A few of the trees I started out with. Picture taken 5-1-09
The sub-pages of the “MY PLANTS’ page includes all the plants that are in pots plus the perennials and annuals that are in beds. I have many sub-pages to “MY GARDEN” page that will cover the garden. I have been a gardener since I was a kid, my parents are gardeners, and my grandparents were gardeners, and so were their parents… You get the picture! So, I guess it is in my blood.
I am not used to Zone 8, but jumped at the chance to move here to Mississippi and discover what all I can grow here that I couldn’t in Zone 6 in Missouri. So far, I have been very happy! We didn’t get out first frost here until December 5! Awesome!!!
All the plants that are in pots, and some I dug up and put in pots, will be taken inside for the winter. So far, I bring them in when the temp drops and drag them back out on the front porch if the temp go up. That may sound funny to you, but I look at it this way… I stay in when it is cold, rainy or cold and windy. When the weather is nice, I would much rather be outside. I figure that’s how the plants feel, too. Only, they don’t have legs to go outside by themselves, so I have to carry them. I am well aware of how they feel about being in the house, they tell me all about it!
Some of the plants in the East run room... Not very happy, but willing to endure! 12-16-09.
I put most of the Coleus in the West sun room. 12-16-09
I borrowed Sara’s camera and the date it puts on the pictures is wrong… I guess I need to fix that!
The larger Coleus in the picture are from a lady down the street. Kyle and Sara walk by her house allot and he told me about her Coleus being different than mine. He doesn’t realize how many varieties there are. Well, I had several pots that I had stuck cuttings in so I decided we should go down and give her one… I gave her a pot of mine, in hopes of her returning the favor, and give me a cutting of hers because they were different. Well, I didn’t expect her to just go to the bed and pull up two WHOLE PLANTS AND HAND THEM TO ME!!! We started home, walking down the sidewalk with these two TREES! I went straight to the backyard and put them in two of the biggest pots I could find! It was a good thing I still had a couple of big pots! They didn’t mind a bit, never even wilted, and are still doing fine!
SOMETHING I NEED TO MENTION ABOUT SOURCES!
Now, I know that allot of smaller family owned greenhouses and nurseries have went out of business since I was a kid. Sources of plants, whether it be house plants, perennials, annuals, trees and shrubs, etc., aren’t like they used to be. Especially in smaller communities. Heck, I remember when almost every town had a greenhouse to buy plants. Some weren’t that big, and just grew the basics. Now days, in smaller towns, people have to buy plants from places like…. Well, you get the picture! Discount stores and franchises that contract with growers to supply all their stores nationwide. Have no discretion on what will grow well in their area, they just sell it. Where I live in Mississippi, and not being prepared, I bought plants from both Lowe’s and Wal-Mart. Plants I have grown before and some I had not. Surprisingly, they looked very good when I bought them but as some went by, some of them went to crap!
You are better off buying from local privately owned greenhouses and nurseries, locally owned garden centers and even feed stores because they know what grows the best in your area. When you buy online and from catalogs, there are a few things to consider. One is that you can’t see the plant you are buying. You read the description, your mouth waters, and you can see (hopefully) what zone it grows in. You check out their zone map to what zone you are in. Problem is, just because you are on the east coast and are in the same zone as somewhere in California, doesn’t mean the same plants there will grow well for you. Most zone maps just give info for how cold hardy plants are. What about rain fall, heat, soil, and everything else you have to consider? Local nurseries know all that because they are experienced in your area.
I would love to have a greenhouse and nursery here, but I would be planting so much stuff that wouldn’t be right for the area. I have no experience here yet and that wouldn’t be fair to my customers.
So, that being said, I just have to grow as many varieties as I normally would and several more (GEEZ), experiment, and see what happens. The only way to know is just do it! Trial and error.
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