>> right now I am watering every day..ugh!

I was surprised that the start-up costs for basic drip or spray irrigation aren't too bad. Little sprayers are very cheap, and 100 feet of mainline tubing can be found for $14 (1/2 inch) or $20 (3/4 inch). Dripline or drip tape eliminates evaporation, and are probably the best way to go for very large beds with regular shapes.

Electronic timers and filters can get expensive, or you can go cheap on the filters and replace the sprayers as needed.

To use the inexpensive fittings, you may have to regulate your water pressure down to 20-30 PSI. My city water pressure was 45 PSI, and certain threaded fittings couldn't "grip" some kinds of tubing at that pressure. Those can also get expensive but don't need to: $8 for
http://www.dripworks.com/produ...

I found a wind-up timer that I have to set manually each time I wnat to water, but it shuts off automatically so I can walk away: 10, 15, 30 minutes, or anything up to 120 minutes, and there are no batteries to go dead. (Gilmore 9301 Single-Dial Windup Timer, $15,
http://www.dripworks.com/categ... ).

Plastic fittings to adapt from that black polyethylene mainline to hose threads are only a few bucks each, so you can also put a valved spigot next to every bed for $5 each, if you want. That makes spot-hand-watering really easy.

Rick, is the Snapdragon you mentioned yellow, with small blooms, and narrow leaves? Kinda sounds like yellow Toadflax I used to see around a lot, but I haven't seen any for years.

Veronica, it looks wonderful! Great recovery there

Neal,

>> is the Snapdragon you mentioned yellow, with small blooms, and narrow leaves?

Yes: pale or mild yellow with cream or off-white bits. Very small blooms, and only a few are in flower at any one time on each spike. When cut, the petals fall off rather quickly.

That sure looks exactly like it.



Yellow Toadflax
Bread and Butter
Butter And Eggs
Linaria vulgaris
Linaria linaria

I would only urge someone to grow it if they had a large area where they wanted something really vigorous to spread and choke out other weeds. Even then, birds or something spread the seeds VERY aggressively. I only started them in one bed, but now I'm weeding them out of every square foot of soil in my yard.

Just this weekend I pulled about 20 square feet of Yellow Toadflax jungle. They made a nice addition to my compost heap! And they choked out every (other) weed with ease.

I like Siberian Wallflower better. It thrived when I sowed a seed mix, and has come back fior several years with no care other than NOT uprooting it. (Erysimum x marshallii?)


I'm glad it isn't "really" a snapdragon. I like snapdragons!

But I guess "Snapdragon" is one of those names that isn't really a name, because so many different genera all have plants CALLED "snapdragon" Like the Monty Python sketch where all the characters are called "Bruce".

Antirrhinum
Sairocarpus multiflorus
Mohavea breviflora
Epixiphium wislizeni
Neogaerrhinum filipes
Asarina

Hi you guys,I'm a lurker.
Nice to see a few familiar names.

You can send photos (you have nice ones & then lurk). Misty here all day, might as well have been rain as far as gardening goes.

indygardengal said:Hello Neal. I've been away a while too and wishing there were a few more of the original posters on here...I'm wondering about the old dg and cubits members..

howdy gang...

been away waaaay too long.

Veroncia -- so wonderful to see you still here.

Neal -- stunning gardens as usual.

Hey Terese! So good to see ya here!

And thanks for reminding me about this thread, LOL!

Reclamation of the gardens has continued, even through much of winter, cleaning out beds and mulching any decent days I could. This is the best shape I've ever had the beds in at this time of year, making me really excited for spring! Also got the house painted, bringing my "vision" closer to reality. Added 2117 spring blooming bulbs, my rationalization being when I see all those blooms in spring, I won't be able to keep myself out of the garden.

This was in late summer. That area is mostly just mulch to look at now, aside from the Crocuses.

We have snow or standing water everywhere.

Your purple house is cool!

Hey friends! Great to see a little action here. I have been searching All Things Plants lately for chat. Maybe we got a little going now.. I went out today and friends I am a long way from able to see much out there. Just as well though as I am recovering from my wrist surgery and am hoping to be able to work as soon as I can see plants emerging..

Great to see Therese and Neal and hoping more will join in. After all it is mid March, can spring be far away...

Still snowing here but I will lurk.

29° bright sun, very windy It will be awhile before any gardening done.

Hey, Veronica!

Thanks, Frilly!

Still going exactly as it has all winter- start and stop, start and stop, sunny and mild for a day or 2, then back to cold and icy/snowy. Trying to get motivated to spread a couple more cartloads of mulch this morning before the rain. Intended to do that yesterday, but was moving slowly after doing flowers and helping with catering for an event Friday night. I did get some light tasks accomplished, repotted some house plants and got some Pansies in pots at the entrance and on the deck.

That sounds wonderful Neal.

So far I have not even seen any pansies in our local stores..But today I have seen a few snow flakes falling...Chins up gang the weather for the rest of the week looks pretty good...At least it did this morning!!!

No flowers in the stores here either but the fruit and flowering trees and shrubs have started arriving.
No sprouts here except the potatoes and onions on my kitchen counter.

Storm & cold warning here. DH took the heavy leaves off the daffodils along our stone wall, but has done some recovering to protect them.

Still cold here looks like it will start to warm up in a day or so. I created this plate flower and am anxious to see it situated in a garden bed

nice