Your All Things Plants weekly news: September 28, 2013

There were 7 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By dave September 28, 2013 An Early Look at Plankets for Frost Protection Plankets are pretty snazzy frost blankets that work well to protect potted plants as well as shrubs in the landscaping. The company sent us some to try out, so we made a video for everyone to see. (3 comments)

By Sharon September 27, 2013 Getting To Know Those Flying Stingers Uninvited, they join us at picnics. They race for the first bite of our apples. They pounce from beneath the blades of the lawnmower and crawl up the legs of our pants. Even our noses are at risk when we sniff our flowers. "What stung you?" she asked years ago. "I don't know, Ninna, but it had wings and a stinger!" (1,597 words - Read the full article) (17 comments)

By dave September 26, 2013 ATP Podcast #36: Heading into Fall In this week's episode we cover the gamut of topics relevant to the transition from summer to fall, and we scratch the surface on the subject of seed saving and storing. (5 comments)

By clintbrown September 25, 2013 Echinacea Clean Up If you don't like the appearance of your Echinacea seedheads in late summer and early fall, you can still tidy up their appearance and feed the goldfinches and other birds as well. To clean up, I wait until the stalk just below the seedheads turns brown/black. Cut the stalks and bundle like a bouquet and tie to the base of a pole or small tree. I do this so the finches can have the seeds, and it looks neater. The base of a shepherd's hook that holds your birdfeeders is an excellent spot to tie your seed bouquet. (3 comments)

By Newyorkrita September 24, 2013 Add Cracked Corn to Your Birdseed Mix and Feed the Squirrels Adding cracked corn stretches your mixed-seed budget and satisfies the squirrels. You can buy cracked corn in any farm feed store in large 50-pound bags. (3 comments)

By RickCorey September 23, 2013 Organized Sowing Recording when you direct sowed or transplanted out, is the only way to learn what the ideal dates are for each variety in your micro-climate. (348 words - Read the full article) (11 comments)

By Xeramtheum September 22, 2013 Getting the Bugs out of Seeds When I harvest my seeds, before they are catalogued and logged in, I always sprinkle some Diatomaceous Earth in a small container and add the seeds, then shake to distribute the DE among the seeds. This will take care of any bugs that were harvested along with the seeds, as well as any that may hatch out later. (13 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Dunce's Cap (Orostachys malacophylla var. iwarenge) by goldfinch4: Photo of Lion's Ear (Leonotis nepetifolia) by angele: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Rocks Cry Out') by Newyorkrita: Photo of Iris (Iris 'Adventurous') by ARUBA1334: Photo of Japanese Morning Glory (Ipomoea nil 'Hama no Fubuki') by poisondartfrog: Photo of Prickly Pear (Opuntia basilaris) by robertduval14:

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week: Multi-plant photo by 4susiesjoy: Multi-plant photo by Paul2032: Multi-plant photo by ge1836: Multi-plant photo by Marilyn: Multi-plant photo by TBGDN: Multi-plant photo by Paul2032:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

8 people gave for the idea "Getting To Know Those Flying Stingers" by Sharon 5 people gave for the idea "Echinacea Clean Up" by clintbrown 4 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #510 by 4susiesjoy 4 people gave for a photo of Lion's Ear (Leonotis nepetifolia) by angele 3 people gave for the idea "Getting the Bugs out of Seeds" by Xeramtheum 2 people gave for the idea "Emergency Seed Package" by goldfinch4 2 people gave for the idea "Add Cracked Corn to Your Birdseed Mix and Feed the Squirrels" by Newyorkrita 2 people gave for the idea "Daylilies, a Rainbow of Color" by Char 2 people gave for a post in "Cane Begonia and Pet Safety" by RickCorey 2 people gave for a post in "Suggestion for the Team ideas" by Sharon

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
OT - The Porch Swing	daylily	Daylilies forum	307
Identifying S. 'Oh My'	gg5	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	51
DAYLILY TALES CONTEST - 2013	daylily	Daylilies forum	35
Changes to Sempervivum Names	goldfinch4	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	35
Advertising	goldfinch4	Site Talk forum	31
some odd things, first unread and profile	extranjera	Site Talk forum	29
Cane Begonia and Pet Safety	chelle	Ask a Question forum	27
Identifying S. 'Niphetos'	picklepuff	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	24
unknown groundcover	gingin	Plant ID forum	22

Some new recommendations from our members:

woofie recommended Gardener's Supply Company and wrote: I've ordered quite a few things from Gardener's Supply and have mostly been well pleased. (Their Tractor Scoot is just wonderful!) They have lots of nifty products. Of course, no one is perfect, so I've had occasion to contact customer service a time or two, and I have to say that their customer service is just about the best I've ever encountered. If there is a problem, they will fix it, and fix it quickly. Great company!

Some numbers from last week:

• 41 new members.
• 151 new threads.
• 3,454 new posts.
• 1,441 new images to the plant database.
• 119 new comments in the plant database.
• 32 new Multi-Plant photos.