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Jan 29, 2016 4:34 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
I tried that with thorny branches from blackberries. Like hot powdered chilies, it helped some.

My theory was that lazy cats were easily deterred, but hungry squirrels made full coverage necessary.

I bet it also matters how much access cats have to recently-turned or soft soil. Where I live, there is asphalt, hard clay, gravel, and a few people have pots. Actual exposed soil is rare.

I wonder - if I had better gardening habits, and mulched with bark chips soon after sowing, would THAT keep cats out?
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Jan 29, 2016 4:46 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
I wonder about a great many animal or pet behaviors ,, including my own patience ,,
No matter though,, in truth anything can change that eventually , Sort of the Halfwit advancement of professor education thing ,, No matter what you comprehend it is never absolute ,
If you comprehend 70 to 90 percent of a particular category you have the chance of possibility of advancing the category ,,
But every complete subject contains an average of 30 to 50 categories ,, it is mind boggling .

Planted , Peony poppy , Wild Lupine , and salad bowl lettuce supreme today , 34 degrees ,, 50 for tomorrow ,,,
All in hopes of the critters leaving me a few munchies and blooms ,,,
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 29, 2016 5:17 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
jimard8 said: .... No matter what you comprehend it is never absolute ...
If you comprehend 70 to 90 percent of a particular category you have the chance of possibility of advancing the category ,,
But every complete subject contains an average of 30 to 50 categories ,, it is mind boggling .


No matter what the subject is, experts subdivide it smaller so they can specialize enough to know "everything published" about that sub-subject. Doctors joke about "I specialize in the LEFT little finger". At sicientific conferecnes where EVERY expert in the world on some subject get together, they break down into smaller and smaller groups until only a few people in the whole world are really "in on" that particular sub-sub-subject.

When I think about it as a student, I scroan - screaming and groaning done at the same time.
Thinking about it as a gardener, I can "take the side of the plants" and enjoy the way they still amaze and baffle every expert in the world. We might know three times as much as they did 50 years ago, or 100 times as much as they knew 200 years ago ... but every single new answer raises three more questions, each more difficult than the first question.

Meanwhile the plants just sit there in the soil, laughing at our efforts to analyze and define life.

My money is the plants, even in the long run!

Kind of like a great marriage, where no matter how long they live together, they still amaze and delight each other.


jimard8 said: .... Planted , Peony poppy , Wild Lupine , and salad bowl lettuce supreme today , 34 degrees ,, 50 for tomorrow ,,,
All in hopes of the critters leaving me a few munchies and blooms ,,,


Cool! Was that a "winter-sowing" deal in jugs, or direct-sowing? I forget.

These would be more cold-tolerant than most:
Tyfon
Corn Salad
May Queen lettuce
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Jan 29, 2016 5:57 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Lettuce in the Jugs , the poppy and Lupine went straight into the ground .
My lupines were there early but never finished returning , they try on their own to grow here , real close ,
Poppy ,, I am sort of at , I got a few pom pom to bloom the cats did not get ,

Iceberg lettuce will grow without damage down to 18 degrees here , That is the one today , several more to do ,
The white viola is still blooming , An Iris and a daffodil are up about 4 to 6 inches tall now ,,
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 29, 2016 9:22 PM CST
Name: Rick Corey
Everett WA 98204 (Zone 8a)
Sunset Zone 5. Koppen Csb. Eco 2f
Frugal Gardener Garden Procrastinator I helped beta test the first seed swap Plant and/or Seed Trader Seed Starter Region: Pacific Northwest
Photo Contest Winner: 2014 Avid Green Pages Reviewer Garden Ideas: Master Level Garden Sages I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! I helped plan and beta test the plant database.
>> Iceberg lettuce will grow without damage down to 18 degrees here

Wow, I didn't know! Hence the name "ICEberg"!
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Jan 30, 2016 9:02 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Quote RickCorey




Cool! Was that a "winter-sowing" deal in jugs, or direct-sowing? I forget.

These would be more cold-tolerant than most:
Tyfon
Corn Salad
May Queen lettuce

I did not know about these you mentioned either ,, I will try a few

I like your plant answer to Specialization .. Thumbs up ( good answer to weather arguments also Smiling ) only I do not think we want to go there Hilarious! Shrug!
An observation the recent decades with all the weather distortion is how well the Grasses do ,
No wonder there are so many ,!!! They take about anything ,


[/quote]
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 30, 2016 10:16 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Seeds received ,, seeds being started
Thumb of 2016-01-30/jimard8/8717b1


Thumb of 2016-01-30/jimard8/ee436f


Thumb of 2016-01-30/jimard8/e5b7ab This is a Daffodil , up in January to bloom in February ( No Way !!!
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 30, 2016 7:18 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
More Jugs ,, As habit forming as Moonshine
Thumb of 2016-01-31/jimard8/7da624


Thumb of 2016-01-31/jimard8/1207a0
Same place , but more of them . I planted a few Tomatoes that have Wintersown before , and Several more lettuce plants , it got to 57 degrees today I couldn't resist ,,
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 30, 2016 7:48 PM CST
Name: Dnd
SE Michigan (Zone 6a)
Daylilies Dog Lover Houseplants Organic Gardener I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Garden Ideas: Level 2
Keep the cover handy, I just saw on the news that by Wednesday we're supposed to get a swath of cold air from the north that will likely bring a lot of chilly, winter weather with it. Thumbs down
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Jan 30, 2016 8:04 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
DnD I was planning on putting the lids back on Tuesday I believe , Only wanted the rain to water them real good ,50's a couple days , then back to winter ,,As before though , some these 20's and 30's will grow Smiling
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 30, 2016 8:33 PM CST
Name: Dnd
SE Michigan (Zone 6a)
Daylilies Dog Lover Houseplants Organic Gardener I helped beta test the first seed swap Celebrating Gardening: 2015
Garden Ideas: Level 2
It truly is amazing that you're seeing growth in your zone at this time of year. It makes me hopeful. I'm looking forward to this 'early spring' they are predicting for us, I have a LOT to grow now and I intend to try out a bunch of new things. I'm currently trying to figure out what I can grow in clay soil and how to keep my honey from accidentally mowing over the plants or thinking they are weeds and picking them. Or me accidentally picking them, for that matter! But, alas, it's a risk I'll have to take since I only have just so much garden bed space.
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Jan 30, 2016 9:07 PM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Well DnD a 985 sq ft house a 60 by 30 lot approx ,, is not a huge space , but quite a bit or enough ,, if , if , if ,,

These are from part of a 800 acre place in Kansas 1950's photo's
Later my Grandparents 160 acre Homestead (Indiana) , that was 80 when sold later , he sold off as age became ,,


Thumb of 2016-01-31/jimard8/4e35f6
Thumb of 2016-01-31/jimard8/0afa5c

Kind of like the old home week Smiling
Place ain't huge here , but anyplace to grow something will do ..
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
Last edited by jimard8 Jan 30, 2016 9:10 PM Icon for preview
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Jan 31, 2016 11:15 AM CST
Thread OP
Southeast OK (Zone 7b)
Yesterday I had to go to my friends house that had given me the seed for the petunias, portulaca, etc. She needed me to look at her strawberry plants because according to her, we're getting snow tuesday. I looked and I'll be durned if she doesn't have tons of runners on her strawberry plants. The petunias are growing like wildfire too. She was asking me about her beds and what to do with snow coming. They want to move this and that. No moving even though we have springlike weather here, but I was able to find out what some of the plants were that she had given me. Yay! I've checked and checked numerous weather sites for this snow she says we're having. Unless our temps drop drastically on Monday, there will be no snow. I'm so confused, lol. So today, it's getting as much winter sowed as possible. That would be totally awesome to have snow. But all I manage to see is temps in the 50's and 60's for Feb and March. Hmmm....
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Jan 31, 2016 11:21 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Karen , If I was there , where you are . I would plant a few of everything I could . Cold weather crops and flowers would grow easily and quickly , even if it freezes a few times ,, Heat lovers , would follow in the exhausting high summer temperatures following ,
Other flowers that might be both would grow and bloom anyway .!!!

Only problem ,, Stratification might or might not happen with some
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 31, 2016 11:27 AM CST
Thread OP
Southeast OK (Zone 7b)
jimard, the ones requiring stratification are the only ones I'm worried about this year. As I had said earlier, we should have had 4 snows this winter according to farmers almanac and other weather sites. That has been changed. However, this snow business for Tuesday... that has not been changed. So I'm skeptical about the snow. I pretty much decided that I'm winter sowing anyway and praying for the best. My ferns around my shed have not even died yet. They are almost as green as they were this summer. This has truly been an odd winter for us. Way too warm. I'm thinking perhaps I should just winter sow and to delay some of the germination due to getting beds ready, just not bother to keep them moist until march?
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Jan 31, 2016 11:44 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
I try to keep mine moist anyway , rain and temperature does that most of the time , However sometime the temperature causing fast ground hydration , creating super quick evaporation means having to water ,
After Gardening and growing a while your naturalism will give you indicators of what is happening ,, etc Watching your ferns and other plants including the wild plants will tell you what is likely or probably coming ,

Being old woody ,, Myself is reading the trees and shrubs ,,
They say this ,,
Rainy moist weather (not drenching) will continue , while a few small (possibly accumulation ) snows will also continue through February ,
Reading is : that weather will be like Early - Mid Fall here at least through the next month

You all get to laugh if I am wrong , But 5 of 6 times average the plants tell me correctly .. Blinking
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
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Jan 31, 2016 11:53 AM CST
Thread OP
Southeast OK (Zone 7b)
No, I'm not laughing as I watch what is going on as well to give me an idea of what I should do. Hence, the need to not water until I've gotten my beds closer to being ready. Hubby was supposed to start them this weekend but since we've had company all weekend that got nixed. Therefore the need to not water just quite yet. I really don't want tons of germination when my beds are nowhere near ready to plant. Sigh. When will these people understand we are not just all about fixing trucks? We get a yardfull when someone needs their truck fixed and my gardening needs get put to the side. Then we always have to feed a crowd and they don't leave until after 10 pm or sometimes 1 am. Yep, last night I hit the bed at 10 with people still at my house. Lol.
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Jan 31, 2016 11:55 AM CST
Thread OP
Southeast OK (Zone 7b)
Oh and just to make you feel better jimard, I always watch the skies as well. That's one of my biggest guides as much as watching the plants that are in my garden.
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Jan 31, 2016 11:57 AM CST
Name: Jim D
East Central Indiana (Zone 5b)
Annuals Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge) Garden Procrastinator Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Native Plants and Wildflowers Region: Indiana
Hummingbirder Frogs and Toads Dragonflies Cottage Gardener Butterflies Birds
Yes Karen ,, There is life besides the garden , just not when it gets to the table time ,,
Yes people , are at everything 24 hrs ,, Sleep individually however says not all the time as one ,,
I agree Hilarious! Smiling

Skies are Mostly gray all fall and winter here does not read easy if at all

oh and I forgot , Like the Great snow deception sky , your reading ,, like now lol
In the Butterfly garden if a plant is not chewed up I feel like a failure
Last edited by jimard8 Jan 31, 2016 12:01 PM Icon for preview
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Jan 31, 2016 12:08 PM CST
Thread OP
Southeast OK (Zone 7b)
Well, I'm waiting on those skies to turn grey tomorrow... But when everyone was getting snow, we were supposed to get some as well and it just passed us on by. I do think I'll end up watering them all today just to help the cycle along. Ok, probably tomorrow as we are due to be in the 70's today. We have been in short sleeve shirts all week and should be again this week. What am I saying? It's really like our spring is here. Ground is warm, some plants are emerging, some not. It's just such a wait and see game? Last week when I saw the cardinal, I'm like, spring is def here, lol. When our water main busted we had to dig up two of my roses. We replanted them in my vegetable garden. I think they are going to survive. They better as I truly love my Belinda's Dream rose. I'll cry if I lose her but I really don't think I'm in any danger of that right now. If we really do continue with this 60 degree weather, everything I have wintersown will be germinating in the next 2 weeks if I water. Not ready yet, lol.

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