Arlene I am on a sand island but where I am is high up and on clay. I would love to have had some sandy area for gardening. On the sands we have miles of heath plains with quite some stunning native plants for the garden, which I have always wanted to grow.

You area sounds quite beautiful.

florange said:Yes, Glen, 100% beach sand. Very fine and very soft. That's one of the reasons I grow daylilies in boxes. The other reason is our palm trees. When I had daylilies on the ground, Queen palm roots would come to the surface and strangle the daylily plants in order to have all that wonderful fertilizer for them selves.

On the other hand, things like colocasias, elephant ears, live oak trees, bromeliads, and most other tropicals grow very happily in the sand. The colocasias have to be fertilized because they are heavy feeders, but the broms don't care since they only use their roots to keep themselves upright. They don't use their roots to absorb food. I grow tropicals because they don't take very much care, so they leave me more time to fuss with the daylilies.

About hurricanes. Daytona Beach hasn't had a direct hit in well over 120 years. In 2004 we had 3 hurricanes visit, but they had made landfall on Sanibel Island (other side of state) and came up I-4, through Orlando, and exited the state here. We're not dumb! There's the Gulf Stream (a river in the ocean) that is warmer than the ocean's water. The hurricanes will follow that warm water, whizzing up the coast ignoring FL and the Gulf Stream takes those storms and dumps them right into Cape Hatteras. Once the storms start following the "river" they don't have the ability to break free along the FL coast. Apparently the Gulf Stream takes a sharp right turn (and goes out to sea) at Cape Hatteras, and the hurricanes just keep moving north, hitting that land that juts out into the ocean. On one side, the GS protects us and on the other side, it really dumps on the Cape. We feel fairly safe here, although anything can happen. We just leave when the big storms are in the area.

Very well put...a river in the ocean. You are right about Cape Hatteras, they do get slammed a lot. We in Virginia have protection also and it is High Pressure. I have seen huge hurricanes come right at us, stop and go the other way. They could not come a shore because of the pressure here, we are also blessed. I am very impressed with your plants and wish you well.

TAD (topic attention deficit)

Thank you for your kind comments.

I am very excited about my order from James Hall, he is 'Mljomo' on the LA, it is my second time ordering from him and his plants are nice and big, he has a lot of the newer cultivars and sells single fans which are more affordable than the DF's so you can buy more. LOL. He does have buy-it-now items and also has some double fans, which I also like about him.


My Order!



SF of Blonds Beach



SF-Great White Dove



SF-Gloucester

SF-DANCING JUBILEE

It's amazing how just 2 months difference in dividing time helps the plants grow big. Mine will be nowhere as big as James' because mine got divided 2 months after his and had only 2 weeks to grow before the freezes set in. I told James that this year I'm dividing and potting mine up before I help him with his

Fred sent me many fans, which I will plant separately.
Thank you, Fred.

tink3472 said:It's amazing how just 2 months difference in dividing time helps the plants grow big. Mine will be nowhere as big as James' because mine got divided 2 months after his and had only 2 weeks to grow before the freezes set in. I told James that this year I'm dividing and potting mine up before I help him with his

That's right Michele, you got to grow your business too! I am stunned that they got here in two days, this is my only day off for a whole week! I was panicking but I did put a good dent in it.
Michele, how are your temps now? I think once it gets warm and stays warm they will grow rapidly. We are supposed to be in the 70's all next week but this week is not too bad, we will be in 60's by the weekend.

I've gotten five orders in the last two days, about 45 plants, and everything looks wonderful. It's going to take two or three days to get everything planted, and I think next week I'll be getting in a couple more orders. Because of other duties right now I'm having to squeeze in planting time here and there, but rest assured I'll get it done!

Well we just had another freeze Tuesday night and it was cold and windy (30mph winds) yesterday. Hopefully it will be the last one this year but I know last year on May 4th we had a freeze and it only got into the high 40s, maybe low 50s that day.

They said we were going to have a freeze also but we didn't, I live farther east and it did not get us. We did get the cold rain and wind. Come on spring!

@Betja Betty, that is a lot of plants!

I got my tags ready and bought more potting mix and gathered pots. I have them soaking in a small amount of water. What do you do with your plants if you cannot plant them right away?

virginiarose said: What do you do with your plants if you cannot plant them right away?

I usually let them soak in a small amount of water if I can't plant them right away. You may need to change the water depending on how long you soak them because it can get stinky after a few days.

ok, that is great!

I got my terrific order from Michele yesterday, and also my order from De (John DeMory). And today, after having just finished planting the first 47 that arrived last week, I started on the next 20! Why oh why do I do this to myself? Well, because I just love it! It's just like Christmas around here, and scapes are popping up all over the place now. Very exciting!

Good thing I came back to this thread tonight! After reading some, I went to LA tonight, checked on my Lily Page there and forgot that I won 11 auctions in November from 3 different sellers.

Michele,
I won this one from you. Whenever you are able (weather wise) to ship is ok. I'm just going to pot up all my wins for a few months before planting.

BUDDYS WILD and WONDERFUL (Hall 2009) DF plus incr - cultivarshaspider31385900909

Thanks!

I think I'm finished with the Lily auction, plants anyway. I'll wait and see what this years plants are like (bought from different sellers this year) but I am Very disappointed with last years lot. None of them looked like what I see in these pictures and only two of twenty something bloomed last year (all were to be blooming size). One was so small it barely counted as a plant. That one has come up and is still smaller than the majority of my seedlings from last year! They have all survived this horrible winter but it looks like they will all require a number of years to amount to anything. I realize the season is still very early here but I have seedlings from last year that are FAR LARGER and more advanced than most of the plants I got from the LA.

bearsearch - If they were planted in the fall that might be why they don't look as good as your seedlings. And the first blooms are usually not the best. Hopefully when they start blooming you'll feel better about them.

They were all planted in the spring. All the plants I bought last year were for spring delivery and all were planted in a newly prepared bed. I know the first blooms aren't the best and I was prepared for that. I just have a very hard time accepting that "mature" plants costing as much as $75.00 (the most I'll spend) can end up being less than a quarter the size of some of my last years seedlings.

I paid 41 for the sf I got the other day and ended up being able to soak it in a large measuring cup. Paid 12- shipping and they paid less than 6-. Didn't get a bonus (but I don't need bonuses) ... Just want plants that look like they'll live. Anyway I put it in a pot and am moving it outside when the weather's good and inside when it's not. --Guess I'm saying you are not alone!

I think there is a big adjustment for plants coming from the South to those of us in the North. Plants bought from growers with similar climates as mine seem to do better.

I love the Lily Auction, but I don't think those with a negative experience are willing to share it in the feedback.

Brian we feel your pain. You could always let the seller know that you are not happy with what you got. Did they specify that it was a small plant in the listing?
Cats, good luck on that new plant!!