Your All Things Plants weekly news: June 1, 2013

There were 8 new gardening ideas posted last week:

By woofie
June 1, 2013 All About ATP- Making "Lists" Private
On the top tabs, you'll find the ATP "Lists" feature. This is where you can keep your personal inventory of plants, a want list, and a trading list. There occasionally may be a reason you might want to keep parts of your List private. One of our members was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to do that, so I put together a little "How To" for her. (276 words - Read the full article)
(5 comments)

By LarryR
May 31, 2013 Rocks and a Head
When my wife and I inherited her mother's gardens, we were determined to put our own imprint on them, but just as determined to preserve their historic elements. That included the beds bordered with rocks my mother-in-law had gathered from various areas of the U.S. while on family vacations. I'd been wanting to expand on the rock theme but couldn't quite decide how. Then I came upon the perfect solution. I found a head. (835 words - Read the full article)
(14 comments)

By Dutchlady1
May 30, 2013 Planting in Clay
If you have heavy soil (clay, for instance), it is best to make a small mound of good top soil in which to plant your plants, so they don't get waterlogged and rot.
(5 comments)

By dave
May 29, 2013 ATP Podcast #20: Heading into Summer
In this week's podcast, Dave and Trish cover a lot of ground with a huge variety of miscellaneous gardening thoughts. We discuss harvesting, curing, and storing onions, dealing with problems with roses, praises for the daylilies, and Trish gives a presentation on boston ferns. (116 words - Read the full article)
(9 comments)

By threegardeners
May 28, 2013 Deterring Rabbits in Your Garden
Spread blood meal to deter rabbits in the spring.
(16 comments)

By Sharon
May 27, 2013 Field Poppies, the Memorial Flower
Sometimes when we are going full blast ahead and not paying a bit of attention to anything around us, something stunning catches our eyes and an old truth simply slaps us right in the face. It happened to me when I saw the poppies. (1,168 words - Read the full article)
(25 comments)

By bennysplace
May 27, 2013 In Gardens Everywhere, the Poppies Grow
It is Memorial Day once again and today marks the fifth anniversary of when I started writing gardening articles. It is certainly amazing how time flies and humbling when taking time out to reflect. (412 words - Read the full article)
(no comments)

By Joannabanana
May 26, 2013 A Love for Annual Vines from Seed
There are many annual vines that are very easy to start from seed. Some of these vines are enormous and will give you a gorgeous vertical display in the right spot. Most annual vines can be started from seed early, indoors, and/or direct sowed after the danger of frost is past. Many are suitable for either container gardening or directly in the ground. (600 words - Read the full article)
(9 comments)

The most popular images last week from our plant database:

Photo of Iris (Iris 'Escalona') by zuzu:

Photo of Iris (Iris 'Fancy Lover') by ge1836:

Photo of Variegated Tapioca (Manihot esculenta 'Variegata') by Foreverlad:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Waves of Joy') by Ladylovingdove:

Photo of Sage (Salvia x superba 'Mainacht') by kosk0025:

Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Indigo Bunting') by shive1:

The most active threads this week:
Subject OP Area Replies

OT - The Porch Swing • Spring 2013 daylily Daylilies forum 274

Weather In Your Garden - Springing into Summer daylily Daylilies forum 150

My semp beds May 2013 gg5 Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum 40

My little garden enidcandles Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum 38

Semp Birdfeeder Planter dormantsrule Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum 37

Ploidy issue? OldGardener Daylilies forum 36

#s of Posts CDsSister Site Talk forum 29

A visit to our Iris Show Paul2032 Irises forum 23

Chamber pot planter gg5 Containers forum 21

The most active threads this week:
Subject	OP	Area	Replies
OT - The Porch Swing • Spring 2013	daylily	Daylilies forum	274
Weather In Your Garden - Springing into Summer	daylily	Daylilies forum	150
My semp beds May 2013	gg5	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	40
My little garden	enidcandles	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	38
Semp Birdfeeder Planter	dormantsrule	Sempervivum and Jovibarba forum	37
Ploidy issue?	OldGardener	Daylilies forum	36
#s of Posts	CDsSister	Site Talk forum	29
A visit to our Iris Show	Paul2032	Irises forum	23
Chamber pot planter	gg5	Containers forum	21

Some new recommendations from our members:

Dutchlady1 recommended Out of Africa and wrote:
Maureen and Mike Massara grow all their plants from seed and have a fabulous operation. They have many hard to find succulent and caudiciform plants from Madagascar and other areas of Africa.
Their website is informative as well as drool-inducing!
Sales are exclusively through mail order and their plants arrive very well packaged.

beckygardener recommended Flowers by the Sea and wrote:
Great company! A+

Their specialty is Salvias. They are located in California. (I am in Florida.) I placed an order of two salvia plants which took 6 days to arrive because of the shipping method that I chose. I ordered in spring when temperatures weren't high in Florida. I was concerned that the long time in transit would yield some sad plants. Much to my surprise, they were nice-sized plants that were packed very well and showed NO signs of stress. They looked as if I had just picked them up at a local nursery when I opened the box. I was amazed!

I was trying this company for the first time, so I only ordered 2 plants. Both were a nice size and had a good root system. They are doing great in my garden, which reflects back to their healthy start!

FBTS correspondence and customer service is excellent! Kermit Carter (owner) also posts on various forums when questions arise about a particular salvia. Always willing to share information, his experience, and photos! Can't ask for a better mail-order nursery than that!

Many thanks to Kermit & all those at FBTS!!!!

Some new recommendations from our members:
Dutchlady1 recommended Out of Africa and wrote: Maureen and Mike Massara grow all their plants from seed and have a fabulous operation. They have many hard to find succulent and caudiciform plants from Madagascar and other areas of Africa. Their website is informative as well as drool-inducing! Sales are exclusively through mail order and their plants arrive very well packaged.
beckygardener recommended Flowers by the Sea and wrote: Great company! A+ Their specialty is Salvias. They are located in California. (I am in Florida.) I placed an order of two salvia plants which took 6 days to arrive because of the shipping method that I chose. I ordered in spring when temperatures weren't high in Florida. I was concerned that the long time in transit would yield some sad plants. Much to my surprise, they were nice-sized plants that were packed very well and showed NO signs of stress. They looked as if I had just picked them up at a local nursery when I opened the box. I was amazed! I was trying this company for the first time, so I only ordered 2 plants. Both were a nice size and had a good root system. They are doing great in my garden, which reflects back to their healthy start! FBTS correspondence and customer service is excellent! Kermit Carter (owner) also posts on various forums when questions arise about a particular salvia. Always willing to share information, his experience, and photos! Can't ask for a better mail-order nursery than that! Many thanks to Kermit & all those at FBTS!!!!

Some numbers from last week:

61 new members.
162 new threads.
4,687 new posts.
1,401 new images to the plant database.
423 new comments in the plant database.