Show off! I have yet to sow a single seed! Guess I better get cracking.

PV

Love it when I decide to show-up here and find two old friends! Better get goin' pvick. That balcony isn't going to fill itself without your help. Any birds nesting up there yet? :O)

And yes, Drippy, you are a show-off! LOL! But that's OK. We'll let you do it for this once. Sunflowers... Got to do some of them this year...

I'm renting a house and the homeowner has left the lanscaping to me. (Little does she know what is about to happen to this place.) Snow banks are melting away here. Started sowing last weekend and have about 60+ containers done. My problem is not enough containers so I'm scrounging like crazy. What gets done will get done.

I made a faux pas the other night. Sowed some Lingholm Poppies, then went to watch my program on TV only to come back and sow some Foxgloves on top of the Lingholms. Could be an interesting container - don't you think?? :O)

Hello, Tiffy & Pvick! Sorry if I sounded full of myself - I am just really lucky to live in a warmer climate. I haven't adjusted to it socially, but DH and I agree that if we move again, we hope to stay where it's at least this warm, and could go even warmer!

I wish I had half the eye of either one of you - yes, I can grow stuff, but making it look good is another animal. My son gave me the book Edible Landscaping, by Rosalind Creasy, for Christmas. I love a lot of the ideas in there, and hope to implement a couple. Problem is the body is a bit lacking in the sweat equity department, but the resources aren't there for hire, so sweat equity it will be! Probably take me all year just to lay out one garden, LOL. All my veggies are raised beds (I keep adding 3 x 3 ones I get at Gardener's Supply when they're on sale), but I think I may try to do a circular herb garden in-ground. With the red clay, that's a challenge!

Tiffy, I think the poppies and foxgloves might make a beautiful combination!

Nice "seeing" you both again. :)

Drippy, I envy you're zone. I got nothing as of two days ago. Pvick, how are you?

I just popped in here to see how all of you are doing so far this year, and it's great to catch up on your progress. Even though I am pretty much out of the gardening scene I may force myself to do a couple of herbs. Just gotta have my fresh parsley and basil. Yeah, I'm still alive and kicking, in my 7th year of treatment and fighting. I still drive and live alone and cook my meals. Housecleaning, not so much. But I do love to log on to see how all my old gardening pals are doing. It's been a tough year for several of us old-timers who have had to deal with Sandy, my thoughts and prayers have been with them.

It's really great to find all of you here today, almost feels like a class reunion LOL. Love you guys!!
Mary

Congrats on planting out, Drippy. Envious, but not looking forward to the work. I did put in a few rows of peas -- hope our crows didn't see :)

As for creating beds, the best investment we ever made was buying a refurbished mantis tiller. It's light and gets in tight spaces and makes short work of creating beds and even digging holes (just hold it in one spot).

I'm so glad I clicked on this thread ... drippy your name in the header made me do it ... so nice to "see" familiar "old timers" ... how I miss your posts and your presence on this forum ... would love to hear from all of you more often ...

Barbara in Virginia

Congrats on planting out Drippy. Winter is still hanging on tight here, we just got about 16 inches of snow on Friday! Although it's melting fast, thank goodness, especially around the WS containers. And there are snowdrops, crocus and witch hazel blooming.

Hi Tiffy! Glad to hear that you are getting a new garden. How exciting! I am sure you will create wondrous beauty where there is currently none...

Not a contessa, hope you grow some great herbs!

Drippy,
Went to a garden club meeting the other night and the lady was doing a presentation on year round gardening in cold frames. When I saw the title of the book you got, I thought of this beautiful Chard she showed us. It was a gorgeous purple colour and the first thing I thought of was "Geez! That would look great as an ornamental mixed with the perennials!" I've never really grown edibles but am starting to think in that direction while incorporating them into the flower gardens. My mom has high bush blueberries planted right in the middle of a huge bed of Phlox Paniculatas so when you are picking the fruit you smell those Phlox. It's something you never forget.

We should start a 'sweat equity' club! :O) Keeps me fit and ticking.

So nice to see folks on the board that I remember from my first years of WSing! I learned so much from all of you.

I started late this year too, but I honestly don't have as much room for pereniials as I use to as WSing has been an obsession for quite a few years - it's a traffic jam in my beds. I've sown a few dozen containers of perennials and did go onto Johnnys this morning and spurge on some annuals - nastie seeds and zinnia seeds. We are having a very slow warm up here on long island (still some piles of snow around..) and I am itching to get out there and start doing some digging in the dirt.

Wow, it's great to see all you folks again! Tiffy, so good to hear you are back in the gardening game! And Mary ... I'm with you on the parsley and basil - definite gotta-haves! Ladyrose, I'm doing OK.
I've been paring down the garden the last couple of years; given away some stuff, killed a few too. I'll see what has survived this winter and sow annuals to fill in and have some color. And my tomatoes too, of course.
Drippy, I'll be moving "warmer" too, once I retire. Which, by the way, was supposed to happen 2 years ago. What is it with this working stuff that I can't seem to get myself out of it? LOL!
I've got a long weekend this week, so I will get some sowing done. Think I'll do some petunias and morning glories - haven't done them in a while and that's where I started all those years ago.
Take care everyone, and happy sowing! Don't forget the pics when everything starts blooming!

PV

Wow, Mary's right. This thread is like a class reunion!

So glad to see all my "old timer" friends. I'm glad I popped in today too. It's so good to hear from everyone.

I've only done 5 jugs so far. Like pv, I'm a slowpoke this year. My yard was stuffed early last summer. But I know some perennials will have been lost in the awful heat and drought we had last year. I also lost quite a few echs to aster yellows. I'm not sure how much new "stuff" I'll need to "stuff" in.

I do have one tray of echinaceas growing under lights. I haven't started WSowing my tomatoes or annuals yet. I'll do those soon.

Karen

Oh, and Drippy, there's no need to apologize for letting us know you are already planting out. Someone has to be at the front of the line and I'm just happy it's you after all the hard work during the move a few years ago. :O)

Drippy - ditto what Tiffy said!

Yeah, ladies, but like I said, I'm pushing the envelope a bit - tonight's low is supposed to be 27 here. The SFs will probably make it through that, as they're still small, but if they don't, they're certainly one I can start again. As always, I'm sowing way more stuff than I can handle anyway.

Tiffy, I would love to say that was the last move EVER, but I doubt it - am glad you are settled, at least temporarily. Hoping you have some smooth sailing for awhile!

PV, if you have any arthritis issues, you will like moving to a warmer climate. You need to really like heat, though - even here in N. Alabama, where the growing zone is really only a 7b, it gets HOT in the summer. I love it - LOL, a lot of the natives don't, and live in AC cold rooms all summer. Not me - give me a hat and I'm good to go.