly, a call around to lawn mower repair places (blades need to be sharpened, too) found all of them booked. And then it occurred to me -- who needs a lawn mower? Meet my little friend.... Looking forward to cleaning up Friday morning!

> the original has a couple of these bare vines right now! It's in an optimal decoration location, hanging over a bannister. Too bad it's not sunny enough there... Suggest to your mom to point a light toward the plant, to try to get it to bloom. It's difficult to light these huge plants properly though, just because they are so big. Maybe a T5 bulb of appropriate length, suspended vertically - because that is a way to light up the most of the leaves. It's an absolutely gorgeous specimen plant, by the way! > The fertilizer I used said it was okay to use a stronger dose, bi-weekly. Though the more I think about it, consistency might be better. Use 1/2 or even 1/4 the label dose though. They want to sell you lots of fertilizer, so they generally mention the highest dose the plant can take, which is not optimal - especially if your cultural conditions (light, water, temps etc.) are not absolutely perfect, which indoors they generally aren't. > I've been considering repotting it, actually. It is common advice to create a well draining potting medium. Well, you gotta be careful with conventional wisdom. If conventional wisdom says one thing, but my eyes tell me another, I am going to be open-minded and attentive to what others are doing, but at the end of the day, I am probably going to trust my eyes and my experience, and what the plant is telling me. Your plant is growing - which is my answer to any sort of criticism of your setup (including the criticisms I came up with myself, as you noticed!) So, I would probably consider not repotting now - not if it continues to look happy and grow as it does now. > I will remove [the incandescent lamp] from the mix. Yeah, or replace it with fluorescent if it seems like there's not enough light. > I've created a box to cover my plants at night. This might be overkill, but I think it might be a good idea. Yeah, I think it's an overkill. A few other house plants (not hoyas) absolutely require a (totally) dark uninterrupted period of a minimal number of hours for blooming, but I do not think I've ever read any requirement like that for hoyas. Not for H. carnosa anyway. > I've decided that when summer rolls around, I will place my carnosa outside. Yes, a good idea. I do not have outside space, but people say it's a whole different ball game - their plants go on all sorts of amazing growth spurts, mostly unimaginable to indoor-only growers.

I grow Snowbird ( great fragrance, healthy rose) and Bolero . Bolero is confusing: Regan lists their product as a floribunda/Romantica, which actually according to HMF should be the 1997 Meilland Bolero, because it is the Romantica, although they list "Hybrid Tea" not floribunda???? Roses Unlimited describes their Bolero as a 2004 floribunda Meilland, which according to HMF would be Bolero 2004. I really am not sure, but have both. At my previous home I grew the R.U. 2004 Bolero, and it was stellar. I have the Regan product and the own-root R.U. product side by side in a bed, and the R.U. own root roses are out performing the Regan product ( 2 of which did not even break dormancy). I am actually considering replacing the Regan roses with the R.U. Bolero's next year. My own-root Boleros (Roses Unlimited), received in May of this year, are blooming here and there, throughout the worst of my summer heat. The grafted product is alive.... acceptable...

February End of Month update and progress! Things are starting to pick up here and I've neglected this thread but here is an update :) My winter sowing has really taken off and I just finished up my last perennials for the year! I have reached a total of 329 containers so far! I am just starting bi-annuals and hardy annuals and will do those throughout March followed by more tender annuals at the end of March, into May. Some things I've been Winter sowing? ~Blazing Sunset Geum (have yet to try this variety but I love the look of the full blooms it seems to have) ~Butterfly bushes (While I'm not fully prepared to plant these, if I am lucky enough to get any seedlings, they will be added to the border of the property where I wanna do a butterfly border/garden in the future) ~Veronica varieties/colors.(I just love the whimsy look of them, especially the ones that flop their flower-heads over more.) ~Princess Victoria Louise Poppy (Again, don't really have a spot picked out for these but I couldn't resist. I love oriental and perennial poppies!) ~Any seeds that have a short lifespan (I'd hate to see them lose their potential so I've sorted through my stash for ones that need planting this year or next and have done many of them) I've also been working on removing these volcanic rocks that are in the existing raised beds in the front of the house.....bucket by bucket but I am determined to get it done! The top tier will be for a cutting garden/bed and the bottom will be as a seedling bed to hold any seedlings that i wanna keep for later or need more time to grow bigger before I move them to a more permanent location. Also a few ground-covers mixed in like Iberis (Candytuft). I also added three of these little trellises my dad found on an online yard-sale group! 3 for 30 dollars, to me that's a steal. I had been looking at similar metal/iron ones on amazon and they ranged 100+ for one! I hope to add clematis to all 3 of them. I just really hope it will look spectacular and people will love it as they pass by! It does need a lot more work tho but I am determined to get a majority of the rocks gone, remove weed tarp that had been put down, mix in some good compost and soil and then I will plan it out more! =) Fruit Raised Beds I got my raised beds done for the veggies!! It all got done in one day surprisingly, even on a day I had to work at 3pm! LOL I lined the bottom with cardboard for a weed blocker and hopefully it will break down and help out the soil. Had the soil delivered that is a mix of composted/mushroom topsoil :) I already added some eggshells to each bed and coffee grounds to the last one that will have dwarf blueberries :) 1st Raised Bed: Raspberries (Anne Yellow and Heritage Red) 2nd Raised Bed: Strawberries (Ozark Beauty and Sparkle?) 3rd Raised Bed: Strawberries (Cabot?) 4th Raised Bed: Blueberries (Northblue and NorthCountry) I also moved my compost bin over from my parents house to start a new bin :) Filled with shredded paper, eggshells, egg cartons, lettuce greens and watered it down a bit :) Anyways, that is some of the new things going on around here! :) What about you? Hows your winter sowing or gardening going? Also, I love Sample Seed Shop. Great prices also like T's Flowers. Also a lovely lady that does it! She was wonderful when I asked her about buying a gift card for my one swap giveaway a year or so ago. I plan on also making an order from T's flowers probably this Fall (Do I need more seeds? Well not exactly but...of course I do!!!) LOL Happy Gardening Everybody ~michael