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Sharyn, That's really something for winter encouragement, something growing!

Just saw t.v. show with the old metal grates on screen doors removed and used as trellises for butterfly plants to climb. They were attached to a fence, looked nice.
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Send, I have a jasmine plant in my backyard, I used the metal bottom of my kids crib for the trellis. The part that supported the mattress. Lots of great ideas for trellis!
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We used the back of a broken futon for porch rails, painting it with opague grey outdoor stain, lasting for 8 years! We could have turned it opposite and made a trellis.

Sharyn, I love Jasmine! This summer we had to cut off the prolific blooms because it made us sleepy!
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My daylilies and the lunaria sprouted a few weeks ago before our short cold snap. I suspect they'll sprout again or continue growing as we're expecting a very mild holiday week. Even if they are harmed by what usually is a bitter January, they're perennials and very, very abundant so I know I'll still have some come Spring.

I would love to see irises this early - what a treat!

The idea of recycling furniture for outdoor use is a great suggestion. I have 2 mattresses that I was going to put out for trash pickup but now I'm going to take a good look at the springs to see if they can be made into trellises.

Did either of you add a frame to the mattress springs to keep them more stable? I would think that, like chicken wire, they would tend to flop without some kind of framing.

I'm thinking sweet peas would look nice on those kinds of trellises as well, and of course my favorite morning glories.

Has anyone ever grown the Japanese morning glories?
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Garden, my favorite! Having only sweet peas in a round fish-bowl type arrangement, so many that no greens are necessary. Remember growing these as a child.
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A junkyard may have many configurations of old metal. I would prefer wrought iron.
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Send, you've just given me an idea for the porch railing that I think I'm going to have to replace. The short railings will make great decorations in the garden, but I'll have to find a way first to ensure that none of the old paint (old enough to have lead) can't flake off into the soil.
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Someday...someday....maybe....I'll take up metal working and create some wrought iron fences like the lovely designed ones I saw in New Orleans back in the 1970's.
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Thats amazing, i think gardening is best therapy.
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The irises will probobly not bloom until feburary. That is normal time in my zone.
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Major milestone today - received my first garden catalogue. It's from Wayside, with a beautiful cover of a mixed foliage border with a lovely lemon yellow to pale green ornamental grass, a frothy leaved evergreen, what appear to be pure white hydrangeas tucked in behind a lovely garden bench.... and more beautiful plants to tempt any gardener.

The format has changed slightly; photos of the plants are larger and there are a number of full sized pages just of one plant. I need to order another catalogue as many of these full sized pages are going to become covers for my gardening notebooks.

Who else has received their catalogues for 2016?
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My amaryllis haven't bloomed yet and they are featuring spring flowers in the store flyers this week, kind of pushing the season a little bit!
I gave up on catalogues several years ago, there were an abundance of garden centers and the shipping charges for small orders just seemed too high. Now the garden centers all seem to have disappeared too, I guess the boomers all have enough disposable income to hire pros to do it all for them.
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Juicing celery to correct my g.e.r.d. stomach issues, there is lots of celery pulp left over. Would my plants be able to use this nutrient somehow as a mulch, fertilizer, or a moist place to grow seeds in? I have about 2 cups in the fridge so far.
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What about starting a compost pile Send? If you want to really go crazy about it you can do worm composting, if you want to be really lazy you can just bury your peelings etc around your garden plants.
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Thanks, Cwillie. Will start a composting pile, but tiny!
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Spring is coming, but I noticed it is a little late. There are no spring bulbs popping up-daffodils would have been up by Jan. 17th.
Eager to see the skink again, and hope he survived the winter. So much rain!
Today was another very grey day. Looking forward to more sun.

We don't get gardening magazines. I found some gardening topics in some recycled magazines over christmas in the laundry room.

Sorry to say, the newer bouganvillas did not make it through.
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I'm curious Sendme, what would be the reason your plants didn't make it through this winter? Up here the cause would be obvious, extreme cold or not enough time to get established before freeze up.
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It really depends where you are and what you are planting tacy.
You can find info about your average last frost date online if you are in a northern climate. Generally things like lettuce, or peas can go in as soon as the ground dries out and is easy to work up. Other crops like beans, cukes, squash or melons hate to be cold so you have to wait until the ground is warm. People usually buy tomato or pepper plants instead of starting them from seed, around here the garden centers have them out a few weeks before it is really safe to plant them out without a lot of TLC. The seed packets also have a lot of info right on the back.
Strike up a conversation with other gardeners you see buying seeds or plants, most of us are willing to share (you might have a problem getting us to shut up lol)
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LOL
You must have a large garden if you had room for 60 tomatoes.
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Tacy, locate your agricultural zone, keep track of last freeze in the spring and first one in the fall. And be flexible as these are guidelines, but aren't firm.

Since you're a tomato lover, you can experiment with different kinds of tomatoes - ranging from the beefsteak variety to the little grape tomatoes. And of course order garden catalogues! They'll provide information on the kind of tomato for your specific use - eating, canning, cooking...

It is easier to buy plants when you first start out. If you have a problem with cutworms, wrap the root ball in something like newspaper (no colors as some of them used to have lead; I don't know if they still do) or cardboard, which will deteriorate but protects the tender roots from nibblers in the ground.

If you get hooked on gardening, you can also consider starting seeds indoors. Now or in February are the best times. This can be done inexpensively or not so much so if you get into the equipment -- "flora carts", fluorescent lights, grow lights, etc.

Some people just use things like yogurt containers set in a tray on top of a refrigerator.

There are also electric mats to provide bottom warmth, as a frig would do Some seeds like peppers and some flowers usually need bottom warmth to sprout.
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Tacy, 60 plants?! My goodness! Must have been quite a harvest and you did a darn good job with them. I have planted tomato plants before and have had very little to harvest, guess I am not good enough to them. A cherry tomato plant a number of years ago gave me fewer than 10 tomatoes. Of the regular size tomatoes I think I harvested only one. You should teach me your tricks! Do you talk to them? For me to have a decent harvest I would need 60 plants. I too, am a city girl, but not for much longer. From big city to a very small one for me next week.
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LOL!!!
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Tacy, once you figure out your zone, you can start seeding indoors about 6-8 weeks before planting outside. Tomatoes respond well to warming mats. Plant 2-3 seeds per cell or hole. Then you can thin them out once they are about 2 inches high and fill in the extra seedlings in another cell/hole. You will need to harden the seedlings before you actually plant them outside for good. You can do this by placing the seedlings outside in the sun during the day, bring them back in at night. After about 5 days, you can start leaving them out overnight protecting them if there is a frost and continue to harden them off for about 7-10 days.

Once you transplant them outside, make sure to water so they are moist but not standing in water.

egg carton make good cells for planting seedlings. Home depot, Lowes and OSH all sell a flat that has cells for each individual seedling. All depends on if you want to spend the money or use recycled materials. Good luck to you, you are doing great.
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Cwillie, you are right. Extreme cold-and I didn't cover them. It was them or me, survival of the fittest and all that. Except they were more fit than me. Once they were off the porch for protection (but not enough sun), they did not have a chance. They did not have time to get established, as I had just bought them late last year, they were at 24 inches. Something was having a good ole time chomping away at their leaves. Then came the broken ankle, broken clavicle, it was a race to see who was going down first. Then heavy and unusual rains finished them off, because my husband did move them to the sun as an emergency measure.

How do I know right now if they will live again?
So sorry that I am a GardenFailure. I should change my avatar.
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Glad, that soon! Came right up fast. Will you have a garden, or just an indoor terrarium maybe. Which place did you get, I missed it?
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A gardening tip, from internet.
This boost of magnesium produces more fruit on tomatoes, peppers, and roses. They must mean more fruit and blooms.
1 tsp. Epsom Salts
4 cups warm water.
Pour on, then repeat 10 days later.
Has anybody done this, or heard of it?
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I do recall someone on a gardening forum posting on the use of Epsom salts, and another who used a specific vitamin, which I can't remember now. One was to enhance root production for cuttings; I think it was one of the B vitamins.

Interesting topic to explore.

I've found that milkwater increases blooms, on roses and morning glories.
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I got a two bed, 1.5 bath house to rent (1300 square feet) for six months. A two story, really wanted a rancher but next move. UGH! At least that move will be easier than this one has been. Wonder how much stuff I will miss that has now been donated to Goodwill. And those guys at the loading dock are getting really tired of seeing me! LOL!

But the house was just taken off the market so looks very nice inside, new paint, wood floors, throw rugs for Macy. She has a hard rime on wood and linoleum floors. Nice yard, must try some tomatoes in a more humid climate. Maybe that will help my brown thumb.
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So, who's planning a garden already? Over on one of the gardening forums I visit, the folks have gotten their catalogues, placed their orders, and are getting out equipment to start their seeds. Of course, some of them are still digging out from 2 - 3 feet of snow!

Does anyone do indoor seed sprouting? Do you use a flora-cart or something cheaper and adaptable such as the top of a refrigerator?

I'm also looking for a good source for seeds for hydrangea and ornamental grasses. Can anyone suggest a catalogue that has these seeds (hopefully at a reasonable price)?
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Glad, I might have gotten the situation confused... wasn't it your house that had been damaged by fire, and was renovated? Are you living there now or moving to the rental for 6 months?
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