seedrat said:Oerickson, I was wondering about the Altai Productive you recommended. I tried to look it up but there's just Gregory's Altai. Can you give a little more info/post a link? I don't even know what color it will be! Thanks!

http://tatianastomatobase.com/.... This is the best tomato. Like ever...

seedrat said:Oerickson, is there a particular brand of wall-of-water you recommend, or think are NOT good quality? I'm finally going to buy some, for next year!

if you can find with string on the top, those are better IMHO. But Menards usually carry green ones. They are ok. I have found that insect protection fabric works really well, did not try it on tomatoes but cukes and zukes are having a blast. Biggest greenie on Copper River.

Happy, found some more PL on a list - Marizol Korney, Shirley S, Terhune and Oaxacan Jewel.
I really really like to hear feedback, what worked for you, which varieties did best, as what works for me might not be everyone's love... So yeah, if you end up getting some fruit, maybe we can ID more.

oerickson said:

Great job! How are blooms? Some greenies?

Oerickson,
Thank you! Blooms are superb. I've got greenies bigger than my thumbs already. Picked beans and zucchinis already too. Kale is deeeelicious. Nixing the trip out west, I am staying home enjoying veggies from my own garden this summer or until I am done with my neighbors' garden.

Working on 2 new next door neighbors' garden. One is a young lady with some gardening experience. She planted some vegetables then kinda left it to mother nature. The other neighbor has 3 little kids and has no time for the garden whatsoever. Her idea was to plant a row of green and white hostas as ground cover. That's it.

Both neighbors gave me free-reign in their yard. Hahaha. Can you see me rubbing my hands with glee?

Thanks for all the info, Oerickson! On Tatiana's page she calls the Altai determinate AND indeterminate, do you recall which it is? I'm really looking forward to trying it now!

Jasmine, my christmas cactus cuttings are making roots at the segment joints, and hopefully under the soil too. Thanks again for them!

oerickson said: Happy, found some more PL on a list - Marizol Korney, Shirley S, Terhune and Oaxacan Jewel.
I really really like to hear feedback, what worked for you, which varieties did best, as what works for me might not be everyone's love... So yeah, if you end up getting some fruit, maybe we can ID more.

Thank you. I was able to find spots for both unknown plants (not ideal, but hopefully they'll be happy enough to at least grow one fruit so I can ID, taste, and save seeds). I will try to post feedback for all of the wonderful varieties that I scooped up that you shared through the swap.

Wow! I should have checked back on this thread earlier!

Pitimpinai, I would definitely like the verbena bonarensis! I have really missed having that plant. I could stop by when on my way back from an art fair: most are south and I have to drive into Indiana. That is often on a Monday (if it is far enough away I can't drive back right after the show). Not sure about soon. I booked much fewer this year. I'll send you a "tree-mail" to give you my email address and phone number.

Seedrat: I tried to send you a message on Houzz but found you didn't have messaging enabled. I have a question about a plant I got from you LAST year! The Golden Oregano plant. I love the brilliant color. I am not using it as a culinary herb, but as a color accent in a dry area at the edge of a perennial bed. It’s just right to contrast with the purple leaved ajuga mahogany I have.

I would like another but don’t want to risk this one plant by chopping into it. What is the best way to propagate it? Does it root from cuttings?

Also, does it get tall over time? It has stayed quite short, and is really good that way. But descriptions I found online said 1 to 3 feet!

(As an afterthought, I just sent you a message via this forum)

Thanks!

I haven't checked here in a couple of days, how cool that you posted about an hour ago! Sadly, about 80% of the time I don't get notified of tree-mail here. After I type this I'll go look.

My golden oregano stays short all the time, it's curious that it has that height range recorded. I haven't tried it for cooking, either! I love its color and that it's lasted years, whereas variegated thymes and oreganos have not. I haven't tried rooting it, it just spread slowly to medium in a bed, then I moved it and had a few pieces, a couple did not take (or died in the holding pot) . You could try cuttings in a propagation greenhouse like a wintersowing 2-liter bottle (that works for lots of stuff!) You also should be able to encourage the spreading by stretching out the edge of the plants and pressing compost or nice soil over the middle of the extended stems, that seems to be a speeding-up of how oregano spreads on its own. Or maybe next spring I'll be able to carve off a chunk of one of mine.

How are the groundcovers working for your friend? After I looked up that anemone canadensis that Pitimpinai had thought was aconitum, I realized that it would probably be perfect in his shady spot, plus it has those white flowers for a long time, and is a native! I bet someone will have some at next year's swap if he's interested.

I meant to ask you about your art when we were at the swap but I totally forgot! Is it painting, clay, jewelry...?

I have almost everything from the swap in the ground, I just don't know where to put the different "primroses" I grabbed. I can't find info on any of them and one looks a lot like Jewelweed (which is fine but I'd already taken one of those at the swap!). I don't know how tall any of them get!

Jewelweed has been a lifesaver since I got into poison ivy.
Primroses dry sunny spot

Seedrat, I didn't check this forum from long time. I am so glad that christmas cactus are rooting. They are very easy to root.

Whooey, sorry I have not checked this thread or this site. Been so very busy with the neighbors' garden.

Linnea, you can come by anytime before July 11. Since I did not hear from you, I transplanted them in a nieghbor's garden already. But I still have more growing albeit smaller than those first seedlings. Please come before July 11 because we are leaving town and won't be back until August 15.

Linnea, the Daylily I got from you last year is blooming, and so beautiful!

Just in case if anyone still remember LOL what tomatoes were best for your this year- feedback is always welcome!

Hi, Oerickson! I've been trying to pay attention to how I liked the different tomatoes, but I want to make sure before I post my reviews.

One thing I was happy about was how within 4-6 weeks my teeny tiny cherry tomato sprouts were the same size as the BIG starts I got from you and the shops.
I still would like my starts to be bigger for next year!

seedrat said:Hi, Oerickson! I've been trying to pay attention to how I liked the different tomatoes, but I want to make sure before I post my reviews.

One thing I was happy about was how within 4-6 weeks my teeny tiny cherry tomato sprouts were the same size as the BIG starts I got from you and the shops.
I still would like my starts to be bigger for next year!

Seedrat,
Happy belated birthday! I hope it was as great as it should have been!
My summer is about done but since they promising warm fall am loading up on leftovers. Yes, your tiny teeny tomatoes did grew up to big plants. Me- I hate to pick up cherries but they made lovely gift baskets...

i wish i joined earlier...i would've known about this swap...i have tons of seeds and perennials i can swap

Hi, xoxomonisia! Just have a little patience, we should be doing this again next May--Oerickson has been organizing this for over 10 years. We'll probably start chatting about what we want and can bring in March or April :)

Oerickson, I like to wait until most cherries in a cluster are ripe, then cut off the whole cluster!

Seedrat aka Annette: I don’t know if you’ll see this at this time of year, but I just wanted to tell you how lovely those fall blooming plants you gave me are: the aster and the tall ageratum. The aster, though small, is totally covered with flowers. And the ageratum is a lovely shade of blue. I thought it might be closer to lavender, but it is a very nice color of blue. Both are growing and doing well in an unamended soil area that gets little if any care. I hope they survive the winter and spread, as I’d like more of them.

Last year you gave me a golden oregano. I am letting that one spread too, and hope to be able to have enough to move around next year. Thanks!

Thanks to everyone for the lovely things I got from you. All are flourishing.

I am really impressed at how those tiny heuchera seedlings oerickson gave me are now about 4 inches across! This makes me think I really need to start wintersowing of heuchera.

seedrat said:Linnea, the Daylily I got from you last year is blooming, and so beautiful!

Fantastic! Thats "Orchids and Antique Lace", my name for it. I love the ruffling on that one. Since I chopped most of mine up for a major bed overall, which is why I had some to share, I didn't get many blooms from my daylilies this year. They are putting strength into roots.