Your All Things Plants weekly news: March 30, 2013

There were 6 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By Sashagirl March 29, 2013 A Pencil Makes a Great Seedling Tool Use a common lead pencil to make the first transplant of seedling from seedling tray to next size up. Fill your six-pack (or similar) cells with starter mix, then use the pencil to make the planting hole. Use the pencil tip to gently lift and separate the seedling from its seed tray. Then use the pencil tip to gently tuck the root down into the starter mix. Last, apply gentle compression to the soil-less mix around the stem and roots. (no comments)

By GigiPlumeria March 28, 2013 Save Money: Buy Clearance Plants I find myself looking at clearance racks more often these days, especially after I discovered I can easily make them into beautiful plants for a fraction of the original price. All it takes is a little tender loving care. (115 words - Read the full article) (28 comments)

By dave March 27, 2013 ATP Podcast #11: Coping with Late Season Frost It seems like the whole country is currently dealing with an extremely long winter and late frosts and freezes, and we in Texas are not being spared. Today's episode we discuss ideas, tips and techniques for dealing with frost. (77 words - Read the full article) (9 comments)

By Skiekitty March 26, 2013 Hydrogen Peroxide Is a Gardener's Friend After planting all of those new plants, you might have ground-in dirt on your skin. Hydrogen peroxide will bubble it away. It works the same with grass stains. (14 comments)

By 1AnjL March 25, 2013 Easier Planting for Shrubs When planting large shrubs, or several at one time, use a post hole digger to dig your holes. It speeds up planting time and makes digging easier. (one comment)

By jeri11 March 24, 2013 Spring into Nursery Shopping If you shop at nurseries each month and buy some of what is blooming, you will have a garden for all seasons. (9 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Xylophone Jazz') by Ladylovingdove: Photo of Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora) by robertduval14: Photo of Kohleria (Kohleria bogotensis) by Gerris2: Photo of Aloe (Aloe vanbalenii) by robertduval14: Photo of (Billbergia nutans var. nutans) by Carter: Photo of Torch Ginger (Etlingera elatior) by robertduval14:

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
OT - The Porch Swing • Spring 2013	daylily	Daylilies forum	104
Weather In Your Garden - Spring!	daylily	Daylilies forum	54
Thoughts and prayers requested	farmerbell	Sandbox forum	45
Oh no, I have found the lily auction	enidcandles	Daylilies forum	37
Experiment with Configure	valleylynn	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	33
Cycads Pot Mix	sfrangu	Tropicals forum	33
Hardy Succulents, Tough Plants for Every Climate by Gwen Moore Kelaides	jojoe	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	32
Clint's Excellent Chicken Grit Experience	clintbrown	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	31
Love those sale racks!	JoAnn	Save Money: Buy Clearance Plants	27

Some new recommendations from our members:

Marilyn recommended Garden Tool Company and wrote: I ordered a 'type' of tool I had been wanting. I got the Half Moon Pull Garden Hoe by DeWit Tools 63 inch handle. http://www.gardentoolcompany.com/half-moon-pull-garden-hoe-b... This was the first time ordering from them, but it won't be the last. Very happy with it and am looking forward to using it when it gets warmer. Recommended!

pniksch recommended Steve's Leaves and wrote: Great mail order company with a huge variety of vintage indoor plants, everything from old favorites and hard-to-find varieties to new hybrid begonias (they have their own in-house breeding program). Large selection of high quality plants at reasonable prices. Check them out!

Some numbers from last week:

• 69 new members.
• 131 new threads.
• 3,424 new posts.
• 1,544 new images to the plant database.
• 57 new comments in the plant database.