waaaa its raining...:)

Thanks for the updated thread Amy..:))) Yes during winter just rip them leaves off.... Let them start growing in spring...Brugs are extreamely fast growers... You will have leaves in no time..I promise except for snowbank he is a variegated slow grower.... Maya is a variegated fast grower....Most are fast growers....Super nova, Kong has the beiggest white flowers of them all so if you have a white garden that would be the one to get for huge flowers.....

Chell I read the copper sulfate box for you...Wow it is nasty stuff I should have read it before...Yes it will kill fish..It takesz the oxygen out of the water that is why it kills algae and aquatics...

Mariann I dont know if I told you...That cute paper is from our nancy..:) Gotta run Karyns box just got here..Barb

Me again :) I am going into teaching/ Info mode hahahha told ya I was bored..Trying to stay busy....

Okay the first pic is the one I had dormant in the basement...I am sorry it is four feet tall already...I think I said three feet...

Next pics are the variegated ones...Maya and snowbank... Regina these will be in your box...Maya was grown this sesom as a small plant...She is 3 feet wide and tall already..Snowbank is smaller...

Okay next picture is a true brug from the wild...A Vulc.:))
Not a whole lot out there yet..I am growing and testing her for a hyb. person

The next one the tall brug is a orange sang brug only three people growing her in the States...Karmahappytoes hyb her... You all know of the red sang well this is orange...Once again testing her for Karma...:)

Karma is a hyb person and you can find her at karmahappytoesgarden...She just started a new forum too...Tell Barb sent ya...

She hyb columbines and otehr stuff too..You all received her columbine seeds in the Tropical RR Seed swap this winter....Let her know how your seeds come out...Hyb people love this info....Check her out...Hugs Barb

Here is her forum for brugs and other plants...:))) Barb

Here is a link that might be useful: Karma forum

I got the package that Amy sent on Monday but I was out of town so I was not able to post here promptly.
Thank you for the great variety of plants, Amy! Can't thank you enough for them and for hosting this swap.

Dee

Here is what I got from Dee...

African Aloe
Variegated Hibiscus cuttings (multi-colored leaves!!)
Bromelaid Billbergia Pyramidilis
Gardenia
Banana Zebrina Rojo
Ananas nanus

Dee, thanks again for sending me a special box!!! This means so much to me!

Barb, awesome info on the brugs for a newbie like me!! We did miss the tornado last night (I should say it missed us) and we're under a tornado watch again tonight. The sky is pretty clear and the sun is shining, but it's very humid and still. Yuck, hope we don't get hail or worse!!

Have a great night everyone!
amy

Goodmorning...

Amy I hope you are safe..Please check in with us..I am a clasic worry wart....

Wow Dee sent you some neat plants there....I am gonna go look a few up....I am glad I could help ya...I am a brugaholic still learning all that I can...lol

Hello,
I'm here and just fine! Sorry if I worried you!! We didn't get any severe weather last night, in fact, it didn't even get very cloudy. No rain either, but it was SO muggy and hot that you felt wet just standing still. My plants love this weather!! (I have to admit, I love it too.)

Looks like we just have 2 boxes left to complete this swap!!
Dawn (dtm1966) sends to Joyce
Joyce (creek_mom) sends to Regina

Joyce and Dawn, stop by and let us know how you're doing! We miss you!!

Hope you're all having a great day!!
Amy

Barb, thanks for the copper sulfate info... Eek! I'll stick to the fountain, plants & fish and hope they keep it clean enough!

Good news! DH got a call today for a new trucking job... OTR, of course. He leaves Sun. evening for orientation and should be in the truck (making miles/$$$) by end of next week! Whew, what a relief!

Y'all have a great weekend!

Its Dawn

Here I am! I just sent out Joyce's box. The Fedex tracking number is 931501610000011. I hope you like what I sent. I realized after I sent it that I failed to mark the name on one little package with three small bulbs in it. Hopefully this won't ruin the supprise too much if I give you a little peak by saying they are Zephyranthes. Its like when your parents let you one just one gift at Christmas on Chiristmas eve, but this time its not new pajamas.

My plants from Chell have gotten over any shipping shock they may have had and are doing great. Thanks again

Dawn

Not difficult to become a brugaholic.....once you get your first bloom your hooked! My brugs bloom every month, year round. I don't have to do like Barb and others and move them indoors or take cuttings and start over every year. They are tropicals here and thrive with little care once established.

Barb, I look forward to getting those new verigated Brugs from you.Thanks so much. The orange sang is to die for too. How lucky for you to get to test them.

All those orchid cactus seeds have sprouted. The first group I started all have their first set of "leaves".I was able to Id it tonight too it is the Curly leaf Epiphyllum Guatamelense Monstrose.

Hi everyone, Sorry I haven't posted recently, but we have been having trouble with our computers. My husband finally had to get someone from Bellsouth to come to the house this morning to fix them. Got two out of three fixed, guess that is not to bad. Anyway I have already let Regina know that her box will go out first think on Monday. The temps here this week-end[ with heat factors] are over 100 degrees. And I don't need a weather man to tell me that. All I need to do is walk outside. Joyce

Hi Everybody :)

How the heck is everybody?

Amy glad to see you safe...My daugther had a tornando yesterday in her town..She is safe...We had a horrible storm come thru too..Knocked a tree down in our driveway..A big branch fell on my arbor and bent it and landed in one of the ponds..LOL I was scared..hahah

Yahoo Chell that is great news! You need dirt like me...hahah I called my old job up..I am waiting fro a response...We will see..:)) It is a haul but I told kim I wouldnt work in winter time...:) Way too far in country roads...

Joyce glad you are back online...Lets get the party started...Coffee for me please..:)

Dawn I love your analogy.. Christmas is wonderful...Glad to see you too...

Norma where the heck are you girlfriend? I know playing with your new babies...:)

Regina your plants are going gangbusters.... It finally warmed up here and they are happy wi campers... Cheeseheads hahah

I just got done planting out tons of ws babies that finally sprouted here...I cant wait till next year...Well lots of stuff to tell you all but dont want to take your time up...I will write later...hahahh I always do..lol :)

Hello everyone....everyone enjoying the heat?

Everyone sick here....I think the guys picked up a bug while at the college orientation. Hubs is the worse. Why is it guys cant cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough?

E-mail still not working right....some messages I get, some I don't. Does'nt make sense.

Regina

Regina,
hope you are all feeling better soon! The heat has been ugly here high 90's and extremely humid and the Japanese Beetles have arrived so most things are loking very 'swiss cheese' like :O Seems like all they do is eat and mate..... uggg

Pink Materpiece made its first "Y" yippeee The NOID has over a dozen buds now They seem smaller than my yellow last year, but it just may be early (It seems to take so long when you watch them every minute!) oh well!

Barb
I am glad the storm did not hurt anyone or do more damage! we have had plenty of tornado warnings, but so far no action here (thank heaven) a little rain would be good, but we are not hurting.

I lost my oakleaf hydrangea and it looks like a few rodies are gonners too! too much rain early in the season combined with poor drainage. gardening can be a real challenge! but it is usually worth it! lol

Have a great day everyone! I am off in two weeks!!! excited but dreading the airport drama as always!

Frances

Hi Everyone-I really couldn't stand some of the heat you ladies are having. There is some really strange weather happening all over the place. It's still raining every day here. The sun peaks out briefly every once in a while. The weather for this week is much of the same.

Barb-All the cuttings you sent me are potted up in gallon plastic jugs. I unscrew the cap and have a peek every once in a while.LOL What I found interesting is that the Calla bulbs look exactly like Caladium bulbs.

Mariann

Hi Everyone :)

Regina I hope you all are feeling better..How was the college? Did he like it?

Frances I am sorry about your hydranges and rhodies..Darn rain...Yahoo it yed blooms soon...

Mariann cant wait to see if they root...Thanks for teh update..:) I never payed any attention to what they looked like when I took them out of teh package. I have mine planted too...

We are having southern weather..Sticky as a racoon on a trash can...Wow it reminds me when I lived in Alambama..lol

Have a greta day..I am getting out of the house today...:)

Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. It's been a crazy week!! We have a friend staying with us from Canada and we had people over on both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. To top it all off, I started at a new client site yesterday so I'm on a new schedule. My commute is a little bit longer, but not too bad. I just have to get up a bit earlier to avoid the traffic, I'm back downtown Mpls so traffic is worse. Anyway, I love being downtown again!! The weather has been so hot lately too. In the 90's with 70% humidity, ugh!! We are under an extreme heat advisory today. Sounds like everyone is having similar weather though. Don't get me wrong, I'll take this over the cold any day!!! We'll be off to wedding #4 this weekend (or is it #3? I have already lost track!!)

Regina, I am so jealous that your brugs bloom all year round!! I am excited to see if any of mine will bloom this summer. I hope that I will be able to successfully overwinter them. So far, I have had spider mites on one and aphids on another one. Makes me nervous for the looooong winter!! I'll have to try out Barb's method of forcing them to go dormant. I started doing that with my plumie every winter because It always got white flies so bad!! You are so lucky you don't have to overwinter anything inside!!

Good to hear from you Joyce and Dawn! Hope all is well with you.

Barb, sorry to hear about the storm damage. Here you are all worried about me and then you get hit. No fair!

Fran, have a great time on your vacations!!

Mariann, bummer about all that rain you've been having!! That is so weird. I hope that you will get to see the sun shine soon!

Here is the latest status...
Barb (rosepedal) sends to Mariann - Sent/Received
Norma (bigmama4ever) sends to Amy - Sent/Received
Regina (ladygreensleeves) sends to Norma - Sent/Received
Chell (chellflower) sends to Dawn - Sent/Received
Dawn (dtm1966) sends to Joyce - Sent
Mariann (galium) sends to Heather - Sent/Received
Dee (gardendee) sends to Chell - Sent/Received
Heather (divahethr) sends to Nancy - Sent/Received
Joyce (creek_mom) sends to Regina
Nancy (retsec) sends to Barb - Sent/Received
Amy (dieg01991) sends to Dee - Sent/Received

We are getting close to wrapping up this swap. Does anyone want to host another one? Otherwise, does anyone want to do a side swap with me? I am addicted to trading with you ladies!!! I have to get as many trades in as I can in my short season!

Amy

Thanks for hosting this swap. I really love the plants I got and they are doing well. I think I had several things you wanted so I will do a side swap with you. Let me know.
Nancy
retsec

Sorry Amy, I forgot to post that I mailed Regina's package out first thing on Monday morning. Hopefully she will receive it by tomorrow. I have been trying to get caught up at work, since I will be going out of town on vacation on Friday. And today was my 24th wedding anniversary. Gotta call my grandaughter and get her over here so I can show her what needs to be watered while I am away. Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying all the new plants that they have received. Joyce

Hi all!!
Joyce, thanks for letting us know! I can't wait to hear about what you sent to Regina! So exciting!! Have you received your box from Dawn yet? Happy Anniversary and have a great vacation!!

Nancy, yes, I would love to do a side swap. I'll send you an email shortly.

Hope everyone's having a great day so far! I am tired and would love to go back to bed! ;-)

Amy

Hi Amy, Yes, I got my box from Dawn today. Wow! I can't believe all the great plants I received. I got two gingers(I love gingers), two hoya's (first ones, can't wait to see them grow), two crinum,canna,jewels of Opar, episcia,ceropegia, and the zephyranthes bulbs. Got to go look a couple of these up just to see how to take care of them. Dawn thank you so much. I love them all.
I hope Regina received her box today. Joyce

I got my box today from Joyce. What wonderful plants she sent! And she sent extras too. I got pond plants,a umbrella palm and parrets feather...yea. And a ginger, a passion vine,3 different colors of lantana.....and several others. I will have to list them for you guys later. Under the influence of prescription cough meds and antibiotics. Minds not working too well right now.

Thank-you Joyce! You made my day today. It's always like Christmas when you get a box of plants from your gardenweb buddies......(((HUGS)))

Regina

Hi Regina, Sorry that you are not feeling well. I glad that the box of plants made you feel a little better, if only for a little while. Keep taking your meds, and hopefully you will be up and out in the yard playing in the dirt in no time. Take care, Joyce

Hi Everybody :)

Sounds like wonderful boxes... What a great group...Regina I hope you are feeling better soon... That is awful to be sick now...I will be thinking of you..

Amy is it hot there? Crazy weather right wow....

Chell glad about the hubby... How are the boys and the hideout...

Nancy I thought I lost my purple bleeding heart vine...It boucned right back..It made me so happy...I was whoo hooing in the gh yesterday..:)

Mariann my experiment with the begonia leaves in water in a clear plastic container is not working...lol Still no roots...I will keep trying they showed pictures on how well this process works...:)

Have a great day everybody..Are we doing another one and who is hosting this one? Just wondering :)

Good morning!!
Wow, it looks like this swap is all wrapped up now. Some great boxes went out during this swap!! I had fun hosting too. Thanks everyone for participating!! I hope that one of you will decide to host another one. I may start to go through withdrawals otherwise!!!

Regina, sorry to hear that you're still not feeling well. Man, I hope those drugs will work to knock it out of your system!!

Barb, it IS hot here!! It's very humid too. We usually never turn on our A/C but we did this week. We have a friend staying with us this week so that was part of the reason, we didn't want him to die from the heat! ;-) LOL.

I have a bunch of new things to get planted from this and other swaps I've done lately. It's been so dang hot that I was waiting until it was a bit cooler so the plants wouldn't fry. I have them in pots right now and they seem ok. I hope it cools down a bit soon so I can get them in the ground!! (not too cool though, I'm not complaining!!)

Hope you all have a great day and hope the next swap gets started soon! I'm ready for some more tropicals!!

Amy

Barb-What are you doing with those Begonia leaves??? Must have missed something.
I still have the Begonia leaves you sent me in water. I'm going to leaf propagate them.
I know how to do this but have never done it before. You cut slits across the veins, in the
leaf, then lay it cut side down on cutting mix or peat and some sand. Then you peg down
the leaf with small stones. I use hair pins (the kind my grandmother use to use)! Plantlets
are suppose to grow out of the cut areas. So we'll see if that works.

We actually had some sun today after rain all night.

Amy thank you for being such a wonderful hostess! I really enjoyed this swap and getting to know my partners.
Have a great day
Mariann

Amy thank you for hosting for us...It was lots of fun and had a great time....:)

Mariann I followed this thread thinking I would try it..lol Still no roots but very neat method with water rooting... I am gonna try the dirt leaf method in fall time too..:)) This is a neat thread on begonias...

Here is a link that might be useful: Begonias rooting

Amy Thank-you for hosting this swap for us, and for teaching some of us ole dogs some new tricks....lol. It was fun and you did a wonderful job hosting.

Barb that thread on propagating begonia's was interesting. I have a book I got this past year on plant propagation that has been very useful. It's what I have used to pass on tips to everyone(telling my secrets now)as well as some I have learned on my own. The book is intitled The American Horticultural Society "Plant Propagation" by editor-in-chief Alan Toogood.
It descripes the methods in the thread but not the water, so that was a new one for me and quite interesting to learn. I too have an aquarium I use for propagating and rooting in. I have a heat mat that fits in it perfectly too. I kept the underground gravel trays that came with the aquarium and placed the heat mat on that and can pour water under it for the humidity. I put low intensity grow bulbs in the lighted cover and I get pretty good results.

Is anyone going to host another swap and keep this group together? I liked Amy's idea of a succulent/epi/rhip/cactus/zigo's kind of swap.

Thanks for the kind words to getting well too everyone. I have good times and bad. Think I might be on the backside of it now.

Regina

Goodmorning all..:)

Regina thank you for the name of the book and the ideas :)

I figured out what I am doing wrong and feel dumb..:( I used strofoam cups without thinking inside my clear capped conatiner...Well duh they cant get light or the chemicals in the stryofoam does not help...I knew I wasnt the smartest but really learning here..hahha

I will get some clear plastic cups and see if that helps..:)

Regina I do believe you have not hosted one yet...Are you game???? Or still feeling weak yet???

Amy stay cool you have some hot weather there....We are cooling off here finally...Time to go and pick up a tree literally... hahahah Barb

Hi All...if I'm not stepping on anyone's toes I would like to offer to host if Regina doesn't want to. Want to keep the group going! take care
heather

I'm all for Heather hosting the next swap....lol.

Not quite up to hosting just yet......still fighting this cold.

Regina

well i like the idea of keeping us together, how about what we got swap.. for instancei have a few cactyi could send to someone who wants some and i want tropicals, and you have to work around the people who we already traded, i think i have send my cacty to 3 people here and heather is next..just an idea something else, im makin jewelery, got my kids all beaded up, so lets see what everyone else is doing in our trade send something like that..i want tropicals oops already said that..and of course thanks to our lovely host for doing this, i had a great time and all my trades were great and looing foward to the next.. ho yea something thats been bugin me, is there any way you could post pics of ya all so i can meet ya!!!!what you think????im going to have to send mine to amy, or someone in an email so they can transfer it here..just a thought i really would like to see ya...bigmama

I'm game for whatever anyone wants. How do we keep the USPS from killing Norma's tropicals in this crazy heat. I thought the cactii succulent type swap was a great idea for summer. Although, I just received a package from FL with live plants. Everything was perfect no heat damage Norma you don't like any xeriscape type plants/tropicals? If Norma works out a trade with her partner that is satisfying to both then I don't see a problem with her receiving tropicals lol.

Why not have a anything goes type of swap? U-name-it surplus swap? or U-got-it-U-swap-it-Swap??? Just some crazy ideas running thru my sick mind......cough,cough.

ok so i got suculants, want tropicals...

Regina-I have a plant propagation book by Alan Toogood from 1980. What I like about it is that it lists an extraordinary number of plants and how to propagate them.

Barb-Slicing across the veins and pinning the leaves down is the method I was referring to. This is the method
I know how to do but have never done before. Looking forward to giving it a try.
Have a great day everyone
Mariann

hi everyone! been crazy crazy crazy here. I hope you are all doing well and trying to stay cool! The humidity has been positively evil this past week! and looks like today is going to be more of the same!

I fell on Monday and broke my camera! I had been planning to replace it this year, but it has been with me for 8 years it was like losing a friend. Not sure if I like the new one or not yet. :O Its bigger, faster, better, but so much more complicated!

on a more positive note, I am halfway through my first bag of Tree ripened PEACHES, there is a nice South Carolina Peach grower about 10 miles away!!! YUM YUM YUM and we had our first squash and beans from the garden last night!

My brugs have not bloomed yet, but there are so many buds now it has to happen soon!!!

Even if I wasn't taking off soon, its way to hot for swapping now, but I will pop in when I can Have a great time and a great day everyone!

Frances

Hi Everybody...

Frances sorry to hear your fall as long as you are okay...Yea new technology to learn lol... We will miss you when you are gone...

Thanks Mariann I am gonna try cutting method in fall someone told me it is a better time or early spring..:) I think it is a neat method too..

Yahoo a anything goes swap would be awesome...I know I have lots of perrienals and would like succelents...I have other extra stuff too...:) I still have a extra buddah belly plant that no one has wanted in all the swaps..lol I just keep rubbing his belly and tell him I love him...hahhahahh

Mariann....When I came across this book at the book store I had to have it.....lol. Like you said it has an extraordinary amount of plants from A to Z and how to propagate them and every method that you can think of.

Fran....Sorry about your fall,glad you are ok. You will master that new camera soon. Take lots of pictures of your vacation for us.

Looking forward to the new swap...I passed it to Heather Ya'll be looking for it now.

Regina

YEAH, Heather is hosting the next one!!! Can't wait!

Norma, I LOVE your succulents and cactus that you sent me!!! Our theme always include tropicals for sure, I LOVE them too!! Woohoo!!

Mariann, I need to get that book! I am going to look it up to see if I can get a copy. I have a small book about propagation and I used that when I first started to get into it. It has mostly the common houseplants. I would love to have one like yours!!

Frances, sorry to hear about your camera. I'm sure that you will grow to love your new one. Glad to hear you're ok!

Barb, I don't remember seeing the buddah belly on your list when I got to pick. I would love to have one of those!!!!

I forgot to let you all know that I'm out of town (again) this weekend. We have wireless at our hotel so I was able to check in quick. We are in Lutsen, MN for yet another wedding. It's cold and rainy here, not very nice for an outdoor wedding. When I packed my clothes for the weekend, it was 95 where I live so I packed light clothes, nothing warm. I am going to freeze at this wedding!!! I keep seeing a really pretty flower in the ditch here I've never seen before. It's got a purple flower spike (I saw some white and pink ones too). My hubby picked one for me this morning and the individual flowers look like little shrimp. I think I'm going to dig one up and bring it home. I'm worried it's very invasive but I figure I'd get the id first and then if it's bad, I will just rip it out. Look out...Crazy lady in the ditch digging up plants!! I wish I had a shovel. :-)

Have a great weekend everyone, I'll check in again tomorrow when we get home. I am in for the next swap for sure, I will post over there next. Can't wait!!!!

Amy

Frances, sorry about your camera, so glad you weren't hurt!...but at least now you have a new one for vacation! Take plenty of pics for us please (I need a 'virtual' vacation! LOL).

Sadly, I think I'll have to pass on the next swap. DH went to the job orientation and learned that they'd be sending him to Canada & Mexico... he heard drivers average a two or three day layover just waiting for a load to leave Canada (without pay!). Plus he realized he can't stand being away from me & the boys for a whole month at a time. So he's back home and we're both looking for local jobs. Hoping to find something really soon (got fingers & toes crossed! lol). Y'all enjoy the new swap!

Ok, this swap is officially closed. Check out Heather's post for the next swap with this great group!!!

Chell, we'll miss you! Good luck to both of you on the job hunt!!

Amy