I am trying my hand at being a green thumb~

#1 Postby **wx247** » Tue Apr 15, 2003 2:18 pm

A local greenhouse is going out of business and on a whim I bought some of the prettiest purple and yellow carnations, two red begonias, and some geraniums that are light purple. So far my carnations are beautifully in bloom and so are my begonias. One bloom is about ready to open on my geranium. I keep them with my orchids and Christmas Cactuses I have had for four years in the little sunroom thingy on my apartment. We will see if they survive the summer.

I also have a question...if I leave them in the warm environment all year long, will they continue to bloom? Thanks for the help!

Miss Mary · #2 Postby **Miss Mary** » Wed Apr 16, 2003 11:23 am

wx247 - good for you! And this is just the beginning.

Will they bloom all year long if kept in a warm environment? Well, I have heard you can winter geraniums inside after they've grown well all summer outside. I think you cut them down and keep them moist. Around March or so they should bloom again and then after the first frost is over you can replant outside again. I on the other hand never even bothered keeping annuals in the house all winter. I just composted them when it got cold again and they died. I buy them in May and plant them in OH when it's safe to (sometime after Mother's Day is the rule of thumb here). Your locale will be different.

If you plant them outside you'll want to go up one size from the pot they came in or you can buy several and plant them all in one big pot. Or plant in the ground, once there is no danger of frost. Keeping them in the pot they came in is usually not recommended. They need to spread their roots out. Another bit of advice and one you may not choose to do: after you replant them snip off all the blooms or snip the top of all main stems. Leave 3 sets of leaves or more and just snip off the tops. You won't have any blooms for about a week or more but if you water and are patient, you'll be rewarded with a fuller plant and more blooms than you would have had if you hadn't cut them off. Takes guts to do that but I cut all my annuals back as soon as I plant them. I do it after they're all in so I can see what colors look best with eachother.

Good luck!

#3 Postby **wx247** » Wed Apr 16, 2003 2:43 pm

Thanks Mary for the advice. We shall see what happens! I will keep you informed.

JQ Public · #4 Postby **JQ Public** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 2:49 am

hehe cool stuff. i hear gardening is pretty relaxing...i guess i better start helping my rents back in the veggie patch this spring?

#5 Postby **Stephanie** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 1:59 pm

Hey! It is a fun hobby! I love it myself.

Geraniums are generally considered "annuals" meaning they only live one year and then die. It wouldn't hurt trying what Miss Mary said.

Carnations and tuberous begonias are considered "perennials" which do come back year after year. There are annual begonias too which are from seed. I would think that you would have better luck with perennials inside the house than the annuals. Give it a try! I'm sure that the sunroom will work out well for them!

#6 Postby **wx247** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 2:53 pm

Thanks Stephanie!

#7 Postby **Stephanie** » Fri Apr 18, 2003 3:32 pm

No problem Wx! Good luck and have fun!

#8 Postby **wx247** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 4:05 pm

They are looking nice. I will have to take a pic. :lol:

#9 Postby **Stephanie** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 11:46 am

We'd love to see them!

breeze · #10 Postby **breeze** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 9:33 pm

Now, Garrett, in the fall, you have to plant some bulb flowers
like hyacinths and daffodils - they're so easy - just dig about a 3"
deep hole, plop them in, cover them up, and forget about them!
We'll get that thumb of your's green, yet! :wink:

Post pics of your flowers - we wanna see!

#11 Postby **wx247** » Tue Apr 22, 2003 10:04 pm

I will post some pics when I get time to get my dig. camera back from my mom. She is such a hogger sometimes. :lol:

Guest · #12 Postby **Guest** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 4:40 pm

Thanks for the posts - I don't deal much with flowers - like gardening better - so I will have to try planting bulbs like Breeze said to do.

Patricia

Southernmost Weather · #13 Postby **Southernmost Weather** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 5:06 pm

I work as a Park Ranger at a state park in Key West. We don't plant many flowers and such, but do a lot of trees. My favorite is the Gumbo Limbo. We call it the tourist tree because it's skinny, red and peels a lot!!

breeze · #14 Postby **breeze** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 7:53 pm

LoL, Harry! I remember how red my skin got in
Key West, even after slathering on SPF-15, all
day!

That tree is me, just make it a bit more plump! :ggreen:

Southernmost Weather · #15 Postby **Southernmost Weather** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 9:46 pm

breeze wrote:LoL, Harry! I remember how red my skin got in
Key West, even after slathering on SPF-15, all
day!

That tree is me, just make it a bit more plump!

Gotta use an SPF30 down here!! Hope you didn't use that Key West Aloe junk.

#16 Postby **pojo** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 9:57 pm

Breeze...you weren't the only one that was fried like a lobster in Key West...I had SPF 45 on and I still was burned! (the NO-AD stuff). My back was the only part that was fried...and my little brother put it on...so I'm blaming him!

Guest · #17 Postby **Guest** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 8:28 am

Oh I burn too. Haven't ever been to Key West - I want to go - sounds like a fun place. Sunburn and all.

Patricia

#18 Postby **pojo** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 3:31 pm

Ticka...its awesome! Where else would you celebrate a sunset; do the Duval Crawl; listen to awesome music; enjoy ghostly stories of former inhabitants; swim on the reefs; and enjoy a relaxing atmosphere?

Miss Mary · #19 Postby **Miss Mary** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 6:33 pm

Speaking of tans - I burn easily too - I went to a tanning bed salon years ago before a trip to Hawaii with 2 friends of mine. This was in March, for an April spring break trip. I highly recommend doing that, not on an annual basis but for special occasions, it's a good idea. I didn't burn on that trip, in fact when I came back I decided to work real hard in keeping that tan. People who knew me well, would remark first thing all summer - whoa Mary, you're tan! My friends were school teachers so they would tan all summer, their favorite pastime, hence we were on the beach a lot. I knew if I didn't get that base tan going, I'd be burned to a crisp over there. So I like to say that was one and only tan - for about 4 months there! This was back in 1984, long, long ago. I've since married a redhead and he of course has never tanned so we both slather sunblock on all summer. Tans are overated I think. At least I have few wrinkles, an added bonus from not being in the sun each summer.

Southernmost Weather · #20 Postby **Southernmost Weather** » Thu May 01, 2003 3:37 pm

You're right, Mary--tans are overrated! Since I've lived here (11 years now) my skin tends to get leathery. I go out fishing a lot and just wear protective clothing from the sun instead slathering up on the tan lotion or sunblock. I grew up in Arizona and dealt with that sun for 35 years, so I already had a tan when I moved here. The most important thing you can do for a sunburn is put aloe on it--preferably from the plant. It really helps!

I am trying my hand at being a green thumb~

I am trying my hand at being a green thumb~

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