Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 06-21-2008, 05:17 PM
 
Location: in my mind
2,743 posts, read 14,254,589 times
Reputation: 1627

Advertisements

My plants are giving me such a sense of satisfaction!

For the longest time I thought of myself as a black-thumbed person. My mother, who can grow ANYTHING and knows EVERYTHING about pretty much everything, would always try and give me plants and though I followed her instructions to the letter, they always died. So I gave up.

We bought a house last year and at that point I developed an interest in gardening. We live in San Antonio, TX, and are often on water restriction so I really wanted to focus on drought tolerant plants. With a few exceptions, that's what I have. My mom has bought me an Esperanza plant, a small Magnolia tree, some Mexican Heather, Plumbago, a fern, some Marigolds, tuberose, and misc. others.

I've purchased more Plumbago for myself, Lantana, Vinca, Mint, Basil, Sweet Peppers, and Dianthus. I adore the Plumbago... would just have a yard full of it if it wouldn't be ridiculous to do so! (it gets BIG)! Next I want bougainvilla, at least to try, and maybe a couple more rose bushes.

I am happy to say that the only casualty in all that was the Mexican Heather, which I think I overwatered, and the Lavender, which I think didn't have proper drainage. I almost killed the Marigolds, but I'm happy to report they're coming back... and I have a huge Hibiscus bush that I thought was dead... I pruned it ALL the way back and now it's lush and green and happy!

I just get such a sense of satisfaction out of watching everything thrive, learning about how to keep them thriving, and watching the butterflies come up to the flower bed. I worry about my plants a little like how I worry about my kids.. my Magnolia has some icky brown leaves towards the bottom right now, for example and I don't know why. My large Plumbago was near death and I pruned it back and it's recovering nicely. I can't wait for my Mint to multiply. My Cannas are doing well now too, after a rough period when I brought them from my mom's house.

I just had to share and maybe some other former black thumb will understand... I've always been one of those "indoor" people who never understood the "outdoorsy" types, but now I'm finding a great deal of enjoyment from digging in the dirt, pruning and planting, planning and imagining how things will look in a few years. Never thought I'd see THAT day. Of course I do most of my gardening after 9pm cuz it's too hot here! (LOL!)

We're now planning a large veggie garden for the back yard and I'm scared of messing it up but going to do it anyway!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-21-2008, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
16,224 posts, read 25,576,328 times
Reputation: 24104
There is nothing like digging in the dirt, and watching your vegetables grow. Good luck!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-21-2008, 05:58 PM
 
Location: Texas
8,064 posts, read 17,942,399 times
Reputation: 3729
I think it's great that you've developed a passion for growing things, fierce! It is so satisfying, especially since we here in Texas can enjoy our plants and gardens for so much of the year!

Two things I want to caution you about, though -- cacti and bougainvillea. I grew to hate both intensely. I thought it would be fun to have a cactus garden on the side of my driveway at my former house. Hahahahahaha, it DID keep visitors carefully in my driveway and off the lawn, as I intended, but, dang, do cacti get BIG fairly fast! They're a devil to eradicate, too! I wouldn't do that again unless they were in a far corner of the yard where they wouldn't intrude on anything.

Secondly, bougainvillea can grow out of control fast, it can look scraggly, and its intense thorns make it hard to work with and trim back. I hired a crew to get rid of it at the same time I had them remove the cacti. Outside of roses, which are easy to control, I won't plant anything with needles or big thorns again.

Enjoy your gardening and the fruits of your efforts!!!

Tea
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-21-2008, 06:45 PM
 
Location: in my mind
2,743 posts, read 14,254,589 times
Reputation: 1627
Quote:
Originally Posted by teatime View Post
I think it's great that you've developed a passion for growing things, fierce! It is so satisfying, especially since we here in Texas can enjoy our plants and gardens for so much of the year!

Two things I want to caution you about, though -- cacti and bougainvillea. I grew to hate both intensely. I thought it would be fun to have a cactus garden on the side of my driveway at my former house. Hahahahahaha, it DID keep visitors carefully in my driveway and off the lawn, as I intended, but, dang, do cacti get BIG fairly fast! They're a devil to eradicate, too! I wouldn't do that again unless they were in a far corner of the yard where they wouldn't intrude on anything.

Secondly, bougainvillea can grow out of control fast, it can look scraggly, and its intense thorns make it hard to work with and trim back. I hired a crew to get rid of it at the same time I had them remove the cacti. Outside of roses, which are easy to control, I won't plant anything with needles or big thorns again.

Enjoy your gardening and the fruits of your efforts!!!

Tea

Thanks!

It's funny, actually, because the cacti that I do have is going soon.. I'm giving it to a friend who loves the stuff. A neighbor gave me several small cacti and a fairly large agave and then numerous agave pups. I'm getting rid of all but the one large-ish agave because it pretties up the area near my mailbox... if it gets too big I'm sure I'll regret it though.

I actually want thorns on my fence line. I have an unfinished fence (large section missing) between my house and the neighbor and the neighbor is T-R-O-U-B-L-E (as in the thieving/druggie kind of trouble)... I want to finish the fence then grow something "ouchie" along it!

All the bougainvillea I see around here is HUGE and looks so pretty! I don't want anything that looks scraggly. I've already got that vine... can't remember what it's called, but it dies back and then returns each year so it looks brown half the time, and it's all over my fence (chain link). Any other suggestions for something thorny/pretty for a 'natural security system' ?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-22-2008, 09:44 PM
 
4,307 posts, read 9,511,519 times
Reputation: 1858
Hey Fierce! Good to see you here

I know the feeling exactly. I've spent the last few months landscaping and even though it's been hovering around 100F lately, spend every weekend out there all day working (while my kid plays in the kiddie pool nearby). It's very satisfying!

My boungainvilla isn't doing very well, but everything else seems to be holding its own. I alternate watering between a/c water and regular water (so not using much), but as everything is new does require extra water to get established. Should have planted last year!

Anyway....if you know someone who want some cacti, I have a few, free to a good home. I hate throwing away plants, but we have one that's soooo prickly, I think it's a danger to my little one. The others are ok, but I can live without them. I used to love cactus, but have decided I don't want to grow it. These were given to me by a friend and are in lovely pots. I also have this huge thing left by the prior owners that we hate, but it does flower nicely. So if you know of anyone who likes these things, let me know!

As for prickly - Pride of Barbados grow insanely well here (need FULL sun), and are full of thorns. We have a bunch on our back fence and have to be quite careful. I did plant some on the front and am now having second thoughts, as the church people are always parking there. Maybe this will be a deterrent
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-23-2008, 07:15 AM
 
34,254 posts, read 20,450,634 times
Reputation: 36244
Quote:
Originally Posted by fierce_flawless View Post
....
I just get such a sense of satisfaction out of watching everything thrive, learning about how to keep them thriving, and watching the butterflies come up to the flower bed.
Good job fierce_flawless! I think of the garden as a miracle. To see the life spring forth and thrive on sunshine is amazing.

I have also gotten the bug, but I am truly lazy when it comes to weeding out the garden. Yesterday we harvested our first zucchini squash and a few yellow squash. They snuck up on us, as we did not even know they were there! One was too big!

We gave our first harvest one to our catholic priest and gave another one to our neighbor.

My companion is truly old school He likes to can tomatoes with onions and squash. Now that is way out of my league, but I get put on notice about 2 days before!

Thankfully, our tomatoes are not being harvested, so I have about a week to relax.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Garden
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top