Saturday October 20 at 11am we are having the October garden party.

Time to start to get ready and mark your calendars.

Let me know if you are coming, those that are new and need the address, I will send the info a week before the party.

Hope to see my gardening friends that were here before and meet new ones. There will be exchange of plants for those interested.

And like usual, we ask you to come with a dish or a drink to share with other guests.

Silvia

Christine

If you come with car, are you interested in my potted sapodilla? you can plant it in your yard if you want, it is a pretty tree and maybe I can freeze some fruit when ripe for you to try...
If not, you are very welcome to the party, hopefully I will have pickles and jams and banana breads to sample from the garden.

Silvia

dougandpam

Dianne, this is the first party that you are not coming, we will miss you. And if you change your plans, you are always welcome at my house. Thank you for your good wishes.

Doug and Pam, cannot wait to see you again at the party, we will have fun as always!

Kathy, I hope that this time you and Ralph can come, it is a long time since we saw you.

Silvia

I will definitely be marking the date and look forward to seeing everyone again. :-)

I think that I promised someone that I would bring something. But, my memory fails me so if there was something that was wanted now is the time to ask! LOL.

Thanks Silvia!

Barbie~

Carmen

Hi Carmen, you are my "right hand woman" and going to be in charge of the swap because as you know Cheryl will do the food and I will do the greetings and the garden.
We should try to have everything labeled and if possible care of the plant. This time everyone that brings plants should speak about what they have and whoever is interested will raise the hand and the owner of the plant decides. I just want everyone that comes to the party to have a happy experience and get some good trades if possible. And if you don't have anything to trade, it is okay just bring a dish and enjoy the wonderful company!

Silvia

Here it is how it looks now

And I just harvested the fruits today, it has more blossoms coming up.

Silvia

I will be taking the exploder, so anybody close to inverness is welcome to ride with me and save the tolls.

Larry

Papa Jim

What are you going to make with the eggplants? My Orlando eggplant is producing well too.

Christine

I am happy that you can come and those cloves are going to be like gold! Friends, start the tradings already, this way the items are well spoken for and we can just enjoy the company...You know the program, first we set the plants in the lawn, we have lunch and after everyone eats we will start the trading...

Hi Papa Jim, we will be so glad to meet you and your wife and please any dish that your wife likes to make it is good for the party. It is better that you choose a dish and after that we will try not to repeat the same thing. A savory dish is always welcome.

Christine, the tree produces fruit very reliable, never had any issue with bugs or disease, most people love the sweet fruit! and I can think given space and care it will blossom to a nice specimen and you will have a lot of fruit, right now has more flowers and I already ate some fruits last week
The eggplants went to my happy neighbor, I am getting some more today. The easy way that I do them is preheat the broiler. cut them in small pieces, spray the baking dish and the eggplants, season with salt, pepper and hot smoked paprika, you can use just the smoked paprika, broil them for about 10-15 minutes depending on the size. You can eat them hot or cold, on top of a salad or a grain.

Hi Maxine, looking forward to see you at the party, it is going to be a lot of fun!

For those gardeners that were not here before and I cannot send a message through garden web, please get in touch with me for the address and phone number.

Silvia

Thanx
Carmen

I will start some cold season crops...

Silvia

If willy is going to grill again, I will bring Texas chili.

And I STILL have a bag of seed goodies for Barbie I will bring. Sad panda ...

My tomatoe seedlings did not fare well during my unplanned in patient vacation so I will be happy to beg a couple of seedlings.

Dianne

I will save the new big dwarf for you and I am going to put it in a bigger pot. Maybe someone else have tomato seedlings that can share...

I will be starting cold season crops, if anybody has any request for those, please let me know so I can plant some more.:)

Papa Jim

That sounds perfect! We enjoy all the dishes at the party and like you said the layered dip is very popular.:) When you are ready, please contact me for the directions...

We are looking forward to meet you and your wife and all the gardeners that come to spend a wonderful day with us!

I will keep reminding you of the date from time to time, if you are going to trade don't forget to get together your seeds, seedlings, cuttings or anything else, it is a very good idea to put the name of the plant and your initials so we we know who is the grower. And if you don't want to trade come anyway to enjoy the party.

Silvia

I've got about fifteen avocado seedlings from Silvia's Brogdon seeds I'd like to send over there if someone from here is going...just bear in mind that avocado seeds don't usually grow true so it will be like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get :-)

Tom

Silvia

Larry, I will save some red limes for you to start your own seedlings...

Silvia

Does anybody want Gynuura Probcumbens? great edible herb

See ya soon,
Carmen

Thank you for all your nice words and anybody that is your friend is very welcome at our house, glad to know that Rick can come...

Other gardeners that we know are also invited, it is going to be a very good day to spend with friends that like to garden.

I am getting zucchini and papaya now, I will be making recipes to sample at the party. Close to the entrance will be the dishes that I make from the harvest and the kitchen will have the dishes that are brought from gardeners to share...

Carmen, I don't know the herb but if you have one extra I will like to try.

Looking forward to see you All!

Silvia

Can't hardly wait to see Ya'll.....

I went thru my seeds......Lots-O-Stuff we don't grow anymore .....So I'm proposing/bringing a "Seed Grab Basket" ....unwanted seed packets just available for the taking....(that's different than the exchange etc. where our favorite seeds are carefully traded)......I've got too many Oriental vegie seed packets along with Kentucky Wonder beans

Dianne (gardengimp) grabbed some of my orphan heirloom tomatos recently.....hope they survived :-)

The sweet 'tater harvest is smaller than expected.....I need more Sun.....I'm going to try bins for the Irish potatos this season.....movable as the sun angle changes

dougandpam

In the way of plant trading, does anyone have some interesting ginger plants they'd like to trade? I'm looking for anything other than shell, shampoo, or white butterfly gingers, which I already have. I really would love to find blue ginger or some other fragrant flowering varieties. I would also like to find some rain lilies in colors other than pink.

If anyone wants miracle fruit seedlings again, I still have lots of those. Other plants I could bring if anyone wants them: beach sunflowers, pink rain lilies, Jerusalem artichokes, purslane.

-Amber

That is a good idea! we will have the "Seed Grab Basket" sometimes what we no longer grow, others find it useful.

Sorry to hear about your small sweet potato harvest, next spring I will have the Mahon type, let's see if they are more productive, they are highly recommended.

And the countdown begins, time is going to fly and we can get together again, it is nice to see all the gardeners that come to the party.

Hi Amber

I am so glad that you can come this time!

Save some jerusalem artichokes for me. I will have some fall veggies...

Silvia

Laurie

I am so happy to know that you are coming! Looking forward to see you...
Vegan lentil chili sounds good, you all know that anything goes well at the party, different flavors and dishes for different tastes, an appetizer or side dish is also good. And if anybody doesn't want to cook, you can always bring something to drink.
If you guys remember last party, it helps to have a name to the dish like Doug did, he had tree different kind of spinach quiche and put mild and I think medium and hot, that was good. I am planning to put name and some sort of id to my dishes.

It always helps to put a name on the dish or the plants that we have, and if you can put initials to the dish, we can ask for the recipe in the future. Or on the plant or cutting that also helps with the proper care later on.

Looking forward to see you all!

Silvia

Anyone from Tampa going? I need to send twelve Brogdon avocado variant F1 seedlings from Silvia's fruit to the swap....

Tom

We will take pictures for you and others who cannot come.

From the last party, I planted your parthenon squash and I am getting a big harvest, will make a lot of my favorite zucchini pickles for the guests to try.:)

Silvia

Anyway I have a few white orchid (bauhinia)tree seedlings going if there is interest I can send them via a runner.... (Tina? I see Tom isn't coming either) as I can't afford to pay a sitter for the amount of time it would take to get to Silvia's and back plus time to enjoy myself.

:-(
Otherwise I'll try to keep them until the Spring swap.

Barbie

I knew Parthenon would do well for you Silvia, it was a better producer than Butterstick considering it's partheocarpic and I could grow it inside the pool cage without pollination concerns. I just have too much trouble with mildew this close to the water so no matter what I spray my summer squash/zukes succumb quickly.... :-(

Tom

Tom - Those seedlings are going to be good for a long time, hopefully you can give them to the lucky recipients at the next party.

For all the garden friends that are coming - Try to post what you are bringing food related so there are no doubles and if you are going to exchange plants or seeds try to post that too.

Days are getting nice and cool, looking forward to the party!

Silvia

Silvia

In the area where you put the slips look underneath for mounds in the soil, that is where the sweet potatoes would be fully formed. The other ones that are smaller would be on the new rooted plants at the ends. Have a good harvest!

Silvia

This is a reminder for the party for those that are planning to come, don't forget to ask for the address if you have not been here before...

Zucchini is doing really good in the garden, I will probably make something zucchini related for the party.

We had a raw zucchini salad yesterday, it had herbs, meyer lemon, olive oil and parmigiano reggiano that Cheryl brought from NY when she came back on Saturday.

Silvia

We will be so happy to have you and your wife at the party!
The Florida forum is so lucky to have you as a poster with the beautiful shots you take of wonderful ornamental plants.
Anything that you bring, I am sure will be very much appreciated but most important of all, it will be a pleasure to meet you and your wife.
Looking forward to see you All!

Silvia

Sorry to know that you cannot come, but someday you will I hope. I want everyone to know that my garden is very small, still young and a work in progress... but produces a lot of veggies more than our family can eat it. Our parties are a lot of fun because we concentrate more on getting to know the gardeners and sharing food and the icing on the cake is of course the plants and seeds. Everyone gets excited!
All the guests are the stars here and we all can take pictures to share with those that cannot come.
Have a great time in Isla Mujeres!

Maxine - That is very nice of you to offer. See you at the party!

Silvia

Tina

Silvia - looks like you've found a new best friend with that zucchini ;-)

M - I'd love to have some Jacobenia if you've potted any of them up, but that would be contingent on anyone from the Tampa area bringing a few plants back for me.

Vqueen - thanks for the offer, send me an email. I have eleven avocados in one gallon pots that can make the trip if we can hook up, also five umbrella sedge and two Jewels of Opar, all grown from seed....

Sure sorry I can't make this one.... :-(

Tom

Hi Tom - We are going to miss you! I hope that the garden doesn't look so bad after all the rains that we are having. Even one of my zucchini plants was cut in half with the winds, but at least I already made pickles and savory zucchini breads...

Hope to see all the garden friends that are coming! and if anybody need the address, please send me an email.

Silvia

I am glad that you and your partner can make it to the party!

Anything that you decide to bring will be greatly appreciated by all and I hope that all of you bringing plants get some very happy trades!
First we will enjoy the food and the company.:)

I picked different beans today and also getting my first cucumbers, I got some sungold and sweet baby girl tomatoes ripening. The tasting table will have different banana and zucchini breads, also pickles and jams to sample, everything from my small garden.:)

Silvia

Papa Jim

An appetizer or finger food for the party is always a good idea!. It will be very nice to meet you.

And to the garden friends that are coming to the party, I hope that you are getting ready for Saturday October 20 at 11 am. Looking forward to see you All!

Silvia

Hi Silvia, your beans look great!

My garden is doing fine but unfortunately with the heat and humidity this close to the water I've had very little bloom set on my tomatoes. Surprisingly the two Monomakh's Hat plants is grew from seeds you sent me are setting very well, first time I've ever grow an Oxheart :-)

Looks like I'll be able to hook up with VQ Monday so I'll be sending over the plants I mentioned above.

I'd sure love a few slices of zucchini bread from the Parthenon seeds I gave you but I guess that will have to wait for another time :-(

Tom

Your beans look incredible. I am just harvesting a few fortex right now. I don't know if I should have planted them closer together or how to make them look thicker and give more. What do you feed them? How close do you plant yours to your trellis?

Unfortunately I can't come to the party again. I do hope to come some day. I will relish looking at the pictures though. Thanks so much for the invite. You are so gracious to do this time and time again!

Anna

Next time that I see you, I will have some savory zucchini bread for you to try and yes the Parthenon are very prolific, more than the Cavilli. In the spring I always plant the Costata Romanesco and the pattypan, so they will have competition then.:)

All my tomatoes are doing good and yes the Monokah's Hat always set earlier and are productive, but they are my favorite because of the flavor, I love the oxhearts so meaty and rich taste!

If your seedlings come to the party, there will be some lucky gardeners to get them, we will let you know...

Hi Anna

I am very sorry that you cannot come but I hope to see you next time that we have a get together , we will try to take a lot of pictures for all the garden friends that are not going to be here.

I am getting a load full of beans,lol. The garden is like that, some seasons this veggie or that veggie does very well and other does not for no particular reason. All the beans are doing great and I have maybe 12 varieties. Since my garden is very small and cannot rotate the crops, I rotate the soil. Almost everything is planted in fresh soil in small pots. I planted some beans closer than others and while the beans that are closer are fuller and producing more, the ones that I spaced them more are doing better health wise. I try to plant the beans as close to the trellis as possible.

For the garden friends that are coming, I tried to put names on all the vegetables so you can see different varieties and how they are doing. And I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have. If anybody need any seeds that I have, let me know so I can make some small packets before the party. You all know that after the party starts, we will forget things. Make sure that you all have tags with the names so we can remember who everyone is and like usual we will have some other garden friends and neighbors. It is going to be a great day!

Silvia

I wanted to ask if it's okay if I bring my parents again. I thought they were going to be out of town, but they told me they will be here and they'd love to come to your party again! They would probably bring more bamboo canes again to trade. I suggested that they choose thinner more manageable stake-size canes this time instead of the very large ones they brought last time. :)

I don't know what I'm bringing for food yet, but I'll think of something. Also, I will be sure to label my plants this time! I've discovered the ease of using cut up window blinds as plant labels.

Looking forward to see you and your wife...pasta salad sounds good! and I hope that everyone will be happy with the trades.

Hi Amber

Of course you can bring your parents, they are welcome in our house, looking forward to see them them and you again!

Silvia

Yesterday Cheryl and I went to the spa near my house, those of you that saw the pictures that I posted in 2010 when I went would probably like an update on the place.:) After we were there I remember that I forgot the camera! the place looks so beautiful! every detail, floors, walls, ornaments and of course all the plantings. I did notice that they had less citrus than last time and more olives.

This is when took the pictures before, I think looks better now, the spa was gorgeous and very attentive crew.

And don't forget this Saturday is the time for party! See you all at 11am at my house, take the phone number in case you need directions.

Silvia

Pam

Remind me when you come to the party, to give you detailed info on the location and the services. We went the other day to the spa in Disney grounds and this is so much better! the place in itself is a dream! They had copper tubs to soak and I was so impressed with the walls, floors, ceilings, the whole experience! It is about 10 or 15 minutes from my house, they also have a restaurant. Cheryl is the one that makes the arrangements for me.:)

And for all of you that are coming to the party, before or after you will want to stop and see the decorations for the Halloween that one person in the neighborhood does every year. Even in the daylight is good, there are so many things to see. It is on the same street where you turn to come to my house, on the same side of the school and the fire house. Anybody interested will get directions from Willy.:)

Here it is from other year, every time he adds another thing...

Don't be scared, my house won't look like that! lol

Silvia

Thanks.

I just found out that I will be on the road Saturday to visit my Mom and Dad - and you're kinda-sorta on the way.

I don't have a lot for trading . . . just babies of the plants I'd received from swaps from years ago, like cannas, bananas, gingers, begonias. Of course, once I get out there and look around, I'll probably find more stuff.

I'll send ya an email.

Thanks
Susie

I am sorry to hear that you are not coming, but I hope that some day you will.
And you got that right it is Bella Collina and the place is gorgeous! they have some financial problems I think...

Hi Susie

I am happy that you are coming! I sent you an email with the address. Feel free to bring anything that you want, food to share and small plants to trade. Anything goes in the garden party!

Looking forward to see all the garden friends on Saturday!

Silvia

Everyone have fun!

Tom

Have a great time in NC!. Thank you for being so nice and I am sure the lucky recipients of the seedlings will thank you too for your generosity and the time that you spent growing them...Hope to get 1 umbrella sedge, 1 jewel and 1 plumeria stick to try it out.

I will keep you updated on everything that will go on the day of the party, pictures and all. We will miss you!

Silvia

- When the guests arrive we will give them a tag for their name, Cheryl will take care of the dishes in the kitchen, Carmen will be in the yard to take care of the plants that will be put around the tent to be ready for the swap, if they need to be in shade, I will provide some boxes if needed.
- Inside the house, we will have something to drink, appetizers and look for the sampling table by the door that is going to have sweet and savory breads that I made from the harvest and also pickles and jams from the garden.
- After we have settled and all the guests had arrived, about 12 we will have lunch...
- The group picture will come next before we will forget and after that will be the swap and all the gardeners that are bringing plants will take a turn to tell us what they have and then the trades will be made. Remember the trades are up to you...
- For all the garden friends that are coming please feel free to walk around the garden. And at the end of the swap if anybody wants to know anything about the garden, I will be happy to answer any questions and walk you around the garden. For the gardeners that are coming for the first time, don't forget that my garden is very small and that I have 3 dogs and one likes to play ball. I will be looking after her to give her a break.:)

It is already looking like a great day! See you all on Saturday.

Silvia

Thank Maxine, this is all on her! I'm sure you'll get your goodies ;-) Sorry I'll miss this one but I need a few "chill hours" :-)

Tom

Tom - Thanks for reminding me to thank Maxine, she is being very nice bringing all the plants to the party. We are going to have a really nice weather on Saturday, that is great!

M - Looking forward to meet you and your wife on Saturday! and I am sure a lot of gardeners will want to see you also.

To all the guests that are coming - Don't forget to write a name on the things that you are bringing. That is what I am going to do before the party.:)

We will have a basket for free seeds, that was Doug's idea. Any seeds that you want to donate will be put there...Any seeds that you want to trade will be separate with your seedlings.

And remember if you don't have anything to trade, you can still come to share the food, meet other gardeners and have a nice garden talk.

See you All on Saturday!

Silvia

Thanks,
Carol in Jax

We'll be bringing Quiche(again)...something Mild and Wild

Also a few plants and seeds (including repackaged Orlando Eggplant) for the trade.....

I'm looking for seeds for some HungarianHotWax peppers or other interresting peppers ?

LarryInulover.....do you want more loquat seedlings?

""I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends....""

dougandpam

Carol, I wish that there was someone from your area coming but I am sorry. I understand is a long drive...Gardeners are coming from Tampa, South Florida, Deland, Inverness and around my area.
If anyone is coming from Northeast Florida please let Carol know?
And Carol the next best thing will be when I post the pictures and all that went on at the party for all the friends that cannot come.

Doug and Pam, cannot wait till tomorrow! Willy is singing the garden party theme now,lol.
I am going to look for some different interesting varieties of hot peppers that I have...
Quiche is always a tasty idea!

I also have two Orlando eggplants but I would recommend that the gardeners from warmer areas get it because it won't survive the cold, last winter was different.

And some of the desserts are going to be papaya, you are going to laugh when you see my papaya in a breaking pot and fruiting! lol

See you All tomorrow!

Silvia

Could I reiterate a plea that's been made here before? When y'all post your photos afterwards, could some kind soul include names so that those of us who never get to go can have some idea of who everybody is?

I have a couple of pineapples, seeds, and garlic.

Not sure what we can bring as the refer hasn't been restocked yet.

Larry

Larry, is good to know that you are coming, bring the wife too, tell her that is always fun at the party.

I made a fruit salad that has pineapple and papaya from my garden. We will have 2 sampling tables, one for the savory and one for the sweets.

For those that are here for the first time, at the side of the house by the driveway, there is a gate to the backyard where you can bring big garden things or plants.

Don't forget to name everything that you bring if possible...

Silvia

Silvia

Papa Jim

There is a lot of parking available at the street where I live. And just to make the things run smoother, yesterday we let the Oakland police know about the party, just in case...

And for all the guests, don't forget to take the house phone number with you if you need any directions to the house. For those using GPS sometimes it show the address as Winter Garden, but remember it is Oakland, next town.

See all the garden friends TODAY!

Silvia

Mark, you and your wife were the stars of the show! What an incredible amount of plants!!!I think that I just won the lottery!Everyone appreciated your generosity and knowledge.

Kathy and Terry, it was so nice to see you again and spend some nice time with you, we had a blast!

And for all the wonderful guests that came, thank you for coming and sharing all the plants and food, you were all great company!

As soon as I have the pictures, I will post them. I only have these shots before the party.

More pictures coming up, stay tuned!

Silvia