Your All Things Plants weekly news: August 3, 2013

There were 7 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By dave August 3, 2013 Hugelkultur Bed Maintenance; When the Wood Starts Breaking Down In this video, Trish shows our hugelkultur swales beds, and how she manages them as the woody material starts breaking down, creating empty pockets in the bed. (85 words - Read the full article) (11 comments)

By dave August 2, 2013 Solving the Mystery of the Black Diamond Crepe Myrtle Series This newly introduced Crepe Myrtle exploded onto the scene last year and had everyone talking about it. But is this really a new variety, or an older, already existing variety that has been repackaged and rebranded? I investigated the situation, and what I found will surprise you. (304 words - Read the full article) (31 comments)

By dave August 1, 2013 ATP Podcast #29: Growing Sweet Potatoes In today's episode, Dave and Trish talk all about sweet potatoes. How to plant them, how to grow them, when to harvest, how to cure, and some ideas of how to eat them! (81 words - Read the full article) (10 comments)

By JuneOntario July 31, 2013 Deer-Resistant Plants Shortly after moving to southeastern PA, I watched 30 deer gracefully ravage my new garden like starving ballerinas at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I asked a neighbor: “What don’t deer eat?” After a significant pause he replied: “Concrete…if it’s in large chunks.” (448 words - Read the full article) (no comments)

By flaflwrgrl July 30, 2013 Apple Cider Vinegar in Bird Baths To keep algae growth down and your bird bath clean, add 1 capful of apple cider vinegar or 1 teaspoon per gallon of water to the bird bath. The apple cider vinegar also provides vitamins & minerals to the birds. (10 comments)

By Joannabanana July 29, 2013 Insect Repellent Damage The mosquitoes have been nasty the last few weeks and many folks use repellent spray to keep them away. Please be aware that you may damage your plants from the over spray of the chemicals. (77 words - Read the full article) (9 comments)

By plantladylin July 28, 2013 Cooling Down in the Summer In the heat of summer, If you get overheated easily, as I do, soak a thin kitchen towel in cold water, wring well, and place around your neck. Re-wet on occasion to keep cool. (5 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia 'Ebony Flame') by dave: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Woodlea Wonder') by tink3472: Photo of Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia 'Double Play') by gone2seed: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Barbara Mandrell') by ARoseblush: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Red Velvet Elvis') by ARoseblush: Photo of Hen and Chicks (Sempervivum 'Raspberry Ice') by sandnsea2:

The most popular image sets from last week: Image Set by ge1836: Image Set by Calif_Sue: Image Set by Paul2032: Image Set by Calif_Sue: Image Set by Paul2032: Image Set by dave:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

3 people gave for a post by RoseBlush1 under "planning to transplant my iceberg rose from the ground to another area today.." 3 people gave for Apple Cider Vinegar in Bird Baths 3 people gave for Deer-Resistant Plants 2 people gave for a post by Skiekitty under "i need help which vegetables to plant near each other please.." 2 people gave for Solving the Mystery of the Black Diamond Crepe Myrtle Series 2 people gave for a post by Leftwood under "Aristocrat flowering pear tree" 2 people gave for a post by Newyorkrita under "i need help which vegetables to plant near each other please.." 2 people gave for a post by Horntoad under "BarCodes?" 2 people gave for a post by Newyorkrita under "i need help which vegetables to plant near each other please.." 2 people gave for a post by Joannabanana under "It's time to poke your pots"

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
Veggie Gardens	pixie62560	Northeast Gardening forum	52
i need help which vegetables to plant near each other please..	newbiemomgardener	Edibles and Preserving forum	50
August Butterflies & Moths	plantladylin	Gardening for Butterflies, Birds and Bees forum	32
Anyone grow Lisianthus?	Paul2032	All Things Gardening forum	31
Time for Apple Pie!	tveguy3	Edibles and Preserving forum	28
What's going on in our August Vegetable Gardens?	Newyorkrita	Edibles and Preserving forum	28
Spider plants are the best!	teengardener1888	Houseplants forum	27
Propagation Week	clintbrown	Site Talk forum	27
BarCodes?	fiwit	Site Talk forum	26

Some new recommendations from our members:

tgarden711 recommended Blue Ridge Daylilies and wrote: I have ordered several times from Blue Ridge Daylilies, I always receive the largest and healthiest looking plants. Several of them have bloomed soon after I planted them. They have a really good selection to choose from and I highly recommend them.

sandnsea2 recommended Perennial Obsessions and wrote: What beautiful plants I always receive from Perennial Obsessions. They offer superlative varieties of Sempervivum and Sedum. They exceed my expectations every time in all arenas: fast shipping, perfect packing, great communication, and generous-sized plants. Wonderful experience.

dave recommended Steele Plant Company and wrote: We have ordered sweet potato slips from this company for many years and have always been perfectly happy with what we get.

Some numbers from last week:

• 62 new members.
• 159 new threads.
• 3,788 new posts.
• 877 new images to the plant database.
• 358 new comments in the plant database.
• 16 new image sets.