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Gyp, nice to have another gardener here, your garden sounds beautiful!

I'm curious what area you live in. If you get snow or not.

It would be helpful if you went to your profile page and fill in some about yourself, then will know more about you.
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Gypsy, one of my quiet irritations where I am is the loads of mums sold every fall and then after they’ve been put on display in the pots they come in, you see them out for trash pick up. They are greenhouse raised to force a heavy bloom at this time of year and look great, lots of pretty colors. The minute the blooms fade, the weather is getting colder, out to the trash they go. When I buy them, usually marked down after they’re mostly done blooming, into the yard they go. They’ll disappear over winter, but usually do a light bloom in spring and back to their full bloom the next fall, and onward after that unless an unusually cold winter takes them out. I’m glad to hear of someone taking the time to save and divide them, such pretty perennial blooms
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Daughterof1930 - I've often wished I had access to the place our municipality dumps our green waste, I'm sure it would be a gold mine of discarded plants.

One thing that has always perplexed me are the people who buy expensive plants and planters, place them on the porch or by the door, and then don't look after them so they sit there all dried out and brown and dead. I mean why spend the money? And why do they just leave them there looking unsightly??
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CWillie, they’re the same people who say “I can’t grow a thing!” Half of gardening is just making an effort
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My Christmas cactus is blooming, hundreds of buds, it's going to be beautiful.

I've heard of Thanksgiving cactus, never heard of Halloween cactus. 🤪
Doesn't matter I'm just glad it buds
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It’s time to pull in the mile of hoses before they freeze. Last year (our first winter here) I drew myself a map so I’d know how to put them back out but apparently I’m not much of a map maker, it was still a puzzle. They also take up half the garage, so this year I will drag them up the log steps on the slope so they can drain and leave them there. I wonder how many I’ll have to replace in the Spring.

Someone, please tell me what you dislike about your sprinkler system so I will feel better about not having one.
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@Peasuep ,

I thought I was the only one in battle with the hoses . We’ve had two terrible summers , hot and very dry . Lawn took a beating . I recently had it aerated and seeded . We’ve been in a drought this month . It usually rains sufficiently in October . Never watered the lawn in October before . It’s crazy , but I invested in the seeding and it’s been warm so ……..

I do let it go dormant in summers the last about dozen years . The summers have been too dry rain wise , watering would be wasting too much water . Very little watering is usually needed in spring and then September to wake it up again and feed it .

My old hoses were those black rubber like tires . They weigh a ton , but they last forever , over 20 years old . I gave them up . Just too heavy . I bought 200 feet of new hose ( 4 X 50 ft ) Not as heavy but seemed decent quality . I do like they have a nice chunky brass fitting , easy to attach to spout and connect hoses .

I hate to say it but I miss my automatic sprinklers we had in our first home in another state .

My trash company decided to give my neighborhood huge trash cans that the truck now lifts with an arm to empty it , right after I bought new regular trash cans . Uggh . So I gave one away . And the other one I will store my hoses in .
I used to disconnect the old rubber ones and leave them outside rolled up . The new ones won’t last if I leave them out in the deep freeze.
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Hey peasuep, I got a reason to not like sprinklers.

We were at hubby's brothers house, they have much much money, honestly not my kind of people at all. We were in Atlanta not far from the airport, so we wanted to leave early to beat some of the traffic, so we snuck out at 5 am, we were in there guest house, and had to go through there back yard to get out.

Yup, we had a 2 day drive home, walking through there yard at 5 am and there sprinkler system went off. We ran only got a little wet, actually could of been much worse.

So there's a I hate sprinklers story for you! 😆
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Way, it's been a really dry month here too. I just saw the long term weather, it says the next time it might rain is Halloween night.

The one night of the month no one wants rain and it might be the only day we get rain. 😐
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Hahahah, Nacy! I want to see the surveillance video of that!

Way, I’m in the long, slow, expensive process of changing out the heavy duty hoses for the lighter, canvassy ones too. I’m waiting to see if the rodents can get through them like they have my drip (gush) (geyser) hoses….big FAIL buying those! I’m going to steal your trash can storage idea. Smart.

So far, in 2 summers I’ve only had to water the lawn in the hottest part, late July thru early September, but really very little. It’s the beds and borders that need it bc of all the huge trees that snatch all the rain before it hits the ground. It’s a real slog.
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@Peasuep,

I didn’t get canvas hoses , I got a good quality green typical hoses , I guess thick plastic and you can see like a mesh to help them keep from kinking easily . Still kinda heavy but doable for now .

I had a large bed in the back of the yard removed , and planted regular grass . My neighbor behind wasn’t happy . It was large perennial fountain grass . They were gorgeous and were huge , but it was costing me over $500 a year to have them cut down each fall and the cuttings hauled away .

My DH and I used to do it ourselves for years . They got so big though .
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Way, I will be interested to know how those hoses hold up. I’ve got several more to replace next year and I’m skeptical about the canvas ones even though it’s nice to be able to haul a hundred feet around at once.

Good grief- $500 a year! But I get it. I planted 3 little grasses and spent the next year picking little pieces, one by one, out of every crevice of the yard. I wish I had cut them back when I was supposed to.
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@Peasuep,

I do play tug of war dragging around 100 feet at a time. I hope they hold up well so long as I don’t leave them outside in winter , although the garage gets quite cold too . I wish the garage door which faces Northwest was the insulated type . I really don’t want to carry the hoses to the basement which isn’t as cold . The garage gets hit with a lot of wind in winter due to a large cornfield down the street . We are in a suburb in a small neighborhood on a hill with preserved farmland on two sides . The wind whips around us every afternoon .
The tall fountain grasses would sway and rustle .

Next spring I may plant a few dwarf ornamental grasses where I had some diseased dwarf evergreens removed . Or just some new dwarf evergreens , or hydrangeas not sure yet . I may actually expand that bed bigger , It looks a bit small in scale near the house especially since a dying tree was removed . I’m not looking to plant another tree . I hate raking leaves . That bed looks awful right now since having things removed. All that’s left in it is some azaleas The neighbor behind me who wasn’t happy I removed the fountain grass bed in the far back by him commented on that bed as well . He’s like “ the mayor “, of the neighborhood , he needs a hobby . 😂😂😂 . I assured him I would be working on that bed in the spring .

I have given up on having flower pots or hanging baskets that get blown over , out front . I just have a few on the deck out back in a couple of spots that are a bit protected from the wind . Eating dinner outside can be very challenging with the wind . 🙄🙄. But the view of the mountain (about 5 miles away) right now is pretty , orange and yellow .
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I got canvas hoses a couple of years ago after wrestling with the green ones which sprung leaks over the years. The canvas ones were much easier to lug around. Left them with the house.

The ornamental graases sound beautiful.
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@Golden ,

The animals didn’t chew at the canvas ?
That fear was what prevented me from buying them. I regularly have deer, fox, etc . and the occasional bear ( they come off the mountain in drought sometimes ) to go to the creek near me . I’m near the edge of a suburb just before rural .
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Way -I never had that problem. We had deer, foxes, squirrels. bears, the odd coyote and wolf, but none were ever interested in the hoses - that I am aware of, I should add. I think the leaks were just wear and tear.
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I have a couple of ultra cheap hoses I just leave in place all summer threaded around my deck behind the plants and I hook my better hoses to either end when I need to, saves a lot of lugging.
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@Golden,

Well I’ll see how it goes. The good thing is the beds are all reached by using only 50 feet at a time by design . And I have one placed on 3 sides of the house . I only have to drag around more if I want to water the lawn which I try to avoid . Even the large fountain grass bed that was 100 feet away rarely needed water . Although 100 feet isn’t allowing the sprinkler to really reaching the end of the property in the back , but I’m not adding another hose . Nope . 🙅‍♀️🙅‍♀️. It looks fine from our view on the deck from far away . That last 25-30 feet also slopes down alittle bit on one corner , we don’t really see it . But the nosey neighbor does in between his trees .😬😬

@CWillie,
Yeah I have them placed around the house too . I’m only really lugging a lot because the lawn was suffering from two bad summers , and I seeded to repair it .
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I really only drag the old heavy hoses since I can carry the canvas ones. I’ve had one leak on a canvas one so far, up by the connector but that may have been the one that the previous owner left. I think (hope) by this coming summer I will get a routine going around the watering because it’s going to be a gravel and compost year and I don’t want to spend time messing with hoses and sprinklers.

Bears! And wolves! I can’t imagine! I hope your critters like you better than mine like me! I do have a friendly chipmunk that scratches on the front door nearly every morning….most of the predators keep their distance.

Way - maybe your neighborhood ‘mayor’ would like to plant out your flower bed for you! I love blue oat grass planted in groups but like all the grasses, they reach their limit and you have to remove them. I have some clumps of the super chartreuse grass, can’t remember the name, and it doesn’t seem to die out in the middle. It’s very pretty against conifers.

Today I’m missing my old home - the mountains, the Milky Way, the basalt cliffs. It must be because it’s the beginning of the drippy grey season here. Today I need to spend some time appreciating my ferns and forest and the falling leaves.
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🙂🌻 Keep calm
and
garden on
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My Sweet Sumac is STUNNING right now! This yard did not come with a lot of Fall color built in (I will be adding more) but the few little patches it has are outstanding this year! Bummer that I can’t see much of it from the windows. If the chipmunks hadn’t eaten the cushions off my front porch love seat I’d sit out there and stare at it.
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I took a picture this morning with my antique phone. There was fog in the woods behind the house but the sun was sending long rays through the trees. Down by the path there was a doe and a buck I’ve names Twinkle Toes because of the way he pursues her, backlit and steaming. It would have been a beautiful photo if I didn’t have such a cruddy phone.
I know this is not about gardening but it’s about my Garden.
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Psue -sounds beautiful. Those moments can carry you through the day,

We had sumac where I grew up in Ontario. Such an interesting and colourful plant. Have you ever used it for cooking?
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Golden,
I have never tried to eat sumac. I know there is a poison kind but this is not it, so I would be willing to try it. It smells wonderful when you crush the leaves. How do you prepare it? I also have some kind of Bay tree/shrub but I don’t know if it’s the culinary sort.

We have a big variety of fungi that give my DD, GD and I endless pleasure although we like our livers so choose not to eat any of them. Id like to get a professional in to identify them. There is only one fungi I’ve eaten from our woods and it’s called Witches…something. It’s small, bright orangey-yellow ruffles that don’t taste like much of anything but apparently they can be candied and used as a dessert garnish.
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Psue - From my reading it seems that the red ones are edible, the white ones poisonous. I have some dried sumac here that R bought. Apparently it has a citrus-y flavour. You can read online when and how to process it.

Bay is a wonderful addition to stews and soups. No idea what it looks like in the natural.

I think you are wise to get a professional to ID your fungi. They can be deadly. I know puff balls are ok but I have never picked and eaten them.

Witches butter? Very colourful.

Just installed some grow bulbs to help the plants through the winter. The Christmas cactus is covered with buds. Hope the extra light doesn't disturb it. 4 of the catalpa seedings are still alive - the runt shrivelled up and died. They need more sun light than we usually get here. The other plants survived last winter but extra light won't hurt them.

I think the extra light is affecting me positively, but it will take more time to be sure. I feel "brighter" lol. 💡💡💡
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Golden, I’m sad for your runt Catalpa and hoping the others survive. Catalpas are such amazing trees I’m surprised how underused they are. Maybe it’s the mature size that discourages people.

The leaves are almost done falling here so if we get a dry spell I’ll be able to reclaim my driveway. Oh wait, the big, bronzey oak out front holds most of its leaves all winter but at least when they do fall they don’t soak up water so they’re easy to blow.

Christmas (Thanksgiving?) cactus are both blooming; deep pink and white. I’d like a salmon one but this little house does not have room. It’s challenging, here, for houseplants and I miss my big, bright, sunny kitchen, but only in the winter.
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It’s official I’m afraid. My Christmas cactus hates me. My mother always had such lovely ones, loaded with blooms. I’ve followed all the advice, and mine just sits and looks like the plain green plant it always is, won’t even have the courage to die, but certainly won’t bloom either 🤷‍♀️😥
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Fear not Daughter, your Christmas cactus does not hate you, it loves you! You are supplying food, water and sunlight without requiring anything in return! You are allowing it to express itself freely in its own way without judgement! You are giving it time and space for self reflection and self actualization in an environment of acceptance and understanding!

Toss that worthless thing and start over. ; )
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Daughter, have you tried putting it outside in the summer, mine is outside from about June till September, in the Northeast

Peasuep 😜, that's adorable 😍
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Some Christmas cacti bloom at Christmas, some are known as Thanksgiving cacti because they bloom early, and some hold off until Easter. Mine bloom best when they are most neglected, especially if I've left them outside over the summer and neglected to bring them in until frost is imminent.
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