Your All Things Plants weekly news: July 6, 2013

There were 7 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By vic July 6, 2013 Recycle Your Water for Plants In times of severe drought, re-route your washer hose to empty wash water into a barrel or large container. Every little bit helps! (no comments)

By ShadyGreenThumb July 5, 2013 Unconventional Plant Ties Look around. A lot of things can be used as plant ties. (138 words - Read the full article) (4 comments)

By dave July 4, 2013 ATP Podcast #25: Beating the Heat In the face of country-wide heat waves, we thought this would be a good time to review the best tips on how to keep your garden growing through the hottest part of the summer. (54 words - Read the full article) (one comment)

By tinpins July 3, 2013 Keeping Squirrels Out of Freshly Planted Pots The squirrels don't dig in freshly planted pots and planters if you place large flat stones in between the new plants. Once the plants are established and are starting to grow, the stones can be removed. (16 comments)

By psa July 2, 2013 Blossom End Rot White or black patches on the bottom of the tomato are known as Blossom End Rot (BER) and usually indicate a lack of nutrients getting to the tomato. It can be due to a calcium deficiency or acidic soil, or poor growing conditions. Sometimes it clears up on its own after the first crop. (no comments)

By Natalie July 1, 2013 Building a Greenhouse or Cold Frame out of a Dog Kennel When we got our Lab pup, Bailey, we decided to buy an outside dog kennel so that she wouldn't get into all of my plants. The idea was that we would leave her in there if we needed to run an errand, instead of letting her have free run of the yard. By the time she was 1 1/2 years old, however, she had only spent an entire 1/2 hour in it. So, it was a wasted $250. Or so I thought! I really wanted a greenhouse, and the kennel made the perfect frame for it! (227 words - Read the full article) (19 comments)

By psa June 30, 2013 Watering Tips Going outside and spraying your plants with a hose may not produce the best results. There are a few guidelines that will help your plants grow optimally. (74 words - Read the full article) (no comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Iris (Iris 'Rare Treat') by Sheridragonfly: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Black Falcon Ritual') by shive1: Photo of Amaryllis (Hippeastrum 'Apple Blossom') by 4susiesjoy: Photo of Texas Prickly Pear (Opuntia engelmannii var. lindheimeri) by wildflowers: Photo of Iris (Iris ensata 'Oriental Eyes') by eclayne: Photo of Cherry Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum 'Mexico Midget') by dave:

The most popular image sets from last week: Image Set by chelle: Image Set by ge1836: Image Set by ge1836: Image Set by kosk0025: Image Set by jeri11: Image Set by ge1836:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

4 people gave for a post by mcash70 under "Banner for July 2, 2013 by mcash70" 4 people gave for the image set #171 by ge1836 3 people gave for a post by dave under "New feature tonight: Acorns Tips!" 3 people gave for a post by abhege under "New feature tonight: Acorns Tips!" 2 people gave for a post by Onewish1 under "Announcing the Image Sets feature" 2 people gave for Building a Greenhouse or Cold Frame out of a Dog Kennel 2 people gave for a post by fiwit under "OT - The Porch Swing • Summer #1, 2013" 2 people gave for Keeping Squirrels Out of Freshly Planted Pots 2 people gave for Opinion: Erasing Carbon Footprints 2 people gave for a post by Onewish1 under "Announcing the Image Sets feature"

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
July Blooms	Hemlady	Daylilies forum	119
What's going on in our July Vegetable Gardens?	Newyorkrita	Edibles and Preserving forum	45
Incorrect plant ID	JWWC	Daylilies forum	41
ATP Series: The Daylilies of Jim Murphy and Margo Reed	Char	Daylilies forum	35
July Seedlings	Hemlady	Daylilies forum	33
Hot Poker Plant	Natalie	Perennials forum	33
Banner for July 2, 2013 by mcash70	mcash70	Site Banners forum	31
What is happening here?	tinpins	All Things Gardening forum	29
Anyone here up for a ridiculously vague plant ID question?	woofie	Northeast Gardening forum	27

Some new recommendations from our members:

Ladysmith94 recommended Earlybird Daylilies and wrote: I too have had exceptional daylilies from Earlybird. I also grow in a harsh climate and her daylilies seem to handle the West Texas heat and drought the best. I have purchased from her 3 different times and have never been disappointed. Robin is in my top 3 sellers.

Ladysmith94 recommended Blue Ridge Daylilies and wrote: I ordered several daylilies from Blue Ridge in April. They were absolutely impressive when they arrived. They have already bloomed this season. I am extremely pleased with these daylilies. I recommend them highly and will buy from them again.

Ladysmith94 recommended Abundant Daylilies and wrote: I only ordered a couple of daylilies this spring on the Daylily Auction, but wow - they have bloomed already this season! I received them and planted them in April. They were huge, when they arrived. I completely recommend this seller and will certainly buy from them again.

Hillc recommended Plant Delights Nursery, Inc. and wrote: Great people to work with and unique plants. Not cheap but worth the money!

virginiarose recommended Romence Gardens & Greenhouses and wrote: I just got my first order from RG and I am not disappointed. I have heard a lot of nice things about them and the reasonable shipping. I ordered two coneflowers. For about the same price I have been paying for a three or four inch pot, I got gallon-size pots. I was very impressed with the size of the plants and the packing. Great company and I would recommend them to everyone.

Some numbers from last week:

• 68 new members.
• 168 new threads.
• 3,896 new posts.
• 1,449 new images to the plant database.
• 102 new comments in the plant database.
• 20 new image sets.