Sorry to hear about the wheelbarrow incident Sally--ouch!

I'm incredibly sore from cutting things down yesterday--sure wish I didn't have to go back to work today-- would just love to sleep.

Blooming candytuft in early January!
I noticed mine was greening up nicely yesterday

That's pretty cool looking Aspen!

I just overworked some muscles that have only been used for sitting on for the last few months Shoveling , pushing wheelbarrow, popping up bricks from one place and carrying them to another, squatting to tend a bonfire of tree trimmings...

I have some mustard greens and asian greens that are beautiful between bug season and really hard freeze. Actually, the mustard is bug free. Last year I may have started too late, or had a little too much shade on them, as they didn't get going very well.
The asian greens are a couple generations out from a couple different kinds, so all I know for sure is .genus Brassica, lol. Harlequin bugs and slugs can make a big mess of them until cold weather, and some of them will totally freeze out.
And the there's kale, Which green caterpillars adore.
But how much leafy greens can one family eat? And it takes time to cut, clean and cook.
I had lettuce survive all winter with snow and everything, I had some water jugs and row cover over them at the coldest. But row cover can be like a cozy blanket for voles.

The wall gardens of lettuce must need frequent attention to watering.

Wow, your lettuce survived all winter?? Now I'm really kicking myself for not starting lettuce seeds this fall!

I'm saving my row cover for the coldest of nights. There's no way I'm covering my veggie patch all winter. I imagine the field mice and voles would love it!

Good point about the lettuce wall needing too much water...

SS Holly's gonna' tell you about your OSPs.

Sally tree removal is big time work, and very labor intensive. I've done my fair share. That's why I changed from burning wood to coal, although that's not exactly labor free.
I still have lettuce in my garden up here. I didn't even plant it. I leave my spring crop go to seed since finches love it, as a result I end up with lettuce all over.

SSG, I save my OSP by putting them in a brown paper bag and putting them in a warm area. Heated basement, utility room, laundry room. Some of them will shrivel up but most of them come thru the winter just fine. You will want to get them started in early Feb.
Here is an article I wrote last year about growing them. Hope this helps.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/H...

Ric I think letting greens reseed like that is great and smart. My bricks around the dogwood. I will have to fiddle with the curves though

Sally, the bricks look great and the curves seem fine as is to me. I don't remember that dogwood - is it in the front, side, back?

You all are an industrious bunch! I finished my winter mulch around some tenders and the plants I overwinter outdoors in containers, Bags and bags of shredded leaves didn't go as far as I had thought!

Picked up 2 10'x 18" x 18" poly grow covers just in case Too lazy to make my own...

Aspenhill, is that the lettuce in rain gutters where you water the one on top row and it eventually drains down to the ones below? Harder for the bunnies and GHogs to reach that way!

Mariposa, good point about critter protection with that set up!

Holly! So that's what I did wrong! Ok, I'll give it one more try. The tubers are so pretty and healthy looking that I feel the need to save them.

That's such a pretty dogwood. I love the shape of a dogwood tree in the winter. They look great with Christmas lights on them, too.

Mariposa, maybe that is why they are slanted in the photo, but it is probably just a way to drain off excess water rather than actually be enough water for the gutter below it.

Heya! Seed Swap threads are up, here and in the MAG forum at DG. You'll also find us on the "Seed Swaps" page (click from the blue menu at upper left of ATP home page).

Need to get out and rescue some plants & bulbs that didn't go in yet, as well as some tools... but ate something that really disagreed with me for lunch. Don't trust stuff at the back of the fridge when you don't quite remember from WHENce it came. Dumb. But it looked good and was so tasty!

Ooh, thanks for setting that up, Jill!

It's my first time signing up for a swap on ATP, so I'll have to check out how the system works here.

I hope it's a short-lived bug, Jill! I'm recovering from yet another foot injury.

ss she often uses bonsai trays with no drain hole to start them, they look nice, she uses other containers as well. Just using enough water to come half way or so on the tuber. They often look as though nothing is happening for weeks, then POW, the sprouts start.

Thanks for the tip, Ric! I have plastic takeout containers with holes that I'll use for this project.

SSG, I haven't logged in to ATP for a couple weeks but I wanted to comment on what you said about the Sekkan Sugi Cryptomeria growing fast. I planted our two in spring of '10 and they are in the first two pics. The second two pics are from spring of '15 and taken from the exact spots they were taken in '10. The next two are the same plants but farther away for scale. The two have grown to about 14'. Each have grown about 2-3' this season so are even taller than the pics.

wow, Seq, that is fast!

Indeed. I do love them. I was able to harvest one volunteer and have it planted at my in-law's house. That one is about 3' tall. It volunteered in '12, was babied all of '13 by me in a pot and then planted out. The only thing is I have to spray them with Wiltpruf or they can brown out some. They could probably handle it without but as long as I have the time, $$, and patience, I want them looking their best.

Wow, they grow up so fast! Mine's gotten taller but hasn't filled out yet, so it still looks somewhat sparse.

And most guides online says that Sekkan Sugi has a "medium" growth rate. I can't imagine a faster growing conifer! Maybe Leyland cypress?

If they had a barfing emoji, I'd use it immediately after saying Leyland cypress. There are so many of those here, they are starting to rival arborvitaes as the most over planted conifer. Here people plant them just so they can have fast growing evergreens. Unfortunately, in our area, the only get so tall before a storm blows them over or a heavy snow load takes them down. Also, in the winter of 13-14 many of them browned out badly and had to be cut down. Now, as far as browning goes, my cryptomeria aren't much better but at least they look better IMO.

How much shade does your SS cryp get? The one on the west side of our house gets much more shade from our neighbor's red maple and that is a little sparse as well. The east side one gets tons of sun and is very thick and full. I was really dumb when I planted them though and they were both planted way too close to the house. The east side one is alright but the one on the west side may eventually need to be cut down because of it.

My Sukkan Sugi gets a fair bit of shade from a fence, nearby shrubs, and a neighbor's large ash tree. I'd say it gets around 4 hours of direct sun and an additional 4 hours of filtered sun. I chose this cultivar partly because it was supposed to be shade tolerant. I read somewhere that they fill out as they mature, but you're probably right in that the lack of sun is probably to blame for mine looking somewhat thin.

Take a look at this hedge of Leyland cypress. 130 FEET and still growing!

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazi...

I can't remember if I've shared that link before, but it's hilarious! Make sure to watch that video. And the naked man!

British homeowners hate this tree because they get so big (especially in their climate), and they have such tiny gardens to begin with. It's interesting how the person on the video says it's not a weak tree. That's because they don't get our winters!