gardening tips

[pianistimo]

ok.  here goes one.  but i haven't tried it.  cut a branch off of your favorite rose bush.  stick it in a potatoe.  (trying to remember what to do next).  i think you plant the potatoe int he ground.  it's supposed to do something.  i think it's supposed to grow another one. has anyone tried this.

yes.  i am a gardener (of sorts).  in the spring i usually plant plastic flowers with real.  it is unnoticable except for the person that comes right up to the doorstep. 

another thing i want to try.  saw this on a gardening show.  you can make your own cement pavers with cakepans.  you just make that redi-mix cement (being careful not to cement your hand into the cakepan) and pour the cement.  stick a few good looking round pebbles into it or a design stamp.  let it harden.  and voila'.  you made one and have 9 more to go.  i think you're supposed to put plastic wrap or wax paper into the tin before you pour it so that the cement paver will come out easily.

any more gardening tips? 

[Appenato]

cutting a branch off a rose and planting it in a potato, then planting the potato... will produce another potato? cool.  heheh. =P it should be interesting to know whether it acutually starts another rose bush, though. we've tried starting roses from different bushes and have sadly failed. maybe one of these years...


for easy, showy flowers (that aren't plastic )-

sweet peas are easy to grow, but you have to watch them for aphids and they do need staking - unless you plant "dwarf" sweet peas. they look aboslutely stunning, and smell heavenly.  not to mention, they make charming bouquets - magnificently scented to delight your nose. 

it's SPRING. flowers blooming once again are such a joy to the eyes and sometimes the nose, too. but it's a disappointment when the flower lacks scent and it's known to bear one.... 

[pianistimo]

grow another potatoe?  hmm.  that's not exactly what i was trying to do, but i was wondering about it.  another site says just to divide a wind blown rose bush into three or four parts with the roots attached and that will make three or four more rose bushes (esp. if you keep the soil moist and possibly trim the top and put a clear glass container over the top (plastic?  clear juice bottle?).  after a few days, with all the moisture, they are supposed to root.  i don't have that many rose bushes to cut up, so i'm doing it with a store bought potatoe (just kidding).  i have a miniature rose bush that is thriving at the corner of the house (it's sunny but not baking).

funny you mentioned sweet peas.  i planted some in the back yard and they get morning sun and afternoon semi-shade.  they look really great, as you said, and add a lot of color.  now, i'm waiting for a bunch of wildflowers that i planted to grow.  and, i think in the back some nasturtiums are taking off. 

last year, i had this really beautiful asian rose growing in the back yard.  i don't recall planting it.  it had two stalks and all up the stalks are these huge pinkish blooms that have a long yellow stamen.  i really don't know how the rose plant got there.  perhaps my neighbor performed a secret planting. she has a lot of really pretty plants.  a lot of iris.  they are taking off like wild flowers. 

we have loads of dandilions this year - so i went out after the rain and rooted out as many as possible.  but, the neighbor's house to the left has a few in the lawn that if they don't spray will soon send seeds my way.  i'm waiting for them to leave and then i might just go over and do a little dandilion stealing.  maybe someday i'll be too old to care. right now, the lawn isn't covered with them - so am hoping we'll stave them off a few more years.

with all the drought in many regions, i see the advantage of having drought resistant plants, and more rock and cement attractions.  i saw in a recent gardening magazine a really nice poured cement bench and geometric retaining wall behind it (sort of angled) that held back a higher portion of dirt on one side and sloping sides.  it gives you shade when you sit in the middle of your backyard.  was thinking this would be very cool since our backyard is sloped.  also, if i followed the thing across with a terrace later, the deer might see it as a sort of border they aren't supposed to cross.  they are coming up very close to the house and eating my strawberries.  yawn.  i must be getting old.  that's all i have to say.