I'm also overwintering 3 hibiscus bushes in my pond room.

How do you feel about Rose of Sharon as a Hibiscus substitute in climates like Chicago's? You don't have to bring them in to avoid frost damage. They're quite happy to stay outside, and they only have slightly smaller blooms than semi-tropical Hibiscus plants.

How many folks here do their own indoor herb gardens? I'd like to start doing that.

Not a bad idea if you don't have access to the outdoors. I overwinter my rosemary and chamomile indoors but have never kept any other herbs inside.

Mmmm, I like to have a rosemary "Christmas Tree" every couple years, but I don't use the herb enough to keep them nicely trimmed.

I'm not much of a garderner, though I'd like to try more someday when I have some space to plant stuff. All I'll say is that my dad grows tomatoes from seed and I'd put his tomatoes up against any others. I hardly even eat tomatoes if they aren't from his garden. He usually grows 3 varieties...soooo good, so tasty.

[/drool]

Too right. I don't think I've ever come across a tomato anywhere as good as homegrown ones. They are so easy to grow and so damn good. That stuff you get at the supermarket barely qualifies as tomato most of the time, and even the farmer's markets sometimes put out a mediocre product (although it's fun going through all the different funky heirloom varieties).

I haven't started my garden for this year yet. I just buy potted herbs and tomatoes in the spring and transfer them. Less hassle. I'll occassionally seed some herbs (like chervil which is nigh impossible to find), but normally it's not worth the hassle for me. OK, maybe it's not THAT much hassle, I just forget and/or am lazy. Otherwise, I've got some thyme, sage, mint, lavender, and lovage out in the garden which always survives the winter. I plan to plant lots of basil, tomatoes, dill (it sprouts up every year whether I like it or not), tarragon, chervil, summer savory, and lemon balm. I'm not much into flowers, can you tell?

...

In my greenhouse in the back yard, I have 3 rose trees and 2 blueberry bushes in pots which are doing remarkably well.

...

why don't you plant the blueberries outside in the ground?

I plan to in the summer. They were grafted last fall and I didn't think the winter would be good for them until they had a chance to establish themselves.

What tomato varieties are you trying? Not a fan of oregano? You should try the miniature leaf Basil varieties. Not only very strong but they form into these adorable compact heads.

Is the room you keep them in on the cool side? Hot and dry indoor air is probably not good for them. Blueberries grow wild not far from here.

I planted some trees in a field nearby, but some bastards pulled some of them up.

I have some cuttings of Green Giant arborvitae and Skyrocket junipers that I am trying to start.

I also try to grow stuff that isn't normally grown around here. I have some palms that I planted outside in 2004 and a southern Magnolia that I planted in 2004. I also have been trying a few different species of cactus and other succulents such as ice plants. For a winter blooming shrub, try heath.

I mostly grow Roma and Big Boys. That's what I'm used to, and that's what are easily available around here. If you have some suggestions for other varieties, I'll take them. I still have a bunch of tomatoes jarred and frozen from this fall's harvest. I do love canning.

I like oregano well enough, but I find that it's one of the few herbs I'm more apt to use dry than fresh. I did grow some, along with marjoram, two years ago, but I just didn't find myself using it that much. Basil, rosemary, and thyme, on the other hand, I could not live without.

I also don't grow cilantro or parsley because it's so bloody cheap to get at the store a half a block from my house. So there's really no point.

Oh, I forgot one important crop: hot peppers. I grow serranos, habaneros, and Hungarian Wax peppers every year as well. My favorite summer dish is gai pad gaprao, or Thai holy basil chicken. (I grow holy basil, sweet basil, and purple basil). All I need is to get some ground chicken at the market, then hit the backyard for a bunch of basil and hot peppers, splash in some nam pla (fish sauce), and I can survive for weeks.

Rosemary chicken should be enjoyed at least once a month

Do you have any recommendations for good saucing tomatoes? I've been disappointed with the Romas I've grown thus far, and the Big Boys tend to be a little on the watery side. Basically, I need a flavorful, firm, fleshy tomato. Or it could just be that the varieties of Roma I've gotten my hands are weren't particularly good--I did get them at the Jewel's.

last year i tried to start seedlings indoors. i bought a kit from home depot which had about twelve holes with peat moss already in them. all that was left to do was buy the seeds and put them in with the dirt and put the lid over the dirt/seeds.

it worked well for a while, sort of looked like a greenhouse in there, but when the seedlings grew to more than three or four inches, they'd hit the lid and twist around. from there it became a mess and eventually, i aborted the entire project.

what should i have done? the diy greenhouse project obviously didn't work.

and at what height do you suggest they go into the ground?

i just want tomatoes and cucumbers.

Too right. I don't think I've ever come across a tomato anywhere as good as homegrown ones. They are so easy to grow and so damn good. That stuff you get at the supermarket barely qualifies as tomato most of the time, and even the farmer's markets sometimes put out a mediocre product (although it's fun going through all the different funky heirloom varieties).

last year i tried to start seedlings indoors. i bought a kit from home depot which had about twelve holes with peat moss already in them. all that was left to do was buy the seeds and put them in with the dirt and put the lid over the dirt/seeds.

it worked well for a while, sort of looked like a greenhouse in there, but when the seedlings grew to more than three or four inches, they'd hit the lid and twist around. from there it became a mess and eventually, i aborted the entire project.

what should i have done? the diy greenhouse project obviously didn't work.

and at what height do you suggest they go into the ground?

i just want tomatoes and cucumbers.

When he was little, my son refused to eat home-grown tomatoes because the flavor was so far removed from the supermarket crap we made do with up to that point.

Check out this incredible double amaryllis I got for Christmas. It just opened.

Expert Says Hard Liquor Helps Houseplants

By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

(04-05) 14:49 PDT Ithaca, N.Y. (AP) --

For home gardeners who don't want their flowers to tip over, a Cornell University horticulturist thinks he has the answer: Get the flowers a little tipsy with some hard liquor.

Giving some plants diluted alcohol — whiskey, vodka, gin or tequila — stunts the growth of a plant's leaves and stems but doesn't affect the blossoms, said William Miller, director of Cornell's Flower Bulb Research Program.

Miller reported his findings in the April issue of HortTechnology, a peer-reviewed journal of horticulture.

"I've heard of using alcohol for lots of things ... but never for dwarfing plants," said Charlie Nardozzi, a senior horticulturist with the National Gardening Association, a Vermont-based organization that promotes plant-based education.

"It sounded weird when I first heard about it, but our members say it works. I'm going to try it next year, just for curiosity," Nardozzi added.

Miller's study focused on paperwhite narcissus and other daffodils but he's also had promising results with tulips.

"I think with a little jiggering — no pun intended — the method will work for tulips, though I think it will not be as simple as with paperwhites," he said.

Miller began his investigation last year after receiving a call from The New York Times about a reader who had written to the garden editor claiming that gin had prevented some paperwhite narcissi from growing too tall and floppy and asked if it was because of some "essential oil" in the gin.

Intrigued that diluted alcohol might act as a growth retardant, Miller began conducting experiments with ethanol. Because hard liquor is easier for consumers to obtain, he switched to alcohol and began trying different kinds, including dry gin, unflavored vodka, whiskey, white rum, gold tequila, mint schnapps, red and white wine and pale lager beer, on paperwhites.

The beer and wine did not work, likely because of their sugar content, he said.

"While solutions greater than 10 percent alcohol were toxic, solutions between 4 and 6 percent alcohol stunted the paperwhites effectively," said Miller. "When the liquor is properly used, the paperwhites we tested were stunted by 30 to 50 percent, but their flowers were as large, fragrant and long-lasting as usual."

Any economic benefits, at least directly, are slight, he said. Commercial horticulturists already have other growth-control methods for large-scale production. But for home gardeners, the gain is in terms of product quality. According to the NGA, 83 percent of all U.S. households participate in some type of indoor or outdoor gardening activity.

Miller, however, said he could envision profitable marketing schemes emerging from the study.

"Maybe, instead of charging $1 for a bulb. You can market that $1 bulb with a mini bottle of Tanqueray, insert a little card with some history and instructions, put it in a fancy package and charge $10 for it."

Miller isn't sure why the alcohol stunts plant growth but he has three theories that he is exploring.

_Growth is caused when plant cells absorb water and expand. The alcohol could be injuring the plant roots, preventing the roots from absorbing the water as efficiently.

_When alcohol is mixed with the water, the plant has to use more of its growing energy to extract the water from the solution.

_The plant uses its growing energy to rid itself of the alcohol it has absorbed.

Miller will be working this spring to see if a little booze works for amaryllis and such vegetables as tomatoes and peppers.

Imagine, he joked, you may be able to grow your own Bloody Mary.

Jess, do you have a coldframe or straw mulch in case you get a late frost?

Jess, do you have a coldframe or straw mulch in case you get a late frost?

why do you have this pic posted in your sig?

Shut up about my retaining wall!! I threw that thing together last fall. I know, it needs help. Nothing is going outside permanently yet. I take the plants out during the day if the weather is ok and bring them in in the afternoon. Too much sun and too much wind is bad this early in the game. I'm not planning on tilling the garden until early May and nothing is going to get planted outside until after Mother's Day.

Took the tomatoes outside today. Everything is coming along nicely.

Updated pics here

Planted peas, radishes, turnips, and corn salad two weeks ago Sunday. The peas were old, so I'm holding my breath on them coming up. The radishes poked through yesterday. I'm hoping a couple of those 60 degree days gets things rolling.

I started my tomatoes, okra, peppers (habaneros, bell, red, ancho, anaheim, jalapeno), catnip, onions, broccoli, eggplant, and tomatillos last Sunday and have already moved the broccoli and okra out to the coldframe.

I ought to come shit in your garden. It'd be good for my spirit.

Sure, who doesn't like free fertilizer

most of my neighbors seem to frown on it when my dog fertilizes their lawn for free. fuck them.

pee is bad shit is good. human shit is particularly good for lawns