Hi Lyndy,

Thanks for introducing yourself. People are usually more chatty on this site during the growing season. Besides, I think most are busy getting ready for the upcoming holiday season. I looked at your member page, and you sure have a nice variety of gardens. How wonderful to be able to have an indoor atrium.

I also have lights in the basement, but don't use them until late March to start my daylily seeds. My basement is very cold, too cold to start cuttings. But I occasionally start cuttings on my kitchen counter.

I used to have a ton of houseplants in my previous house, and sometimes had trouble with mealybugs, treating them with cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. I lost a beautiful mature Jade plant once, because I didn't keep after them. Here's a little more info on Mealybugs. Maybe someone else will jump in with more useful ideas.

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Julie

Welcome Lyndy!

I live in DeForest (near Madison) and only have 1/2 acre...as a hosta-holic, I ENVY your 5 acres of woodlands! Even with only 1/2 acre, I have 242 different varieties of hosta! We've only lived here 2 years, before that had only 1/4 acre. I'm retired and just turned 57.

I hope that when you do move, the new property has plenty of acreage for you. I'd love to have a greenhouse but the entire yard is fairly shady. And my DH has given up enough grass already for my hostas (according to him).

We always had mealybugs in our basement in the old house - I thought it was a moisture issue???

Char

Hi Julie and Char, Nice to meet you. I love hostas too. I don't have the collection you do though! Right now I have most of them close to the house since we have a lot of deer, and I worry about them considering my hostas an all you can eat buffet! So far they have left them alone. I love ferns too, We are currently looking for a lot to build a new house. We are looking for a very minimum of 1 acre, but focusing more on 3 to 5, so hopefully we will find something we like. Our current spot is nice because although there is mostly woods, there are also open areas for my vegetable and sun loving gardens. I hope we find something similar. Hope you had a nice Holiday!

Lyndy

Welcome! Can't wait for the garden pics.

Hi Lyndy, Char & Julie,

I've read that you can use tansy as an insect repellent.
I too love hostas. I have well over 200 hostas, but not that many varieties. I planted the common green variety as a border between my lawn and the edge of the bluff, then I have other varieties in the various islands under the trees.

Linda

Hi everyone,
I finally got my web page up and running. My son (the computer geek) has a web server and helped me put a web page together on his server. I have posted some garden pictures there. So go have a look and tell me what you think. I will work on getting more pictures on in the future.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lyndy's Page

Hi Lyndy,
I loved the website! You've got some great ideas, thanks for sharing! My friend has the same greenhouse and she loves it so much that she said when she dies that she wants to 'lay instate' inside it. We are all supposed to go in one door, pay respects, go out the other, grab a shovel and dig a plant to take home and remember her by!
Linda (Rib Mountain)

Very nice web page, Lyndy!

How nice to be able to have a picnic lunch in the dead of winter, enjoying the bright Atrium.

Your Iris looks like it might be "Loop de Loop". I have one just like it.

Thanks for sharing your pics!

Julie

Hi Lyndy...I love your page. How do you like that greenhouse? Do you heat it during winter? In your atrium, what are the mealies 'bugging'?

The 'pretty perennial' on your page is a Lewisia....probably a hybrid.

Dave
Franklin

Hi Dave, Thanks! I really like my greenhouse. It works well for me, and is movable, so it will go with me when we move. I don't heat it in winter, too costly. But in early spring I do. I put styrofoam sheets over the vents and put a small space heater in there and it keeps the overnight temps at 50 degrees, even if it is dropping to near freezing at night outside. During the winter, I just keep all my plants and seedlings under lights in my basement. As for the mealies...they love my jasmine, philodendron & bouganvilla the most, but I have found them from time to time on almost everything. Even the huge ficus. I keep battling with alcohol, Pyola spray, and a granular systemic, but that just keeps them in check, I never seem to get ahead. And generally in the dead of winter, like right now, they have a bit of a resurgence and I have to fight a bit harder. (Probably because I am so busy during the holiday season, that I am not as "on top" of them as usual) Most of the plants seem to be doing fine, but it takes a ton of work on my part, keeping their numbers down.
Thanks for the name for my plant. You are right, I just couldn't remember the name, and there was no chance I was going to get to read the tag anytime soon. Usually by this time of the year, I am starting to clean out and set up the greenhouse. Spring sure seems slow in coming this year!

haha...another early riser, I see. :) You might seal up the Atrium and try spraying everything green with Neem oil. I use it in my greenhouse for pesky mealies and scale. You're right though...Spring is slow this year.

I was interested in your greenhouse because I almost bought one from Sam's Club a few years ago when they were selling them...I went with the HFGH instead and have been very happy with it. I'll add a link below.

Dave
Franklin

Here is a link that might be useful: My greenhouse

Yes, I am definitely a morning person. Thanks for the advice on the mealies. Love your greenhouse, do you heat it in winter? I got mine from Sam's Club. But it was at the tail end of them carrying them and I got it at a great discount. Couldn't really pass it up. Yours obviously has more space for plants, where as mine has storage/workspace. Although I set extra shelves up in mine, where I can put more shade tolerant plants. Not that it stops me from growing more plants than I know what to do with! This year is going to be weird for me as we have our house up for sale, so I really should not start too much until I know where we will be. But I can't NOT, so I will try to stay with stuff that can be planted in pots and moved. Maybe some perennials - slower growing.

Yes, I do heat it. I grow orchids and cacti in it as well as the odd houseplant. I'll enclose another link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Let me know if this works.