OT - Are there any gardeners amongst us?

Just curious - I LOVE to garden - can't wait to get the veggies in! Spring fever ha**** me extra hard this winter - I am already planning the flowers too!

Liz

me me me I love it and when you are ready I will give you the name and address of a place that has great prices and they are so helpful and informative. Just let me know. I have the butterfly bushes and honeysuckels and all of that. I wish the weather would break so I can clean up my yard from the dog stuff and all the leftover leaves. I have 1 1/2 acres so I have lots of ground to garden in. And it if can try and find bulbs for cala lillies they are beautiful to have. Different colors.  Then there's the Philadelphia Flower show that I go to and when I see something I like I write it down and buy it elsewhere. I wouldn't pay their prices just go to educate myself. Its in march next month. And so well worth the trip. You can make a day of it. And they have lots of vendors too so take a camera and get some great ideas.

Thanks LInda! Love to know the name of the place you get your plants! We just bought our house in January of 2008 so I am still working on getting the beds in order. The woman that lived there before us was 94 and well - she kind of let things go. I cleaned out and made a veggie garden. This years focus is flowers once the veggies are in.

Lilacs are my absolute favorite and I think that I planted 15 bushes, as well as lots of forsythia. We have quite a few dogwoods that are amazing in the spring. I got hooked on cannas last year - so beautiful!

WE only have 1/4 acre so it is much easier to take care of. Still keeps me busy non-stop.

This year I want to focus on the flowers though - I have one side of the house that is 80% shade, I want to do hostas all along there - low maintenance and pretty!

Thanks for responding!
Liz

I have never in my life planted anything. I so desperately want this to be the year that I do  this. I have no idea where to start. I am scared I kill house plants. I need a tutor. Liz, will you help me?

Of course I'll help!! What do you want to plant?

I kill houseplants too - they get so sad being inside over the winter - not enough light in my house for them.

I plan to have quite the veggie garden this year so I am sure that it will inspire at least 1 cooking class!

I dont even know how to prepare the ground for a garden.
I think I would like to plant some veggies of some kind
i think it would be so cool to go outside and pick something for dinner LOL
I should start small and easy I am sure.

Well I suppose the easiest thing to do would be to get some big pastic pots, a few bags of potting soil and start there. Maybe do 1 with tomatoes, 1 with peppers (or another veggie) and 1 with herbs. That's what I did when we lived in the apartment. You just have to water them regularly since the outside of the containers gets the sunlight it can dry them out more quickly.

I am going to do corn. eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, jalepenos, zucchini (MY FAV!), cucumbers and a whole variety of herbs. Last year I canned enough tomatoes that I am still using them! Jalepenos too.

wow that sounds delicous. You are probably right I should start slow.  I will be picking your brain as to when to start them?  I will want to see yours. I do have some squash seeds from africa that my step mom gave me. The squash were so good maybe i will try them too

Rule of thumb is mother's day you are totally clear from frost. I wait to plant tomatoes, corn and peppers until then. Most other veggies go in the beginning of april.

Squash is easy to grow too - it can just take over! Let me know when you are ready to go - it really is easy!

Russells Gardens 215-322-4799 it is worth the trip. lots of perenials cheap.  I also have a ton of books if you need to borrow some. I would be glad to loan them to you. Be careful with forsythias as they tend to overgrow. I have lilacs they smell nice and look pretty if you do a ***** willow tree plant them well away from the house as they tend to choke your plumbing. I don't do veggies. I pick up alot of garden jewelry in my travels. One time 2 of my friends and I took my Expedition and went garden shopping and filled up the truck to the point where one of my girlfriends had a huge tree on her lap and my sunroof was open. To this day we still laugh about it. Also Doylestown has some nice garden centers but are pricey so like I said Russells is worth the trip you have to get there early saturday morning they close at 12pm but its lots of fun and the staff and customers are great!