I got a small package in the mail today, or maybe it was yesterday. I was looking for it outside, but it was such a small box that it fit right through the mail slot. Thanks mucho, Lynn - I only opened one of the bags to take a peek. This is 1 of 9 :



I will be planting the other 8 tomorrow in the greenhouse, right beside the ones that Daniel sent. Such a nice miniature sempervivum! And a very nice name (Pacific Sonata) ... I'm hearing Grieg's piano with the waves breaking softly in the background ...

info from :

IrisLilli
Sep 27, 2019 3:27 AM CST
Name: Lilli
Lundby, Denmark, EU
" I've never seen anyone use sempervivums on slate roofs here, but it is tradition to grow them on thatched roofs. The Danish name for sempervivum is 'Husløg' - literally 'house onion' or 'house leek', so I would suggest that might also explain the name 'houseleek'. "

This is in reply to my earlier question regarding growing sempervivums on slate roofs.

NickyNick said:RROWLETT : where did you get that little quotation from? Nice ☺

Wikipedia I think.
From now on, I will include the source for anything I post like that.

I am going to try to remember to fill a few coffee cans with OceanLake beach sand, for Tai to use to top her plant display.
NickyNick, you also mentioned one can add to the topping of beach sand for a nice finish for the little pots?

Beach sand isn't usually recommended. The absolute best topdressing is the chicken grit sold at the feed stores. Most of the Oregon people get it in 50lb bags. It takes a lot to fill the pots or cover the soil in outside beds.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/...

If you don't need a huge amount of grit, Bi-Mart (discount store here in Oregon) sells 5 pound bags for 4.95. Yes the cost per pound is quite a bit more but I don't buy what I know I can't lift (or risk hurting my back!). Feed store might have smaller than 50 pound bags but bigger than 5. The 5 pound bags work well for me because I grow all of my semps in containers, not large beds.

Beach sand is probably too salty!

All I can get is 20lb bags and those are heavy to me!

I hear you Karen! I cleaned my gutters two weeks ago and still suffering. It wasn't the cleaning part but my big aluminum ladder... all the carrying adjusting carrying again. My left elbow is still whacked out .

to pardalinum :

You should get some high school kids to do that kind of stuff for you! Cleaning gutters - how many people have been killed or injured from that. Gutters are a recent architectural "invention" anyway, and are really unnecessary. They just divert rainwater into the storm drains and sewer system, where the water should actually stay on your property. Before gutters, people put "splash stones" below the drip line of the roof, so the water wouldn't dig a rut into the soil - the water would then splash out to the surrounding garden beds.

Tai ~ Bob from just south of the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul makes this suggestion :

crawgarden
Sep 27, 2019 2:11 PM CST
" … Thinking fairy garden supplies would work well with her semps for sales … "

I filled two 3LB Coffee cans with sand today... NickyNick thought sea sand would be OK, if not then there's always something to do with it...



The sand is damp, when dry it's almost white...
RR

NickyNick said:to pardalinum :

You should get some high school kids to do that kind of stuff for you! Cleaning gutters - how many people have been killed or injured from that. Gutters are a recent architectural "invention" anyway, and are really unnecessary. They just divert rainwater into the storm drains and sewer system, where the water should actually stay on your property. Before gutters, people put "splash stones" below the drip line of the roof, so the water wouldn't dig a rut into the soil - the water would then splash out to the surrounding garden beds.

NickyNick is "right on" about the rain water.
The new way is to not put the gutter water into the sewer, and also many storm drain empty into the sewer system.
Depending on the drainage your property has, it is recommended to divert the water away from the foundation far enough that foundation stays dry as possible.
The porous soil can absorb x amount of drainage, and of course then goes to ground water, and that is very important too.

Here are some images of large dry ponds to help the process of getting rain water back into the ground water where it belongs, this is a large facility, smaller ones can be made relatively ecomolicy too.

The over flow here may go into a storm drain, that does go the the sewer treatment, but does help a lot to keep much water out of the sewer system...

The sewer and storm drains are separate here. Storm goes to the river.

I would love to do something like that but this is the middle of the Willamette Valley, heavy clay. I have a small yard and in a heavy rain year water sits under my house, drainage is that poor. I expect your soil is porous where you are.

My city adds a tax to our water bills based on the square footage of the home and impervious surfaces such as a driveway. We call it the Rain Tax. Salem charges it too and other cities are implementing it. Now, say you put in a drainage system such as the examples you have shown. You still get charged the tax!

Out in the country it isn't a problem, no city government to control your wallet. Some people put in french drains to drain their property. Otherwise the water can sit for a long time. I rather enjoy that, brings in the ducks and other waterfowl.

To RROWLETT : thank you for that excellent and valuable information!!!

to pardalinum : Your quote > "My city adds a tax to our water bills based on the square footage of the home and impervious surfaces such as a driveway. We call it the Rain Tax."

I've heard about such ridiculous "interference" by city government, infringing on "property rights" - and other cities adopting things like that - anything to collect a tax! Which city is doing that to you?

I know Gladstone fees and taxes have skyrocketed and they are about to raise them again.
Every city seems to have a different way of collecting tax and charging for municipal services.

Lincoln City actually charges sewer rates based on how much water is used for each property.
It sounds silly to me, since if you water your lawn a lot, it doesnt go into the sewer treatment.

Then the Mayor and City Council are having a big discussion about how to charge.
I personally think, square footage would be a reasonable way in this case.
I dont water my lawn, because I dont have one, just some trees and natural pant material front and back, and my house has two full baths and one half bath, so we probably use more water than my neighbor who is a single person with a small house and one bath.
I think it would be fair that I pay more than she.

Are you sure Lincoln City is charging based on full year water usage? Most cities are at least sensible enough to calculate based on the winter low-usage months. These are the months (Nov-Feb) where I become most frugal with water where I know waste will make bigger bill later. But this might be pretty difficult for those in the family raising stage of life. Like herding cats.

What I say is, the city, state and Federal government sort of has a strangle hold on you, don't they, unless you disconnect from the municipal water system, and municipal sewer system, and then they can put out a warrant for your arrest, because it's illegal to live in a house without running water (a well in the city is prohibited) and they force you to hook up to the sewer system or face the consequences (fines, a lien on your property, warrant for your arrest).

NickyNick said:I got a small package in the mail today, or maybe it was yesterday. I was looking for it outside, but it was such a small box that it fit right through the mail slot. Thanks mucho, Lynn - I only opened one of the bags to take a peek. This is 1 of 9 :



I will be planting the other 8 tomorrow in the greenhouse, right beside the ones that Daniel sent. Such a nice miniature sempervivum! And a very nice name (Pacific Sonata) ... I'm hearing Grieg's piano with the waves breaking softly in the background ...

Thank you Nick and Daniel for everything.

I've had many comments on the tiny pots with the sempervivum in them. They are on display in the front window of the salon and everyone who walks by can see them. Thank you for bringing joy.

to RROWLETT :

This thread is getting overwhelmed by water/sewer discussion. I am starting a new thread in the Sandbox forum
title > water/sewer

I will start it with some of the previous posts (text only), so could you please re-post some of the pics you previously posted?

NOTE > reference for use of NickyNick and TaiSung - not catalog listings of the vendor

List of cultivars from that I (NickyNick) received from Daniel Erdy, Catawba SC on 19 September 2019

#1 KoKo Flannel
#2 Grammens
#3 Dunce Cap
#4 Killer
#5 Ohio Burgundy
#6 Apricot Beauty
#7 Black
#8 Flasher
#9 Sonja
#10 Urska (RARE)
#11 Eowyn
#12 ULRIKE (RARE)
#13 Aria (metal tag)
#14 Cold Fire
#15 lost tag (unknown)
#16 lost tag (unknown)
#17 lost tag (unknown)
#18 Gulle Dame
#19 Centuries Old (RARE)
#20 Belladonna
#21 Sassy Frass
#22 Desert Bloom
#23 Nobbe (RARE)
#24 Pacific Red Tide
#25 Hart
#26 Chrysanthemeum
#27 Besame Mucho
#28 Thunder
#29 Korresia
#30 Alchemist (RARE)
#31 Hugo
#32 Anka
#33 Pacific Shadows
#34 Beatles Memory
#35 Noble Plrince
#36 Issey Miyake
#37 Sioux
#38 Walnut Toffee
#39 "Rollers" Jovibarba / Bronze Globe (RARE) [ see NOTE #1]
#40 Terra Cotta Baby [see NOTE #2]
#41 Fame Montrose
#42 Larissa
#43 Jeramia [check spelling] (metal tag)
#44 Pacific Opal
#45 Big Slipper
#46 Packardian
#47 Boromir
#48 Pacific Spring Frost [see NOTE #3]
#49 Dolfien (RARE)
#50 Proud Zelda
#51 Tesoro
#52 Pacific Devil's Food
#53 Aglow (RARE)
#54 Coronet
#55 Ford's Spring
#56 Eyja Fjalla
#57 Lady Kelly
#58 Pink Cloud
#59 Anna Marie
#60 Brita (RARE)
#61 Orange Glow
#62 Titania
#63 Merlin
#64 Chocolate Pepper [see NOTE #4]
#65 Andrenor
#66 Tokajenso
#67 Saharasonne
#68 Orange Frost
#69 Bronze Pastel [see NOTE #5]
#70 Wollknoph (confirm spelling)
#71 Silverweb [see NOTE #6]
#72 Lott-Lott (RARE)
#73 Louisse Marie (check spelling)
#74 Irazu [see NOTE #7]
#75 Rauhreif (RARE)
#76 Congo (metal tag)
#77 Amanda
#78 Michael's Golden
#79 Maria Loach
#80 Patent Leather Shoes
#81 Jellybean
#82 Harbor Boy
#83 Dark Horse
#84 Jewel Case
ADDENDUM to list. The following plants were sent to me from Dallas, Oregon as a gift, arranged by valleylynn (Lynn) and ediblelandscapingsc (Daniel). Received 25 September 2019.
#85 Pacific Sonata
#86 Woton
#87 Green Caressa
#88 St. Pauli
#89 Wirbelsturm *
#90 Margot
#91 Erwin #2 **
#92 Pacific Clydesdale
#93 Gazelle ***

NOTES
* Wirbelsturm - nice color contrast
** Erwin #2 - nice "pastel" colors
*** Gazelle - very very nice!
___________________________
NOTE #1 very small! - lost one on the floor of the greenhouse when it bounced out of the bag. Have tree left. May find the lost one, or it may hide and root where it is - possibly beneath a sword fern growing next to the faucet in the greenhouse

NOTE #2 nice!

NOTE #3 nice name and very nice plant!

NOTE #4 nice plant!

NOTE #5 nice clump!

NOTE #6 very tiny choice plants

NOTE #7 many choice tiny plants (12+)

__________________________