[gardeners] Re: gardening essential tools
penny x stamm (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Tue, 8 Dec 1998 01:34:28 -0500
Barb, Didn't realize that you were growing orchids. Are
they usually kept in a greenhouse, or what kind of area?
My eye doctor received an orchid from a patient some
four years ago ... Now he's become the guru, and the three
young doctors under him in the practice are all orchid
enthusiasts as well.. Don't know whether it rubbed off on them,
or if it had been a condition of employment......
I have about 200 annual seedlings under Gro-lites which I am
nursing. I use some for Christmas gifts, some to give to all the
ladies at my hubby's birthday party every January, and the rest
brighten up my double kitchen window sills for the winter. Of
course, it's always precarious -- last week I lost all 18 impatiens
in one night. Have no idea what could have brought that on.
Jimmie panicked and flew up to the atic to grab an ancient fan
on the theory that the flowers must have needed better
circulation. Who knows...?
But the good part is that when I arrived up in Connecticut this
morning to see one of my daughters, she had saved 9 impatiens
volunteer seedlings from her garden, when she cleared it for the
winter -- and they had been intended for me! So now I am back
in business.
The most important things I am growing are my coleus plants --
I have five v-e-r-y exotic patterns which I wish to preserve, and
coleus lends itself to easy rooting.
The most difficult things are both the common pelargoniums
(geraniums) and the New Guinea hybrid impatiens. The geraniums
I cut, leave open to the air for 24 hrs to callous, and then plant in
potting soil. They always collapse. The New Guineas can't stand
being planted -- they are willing to grow roots in water, but refuse
to be moved to soil... Any suggestions, folks?
Penny, NY zone 6
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