Your All Things Plants weekly news: March 16, 2013

There were 17 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By valleylynn March 16, 2013 Inexpensive Containers for Sempervivums Have you stopped by your local Dollar Store lately? It is a great place to find inexpensive items to use for planting your favorite Sempervivum. (129 words - Read the full article) (13 comments)

By valleylynn March 16, 2013 Dividing Jovibarba heuffelii At some point you may want to divide your colony of Jovibarba. This tutorial will show you how easy it is. (164 words - Read the full article) (7 comments)

By goldfinch4 March 15, 2013 Sempervivum Love I’m sure everyone has a favorite plant or two in their garden. However, it seems that people who grow Sempervivums tend to get carried away! (645 words - Read the full article) (15 comments)

By BlueFox March 15, 2013 Succulents for Cold Climates - Those Gorgeous Sempervivums With all the buzz about growing succulents, using them for making topiaries and mosaics, planting them in hypertufa creations, and even using them as wedding flowers, it’s a shame that those of us gardening in the northern climates of Canada and Europe don’t seem to have any choices for hardy succulent plants that will perform those same functions. (517 words - Read the full article) (7 comments)

By goldfinch4 March 15, 2013 Cold Hardy Sempervivum Sempervivum wreaths and topiaries can remain outside all winter, even in zone 3 or 4 temperatures. They may need a little sprucing up in the spring, but they'll recover quickly. (8 comments)

By goldfinch4 March 14, 2013 Sempervivum in Shallow Containers Sempervivums do well in shallow containers. You can even plant in a large saucer. Be creative! (17 comments)

By gg5 March 14, 2013 Sempervivum tip If you live in an area that is wet and rainy during winter and spring, make sure to check your sempervivums periodically for rot. If the leaves near the base are brown and "mushy," gently lift the plant from the soil. Peel the dead leaves from the stem and let the plant dry out for a day or so, then replant it. Your plant will respond quickly and happily! (28 comments)

By dave March 13, 2013 ATP Podcast #9: Sempervivum Week This week Dave and Trish give their usual reports: Dave's favorite idea, Trish's report from around the forums, and we discuss the lengthy winter we're having in Texas. Our main feature is a double feature: two special interviews with people in the Sempervivum world. (72 words - Read the full article) (25 comments)

By valleylynn March 13, 2013 Sempervivums Don't Like Wet Feet Sempervivums do not like their roots to be sitting in water, so make sure your container has sufficient drainage holes. Also, check occasionally to make sure they aren't clogged to ensure continued successful growing. (no comments)

By Emma March 13, 2013 Sempervivum Companion Plants When ATP forum moderator Lynn Smith (valleylynn) asked me to write this article, she commented in her typically enthusiastic way that a visit to our nursery had transformed her thinking about gardening with Sempervivums. At Wild Ginger Farm, we specialize in alpine and rock garden plants and feature Sempervivums in our naturalistic display gardens. Written by Emma Elliot of Wild Ginger Farms. (760 words - Read the full article) (17 comments)

By CDsSister March 12, 2013 Sucessfully Repotting Sempervivums A little bit of extra care and a few extra items will ensure success when making fun and beautiful Sempervivum containers. (276 words - Read the full article) (2 comments)

By valleylynn March 12, 2013 Support Your Sempervivum Nurseries Where would we be without the nurseries that provide us with all the newest and latest varieties of Sempervivum? Trading is fun, but we need to remember to purchase from reputable nurseries in order to keep them in business. (76 words - Read the full article) (3 comments)

By webesemps March 12, 2013 My Living Pictures "Living Pictures are never finished; they are ever changing, slowly defining themselves with human nurturing and Earth’s elements.” (1,872 words - Read the full article) (41 comments)

By dave March 11, 2013 The Sempervivum Not-A-Raffle-Raffle Such a diminutively cute plant needs to have an equally gigantic raffle, and that is exactly what we have for you this week. Come and view the table set out with prizes galore for a whole group of lucky winners! (486 words - Read the full article) (135 comments)

By goldfinch4 March 11, 2013 Sempervivum Crafts Once you start growing these amazing plants, you’ll find that they multiply quickly. And unless you have lots of room in your gardens, you’ll want to find some creative ways to use them. (356 words - Read the full article) (14 comments)

By webesemps March 10, 2013 Tip: Uneven Sun Exposure for Potted Plants In my experience, sun exposure for my potted succulent plants is never optimal. When one side of the pot gets more sun than the other side, I notice that leaves on one side become longer or stems begin to stretch towards the sun. This will sometimes disrupt the compactness and aesthetics of the plant. It helps to regularly rotate the pots to ensure even sun exposure. Rotation can be as simple as turning a pot 45 degrees. (21 comments)

By goldfinch4 March 10, 2013 Sempervivum Diseases, Problems, and Pests As a rule, sempervivums are tough little plants that can put up with a lot of abuse before they’re overwhelmed. Not many plants are as resilient as these guys, yet even they face some dangers. (1,462 words - Read the full article) (7 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Spade-leaf Philodendron (Philodendron hastatum) by pniksch: Photo of Alpine Willowherb (Epilobium fleischeri) by robertduval14: Photo of Gay Feather (Liatris spicata 'Floristan Violet') by Heart2Heart: Photo of Iris (Iris) by Paul2032: Photo of Iris (Iris ensata 'Frilled Enchantment') by lorettalea: Photo of False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra) by robertduval14:

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
OT - The Porch Swing - Off Topic Thread Winter/ Spring 2013	daylily	Daylilies forum	226
The Sempervivum Not-A-Raffle-Raffle	chelle	The Sempervivum Not-A-Raffle-Raffle	78
Announcing the winners of the Sempervivum Raffle!	dave	The Sempervivum Not-A-Raffle-Raffle	55
Succulent planters at a big box store.......	Paul2032	Cactus and Tender Succulents forum	37
Banner for March 13, 2013 by valleylynn	valleylynn	Site Banners forum	32
Prizes!	jvdubb	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	30
Yes!!	Sharon	My Living Pictures	29
Sempervivum rot	chelle	Sempervivum tip	27
Banner for March 11, 2013 by valleylynn	valleylynn	Site Banners forum	27

Some new recommendations from our members:

clintbrown recommended North Hills Nursery and wrote: I ordered many Sempervivums from them and they all are doing great. I'm really impressed with their prompt and friendly service. They sent extra offsets of most of the plants. They even included one plant that I didn't order as a bonus. I will definitely order more plants from them in the future. Here is a photo of my plants after I potted them up.

daylily recommended Pinetree Garden Seeds and wrote: I have ordered seeds, tools, books, etc. from Pinetree for years and years. I am not thrilled with their website. I prefer to get the paper catalog, make a list, and call them. Customer service has always been excellent. I really like the Pinetree Lettuce mix. Has a super selection of colorful tasty lettuce! I grow two crops of it each year, and have for at least 20 years. They are also my source for my favorite cucumber, Sweet Success. One year they ran out and sent me Diva instead, and we liked it so much that I now order both of them. Here is Sweet Success growing on some fencing I use.

RonNY recommended Slate Hill Farm (Daylily) and wrote: I do an annual pilgrimage to the Farm in late July when the fields of plants are in bloom. Always looking forward to a visit with Mary and Craig. I have never ordered online but I have them dig plants for me and have always been pleased! They also have an Official American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden

ge1836 recommended Wellspring Gardens and wrote: My second orderf arrived in 2 years.Everything looks wonderful,well packed They will be repotted in larger pots and spend until May in my livingroom.

eclayne recommended Eartheart Gardens and wrote: Nice selection of Siberian and Japanese iris. This is a knowledgeable grower and hybridizer, so you know their Irises are garden tested and true to name. They not only grow/sell Currier McEwen's introductions but those of several hybridizers as well as they're own new Iris. I've received good-sized divisions, well packed and with good communication.

Some numbers from last week:

• 68 new members.
• 165 new threads.
• 4,295 new posts.
• 868 new images to the plant database.
• 69 new comments in the plant database.