Welcome! Please introduce yourself here.

[Christine]

Hi everyone! My name is Christine and I am an enthusiastic gardener and hobby beekeeper. Always interested in organic gardening, saving the bees, and reading about it! I would love to have you join us at my new blog, www.greengardenbuzz.com where I talk about gardening esp. gardening for bees and pollinators. Thanks!

[Tony]

Hi, fellow gardeners!

My name is Tony, and I teach elementary music, which gives me ample time to garden as a hobby. Located in southwest Idaho (Nampa), I enjoy the four seasons with relatively mild winters, dry and hot summers and beautiful autumns after green springs.

A little about me:

My interests are fruits and butterflies.

An accomplishment of mine, this Spring, I finally succeeded at getting a grape plant to start from seed! Stratification wasn't sufficient. I had to dig deeper into how to grow grapes from seeds, and after the stratification, it took scarification and saturation. It'll take years, but I will eat grapes with satisfaction!!

My gardening personality is to put a lot of upfront work into the project and minimal upkeep. I don't do flower pots that require watering when the rains stop. I put the seeds into the ground and enjoy the flowers that survive.

My go-to annual plant is Marigolds. My new plant this year is kobold (gaillardia). My favorite "weed" is milkweed.

Love to connect up with other gardeners that have advice/books on tending fruit trees, growing berries, and of course, how to attract butterflies!

[Richard]

Hi Tony

Welcome to the group. I used to sell my bonsai to nurseries in your beautiful region. My book, Bountiful Bonsai is about growing indoor bonsai that bear an edible crop. You could grow citrus indoors there. I have ripe citrus year round here in the Colorado foothills.

Richard

[Tony]

Richard!

Thanks for the tip about growing fruit indoors. It's right in line with my interest in fruit. However, it goes against my personality of low maintenance. I stick a plant in the ground and tend to it once a year.

Regardless, thank you for the warm welcome,

Tony

Richard wrote: "Hi Tony

Welcome to the group. I used to sell my bonsai to nurseries in your beautiful region. My book, Bountiful Bonsai is about growing indoor bonsai that bear an edible crop. You could grow citr..."

[Cheryl S.]

Hi Don--welcome to our group! We're almost neighbors--I'm In Minnesota. Oh, yes, and I'm old too.

Lots of blooming going on around here right now, probably the prettiest part of the summer. We are in the heat wave so also a lot of watering going on.

Sounds like you have a wonderful place with so many types of gardening going on. I live in a small city but have a fairly large yard which sometimes seems more than I can keep up with.

Looking forward to sharing garden info with you in the future.

[Don]

Hello Cheryl,

I don't know about Minnesota, but it has been a wonderful summer so far in North Dakota. We did not have a late frost and we have had lots of rain so we have been able to pick buckets of raspberries and cherries and currants and saskatoons. It looks like a mast year for sea berries and aronia and choke cherries, but we won't know for a few more weeks.

The apple trees we grafted are beginning to bear as well as two of our "store bought" Duchess of Oldenburg apples so we should have plenty of apples this year if the deer don't get them. I will put up electric fencing around some boxes in the garden this week to keep the deer out. But, the apples are too widely scattered to fence.

Deer aside, our flowers and vegetable gardens are doing well. Two years ago, we planted reseeding annuals and hardy perennials around the large, raised vegetable beds in the back to attract pollinators. The flowers are spreading, especially the heliopsis and delphiniums -- bright gold and electric blue just now.

Now, if we could only get a couple of weeks of dry weather so we could get the hay cut and dried and baled, it would be a perfect sommer.

[Debbie]

Hi Julie!! Welcome!!

[Jack]

Hi, I'm Jack and I've just joined. Which is why I'm posting an introduction. Funny how these things work. I'm talking nonsense because I have no idea how to actually introduce myself!

As well as gardening I enjoy fishing, astronomy, science-fiction and classical music.

Nice to meet you all

[Debbie]

Hi Jack! Welcome!!

[Tony]

hello to Jack and Julie. I'm curious what area you are from and the plants that you've found successful for producing delicious fruit

[Superbambi]

Hello! I'm wondering how active this group is, from seeing the last post dates in most threads, but I couldn't really not join a group about gardening.

I'm more of a potted plant type, and my experience is very limited (currently I'm growing bell peppers, nasturtiums and morning and evening glories, as well as trying to amateurishly grow saintpaulias hydroponically), but I'm off to study horticulture and the growing of ornamental plants in the coming year.

I have what I call my phytoarmy lining up all the windows where there's sunlight, and then also in the living room: two begonias, two guzmania bromelias, three phalaenopsis orchids, an ivy plant, a sansevieria, a kalanchoe, a hibiscus, and two saintpaulias. I think I didn't forget anyone (because obviously they all have names)... OH YEAH I have a croton too, and it's delightful. I live in a 5b zone, but I prefer indoor gardening.

[Debbie]

Hi Superbambi! Welcome!! We don't seem to be too active right now, but we are still here. :-))

Your plants sound lovely. Hope you enjoy your studies!

[Kat]

Hi everyone!

My name is Kat, and I used to be a professional horticulturist before I decided that I need to earn more money and changed careers.

I still have a passion for gardening, especially edibles. Sadly I don't have a garden at the moment, but I have a balcony which is being put to good use.

Looking forward to join the discussions here!

[Debbie]

Hi Kat! Welcome!!

[Lorilin]

Hi! I'm Lorilin, a beginning gardener in the Midwest. I'm hoping to get some good gardening book recs from this group. Or even just to connect with fellow plant lovers. :)

[Debbie]

Hi Lorilin! Welcome!!

[Kat]

Hi Lorilin :-)

*offers a cookie*

[Christopher]

Hello everyone, I'm Christopher Makomere from Kenya. Very happy to be here - needless to say, I'm super obsessed about gardening :-)

[Zella]

Hello!
My name is Zella and I am an avid gardener too. I live in Zone 6 and can’t wait to get my hands dirty - as soon as the snow melts.🙂