oh yeah, that reminds me. I've always wanted to plant some sunflowers.

Next question, this one could be a tough one for you all. My house faces north. There are several oak trees in the yard, so it is very shady. However, there is intense sunlight in the late afternoon that hits past the trees. I want to put out some plants around the front of the house, but if I go with shady plants, the afternoon sun will totally fry them, and the rest of the day, they wouldn't get enough light for a sunny plant. Any suggestions? I had thought of something like azaleas, but I'm not sure if that will work.

Dang Texas weather! LOLOL

Eriisa: We feed our birds on wild bird seed that we buy, but cockatoos JUST ADORE sunflower seeds...they are extremely easy to grow :)

Hey Bernice, I got 2 Mollocan Cocatoos! I put Oak branches (4 foot ones) in the males cage for him to chew on. One thing I've wondered is what type of plants I could grow that I could give them to eat etc.

Its going to hit 80 here in Dallas, they say. But by Saturday the high will be in the 50's.

So much for Spring we got about 3 inches of snow last night.Only flowers were seeing is in the stores for Easter.

Dolittle: Boy i wish a bar of soap would prevent the cockatoos from eating my passionfruit and bananas and grapes...anyone want to buy a cockatoo LOLOL :(...There really is nothing you can do....even a scarecrow wont frighten them :(...(unless I get out there) hahahaha...I got in first lOLOL

bwildman:
We used to have deer come up and eat our roses and pansies. We put bars of cheap soap out (like Ivory or Cashmere Bouquet) and the deer quit coming! It really works!! They left the veggies alone too.

CindyInTN: I didn't mean to post where you live per se.What i mean is we don't have a deer problem i'm in the city,our farm lands and small rural areas do.I have a rabbit that loves my garden but we don't mind sharing

Foxy Lady: I'll send you a PM. Don't need everyone and their friends knowing where i live! Most land around here is posted too.

CindyInTN: Where abouts are you suburbs,farmland.We don't have a problem where i live,not in my city anyways.Many farmers feed the deer and post the land so know one can hunt.

I've had gardens all my life (flower and veggies) and never had a problem with deer. I guess they enjoy the deer block and corn i give them. But they have raided my birdfeeders! They like the sunflower seeds.....

Has anyone heard of or tried growing tomatoes in water and adding nutrients?
I saw this on a Home and Garden Show.

nobleheart: Oh wow now thats some talent.

spicieangel: We have 3 inches of snow coming in tonite.:(

nobleheart: Love them!! Thank you

bwildman: Thats what i tried to explain we don't live in an area where the deer are roaming.It's kinda hard to explain.We do know that farmers put out large blocks of salt for the cows,and yes that does draw the deer.
The amout of sugar and Epson salt is very little.

bwildman: I heard beer in the garden attracts slugs.(Post edited)

oh great..we got more snow...wahhhh.
gues these are the only flowers around here for awhile:
http://www.themoens.com/Photos/Events/snowSculpture/y2004/flowerguy.jpg

Foxy Lady: salt and sugar attracts deer....not a good thing for a garden....if you live near these animals.

Rose: As the name suggests they love water and will even grow semi-submerged. Need to be cut back and tidy'd up after flowering, acid soil gives blue flower heads and alkaline gives red flowers or visa versa. lol

Foxy Lady: we have hit 60 today with rain all day long I even heard thunder this morning lol

Anyone ever grown/planted Hydrangeas?

CindyInTN: We still have snow on it's way,not a robin in sight.Everything is budding but were only in March and it'll be late April before i see any flowers like my Lilacs.Were still in the low 20's at night and just getting into the 40's.
March is crazy where i live can be 50 one day and 20 with snow the next.

bwildman: Because we live in a city,the only deer we see is at the zoo.Now where there are farms they see deer because of the feed for the cows,etc. .We can drive up north and see the deer but ya don't wanna be driving at night because they cause alot of accidents.I'll have to post where abouts the deer are in my area.Alot of ppl think when we say were from NY they think NYC but were not.There are so many towns,citys,farms,and the suburbs.

Spring Fever!
The jonquils, forsythias, and Bradford pear trees are blooming! The robins are back and the buds are just beginning to open on the dogwoods....
Summer is just around the corner for us!

Foxy Lady: thats new to me.I wonder how they kept deer out of their garden? do they live near alot of wildlife?

Did you know that if you put sugar around your tomatoes it makes them sweet?
Epson salts put aroung your veggies makes the plants produce more.
My info comes from the master of Gardening my Granparents.

NOT a floosie: 86 oh wow i'm jealous,but thats ok i got Lilacs

We hit 86 here today. Oh, how I miss the smell of lilacs!

spicieangel: 56 oh i wish

Foxy Lady: we hit a high of 56 today with a slight breeze the trees here are starting to bud i love it

We hit in the high 40's today what a beautiful day.Trees got buds as do my Lilacs and there's grass peeking thru the snow.Yippie!!!!!!

bumble: Ohhhhhhh so thats why my husband waters my houseplants with the water from my fish tank.

bumble: thanks bumpy!!

Foxy not heard of coffee grind either. I am sooo new to the gardening experience but Im loving learning about it all!

Rose: Wood ash and barbeque ash are high in nitrogen and are good fertilisers.

Rose: My husband has done this i'm not sure why tho.Any plants that need acidic soil i put coffee grounds around them,it did wonders for my blueberry bush.

Foxy Lady: Heres a question. I was told to add ashes from your fire place to plant soil and soil around your bushes so I got some from my mum. Anyone heard of doing this before and if so how does it help?
I have a bad bug prob with earwigs and slugs so hopefully it will keep em at bay?

Rose: Regarding the worms yuk my husband can do that but yes your right.

whatdidyousay: I've seen some ppl shread paper and put it around the plants to keep the weeds down.I'm afraid of the ink seeping into the plants.

Foxy Lady: The more big juicy worms (night crawlers) that you have in your garden the better. They airate (sp) your garden amazingly.

Whatdidyousay: I ve never heard of doing that to clay before. I will definitely try it. thanks!

ScarletRose: We don't have a drainage problem but did add sand to our garden last year.
One of our co-workers told my husband to buy a good size load of night crawlers and add them to the garden.He said the worms would keep the soil from getting hard.I'm not sure if he's joking but he's going to try it.We got some 3 yr.old compost were using this year and it's really rich,nice and black.I also make a tea for my plants with that.

spicieangel: My flowers do ok,except my roses.I get these little green worms that really cause me to steam.I don't like using anything with my oldest playing in the yard and the dog.

bwildman: We thought about that but were hoping to add our compost and fill it every year with topsoil.I planted beets one year and all i got was the greens,which i love anyways.

bwildman: The best workaround that I have found for that depends on the area you start with. When I create a bed in a grassy area, I cover it with newspaper, wet it down, and throw four inches of topsoil on top. The grass cannot grow through the paper, but it can sit there and rot creating a layer of nutrients about four inches down.

Foxy Lady: Wouldn't adding sand to the ground also help with drainage.. :) just a thought

Foxy Lady: my husband started planting inside this weekend he started the cabbage seeds hes gonna build me some boxes this year for my flowers so we wont have to weed and then they can be moved to mow the grass

works for a while...but after a few monthes the surrounding soil/clay will pull all the nutrients from the added topsoil. good luck.

Rose: I can't wait either our Summer is very short June till Aug.than fall in Sept.lol

Foxy Lady: We have a lot of clay here as well mixed with tons o rock! I had to do that too, dig out where I want to plant to put in proper topsoil and it sure makes a difference. I also lime twice a year which helps too!
Im going to start my tomatos and sunflowers indoors this year as the growing season is so short that my sunflowers had just barely bloomed last year an then it frosted. Cant wait!

Rose: We plant around Memorial Day weekend than we know for sure the frost is gone.I started some seeds peppers and tomatoes,zucchinni etc.
I save some seeds from my plants every year there more adapt to the dirt which is mostly clay.We have to add alot of peatmoss and pearlite.My husband said next year he's digging it all out and filling it with topsoil.

Foxy Lady: I'm as anxious as you are! I have my seeds ready and going to plant some indoors this weekend but it is far too early for us to think of planting, sighhhhh... It was such a longggg winter this year that I just want to get out in the yard!