CatherineM Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 It looks like farming in Peru on terraces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern california guy Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1864781' date='May 11 2009, 10:52 PM']It looks like farming in Peru on terraces.[/quote] Yeah, my parents backyard is STEEP! I even clobbered myself with one of the railroad ties when I slipped when building the lower retaining wall for the garden. I just about knocked out some teeth. I can certainly empathize with the Inca's -- or at least sympathize. They did it without shovels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VoTeckam Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thanks southern california guy for showing me the Clivia. They are beautiful. I will have to see if the VA soil can support them (I hope it can... I already have a spot picke dout in my yard. lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icelandic_iceskater Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 O m'garsh, S.C.G., your bougainvillea is beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 [quote name='southern california guy' post='1865782' date='May 13 2009, 12:50 AM']Yeah, my parents backyard is STEEP! I even clobbered myself with one of the railroad ties when I slipped when building the lower retaining wall for the garden. I just about knocked out some teeth. I can certainly empathize with the Inca's -- or at least sympathize. They did it without shovels![/quote] What is your annual rainfall there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern california guy Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='VoTeckam' post='1865925' date='May 13 2009, 06:45 AM']Thanks southern california guy for showing me the Clivia. They are beautiful. I will have to see if the VA soil can support them (I hope it can... I already have a spot picke dout in my yard. lol).[/quote] VoTeckam, The soil in VA could easily support them -- but nandina ("Heavenly bamboo") is much hardier than I was thinking it was and clivia wouldn't make it through the winter. However... clivia does well in pots -- especially clay pots. And they tend to bloom better when they are a bit rootbound. So you could plant some in some clay pots -- and sink them into the ground (And during the winter bring them into the house as a houseplant). They're reasonably drought tolerant so watering them once a week would be fine. Probably less during the winter. I've seen garden catalogs that sell them for as much as $75 each, but that's outrageous. They only cost a couple dollars each here. My dad planted a dozen of them a couple of years ago. They spread reasonably quickly and now we have over fifty of them (divided and moved). Plus we gave some to the neighbor and also to my sister-in-law. Anyway we have some extra plants and I could get one of those prepaid boxes at the post office and mail you some. I don't know if they would freeze but I think that they would probably make it okay and if they did you could reimburse me for the postage -- probably ten dollars. So e-mail me if you'd like to try some. My e-mail is rprimbs@yahoo.com They do make nice houseplants -- and they're much hardier than orchids! [img]http://www.northamericancliviasociety.org/auction_2005/64_vulcan_lg.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 I still didn't get to plant anything today. We had snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern california guy Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1864296' date='May 11 2009, 02:21 PM']We are zone 3a. I guess zone 2 is tundra where you can only grow moss.[/quote] Catherine, Yeah you are WAY up north! I've been to Saskatoon (visiting a Catholic girl) and I thought that was pretty far north. But there are apples and other fruits that will supposedly take the cold. Like the "Honeycrisp" apple. And that's a good apple! And possibly Russian plums like "Kuban Comet" and "Kuban Delight" as well as their "Tlor-Tsiran Black Apricot". And definitely some blueberries -- like "Chippewa", "Polaris", and "North Sky". I would think that you're right. I don't know of anything that can be grown in zone 2. I've been up to parts of Alaska along the coast where even the fir trees are stunted -- from the cold and wind. But I'll bet that you can grow quite a summer garden. LONG DAYS! Especially daylight sensitive things like giant onions. If we try planting those down here they hardly grow a bulb. We're forced to stick to "day-neutral" varieties. And I'll bet you could grow the giant pumpkins up there too. But maybe you'd have to start them in a greenhouse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Everyone starts stuff inside, or buys bedding plants. We had to replace a bunch of birch trees on the condo grounds that died from some borer a couple of years ago, and planted native apples, pears and plums. We got one apple last year. It was the size of a walnut. We put Saskatoon berries in the flower beds. We're going to try to grow sub-alpine tomatoes on our patio. The growing daylight is very long in summer. We get twilight starting at 2:30 to 3am and sunrise by 4am. It can still be light at 11:30-midnight. Because the sun hits the horizon at such an acute angle, it can almost seem light well after sunset. Spring is just really late this year. I've told him one more snowstorm, and I'm going to my mom's in Oklahoma for a visit. It's not snowing there. A few twisters, but at least it's warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern california guy Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 (edited) [quote name='TotusTuusMaria' post='1864742' date='May 11 2009, 10:29 PM']Well its beautiful. I love the leaves... that sounds weird, but I do. You did a really awesome job. Do you landscape for a living or is this just something you're interested in?[/quote] The trees above the retaining wall are orange trees. Are those the ones whose leaves you're referring to? They're evergreen and they sort of have thick tropical leaves that are pretty ornamental. No I don't landscape for a living -- now -- I'm just a local truck driver. But I actually have worked as a landscaper in the past. And I've also worked in a number of the construction trades. I'm sort of a "jack of all trades", and probably best as an electrician. [quote name='TotusTuusMaria' post='1864776' date='May 11 2009, 10:50 PM']very impressive. it looks like a huge back yard. do yall have much of a front yard?[/quote] My parents don't have much of a front yard. It's only about twenty feet wide (But they can see a little ocean from their upstairs windows!). Here's a picture of some clivia under the palm trees next to the driveway. [img]http://inlinethumb09.webshots.com/42632/2253080890066947068S500x500Q85.jpg[/img] And check out the neighbors front yard. And he was planting those palm trees when my parents bought about ten years ago. (That's my brother walking our great dane -- she died... They don't live to be that old..) [img]http://inlinethumb02.webshots.com/43393/2067564740066947068S500x500Q85.jpg[/img] Edited May 15, 2009 by southern california guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern california guy Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1866074' date='May 13 2009, 09:01 AM']What is your annual rainfall there?[/quote] It's about ten inches a year.. But don't worry I "replumbed" my parents house and ran the showers, and washingmachine out to a large underground barrel -- and ran plastic pipes off from that to water the trees with "greywater" (As opposed to "blackwater" -- from the toilet). We tried hooking the dishwasher to it -- but that clogged the system.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='southern california guy' post='1867554' date='May 14 2009, 09:54 PM']It's about ten inches a year.. But don't worry I "replumbed" my parents house and ran the showers, and washingmachine out to a large underground barrel -- and ran plastic pipes off from that to water the trees with "greywater" (As opposed to "blackwater" -- from the toilet). We tried hooking the dishwasher to it -- but that clogged the system..[/quote] I have been trying to convince my sons to do that for me for years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamalove Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 You can have some of our rain. We've had over 11 inches in the last month. My garden drowned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StColette Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='mamalove' post='1867642' date='May 14 2009, 10:01 PM']You can have some of our rain. We've had over 11 inches in the last month. My garden drowned [/quote] All our flowers at the Church Office drowned too We had to replant the other day because of all the rain. I don't have a green thumb at all. I can't even keep a small potted basil plant alive. I kept forgetting to water it. lol The baby makes noise when he's hungry so he gets fed but the plant is pretty silent so it gets ignored lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappo Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 [quote name='StColette' post='1868077' date='May 15 2009, 12:04 PM']The baby makes noise when he's hungry so he gets fed but the plant is pretty silent so it gets ignored lol[/quote] Wow that was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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