Line? ;)

Spose if one should have to duck,weave,step over,maneuver around the plants just to get into bed...there might be a term for that. :)

haha. my son and husband told me I am hoarding plants and I need to go on a show or something.. I guess I am a collector LOL. after all its only been about 4 months since I started this plant loving thing and I have about 70 plants total.. That's not bad now is it?

Collector of plants, hoarder of pots (but there is an effort to lose the plain terra-cotta pots, but not the plants in them, and get them all repotted into pretty pots, which as of this writing have no holes).

Thankfully there was no question about top dressing.

This post was edited by cactusmcharris on Wed, May 15, 13 at 18:45

I'm pretty sure I've slipped into the realm of hoarders. Oh, I can muster some semblance of restraint from time to time, but in the end it doesn't add up to a hill of beans. If I don't have it, I have to get it. And if not today, then tomorrow. I'm not sure how many Agaves I have in the ground now, but I know it's more than 200.

@cghpnd: You need an intervention before it's too late! Run for your life, you'll only find enablers here!

I am a COLLECTOR, I say!! Let's just say I keep "hoarding" at bay by a VERY FINE line. :P Only thing saving me is losing plants to my neglect...slows me down some, but they are replaced in time. I justify that I am NOT a hoarder, because I AM able to give plants away (to folks I know & like). Okay, you've opened a can of worms!!

Okaaay...these are from a while back...when things looked decent enough to snap pix of groups (instead of vignettes/individual plants). I'm uploading thumbnails, so you can click for larger views ~ but in case that doesn't work for some, let me know...I can upload the larger pix for a while (& remove later). I don't want to hog space!

This is not all...just representative. Hee hee!

{{gwi:551380}} {{gwi:551381}} {{gwi:551382}}

{{gwi:551383}} {{gwi:551384}}

{{gwi:551385}} {{gwi:551386}} {{gwi:551387}}

{{gwi:551388}} {{gwi:551390}}

Adding, my answer to the question asked: I am an artist, and I draw many lines...but I'm not going to tell you where mine is!! LOL

This post was edited by rosemariero on Tue, Jul 23, 13 at 13:54

I would love to do that with the pots as well, Jeff. :)

GS, you have 200 Agave PIG?!?!?!? Wow! I'm hoping to get a majority of mine PIG. Yes, I think I am like you. When I go to the store/nursery, I look at the plants & say, "have it, have it, have it...drat"! Go back in a week & check! Ha ha!

Rosemariero!

That is pretty awesome. I don't think I fit into either category myself. Not enough plant's to be a hoarder and not enough knowledge to a collector. So I guess that make me you all's groupie! The rock stars are doing much better than you guys in that department, I gotta tell you.

You know the only thing worse than someone that doesn't have a clue? Well that's someone who doesn't have a clue but acts like they do! So with that said Rosmarie, what is the red aloe looking plant in the top left picture? Looks like an aloe hybrid on a trunk to me! I love it. Do you mind telling me about it?

John

Ha ha, John, sounds like fun to have groupies! =0)

That Aloe was bought as A. cameronii, but isn't. I thought I had it figured out at one time, but the name escapes me right now. A horticulturist (who worked at the San Diego Zoo) had a yard sale way back. I was disappointed he hadn't tagged it correctly. One of these days I'll get one!

can't you be both? I'm a collector that hordes way too many common plants.

@ rosemariero: On one hand, you have my 100% stamp of approval! That is amazing! But OTOH, you are completely outta control, young lady! Ha!

I make the rounds most Saturday mornings, planning nursery circuits all through the Valley. And yes, that's exactly what I do!

200+ Agaves (140 varieties) not including pups, 100 cacti, and a mish mosh of the rest. Almost all in the ground, many/most are painstakingly lined into my drip system

This post was edited by GermanStar on Wed, May 15, 13 at 22:13

GS, not sure but I think an intervention is over due. Not that I dont need one too. Even in my colder climate I have as many plants PIG as I can protect. My building holds about 300 plants during the winter. If I lived in the VOTS my collection of 60 different sp of agave would explode!

No argument from me, I've been saying the same for some time now. In fact, this entire thread is little more than a thinly veiled cry for help. I've also been thinking this whole thing will simply resolve itself as I continue to run out of room, but I gotta tell you, it's truly impressive what one can manage with the right shoehorn.

This thread is too funny! It's like a chapter out of "Confessions of Succulents Anonymous"...of which I am a charter member!

I can really relate to the shoe horn analogy, GS....

T

I tell myself the line between hoarding and collecting is that collectors can take pretty good care of their plants, while hoarders have so many that itâÂÂs humanly impossible to give them adequate care.

GermanStar is clearly safe, with so many plants happily in the ground, and supplied with drip lines. If you find yourself watering light-starved Agaves, on top of your refrigerator, with a dirty coffee cup, at 2AM, thatâÂÂs trouble.

Not that I have done that (yet.)

But I have nearly reached the limits of Plant Parenthood...keeping everybody well watered and in/out of the sun has now turned into a full time job. And still, I buy plants. This is probably bad.

cghpnd, 70 plants in 4 months...doing the math...in a year youâÂÂll have about 210 plants...five years, maybe 1500, if some pup...nope, youâÂÂre fine.

Laffed all the way through this thread, terrified that I have caught the virus. Min

"Collector of plants, hoarder of pots" yep that's me in a nutshell or I should say was....just took two truckloads of plastic 2 gal, 1 gal and smaller pots to the recycle depot.
Definitely a collecter, at one time I had over 350 different varieties of fuchsias, many baskets of pendulous begonias grown from Antonelli's seed plus a lot their tubers. I won't mention the michaelmas daisy collection I imported from the UK, and all the others that I just had to have. What can I say I love, love, love many types of plants.
Succulents have sneakily, very sneakily crept into my garden and now have become a full blown addiction, I think of them as the jewels in my garden, most have to be moved back into the greenhouse for the winter so this is what limits me to the number I can have, darn :(.

Annette

GS, I WISH I had drip lines installed. Hmmm...think I'd better incorporate that into my front yard design before I get to installment stage! I wondered what you'd do once you run out of room. I've seen your past posts with pix...gorgeous plants!

I admit, on occasion, I have made the rounds of several BBS in search of sux (but most times when looking for plants for OTHERS). Thanks, for your approval! :D That's why I frequent this forum, ya know!!

I also like the "shoe horn" analogy. I tried to have a selp-imposed rule when I shop at nurseries (doesn't always work), because cart-jumpers are overpowering at times! The employees are always trying to "help" me by getting a cart. I told them I'm not allowed to buy more than I can carry. You'd be surprised how much one can hold if they've a mind to though!!

Oh, I like that line of thought, Nil...be BOTH!

Chad, I think I would not continue this obsession...er, I mean, collection/hobby...if I had to haul THAT many plants in & out of the house for different seasons! Well...eek...maybe I would. :O

Charter member, Tom, that's a MUCH better title...didn't you know there's a 12 Step Program for Plantaholics?? I'm sure you could find something about it in a search fo the 67 pages of posts Norma mentioned!! (I am NOT crying for help. I am NOT crying for help.) I'm doing really good lately...ask Regina. She was there at the last C&S show/sale when I ONLY had TWO cart-jumpers catch a ride home with me!! ANYone who knows me was feeling my forehead to see if I was all right. :P I thought I showed Uber restraint!

Mudhouse, SHUSH your mouth!! I could've done WITHOUT that 1st paragraph! (There is not enough time in the day. Sigh.)

Annette, I also recycled 2 barrels of plastic pots (all neatly stacked, you know), not so long ago. Neighbor asked me if I had any extra small pots she could have. Guess what?
I have also switched over to mainly sux after having all regular type garden plants (800+) at one time. I have lost count of the sux. But they do MUCH better in the SOS program I have them on now.

I have gotten sidetracked for too long now. Have to get back to my To Do list! Have a fun day, folks!

I guess collector, but a definite hoarder when given opportunity! Why? Well if you sow seeds, and need 3-5 max but cannot get rid of the other 20 (you say not yet in the mind)...you begin hoarding...

This is a fun thread and I loved reading all the comments - nice one Germanstar!

rosemariero: Drip is wonderful, but it can be tricky to use with succulents, and you may have a few accidents while learning what emitters to use and at what distance. Also, lining plants into the system is often more work that actually placing plants in the ground. But once it's in and properly tweaked, it's a terrific time saver and allows for the kind of deep watering that's difficult to achieve any other way, at least here in the desert.

This post was edited by GermanStar on Thu, May 16, 13 at 14:36

BP, I have "insurance plants". Maybe you could use the term? :P

Thanks for the info, Ron. I may pick your brain more about this in the near future! =)

Whether I am or am not hoarding is irrelevant. All that matters is that to the person that enters my home, it doesn't LOOK like I am hoarding is what's important, lol. The fact that I have to move 10 plants to open my storage door on the balcony is nobody's business, haha.

Can't call myself a collector when I have regular plants with 80% bought at regular stores available to the masses ---and I only have one of most (other than coleus, and some succulents). But I will agree with the poster re: seed starting. With so many seedlings going (half of which WILL go to my mom next week, I swear), I often sigh because it's starting to LOOK like I'm hoarding. Come June, I fully intend to make things look much more organized with everything in its final homes.

I have forbidden myself since early April from visiting any nursery until Jan 2014, though. The way I shop there is too reminiscent of an actual hoarder in a secondhand store....and I watch entirely too many episodes of "Hoarders" to not be able to recognize, haha.

Grace

I draw the line at 300 plants anyone with more than that is in need of some serious help. I only have 299 but I just found some hanging planters where I can hang 8 plants
where before I could only fit one.

^ Very organized. Looks good!

i am a small collectorð i have little space for gardening

i am a small collectorð i have little space for gardening

"Are you a collector or a hoarder?"

Yes,

I love all the responses - quality stuff! Thanks for making us look deep down inside ourselves, GS... -_-

I notice people have differing definitions of what it means to be a collector but the image of hoarding is pretty clear. As for me, I'm undeniably a collector. Am I a hoarder? You should ask the hoard.

The truth is, I don't see it that way. I never really think of my plants as a collection, more like my stationary, outdoor family... and yes I do a memorial service and cry every time I lose one;)

Hey, Rian! How are gonna get rid of all these babies???

Yes, lol.
My husband will see a new plant and ask, "when did you get that one?"
Oh, um, that one, had it for awhile." That's not really lying.
Is it?

Well Entero,

...it's all a matter of perspective really,.."it's been a "while" since you walked in the door with it,see?

Semantics are wonderful! ;)

Of course the new cool plant will be the center of your attention until the NEXT new cool plant mysteriously arrives...doesn't mean the LAST new cool plant will suffer for any lack of attention,right?

Meh...I'm babbling again. :)

Hoarder :
A succulent enthusiast that allows any and all succulent plants to jump into a cart as impulse may allow

This is the start of a line that has been drawn as it is seen in the sand on this side
__________________________________________________________________

This is the finished side of the same drawn line on this side of the sand

Collector: A succulent enthusiast that examines any and all succulent plants for an amount of time then places them in a gentle and orderly manner into a cart after the no time limit examination has been passed.

Note; The line has been crossed as it is not written in stone.. A serious collector may often even plea for bargain in price even after they just paid the asking price

I would be a hoarder but I seem also to be a murderer.

Hi...I guess I would say that I am a collector.....not a hoarder...because I share.....heheheheee
always willing to trade or just give a few cuttings...linda

Here's a few shots- you decide

another shot of the back yard

a shot from the roof

here's another shot from above

small fragment of my cactus collection

That's the new place?

I can attest to Rosemarie's incredible restraint at the last SD C&SS Show and Sale. BUT I did just see some cart jumpers of hers in another post just recently. HA HA And the same San Diego sale is coming up again in a few weeks. :-)

As for me, I think I, well...yes, both. I also take in unloved succulents from others..adopt many. I'm trying to actually get most of my plants PIG. Just ripped out 5 bushes today to have more room for sux. :-)

I have been to 3 C&SS sales this past spring and plan to go to 3 more within the next month. :-O I spend many weekends going on my usual nursery circuit too. :-/

There you have it!

Ryan, will sell some others I give away to friends & family. Rosemary 4-5 would be backup! In all seriousness I think collecting more my definition, as for me, it is about 75% plant and 25% about its origin and variation. Another reason for doing seeds is the variation within species in shape and flower colour. I sometimes wish I started much earlier than I did for it is a fascinating world (succulents), and certainly one where you can learn a lot, if looking at behaviour and amazing adaptability of them.

Asleep, I see what you mean. But that also includes time plant kept in the car until the 'coast' is clear. So sad to say, I had forgotten one in the car since Friday! But it's just fine. The temps haven't been too bad lately. Again I did have to bring a car full of plants and cuttings from my father's wife. I couldn't insult her by refusing her offer. Did get lots of interesting succulents that I needed...yes, needed!

Beach, absolutely agree with your entire statement.

Geoff, I still see some space there on that brick area.

Izzddr, have you started your greenhouse yet? You will be a happier man.

Beautiful collections!

I use to hoard both plants and pots, but now I only hoard mixes, and pots.....

Mike

Love, love, love all the pictures! I only have about a hundred which pales in comparison to most of you. Wish I had my own house, then I could get as many as I please. By the way, I say I'm a collector, but my kids would say I'm a hoarder! Keep up the good work everyone.

Hmm, i just realized i never gave a response to this.
well, judging by mrlike2u's defenition, i guess im a hoarder. i buy everything i think is cute, and adorable.