Your All Things Plants weekly news
August 2, 2014

This Week's Gardening Ideas:

By dave August 2, 2014 The Top 25 Daisies We know coneflowers are grown and loved by all, but what about daisies? There are 24 genera in our database that contain plants that are considered daisies. Among such a vast reach of plants, which are the most popular among ATP members? Let's have a look! (2,287 words - Read the full article)

By dave August 1, 2014 All Members Are Invited To Judge the Caladiums Photo Contest! The 2014 Caladiums photo contest, sponsored by Caladium Bulbs 4 Less, is now finished and 174 photos have been entered. Come check out all the great photos and pick your favorites. The winners will get some great prizes!

By rocklady August 1, 2014 Recycle Old Fountains When we decided to replace the fountain in our sunroom, we thought of another use. (101 words - Read the full article)

By foraygardengirl July 31, 2014 Lasagna Gardening Start a new garden by planting right on top of your lawn! (354 words - Read the full article)

By dave July 30, 2014 ATP Podcast #66: Summer Chores and Preparing for Fall Gardening TODO items for late summer, presented by Trish, and preparing for the fall garden, presented by Dave! The month of July is coming to a close and that means it's time to start thinking about the fall gardening season. But wait, you might say, we're in the dog days of summer, and you're already talking about fall gardening? Yes indeed, now is the time to get your fall gardening plans in order.

By fiwit July 29, 2014 Bring a Snake into Your Home! On Oct 31, 1997, I discovered a baby rattlesnake in my home office, curled up behind my chair. That is NOT the kind of snake I recommend you bring into your house. Instead, adopt a Snake Plant, also called Mother-in-Law's Tongue. The perfect house plant, it's easy to grow, difficult to kill, and its broad leaves make it very effective at removing toxins from the air. (314 words - Read the full article)

By holity July 28, 2014 Use Tomato Cages To Protect Plants from Dogs When it's hard to separate your dogs and your plants, some plants run the risk of getting stomped into oblivion or dug out. Here's a low-cost solution. (168 words - Read the full article)

By drdawg July 27, 2014 Sphagnum Moss vs. Peat Moss If there ever is confusion concerning plant products, interpreting the labeling of sphagnum moss and peat moss is high on the list. (538 words - Read the full article)

The most popular images last week from our plant database: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Mia Bella of Gascone') by diggit: Photo of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Wild Irish Heart') by gsutche: Photo of Coneflower (Echinacea 'Greenline') by NJBob: Photo of Blue of the Heavens (Allium caeruleum) by dirtdorphins: Photo of Candy Lily (Iris x norrisii 'Summer Candy') by dirtdorphins: Photo of Coneflower (Echinacea 'Sombrero Salsa Red') by Snapshot:

The most popular Multi-Plant Photos from last week: Multi-plant photo by jerseyridgearts: Multi-plant photo by foraygardengirl: Multi-plant photo by 4susiesjoy: Multi-plant photo by Marilyn: Multi-plant photo by Gardenho: Multi-plant photo by foraygardengirl:

Noteworthy acorn tips given this week:

10 people gave for the idea "Lasagna Gardening" by foraygardengirl 7 people gave for the idea "Recycle Old Fountains" by rocklady 7 people gave for the idea "Sphagnum Moss vs. Peat Moss" by drdawg 6 people gave for the Multi-Plant Photo #1805 by jerseyridgearts 6 people gave for post #670734 in "Banner for August 1, 2014 by bootandall" by bootandall 5 people gave for post #668726 in "Pics of species?" by Leftwood 4 people gave for post #670904 in "thyme for (more) bees and other bugs on flowers" by JRsbugs 4 people gave for the idea "Our Herb Spiral" by dave 3 people gave for post #667543 in "Banner for July 27, 2014 by mcash70" by mcash70 3 people gave for post #668364 in "July 2014 Butterflies, Moths & Larva" by jmorth

The most active threads this week:

Subject	OP	Area	Replies
Bug/butterfly ID forum?	luvsgrtdanes	Site Talk forum	44
Hot sun	Shtaylor44	Ask a Question forum	34
How are acorns determined for an idea/article?	beckygardener	Site Talk forum	33
Alfalfa Pellets	Cookies4kids	Daylilies forum	33
Extra Hot peppers	cycadjungle	Edibles and Preserving forum	31
Colocasia 'Nobel Gigantae'	KurtMN	Ask a Question forum	31
No Pistil?	beckygardener	Daylilies forum	31
How do you tell the difference?	Weedwhacker	Sphagnum Moss vs. Peat Moss	30
Banner for July 31, 2014 by Cat	Cat	Site Banners forum	23

Some new reviews from the ATP Green Pages:

Itsallgood recommended TickleMe Plant Company, Inc. and wrote: Wow! What a cool plant and company. They made it so easy to grow TickleMe Plants. They really do move when you tickle them. For a good read, get the TickleMe Plant book. It is fun to learn about this plant and to grow it. We found the TickleMe Plant party favors looking for a fun green party favor that can be educational. The party favors came with a soil pellet, a pack of seeds, a card that had many fun experiments, and the packaging, which acts like a greenhouse. If you never seen or grown one, give it a try. Found it here http://www.ticklemeplant.com

SheilaC recommended Ladybug Daylilies and wrote: As another reviewer noted, Dan is very generous with his orders. I ordered 10 plants and received 15! They were all triple fans or more, with the exception of just a couple. Definitely will order from him again. He's closer to my neck of the woods too.

Lorli recommended Tropical Plants & More and wrote: I received my third order of orchid plants from Ken yesterday and, once again, was impressed. The plants were meticulously packed so that, when they were unpacked, they were in perfect condition and there was not even one bit of growing medium in the box or wrappings. The plants themselves were large, robust plants, some with flower spikes, so healthy and green that they look good even when they are not in bloom! I really cannot say enough about Ken's obvious love of orchids, his attention to detail, and his kindness and patience in answering all of my questions. He has a very nice assortment of plants too: I saw one plant on his website that I loved, but it was sold out, so I searched on the Internet for that variety. I found a few but they didn't look as nice as Ken's plants. Luckily for me, he posted a couple more on his website and I couldn't order one quickly enough! Now that I see it, I'm so glad I did, what a beauty that plant is! Thank you, Ken!

We keep growing, because ATP is where all the excitement is these days! Check out these numbers from last week:

• 197 members joined.
• 4,686 posts written.
• 1,462 images posted to the plant database.
• 630 plants added to personal inventory lists.