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Why.
Why is it?
So hard to give away plants for free?
Container pots included, yes, they are nice.
Can we deliver them to your yard?
Nice cactus, choose, yes, you want them.
You will come by tomorrow you say?
No show.

This has gone on for a week.

Should I put a price on it?
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glad - oh wow! Finally we have leaves now and I smelled a May Tree on my walk yesterday. Have to find it today. A crab apple up the street is blooming. So nice!!!!
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Uh uh no Glad, I can't hear/see you....🙉🙈😨
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High in 40's yesterday, dusting of snow overnight. West of here much more snow, latest snow in ten years. Mountains up to 18". Is is supposed to be like this all week. Trees down, power outages, spring snows are quite the mess. Spring must be around the corner.

School districts west of here are closed due to snow!

🎅🏂😯
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Any of you who grew up on a farm might have encountered the spring chore of rock picking - walking through a field picking up rocks that get in the way farm equipment. Most farms around here have a rock pile somewhere but usually in the most obscure back corner of the farm, and not all rocks are particularly pretty. A few years ago I happened across a "mother lode" of beautiful rocks right along side a quiet side road and I've been harvesting them for my garden. Today as I was loading a dozen or so in my trunk a pick up came flying down the road - I was caught! I was concerned I was in for a lecture but the owner of the rocks was highly amused and told me to take all I want - yay!
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Landscaper finally showed up yesterday. Leveled out the dirt clumps he left in the fall hoping to get sod and sprinkler in then but took too long to get natural gas line to house. Wonder how long until he comes back now.🌿😳
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Thanks for your ideas on mulch!
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I like the shredded cedar mulch; it's probably the cheapest option, it breaks down easily and is easy to work around, to control weeds you need a deep layer. With sandy soil adding some kind of compost first never hurts.
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Grape vines setting fruit. I really need to be ready for the annual white flies. Plum tree set fruit. Saw my first coreopsis bloom today in the dyeing garden. I also planted marigolds. I’ve been able to get a range from olive green to various golds from the marigolds. The woad has set seeds so I’m watching that closely. I’d love to get a bed of woad for blue dye. My niece is sending me real indigo seeds...really excited. I’m hoping to get tomatoes and peppers in this weekend. Cucumber seeds are in and I have loads of volunteer pole beans and some Swiss chard. Trader Joe’s has gorgeous basil plants so I’ll get a few of those. Have Hopi dye sunflower seeds for the bed of sunflowers. I’m downsizing this year so I’m planting a full bed of different sunflowers. I hear they give off a chemical in the soil that even discourage weed growth.
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Glad- there is nothing quite like a tomato right off the vine.

Julia- we always use organic cedar mulch, as we have an abundance of cedar trees. Plus the cedar can repel some unwanted insects.
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Julia I would suggest pine bark mulch. But, before you check out prices of bags of it, check a landscape supply company that would deliver in bulk larger quantities. If you have a garden cart or wheelbarrow it is light weight and easy to move. Delivery of the mulch you could ask them to dump it in different locations around the yard if there is access.

Don't get the cocoa mulch. I have read it can cause serious health problems with pets.
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After years of neglecting the outside shrubs, I’ve decided to shape them, pull the weeds, and put down mulch. Might even plant something if there’s time before the weather turns too hot and bakes the dirt, and the ravenous female mosquitoes are unleashed for the season.

Ive made good progress working with a friend of mine. We are almost half way done pulling weeds/grass, but slowing down. Any advice about mulch? We plan to buy it on the Memorial Day sale because I’ll need a lot to go around the house. The soil is sandy and doesn’t drain well.
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duplicate post - how did that happen
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Garden needs our attention. Distracted by an undersink leak coming from the drain pipe.
Sometimes, hubs just amazes me with his skills.
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When I was examining my japanese maple this morning I saw that it has been grafted and I am getting several vigorous shoots coming out below the graft. Google tells me that the root stock is most likely acer palmatum, which is more or less what I wanted in the first place. Hm. I'm going to let it grow out and see what I get.
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Love garden fresh ripened tomatoes. Here they are telling us to wait another week or two to even plant them.🍅
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Harvested a bunch of herbs today. I love the smells of them. So refreshing.
Tomatoes will be ready soon. Have some huge ones turning. Can't wait. They will be ready for market time, Lord willing.
This crazy weather has kinda messed us up a little. But everything is thriving.
Flowers popping up in the pollinator garden.

Will be transplanting some more things tomorrow. Peppers and more tomatoes.
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My gardening is more southern than most of you it seems. I just came in from planting caladium bulbs, I’m late with them this year. My amaryllis are beautiful, especially the white one I have from my grandmothers yard. The cleomes I bought are blooming well, lavender in color. And I’m not sure I believe in green thumbs, I’ve gardened all my life and I’ve killed plenty of plants, but just enjoy being among them and the experience
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CW I've got an acer that Daughter2 gave me last year for Mothering Sunday, and my heart's in my mouth over the wretched thing. They're hardy enough once they're fully established but a complete nightmare while they're babies. If the wind's in the wrong direction, or they're too wet, or too dry, or it's too sunny, or it's not sunny enough, or the drainage is wrong, or the growing medium is too fertile, or... ugh!

I've worried all winter, it's survived, and now I'm applying my tried and trusted method of benign neglect. Worst comes to the worst, and Daughter's visiting, I'll just have to swipe some twigs off my neighbour's adult tree, stick them in compost and hope she doesn't look too closely.
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Cwillie, I have a spare room and extra gardening gloves😀
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I'm ready for a road trip to warmer climes, I've got my passport so all I need is Isthisrealyreal's address to plug into google maps ....
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My jasmine is covered in blooms, such a lovely smell when I go out back. I have 3 as green walls and I feel transported to peace and calm when breathing their lovely fragrance.

Lemon grass is growing like a weed, smells wonderful and helps keep the mosquitoes away.
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My japanese maple hasn't made it (well, there is a bud down near the bottom, maybe there's hope?), this is the second one to die after the second winter. I did a lot of research before selecting the tree and variety and I don't understand why it doesn't like it there😔, it was supposed to grow to provide privacy and perhaps some afternoon shade on my patio but I won't replace it - I won't keep shelling out the big $$$ on plants that disappoint me.
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Can't garden--have two black thumbs!  I read instead.  It helps!
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I just googled garden centers in Chicago and you've got some beauties. There's a link to a Top Ten selection that looks pretty useful.
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Hm. Odd.

Send, I wonder if the bulbs in the planter were exposed to lower temperatures than the ones that had snuggled themselves right down beside the driveway? I have been told you need to keep paperwhites frost-free - don't care, they're going outside when I get round to it and it can be kill or cure. I'm not wasting house room on them again, that's for certain.
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ali - some indoor plants purify the air - and many are easy to grow.. If you have a friend with plants you can get cuttings and root them.
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ISTHIS- Thank you for asking, the banana trees are doing great. We thought we lost them because over the winter we keep them heated. Well, DH forgot to put heaters on one night and it froze. We thought for sure they were dead. But low and behold the revived and multiplied. May be some bananas this year. Hoping anyway.

You are right the wheat field is so pretty, and green. Even when it turns golden and harvest time approaches, still a pretty sight.

I attribute any green thumb I have to the Lord. He gave me a Dad who taught me what I know about these things, and HE blesses them.
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I need to get some easy-grow bulb kits for indoors. Everything has come together well at new place but I need hardy indoor plants, and some pretty ones for fun, and maybe some herbs or aloe plant or something.

I don't like my options for plant-shopping in the city. All the big box home stores sell everything to everyone. I don't generally find much at their picked-over selection. A farmer's market of plants would be better. I'll just have to find one next day off and go get some things, I suppose. Hopefully if I buy well, they will last many years.
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Ugh, golden, snow, a bit here too. But about 60 miles west of here about 10 inches. So many pictures on the news of tulips, daffodils, peeking through the snow.

Paperwhites used to have them inside, but no more, don't others find they stink?! And bad!
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